Project 2029 - 8 Housing Costs

Dear Friends,

One of the biggest affordability problems for working people is housing.  The general rule is that a household should not spend more than 30% of the household income on housing costs.  Unfortunately, far too many households in the United States must pay more than 30%.  The Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies has published a study entitled "Housing Unaffordability Soared to New Highs in 2024".   Just a few of the statistics from that study indicate what a dire problem working people have finding affordable housing.  The study defines cost-burdened households as those where the occupants are paying more than 30% of the household income for housing and defines extreme cost-burdened households as those paying more than 50% of the household income for housing.

In 2024, there were 43.5 million households (33% of all households) that were cost-burdened.  Included within that number were 21.6 million (16% of all households) that were extremely cost-burdened.  In 2024, 20.7 million homeowner households (24% of all homeowners) were cost-burdened, and 22.7 million renter households (49% of all renters) were cost-burdened.  

Of course low income homeowners and renters fare worse than higher income households.  

Homeowner Households
Income level	Rate of cost-burden
Over $75,000	10%
$45,000 to $74,999	31%
$30,000 to $45,000	45%
Less than $30,000	75%
Renter Households
Income level	Rate of cost-burden
Over $75,000	14%
$45,000 to $74,999	49%
$30,000 to $45,000	72%
Less than $30,000	83%

Obviously the lack of affordable housing demonstrated by these figures is huge problem for working people and in the richest country in the world is unacceptable.  Even the currently deeply divided Congress understands that there is a problem and recently passed the 21st Century Road to Housing Act with overwhelming bipartisan support.  Unfortunately, even though the White House supported it, Trump has refused to sign it.

If you are interested in really getting into the weeds, you can find a detailed summary by the Bipartisan Policy Center here.  It provides for a wide variety of changes that are intended to make housing more affordable.  Even if Trump signs it, this bill will not solve the problem, but it will help.

It is not my intention to delineate solutions for the housing affordability crisis we are facing.  I want to be sure that the Democrats make it clear that once they gain control of Congress and the Presidency, they will immediately enact legislation to address the housing crisis and make housing more affordable for working people. Some of the actions taken to reduce housing costs will be in conflict with other goals of Democrats, like balancing reduced regulations with negative impacts of those reductions on the environment and balancing rent controls with investment incentives. Who said governing was easy.

Democrats should not shy away from having the federal government do those things that the private sector cannot do.  Clearly, the private sector is incapable of producing sufficient affordable housing for our country, and the current system of incentives to the private sector has not been successful.

Of course, other parts of Project 2029 that provide more income to working people will help make housing more affordable, but those items alone will not be enough.

Not having sufficient affordable housing is a policy choice.  The Democrats must enact policies that provide working people with the safe, high quality, affordable housing they deserve.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

Project 2029 - 7 Post Secondary Education

Dear Friends,

In a prior post, I wrote about the need to provide high quality, free daycare and pre-K through 12 education to all.  That is only the bare minimum.  We must do the same for post secondary education. 

In the United States and generally throughout the world, attaining a bachelor's degree provides a pathway to higher life time earnings as well as a wide variety of non-financial benefits.  Here are two summary statements from a report by Lumina Foundation:  

Despite enrollment and completion rates declining and Americans’ confidence in higher education falling, the economic case for earning a college degree remains solid. College graduates earn about $1 million more on average over the course of their working years than U.S. adults with no college degree...

The results show that additional years of education beyond high school make for a healthier, more civic-minded individual who is more likely to interact with neighbors and family members and find careers that align with their natural talents and interests.

According to a study by the Education Data Initiative (here), the United States has the highest average public college tuition of all other OECD countries at $9,596 in 2022-23 academic year

There are many countries that highly subsidize post secondary education.  For example,

Norway - While public postsecondary education in Norway is tuition-free, student loans are available for living expenses and private tuition costs. 

