What do most voters care about most? Money.

This is a theme as old as time. For years I've been messaging subtly and not-so-subtly, that the extreme wealth disparity we are currently experiencing will boil over at some point. And it has, several times over the past few years. Not because wealth disparity will cease to exist, it will always exist. It exists quite boldly and often selectively, in dictatorships, socialist and communist governments, not just capitalist societies. The ping-pong ball of blame goes back and forth with one side blaming the other repeatedly. The bottom line: most people do not expect to become billionaires, but they wish to afford the basics to survive, food, healthcare, education, transportation, savings and housing.

Not unlike the US government's spending is concentrated in healthcare, social security and the military, or a HOA/condo's budgets on staffing expenses, individuals in the US are spending around 33% of their income on housing. Housing is a big driver of inflation and eats up a big chunk of consumer spending. Some are spending much more than 33%. So while many people over the past few years have come up with multiple issues to rile up voters, in reality, housing is still probably the most important issue of all. And for too many, housing is simply too expensive relative to their incomes. Enter the politicians. Each one has a different quick-fix solution, yet none wants to acknowledge the reality:  there is no quick-fix, realistic solution.

Housing takes enormous planning, resources, financing, labor and time. Usually more time than a single election cycle. Quick fixes are akin to bandaids applied to some, but not others and who gets to decide? We all pay the price for quick fixes that produce no long term solutions. The housing challenges we face can only be genuinely resolved by 100% honest, thorough, detailed evaluation of the realities and a joint effort to resolve them, casting politics aside. Exactly a year ago affordability and the end of inflation were promised. Today inflation is up to around 3% and at least 18% fewer homes will be built in 2025 compared to 2024.

We can assign blame for this until we are blue in the face.  Instead we can cast aside our impatience and differences, roll up our sleeves and work together to formulate real, practical solutions and enact them fast!