President Obama went to Henderson, Nev., the other day to show Americans that he was responding to the cries for help from struggling homeowners (and maybe give a boost to Senator Harry Reid’s re-election). He announced a $1.5 billion effort to prevent foreclosures in five states hard-hit by the housing bust — Nevada, Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan — by feeding money into programs that would be developed and carried out by the housing agencies in the targeted states.

The audience in Henderson applauded the announcement, and understandably so. In Nevada, unemployment is 13 percent and 70 percent of homeowners with mortgages owe more on their homes than they are worth; in industry parlance, they are “underwater.” Since a combination of joblessness and underwater loans is the main driver of foreclosure, Nevadans are clearly at high risk of losing their homes, as are homeowners in the other four states.

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