Patterico's Pontifications

7/21/2018

Today’s Episode of Progressive Politicians Ignorant of How Markets Actually Work

Filed under: General — JVW @ 3:03 pm



[guest post by JVW]

Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the odds-on favorite to be the Democrats’ nominee for President in 2020.

First of all, exactly what percentage of income should Americans be spending on rent? If 30% is, per Senator Harris, “absurd” then is 26% ridiculous and 22% nonsensical, but 19% acceptable? Watch for everyone’s favorite progressive buzzword, “fair,” to rear its ugly-head.

This is of course pandering to young college graduates who feel like they are entitled to live in high-rent cities such as San Francisco and New York. It has noting to do with legitimately poor families, who continue to qualify for subsidized housing and vouchers; it’s all about winning the allegiance of Barack Obama’s old friend Julia, who has a degree in sociology with a minor in feminist studies from Babson College and now wants to work for public television in Boston but is distressed that a studio apartment even in slummy Dorchester goes for $1700 a month.

Here in Senator Harris’s home state, we are considering removing restrictions on rent control. I’ll have more to write about that later. There just happens to be a huge run on bad ideas these days, I suppose.

– JVW

21 Responses to “Today’s Episode of Progressive Politicians Ignorant of How Markets Actually Work”

  1. The other night, I was just re-reading the first chapters of Thomas Sowell’s classic Basic Economics, which demolishes rent (and price) controls so thoroughly and completely that sheer embarrassment should stop anyone from ever proposing them again.

    Dave (445e97)

  2. Kamala-Toe is unaware of the impact of leftwing policies, restrictions on construction, zoning on housing availability and affordability?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  3. If qualifing for an 80% primary residence mortgage loan (that’s with a 20% down payment) is a useful comparison, then the ratio of PITI (principle, interest, tax, and insurance) to the average two year stable monthly gross income should be under 32%.

    ropelight (c6b0ae)

  4. @1 Dave, I immediately thought back to my readings of Sowell. And that book (and passing a simple T/F test on its content) should be a prerequisite for HS graduation.

    ColoComment (58aadb)

  5. Harris thinks spending 30% of your income on housing is bad, but spending 40% of your income on taxes is good.

    Chuck Bartowski (211c17)

  6. Among the many things I’m tired of is you Californians sending your dipsh!t politicians to Washington to make stupid laws for the rest of us. Why don’t you all pack up your whole Commie socialist state and get the hell out of our country, is what I have to say.

    nk (dbc370)

  7. nk, that’s pretty much how I feel about Chicago, Detroit, Saint Louis, Washington DC, and quite a few other bastions of Leftist entitlement, but since Barack Obama adopted The Windy City as his home, it comes in at the top of my list of domestic sh!tholes.

    ropelight (c6b0ae)

  8. Oh, yeah? Well, so’s your state!

    [Insert further remarks about Abraham Lincoln, Obama, Trump, and whom you would trust to babysit your children, here. Also alligators, pythons, anacondas, iguanas, and giant African land snails.]

    nk (dbc370)

  9. Well the brainslugs have run dry in the future state, but like the ones in night of the creeps they have migrated.

    Narciso (a245e7)

  10. nk, you forgot to tell us to get off your lawn, too.

    Dave (445e97)

  11. Pyrite state, but that is what 30 years of Marxist derived construvism has yielded.

    Narciso (a245e7)

  12. Constructivism, ignite was the intermediate stage.

    Narciso (a245e7)

  13. nk, you forgot to tell us to get off your lawn, too.

    You’ve got Maxine Waters’ gang burning the American flag in front of her office. That’s rebellion and insurrection. If you won’t leave, we should place you under martial law and take away your representation in Congress until you’re Reconstructed.

    nk (dbc370)

  14. Harris ’20-math is HARD!

    Bugg (8aed21)

  15. This is the same woman who certified cartridge micro-stamping as readily available based on the absence of patents on the subject. And the CA Supreme Court accepted this reasoning.

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  16. Among the many things I’m tired of is you Californians sending your dipsh!t politicians to Washington to make stupid laws for the rest of us. Why don’t you all pack up your whole Commie socialist state and get the hell out of our country, is what I have to say.

    It’s not a “whole commie state”. The commies are located in about 10 counties. Offer them their own state and set the rest of CA free.

    You may be pissed off by a few commie reps in DC, but guess how the very RED counties of CA feel about having their state utterly controlled by these loons.

    THEN invite them to take their rump state and sod off, along with about $3 trillion of debt.

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  17. Take every coastal county from Mendocino to Los Angeles, plus Alameda, Santa Clara and Sanapanoma and call that Communist California (after the loony-left radio network they all listen too). Then cast it adrift as its own country along with a bunch of debt as dowry.

    Then rename the rest of the state Free California.

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  18. *to

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  19. Get some Republicans in charge and California could be the next Kansas.

    Davethulhu (270006)

  20. She’s not bad looking, black and female, so the fact that she’s stupid, ignorant and nasty has been affirmative actioned away.

    Fred Z (05d938)

  21. If not for building and xoing codes – and the killing of prefabricated hoses – housing might be cheaper. Prices will drop to the level of what new housing costs.

    But too much debt is based on the high price of housing.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)


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