Opinion: John McCain and Barack Obama on the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae troubles

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Well, news on the the mortgage crisis front just keeps getting worse, but there’s a bit of a silver lining -- Barack Obama and John McCain agree that mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in trouble.

Of course, there’s a little more space between them on what to do about it.

Reporters asked McCain about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during a Thursday avail in Belleville, Mich., west of Detroit, and he repeated his belief that ‘they must not fail.’ But a federal bailout? Not so fast: ‘I will be looking at all the options ... and at this time I don’t think that there is a requirement for a government bailout. So we will have to discuss the options that are available in order to keep it viable. And that’s what I would hope that we could do with various experts and people of knowledge throughout the country.’

Obama, whose theme Thursday was the women’s vote -- including an appearance with Hillary Clinton -- didn’t get that question from his traveling press crew. That’s primarily because he didn’t take any questions from his traveling press crew (those pesky reporters -- they keep wanting to ask about things that aren’t on the daily script).

But Obama advisor Jason Furman issued a statement that Obama believes ‘the challenges facing Fannie and Freddie are part of the broader weakness in our economy.’ He blamed President Bush, saying ‘willful neglect’ by the White House of trouble in the housing market and other sectors of the economy let the problems fester to crisis stage. Then he pushed Obama’s call for immediate congressional action to help homeowners caught in the bind, and at risk of foreclosure.

But a government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? A little closer than McCain -- maybe. ‘Obama believes we must maintain the flow of capital for mortgages and protect homeowners from foreclosure,’ Furman said.

Whatever that means. We asked the campaign if Obama thinks a bailout should be in the cards. We’ll update when we hear back. And meanwhile, The Swamp takes a look at the foibles of Fannie and Freddie, too. And here are some details on exactly what Fannie and Freddie do.

UPDATE: Obama spokesman Bill Burton just released this statement, which essentially repeats Furman’s comment and doesn’t address the issue of federal intervention: ‘Sen. Obama has long believed we should take all necessary steps to ensure affordable home ownership for millions of American families, and that includes an essential role for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Nearly a year ago, Sen. Obama called for a major response to the housing crisis and significant relief for struggling homeowners. It took Sen. McCain three different tries to figure out a real response to the housing crisis, and his current plan does nothing to help more than two million homeowners who are facing foreclosure.’

-- Scott Martelle