ANONYMOUS - OUR VOICE

“Let’s Go Brandon” Hits The World Series

Baseball fans brought the popular chant “Let’s go Brandon” to this year’s World Series games between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros.
<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.abc4.com/news/digital-exclusives/lets-go-brandon-heres-where-the-viral-meme-comes-from/" target="_blank">An alternate phrase for “Fuck Joe Biden</a>,” the words “Let’s go Brandon” were sprawled across a massive banner during Game 2 on Wednesday, and several recordings of the expression being screamed or chanted were caught on camera.
<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"></figure>
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio">
[embedded content]
</figure>
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio">
[embedded content]
</figure>
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio">
[embedded content]
</figure>
According to Atlanta Braves chief executive Terry McGuirk, President Donald Trump will be attending Game 4 of the series in Atlanta on Saturday night.
After Trump called the MLB and asked to attend, McGurick said, “We were very surprised. Of course, we said yes. We are apolitical. We’re open to anyone coming. It’s great that he wants to come to our game.’’
Expect the “Let’s Go Brandon” signs, shirts, hats, and chants to be flooding the Saturday night Trump game.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true" readability="5.219512195122">
The “Let’s go Brandon,” chants are going to be raining down like crazy.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/1453458031816101888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2021</a></blockquote>
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
<div class="pJROiAcS"><a href="https://www.infowarsstore.com/specials-clearance/this-weeks-sales?ims=wsvpv&utm_campaign=blackfridayhero&utm_source=Infowars+Hero&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=blackfridayhero" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.directus.libertycdn.com/uploads/_/originals/BlackFridatSE-hero-385.jpg" /></a></div>
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/lets-go-brandon-hits-the-world-series">https://www.infowars.com/posts/lets-go-brandon-hits-the-world-series</a>

news “Let’s Go Brandon” Hits The World Series

Baseball fans brought the popular chant “Let’s go Brandon” to this year’s World Series games between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros. ...

Hypersonic Weapons Race Is A Marathon, Not A Sprint: Who Will Cross The Finish Line First?

