Presidential candidate Kamala Harris is promising to provide “first-time homebuyers with $25,000 to cover the down payment.” Her promise is proving popular. Eighty percent of Democrats and even 20% of Republicans favor it, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. But the devil is in the details, and the media are not asking any questions. The biggest question is whether Harris, as president, would help all first-time homebuyers, regardless of their race, or target the help to achieve racial equity, as her past actions suggest.
Harris has a long track record promising $25,000 in down payment help, but her goal was never to help all first-time homebuyers. In 2019, as a U.S. senator, Harris insisted the goal was to close the homeownership gap between Black and white families. She said then, “We must right the wrong and — after generations of discrimination — and give Black families a real shot at home ownership.”
Her $25,000 down payment promise was limited to” first-generation homebuyers.”
Why limit the help to buyers whose parents never owned a home? To ensure that most of the help goes to minority homebuyers. Only 44% of Black families own their homes, compared with 73% of white families. Black buyers are nearly twice as likely to qualify for help as white buyers if the help is limited to first-generation homebuyers.
Harris insists her “values have not changed.” When it comes to housing, that is true.
For the last three and a half years, Harris has pushed racial equity as a governmentwide goal. In March, President Joe Biden boasted support for legislation to provide “$25,000 in down payment assistance to first-generation homebuyers whose families haven’t benefited from the generational wealth building associated with homeownership.”
Even the Democratic National Committee platform, approved Aug. 19, limits the $25,000 down payment help to buyers “from families where no one has ever before owned a home.”
Now Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, appears to be having an expedient change of heart — known as a flip-flop — to broaden her housing policy’s appeal. But she’s not abandoning her racial equity goal entirely.
On Monday, Harris’s campaign website posted policy statements. On providing the $25,000 down payment help, the website added this: “first-generation homeowners” will get “more generous support.”
Of course, no president can offer $25,000 to homebuyers. It takes Congress, which controls the nation’s purse strings. The Downpayment Toward Equity Act, the legislation backed by Biden-Harris and sponsored in the House by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and in the Senate by Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) spells out who is actually eligible.
The bill provides $20,000 to first-generation homebuyers with incomes below 120% of the mean in their area.
The help is increased to $25,000 if the buyer is from a “socially and economically disadvantaged group,” defined as being Black, Hispanic, Asian American, or Native American. White homebuyers whose parents owned homes can take a hike.
The bill says its purpose is “to narrow and ultimately close the racial homeownership gap in the United States.” Waters says it’s to correct “grave injustices against people of color” produced by past U.S. policies. These are reparations.
When Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) proposed helping all low-income first-time homebuyers, he got pushback from racial justice and housing advocates insisting too many whites would be eligible. “A tax credit for all first-time homebuyers is going to expand the racial homeownership gap,” objected David Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference.
Dworkin explained that “We are simply providing first-generation homebuyers, largely people of color, what white, first-time homebuyers have been receiving for years in the form of the ‘Daddy Down Payment’ loan — family assistance that is almost never repaid.”
Harris has used the same argument repeatedly.
On June 14, she told 100 Black Men of America that she supports helping first-generation homebuyers.
Now Harris is flip-flopping, as she has on fracking and illegal immigration. But what would she actually do as president?
Economists have pointed out the dangers of offering down payment assistance to families who may lack the income to keep up with mortgage payments. Those are valid concerns.
But above all, voters need to know whether Harris’ down payment program is a racial equity measure in disguise.
Does Harris intend to treat all Americans fairly, or will her programs be stacked against whites?
Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey. To find out more about Betsy McCaughey and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website.
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So where will the money come from for covering this supposed downpayment??? Don’t reply since the answer is obvious to the intelligent.
What will that achieve? It is not 25000 of their own money, there is not a cent to tie them to the obligations and mortg. payments. They can walk away anytime, loosing nothing. Deja vu all over again.
From what I’ve been reading this money is for illegals to buy houses, not the American people. I may be wrong though. And second, where is this money going to come from? The middle class carries the tax burden and is being wiped out so they can implement the socialist programs. Read your history. Even Pilgrims tried socialism and found it didn’t work so they switched to capitalism. Israel also tried but it failed. Wake up people. They are bankrupting our country to spread socialism and communism. If America fails, who’s going to rescue us?
