BERNANKE ON DEFENSIVE

WASHINGTON (AP) --" Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is seeking to defuse criticism of the Fed's $600 billion bond-purchase plan by arguing that it's needed to boost the economy and reduce unemployment. But he warns the Fed's program can't succeed on its own.

In a speech prepared for delivery on Friday, Bernanke makes his most forceful case to date that Congress also must provide more stimulus aid.

Without more stimulus, high unemployment could persist for years, he says in the speech, his first since the Fed announced the program Nov. 3. But in making that argument, Bernanke risks heightening complaints that he's plunging the Fed into partisan politics."

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- "More than half of the 1.4 million homeowners who enrolled in the Obama administration's flagship foreclosure-prevention program have fallen out.

The program is intended to help those at risk of foreclosure by lowering their monthly mortgage payments. But the latest report from the Treasury Department shows that the effort is still plagued by high failure rates.

Approximately 755,000 borrowers, or 54 percent of those who tried to get their payments lowered through the program, have been cut loose through October. That compared to a 53 percent disqualification rate through September. "