Life On The Sandbar: The "K" Economy

[Essay]

Here on Cape Cod, you can see the "K" economy firsthand, and it is right next door. The house went on the market around Memorial Day, and since I've been up here, not one person has stopped by to look at it.

When you look at home sales, what stands out is that nearly all the sales are for more than $1 million. In fact, the sweet spot seems to be around $1.25 million. Below that, sales are few and far between. There may be a reason for that: many of those smaller cottages are probably being kept in the families that have owned them for generations. But many other can no long afford a vacation home.

Economists describe today's economy as 'K-shaped': because those with assets keep getting richer while everyone else struggles to keep surviving. 

But in Provincetown, condos run into the low millions. When I was looking for a cottage here back in 2018, an agent showed me a place in P'town—a loft cottage about twenty feet wide and thirty feet long with a sleeping loft. The asking price was $300,000, and it didn't even include parking. You had to rent a parking space from the town.

Then there was the guy who bought a cottage for $5.5 million that was literally falling into the ocean. Everyone said it was falling into the ocean. The town and the National Park Service even took the previous owner to court in an attempt to stop the sale, arguing that the house would eventually be lost to erosion. The court ruled that it was the owner's land.

And guess what the new owner is doing now? He's suing the bank, claiming it was irresponsible to give him the loan. He's "claiming that the bank shouldn't have lent him the money because 'no rational person... would have considered purchasing the Property, and certainly not at the full asking price,'" according to the court filing.

I don't even know if the guy looked at the property before buying it. You would think he might have questioned why the first step off the back of the house was literally a fifty-foot drop to the ocean before shelling out five and half million. But that's what happens when people have so much money they think nothing of dropping millions on a house.

You see it in the grocery store parking lot: Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi. Meanwhile, the stores can't find help. Oh, people are willing to work there, they just can't find a place they can afford to live.

The big issue on the Cape right now is NIMBYism. Nobody wants affordable housing in their town, but then they complain because they can't get waited on or because the lines are too long.

Gas is about thirty cents more per gallon than on the mainland, but it's hard to complain because everything has to come an hour down the Cape.

So the Cape is a microcosm of the economy in general. For the upper arm of the "K," life is rosy. For the lower leg of the "K," life is about scraping by.

[/Essay]

We Seen This Before

I was watching PBS when the program American Experience came on and the title caught my attention form an article that I had read about a Connecticut town that said "No" to the American Nazi Movement here in Connecticut. The name of the show is Nazi Town, USA.

Back in the late 1930s there was a movement that was strikingly similar to toady's MAGA movement.

Nazi Town, USA

The untold story of Nazi sympathizers on American soil

In February 1939, more than 20,000 Americans filled Madison Square Garden for an event billed as a “Pro-American Rally.” Images of George Washington hung next to swastikas and speakers railed against the “Jewish controlled media” and called for a return to a racially “pure” America. The keynote speaker was Fritz Kuhn, head of the German American Bund. Nazi Town, USA tells the largely unknown story of the Bund, which had scores of chapters in suburbs and big cities across the country and represented what many believe was a real threat of fascist subversion in the United States. The Bund held joint rallies with the Ku Klux Klan [Note: Trump's father was arrested at one of them.] and ran dozens of summer camps for children centered around Nazi ideology and imagery. Its melding of patriotic values with virulent anti-Semitism raised thorny issues that we continue to wrestle with today.

 *****

Arnie Bernstein, Writer: It looked like any summer camp in America. It looked normal but it wasn't normal, it was Nazi camp. In the 1930s there were these camps all across the country. 

Sarah Churchwell, Cultural Historian: They were indoctrinating centers, that’s what they were for. As well as for protecting the purity and the health of your superior breed.

Bradley Hart, Historian: The camps were the creation of something called the German-American Bund. The Bund's vision was an America ruled by white Christians, and they thought that Nazism was entirely consistent with American ideals.

Rally speech: My fellow Americans, what would George Washington think and do were he alive today? Would he not plead with the thinking, the loyal and law-abiding people, the true Christian Americans?

Leah Wright Rigueur, Historian:  The German-American Bund is after power, they’re after influence, within the very fabric of the United States. They want their ideas to become mainstream and they want people to embrace those ideas.

William Hitchcock, Historian: They were against democracy. And thought that America would be a kind star in a constellation of pro-Nazi governments around the world.

Leah Wright Rigueur, Historian: We assume that Democracy is something that all Americans embrace. But in the 1930s, there were people in the United States who were ready to try something different.

Beverly Gage, Historian: In the 1930s, lots of Americans thought the whole social order was about to collapse. Capitalism, democracy, they were done for, and something else was going to have to come along to take its place. And a lot of people thought that was going to be Fascism.

Does any of this sound familiar? "...white Christian nationalism combined with family values, which was a message that was appealing to millions of people...."

Beverly Gage, Historian: in the 1920s, one of the biggest organizations in the United States was the Ku Klux Klan, which was not only anti-Black, it was anti-Jew, it was anti-immigrant. And those weren't marginal ideas.

William Hitchcock, Historian: In 1924, 4 to 5 million people were in the Ku Klux Klan, including a couple of dozen senators and congressmen. The Klan's basic message was a combination of white Christian nationalism combined with family values, which was a message that was appealing to millions of people.

Steven Ross, Historian: Father Coughlin, Charles Coughlin, known as the radio priest, every week went on the air to 14 million listeners basically warning the country that Jews were destroying it.

Coughlin: We are Christian in so far as we believe in Christ's principle of love your neighbor as yourself. And with that principle, I challenge every Jew in this nation to tell me that he does not believe in it.

Back then, we were also on the German-American Bund's hit list... including trans people and gay people!

What we are seeing now makes it feel almost as if they are using the German-American Bund as their playbook.

If you compare MAGA and the German-American Bund, you can see clear similarities between the two:

• Strong appeals to patriotism and national renewal.
• Large political rallies emphasizing loyalty to a leader.
• Populist rhetoric portraying elites as disconnected from ordinary citizens.
• Skepticism toward established institutions and the mainstream press.

The German American Bund and the MAGA movement share some broad features common to various nationalist or populist political movements, such as appeals to national identity and leader-centered politics.

They also share economic similarities, both were in times of economic stress, Germany was in a the grips of the "Great Depression" while we are in the straights of economic stagnation that are putting millions at risk of an economic disaster, living from pay check to pay check. We share where the "industrialist" want to conserve  their wealth. In the 1930s out of fear of communism/socialism taking they wealth they backed Hitler. Now it is fear of anti-monopolies laws, and high taxes on the ultra-wealthy. 

dDeb/dt

You engineers out there are probably thinking what rate are we measuring? It is the rate at which the national debt is increasing. So I asked Gimini...

