During the Great Depression (1929 to 1933), 48 percent of the nation was homeless, living with relatives or in “shantytowns,” “Hoovervilles.” Today, between 47 and 52 percent of young adults are homeless, living with parents or shelters, a direct result of Biden’s radical overspending, energy and immigration policies, inflation, and high interest, turning America into a giant “Bidenville.”
If any issue will drive this election, it is the economy, which saw inflation hit nine percent in August 2022, interest set a 22-year record, and housing become utterly unaffordable. We are headed there again, as inflation again climbs, interest stays high, and affordable housing is nowhere.
Housing may seem secondary to food and gas prices, a good job, education, crime, drug abuse, or the open border, but in fact – it is primarily, affected by and affecting all those issues.
Over the last three years, first time in decades, inflation has stayed high not “transient,” as Treasury’s Yellen suggested. It is more like “permanent,” interest stuck where mortgages are impossible to afford, housing stock scarce, rentals owned by strapped landlords, hard to pay.
Put differently, median income – from Maine to California – does not support median rent, which means people have to find other ways to live, back with parents, friends, or in shelters. Incredibly, 40 to 60 percent of the homeless work, and yet just cannot make it. That is a crisis.
Now, as if this data were not enough, inflation is again climbing, up 3.5 percent in March, after up in February. Interest rates – on credit cards, national debt, and mortgages – are so high no one but cash buyers get homes. If rates fall, inflation will spike. With labor tight, inflation, and interest that high, builders are slow to restore housing stock. If interest gets any higher, forget it.
Bottom line: One of the big unseen issues of 2024 is unaffordable housing, which – like inflation – hits the young and old harder, is indirectly chewing up suburbia, and not just parents housing kids who have nowhere to go. Some 60 percent are concerned about it now.
Paralleling the rise in unaffordable housing and a shuddering economy, other issues matter – affecting and affected by unaffordable housing. Illegal aliens gobble up housing citizens need in places like Maine knocking veterans, working, and middle-class families out of the market.
Meantime, crime, drug trafficking, and mental health issues rise where housing becomes unaffordable, and education, public school attendance, tourism, and public confidence plummet.
As homelessness spreads and tent cities grow – Hoovervilles better named “Bidenvilles” – from Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, and Phoenix to DC, Houston, Boise, and everywhere – the combined effect of these influences accelerates social unease.
Like Democrats who learned late that defunding police creates insecurity, those who are now drawing illegal aliens, foreign drug traffickers, and overspending are learning, that boats with holes sink. The answer for some, rather shortsighted, is to outlaw homeless encampments as if a finger snap and “whoa, all the Bidenvilles dry up” … not quite.
Stepping back, how bad is the housing unaffordability crisis? Bad, driven by national errors. In eight (8) states really bad, driven by Democrats, with one-party rule in six, and influence in the other two.
The worst eight (8) states for affordable housing, thanks to Democrat governors, legislatures, attorneys general, and secretaries of state – are Maine, Washington State, Oregon, California, New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont (legislature Democrat, governor Republican), and Alaska (split government, unique landmass).
How bad is the housing crisis in those places? Take a look.
In Maine, homeless jumped by 112 percent from 2020 to 2022, doubling – while veteran homelessness shot up 130 percent and Democrats kept building for illegals. When does that kind of madness stop? Maine’s crisis deepened recently, with no end in sight under Democrat control.
Between 2022 and 2024, California saw homelessness jump five percent, Washington State 10 percent, Oregon 20 percent, and in all eight states, homelessness has exploded over 20 years.
So, are economic indicators worth tracking? Yes. Show a major slide? Yes. Likely to bring voters to the polls in 2024? Yes. But topping the list are unaffordable housing, the lost “American Dream,” and home ownership. If we do not get that back – restore hope – we will all live in “Bidenvilles.”
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.
Unfortunately it’s very sad that I can state that I have lived during the “Presidentcy” of the WORST PRESIDENT EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! It’s certainly NOT a PROUD COMMENT to say but it’s TRUTHFUL!
I do NOT know how the American people can stand to watch what the socialist liberals, some call it communist, destroy America and all the dreams that that American stood for. Save America and the children, VOTE them out. I am tired of their lies.