Hmmmm..sounds like that other great commie idea, the community reinvestment act, which placed people with bad credit or no credit history into housing they couldnt afford. This contributed to the recession of 08. Folks, its not like the dems have a learning disability. This is done on purpose to weaken the country in order to usher in marxist government.
Since when is $25,000 even enough for a down payment in California? Here’s a novel idea: knock down that “transitory” inflation and you can save it up yourself!
Is the question that ends this article a rhetorical one? Because if the administration’s past programs are any indication, the answer is “stacked against whites”?
Never heard of a ‘daddy downpayment loan’ and certainly never got one from my father. I pulled funds out of my IRA for a $100K down payment which the IRS tacked on 10% to $90K as I got a $10K break being a first time buyer. The following year I had to pull another sum out to pay the taxes on the first 100 and the following year I had to withdrawl an additional amount to pay the tax on the second year withdrawl. In all I pulled $170K from my IRA for a purchase of $300K and stilled had a $195K mortgage.
I guess I could call my first home an Uncle Salt loan since it certainly was not very sweet! I knew going in what it would cost me and I was willing to pay it. It just pisses me off that my tax dollars are being used in more give-aways with a $35T National Debt and a Congress that cannot balance a budget!
There are many white people who cannot afford to buy a house as well. If I were one of those people who could not purchase a home, I would file a discrimination suite. Hell, get many people who cannot get these loans because of their “whiteness” should get together and file a class-action suit against the Bidnen/Harris administration, or against Harris’ administration, God forbid she win the election. If I had borrowed money on a student loan to go to nursing school, and had payed it back, believe me I would be filing a lawsuit against the goverment
Expect an automatic uptick of $25,000 in the price of a house. It would be a dumb seller that didn’t jack up their price.
Here’s an odd lesson from history. In 2010, during the Obama regime, the feds passed the Dodd-Frank act mandating that banks had give home loans to people who had no down payment and no means of making the on-going payments. Surprise! A few years later, there were massive foreclosures, and massive bank problems as banks tried to dump the bad loans the government forced them to take.
So now, we’re gonna give them $25k for the down payment… on a house they can’t afford. I wonder what the outcome will be?
It’s pretty clear now that the Communists get out of bed every morning and ask themselves ‘What can I do to destroy the Republic today?’. What a bunch of absolute scum.
The US is BROKE. Where the hell is the government going to get the $25,000 to gift home buyers? Let me see, they will print it, go further into debt, print money to pay merely the interest on these borrowed funds expanding further the debt/deficit.
When I grew up that was called a “scam”. Times change I reckon.
If the new free down payment act discriminates in any way against whites, it will be flagrantly unconstitutional.
14th Amendment: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges, ….. or immunities of citizens of the United States. …… ; nor deny to any person within the jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Any act that denies equal protection of the law based upon skin color would not only unconstitutional but it would be racist, a charge that the Democrat liberals like to level at their opponents for ANY differing remarks that touch on political matters.
Such an act would be official bigotry, and it would be a two edged sword that cuts both ways.
If Harris gives $25 k to a home buyer. Is that a taxable income ?
Wouldn’t it be just like when during Oboma the banks lower their mtg so the home price could be lowered so the sales price would be competitive..
Nothing is free, not even votes.
How absurd….This is nothing more than Desperate Democrats trying to bribe voters. Disgusting that people are such fools to give up their liberty so easily.
SHE IS AS RACIST AS THE KKK. OBAMA STARTED THE RACIAL WARS. SHE IS JUST PERPETUATING THE DIVISIONS BETWEEN AMERICAN. SHE HAS DONE NOTHING ALL HER LIFE. NOTHING. ANYONE WHO ENTERTAINS THE POSSIBILITY OF VOTING FOR HER SHOULD JUST MOVE TO COMMUNIST CHINA.
Why should I help people buy houses? Who helped me to buy one? There would be no reason that people need such help if the Democrats hadn’t caused the recent inflation and made home ownership more difficult. The more the Democrats “help” people, the more people will need help, but that’s the goal of the Democrats–to maximize the number of people dependent on some form of welfare.
Again….These Are the SAME….BS “Policies” Of All Radicals, aka DEMONRATS, MARXISTS, COMMUNISTS….Of COLOR…SOS. These Are OVAMITS….SOS….Policies to BE RACIST AGAINST…””WHITE”” PEOPLE….Like We Have NO Poor WHITE PEOPLE?? So SICKENING How “RACISTS” Those ARE WHO CALL…US…The RACISTS! Whenever WE BOUGHT A HOME It Was Because WE SAVED OR…QUALIFIED BY…””WORKING”” & EARNING AN INCOME!! Wake Up People..They Didn’t INVITE IN….WHITE PEOPLE by the Untold MILLIONS….This IS Part & Parcel of the SOS By The REAL…RACISTS. They TRULY Hate…WHITE PEOPLE…Truly.
When Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) proposed helping all low-income first-time homebuyers, he got pushback from racial justice and housing advocates, insisting too many whites would be eligible.
Let us examine that statement from the so-called racial justice charlatans, who are in fact nothing but Black racists disguised as good and noble people, with the statement, “Too many whites would be eligible”. This Government has placed a target on the whites’ backs!
Print more Monopoly dollars and pass them out to get the black vote.
And if you buy a house and the value of that house goes up she wants to tax you on your unrealized capital gains. Very devious way to destroy the middle class to make everyone depend on the government. You may have to sell your house just to pay her taxes
I smell corruption all through this. Just like the rebates that I never got but the corrupt IRS said I did . Someone somewhere cashed a check that they said I got . I never saw a check or cashed it . 25,000 would not even cover a down payment on a toilet thanks to Biden.
Just another promise and lie from the ocean of lies, known as the democrap party. After four years of constant lying and destruction, one would have to be an idiot to vote for them.
Sure, give “everyone” wink,wink 25k to help them buy a home, all at tax payers expense. So how does one qualify? Well, how about crappy credit? Check. Maybe a police record? Check. 3 or more children? Check. Single parent? Check. This plan smacks of the 2008 zero down programs that allowed borrowers to walk away from homes when the economy started to go south. Reparations? Check.
I don’t trust her. I haven’t heard anyone ask her if she would give that money to first illegal aliens too?
It will be minorities or people of color that will benefit from this 25K assistance to buy a home. It is black racism in reverse. The white race has to pay for their sins of working hard to get ahead while the rest are putting their hand out and scream racism because they have not reached home ownership. What about poor white people, there are many of them, whose parents and grandparents never owned a home. In Kameltoe’s world character of a person doesn’t count only the color of your skin. Like she rates the job for president. Not on qualifications only skin color and oh yes gender. Character or merit or substance of such a person is not a qualification.. You get the MSM and the DOJ and security dept behind you. Voters don’t count. They can be manipulated as long as you have P and S and O and don’t forget H in your corner you are qualified to run the free world. The debate last night reflected the propaganda of the MSM. The questions were structured to the answers she had learned the past 5 days even if they didn’t answer the questions that were asked. I guess she forgot where to insert an answer and it showed. She gave a word salad on her upbringing on the question are Americans better off now or under Trump. She had no answer. We got a word salad which was manipulation to have the people forget what the question was. She didn’t debate she just stood there mimicking her shock, surprise, questioning faces with nothing of value coming out of her mouth. A puppet wound up and being played last night. And we have to live 4 more years with the cackle. 3 months under her, America will fall under her reign.
As usual, the DC politicians, in both parties, promise the moon and never deliver. Presidents cannot make such outlays of money. Remember the House holds the purse strings!
So for those of us who worked and saved for a house we will be paying for these people who many most likely will not have the income to maintain a house. Sounds like it could be a repeat of the mortgage fiasco we had some odd years ago. And why does everyone have to live in a house? Apartments are fine. Total stupid idea but will suck in some votes
Kamala Harris’ “values have not changed”, because she’s never had any moral values to begin with.