 I asked  Gemini to look at national deficit through an engineering lens”

 If we look at this strictly through calculus and economic modeling—treating the national debt $D$ as a function of time $t$, and evaluating the first derivative, (dD/dt) (the instantaneous velocity of debt accumulation)—the data reveals specific trends.
Currently, $\frac{dD}{dt}$ is running at a baseline rate of +$2.6 trillion to +$2.99 trillion per year. Broken down into a daily rate, the government is currently adding roughly $7.2 billion to $8.1 billion per day to the total gross national debt. 
When comparing this current derivative to the peak values of $\frac{dD}{dt}$ under recent presidents, the trajectory shows the following:
1. The Maximum Peak of (dD/dt) (2020)
The absolute highest value for (dD/dt) in modern U.S. history occurred during the spring and summer of 2020 (Trump’s first term). When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the CARES Act was passed, the debt spiked by $3 trillion in roughly three months. During that specific window, the localized rate of change surged to an unprecedented annualized velocity of +$12 trillion per year.
The current rate of roughly $2.9 trillion per year does not match that localized peak acceleration.
2. High-Velocity Baselines (2021–2024)
During the Biden administration, the baseline velocity of(dD/dt) stabilized at a historically high level. Spurred by post-pandemic packages (like the American Rescue Plan) and structural deficits, the debt regularly grew by $2 trillion to $2.5 trillion per year.
The current velocity under the second Trump administration represents a slight acceleration of that trend line, nudging closer to $3 trillion annually. This increase is driven primarily by two forces adding velocity to the derivative:
    • The Revenue/Tariff Equation: New legislation, like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, altered tax codes and implemented new tariff structures, which shifted the baseline revenue projections. 
    • The Interest Component: Because the Federal Reserve kept interest rates elevated, the interest component of the deficit has compound velocity. The U.S. now pays over $1 trillion a year just in net interest, acting as an internal accelerator on (dD/dt) regardless of new legislation. 
3. Looking at the Second Derivative: (dD/dt) (Acceleration)
If you are tracking whether the debt growth is speeding up faster than before, you are looking at the second derivative, (dD²/dt). The most dramatic positive spikes in acceleration (dD/dt) occurred in 2009 (the onset of the Great Recession under Obama) and 2020 (the pandemic under Trump). In both of those periods, the deficit did not just grow—it multiplied rapidly from the previous year's baseline due to emergency injections

The Physics of the National Debt: Why Acceleration is the Real Danger

If you want to understand where the U.S. national debt is heading, stop looking at the total dollar amount. You need to look at the physics of the system.

In engineering, we don’t just track velocity (how fast an object is moving); we track acceleration (the rate of change of that velocity). If we treat the national debt (D) as a function of time (t), the first derivative (dD/dt) is the velocity—how many billions of dollars we pour into the deficit per day.

Right now, that velocity is staggeringly high. But the truly dangerous metric is the second derivative:

d2D

dt2

>> 0

Translation: The rate of debt growth is actively speeding up.

In plain terms, this math means we aren’t just cruising down a highway at a steady 100 mph. Our foot is actively stomped on the gas pedal, and the speedometer is climbing.

When you pair massive revenue cuts (like restricting the system's intake valves) with skyrocketing interest rates (an internal, compounding feedback loop), the system enters a phase of thermal runaway. The machine is now generating its own velocity, regardless of what we do next.

SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC:

• Mass in the Tank (D): ~$39 Trillion and climbing.
• Flow Velocity (dD/dt): ~$2.5M to $3M added per minute.
• The Friction Link: Net interest alone now consumes over $1 Trillion annually, acting as a permanent internal accelerator.

War What's It Good For!

Absolutely nothing!

Well there is one thing it is good for... bankrupting a country!

As economic despair mounts, Russian official admits the country has had enough of Putin’s war on Ukraine. ‘We can’t even take one region’

Fortune

Jason Ma

Sun, May 3, 2026

Vladimir Putin is losing the Russian people as the economy and his war machine go in reverse amid withering Ukrainian attacks.

On the economic front, Putin himself recently revealed that GDP contracted in the first two months of the year. And on the Ukraine front, Russian forces suffered a net loss of territory last month for the first time since 2024.

After Russia launched a sudden invasion in 2022, Putin has not only failed to defeat Ukraine, his forces have been unable to take full control of the Donetsk region.

“The overall mood is that’s enough already; you’ve been fighting for long enough,” a Russian official told the Washington Post last week on condition of anonymity. “It seems to everyone that it’s been going on for longer than World War II, the Great Patriotic War — and at the same time we can’t even take one region.”

With Western military aid and innovations from Ukraine’s now-thriving domestic defense industry, Kyiv has weakened Russia’s economy and military.

Long-range drone strikes deep into Russian territory have damaged key oil-export hubs and “shadow fleet” tankers transporting sanctioned crude.

While Trump's war here has driven gas prices to over $4.00 a gallon, crude oil is sitting at $120 per barrel; a roughly 44% increase from pre-war levels. Inflation rose from 2.4% in February to 3.3% in March 2026, while that 0.9% jump might seem small numerically, in the world of macroeconomics, it’s a massive "spike" for a single month. And Trump is bottoming out in the polls.

So, let's see... do you think Trump's war will be any different?

online polls

Who Are "We?"

Trump made a comment "When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money." Now the country is divided by what he said. The conservatives say he meant the country while the rest of the country thinks he was talking about the billionaires and oil companies!

Trump: ‘When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money’

The Hill

by Julia Manchester

03/12/26

President Trump argued the U.S. benefits when oil prices go up on Thursday amid growing concerns over the impact of Washington’s operation in Iran on energy costs.

“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

[...]

Public opinion polling also shows growing concern about prices among Americans. A Reuters/Ipsos survey released Monday found 67 percent of respondents said they anticipate gas prices to rise over the next year, while only 11 percent said they would improve and 12 percent said they would stay the same.

The pump tells the truth. Every time they fill the tank they see through Trump lies.

Rising gas prices from Iran war imperil Trump's Republican majority in Congress

Reuters

By Joseph Ax and David Morgan

March 10, 2026

Summary

• Republicans fear gas price hikes threaten their congressional majority
• Trump's Iran war complicates his promise to lower living costs
• Democrats focus on affordability in campaigns amid rising gas prices

Minutes into Donald Trump's State of the Union address laying out his argument for why voters should keep Republicans in power in November's midterm elections, the president boasted that falling gasoline prices had ​solved a "disaster" left behind by his predecessor.

Two weeks later, gas prices have risen by nearly 60 cents a gallon, part of a burgeoning energy crisis that began when ‌Trump and Israel launched air strikes against Iran on February 28 and set off a regional conflict that has expanded well beyond Iran's borders.

The pain at the pump is quickly turning into a political headache for Trump and his fellow Republicans, whose narrow congressional majority looks increasingly fragile ahead of the midterms.

So when they when they hear Trump saying "When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money." it makes their blood boil.

"Every day that people pull into the gas station and pay what they're paying for fuel, I mean, it hurts, and we know it hurts," ​said Representative Austin Scott, of Georgia. "We're going to do what we can to fix it. They understand it's a short-term issue."