The US’ latest hypersonic rocket test has failed, whereas China has reportedly tested a hypersonic rocket that circled the globe and Russia carried out the second successful test launch of its Zircon hypersonic cruise missile.
But can we determine yet who’s to be the leader in the development of this future weaponry? 
Last Thursday, the Pentagon said that its latest test at the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak, Alaska, had been scuttled after a booster rocket carrying a hypersonic glide body <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hypersonic-missile-test-booster-rocket-failure/" target="_blank">failed</a> to launch. Earlier this year, the US Air Force had two failed tests of the AGM-183A <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://mail.rttv.ru:446/owa/redir.aspx?C=rpLmvnv7oj7EKh5C1K7JdUvXit4t0-BjnUe6-jCPOYKwkE0MxJfZCA..&URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fair-force-agm-183a-arrw-hypersonic-weapon-fails-flight-test-2021-8" target="_blank">hypersonic missile</a>.
However, earlier last week, the US  said it had successfully tested hypersonic missile technology at a NASA facility in Wallops, Virginia. “This test demonstrated advanced hypersonic technologies, capabilities, and prototype systems in a realistic operating environment,” the Navy <a href="https://www.airforcemag.com/agm-183-arrw-production-timetable-failure-review/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a> in a statement, adding that it was “a vital step in the development of a Navy-designed common hypersonic missile.”
It must be noted that failed tests of weapons and military hardware at the development stage are a normal part of the process.
After the first unsuccessful launch of the AGM-183A missile in the Pacific Ocean, some media outlets rushed to announce that, once again, the United States had failed to join Russia and China in the club of countries that have hypersonic missiles in their arsenals. But I have to warn these observers against such hasty judgments.
There is no reason to gloat here. Let’s not forget that hypersonic tests are considered a state secret and classified military information in all of these countries.
There is no data about such launches coming out of China. The US is more open in this respect, but it is still classified information. The public has no way of knowing the actual results of hypersonic weapon tests.
<div class="c5U4mUMn"><a href="https://www.infowarsstore.com/specials-clearance/this-weeks-sales?ims=wsvpv&utm_campaign=blackfridayhero&utm_source=Infowars+Hero&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=blackfridayhero" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.directus.libertycdn.com/uploads/_/originals/BlackFridatSE-hero-385.jpg" /></a></div>
Therefore, it is not an accurate assessment when journalists write that the United States “failed again.” Let me remind you about the test launch of the Soviet V-1000 anti-ballistic missile that was part of System A (Soviet anti-ballistic missile system). Its first successful intercept was on March 4, 1961, when it intercepted an R-12 (8K63) theater ballistic missile. It is no exaggeration to say that it was a moment of triumph for the Russian weapons. However, there had been 11 failed launches before March 4, 1961. Hundreds of tests for air defense missile weapons have been conducted, and not all of them have been successful.
We don’t know what exactly went wrong with the US test launch – we don’t have access to that information. We don’t know much about the American technology behind the hypersonic booster rocket in general. The details and specifications have not been made available to the public. 
As for the Chinese hypersonic missiles, there is absolutely no verified information about them. Beijing denied reports suggesting that it tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile earlier this year, and said it was not a missile but a routine spacecraft check. However, it is virtually impossible to hide something happening in near space from the US and Russia, with their missile-attack warning systems.
Therefore one can assume that certain specialists may have necessary information regarding the Chinese hypersonic missile that has allegedly circled the globe. Immediately after the weapon’s test launch, the space reconnaissance units of the US and Russian Ballistic Missile Early Warning Radar Systems (and also their above-the-horizon radars) would be able to calculate the trajectory of the Chinese missile, and the military of the two countries would be informed of all its mission parameters.
That’s why if President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-concerned-over-chinas-hypersonic-missiles-joe-biden-2583698" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">says</a> he is concerned about performance capabilities of the Chinese weapon, there is probably some basis for such fears.
Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, <a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/538613-gen-milley-sputnik-moment-china/">called</a> China’s alleged hypersonic missile launch “very concerning” and compared it to the “Sputnik moment” – the Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite amid the US-Soviet space race. 
“What we saw was a very significant event of a test of a hypersonic weapon system. And it is very concerning,” the US’ top military officer said on Wednesday, in an interview on Bloomberg TV’s ‘The David Rubenstein Show’. “I don’t know if it’s quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to that.”
Hypersonic weapons testing is a marathon, not a sprint, in any country. So, looking at who is ahead or a little behind in this race is pointless right now. The important thing here is not the race itself, but who will finish first, i.e. accept hypersonic weapons into service and start mass production. And even this is not the ultimate indicator either. 
Only successful practical use of hypersonic glide vehicles in combat will determine the real leader. This is the true “final exam” for any weapon. This is the real test that can prove that the initial idea has panned out, the resources were efficiently invested, and the developers were moving in the right direction. At this point, celebrating or gloating would be equally premature.
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
<a href="https://freeworldnews.tv/watch?id=6179f215611b291edb9cf8f3">Joe Rogan Confirms His Doctor Treated Over 200 Members of Congress With Ivermectin</a> 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/hypersonic-weapons-race-is-a-marathon-not-a-sprint-who-will-cross-the-finish-line-first">https://www.infowars.com/posts/hypersonic-weapons-race-is-a-marathon-not-a-sprint-who-will-cross-the-finish-line-first</a>

news Hypersonic Weapons Race Is A Marathon, Not A Sprint: Who Will Cross The Finish Line First?

The US’ latest hypersonic rocket test has failed, whereas China has reportedly tested a hypersonic rocket that circled the globe and Russia ...

Student, 20, Gets Blood Clots, Has Leg Amputated, Suffers Stroke, Then Dies in Surgery After Second Covid Jab