College students in Norway pay $0.00 for one year of tuition in an average public bachelor’s 

Sweden -Tuition in Sweden is free to EU/EEA citizens, and Sweden’s government spends more on postsecondary education than most other developed countries.

• College students in Sweden pay $0.00 for one year of tuition in an average public bachelor’s program; 

France - While the French government subsidizes public higher education for all, EU/EEA citizens usually receive more in subsidies than non-citizens (apart from a few specific groups, such as long-term residents and refugees).

• For EU/EAA citizens, tuition for the 2024-25 academic year is €175 (equivalent to 182.10 USD at the end of 2024) for a licence (bachelor’s) program; 
• For non-citizens, a smaller share of education costs are subsidized; tuition for 2024-25 is €2,850 (equivalent to 2,966 USD at the end of 2024) at the licence (bachelor) level.

Germany - While Germany offers free tuition at its public universities to EU/EEA students, this does not include living costs or semester contributions (which cover administrative costs, student services, etc.).

• College students in Germany pay $156.70 for one year of fees in an average public bachelor’s program.

While the United States spends more on education than other countries, it does not receive commensurate results.  In this case, I believe the reason is the high cost to families, particularly working families for whom the opportunity is beyond their reach. The following chart from a study by the OECD compares the percentage of the population that has post secondary education delineated by the education of the parents.  As you can see, the United States is in the middle of the pack despite spending much more than other countries.  In addition, the opportunity gap for students whose parents did not have post secondary education remains a stain on a country that claims to provide equal opportunity. 

If we are ever to achieve true equality of opportunity, we must provide affordable educational opportunities to all.  While scholarships are nice, the government must ensure that all students who meet the educational qualifications can attend post secondary educational programs for free.  If a student and/or the family must incur debt to provide this opportunity to the student, we have failed.  The children of working people deserve the opportunity to attain all the benefits that post secondary education provides.  In the richest country in the world it is a policy choice to fail to do so.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

The Crossing - 3

 Dear Friends,

As promised here is my post about the food on the Queen Mary 2 on our crossing of the Atlantic from New York to Southampton.  Our group booked together for the Queen's Grill level.  Consequently we could eat all our meals together in the Queen's Grill.

We had a designated table that only we could use.  We could go to a meal anytime during the meal service.  We also had the same group of servers.  

The menus changed daily.  Copies of the next day's menus were put in our cabins the night before.  Here is a sampling of the menus.

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Gala Evening Dinner

There was also an à la carte menu for dinner, but you had to order those items by lunch of the day you wanted them.

Fortunately for us the portion sizes were generally smaller than one might expect which meant that we did not gorge ourselves as much as we might have.  Here are some samples of the various dishes. 

I was delighted that I could have fresh berries for breakfast every day.  The waiters got used to bringing me two helpings.

The avocado toast with poached eggs was a real favorite.

Of course dinners were the highlight of the food extravaganza.  There were beautiful little starters.

At many dinners the maitre d' would offer a special pasta to add to the regular menu.  

There were plenty of delicious fish dishes.  

Unfortunately, on this sole meunière I took the picture before the waiter had added the spinach.  So do not blame the Queen Mary 2 for the appearance of the plate.

There was also far more meat than our doctors would have recommended, but it was very good.  We also could not resist the flaming dishes.  

Rack of Dorset Lamb

Beef Wellington

Chateaubriand of Beef

The normal desserts were really good.

But the flaming desserts were always special.

Baked Alaska

Cherries Jubilee 

One night we experienced a fun soufflé.

Of course tea time on a British ship is very important and very good.

And just in case we were hungry, a small appetizer was delivered to our room between tea and dinner.

On the last night the waiters found out that Jane and I would celebrate our 57th anniversary in a few days so they prepared a special dessert for us.

And serenaded us with "Let Me Call You Sweetheart".

What a wonderful experience it was!  If we can, we will do it again, but next time we will go from Southampton to New York so we can see the Statue of Liberty as we enter New York harbor.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal