Platforms serve more as rallying cries than actual policy initiative, and typically, the Republicans will call for less government involvement in housing and Democrats for more.
Nonetheless, the Republican platform blames the administration’s policies for the debacle of the housing crisis in 2008, and says the ensuing Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
According to the platform, Dodd-Frank “has not limited risks; it has created more. It has not encouraged economic growth; it has shackled it.” The CFPB is a “rogue agency” that needs to be dismantled, Dodd-Frank needs to be trimmed and the FHA needs reforming.
More importantly, the GOP wants to reduce the federal government’s role in housing finance through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, stating, “Their corrupt business model lets shareholders and executives reap huge profits while the taxpayers cover all losses. The utility of both agencies should be reconsidered as a Republican administration clears away the jumble of subsidies and controls that complicate and distort homebuying.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic Platform would involve the government heavily subsidizing the building and renovation of affordable housing, to put home ownership as far into the hands of the public as possible. It does not say how it is to be done, or funded. “We will reinvigorate federal housing production programs, increase resources to repair public housing, and increase funding for the housing choice voucher program,” the platform says.
Some of the renovation of affordable housing can be done through the National Housing Trust Fund. ##
(Image credit:National Association of Manufacturers)
