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Affordability Is the Midterm Fight — And Socialism Makes It Worse · Right Now Hot Takes

• 0:04
  Imagine this, you're 28, you work, you save,
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  you do the right things, and the house your parents
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  bought on one income is now three and a half
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  times the median income for people your age.
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  Starter homes that used to be reachable now demand
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  an income that used to buy a real family home.
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  Young adult home ownership has fallen to around
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  30%. Nearly 9 out of 10 people under 40 say buying
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  a home is harder than it was for their parents.
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  That's not a vibe. That's the data. Welcome to
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  Right Now Hot Takes. I'm Jim Rand. Today we're
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  talking about the issue that is going to decide
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  the midterms more than almost anything else,
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  affordability, and why the rising socialist energy
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  on the left is the exact opposite of a solution.
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  National Review put it plainly this week, Republicans
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  can win on affordability, voters are angry about
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  prices, housing, energy, everyday costs. The
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  job is not to dismiss that anger. The job is
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  to direct it toward the policies that actually
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  create abundance instead of the ones that lock
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  scarcity in place. Look at the numbers. Between
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  2019 and 2024, median home values for young households
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  rose about 30 % after inflation. Their incomes
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  rose about 9%. The price -to -income ratio for
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  people under 40 is back near the peak of the
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  mid -2000s housing bubble. Starter home prices
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  have climbed from the mid -200s to the mid -300s.
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  The income you need to qualify has jumped dramatically.
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  Regulations alone can add nearly a quarter of
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  the cost of a new single -family home. Insurance,
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  taxes, and energy bills keep stacking on top.
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  So young people delay. They stay longer with
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  parents. They put off starting families. They
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  feel the American promise slipping. And what
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  does the loudest part of the left offer? More
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  government control. Medicare for all -style central
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  planning. Wealth taxes. Heavier regulation. The
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  same democratic socialist package we just watched
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  win primaries in places like Michigan and compete
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  hard in Wisconsin. They talk about fairness.
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  They talk about the working class. But the track
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  record is scarcity, higher costs, and fewer opportunities
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  for the exact people they claim to champion.
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  History is not subtle on this. When you restrict
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  supply of housing, of energy, of opportunity,
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  prices rise. When you make it harder and more
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  expensive to build, Fewer homes get built. When
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  you treat energy abundance as a moral failure,
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  energy gets expensive. When you tell young people
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  that the problem is the rich instead of bad incentives
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  and too much government, you distract them from
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  the actual levers that work. Free enterprise
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  is not perfect. Markets can be messy, but markets
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  respond to demand. They reward people who produce
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  more of what people need. Limited government
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  and clear rules let builders build, innovators
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  innovate, and workers keep more of what they
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  earn. That is how you expand the pie instead
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  of fighting over a shrinking one. If you're in
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  your 20s or early 30s, this is not abstract.
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  This is whether you get to own something, whether
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  you get to raise kids in a place you control,
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  whether the path your parents walked is still
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  open. The left's answer keeps being more of the
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  same ideas that made the problem worse. More
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  central control. More redistribution. More cultural
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  lectures about why your desire for a normal life
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  is somehow greedy or colonial. The better answer
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  is straightforward. Unleash supply. Cut the regulations
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  that add tens of thousands to every new home.
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  Expand energy production so power and gas stop
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  punishing working people. Keep taxes and barriers
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  low so people can actually climb. Reward responsibility
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  and grit instead of envy. Republicans have a
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  real opening here. Voters are not asking for
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  socialism. They are asking for a shot at a life
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  that feels possible again. Channel the anger
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  correctly and the contrast rights itself. One
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  side sells scarcity dressed up as compassion.
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  The other side can sell abundance and opportunity
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  if it has the courage to do it clearly. That's
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  the fight right now. Not vibes, not slogans,
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  results. If young Americans keep getting locked
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  out of the basics, the country gets poorer in
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  every way that matters. The fix is not more government
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  promises. The fix is the system that has always
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  expanded opportunity when we let it work. If
• 4:38
  you enjoyed this episode, please do us a great
• 4:40
  favor. Rate and review the show on Apple podcasts,
• 4:44
  Spotify, or wherever you listen, and share this
• 4:47
  episode with a friend. Subscribe for more unfiltered
• 4:51
  truth. I'm Jim Rand. I'll see you next time on
• 4:56
  Right Now Hot Takes.