Trump doesn't even have a clue.

Mini-Post: Everything For The Billionaires, And Nothing For Us!

Trump screws us anyway he can in favor of his billionaire friends!

Trump Team Takes Aim at State Laws Shielding Consumers’ Credit Scores From Medical Debt

KFF Health News

By Noam N. Levey

October 28, 2025

The Trump administration took another step Tuesday to weaken protections for Americans with medical debt, issuing new guidance that threatens ongoing state efforts to keep that debt off consumers’ credit reports.

More than a dozen states, including Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Maryland, New York, and most of New England, have enacted laws in recent years to keep medical debt from affecting consumers’ credit.

And more states — including several in conservative regions of the Midwest and Mountain West — have been considering similar protections, spurred by bipartisan concerns that medical debt on a credit report can make it harder for people to get a home, a car, or a job.

Yup, anything to screw us to jack-up interest rates on loans... do you think that might slow down the economy?

The guidance, which offers a new interpretation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, reverses policies advanced under former President Joe Biden that sought to empower states to expand protections for people with medical debt.

Ah... I see now. Trump is against it just because President Biden was for it!

Mini-Post: Good Bye P'town

This is something that has been simmering for a long, long time!

When I was looking for a cottage here the real-estate agent showed me a loft apartment on Commercial St. 30' by 40' the main floor had a kitchen and bathroom and big open room, a ladder went up to an open bedroom. Oh and there was no parking on the street, you had to rent a parking space either from the town or a private citizen. The price? $300,000!

Provincetown is losing its nostalgic charm. Locals are fighting to save the town from a ‘Nantucket-zation.’

The unique inns that have defined P-town for decades are becoming rarer

The Boston Globe

By Sarah Rahal

September 29, 2025

On a summer afternoon, Commercial Street is humming with tourists, the briny air smelling of fresh fudge and fried clams. Drag queens in sequin dresses sashay past strollers and leashed dogs, weaving through the slow crawl of cars that yield to the crowd of pedestrians and cyclists.

For many, a trip to this destination on the tip of Cape Cod begins when they step off the ferry and check into one of the town’s boutique, owner-run inns where innkeepers greet guests by name and cook them breakfast.

[...]

That has created a slow dwindling of licensed lodging, from nearly 100 inns and hotels in 2010 to 82 this year, which has heightened a community debate over how to keep Provincetown’s character intact. Short-term rentals, including Airbnb and Vrbo, have also fallen sharply, from more than 1,200 in 2019 to 855 licensed today.

The people who run Trans Week are having a harder time finding places for lunch and the banquet. Last year they held their banquet at Montano's Restaurant, the food was good but the restaurant was in North Truro.

“You could buy assets here at a discount compared to Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket, but the real draw is the community, the camaraderie; it’s a vibe,” Rosenberg said. “You go to P-town and you can’t stop smiling because it’s so welcoming. I understand capping ownership at properties to keep things homegrown. People don’t want to lose the charm of P-town and have everything owned by a handful of entities. But it does deter investment in the community.”

What's up on the sale's block?

• Old Reliable Fish House site (227, 227R, and 229 Commercial Street), is being redeveloped to make condos.
• Tin Pan Alley restaurant at 269 Commercial Street: The current asking price is $2,975,000
• The Lobster Pot at 321 Commercial Street:  $14 million
• Lands End Marine Supply & Hardware store property at 337 Commercial Street: $12,900,000.

Old Reliable Fish House site (227, 227R, and 229 Commercial Street), is being redeveloped to make condos. The Provincetown Independent reported, 

The plan still calls for the construction of two hotels with a total of 50 rooms, 13 condominiums, two restaurants, and some retail space, spanning 227, 227R, and 229 Commercial St. Those elements are all part of the review being done by the commission, which is set to continue its hearing on Tuesday, July 16.

What people worry about: that real estate will get so costly that it will drive away the tourist and restaurants will get so expensive that only millionaires will be able to afford it.

Big Government v. Smaller Government

I was searching for an article to post on another Facebook page I run about LGBTQ+ seniors, and an article in Newsweek caught my attention...

Louisiana, meanwhile, ranks as the worst state in the U.S. for senior care according to Retirement Living's analysis. As well as low-quality nursing facilities and high rates of preventable hospitalizations, researchers noted that the state's health care system has "some of the worst health outcomes in the country," a fact acknowledged in other analyses.

"The physical environment is another drawback for seniors in Louisiana. Air quality falls below average, while access to parks is limited throughout the state," researchers wrote. "Louisiana also has the second-worst drinking water in the U.S., which poses a significant health and safety risk for all residents, but particularly for seniors."

With the highest rates of both senior poverty and social isolation in the U.S., Mississippi comes in second last place, followed by West Virginia, the state with the worst senior health care access and the most preventable hospitalizations in the nation.

Is this the model of "less government" that the Republicans are pushing? If so I don't want it! Tell why would you want to move to a southern state?

Stop and think for a moment, the southern states are a poster child for the Republican dream of smaller governments and this is the results... do you like the results?

• Healthcare: They do not believe in public funding, so they have the highest uninsured rates and low life expectancy.
• Education: Less government spending on public education results in underperforming schools and low graduation rates.
• Taxes: Low or no income tax results in high reliance on sales taxes (regressive), underfunded services, and a dependence on federal funding.
• Labor: "Right to Work" states result in lower wages and fewer worker protections.
• Welfare/Safety Net: Shrinking the safety net results in persistent poverty, food insecurity, and reliance on SNAP, WIC, etc.

Education: there is a article in the Daily Talks Hub, "Back to School: The Least and Most Educated States in the US"

50th Place – Mississippi

Once again, the Magnolia State finds itself at the tail end of the American educational race. This isn’t a new view for it, as it’s often seen the back of the pack when it comes to schooling systems. But wait, there’s more! This educational rollercoaster doesn’t seem to have an end in sight, with the state’s academic woes continuing to pile up.

49th Place – West Virginia

In the wild and wonderful state of West Virginia, it’s not just the students who find themselves in a pickle, but the educators too. As reported by WBOY News, the trifecta of job pressures, meager salaries, and limited opportunities for advancement has created a revolving door, with teachers exiting as quickly as they entered. This teacher exodus is a conundrum that needs a solution, and fast!

48th Place – Louisiana

Imagine a gumbo pot of challenges that has Louisiana languishing near the bottom of the education league table. The state’s math skills are as murky as a bayou swamp, ranked the worst in the entire nation. Their reading competency isn’t much better, landing a dismal fourth from the bottom. Additionally, high school dropouts are as common as crawfish at a boil, with Louisiana boasting the fifth-highest rate in the country.

47th Place – Arkansas

Cracking the code behind Arkansas’s educational conundrum might seem like a tough nut to crack, but economists believe they’ve hit the bull’s eye. The state, often considered the underdog in the country’s wealth rankings, has an intimate tango with poverty. This dance of destitution, they argue, is the compelling ballad behind the state’s educational woes.

