Reporting from Henderson, Nev. Ñ Standing in the heart of the nation's hard-hit foreclosure country, President Obama on Friday rolled out a $1.5-billion mortgage program meant for a handful of states, including California and Nevada, that have endured waves of home foreclosures during the recession.

The president also used the moment to give a needed boost to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's reelection chances, crediting him with helping stave off a depression over the last year

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Obama spoke to 1,800 people at a town hall-style event as part of a two-day Western swing in which he raised money for Democrats and campaigned for two senators facing tough campaigns: Reid and Michael Bennet of Colorado.

The announcement of new steps to prevent home foreclosures was aimed especially at Nevada, which has ranked first in foreclosures for 37 consecutive months. Although the administration has already put forward programs to reduce monthly mortgage payments, officials acknowledged that more relief is needed.

Under the new policy, $1.5 billion that had been reserved for the bank bailout will be rerouted to five states that have seen housing prices drop more than 20% since 2006: Nevada, California, Michigan, Florida and Arizona.

The money will go toward homeowners who have lost their jobs, owe more than their houses are worth or cannot afford to make monthly payments.

After announcing the program, Obama got a standing ovation.

"Government alone can't solve this problem," the president said. "And it shouldn't. But government can make a difference. It can't stop every foreclosure. . . . But what we can do is help families who have done everything right stay in their homes whenever possible."

Polls indicate voters are unnerved by the economy and impatient with incumbents, and both Reid and the president seemed intent on showing they grasp the public mood.

Reid got straight to the point in introducing Obama. Speaking in hushed tones, he opened with: "Mr. President, people in Nevada are really hurting. We have people out of work, people that are afraid they're going to lose their jobs."

Nevada's 13% unemployment rate is the nation's second-highest, behind Michigan.

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Re: Health Reform:

"Now, of course, the problem is that they can't mesh the Senate bill with the House bill using regular order, because Republicans will filibuster it. But most of the points of negotiation between House and Senate concern taxes and spending -- exactly the kinds of things that reconciliation is designed for. So it's fairly easy to just have the House pass the Senate bill, then use reconciliation to eliminate the Nebraska Medicaid subsidy and change the mix of taxes that pay for new coverage. Indeed, this process is probably easier than getting another 60 votes in the Senate would have been even if Martha Coakley had won.

You can imagine how this feels to conservatives. They've already run off the field, sprayed themselves with champagne and taunted the losing team's fans. And now the other team is saying the game is still on and they have a good chance to win. There may be nothing wrong at all with the process, but it's certainly going to feel like some kind of crime to the right-wing. The Democrats may not win, but I'm pretty sure they're going to try. The conservative freakout is going to be something to behold."

New Republic