The press is out hailing the ‘rare, bipartisan’ 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, passed in the Senate, 85-5, and either signed or expected to be signed, by President Trump.
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According to Scripps News:
The 21st century Road to Housing Act is aimed at lowering costs, creating new housing supply, and critically cutting red tape. The bill is a joint effort between Republican Sen. Tim Scott, a close ally of President Donald Trump, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive and one-time Democratic presidential candidate.
Fine and dandy, though there are a lot of things not to like about the bill.
What’s concerning is that there’s no sign of the SAVE America Act, which mandates voter ID for participation in elections and is supported by 80 percent of the public. Administration officials had said that nothing was going to be signed until that SAVE America Act got signed first. But now this housing act is getting its time in the sun.
Sure, inflated housing costs are a big deal, particularly in tax-and-regulation-choked blue zones, but also in booming places like Florida. And it will probably help Republicans (and incumbent establishment Democrats under fire from flaming socialists) at midterms to show that they can get something done. Getting rid of regulations, or well, streamlining them as this bill tries to do, is probably a good idea. But high housing costs are a function of interest rates — which are high, based on federal overspending for the gargantuan expansion of government along with the billions in fraud. There’s nothing in the bill that can fix that.
The five Senate objectors from among the Republicans had decent reasons for their ‘no’ votes:
Here’s Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, in a statement to TIME:
Tuberville said in a written statement to TIME that he’s “looking for ways to bring down housing costs for American families. But giving the federal government more control over housing is not the answer.”
“We have seen time and time again that writing a blank check to blue cities means that federal tax dollars will end up in the hands of illegals instead of going to the American citizens it was intended to help,” Tuberville said. “This bill also expands the already bloated Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is the opposite of what we need to be doing. We should be focused on getting government out of the way and allowing the free market to drive down costs through competition and a booming economy.”
Illegals will get the cash through special programs, while ordinary Americans will go without homes and continue to pay for the illegals’ freebies. We know that will happen. The citizenship provisions had been stripped out of the bill that passed.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee pointed out another problem, in a statement to TIME (emphasis mine):
“Americans need more affordable housing. Unfortunately, this bill doesn’t do enough to provide it, instead increasing the federal government’s long-running and failed involvement in the U.S. housing market,” Lee said.
For proof of that, check out the Bipartisan Policy Center’s ‘explainer’ of the bill, here. Then go take a shower.
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I liked Florida Sen. Rick Scott’s objection in his statement to TIME, too, seeking accountability:
“If we’re passing the ROAD to Housing Act, I think it’s only fair to make sure it actually works,” the Florida Senator said.
“I offered an Amendment to make sure Congress gets an annual report on how this bill directly impacts housing affordability for middle income homeowners. But, I never got the chance to bring it up. This should have been a no-brainer. It proves that what we’re doing HELPS the American people.”
He’s right. That they refused to include that kind of a provision suggests that this will be another ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ which will accomplish the opposite of its intention.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin also voted ‘no’ but didn’t get back to TIME for a response. The report noted that Paul rightly noted that homeowners will be prohibited from selling their homes to the highest bidder with the ban on corporate buying, which can only make me think that homeowners will be forced to sell to illegals, armed with federal cash, instead of corporate buyers who will pay top dollar and at least be in the country legally.
So no, I already know the bill won’t fix much, though streamlining regulations may help, and will probably empower more illegals with home ownership, which by the way, the Federal Reserve has found are already driving up housing costs all by themselves.
But the bigger question is that with a bill like this, why wasn’t the SAVE America Act voted through? News reports say that President Trump is heading to Capitol Hill today to sign the housing bill and will lobby for the SAVE America Act, which is supported by 80 percent of the voters and is sure to be popular for Congress if it passes. I hope he has the political muscle because the future of credible elections and whether Republicans can ever win elections again is at stake here.
It’s being held up by a small coterie of RINOs, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, whose intransigence against the bill, and strange excuse-making suggest that either he and his pals benefit from zero voter ID themselves or else they have been paid off by someone and are being men of their word. I can’t think of any other potential reasons.
Rep. Ana Luna of Florida — who’s a rising star given her brave stances, voted with her congressional allies against the housing act as a protest at the failure of the Senate to push the SAVE America Act through. She was right to do it.
So why President Trump is signing this questionable housing bill and not insisting on the SAVE America Act first is a bit of a mystery. One can only hope now that he has something good up his sleeve to muscle these recalcitrant RINOs into playing ball on that vital bill.
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