From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Home ownership and the American Dream.

Hello again, I'm Arunalny, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

President Obama says

home foreclosure means losing a foothold in the American dream. That's an idea that dates

back to the Great Depression. Politicians virtually equate home ownership with patriotism,

and government subsidies include the mortgage interest exemption. But there is a downside,

and it's come to a head in the current recession.

Millions of homeowners are in big trouble. On To the Point, why should tens of billions of

taxpayer dollars help people get back into housing they can't afford? What's wrong with renting?

On reporter's notebook later on, artificial arms controlled by the brain.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation,

and the Rockefeller Foundation and its campaign for American

Workers. More at rockfound.org. Hello again, Mormon-Aulay, back with To the Point. President Obama wants

big money to forestall foreclosures. Is that a sound public investment? Why is homeownership

equated with the American dream? What's wrong with renting? That's our main subject today.

On reporter's notebook, new technology means that artificial arms can be controlled just by thinking.

We'll hear what that means for amputees.

First, this news update.

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