The dead-end hyperinflationary policies of the Biden-Harris administration have put the American Dream out of reach for many young people. I have talked to my 21-year-old daughter about this so many times that it breaks my heart.
Ruby, like so many young Americans, is doing everything right. She works hard, she saves up, but that old-fashioned notion of the white-picket fence seems to be slipping away from her grasp. Part of the reason I am running for Senate is to make America affordable again. And I know that bringing down out-of-control housing prices is the key to restoring access to the American Dream for our young people.
Per Federal Reserve data, in 1984, the median U.S. household income was $22,400 and the median home price was $78,200, or about 3.5 times the median income. By 2022, median household income had risen to $74,580, but median home prices had risen to over $433,000 — or nearly six times median income.
Elected officials owe it to our constituents to take clear and decisive action to reduce housing costs.
There has been so much focus on the role of interest rates, but the answer to bringing them back down, while hard to achieve, is fairly straightforward: the federal government needs to stop printing money we don’t have so that it can pay bills that we can’t afford. Taming that imbalance won’t be quick or easy, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you a bill of goods.
But there is another key element of the housing crisis that we can address quickly and effectively: a lack of skilled tradespeople. According to an analysis by Associated Builders and Contractors, the United States is short over half a million skilled construction workers. The lack of skilled construction workers combined with rapidly increasing costs of materials is creating a roadblock to building the millions of additional housing units that are needed to relieve the cost bottleneck.
Bringing down the cost of materials largely hinges on three things: reducing the price of energy and fuel, eliminating excessive regulations created by the Biden-Harris administration, and increasing the number of skilled workers available to producers. Limitations on oil-and-gas production and refining are leading to rapidly increasing fuel and energy costs that have inflated the price of building materials by tens of thousands of dollars per home.
Likewise, excessive regulation and DEI mandates being forced on producers by the Biden-Harris administration are also increasing materials and labor costs, without appreciable benefit to society in terms of reduced inequality. Lastly, the rush to send every high school graduate to a four-year college, with massive government subsidies, is draining the workforce of skilled tradespeople which both increases the cost of construction and delays additional new home starts.
Solving the first two problems is very simple. Replace President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris with Donald Trump, overturn the current administration’s pointless and counterproductive executive mandates, and you are two thirds of the way there. The last step — increasing the number of skilled construction workers — is going to take more effort.
But with some simple changes in federal education funding and policy, we can turn that deficit around in a matter of just a few years by revising federal education funding and loans to stop discriminating against trade schools and technical education and support the development of a skilled workforce sufficient to meet the demands of our housing market.
First, we need to revise the guidelines for Pell grants to allow them to be issued and used for more students to attend trade and technical schools. Second, if the government is going to continue to back student loans, eligibility for those loans needs to be aggressively expanded to include more trade schools.
Currently, trade-school students can access government-backed student loans, but only if their trade school is federally accredited. Many are not. Getting the vast majority of trade schools nationwide accredited so their students have access to government-backed loans should be a major priority for the next administration and will be a priority of mine in the U.S. Senate.
Lastly, the government needs to aggressively partner with industry to expand trade school opportunities by making low-interest loans available to companies and unions to invest in new and expanded trade and technical-school facilities.
The cost to attend trade and technical schools is far less than the cost of a four-year degree, and the returns on that investment are astronomical. A few thousand dollars of up-front investment in these careers yields a lifetime of high earnings, and resultant increased tax revenues. As a result, investing in expanding our skilled workforce is responsible governance, and must be a priority going forward.
Free-market economist Milton Friedman was hardly anti-immigration. He acknowledged that, pre-1914, immigrants came “for a better life for them and their children. In the main they succeeded,” broadly benefiting their adopted country.
But there was an important caveat. “It is one thing to have free immigration to jobs. It is another thing to have free immigration to welfare.” Immigrants dependent on public benefits don’t boost their host country. They have the effect of “a reduction of everybody to the same, uniform level.”
Leftists may not like it, but Friedman was right. We’re about to learn the lesson good and hard.
The tens of millions of “undocumented” immigrants now arriving in America have a much different outlook than immigrants of a century ago. In short, today’s immigrants don’t work that much.
A study of Census data by the Atlanta Federal Reserve reported that while over half of new jobs created in the last two years have gone to illegal immigrants, so many have come that barely half of working age, non-college immigrants are in the labor force. Five of six native Americans 25 through 64 regularly work.
The Border Patrol recorded over 10 million illegal immigrants processed during the Biden years plus countless millions not detected. Yet foreign-born employment increased by only 2.32 million. So, who is supporting the rest? We are.
California is the poster child for dependent illegal immigrants. There they get taxpayer-funded health insurance, food stamps, housing allowances, and myriad other benefits, costing $22.8 billion in state and local taxes alone, according to the pro-immigration Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Yet this for a population that generated just $8.5 billion in income.
Moreover, many of the programs are direct federal subsidies which means we all participate in their funding. Beyond all this is the escalation in spending by NGOs and philanthropic agencies to house, clothe, and feed the millions of “newcomers” being bused around the country, again at our expense.