They care more about their sports teams then they do on education! Oh and where does Connecticut fall in the list?

5th Place – Connecticut

Hold on to your hats, folks! We’re now breaking into the top five, the crème de la crème of American education. Snagging the 5th spot is the charming state of Connecticut! Its impressive ranking is largely credited to its littlest learners, with a significant chunk of kiddos hitting the books from a tender age. That’s right, Connecticut is making sure its children start their educational journey early, and it’s clearly paying off!

Did you know that Connecticut is ahead of the curve when it comes to early education? While the national average for preschool attendance among 3 to 4-year-olds is a mere 47.7%, Connecticut is acing the test with a whopping 65.6% of kids in preschool! Not to mention, they’re also making the grade in kindergarten enrollments, boasting a sky-high rate of 80.7% – securing a bronze medal for the third highest in the entire nation!

Then their environment is polluted: less government oversight in Southern states has often meant more pollution and environmental degradation. The Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, (aka "Cancer Alley" in Louisiana it is an 85-mile stretch along the Mississippi River with over 150 petrochemical plants. where there is an extremely high cancer rates, a high rates of asthma, and respiratory illness.) where mega-corporations care more about the the bottom-line then the health and welfare of the people.

If this the future that the Republicans want for us? Are the southern states a model for the rest of the country? Where billionaires rack in the cash and the citizens live in poverty, riddle with diseases, and die young?

Lets go out and vote in November 2026 and vote Democrat. To keep from spiraling down to the lowest common denominator! 

---

I have been getting pushback because I have been moiving away from trans issues!

But now with Trump, politics have become a trans issue. With all the attacks on us by the Republicans we need to defeat them in the elections. We need the voter turnout to overcome the Republicans gerrymandering! We need the voters to say enough is an enough.

When you talk to southern Republicans they see northern Democrats as attacking their way of life! They see it as an attack on their "Christian values" with all our LGBTQ+ stuff! They still are fighting the Civil War and Reconstruction! 

Mini-Post: You're Fired!

Trump's famous words on the Apprentice... "You're Fired!"

Well you knew that they wouldn't last long with a jobs report that just came out.

US economy added 911,000 fewer jobs than previously reported in largest-ever revision

The downward revision appears to be the largest ever recorded.

ABC News

By Max Zahn

September 9, 2025

U.S. employers added far fewer jobs in 2024 and early 2025 than previously thought, indicating the labor market may have been significantly weaker than initial estimates had suggested.

The U.S. economy added 911,000 fewer jobs over the 12 months ending in March than previously estimated, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said on Tuesday. The figure, which exceeded economists' expectations, appears to be the largest revision ever recorded. The preliminary estimate will be finalized next year.

The revision, a routine step in the compilation of government labor statistics, assesses monthly survey estimates alongside state unemployment data. The fresh data comes weeks after President Donald Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer in response to a weak monthly jobs report. Trump claimed without evidence that McEntarfer had manipulated statistics for political reasons.

In a statement on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the unusually large revision cast doubt on the legitimacy of the BLS. Leavitt also appeared to grant credence to the data, citing it as evidence of a weak economy under President Joe Biden.

Of course it is not Trump's fault, it is always someone's else fault even though it is almost 9 months in to his regime!

"I believe the numbers were phony just like they were before the election, and there were other times," Trump said, pointing to the revision in the jobs numbers last year that he claimed, without evidence, was an attempt to benefit Democrats heading into the election.

Of course they are phony... Trump says so.

"The totally groundless firing of Dr. Erika McEntarfer, my successor as Commissioner of Labor Statistics at BLS, sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau," Beach posted on X.

One of the most important a manager can do if hire the correct people, high turnover rate reflected on the department manger... so Trump funks the turnover test.

BBC News reported...

'You're fired': The people Trump has sacked since taking office

8 February 2025

By Madeline Halpert

President Donald Trump took over the White House less than a month ago, and in keeping with his reality television show catchphrase from The Apprentice - "You're Fired" - he has already removed more than 200 employees.

Some amount of turnover is typical for a new administration, but Trump has made massive changes during his first weeks in office. He offered buyouts to millions of government workers and put a stop to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes.

On Friday, Trump fired the nation's top record keeper, US Archivist Colleen Shogan.

Later that night, he pledged to fire board of trustees members for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts - and to name himself as chairman.

And that was just in the first month! FEMA director open his mouth to Congress, Politico writes;

Cameron Hamilton will probably be an asterisk in the history of President Donald Trump’s second term.

But the former Navy SEAL, whom Trump hired and fired as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is writing his own chapter by highlighting what he says was administrative dysfunction following Trump’s assertion in January that FEMA should be abolished.

In a podcast interview, Hamilton revealed that he had a “very hostile relationship” with the Department of Homeland Security as officials pushed to shutter FEMA.

You're Fired!

The SCOTUS Blog reported that,

Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to fire, at least for now, a Democratic appointee to the Federal Trade Commission. A federal district judge in Washington, D.C., had ordered Trump to reinstate Rebecca Slaughter, who was originally nominated in 2018 by Trump to serve a seven-year term and then nominated to serve a second term by then-President Joe Biden. But Roberts granted the government’s request for an administrative stay – a temporary pause to give the justices time to consider the Trump administration’s plea to block the order by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan while litigation continues in the lower courts.

Trump's administration is the very definition of a revolving door! I don't know about you, but I no longer trust the data coming out of the Department of Labor, the CDC, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), or economic reports in general. Trump clearly prefers loyalty over competence.

Making America Great Again... NOT!

Okay you all know Trump's slogan "MAGA" well it is not happening in the tourist industry... tourist are not come because of Trump!

DC hotel bookings, tourism on the decline amid federal crime crackdown, law enforcement surge

DC News Now

by: Randi Bass

Aug 26, 2025

Leaders in the D.C. tourism space said travel numbers are on the decline as federal law enforcement ramps up presence across the city under the direction of President Donald Trump.

Destination DC is revising initial travel predictions during a marketing outlook event on Tuesday, saying that based on the last several weeks and months, they’re expecting a dip in international travel to the District, meaning fewer dollars flowing into D.C.

[...]

“I can tell you August is going to be a very tough month for hotels in D.C.,” said Meade Atkeson, a regional director of operations for Sonesta Hotels in D.C. “Some [neighborhoods] within D.C. are down 20%.”

People are voting with their feet! Travel and Tour The World wrote...

Washington DC, along with New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and Miami, has faced a massive tourism slump due to the aftermath of Trump’s government intervention and have mandated certain things that are not touristy. This shift is primarily attributed to the actions taken by President Trump’s administration, which have led many would-be tourists to question whether the city is a safe and welcoming destination. The heightened presence of the National Guard and federal officers in Washington DC is significantly affecting how the city is perceived, both domestically and internationally.

