"The housing correction is at the root of our economic and market difficulties," Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said yesterday. "The most important thing we can do to mitigate foreclosures and progress through the housing correction is to reduce the cost of mortgage financing, so more families can afford to buy a home, and so homeowners can refinance into more affordable mortgages."

Despite his bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, home-loan rates "have not come down as much as we may have hoped," Paulson said. But last week's $600 billion Federal Reserve home-loan finance project should drive rates lower, he added.

"We continue to look for additional ways to make mortgage credit more affordable," Paulson concluded, "which will stimulate purchases, help to stabilize prices, and end this housing correction."

Well, we'd love to see exploitative loan terms replaced by reasonable, affordable arrangements. It's dangerous when the people least able to pay are slapped with the highest payments.

But this is about execution, not intent.  Isn't cheap credit for everyone -- including speculators and homeowners buying beyond their means, and lenders and investors too greedy to care -- what got us into this mess in the first place?

We hope Mr. Paulson is making sure the folks using the people's money are being more careful this time. Because if you really don't expect to get paid back, they're not really loans.

Paulson's remarks here. (This item expanded from today's print PhillyDeals column)