Bailout Good for Fannie Mae - no help to stem foreclosures

The government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - mortgage titans that own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages -

will help borrowers who had been nervously waiting for the best time to get out of the adjustable-rate mortgages they took out during the housing boom.

But it will do little to stem the dramatic rise in foreclosures. And so far, the government's other programs to assist distressed borrowers in refinancing have had minimal impact. And that has consumer advocates calling on Fannie and Freddie to do more.