Did you get that? Tourism is collapsing all around the U.S,, people are afraid of coming here!

Trump crackdown is affecting D.C.'s image and tourism numbers

Axios

By Mimi Montgomery

August 29, 2025

Images of National Guard troops and federal officers stationed across D.C. during President Trump's crackdown are appearing to deter some would-be tourists from visiting the city.

Why it matters: Visitors help boost D.C.'s economy, generating $2.3 billion in tax revenue in 2024, per Destination D.C. And the local industry was already feeling a hit earlier this year due to Trump's policies and federal layoffs.

State of play: D.C. restaurant reservations have dropped, foot traffic is down and local tour guide companies have seen a slump during what's typically a popular time for tourism.

• Destination D.C. — the District's marketing arm — is upping its promotion efforts in an attempt to "humanize the city" and "counter negative rhetoric" about the city.

By the numbers: Destination D.C. recently announced a drop in tourism numbers.

• Global tourism is anticipated to be down 5.1% this year, per the group's partner Tourism Economics. International visitors typically stay in the city longer and spend more money than domestic ones.
• And June's World Pride — originally thought to be a huge numbers draw for the city — didn't deliver as expected: Hotel occupancy was down 5%, and it saw less than half the number of projected visitors and generated revenue.

Meanwhile, foot traffic was down 7% on average in D.C. the week Trump announced the takeover, compared to 2024, per pass-by data shared with the Washington Post.

What they're saying: Local tour guides are seeing a decrease in customers, especially among international visitors, reports WUSA 9.

The Republicans don't care... they just believe in their own rhetoric and the lies. And it is hurting people's pocketbooks!

The Thred writes that, 

‘The worst part is that this is a self-inflicted wound,’ wrote one reddit user. ‘Turns out threatening annexation of a neighbouring country does have consequences.’

These comments refer to Trump’s vitriolic stance against Canada, once home to a high number of US visitors who are now turning elsewhere. Amongst other things, Trump has labelled Canada and its people ‘mean and nasty’, whilst threatening to cut off trade talks with the country.

Tourism is an economic engine that is vital to the US. According to WTTC, every dollar spent by a foreign tourist generates $1.56 in the broader economy, which impacts everything from retail jobs to property values. As the country loses visitors, the long-term consequences could be dire. The tourism industry is not just a source of revenue; it’s a cultural bridge that fosters global understanding and collaboration.

While Forbes puts a price tag on it...

U.S. Tourism Will Lose Up To $29 Billion As Visitors Plummet Amid Trump Policies

By Suzanne Rowan Kelleher,

Jul 04, 2025

Topline

• While tourism is booming across the rest of the world, the U.S. is a notable loser this year as tens of millions of international visitors are choosing to travel elsewhere—costing the economy up to $29 billion—and risking millions of jobs.

Key Facts

• Last month, a study from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) that analyzed the economic impact of tourism in 184 countries revealed the U.S. was the only country forecast to see international visitor spending decline in 2025.
• The WTTC projects the U.S. to be on track to lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending this year compared to last year, according to the research.
• It could be argued, however, that the actual losses will be significantly larger, given that Tourism Economics, a division of Oxford Economics, had originally forecasted the U.S. would see a 9% jump in international inbound travel in 2025.
• A 9% increase would have equated to a boost of about $16.3 billion in revenue for the U.S. economy.
• Instead, Tourism Economics has revised its baseline forecast to a year-over-year decline of 8.2%—a significant 17.2% variance from its original 9% increase.
• From the anticipated $16.3 billion increase in revenue to a loss of between $8.3 billion (Tourism Economics estimate) and $12.5 billion (WTTC estimate), the U.S. is facing a shortfall of $25 billion to $29 billion this year.

Making America the laughing stock of the world!

---

Update: 9/1 @ 4:00AM

The ‘self-inflicted injury’ to US tourism that’s making some Americans angry and disappointed

CNN

By Natasha Chen

Joe Koenen has not seen a single Toronto Blue Jays baseball hat all summer.

Typically, Canadians will flood the streets of Seattle during the summer, but Koenen, who runs Seattle Free Walking Tours (where people pay what they can), said Canadian tourists are almost gone. Streets look emptier to him.

Canadians calling to cancel their tours “explicitly told me that it was because of the policies and the behavior of our current president,” he said.

As a result of seeing 30% fewer customers this year overall, Koenen has been paying his employees but not himself. This is also the first year since he took over the tour company in 2021 that he has had to put his own savings into the business to keep it afloat.

[...]

Many Canadians have boycotted taking US trips and buying American products since the spring. That’s when President Trump made false claims and belittling comments about Canada in the midst of a tariff war.

The absence of Canadians has been felt acutely in the United States, especially in cities like Seattle close to the northern border. And Canadians aren’t the only international travelers skipping the US. Some other international travelers have also named recent policies around tariffs and immigration as reasons they’re staying away.

Trump is an equal opportunity pisser-off, if anything might bring down Trump is Trump, the more groups of people he gets mad at him the better we win in the 2026 elections.

The World Travel and Tourism Council, a global tourism advocacy organization, projected in May that the United States will lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending in 2025, the only country out of 184 economies the council analyzed that will see a decline this year.

Yup, right... "Make America Great Again!" Inflation up! Employment down! Tariffs to pay off the billionaire tax cuts. Military in the streets... he sure has a strange way of showing it!

Mini-Post: 940 Pages!

Buried deep down inside Trump's “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” was cutting funding to solar panels for low income people...

EPA strips Maine of $62 million solar grant

Maine Public

By Peter McGuire

August 8, 2025

The Trump administration has stripped Maine of a $62 million grant to help low income households access solar power.

In a Thursday letter to the state, the Environmental Protection Agency said the recent Republican tax law, called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, revoked the $7 billion "Solar for All" national grant program.

"Thus, any attempt to continue the program’s administration, in the absence of any authorizing legislation or appropriated funds for that purpose, is no longer legally permissible," the agency said.

But supporters of the national program claim it is being shut down illegally and will hurt Americans struggling with high electric bills.

"Canceling the program deprives Maine of access to affordable solar, energy storage, and the skilled electricians, installers, and construction workers needed to meet our energy and economic needs now and in the future," said Dan Burgess, director of the Maine Governor's Energy Office.

On top of this, Trump's tariffs are adding 25% to our electric bills because much of our electricity comes from Canada. We used to have a border were if you needed more more milk to could just walk to the store just down the street in Canada to buy it.

Now thanks to Trump, we are no longer the friendly neighbor... 11% of our power here in New England comes from Canada! And thanks to Trump it is 25% more and he just cut funding for solar panels now.

What else are we going to buried in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”?

Trump wants us to bend over and say "Thank you master!"

Mini-Post: If You Don't Like The Message...

In this day of age we don't chop off their heads... Trump just fires them.