The increased pressure on the federal budget, which immigration “hawks” warned against not long ago, has already been normalized. The discussion has subtly passed from whether illegal immigrants should be included in public benefits to how this should be accomplished. Deportation, once assumed for those who failed their asylum hearings (which most do), is now regarded as logistically and morally impossible.
It’s no mystery why our welfare system is a worldwide magnet. Average benefits received by working age households have risen from $7,352 in 1967 to $64,700 in 2022, adjusted for inflation. Welfare spending now consumes 72.6 percent of unobligated revenues (an accounting which doesn’t count payroll taxes or mandatory interest payments) while defense spending has fallen by half.
Most Americans don’t realize that official poverty statistics distributed by the Census Bureau don’t count as income. 88% of the transfer payments made to alleviate poverty. As noted by Gramm and Arrington in the Wall Street Journal, “The census doesn’t count refundable tax credits, food stamp debit cards, free medical care through Medicaid or benefits from about 100 other transfer payments as income.”
When these benefits are deemed to be income, 80% of those today who are counted as poor are no longer poor and the bottom three income quintiles in the Census Bureau all have approximately the same spending power.
With the abundance of means-tested transfer payments available, the percentage of working age persons in the bottom quintile who work has fallen from 68% to 38%. For about the same income, 2.4 times as many workers in the second lowest quintile actually work—and on average work 85% more hours than those in the bottom quintile.
Welfare beneficiaries in the main aren’t liars or cheaters. They are making rational decisions in an irrational environment. America is unfortunately a nation deeply in debt, living on anticipated income from the future. We spend money as if we still had it. The kids will figure it out.
The driving motive behind immigration policy is still to permanently alter the political landscape. The ultimate victims may be the migrants themselves, attracted by promises that in the long run can’t be kept.
As Friedman pointed out, we can’t enrich others by impoverishing ourselves. We all just become more poor.
Dr. Thomas Patterson, former Chairman of the Goldwater Institute, is a retired emergency physician. He served as an Arizona State senator for 10 years in the 1990s, and as Majority Leader from 93-96. He is the author of Arizona’s original charter schools bill.
A first-term west valley mayor in Arizona is helping to lead his city to greater economic prosperity.
Late last month, City of Peoria Mayor Jason Beck wrote an op-ed for a local publication, touting the work he and members of his municipal council were doing to “ensur[e] that Peoria remains an attractive destination for businesses while providing essential opportunities for our residents.”
Beck announced that the Peoria City Council had given a greenlight to amendments for the Peoria General Plan 2024 in a September 17 meeting. He reported that the approved amendments would “significantly enhance our city’s economic landscape and improve the quality of life for all residents.”
In the op-ed, Beck discussed a vital part of the amendments considered and rubberstamped by the council, which was a “new state land designation [that] includes the 1,620-acre North Peoria Gateway and the 6,700-acre Peoria Innovation Core.” He stated that “this designation will enable us to create a cohesive master plan for these areas, promoting strategic and well-coordinated growth rather than a fragmented development approach.”
The mayor also addressed some concerns that may have been percolating throughout the community in the lead-up to the action from the city council. He assured readers that “in no way do these designations change zoning or diminish protections for our natural resources. Existing city ordinances…will continue to safeguard the landscapes and wildlife that we all appreciate as Peoria residents.”
Beck championed the work of his municipality to “build a resilient future for Peoria” by “enhanc[ing] our ability to protect our environment while fostering economic development that benefits all residents across our city.” He forecasted the upcoming October council meeting, where the members would talk about additional economic development strategies to grow Peoria.
Under Beck’s visionary leadership, the City of Peoria has cemented its status in the Grand Canyon State of being one of the up-and-coming economic bastions in Arizona. The Mayor’s TYR Tactical is one of Peoria’s largest employers, and he used that experience to shape his economic development vision for the city’s future. Before taking office as the city’s chief executive, he campaigned on the construction of a city owned airport “that will create thousands of jobs and billions in economic impact” for Peoria, as well as the “creation of culture that is not only Pro Business but moves at the speed and efficiency of business.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Congressman Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) released a new advertising campaign Thursday taking aim at the enormous economic fallout of the Biden-Harris administration’s fiscal policies. Those policies are also supported by Ciscomani’s Democrat opponent, former Arizona State Senator Kirsten Engel.
Sharing the new ad in a post to X, Ciscomani wrote, “Arizonans are feeling the impact of rising prices, an open border, and out-of-touch politicians pushing failed policies. My opponent, Kirsten Engel, supports the reckless spending that got us here. ‘It’s exactly what we need,’ said Engel. I’m focused on real solutions: bringing costs down, securing our border, and standing up for Arizona families. Watch my latest ad to learn more. #AZ06”
According to a campaign press release, the advertisement is designed to capture, “everyday struggles Arizonans face: rising costs, an open border, and out-of-touch D.C. politicians who continue to push policies that worsen inflation.”
