What Happened To A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats?

The California legislature just passed a bill that would make undocumented immigrants eligible for up to $150,000 in state supported loans to buy a house.

Even better, the bill would not require any interest to be paid on the loan until it is sold. At that point 15-20% of any appreciation on the house would be due as interest.

Source: https://www.mtdemocrat.com/news/state/california-legislature-allows-undocumented-to-get-free-150k-home-down-payments/article_1cf5d090-9e53-5b3d-b6e3-6f0594b5f036.html

The California legislature passed a bill allowing undocumented immigrants to make use of the state’s $150,000, 0 down, 0 interest home “loans.” The bill now goes to the governor’s desk, where he must either veto or approve the bill by the end of September.

California’s Dream for All Shared Appreciation Loans program allows applicants to secure “loans” of up to $150,000 or 20% of the home’s purchase price — or, about what a typical down payment is — with zero down payment on this state “loan,” and no payments. In exchange, the state receives the original loan amount plus 20% of the appreciated gain when the home is refinanced, sold, or transferred. 

Meanwhile, in the state of Washington a similar program that offers 0% home loans of up to $150,000 has been established based solely on race.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/washington-states-homeownership-program-offers-loans-based-solely-race

The loan program seems to be available for everyone but Caucasians.

We also recently saw Kamala Harris say she wants to make housing more affordable by providing $25,000 to first-time homebuyers and the construction of 3 million new homes over the next four years.

There is no doubt that housing has become prohibitively expensive for many Americans. This is particularly true for younger Americans looking for their first home or apartment of their own.

This chart says it all.

Credit: https://x.com/charliebilello/status/1824279436306297294/photo/1

Why has housing become so unaffordable the last several years?

1. Home mortgage interest costs have soared due to inflation

2. Construction costs have risen substantially due to higher energy costs and inflation

Compare the increase in costs of building materials in the 2016-2020 period compared to 2020-2024.

Source: https://www.nahb.org/advocacy/top-priorities/material-costs

I am also sure that Kamala Harris has not considered what a government program will do to these building material costs when her 3 million new homes (twice the normal number) is instituted. 

3. Over 10 million illegal immigrants seeking housing who have arrived here the last four years has put enormous demand pressure on housing costs.

Consider this chart that shows the level of illegal immigration over the last decade or so. This is the chart that Donald Trump credits with saving his life as he turned to refer to it at the Butler, PA rally in July.

Who was sitting at the helm in Washington, D.C. as all of this unfolded before our eyes?

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Kamala Harris now wants to tell us she has a plan to fix the mess that she and Joe created with their misguided policies in the first place?

It also goes without saying that "Kamala's plan" would be paid by U.S. taxpayers or (more likely) the creation of more federal debt.

All of this is occurring at the same time that the pending sales of homes has dropped to its lowest levels in recent memory.

Lower than the depths of the pandemic. Lower than in the Great Recession of 2009/2010.

I guess the argument can be made that the housing market needs all the help it can get.

However, what happened to the way things used to be done?

The federal government facilitated growth in the economy by establishing an environment that allowed prosperity to flourish by protecting free enterprise and limiting government control and interference where possible.

Is the American system perfect?  No.

Are there inequities from time to time? Yes.

Kamala Harris likes to repeat the following line in her speeches.

"What can be...unburdened by what has been."

Here is a 2 minute clip showing Kamala uttering that same phrase over and over again.

Link to video

It is essentially Harris telling us that she wants to throw out America's past and its success and replace it with a system that favors redistribution and government control that she believes will be more equitable.

It is similar to what the socialists and communists in Russia, China and Venezuela told the people of those countries as they sought to achieve power.

However, President John F. Kennedy probably said it best when he stated what the real focus should be in government policy.

A rising tide lifts all the boats.

The Democrat party of JFK was interested in making the pie bigger for everyone. Its primary interest was looking out for the working men and women of America and seeing that everyone had a fair shot at success and getting a piece of the pie.

That Democrat party no longer seems to exist. It is more interested in handouts than providing a helping hand. Instead of focusing on giving everyone equal opportunity, Democrats have decided they want certain groups moved to the front of the line. It seems that prosperity is no longer their primary goal. Their entire focus has become about their own power. And the control they need over the people to keep getting the votes they need to retain their political power.

Kamala Harris may want to be unburdened by the past history of the United States. However, the fact is that no other country has provided more opportunity and more prosperity for more people than the United States has.

There is no better proof of that than in looking at the economic success of the United States of America and what it has meant to its populace over the course of history.

Even the poorest Americans have a much more prosperous life than the vast majority of people in the rest of the world.

The fact that tens of millions of people from around the world are willing to cross our borders illegally to get here is all the additional proof you need to know how true that JFK adage about the benefits of a rising tide lifting all boats.

What happened to the "a rising tide lift all the boats" philosophy of JFK?

 It apparently is not even a distant memory for the Democrat party any more.