The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has proposed to use $24 billion in government funding to help 1.5 million American households avoid foreclosure.
FDIC officials want to use part of the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry to pay for it.  But the Treasury Department is opposed to that idea. 

Neel Kashkari, the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for financial stability, said the aim of the $700 billion plan was to make investments with the hope of getting the money back . He further stated that it was "fundamentally different from just having a government spending program" that would disburse money with no chance of ever seeing any returns.