ST. PAUL—The pomp in St. Paul today may have been blown aside by Hurricane Gustav, but the Republicans have passed their party platform for the next four years, spelling out the G.O.P’s approach to a huge array of issues. Among those issues is housing, for which the Republicans want to further emphasize homeownership. From the platform:

Of course, one interpretation of the recent foreclosure crisis is that homeownership became too prevalent, and many families overreached with subprime loans, owning houses they could never really afford. While the platform lacks many specifics, the Republicans seem to acknowledge this, saying that government action shouldn’t "implicitly encourage" anyone to buy beyond their means.

Overall, the few paragraphs that spell out the party’s approach to housing policy take a free-market approach, in contrast to the Democrats, who seem to have emphasized more new standards and affordable housing efforts in the platform they passed last week.

More from the G.O.P.:

Follow Eliot Brown via RSS.