A 20-year-old community college student in Thailand experienced blood clots, had her leg amputated, then suffered a stroke shortly before dying after she received her second Covid-19 vaccine.
The young woman, 20-year-old Ketsiree Kongkaew who attended Phangnga Community College, reportedly died from a haemorrhagic stroke Tuesday as doctors attempted to perform brain surgery, according to the <a href="https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2204359/student-loses-leg-after-second-cross-jab-then-dies">Bangkok Post</a>.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-124384" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" src="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/10/bangkok-post12.jpg" srcset="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/10/bangkok-post12-300x216.jpg 300w, https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/10/bangkok-post12-768x552.jpg 768w, https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/10/bangkok-post12.jpg 800w" /></figure>
A <a href="https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2204539/woman-dies-after-mixed-jab-regime">second Bangkok Post headline</a> dedicated to the same story highlighted the fact Ketsiree had reportedly mixed vaccines, taking the Sinovac vaccine as her first dose, then following up with the AstraZeneca jab.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-124432" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" src="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/10/mixd-jab3.jpg" srcset="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/10/mixd-jab3-300x224.jpg 300w, https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/10/mixd-jab3-768x574.jpg 768w, https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/10/mixd-jab3.jpg 800w" /></figure>
Footage <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nbtpng/videos/289300639862235/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">available on Facebook</a> purports to show coroners hauling away Ketsiree’s body.
As reported by the Post, the complications that led to Ketsiree’s death all began when she received the AstraZeneca shot, after which she suffered an “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441851/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">acute arterial occlusion</a>.”
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote" readability="48">
Anupong Thammarong, 25, a classmate of Ketsiree from the same village, said a doctor from Songklanagarind Hospital had phoned the grandmother late on Friday night, asking for permission to perform surgery. The doctor said Ketsiree had bleeding in her brain.
The grandmother and relatives gave their permission. After the operation, the young woman remained unconscious. She was reliant on a ventilator and was pronounced dead on Monday morning after a haemorrhagic stroke.
The doctors said the brain haemorrhage was a side effect of the thrombolytic drugs used to treat blood clots, Mr Anupong said.
Ketsiree was reported to have earlier suffered an acute arterial occlusion, or blockage of a limb artery, after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine as her second shot.
According to Jamras Khanadpol, director of Phangnga Community College, she began feeling unwell after her second shot on Aug 13.
She complained of a fever and chest pains about three days later, her classmate Anupong said. She went to see a doctor at Phangnga Hospital, who diagnosed her with a bladder infection.
Ketsiree was later rushed back to the hospital after she experienced severe pain in her left leg. She was referred to Surat Thani Hospital, where an X-ray revealed blood clots that required urgent surgery.
As her condition continued to worsen, the hospital transferred her to the better-equipped Krabi Hospital, then to Songklanagarind Hospital in Hat Yai, where doctors decided to amputate her leg, Mr Anupong said.
</blockquote>
Numerous people across the globe are reported to have died, or suffered severe adverse reactions from the AstraZeneca jab, prompting many world governments to pause their rollouts of the shot.
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
Follow the author on Gab: <a href="https://gab.ai/adansalazar" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://gab.ai/adansalazar</a> 
Minds: <a href="https://www.minds.com/adan_infowars" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.minds.com/adan_infowars</a> 
Twitter: 
Parler: <a href="https://parler.com/profile/adansalazar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://parler.com/profile/adansalazar/</a> 
Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/adan.salazar.735" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.facebook.com/adan.salazar.735</a>
<a href="https://banned.video/watch?id=6179b51222876e1b887cdcf5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">COVID VAX Injury Videos Banned From Web</a>
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/student-20-gets-blood-clots-has-leg-amputated-suffers-stroke-then-dies-in-surgery-after-second-covid-jab">https://www.infowars.com/posts/student-20-gets-blood-clots-has-leg-amputated-suffers-stroke-then-dies-in-surgery-after-second-covid-jab</a>

news Student, 20, Gets Blood Clots, Has Leg Amputated, Suffers Stroke, Then Dies in Surgery After Second Covid Jab

A 20-year-old community college student in Thailand experienced blood clots, had her leg amputated, then suffered a stroke shortly before dy...

