This morning George Bush announced his new program to help homeowners get out from under the burden of adjustable mortgages that have spurred an unprecedented wave of bankruptcies and foreclosures. Unfortunately, he gave millions of Americans the wrong phone number, once again proving that he is adept only at misleading.

The number he announced in his news conference was 1-800-995-HOPE. The actual number is 1-888-995-HOPE.

Anyone who managed to get through to the wrong number would have found themselves at the Freedom Christian Academy. From their website:

Freedom Christian Academy provides top notch Homeschool Curriculum and support for Home Schooling parents and students.
[…]
Bible believing Christians today must recognize that God has commanded parents to take responsibility for teaching their own children.

I’m not sure why Bush decided to use the HOPE name for his phone number when HOME might have been more intuitive. But the number he chose also spells GORE, if anyone is looking for some extra irony.