Candidate Platforms on the Economy & Housing by Tim McLaughlin
With the Republican Primaries well underway, we analyze some of the candidate’s platforms on two of the topics that will drive our industry over the course of the next four years: the economy and housing.
The Economy:
Romney: A proponent of lower taxes, less regulation, and a balanced budget. Proposes the repeal of Dodd-Frank, a law toughening financial industry regulations after the meltdown in that sector. Proposes changing, but not repealing, Sarbanes-Oxley, a law tightening accounting regulations in response to corporate scandals, to ease the accountability burden on smaller businesses.
Santorum: Spur jobs by eliminating corporate taxes for manufacturers, drill for more oil and gas, and slash regulations. Repeal every Obama-era regulation that costs business more than $100 million a year.
Huntsman: End corporate subsidies, cut regulations, lower taxes, spur jobs through energy development; seek repeal of President Barack Obama’s health care law. Break up megabanks as a hedge against future bailouts of the industry.
Gingrich: Repeal the 2010 financial industry and consumer protection regulations that followed the Wall Street meltdown, and repeal the 2002 regulations enacted in response to the Enron and other corporate and accounting scandals. Restrict the Fed’s power to set interest rates artificially low.
Perry: Spur economy by repealing rafts of regulations, Obama’s health care law and Dodd-Frank toughening financial-industry regulations after the meltdown in that sector. Create jobs in energy sector by removing obstacles to drilling and production. Cut corporate taxes.
Paul: Return to the gold standard, eliminate the Federal Reserve, let gold and silver be used as legal tender, eliminate most federal regulations.
Housing: Sadly, the silence has been deafening regarding the candidates stance on housing and their plan to revive the sector. A couple of quotes are as follows:
Romney: “Don’t try to stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom. Allow investors to buy homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up and let it turn around and come back up.”
Perry: “Immediate remedy for housing is to get America working again. Creating jobs will address the housing concerns that are impacting communities throughout America.”
