Not what I'd consider Fully Operational

The farce is strong with this one:

WASHINGTON (Oct 23, 2008) - Federal Reserve board member Elizabeth Duke said today that the Hope for Homeowners (H4H) program, a $300 billion mortgage refinance program launched earlier this month, is nearly ready to become operational.

H4H was actually the first of what have become quarterly rescues of the housing market by Congress. Weighing in at a svelte* $300 billion, it was going to help "as many as 400,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure." It was dreamed up last March, signed into law last July**, and became "operational" in November of last year. So now that this year is nearly half over, how's it doing?

Washington (May 7, 2009) - As the Obama administration attempts to turn around the beleaguered Hope for Homeowners program to fight foreclosures, it faces a nettlesome new headache. The primary lender involved is under investigation by the Department of Justice.

Senior federal housing officials say that of 51 loans made under the program, 50 were made by Melville, N.Y.-based Lend America, and those 50 loans are being held up pending ongoing federal investigations...

No, you are reading that wrong. Six months into a $300 billion housing rescue designed to keep 400 thousand houses out of foreclosure, the number of completed loans is...

One.

* Yes, it really does cost the government $750,000 to keep a $200,000 home out of foreclosure. Do the math.

** And therefore easy to blame on George Bush. However, as the Act was written by Chris Dodd and implemented jointly by the Fed and the FHA, there's plenty of blame to go around.