Free Markets, Not Affordable Housing, Cure to Housing Crisis

Numerous articles have recently appeared describing an alarming prospect for renters moving forward.

The Atlantic describes a "bleak future for renters" and Zero Hedge noted the "missing" inflation is located in rental rates, which have been on a historic rise. Bloomberg noted "the rent crisis is about to get much worse."

Many have used the fallout of the housing crisis to advance an agenda centralized on the transformation of wealth. An orchestrated series of events, from the FED's ZIRP (zero interest policy), quantitative easing (the printing of money) and the bailout of the nations banking system has led to an inflated stock market where counter party risks have escalated and an increasing disconnect between the worlds of equity and fixed income has emerged. Hypothecation is certain to be an upcoming buzzword.

The economic policies of the left have left those seeking to move up the ladder of prosperity shackled to the ground. Potential home buyers are unable to pull the trigger on purchases of new or existing homes, as median income is stagnant and full time employment growth is non-existent.

In fact, home ownership is at a 40 year low.

Chart via ZeroHedge.com

Left leaning policy wonks, who never let a crisis go to waste, think the government has opportunities to correct the situation, by stepping in to ensure affordable housing.  Stepping in to correct the "situation" they created?  One thing I know; it is not prudent to engage those who caused the problem to fix the problem.

“The economy alone is not going to solve this problem," said Andrew Jakabovics, senior director of research at Enterprise Community Partners, said in a conference call to discuss the findings. "It brings us back to the need to expand affordable housing.”

False.

Presently, consumers are boxed in with historic rises in rental rates (inflation), with little avenue of escape.

More government intervention in the market is the opposite of what is needed. As Ronald Reagan once said, The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'

For the problem to be solved, regulation and taxation must retract to allow increases in full time employment, median incomes and entrepreneurship. Further, QE, which devalues the currency, must cease and interest rates must rise.

As the brilliant Thomas Sowell appropriately notes upon the visit of Pope Francis to America, "Pope Francis’ own native Argentina was once among the leading economies of the world, before it was ruined by the kind of ideological notions he is now promoting around the world".

Without question, free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity, where most who achieve it significantly expand their participation in charity efforts. This is not only true in America, but across the globe.

Providing an environment for potential home buyers to escape from being trapped in rental homes is essential to solve the housing problem, and a integral part of that landscape would be free market capitalism unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit of the individual, placing the federal government back operation within its means and a reduction in punitive regulatory and taxation burdens.

As former Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R:MI, noted, "Reagan trusted in Americans' entrepreneurial spirit, innovative talents, and industriousness, and he agreed with Adam Smith's insight that freedom and prosperity are inextricably entwined and mutually reinforcing. The flexibility of our markets is endangered by excessive regulation, onerous litigation, and government redistribution of wealth".

The blueprint to solve all the nations economic ills has already been written, if our elected leaders chose to engage it.  The current group will not, choosing to increase power over the citizenry through increasing tyranny utilizing divisive policies laced with socialism.

In November of 2016, we have A Time for Choosing.

We All Want To See The Plan

When conservatives are in power, government strives to cultivate free markets and empower the individual with limited taxation and regulation.  In the spirit of Adam Smith, a moral compass is a requirement for optimal market efficiency, with those who violate common decency guidelines quickly defeated in the open market.

With progressives in positions of power, due to perceived lack of confidence in the individual, government seeks, in the name of seemingly good ideas and worthwhile initiatives, to diminish individual power and freedom by increasing the role of government in the marketplace.

An illustrative example may be identified on this day while many celebrated Earth Day.  Seemingly worthwhile and innocent regulatory actions for the perceived good of the environment actually place increasing limitations individual property rights and escalate numerous forms of costs for property owners.

Another example is an extremely nefarious piece of legislation, seemingly vague and harmless in its cloaking presentation, which if passed, will challenge our Constitutional rights by an endless erosion of the rights of free speech.

The piece of legislation, “The Hate Crime Reporting Act of 2014″ (S.2219), is sponsored, in their arrogance, by Democrats Ed Markey of Massachusetts in the Senate and Hakeem Jeffries of New York in the House of Representatives.  The bill seeks:

"To require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to update a report on the role of telecommunications, including the Internet, in the commission of hate crimes".

Let us look at the opening sentence of the bill we outlined above. Who is the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and what would be considered their mission statement?  Why not, let us check Wikipedia.

In review of the stated goals of the agency, while much of it seems unnecessary, it follows a logical process for our government during these times with respect to utilization and growth of global communications. Investigatory actions with respect to any form of criminology was not identified within the agency tasks and they appear to have no such legal authority.

