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Housing blogs have been aflame with ‘no bailout’ comments for months, but now that the housing slump has turned into a crisis, Washington is alive with ... yes, talk about the best way to help troubled homeowners.

‘The question is, how can we keep people in their homes?’ asked Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), left, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee. CNBC reports that Dodd will meet Tuesday with Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. to ‘discuss steps that might help stabilize mortgage and financial markets and aid U.S. homeowners.’

The New York Times reports ‘Democrats are seeking more aggressive, interventionist moves to protect homeowners.’ Would that be a ‘bailout’? The Times thinks so -- it uses the ‘b’ word: ‘Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, recently proposed a $1 billion fund to help distressed families catch up on their mortgage payments ... John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina, is proposing a similar bailout fund... ‘

Our take: Watch out for the language police on this one. Just as they tried to take the word ‘amnesty’ out of the immigration debate, they’ll try to take ‘bailout’ out of this debate, saying it’s a loaded, inflammatory word. Our feeling is that if you think the government should offer special financial aid to homeowners who can’t pay their mortgages, that is a kind of bailout and you should stick to your guns and explain why you think this particular bailout is necessary and appropriate.

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Photo Credit: Dodd.senate.gov.