Michele Bachmann Sees 'Epicenter of Crony Capitalism' in Housing

Republican presidential candidates on Wednesday debunked the idea of government programs as the salvation for a floundering U.S. housing market.

"When you have government play its heavy hand, markets blow up," Mitt Romney said. "Let the economy reboot."

Romney and Rick Perry echoed Michele Bachmann in attacking the Dodd-Frank financial regulations for pumping up the housing bubble.

And Bachmann took the attack further by blasting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, quasi-government agencies that now underwrite or guarantee 90 percent of the home financing in the country.

"They have applied for another $7 billion bailout while giving bonuses of $13 million to 10 top executives. They are the epicenter of crony capitalism," the Minnesota congresswoman said.