Politics

Trump fires commissioner of labor statistics after weaker-than-expected jobs figures slam markets

NBC News

By Jeff Cox

August 1, 2025

President Donald Trump on Friday fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, hours after the agency reported that job growth in the U.S. had slowed to a near-halt.

In a Truth Social post that also directed even more fire at Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Trump accused BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of being a political appointee who was manipulating jobs data.

“I was just informed that our Country’s “Jobs Numbers” are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s [Harris’] chances of Victory,” Trump wrote.

“We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified,” he added.

Somehow, I trust the old numbers rather then what this new guy will post.

Gilded Or Robber Baron

We have been here once before and we made it through once but can we get through it again that is the question or will be the pendulum get stuck to the far right for decades?

This is from a PBS special...

Does this sound familiar? 

He Is Playing Games!

One minute it is down with a recorded drop low the next it is up to records gains! He is playing us and I have to wonder if his friends are playing the stock market?

Dow surges 2,700 points for biggest rally in 5 years after Trump pauses some tariffs: Live updates

CNBC 

By John Melloy & Hakyung Kim

April 9, 2025

Stocks surged Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced a pause in some of the ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, causing a market that’s been under extreme pressure for the last week to explode higher.

The S&P 500  skyrocketed 8.5%, on pace for its biggest one-day gain in five years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average  advanced 2,711 points, or 7.2%, also its biggest gain since 2020. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 10.8%.

“I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately,” Trump posted on his Truth Social. Trump, in the same post, said he was raising the tariff on China higher again to 125%.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later clarified that all countries except China would go back to the 10% baseline tariff rate as negotiations take place. The pause would not apply to sector tariffs, Bessent said.

Stocks that were heavily pressured by the trade war tensions led the comeback Wednesday afternoon. Apple and Nvidia soared more than 11% and 13%, respectively. Walmart shares rallied 9.7%. Tesla shares climbed more than 19% on the back of the pause announcement.

Is Trump playing a game with the Stock Market? Are people playing the ups and downs of the market? You can make money either way in the market, if you sell short you make money in the down market along with making money when stocks prices rise, but if you sell short you say I pay the price of the stock in 7 day. If the stock price goes down you make money.

I knew someone who bought stocks "short" in an orange juice because a cold front was moving for Florida and she bought short because a cold front was moving toward Florida and she thought that the stock price would drop because of freezing weather... but the cold front never made it to Florida and the price of the stock didn't drop. So she ended up losing money.

So with this on and off tariffs are people playing the market with the switching of the tariffs? So in the back of my mind I'm wondering if his billionaire friends are playing the market.

---

Since I wrote this Wednesday morning, it turns out that I wasn't the only one thinking that especially after Trump said this on social media! Senator Elizabeth Warren said yesterday morning...

And right before Donald Trump declared that some of his tariffs were “off” again – he sent out a message for his billionaire buddies. He posted “this is a great time to buy” in all caps. Was that market manipulation? Was it corruption in plain sight? We need an independent investigation into market manipulation. Because Americans deserve to know whether President Trump or anyone in his Administration manipulated the market to benefit their donors – all while working people and small businesses paid the price.

Especially after he said that it was a great time to buy! Very, very suspicious! The Washington Post writes about this,

 Less than four hours before President Donald Trump’s tariff pause announcement sent markets soaring, he posted online telling his 9.4 million followers that it was a good time to buy.

“THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT” he posted on social media site Truth Social at 9:37 a.m. Wednesday. Shortly after 1 p.m., he announced on the same site that he would pause most new tariffs, causing the ailing stock markets to sharply rise.

Democrats are now accusing Trump of “market manipulation,” and the term is trending on the social media platform X, with more than 33,000 posts.

“The President of the United States is literally engaging in the world’s biggest market manipulation scheme,” the Democrats from the House Committee on Financial Services posted on X Wednesday afternoon.

Trump has long drawn questions from ethics experts about his various business holdings, and he made no promises after he was elected to divest from any of his financial interests. Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children, the White House said.

CNBC write this about possible market manipulation.

Trump’s morning ‘buy’ call nets huge returns for those who listened

By Alex Harring

April 9, 2025

Investors who followed President Donald Trump’s blunt advice to buy stocks on Wednesday morning received a windfall when the president hours later rolled back some of his market-roiling tariffs.

[...]

If you invested $1,000 at that moment, you could have sold for as much around $1,110 when the holding hit its peak of the session.

The SPY finished the session higher by 10.5%, which was its biggest one-day gain since 2008.

Hmmm... it would be interesting to see if any large blocks of stock were traded.

Here is her speech,

Can you say Teapot Dome?

---

Updated 3:00PM

MSN reported that...

Donald Trump is openly bragging about just how much money his billionaire buddies made off of his dangerous tariff gambit.

After announcing a 90-day pause Wednesday on his sweeping “reciprocal tariff” policy on nearly every country—with the exception of China—Trump was excited to take credit for making a buck for his guests at the Oval Office.

“He made $2.5 million today, and he made $900 million! That’s not bad,” Trump said, pointing to financial investor Charles Schwab and Roger Penske, a NASCAR team owner, respectively.

Schwab’s estimated net worth is $12.6 billion, while Penske’s is $5.6 billion.

Bloomberg reported that Wednesday was the “best day ever” for billionaires, as the world’s wealthiest people raked in a heaping $304 billion as the markets shot back up.

The day’s biggest individual winner should come as no surprise: Elon Musk made a whopping $36 billion as Tesla stock soared up 23 percent. Trump’s surprising decision to temporarily back off his steep tariffs has sparked major concerns of obvious market manipulation, and even potential insider trading.

Of course the Republican Congress will do absolutely nothing! And neither will the DoJ so he will probably get away with it!

Mini-Post: What Hath He Done?

This is a short post on a big topic... the tearing down of the United States! This is from the Canadian Juno Awards...

Listen to the crowd!

We used to be the leader with human rights... now we have warnings posted about coming here.

We used to be the leader with the environment... now we are becoming the pigsty of the globe.

We used to be the leader with humanitarian aid... now the world is looking to China and Russia for humanitarian aid.

We used to be aligned with the democratic nations... now we align  with Russia, China, and Venezuela, authoritarian regimes.

We used to have a rising economy since October 2022 the stock market has been on one of the longest growth period in history... now since January 20^th we have been in a decline! It only took a little over two month to put us on the edge of a recession!

We used to be on a friendly terms with Greenland... now we are talking about invading it.

We used to be respected... now we are the laughing stock of the world!

The Robber Barons II

Tell me does it seems like we are going backwards? Backward to the time of the Roaring Twenties and then further back to the era of the Robber Barons what do they have in common?

There are two things in common with back then and now. First all three eras started wit the concentration of wealth! Second, the end of the Robber Barons era and the end of the "Great Depression" resulted in creation of regulatory agencies. Laws like the children labor laws were created to stop young children from working in factories and on farms. The child safety laws did allow younger children to work on farms then in factories.