Radio Legend Dies “Suddenly” Two Months After Second Covid Jab

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/10/10-28-21-rob-dew.jpg" /></div>
Long-time ABC Radio Perth presenter Russell Woolf died suddenly in his sleep Monday night.
The 57-year-old Australian radio host bragged on Twitter about receiving his second AstraZeneca Covid vaccine on August 19th.
<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter">
<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="5.8275862068966">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true" readability="5.3793103448276">
Just had my second AZ jab … I'm a double plugger. Very happy about it. Just get the vax, man.
— Russell Woolf (@Russell_Woolf) <a href="https://twitter.com/Russell_Woolf/status/1428227293151858692?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>
</figure>
Woolf was a national broadcaster for more than 20 years and was most recently the co-host of ABC Perth’s breakfast show alongside Nadia Mitsopoulos.
Following the unexpected passing, Mitsopoulos <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-27/nadia-mitsopoulos-pays-tribute-to-abc-broadcaster-russell-woolf/100570730" target="_blank">published a tribute</a> to the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/abc-radio-legend-russell-woolf-has-died-20211026-p5937k.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">radio legend</a>, writing, “Without Russell, the ABC isn’t the same place it was for much of the past 20 years. I am heartbroken at the loss of my outrageously talented colleague and supremely loyal friend.”
“I should be more stoic for the sake of his beautiful wife Kylie and wonderful daughter Bronte, who have lost an incredibly loving husband and father,” she added. “They were his everything. And he was theirs.” 
<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"></figure>
Several Australian celebs and <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/celebrity-deaths/tributes-flow-for-beloved-abc-radio-host-russell-woolf-after-his-shock-death/news-story/7a9d952c8ac6c35e655dda0932904c8e" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">even politicians</a> commemorated Woolf with kind words on social media.
Comedian Wil Anderson said, “He was generous, supportive and funny and I considered him a friend and always looked forward to our conversations. I’m shattered by this news and send my love to his friends, family and colleagues.”
<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter">
<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper" readability="5.9851485148515">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true" readability="5.5247524752475">
Russell was the only radio host who had me on every week to plug Question Everything he was always so supportive of new talent. He’ll leave a huge hole
— Wil Anderson (@Wil_Anderson) <a href="https://twitter.com/Wil_Anderson/status/1452821494052974592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>
</figure>
On Tuesday, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://thewest.com.au/news/coronavirus/coronavirus-crisis-anti-vaccination-protesters-stage-rally-outside-parliament-house-ng-b882054034z" target="_blank">hundred</a><a href="https://thewest.com.au/news/coronavirus/coronavirus-crisis-anti-vaccination-protesters-stage-rally-outside-parliament-house-ng-b882054034z" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">s</a> <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://thewest.com.au/news/coronavirus/coronavirus-crisis-anti-vaccination-protesters-stage-rally-outside-parliament-house-ng-b882054034z" target="_blank">of anti-Covid vaccine protesters gathered</a> outside Australia’s Parliament House to speak out against vaccine mandates, lockdowns and other government measures.
Some of the demonstrators also discussed the possibility that the experimental vaccines could have been the cause of Woolf’s death.
Many individuals gathered wore their medical scrubs, one woman’s shirt reading, “Nurse 15 Years.”
<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio">
[embedded content]
</figure>
Woolf’s cause of death is oddly being kept quiet thus far, and no statement has been made by his family.
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
Are vaccines safe? That’s the question and one that you cannot seem to ask in society these days without abuse and censorship.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/radio-legend-dies-suddenly-two-months-after-second-covid-jab">https://www.infowars.com/posts/radio-legend-dies-suddenly-two-months-after-second-covid-jab</a>

news Radio Legend Dies “Suddenly” Two Months After Second Covid Jab

Long-time ABC Radio Perth presenter Russell Woolf died suddenly in his sleep Monday night. The 57-year-old Australian radio host bragged o...

