Various segments of the housing industry have floated "what-if" balloons regarding possible solutions for the national mortgage mess.

The latest has been the Bush administration's roundtable discussion with lenders about the possibility of extending lower, introductory rates on mortgages to borrowers with poor credit histories who were either misled into taking on a risk they could not afford or genuinely did not understand the consequences of an upwardly adjusting loan in a down market.  more...