So, exactly why are we attempting to travel down this road? Are these two legislators seeking additional power for their personal resumes or are they sponsoring legislation as a front tentacle for a web of enacting widespread governmental control over what is exactly able to be communicated over the Internet?  The distinctions are critically important.

Tying their bill to this week's alleged white supremacist shootings in Kansas, Markey says it is "critical to ensure the internet, television and radio are not encouraging hate crimes or hate speech." He brushes aside expected First Amendment arguments, saying "criminal and hateful activity" aren't covered by the Constitution. HT/Inside Radio.

At quick glance, the bill seems to have merit. After all, who does not want individuals who engage in the commission of hate crimes to be punished to the fullest extent of the law?

However, if law, it would allow a non-elected bureaucrat to cast a wide net in search of such violators, trampling over the first amendment rights of the citizenry in a typical progressive power grab. However, with progressives, as we have learned all too well, the issue is never the issue, and this legislation is no different.

Those who recognize what is actually at play here are appalled by the legislation, including political pundits from opposing sides, ranging from Alan Colmes to Glenn Beck.

The legislation is a back door attack on freedom of speech and an attempt to eliminate the power of the first amendment so that political opponents can be silenced.  The administration is working this angle from many fronts, most notably through the IRS, one of many current scandals engulfing the administration.

Think I am kidding?


Mark Lloyd

We need to take a moment to learn more about an early appointee by President Obama, Diversity Czar, Mark Lloyd.  Investors Business Daily, in an editorial in August of 2009, accurately depicted Lloyd as a disciple of Saul Alinsky and a great admirer of Hugo Chavez, who silenced freedom of speech as a dictator in Venezuela.  SOS Venezuela!

IBD references Glenn Beck, who points out Lloyd, in his 2006 book, "Prologue to a Farce: Communication and Democracy in America," wrote: "It should be clear by now that my focus here is not freedom of speech or the press. ... This freedom is all too often an exaggeration. ... At the very least, blind references to freedom of speech or the press serve as a distraction from the critical examination of other communications policies."

Alarmed yet? With Lloyd unleashed to implement his ideas, we would have the Fairness Doctrine on steroids.

David Horowitz, over at his Discover the Networks website, noted the following regarding Lloyd:

*Seeks to use "diversity" and "localism" as pretexts for shifting the political balance of talk-radio programming leftward.
*Suggests that private broadcasters should pay an annual licensing fee in an amount equivalent to their total yearly operating costs; that money, in turn, should be redistributed to public broadcasting stations.
*Opposes virtually any private ownership of media.
*Disciple of Saul Alinsky's tactics for revolutionary social change.
* Greatly admires Venezuela's Marxist President, Hugo Chavez.

So, we can conclude that, with respect to media operations, Lloyd much prefers governmental control of media outlets, vehemently opposing media outlets operating in the private sector. And much like his mentor Hugo Chavez, Lloyd thinks the government should determine what can be voiced or written on the said media outlets.

Would Lloyd, and those charged with implementation of the Markey-Jeffries bill, apply equal governance over The Huffinton Post as they would The Drudge Report?  As John Lennon of The Beatles wrote in Revolution, "well, you know, we'd all love to see the plan".  TRUST NO ONE!

The shooting Senator Markey referred to in Kansas City was undertaken by a deranged individual, who was white supremacist.  His antics had nothing to do with what radio station he listened to, or which political figure he admired.  He was not a man of principle and character, but an individaul who violated the law and must be judged by a jury of his peers.  God will be the ultimate judge.

Senator Markey utilizing this crime as a motive for him crafting the bill is a smokescreen.  While the bill itself seeks to contain the first amendment, tying the Kansas City shooting to it places cards on the table in the effort to increase gun control, an attack on the second amendment.

These progressive elites think their thought processes, enacted in governance, are superior to those of our founding fathers.  Imagine, for a moment, the arrogance.

Those seeking to curtail freedom of speech, as has been the case throughout history, are opponents of liberty.  In most cases, these efforts were masked under some presentation of the action having been implemented for some greater good.  Historically, it has worked oh so well.

HT/Tea Party Command Center

Senator Markey and Representative Jeffries, likely under direction of others, moved forward with the bill as one of many avenues to attack the first amendment.  I will let you decide if you think they fail to see the "real plan" or are among the players who are actively seeking limitations of your freedoms outlined in the Constitution.

I have seen the plan. I'll go with the latter.