Why “Transitory” Inflation Isn’t Going Anywhere

Consumers have been hit hard in the wallet by inflation this year, with <a href="https://schiffgold.com/peters-podcast/peter-schiff-non-transitory-worse-than-expected-inflation/">CPI up 5.4% year-on-year in September</a>.
But consumer prices are only part of the inflation equation. Producers of goods and services also face rising prices in an inflationary environment. Producer price increases have been even more dramatic than the rise in CPI, and we’re starting to see those higher prices trickle down to consumers.
This is yet another indication that inflation is far from “transitory.”
The Producer Price Index in September was 0.5% month-on-month in September. Final-demand goods prices were up 1.3% on the heels of a 1% gain in August. Year on year, the PPI was 8.6% in September.
The CPI has lagged the PPI so far this year. Many producers dragged their feet when it comes to passing on their higher costs to their customers. They initially bought into the transitory inflation narrative and thought if they could just hold out, their costs would come back down. But it’s becoming increasingly clear that <a href="https://schiffgold.com/key-gold-news/transitory-price-increases-are-forever/">these price increases are forever</a>. As the transitory inflation narrative continues to unwind, more companies are passing on these higher costs to their customers. This will likely continue an inflationary spiral.
Over the last couple of months, we’ve seen some companies raise prices to offset their costs. <a href="https://schiffgold.com/key-gold-news/transitory-inflation-strikes-again-fedex-announces-big-rate-hikes/">FedEx announced big rate hikes last month</a>. Earlier this summer, <a href="https://schiffgold.com/commentaries/chipotle-menu-price-hike-spotlights-inflation-problem/">Chipotle raised menu prices</a>, and companies such as Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Kimberly-Clark, General Mills, Unilever all raised prices as well.
The trend of companies passing costs on to consumers appears to be accelerating.
According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/us-companies-keep-prices-high-supply-chain-headaches-persist-2021-10-27/" rel="noreferrer noopener">a Reuters report</a>, large US manufacturing companies including General Motors, General Electric, 3M and Boeing are struggling with higher costs “but agreed the hit to profits can be mitigated by charging higher prices for their goods.”
<div class="riY9qOA1"><a href="https://www.infowarsstore.com/specials-clearance/this-weeks-sales?ims=wsvpv&utm_campaign=blackfridayhero&utm_source=Infowars+Hero&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=blackfridayhero" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.directus.libertycdn.com/uploads/_/originals/BlackFridatSE-hero-385.jpg" /></a></div>
On Wednesday, Harley-Davidson announced it will increase surcharge pricing in the US to offset higher pricing. The company said it is also exploring raising surcharge costs globally.
In its most recent earnings report, McDonald’s said it has increased prices to keep pace with surging costs.
Meanwhile, 3M cut its full-year earnings outlook and said it will raise prices. 3M produces a wide range of construction and building products. Its price hikes will likely ripple through the construction market.
Of course, once companies raise prices, they rarely drop them.
Companies that hold off on raising prices to offset their costs risk crushing their earnings. That would not bode well for a stock market that continues to ignore rising prices and <a href="https://schiffgold.com/peters-podcast/peter-schiff-irrational-exuberance-in-the-stock-market-casino/">surge to new records</a>.
Mainstream analysts blame supply chain bottlenecks for the continued rise in producer prices. As Reuters reported, “Companies across the globe sounded the alarm on supply issues months ago that have pushed prices higher on raw materials from chemicals to steel.”
This certainly contributes to the problem, but the mainstream continues to ignore the bigger driver of inflation – the Federal Reserve. It continues to <a href="https://schiffgold.com/commentaries/peter-schiff-getting-the-definition-of-inflation-right/">create inflation</a> at breakneck speed. Despite taper talk, <a href="https://schiffgold.com/key-gold-news/while-they-talk-about-a-taper-the-fed-pushes-balance-sheet-to-another-new-record/">the Fed continues the “emergency” monetary policy</a> it initiated at the beginning of the pandemic. Virtually every week, the Fed balance sheet expands to a new record level, as the central bank pumps billions into the economy.
Whether caused by supply chain problems, Fed policy, or some combination of the two, the continued rise in producer prices undercuts the “transitory” inflation narrative. The bottom line is more money coming out of your wallet for the things you buy every day.
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
<a href="https://freeworldnews.tv/watch?id=6179f215611b291edb9cf8f3">Joe Rogan Confirms His Doctor Treated Over 200 Members of Congress With Ivermectin</a> 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/why-transitory-inflation-isnt-going-anywhere">https://www.infowars.com/posts/why-transitory-inflation-isnt-going-anywhere</a>

news Why “Transitory” Inflation Isn’t Going Anywhere

Consumers have been hit hard in the wallet by inflation this year, with CPI up 5.4% year-on-year in September . But consumer prices are on...