The Communist don’t care. If bringing in a new voter base keeps them in power, NONE of the detrimental effects of their policies matter to them or their voters. They and their voters only care about maintaining control and destroying the Republic, so none of this will stop as long as they are in power along with collusion with RINO’s and, as Jesse Kelly puts it, ‘the Low-T GOP’. Brandon’s approval rating that it at all in positive territory shows that they have a radical, Communist voter base.
A lot of what is going on today is not only with housing, too many others to mention. Even in red states it is pretty bad also. I live in the central Florida area and have a friend of a friend that I am trying to help because she was homeless. She has no car, can not afford to get one. Her and her friend both live in a bad neighborhood in a two bedroom apartment which is very small and pay $$1200.00 per month. One is on social security and the other is on disability and they barely can make it. I take them to the food bank to help, but sometimes they have no money left over before they get their next check. For a while they both were homeless and the other people who were homeless would ask them why they were there because they received money. They told them that there were no apartments available that they could afford!! This is a horrible situation, when they know that illegals are getting everything for Free!!! Something needs to be done to help these people, but there is too much greed. These people that control everything keep raising the prices on everything, where is it gonna get back to reality!!
This is all part of the Great Reset plan extolled by the likes of Klaus Schwab and Bill Gates. And folks who are pinning their hopes on the election of Donald Trump for relief, are going to be in for a very big surprise; because the Democrats won’t allow him to become President again. They stole the 2020 election, and what’s to stop them from stealing the 2024 election? Let’s be realistic, the Democrats own the CIA, FBI, DOJ the US Senate and all of the remaining federal government agencies. And, hypothetically, if the 2024 election is stolen, who or what entity would step in to save the day? Furthermore, Biden continues to ignore with impunity US Supreme Court rulings . I’m afraid that the America that I knew and loved is finished; it has become a dictatorial banana republic, but without the bananas.
biden and his hand picked communist administration should only have ONE (1) home, and that’s jail for TREASON. OOPS, almost forgot Congress goes with them because IF Congress had been doing it’s Constitutional duties none of the sh-t biden has done would have happened. Also, obama needs to be arrested for treason and soros needs his American citizenship revoked and then deported (thrown out of our country, America).
Does anyone know the definition of SEDITION??
This whole obidenville AKA Hooverville I think is intentionally created to get the masses dumbed down so as to make it all slave labor down the road. I mean I can see some democrats are stupid but there must be a few who see what’s happening? No one can be as stupid as biden. He has to be someone’s puppet. I am embarrassed to be a US Citizen for the first time in my 71 years. ????♂️
Dems keeping Hoovervilles alkve by Policies
(Sung to the tune of Margaritaville) ~ with apologies to Jimmy Buffet
Livin’ on peanuts, tryin’ to make ends meet,
All of those bills are way overdue.
My gas tank is empty, food prices are scary,
And taxes have gone through the roof.
Wasting away again in O’Bidenville,
Looking for my lost government check.
Some people say that there’s a congress to blame,
But I know, they’ll say it’s Trump’s fault….”
Not a federal government role. Cut back, narrow down, address what states cannot, and cut the foolish costs and debt.
Now, RBC, you must not be paying attention. His Slowness says that his 9.1% inflation rate is LOWER than DJT’s 1.4% inflation rate. The border is “closed;” we only THINK we see over 10 million people enter our country ILLEGALLY. People with testicles are WOMEN. So, of course, there are NO homeless people; they are on an extended “camping trip.”
I am convinced that we all will be living in Bidenville and the millions of illegals will be living in our homes. The liberal plan to replace Americans with illegals to have power forever. Hard working Americans can’t afford to live here. The illegals get free housing, health care, education and the hardworking Americans are getting poorer and poorer. The process is working. Anybody still voting for ole Joe and the gang?
Notice the notice the Common thread when Democrats are in power? There was never a problem, everything is a freaking crisis! And the words of Rhom Emanuel Obama’s Chief of Staff, never let a crisis go to waste! If there is not a crisis make one! A crisis always requires government intervention higher taxes and more regulations to solve
Forgot about high property taxes which also put an added (annual) burden on homeowners not to mention additional sales taxes on goods, services, and gas/energy by states and counties. I can go from Washoe County to Douglas County Nevada and theres about a 50 cent difference inngas price due to taxes.
