Fiorina: Get Government Out of Mortgage Business

Federal housing policy received a relatively rare moment in the 2016 presidential campaign spotlight via Carly Fiorina, a Republican presidential candidate who blamed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for the 2008 housing crash and called for efforts to remove Washington from the mortgage business.

Speaking at yesterday’s Voter’s First Presidential Forum at New Hampshire’s St. Anselm College, Fiorina spoke bluntly about the role played by the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) in the housing bubble collapse.

"The financial crisis was caused by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government-sponsored entities that have been supported by both Republicans and Democrats alike," Fiorina said.

Fiorina, a former Hewlett-Packard CEO who never held elected office, also questioned the post-2008 federal housing policy landscape.

"We need to repeal Dodd-Frank just as we need to repeal Obamacare," she continued. "But we also need to get about what we should have been doing years ago: Reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."

Fiorina went even further by questioning whether Washington should even have a role in the mortgage market.

"The government should not be in the mortgage business, and have government agencies that are supposed to be regulating the financial system be competent at their job, not, as we know from reports, have federal government regulators—supposed to be minding the banking system—watching pornography all day long," she said.

Fiorina, who is the only woman among the GOP presidential contenders, was the sole candidate at yesterday’s forum to be questioned about federal housing policy.