Congress isn’t going to save the housing market

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gIUnGNRDyZJfGzNQL1NuKfLCxXY=/0x214:5472x3079/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22959828/GettyImages_1313885906.jpg" /></div>
More than 580,000 Americans are homeless. The median sale price for a home has just <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS">surpassed $400,000</a>. Homeownership is <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/2040-us-will-experience-modest-homeownership-declines-black-households-impact-will-be-dramatic">on the decline</a>.
This, by all accounts, is a national emergency — and one House Democrats had proposed $330 billion to tackle as part of their Build Back Better plan. This package was both a once-in-a-generation investment and also barely enough to scratch the surface. Now, even those proposed investments are being <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/22/pelosi-housing-aid-social-spending-516852">cut down as part of negotiations over the final package</a>.
Perhaps more worrisome is the apparent lack of willingness to tackle the root of the problem.
When Covid-19 hit last year, officials took groundbreaking steps to help keep people in their homes — a <a href="https://www.vox.com/21569601/eviction-moratorium-cdc-covid-19-congress-rental-assistance-rent-crisis">nationwide eviction moratorium</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22429430/renters-rent-relief-eviction-moratorium-housing-market">tens of billions in rent relief</a>, and state and local protections too. Plans from the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22369761/biden-infrastructure-american-jobs-act-housing-prices-rents-bubble-race-to-the-top">White House</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/22382212/housing-prices-supply-klobuchar-portman-senate-grants-biden">different</a> <a href="https://www.young.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/young-reintroduces-yes-in-my-backyard-act-to-encourage-communities-to-cut-regulations-and-increase-housing-supply">senators</a> highlighted that they were willing to take bold action to increase housing supply in a country facing a <a href="http://www.freddiemac.com/research/insight/20210507_housing_supply.page">3.8 million housing unit deficit</a>.
Then the housing portion of the Build Back Better plan was floated. And it became clear that while some in Congress were willing to make substantial investments, very few were willing to tackle the fundamental problem that was making homes so expensive in the first place: lack of supply.
Yes, it’s easier to try to help people afford something expensive than to try and make it less expensive to begin with. But many of the policies that try to subsidize housing can actually make it more expensive. “What you really need if you want to lower those new home prices, is you need to build more homes — and there’s not that much of that in this bill,” says Paul Williams, a fellow at the Jain Family Institute.
I spoke with Williams about what the new, cheaper plan Democrats are coalescing around could mean for people looking around the housing market and finding very few options, and for people struggling with the basic need to obtain shelter.
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
<hr class="p-entry-hr" />
<h4>Jerusalem Demsas</h4>
So the housing proposal in Build Back Better — what’s in that?
<h4>Paul Williams</h4>
The Build Back Better housing plan really addresses decades of under-investments in affordable housing and housing supply at the lower end of the market, which is something the government traditionally has been needed to support in order to correct market failures at the lower end. So the big bucket items in the Build Back Better plan are:
<ul>
<li>Investments in the public housing capital backlog. This is public housing that we invested in over the decades, then cut funding for in the ’90s, and now those buildings have two decades of deferred maintenance and there’s all these problems in these buildings. [The funding is] so that they don’t literally fall apart.</li>
<li>Another big bucket item is housing choice vouchers and project-based vouchers, which are two rental assistance programs that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) runs. One of them is the tenant gets the voucher that they can use to help pay their rent and the other goes to a building and then all the tenants who live in that building get rental assistance.</li>
<li>Another big bucket is investments in the <a href="https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/htf">Housing Trust Fund</a> and the home investment partnership program, which are basically grants which can be used as grants or loans to contribute to new affordable housing production projects.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Jerusalem Demsas</h4>
Over the last year, we’ve seen a lot of attention paid to the housing crisis. On one end, there are tenants struggling to stay housed as they were hit hard by the economic effects of Covid-19. And on the other, there’s been a really hot housing market where homeownership seems to be a dying dream for millennials and historically disadvantaged groups. How well do you think these big buckets you’ve outlined address these two concerns?
<h4>Paul Williams</h4>
