Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said on Thursday that the United States could not allow government-sponsored mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to fail.
"They are vital to Americans' ability to own their own homes, and we will do what's necessary to make sure that they continue that function," McCain told reporters at a diner in Livonia, Michigan.
McCain, when asked whether government intervention would constitute a "moral hazard," said the two institutions must increase their transparency.
"I think that Freddie and Fannie have a vital role to fulfill and that they cannot and will not fail," the Arizona senator said. "There has to be much greater transparency in the way that they do business in order to ensure that this kind of difficulties that they're in is not repeated."
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Karey Wutkowski; Editing by Tom Hals)