It is disgusting that “those in power” in cities where illegals are arriving in high numbers are putting US citizens out of their subsidized abodes onto the streets so they can house illegals. And All expenses are met using tax dollars. Talk about megaphone announcing internationally that illegals are getting total benefits FREE OF CHARGE in the USA.
No one is dealing with the screaming fact those people BREAK our law the second they step foot on US soil. And what do those law-breakers get in return? Free food, free housing, free medical care, FREE everything. We are not “united” states anymore but divided; and it’s political party differences in how to deal with illegals AND closing the OPEN southern border, as well as the increasing numbers doing the same thing from our northern border.
The goal of Biden and his Marxist cronies is for all to live in Bidenville! They want all people to be government dependent so we have to vote for Democrats to survive! There is no way that Democrats can’t see these problems but what do they do? NOTHING! They don’t care how many suffer or die, as long as they get what they want!
I think someone has “hoovered” Biden’s brain out…
In Vancouver British Columbia housing became unaffordable when foreign nationals with tons of money started buying an masse before British mandate expired in Hong Kong Canadian bred and born could not afford the inflated prices and was pushed out of the market There was not one voice of reason to speak up against this practice
I’m so glad I have a modest, paid-for house with fairly low property tax (although that could change). Living in a rural area, even here in WA, is still affordable for some of us and I have grown children to live with if it gets worse. Be prepared still applies.
Praise for Robert B.Charles for writing this article that takes a stand against evil. More people in this Nation need to stand up to evil when they see it. It does not take much to figure out the consequences of not taking a stand against evil. God intends for people to do what is right . This housing shortage is about as wrong as it gets. I grew up in Philadelphia and fortunately had all the basic necessities and poverty was something very distant ,saw it occasionally in Philadelphia but it was not part of my life.In 1969 a year after graduating high school a few friends and I decided to do some exploring in the southern states ; we were looking for a place in rural Georgia one day where we could stop the 1959 Ford and have a place to do some outdoor cooking for lunch.We came across a house that actually looked abandoned and decided to knock on the door to see what the situation was ,investigate the possibility for having a place to cook the food we had. A woman came to the door along with her four children ,they all looked very thin, as if they had not been eating very well , and I remember the windows in the house did not have any glass in them .This was poverty for sure. My friends and I had a conference on what to do and we all agreed to give the food we had to this impoverished family and we gave them twenty dollars cash too. We drove away feeling like we did what was right and we all wondered how life could get like what we just saw, so difficult . It really changed the outlook all of us had .And I do believe it was an influence that gave us to realize that people should be aware of what poverty is all about , and what can be done to help stop it.
At least all the brilliant college student protesters will know how to live in tent cities. That should help the housing crisis. If all of them vote for the communist democrats in November, we can expect a LOT more of the same.
Boise does not have a Bidenville problem! I live in Boise. No Hooverville either and minuscule homelessness.
I continue to say that we voted them in. Am I mega confident that we will not do it again?No. We’re just talking to fellow sensible people here.How do we turn this message to the ignorant or do we continue to take care of those with no ambition like we always have ?
Great topic A perfect storm when you combine this message with 10 million new illegals in the past year. I spoke with a realtor in a very A + vacation community in NC and was told that every house in the past 4 years sold by her was a 100% cash, no mortgage, purchase. This nation was build on the young having decent income so that they can afford a mortgage. Not now
Their policies have driven up the price of everything. putting more load (illegals)on all resources ‘adds fuel to the flame’. Basic logic.
Keep in mind that a goal of the far left is to destroy this country. One of the steps in that process is to make everyone (except the ruling class) dependent on the government for everything. Driving up homelessness is creating a generation of Americans who will be dependent of the government.
Creating more ghettos is what Democrats do best. Better to control the herd.
OH it ain’t that bad, just ask joe or mamala.
As long as Kkklaus gets what he ordered from governments nobody cares. What he ordered was having nothing and you’ll be happy, while people nobody knows are brought in to handle the people.
Open more Mobile Home Parks . Mobile homes are VERY affordable as well as Modular Homes. New ones are well built. Build nice parks like they have in Florida.