I think housing and jobs are going to be big issues this year.

[redqueen]

Every time people's anxiety about the economy comes up, there's a chorus of people claiming that the stock market and job numbers are great and people have cell phones and Netflix, so why are so many complaining?

Meanwhile Housing is now unaffordable for a record half of all U.S. renters as Tech companies are slashing thousands of jobs as they pivot toward AI - which will have a knock on effect on the service jobs which while plentiful, pay so little that few but childless people with roommates or who live with their parents can live on.

I'm not saying this to spread doom and gloom, but in the hopes that we can take those barometers of people's anxiety seriously, and not brush them off. There are going to be more and more jobs affected this year. Hopefully more good paying jobs will come out of the investment in infrastructure that Dems have pushed through. I don't know what the numbers look like on that front, but I think the messaging on the economy could be much better than 'things are great! we're doing awesome! people are just spoiled and irresponsible!'

And hopefully Dems will start making a lot more noise about the housing crisis and how we can address it. I think we can do a lot better than the less-than-encouraging End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act. This crisis has been building for years. The proposed bill imposes tax penalties on hedge funds that don't comply with the mandate to sell off small percentages of the single-family homes they own, spread over a decade. What are the chances those tax penalties will simply be written off as a cost of doing business, like so many other financial penalties that are dwarfed by profits?

Also, will this include other entities like LLCs and private equity firms that buy up thousands of homes around the country and then act like more like slumlords than landlords, on top of skirting their taxes?

Then there's the software used by apartment management companies to fix prices - which is being addressed - but it should be talked up a lot more. And there should probably be an investigation into price fixing using other means as well. Not that we can expect much to get done with this congress, but making it clear that we are trying, and that and electing more Dems will help fix this mess - maybe that will help us secure control of both houses - I hope.

[2naSalit]

1. K&R

[Diamond_Dog]

2. I think housing is an issue that will concern our side more.

How many Republicans have even said anything about affordable housing?

We really need to mobilize and vote blue!

[mucifer]

4. Republicans constantly blame President Biden

For the high cost of everything. Yet their politicians only want more tax cuts for the wealthy.

It’s more brainwashing and it works.

People don’t seem interested in knowing about solutions and who is blocking them.

They just want to blame the democrats.

[yardwork]

3. All very good points. I hope Biden addresses this.

I think Biden has done a remarkable job addressing big issues, neatly circumventing the Republicans' obstructions.

I hope he comes out swinging this summer with initiatives that will help ordinary Americans - the ones that are left behind and vulnerable to corporate greed.

(I strongly believe that most of the inflation we're seeing is due to corporate greed.)

[redqueen]

5. Totally agree about greedflation

I've seen people blaming the housing crisis on inflation - that nonsense needs to be ripped to shreds at every opportunity.

Is it to blame for higher housing costs? Somewhat. Is it to blame for the housing crisis? Hardly.

[Hugin]

6. I tend to agree...

Although jobs are a perpetual political issue, housing has really emerged as a critical problem in this cycle for a number of complex reasons with some of them tied back to jobs.

[redqueen]

7. I've seen people claim 'but housing is affordable in (insert random city name)!'

Which is yet another tone-deaf response.

Jobs are a perpetual issue but imo AI is going to make the impact of NAFTA look like a warm up.

[leftstreet]

8. DURec

[Johonny]

9. Housing is a big issue in purple districts

As are the Trump tax raises, and ARBNBs also huge issue. These are things that the GOP has no answer for, but purple district representatives should push hard.

[redqueen]

13. Yep, in state races too

Housing is an issue almost everywhere - it would be foolish not to address it and make sure voters know what we're doing on that front.

[ScratchCat]

10. Biden and Democrats need to shout from the rooftops

These following points:

Tax cuts are one of the two main causes of housing inflation.

Wealthy investment groups SHOULD NOT be in the business of owning single-family properties. SFR's are homes for everyone, not "investments" for the wealthy.

The home building industry turner virtually overnight to demanding profits at least double what was traditionally expected for the size home they were building at the same time middle men have caused artificial "shortages" in certain supplies and refused to lower prices on things like lumber even though demand and wholesale prices have fallen significantly.

What you have been watching is both Greedflation and Spiteflation perpetrated by wealthy corporations, most of which have owners and boards who predominately vote Republican. Their goal is to stop working voters, especially minorities, from going to the polls in the same numbers they did in 2020 and voting out/against Republicans.

Start shouting this, Joe.

[redqueen]

14. Haven't seen 'spiteflation' before.

A Google search shows you may have just now coined that term!

[ScratchCat]

17. I've been using it for a while now

I was curious if anyone else had or if I had invented it. Thought for sure someone else must have too. Cool! I think its a spot on description of what I have witnessed. They said "elections have consequences" and proceeded to jack prices up on consumer goods, things that really only affect working people(the price of food, diapers or lumber doesn't really affect those making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year as they have plenty of income to cover the essentials of life).

[redqueen]

30. Nice one! It describes their actions perfectly.

[Johnny2X2X]

11. People are doing better now than before Covid

https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/the-purchasing-power-of-american-households#:~:text=Real%20weekly%20earnings%20for%20the,in%202019%2C%20despite%20higher%20prices.

"Real weekly earnings for the median worker grew 1.7 percent between 2019 and 2023. This means that one week of pay for the median worker now buys more than a week of pay did in 2019, despite higher prices.

Real wages have risen since before the pandemic across the income distribution. In particular, middle-income and lower-income households have seen their real earnings rise especially fast. And in the past 12 months, real wages overall have grown faster than they did in the pre-pandemic expansion. "

Housing is a separate issue in my mind, rents are falling, not rising though.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rent-apartment-fall-demand-cools/#:~:text=The%20median%20rent%20countrywide%20was,the%20residential%20real%20estate%20market.

