Housing Bill Like 'Painting a Collapsing House'

July 25, 2008
Contact: Andrew Davis
E-mail: andrew.davis@lp.org
Phone: 202-731-0002

FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY:
Housing Bill Like 'Painting a Collapsing House'

Washington, D.C. - The Libertarian Party is calling for the Senate to block a measure that seeks to stabilize the housing market at a cost of $300 billion. "The bill is an atrocity, pure and simple," says Libertarian Party National Chairman William Redpath.

"The housing bill creates more regulation, more government and more mess, all with the taxpayer on the hook," says Redpath. "In the end, the government will have spent at least 300 billion dollars trying to solve a problem it created in the first place, without ever addressing why we are in this situation to begin with."

The solution to the housing prices is "time," says Redpath. "Only with time will the housing market straighten itself out," adding that government's intervention only exacerbates the problem.

Last week, the Libertarian Party issued a press statement saying that the two government-backed housing firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be left to fail if Congress refuses to remove its support.

"This housing bill is like Congress painting a collapsing house," says Libertarian Party spokesperson Andrew Davis. "It's just a pretty façade masking a ramshackle interior. Unfortunately, it's the taxpayer who's responsible for the bill, and it will be the taxpayer who suffers during the clean up."

Leaving the housing market untouched by government is not as scary as it sounds, says Davis, commenting that "people may think they need government help when really it only makes matters worse for them in the long run."

"The solution is not complicated," says Davis, "and it doesn't take a mountain of regulation and subsidies. All the government has to say is 'we'll let the forces of the market balance themselves out,' and then let it be. Anything else puts taxpayers on the hook for mistakes other people made."

The Libertarian Party is America's third largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.

For more information on this issue, or to arrange a media interview, please call Andrew Davis at (202) 731-0002.