John McCain’s political advisers must have been astonished by the number of journalists asleep at the switch when the Republican presidential candidate dropped his bombshell during last week’s presidential debate with Democrat Barack Obama.

Under McCain’s American Homeownership Resurgence Plan, the government would buy mortgages directly from homeowners who were falling behind in their payments and replace them with, as his Web site says, “manageable, fixed-rate mortgages that will keep families in their homes.” It would only cost another $300 billion or so, his handlers later explained. Where do I sign up?