Las Vegas Weekly

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The most telling moment of last week’s Republican debate came during a discussion of Las Vegas’ disastrous housing market. Besides unemployment, it’s the biggest issue facing the Valley, perhaps for the next decade and beyond. And yet, not one of the presidential hopefuls offered anything substantive on the issue, despite the majority of Las Vegans being underwater, and few being able to afford it. “It’s got to be solved,” offered Michele Bachmann lamely, while Mitt Romney said the solution is to “get the economy going.” But there’s deeply flawed logic in that; the economy is likely to worsen as more and more distressed homeowners just walk away. And while the GOP is content to blame President Obama’s policies, it’s also worth noting that Obama announced in Vegas this week that he’s broadening the federal aid program to help more homeowners refinance. Make no mistake, folks—the GOP’s reaction to the crisis in these debates mirrors the way they will treat it should one of them make it to the White House. That is to say, they’ll do nothing. While the Party of No continues to offer platitudes about the future of this country, our current administration realizes how dire the situation is, and is acting. That’s gotta count for something.