According to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, we should know very soon whether President Barack Obama's $75 million plan to save millions of homes from foreclosure is working - not long, in fact, after the rules for mortgage relief are published March 4.

The housing crisis is at the heart of the economic meltdown and recovery won't come until the housing market is stabilized. The federal government so far hasn't seemed to be able to get its arms around the problem.

However, the president's plan, like so much else of what the government has been doing in an attempt to stem the economic tailspin, carries considerable long-term risk to taxpayers. We hope the plan works, but are deeply troubled by several elements of it.

Particularly worrisome is the apparent intention to allow bankruptcy judges to change the terms of mortgages. If judges can alter the terms of loans, lenders over time will almost certainly factor in additional costs because of the higher risk to them. This is not the path to re-establishing a healthy housing market.

Perhaps the greatest risk to the government's ledger is that part of the program intended to help people whose mortgages are now more than their house is worth, "underwater" in real estate terms. Even if the owners could sell the house, they would still be liable for that part of the mortgage that the sale didn't cover. If they don't mind having their credit wrecked, there's a real incentive just to walk away and let the house go into foreclosure.

The administration proposes to waive a rule preventing millions of people whose mortgages equal more than 80 percent of their property's value from refinancing with a government-backed loan. If the housing market rebounds, this gamble could pay off in helping to stabilize the market. If not, the government will be holding billions more in debt.

The president is correct that even many people who "played by the rules and acted responsibly" now find themselves on the verge of foreclosure.

Typically, such people are behind on their payments but could keep current if their mortgages were redrawn to lower the monthly payments. The new program will offer lenders a set of incentives to redo those loans - although, again, not without risk to taxpayers. Still, these incentives are one of the least troubling parts of the overall program.

Obama said Wednesday that his plan would not "throw good taxpayer money after bad loans." It's a fine promise - but also one that appears premature.