I think that the biggest-ticket items in the original proposal were really about either creating or preserving existing affordable housing at the lower end of the market. It’s the people at the very lower end of the market who are least able to weather the storm [of Covid-19]. And that’s where most of these investments lie: in preserving those existing lower-end units and creating new ones.
On the homeowner side, there’s a piece in this proposal that is downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers. You know, it’s a difficult thing because housing prices are really hot right now, but the lending that’s actually happening is like almost 80 percent to people with credit scores above 760. So it’s all people with very high incomes and very low debt loads. And this is with extremely low mortgage rates. So, downpayment assistance in a lot of places isn’t really going to help people break into this really hot housing market.
What you really need if you want to lower those new home prices is you need to build more homes — and there’s not that much of that in this bill.
<h4>Jerusalem Demsas</h4>
Yeah, it seemed earlier this year that there was <a href="https://www.vox.com/22369761/biden-infrastructure-american-jobs-act-housing-prices-rents-bubble-race-to-the-top">energy around exclusionary zoning reform</a>. [Exclusionary zoning laws, which range from banning multifamily housing to requiring certain numbers of parking spaces in or near homes, artificially constrain the number of homes built in an area.]
There were proposals from the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22369761/biden-infrastructure-american-jobs-act-housing-prices-rents-bubble-race-to-the-top">Biden administration</a> and <a href="https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2021/4/amy-klobuchar-has-a-plan-to-build-more-housing">Sen. Amy Klobuchar</a> and there were <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/blog/2021/06/17/exclusionary-zoning-its-effect-on-racial-discrimination-in-the-housing-market/">blog posts coming out from the Council of Economic Advisors</a> about how much restrictive zoning was responsible for a lot of our housing affordability woes.
What happened there?
<h4>Paul Williams</h4>
In the original proposal, there was around $5 billion for a carrot incentive program for local municipalities. The idea being you can get a small amount of money from the HUD if you hire some planners and have them do a zoning study. And then if you implement some of those changes, you could get even more money.
So I don’t personally think that the amounts that are in there are really going to swing the pendulum for a lot of jurisdictions, particularly those with some of the most egregious policies. I don’t really see what was in the package originally as a game changer.
<h4>Jerusalem Demsas</h4>
The package has been in negotiations for a while, and there are several proposed cuts to the housing portion. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/22/pelosi-housing-aid-social-spending-516852">Reporting</a> seems to indicate everything gets cut — public housing, rental assistance vouchers, the housing trust fund, etc. — except for downpayment assistance, which actually goes up from $10 billion to $15 billion.
This seems to be a tendency of Congress’s. Earlier this year, I covered a memo that the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22535542/housing-crisis-shortage-biden-wally-adeyemo">Treasury Department wrote to policymakers</a> and Congress in particular, essentially pleading with them to focus on increasing housing supply. I talked about why Congress is much more willing to engage on demand-side policies [giving people money to afford something expensive] rather than on supply-side policies [making expensive things less expensive]. Do you have any thoughts about this?
<h4>Paul Williams</h4>
Yeah, that’s an interesting point. I agree, Congress is often more willing to engage on the demand side than the production side, and that can lead to increased prices if we don’t also build more — especially for the low-income people we’re trying to help with these programs.
Downpayment assistance, I think there’s potentially an inflationary impact of that or some impact on actual home prices particularly in places where a lot of people are eligible for this program and there’s a lot of [housing] scarcity and not a lot of construction happening.
With the vouchers, this is something that people have talked about, this question of how do we make our housing voucher program such that everyone who is eligible can actually get it. Right now, the program is only funded such that <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/7/9/21316912/joe-biden-housing-plan-section-8">one-fifth of the people who are eligible actually get it</a>. Everyone else is in this potentially decades-long line.
One issue with making it universal is that you give everybody this assistance [without increasing the supply of rental housing], and then you may see rents starting to go way up. And there’s a couple of things that can push back on that: If you have production that keeps pace with new rental assistance, then you’re pushing back on that. And then in cities where you have rent regulations that can keep annual rent increases from going up exorbitantly, you can also push back on that.
<h4>Jerusalem Demsas</h4>