Obviously, Americans who have already shouldered their own housing cost burdens do not deserve to do the same for houses they don’t live in, or otherwise benefit from.
Of course, in reality, it seems that this proposition is only designed to aid her Presidential candidacy by hurting Trump’s candidacy among black people… and generally causing racial tension that “Democrats” feel they cam exploit to their advantage (as they always have… but please don’t get me started on southern “Democrat” slavery defenders).
Like I said in a recent comment, she’s starting to make the likes of Billy Cinton, Adam Schiff, and other infamous DC lowlifes look like choirboys.
Having a corporate and private real estate career for more than 50 years, I can say with authority that Harris’ plan is…..insane. The economic and financial chaos it will cause will be unrecoverable.
Whose vote is the she wolf buying.It sure the hell isn’t mine.I am totally anti democrat,liberal,socialist and marxist,SO,deal with it.
Look at Harris tax plan. The money will come from taxpayers in the form of raised taxes. I still dont understand ,why a familyn who ownes a home disqualify’s the buyer. That has nothen to do with the buyer. YYYAAAAAAA give our money away. Kyle L.
Send her to the basement with Biden and Obama!!
This is no different than the reparations for slavery argument. I/we never owned any slaves. My ancestors never owned any slaves. I/we worked our butts off to make a living, and nothing was given to us. America will not work and have our earnings taken and given to those who did not work for what they have. That’s what socialism is and we won’t allow it in America! Move to Russia, China Iran or Cuba if that’s what you want!
Why have you folks capitalized the word “Black,” yet used non capital letters to describe “white??”
Reparations for what? That is Racist.
Super radical idea: Give our children a decent education and they will be able to buy their own home.
trump cheated in 2016 due to the help of russia
Would this be similar to the promise that beyond many of the blacks I worked with believed as gospel, when Obama ran the first time? They were all convinced he was going to pay off their mortgages for them. Wonder how that’s working out for them?
Does anyone remember the housing crash of 2007-2008? that crash was the result of the Clinton scheme deregulating subprime loans to those (mostly minorities) with little or no qualification for the loan. The loans offered were low rate “flexible” loans that jacked up after 5 years. So the policy goes in, large numbers take advantage of the “easy” loans and we get many more “minority” homeowners. This goes on for a few years until the bulk of the 5-year loans start defaulting as those “unqualified” recipients can’t roll over or pay the new rate the flexible loan morphed to. Dominoes fall and they fell in 2007 and 2008 in Bush’s administration. Kamala’s scheme (originally Biden’s) serves the same purpose, an in for unqualified homebuyers that WILL default in a few years, the next administration. The banks and insurance companies knew they would fail and insured them on that basis—so they got paid AND got the foreclosed home too. Big losers, the unqualified homeowners who lost their houses, primarily the minorities. Remember, Fanny Mae and Freddy Mack the gov’t lenders that had to be bailed out who held MOST of the “unsecured” loans. AND who under ACORN was selling the subprime loans and loading up Fanny Mae and Freddy Mack, Barack Obama, the champion of the minority. Beware of DEM schemes to make themselves rich and powerful, that has ALWAYS been their goal, NEVER to actually Help.
WHO is paying for all of this or are just going to print more money and create more debt and I know that you are that stupid to do that ……..
Buying votes with taxpayers money? Deflated down-payment dollars for Inflated homes by unqualified buyers, what possibly could go wrong?
Didn’t the Obama administration have a similar housing assistance program that ended up having the banks and financial institutions repossessing the houses. What I took from the debate was the dumbocratic throw money at them to get the vote without telling anyone where the money is coming from. It’s time to balance the budget by making the government smaller, reduce Congressional pay and pork until budget is balanced and IMPLIMENT Term Limits of 12 years.
You got to have been born yesterday to believe that, giving free money for down payment to disadvantaged people would work. Well done Kamala.
that’s not reparations you dummy
The government gives someone money, what a great idea. Why not just require all home sellers to raise their price by $25,000? The result of government giveaways is so predictable! Nore government debt and higher prices.
All these government help programs will have to stretch to cover all these immigrants.
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