The partisans love to talk without making any progress. As Arizona's most bipartisan member of Congress, I'm delivering results: ✅Better water infrastructure ✅Improved roads ✅Secure border And… 🇺🇸Endorsed by 40+ local leaders, police, border agents, & small businesses
As reported by the Common Sense Institute of Arizona, as of September 2024, the average Phoenix household is spending $1,004/month more than they would have at a 2% inflation rate.
The CSI of AZ reported, “Since the end of 2020, the typical Arizona household would have had to spend a cumulative $39,722 more on food, housing, transportation, and other goods and services to buy the same stuff as they were buying three years ago.”
“In Congress, I’ve been focused on delivering real solutions for Arizona – securing the border, cutting wasteful spending, and lowering taxes for middle-class families,” Ciscomani said in a statement. “My opponent, Kirsten Engel, supports the same reckless, inflation-driving policies that have made it harder for Arizonans to afford everyday essentials. We need leadership that understands our struggles and is willing to take decisive action, not another out-of-touch politician who rubber-stamps the failed policies that got us here.”
Citing Engel’s legislative history of voting against essential measures like the Border Strike Force, Ciscomani continued, “Kirsten Engel’s out-of-touch record speaks for itself. From voting against border security measures to advocating for reckless spending, Engel has proven time and again that she would fit right in with the D.C. politicians who have failed Arizona families.”
Shortly after releasing the ad, Ciscomani addressed the tightly choreographed “Border Visit” conducted by Vice President Kamala Harris in a statement to KVOA saying, “Vice President Harris’ visit to the border smells like nothing more than a photo opportunity to try and score political points. For three and a half years, the vice president has been in a position to address this crisis but instead she has ignored it. As a result border districts, like mine, have suffered under her lack of leadership. Our communities have become less safe and vulnerable people are being exploited by coyotes, human smugglers, drug cartels, and transnational criminal organizations. If she was truly serious about addressing the crisis at the border, she would have done something as the sitting vice president to help border communities that have been calling for help.”
Arizona voters are increasingly worried about the rising cost of housing as the November General Election approaches.
Last month, Noble Predictive Insights (NPI) released the findings of a poll, showing that “affordable housing has officially cemented its status as a top-tier issue for Arizona voters.”
In the top issues facing Arizona for this survey, “Affordable Housing” registered third in importance. “Inflation” and “Immigration” were the top two issues on the minds of Arizonans.
Affordable Housing was ranked as the third-highest issue for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike. Inflation was also a top three issue for all three voter demographics.
“Immigration, abortion, inflation – when these issues come up, the parties know what they’re talking about. And voters know who they trust. Housing is a different animal. Housing costs are just too high, and it’s becoming a bipartisan concern,” stated David Byler, NPI Chief of Research. “This is a rare opportunity for both parties – an important issue where neither side has a pre-existing advantage or even a defined message. The party that figures out how to win on housing will benefit hugely.”
The survey conducted by NPI occurred in mid-August with just over 1,000 registered voters.
According to Zillow, the average home value in the State of Arizona is $431,492 as of August 31, which is up 2.4% over one year. Meanwhile, the average United States home value, per Zillow, is $361,282, which is up 2.9% over the past year.
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen addressed the poll’s findings with AZ Free News, saying, “The American dream of homeownership has become unattainable for the working-class under the Biden-Harris Administration. We attempted to make homes more affordable last year for our citizens with the Arizona Starter Homes Act, but unfortunately, the Governor vetoed the bill after caving to pressure from special interests and the Biden-Harris Administration’s Department of Defense. To add insult to injury, the Governor halted home construction in two of the most booming areas of the Valley, worsening Arizona’s supply shortage. Republicans at the Legislature will continue to draft commonsense solutions to get government out of the way, and to speed up home construction, so prices can come down. We’re hopeful the Governor will do the right thing by signing those bills into law.”
In a piece for The Heritage Foundation this summer, EJ Antoni, a Research Fellow, wrote about the reasons for skyrocketing home values and costs in Arizona. He said, “Over the last four years, the federal government spent trillions of dollars it didn’t have and far more than it was capable of even borrowing. To cover the shortfall, the Federal Reserve created money for the Treasury to borrow and spend. While that solved the federal finance problem, it also unleashed the worst inflation in four decades and spawned a cost-of-living crisis. While inflation causes prices everywhere to rise, the housing market in particular has seen stratospheric increases in sales prices. Part of the Fed’s plan of creating trillions of dollars for the Treasury was keeping interest rates artificially low, and that made borrowing extremely inexpensive, including borrowing for a home.”
Antoni added, “Potential home buyers had access to so much cheap credit that they collectively bid up the prices of homes to never-before-seen levels. After the Fed’s low interests and easy credit created inflation, however, the central bank swung the monetary levers in the other direction and initiated fast interest rate hikes. That suddenly made borrowing prohibitively expensive for countless Americans.”
As Antoni concluded his piece, he stated that “in Arizona, it has reached the point where a single working adult needs to earn $97,000 to live comfortably. That’s over 50 percent higher than the median income for a single full-time worker. If you want to comfortably support a family of four in Arizona, you’ll need to earn $231,000. Even with two working adults, they’d need to each earn almost twice the median income of a full-time worker to hit that annual income.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
