Most of the debate about the government "doing something" to help homeowners in foreclosure has focused on what it should do. What kind of program should be passed, what the role of the FHA should be, how the Fed can manipulate interest rates lower, and so on. But none of these arguments gets to the heart of the matter, which is what authority the federal government is acting under to help people save their homes. In fact, the question should be, does the federal government even have any authority to help homeowners stop foreclosure? The answer is absolutely not.