But now they want to repeal the age limits to work on the farms to make it even young!

Florida debates lifting some child labor laws to fill jobs vacated by undocumented immigrants

CNN

By Jordan Valinsky

March 25, 2025

Florida has been working for years to crack down on employers that hire undocumented immigrants. But that presented a problem for businesses in the state that are desperate for workers to fill low-wage and often undesirable jobs.

Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state legislature have a potential solution: children.

The state’s legislature on Tuesday advanced a bill that would loosen child labor laws, allowing children as young as 14 years old to work overnight shifts. If the new law is passed, teenagers would be able to work overnight jobs on school days. They are currently prevented from working earlier than 6:30 am or later than 11 pm per state law.

The bill passed through the Florida Senate’s Commerce and Tourism committee on Tuesday with five votes in favor of the loosened child labor restrictions and four against them. The bill will pass through two other relevant committees before being put to a vote with the full Florida Senate.

We are now entering the second era of the Robber Barons!

---

Updated: 5:00PM

I Remember When

[Editorial]

We used to ride our bikes down to the center of town… to the 5 ¢ & Dime, or to the Dairy Queen and buy an ice cream cone for 10 ¢. Then was a quarter! OMG!!!! Now it is $2.30.

Gas was 23¢ now $2.90!

We complained back then about the price constantly going up.

But back then our salaries kept up with inflation and they paid a living wage. My father worked, my mother was the “Homemaker” we were right out of the  Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet show. On the street the neighbors had a 2 boats, a RV, and my parents had a cottage. My father worked, my mother was the “Homemaker” we were right out of the  Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet show. On the street the neighbors had a 2 boats, a RV, and my parents had a cottage.

So what is different between now and then?

Well I see a number of major differences, first there were unions. Second college was affordable, your summer job could pay for a year away at college. Third, the top tax bracket was between 70 and 90 percent, and there were estate taxes (The Republicans called it a death tax, I called it an anti-dynasty tax.)

But I saw something else change… greed. The average “Rate of return on investments” was about 7 – 8% in the 1960s, but in 2020 it was around 15 – 16%!  Also the top tax brackets dropped down into the 30 percentage range.

That profit went directly in to the billionaires pockets… not ours!

My thoughts on what to be done:

• First, bring back the 70 to 90 percent tax brackets.
• Second, tax all income the same. Making money in the stock maket is tax less than ordinary income… all money should be taxed the same.
• Third, bring back the estate tax to break up dynasties.
• Fourth, everyone pays the full six percent on income for Social Securities, no caps!

I write a lot of times the Republicans want to bring us back to the 1950s but it seems like they only want to bring back the "ism" and "phobia", but not the taxes and unions.

Do you know when we were in the same situation as we are in now?

The 1890s... Mark Twain called it the "Gilded Age" or the age of the "Robber Barons." To end it in rode the "Trust Busters" on their mighty stallions! President Benjamin Harrison with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and President Theodore Roosevelt used it to break up the monopiles like Standard Oil. (The political cartoons are from the 1890s)

We now need to use the act to break up the monopiles, just look at the meat industries... just four companies control 85% of the market!

Hello? Mr. Sherman, can we bring you out of retirement?

[/Editorial]

Another Day, Another Lie

Isn't funny how all of Trump's campaign promises are turning out lies.

Trump says it will be 'hard' to bring down grocery prices, pins hopes on lower energy costs and better supply chains

The pace of food price growth has already slowed dramatically over the past year.

NBC News

By Rob Wile

December 12, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump is acknowledging it may be difficult to bring down grocery prices, despite making it a key tenet of his presidential campaign.

In an interview with Time magazine, which named him person of the year for 2024, Trump said he nevertheless believes it'll happen through lower energy costs and supply chain improvements.

Asked whether his presidency would be a "failure" if grocery prices don't come down, Trump responded it would not, while blaming the Biden administration for the way it handled the inflation that led to higher food prices in the first place.

"Look, they got them up. I’d like to bring them down. It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard," he said in the interview published Thursday.

Shh... it is a secret on how to get the food prices down!

Civileats reports...

But those price drops will likely only go so far. That’s largely because, over the last few years, the small handful of food corporations controlling the sector have been charging premiums for their products, blaming supply chain disruptions. They’ve raked in record profits as a result, and nothing is stopping them from continuing to do so.

[...]

Food corporations are thriving. Between 2021 and 2022, the food and beverage industry recorded more than $155 billion in profits, according to Forbes. Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, increased its gross profits last year by almost 3 percent to $46 billion. Cargill recorded a 23 percent jump in revenue last year to $165 billion—$6.68 billion of which was profit. Tyson Foods, the largest meat producer in the U.S., nearly doubled its profits in the first quarter of 2022 due to soaring meat prices.

Food, Water, Action writes...

What’s more, a recent report from the Biden administration shows how big companies worsened the supply chain problems that raised prices during the pandemic, to their own benefit.

Corporate greed has taken over our economy, leaving families, workers, and farmers struggling just to get by. And this trend has been enabled by lax antitrust enforcement that has let corporate giants get bigger. As they get bigger, their power grows, too.

Luckily, we know just how to tackle this — and so does Biden. Now, in this year’s election, reining in corporations’ bad behavior and countering their power is on the line.

We all know that in the food industry corporate giants are gobbling the small companies, and the Democrats want to break them up.

Proposed merger of Kroger, Albertsons is halted by federal, WA judges

Fox 13

By Dee-Ann Durbin

December 10, 2024

The Brief

•         The proposed $24.6 billion merger between supermarket giants Kroger and Albertsons floundered on Tuesday after judges overseeing two separate cases both halted the merger.
•         A federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked the proposed merger until an in-house administrative judge at the Federal Trade Commission considers it.
•         Shortly afterward, a judge in Washington state issued a permanent injunction barring the merger in that state, saying it lessens competition.

You want to bring down food prices break up the monopiles! Bring back competition! 

 

Now tell me what do you think that the Trump administration will do?

online polls

“We Buy Houses”

Did you ever see those signs tacked to utilities poles? Did you ever wonder about them?

While criticizing housing costs, Ohio GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno invests with speculators

Ohio Capital Journal

By: Nick Evans

October 18, 2024

Republican Bernie Moreno’s U.S. Senate campaign is premised on a straightforward argument. The increasing cost of gas, groceries and housing are putting the American Dream out of reach.

But Moreno isn’t an obvious messenger. His personal fortune would make him one of the richest members of Congress if elected, and his family was wealthy and well-connected in their native Colombia before moving to the United States. Instead, on the campaign trail Moreno sometimes references his father-in-law who started working at U.S. Steel straight out of high school. 

“(He) was able to retire recently debt free,” Moreno said in a March 14 stump speech. “Never worried about affording a car or house. He was able to do that on that good paying job at U.S. Steel.”

[...]

“You look at the young people today, they can’t afford a house. To afford a house in Ohio, you have to make about $114,000 a year.”