Focusing on housing production elements of this bill, one area where we could see increased production is in public housing. But as you mentioned earlier, public housing funds have been deficient for a very long time, so we have this <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/7/22/22586701/housing-aging-public-housing-section-8">massive capital backlog</a>. That means that even with the original proposal to spend $80 billion on this, almost all of that would have gone toward just repairing those buildings — and now that seems to have been cut.
Can you talk a little about what the capital backlog has meant in real terms for people living in public housing?
<h4>Paul Williams</h4>
So just to kind of frame it with the history. In 1998, as part of a slew of welfare reforms that President Bill Clinton’s administration moved through Congress, the Quality Housing Act really shifted the way that HUD funded public housing. The result of all these changes together was the capital expenditures have been in precipitous decline since 1999.
Some of that has been alleviated by public housing authorities taking units out of public housing ... but the vast majority have not been, and the result is that these buildings are just going to fall apart around these people. This is <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/10/18/22724808/democrats-senate-disadvantage-shor-klein">potentially the last time Democrats are going to have full control of Congress</a> and the presidency for, some people say, a decade.
There’s no alternative here. We have to fix these buildings.
<h4>Jerusalem Demsas</h4>
And every once in a while, the lack of safety makes pretty big news. We hear about fires in public housing where <a href="https://www.startribune.com/cedar-riverside-high-rise-fire/565785691/">people have actually died</a>, and the lack of capital investments was the key factor. We also see kids growing up with lead paint in the walls — which is essentially poison to them.
This is a situation where the federal government has taken ownership of a housing structure and has let people live in absolutely dire conditions where we would encourage someone to sue if this was the private market and their landlord was allowing the situation to deteriorate to this extent.
<h4>Paul Williams</h4>
Yes. And I’d also add that these public housing capital investments and with the Housing Trust Fund, this new money for production and rehab means there is a lot of movement from public housing authorities and nonprofit developers who are building affordable housing to do carbon-neutral, full-electric projects.
At NYCHA [New York City Housing Authority], they got a grant to develop their own new <a href="https://www.vox.com/videos/2021/9/24/22691392/heat-pumps-cooling-air-conditioner-heating">heat pump technology</a> that would be fully electric type of heating and cooling systems for the buildings. This is technology that does not yet exist on the market so their hope is to get this working and deploy it portfolio-wide across all of their buildings.
I think it’s important not to underestimate the impact that public sector procurement has on these kinds of long-term changes we need for climate change. It’s not just in vehicles, it’s also in buildings and housing.
<h4>Jerusalem Demsas</h4>
We’ve talked a little bit about the need to fix the existing public housing stock. And while that’s very important, we’re so far behind on capital expenditures that likely none of that money would actually [meaningfully be spent on] creating new units of affordable housing. It appears that the best chance for that in this bill is in the Housing Trust Fund dollars. How does that work?
<h4>Paul Williams</h4>
Yeah, the Housing Trust Fund and the home investment partnerships exist to plug all the [financing] holes because there are so many projects that come very close to getting funded and then can’t get that last piece funded, and the project falls apart. The Housing Trust Fund in particular is targeted toward the very low end of the rental market — so, very low-income and extremely low-income households.
<h4>Jerusalem Demsas</h4>
One of the things that’s really shocking to me is that despite all of the pain we’ve seen over the last year when it comes to lack of housing, Congress is still not even really tackling this problem. It just indicates to me how much many of these lawmakers still don’t really believe that they’re responsible for fixing the underlying problems in the housing market. And I wonder, do you think this sort of “housing policy is local” disease is going to persist?
<h4>Paul Williams</h4>
It definitely would be a shift for the federal government to say, “We have a serious stake in this issue and we’re going to wield a stick to do something about it.” The federal government has not really done that in relation to what are framed as local planning issues. I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that a lot of these local planning issues actually have serious national macro-level impacts on who’s able to access housing for a cost they can afford.
So I think that the case is becoming more and more clear — as this problem gets worse and worse — that there is a role for the national government to do something about it.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/10/27/22747115/build-back-better-housing-infrastructure-plan">https://www.vox.com/2021/10/27/22747115/build-back-better-housing-infrastructure-plan</a>

vox Congress isn’t going to save the housing market

More than 580,000 Americans are homeless. The median sale price for a home has just surpassed $400,000 . Homeownership is on the decline . ...