Romney, GOP fail to see Americans’ need for help in foreclosure crisis [View All]

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http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/oct/30/romney-gop-fail-see-americans-need-help-foreclosur/

Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011 | 2 a.m.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney got in trouble recently when he came to Nevada and started talking about housing. Nevada has the highest foreclosure rate in the country, and Romney, a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, showed little sense of compassion or desire to help ease the foreclosure crisis.

In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun, Romney said “the key thing for me is let the market do its work. Get the foreclosures washed through the system ... let the market rebound from the bottom that it hits, and get people back into homes.”

In other words, Romney doesn’t want the government involved but instead wants the market left on its own. And he wants it to move quickly by having foreclosures “washed through the system,” meaning even more foreclosures.

Romney is not alone proposing a hands-off approach to the foreclosure crisis. Arguing to let the market “do its work” has become something of a conservative mantra. Nearly all of the Republican presidential candidates have said similar things.