Housing vs Real Estate

I wrote the first Middle-of-the-road post on January 20, 2020. It was about tax policy, but I started with my rationale for the blog. A political, social and economic policy moderate myself, I felt that we moderates comprised about 10% of the electorate and were amenable to persuasion from the Right and the Left without going to extremes in either direction. We could, therefore, decide elections but only if we could avoid apathy and vote. More than 4 years later much may have changed, but not this. The "uncommitted" or "undecided" 10% still appear to be the deciders in the coming election. The date of that first post tempts me to claim 20/20 vision. But moderates don't brag, so I am going to continue blogging with my head down and my eyes wide open.

That first post also used the fact that President Reagan had the solar panels his predecessor had installed on the roof of the White House removed, to make the point that Carter had turned out to be on the right side of history on energy policy. On September 17, 2024 at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, a musical celebration was held in anticipation of the 100th birthday of former President Jimmy Carter. The musical talent at the event was, of course, of the highest quality. There were also video messages from three former Presidents - no prize for guessing which one did not participate. And there was this from Jon Stewart of the The Daily Show - "There are people in this world who live in houses built by Jimmy Carter". In addition to his many activities after leaving the Presidency - his advocacy of civil and human rights and free and fair elections at home and abroad, and preaching Sunday school - Carter has been building houses for Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing affordable housing. Availability of affordable housing is part of the answer to the problem of homelessness which seems to be rampant all over the US. Yet in the ongoing election campaign, Donald Trump has come out against construction of affordable housing. His reason is that it is bad for real estate prices. If you think he is being true to his real estate developer instincts, think again. During his term as President, Trump and HUD Secretary Ben Carson supported the overturning of local regulations against construction of high-density housing because they worsened the problems of homelessness and high house prices. The real reason for his opposition to affordable housing now is that he is wooing the suburban vote in this election. Here is one more example of Trumpian genius - try to win the suburban vote while denigrating "liberals" for not dealing with the problem of homelessness in big cities. If he has his way, real estate values will continue to sky-rocket and he will get a second term as President. Not if Middle-of-the-roaders have their say!