He has invested homes and apartments.

However, for Moreno’s frustration with the housing market, he’s not a passive bystander. According to his personal financial disclosure, Moreno is invested in firms and funds engaged in large-scale real estate speculation. 

While researchers have differing views on whether institutional investors drive up prices or chase them, investors do benefit financially as housing grows more expensive. Meanwhile, at the local level, housing activists argue institutional investors distort real estate markets and have a reputation for raising rents, dragging their feet on repairs and filing eviction notices.

Those signs, “We buy homes” are speculators buying up the housing market, a house behind me was bought that way and now it is being rented.

44% of flipped single-family home purchases were by private investors in 2023

The Washington Times

March 15, 2024

Private equity firms have been carving out an increasingly substantial share of single-family home purchases, raising concern about the potential consequences for housing affordability and market competitiveness.

Recent data reveals that in the third quarter of 2023, these financial entities accounted for 44% of purchases of flipped single-family houses, Medium reports, citing a Business Insider study. The surge in activity marks a significant departure from traditional real estate dynamics and ushers in a new era of institutional investment. 

The practice has not only raised eyebrows but also fears, as the growing footprint of private equity raises critical questions about its role in raising real estate prices and potentially sidelining individual homebuyers.

The billionaires have gotten their grubby little hands on our homes.

Historically, investment firms and financial institutions had their sights set on multifamily properties such as apartments, leaving single-family homes largely to individual buyers. The aftermath of the 2009 recession, however, witnessed a turning tide, as low property prices and correspondingly low interest rates created a ripe environment for these investors to expand their portfolios into what was once considered nontraditional territory.

They milked dry the newspapers and the hospitals, now they are buying up the roofs over our heads. Vice wrote…

Hedge Funds Have Invaded the Housing Market. A New Bill Would Ban Them.

By Roshan Abraham

December 7, 2023

Hedge funds, private equity firms, and investment trusts have been snatching up single-family homes all around the country for years, creating concern that homeowners themselves would be pushed even further out of the market. But a sweeping new bill introduced by U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Washington Rep. Adam Smith would, if enacted as written, essentially ban such corporate investors from the practice moving forward.

It is not a large percentage of homes that are being gobbled up, but it is making a mark on rental properties.

Would Blocking Private Equity From Buying Homes Really Fix the Housing Shortage?
A recent bill in Congress proposes clamping down on companies scooping up single-family residences. But a housing expert says it’ll take more than that to help the little guy.

Dwell

By Anjulie Rao

It is becoming increasingly harder to own a home in America. That is, unless you’re private equity. In recent years, companies have been buying up the nation’s housing supply unchecked, with Wall Street becoming a leading buyer in the single-family market. According to a report from Stateline, nearly 22 percent of single-family home purchases were made by corporate entities within the past year. CNBC claims that by 2030, institutional investors will own nearly 40 percent of the nation’s single-family rentals.

And those are the billionaire friends of Trump… you know the ones. They are the ones who are dumping millions into PACs and the election.

Democrat Sen. Merkley introduced a bill about the high cost of homes and rents, who are in favor of the bill End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act, do you want to guess who is against the bill?

Lawmakers introduce bill to ban hedge funds from buying single-family houses

Spectrum News

By Evan Koslof 

January 05, 2024

As Americans continue to struggle in a heavily competitive real estate market, a group of Democratic lawmakers are introducing a bill in Congress that aims to restrict hedge funds from buying up single-family homes.

The End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act would mandate that hedge funds, defined as corporations, partnerships or REITs that manage pooled funds for investors, to sell off all single-family homes over a ten-year-period, and eventually prevent them from holding those properties completely.

Washington Rep. Adam Smith, one of the sponsors of the legislation, argued that these institutional investors can edge out potential homebuyers by making large cash offers.

[…]

“Large scale hedge fund investors are taking over the housing market at an alarming and accelerating rate,” Merkley said. 

Corporate ownership of single-family homes jumped during the 2008 housing crisis, when many homes were scooped up for cheap, amid widespread foreclosures. 

Those opposed to the bill,

So far, the proposed legislation does not have support from any Republican lawmakers. Rep. Smith concedes that this bill has a tough road ahead. 

Surprise, surprise!

The other trend... McMansion! Builders don't want starters homes, there is no money in to for them so they build these are oversized homes that are far too large for their lots. In town where we used to pan for Galena (The mineral lead sulfate) is now all McMansions, houses so big that they take up the whole lot and are selling for $500,000 to $600,000. (I doubt that the new buyers know the history of where their McMansion are, that is where lead was mined for the Revolutionary War!)

How many times have you heard the Republicans blame the Democrats for the economy... well now you know the real reason why the cost of homes and rent is increasing. It is the 1 Percenters! The billionaires that back Trump and other Republicans, it is politicians like Republican Bernie Moreno who are squeezing us! The republicans are blocking the increase in the minimum wage, and blocking reform in the housing market.

Vote Harris/Walz to keep a roof over your head.

Vote Blue to keep us from becoming an oligarchy.

Vote “Yes” on the Connecticut ballot question! Don’t buy into the Republican “Big Lie” about voter fraud!

*****

Updated: 3:15PM

 

---

 

Updated" 10/21 @ 7AM

 

VP Harris said in a speech the other day according to CNN,

Kamala Harris wants to take on ‘abusive’ corporate landlords. How much do they actually affect your rent?
By Samantha Delouya and Rachel Wilson
October 21, 2024

In the final stretch of her bid for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris has made improving housing affordability a core promise of her campaign.

In addition to pledging to provide up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers and a plan to drive new housing construction, Harris has also vowed to take on “abusive corporate landlords,” whom she partially blames for rent increases.

Nearly half of all renter households spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs, qualifying them as “cost-burdened,” according to US Census data in September.

While rent prices are undoubtedly rising, it’s unclear how much of the jump is due to corporate investors who buy up multiple properties. There isn’t a universal definition for “corporate landlords,” though Harris has called on Congress to pass a law that would remove key tax benefits for investors who acquire 50 or more single-family rental homes.

“Community after community feels taken advantage of by Wall Street investors and corporate landlords who have bought thousands of single-family homes during recent downturns,” Harris’ policy platform reads.

Private equity is squeezing every penny they can out of the renters.

Mega-investors, or landlords that have at least 1,000 properties, owned around 3% of homes in the United States as of June 2022, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute. While their share of ownership may seem small on a national scale, these mega-investors have bought up a more significant portion of single-family rental homes in cities like Atlanta (27%), Jacksonville, Florida (22%) and Charlotte, North Carolina (20%), according to Urban Institute data.

Some cities with high investor activity have seen considerable rent increases. Among 20 metro areas with a high presence of institutional investors, 13 have seen rent for single-family properties rise at a faster rate than wages compared to a year earlier, according to a CNN analysis of data in August from Zillow and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It is a new version of "I owe my soul to the company store."