The Fed has been taking steps to relieve some of the strain put on the economy in recent weeks.  Some of their actions, including a bailout of Bear Stearns and lending to Wall Street brokerage firms, are both very bold and unprecedented.  And now, it appears that the next bit of Federal Reserve “help” could be a program developed to help bailout struggling homeowners.

Today, I came across an article on CNN.com about a movement in Washington that seems to be gaining some momentum.  The proposal, which is scheduled to go before Congress sometime in the next couple of weeks, sets aside funds from the Federal Reserve to back billions of dollars in loans to people who are having the most trouble paying their current mortgages.  This is meant not only to ease the pressure that the banks are under, but to enable homeowners to have more time to make payments that they cannot make right now.

The debate will no doubt continue to wage on about these Federal bailouts because there is a lot to be said about a free market and how it should and should not work.  Many people fear that too much interference from the Federal Reserve now might cause more problems down the road.  It is something to think about, both financially and legally, as lawmakers continue to debate how and when to take action against the current economic crisis.