Moot. It's not a word used all that much, but it now gets its day in the sun. "Moot," is the most succinct way to describe the recent plan proposed by President Bush to bailout homeowners trapped in subprime mortgages. Actually, it's the mootest, or most moot, plan of inaction ever. That's not to say action is needed, but this act is simply the administration acting like their acting. It's the antimatter of the matter.

People who choose this voluntary program will be locked into a five-year interest rate freeze. Problem is, they're still in a subprime loan that will one day adjust. That's pretty moot.

But perhaps the details of the program will give us the insight we need to move forward and gain from this program. From what I've read, a decent estimate of potential participants is at about ten percent. That's a couple hundred thousand subprime homeowners who will qualify for the program.

Here's what you must present to your lender to qualify for the rate freeze:

• Your subprime ARM must have been closed upon between Jan. 1, 2005, and July 31, 2007.
• Your first interest-rate adjustment needs to happen between Jan. 1, 2008, and July 31, 2010.
• 10 percent is the minimum payment increase.
• Your mortgage must have been sold into a securitized pool of loans.
• You must be residing in the home.
• Your credit score must be less than 660.
• And here's something confusing; your cc must be less than 10 percent higher than it was when you took out the loan.
• Finally, your loan-to-value must be three percent or less of the value of the home. So you could have put little money down or have had your property value plummet to that point.

So who's going to read that if they didn't bother to read the terms when they first got the loan?

Moot again.

Even the noninterventionists have had their point mooted. They don't want government to interfere with the market. But by not doing anything in the first place, the well-lobbied DC suits were doing more than if they had actually done anything.

Some people might say, "well at least people are talking about it." We also talk a lot about Britney Spears, and that hasn't helped her any.

If you'd like to try and actually do something, you can call the government hotline to see if you're eligible for aid. The number is 888-995-HOPE. You'll get the same hotline if you call 888-995-HOSED.

Moot.