And home prices are still high and that's not necessarily a bad thing to people who own homes, mortgage rates have fallen too, but won't fall more too much more until the Fed lowers overnight lending rates.

[redqueen]

15. Housing is not a separate issue if all those increases in earnings and wages still leave so many unable to afford it

This is exactly what I'm talking about.

[ScratchCat]

19. A survey was done in my area

That showed that 2/3 of homeowners could not afford to purchase the home they own at today's supposed price and the current interest rate levels. Two thirds of current owners. 85% or so of those who don't own homes can't afford to buy anything.

Rental rates continue to rise and, in some cases, are 50% higher than they were four to five years ago.

[Johnny2X2X]

20. That is a meaningless survey

And surveys like that don't show what people can afford, they show what people think they can afford. Prices for homes rise, all the time, that's not going to change. Interest rates are slightly above normal, but that will change soon.

And rental prices are going down right now.

America, and Americans are better off economically under Biden than they were under Trump before the pandemic, the actual numbers support that statement.

[ScratchCat]

24. Rental rates are not declining

In any desirable place to live in America.

Look, I am not blaming Biden, but Americans are not "better off" now because of the offsets that have been mentioned(by other posters as well). For every "gain" workers got, the wealthy just took and keep taking more from us. I have heard everything under the sun used as a justification to raise prices. Heck, all my local fast food and grocery stores raised prices AGAIN two weeks ago when half the price increases over the past two years were not economically warranted.

[Johnny2X2X]

25. Overall, rent is decreasing right now

https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/4358987-rent-expected-to-drop-in-several-us-cities-as-markets-near-oversupply-real-estate-report/#:~:text=Nationwide%2C%20the%20cost%20of%20renting,between%205%25%20and%2011%25.https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/4358987-rent-expected-to-drop-in-several-us-cities-as-markets-near-oversupply-real-estate-report/#:~:text=Nationwide%2C%20the%20cost%20of%20renting,between%205%25%20and%2011%25.

And real wages are up 1.7% since 2019, that means wage growth has exceeded inflation. And it's better for lower and middle income families. Inflation includes housing cost inflation. So yes, people can afford more now than before Covid, that is the very definition of better off.

[Happy Hoosier]

12. My main question here is.... so..... what do you want Biden and/or Democrats to do?

What specific policies do you think should be advanced?

It's not like the GQP is going to make the issue better. It baffles me when I hear folks considering letting the people who will make it WORSE win becasue the people trying to make things better aren't doing things good enough.

Absolutely baffling.

[redqueen]

16. I thought I was pretty clear, but to summarize

It's fine to talk about how great the economy is doing - but that needs to be accompanied by an acknowledgement of these issues that are leaving so many people unable to afford housing.

It's fine to talk about job creation - but that should be accompanied by a discussion about the effects AI is having on jobs, and what we are doing / can do to mitigate it, if we get more dems in Congress.

[Happy Hoosier]

18. Those aren't policy proposals.... they are talking points.

"Acknowledging" and "a discussion" is just wheel spinning. That doesn't actually DO anything.

I can't see either of these things actually moving the needle at all. Heck, we're having a hard enough time getting people to respond to the ACTUAL data that the economy is really doing quite well.

I guess I have no faith that people will respond positively based on their past performance.

[Johnny2X2X]

22. Exactly

Are there challenges in the economy? Yes, there always are, no matter what the times. But the economy is doing the best it's done in decades and no one is talking about that.

Biden's policies are giving workers huge raises. Long overdue ones. People are finally getting ahead. The housing problems are temporary and a product of recovering from inflation, the only way to improve that is to continue with Biden's polciies which are clearly rebuilding the middle class in ways we haven't seen in generations.

[redqueen]

27. The housing problems are not a product of recovering from inflation.

Blackstone Extends Bet on Single-Family Rentals With US $3.5 Billion Tricon Deal - All-Cash Purchase Includes 38,000 Homes Across US Sun Belt and Marks a Bet on Surging Canada Market

I studied 1 million home sales in metro Atlanta and found that Black families are being squeezed out of homeownership by corporate investors

Investors are snapping up 1 in 5 Maine homes

‘Swapping homes like stocks’: Wall Street-backed firm buys 264 valley homes in a day

Investors Gobbled Up More Than 1 In 5 Boston-Area Housing Units

Banker & Tradesman
TD Bank Plans $10B 'Home Ownership Investment' Focused on Boston, Five Other Cities
2 days ago

[ScratchCat]

29. Maybe I should phrase it like this

Biden's policies are giving workers huge raises. Long overdue ones. People are finally getting ahead. The housing problems are temporary and a product of recovering from inflation, the only way to improve that is to continue with Biden's polciies which are clearly rebuilding the middle class in ways we haven't seen in generations.

Biden needs to do a better job of explaining to and convincing people that his policies are not the reason "everything" went up and keeps going up because all you hear all day is that Biden's policies are the reason you have to pay more for everything from housing to soda pop. And again, the main reason why we are still paying artificially inflated prices for the necessities of life is because the rich and wealthy who control the prices are engaging in shenanigans in hopes of affecting the voting habits of working people, especially that of minorities. Biden needs to call this out by specifically addressing this.

[redqueen]

26. If you click the links in the OP

You'll see that there is a bill to address hedge funds ownership of single family homes.

There's also the court case that the company in Texas tried to stop but the DOJ said it can proceed so that is also some action that's being taken to help apartment renters to be able to afford a place to live.

[BannonsLiver]

23. Those are talking points not policy proposals

Do you even understand what it is you’re blaming Biden for? Good grief. 🙄

[redqueen]

28. Where am I 'blaming Biden'?