U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., is right about this much: Federal programs designed to help homeowners who face foreclosure have not only not worked, they've often made things worse. Some homeowners have been strung along in the false hope that help was on the way. Some thought their burdensome loans would be modified so they could meet their payments and keep their homes. Some have eventually been told they don't qualify - and with savings gone and credit ratings in the tank, they've lost their homes after all.

"It's just heartbreaking," McHenry said. He has sponsored legislation to kill one of the programs, the Home Affordable Modification Program. His bill would abolish a program that set aside $30 billion for mortgage modifications, but has spent only $1 billion. Those in charge of the program have run into assorted troubles and, as Washington correspondent Barbara Barrett reports, failed badly. Other programs designed to help homeowners in distress have not worked well, either.

But the notion that Congress should abolish foreclosure programs at a time when the rate of N.C. foreclosures alone is up by 20 percent in the first two months of the year is nuts. The housing market is limping along and Americans in financial trouble blame the federal government for its inadequate regulation of loan practices and the financial industry for indifference, fraud and greed in not helping the programs succeed. Some institutions engaged in robosigning of foreclosure documents without following legal requirements designed to protect homeowners. One reason appears to be that those who handle troubled loans had more financial incentives to foreclose on them than to save them. That's shameful.

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., says he hopes a $20 billion settlement that the financial industry, federal regulators and state attorneys general are discussing will provide more direct benefits to homeowners. Among other things, it would require better documentation and mandate that mortgage servicers be trained in how to limit foreclosures. You'd think that would have been a key part of these programs from the start. If they were, they didn't go far enough.

Regardless of what changes Congress makes to the titles of these foreclosure programs, the unspent $30 billion in the Home Affordable Modification Program should be used to provide the kinds of help President Barack Obama promised when the federal government first tried to fix the housing mess.

Extending real help to homeowners is still a good idea. It's high time it was tried in earnest.