re: Voters 18-30

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You are bad at math...

The home I purchased in 1997 was $94,000 dollars. That same house is worth 210,000 if you bought it today.

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And you are pretty stupid if you think the average price of a house today is 210,000 dollars.

Reread what I wrote with your brain on. 450,000 dollars, the average price of a home today would be 200,000 dollars in 1994.

You are proving my point and are too dumb to realize it.

210,000 is WAY less than 450,000

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When you say “this country,” you include me and I resent being lumped in with those bastards.

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We bear responsibility. We let it happen.

honestly i blame the Hasan hog picture at the RNC

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Biggest demographic swing last night. This group moved 35 points from right to left across the country.

And the number one issue they voted on was lack of economic opportunity.

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Mostly true.

Here's what I would ask those 18-30 year old voters.

Do you think your affordability concerns were exacerbated due to the influx of over 15 million migrants who have entered the US over the past 5 years, many who entered illegally?

How much has the cost of housing increased to accommodate the approximately 53 million foreign born migrants currently living in the nation?

Do you believe by placing D politicians in power, some who are self professed socialists will have any significant impact on reducing your affordability concerns?

Are you aware outside of the current cost of gasoline at $4/gallon the affordability concerns you are having were largely fomented by the Biden Administration's 25-30% cumulative inflation from 2021-2024, inflation that was caused by massive federal government debt based spending?

If they answer those question honestly there is no way they voted D truly believing they're affordability concerns are going to be addressed. They voted D out of emotion and anger and I don't necessarily blame them.

On the other hand it puzzles me how quickly people forget how bad the Biden Reign of Terror truly was.

Estimates of over 15 million immigrants entering the US under the Biden presidency

Massive deficit spending that sparked 25-30% cumulative inflation.

Forced vaccinations.

Insane DEI government policies .....and on and on.

As I've said for years, in the end the American people get the government they deserve.

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As I've said for years, in the end the American people get the government they deserve.

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Yes they do and I am down for laughing at them. I am impatient waiting for the 3 months or so that it will take for democrats to frick everything up.

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They got elected to lower prices and make shite more affordable, they’ve done the opposite!

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I agree that things aren’t more affordable. The Sisyphean task we’re working on didn’t start with this administration.

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It’s actually not a great situation. These are people trying to find careers in a world steadily shifting towards AI for most entry level jobs.

Regardless of what people may think, this is an extremely scary time to be alive due to so much uncertainty.

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yeah. It sucks for people who are 10-15 years away from retirement too. Not enough money to retire. Not enough raises to buy groceries. Can't negotiate at work for fear of being replaced by H1B workers or AI.

But you don't see those people nuking their future and voting for Communists or waiting on the government to save them.

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At the end of the day people want their tax dollars to work for them. We can have a debate on exact policies that make that possible. But one thing is for sure people are tired of money being wasted on unnecessary shite like wars, foreign aid, and watching government year after year waste more and more and grow the debt higher and higher. People also don’t appreciate being told to stfu and just accept that everything is great, shite sucks.

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And you think voting for Dems across the board will change that? Who do you really think puts forth all these Bills tied to USAID funding over seas and Alphabet people funding?

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They all want to write video game code all day long and sip lattes, or they want to be Instagram star/millionaires, or they believe that they can make $300,000 a year with their degree in gender studies

Let’s be honest, that age group, or at least a vary large portion of it, doesn’t have a real realistic expectation of what economic opportunity is

They don’t want to go buy some tools and get a job working at a factory or working somewhere that requires you to show up on time and get dirty to make 75K a year

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Posts like this are very funny. Reminds me of the poster from a few months ago that was telling people that they should go buy a lot of land and round of a few buddies to help them build their house because that’s what his grandpa did lol

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Policy suggestions?

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It needs to be a three-pronged approach that directly addresses the largest cost drivers facing Americans under 35: housing, higher education, and healthcare.

Using general CPI metrics to argue that younger Americans are better off is largely meaningless when those metrics include consumer goods that this demographic has little disposable income left to purchase. According to BLS data, housing, higher education, and medical care—particularly hospital services—have experienced some of the most significant price increases over the past three decades. These are also among the expenses consuming a disproportionate share of young adults' incomes.

We can preach "work hard and save" all we want, but that advice is meaningless if there is nothing left to save after paying rent, student loans, and health insurance premiums. You cannot build wealth without disposable income, and you cannot expect an entire generation to achieve financial independence when the cost of simply getting started continues to outpace their earnings.

The GOP needs to approach this as a long-term, structural economic problem rather than another opportunity to offer short-term tax credits, subsidies, or political talking points.


HOUSING

Housing is particularly challenging because many of the most effective reforms must occur at the state and local levels. That means federal Republican leadership needs to develop a coordinated strategy with Republican governors and state legislatures.

Red states should be working together toward dramatically reducing housing inflation by removing artificial barriers to private residential development.

State Level - Modernize residential zoning. Eliminate outdated zoning restrictions that prevent the construction of multifamily housing, particularly in desirable neighborhoods near employment centers. I'm not talking about building massive apartment complexes in every residential neighborhood. I'm talking about allowing developers to construct attractive townhomes, duplexes, and smaller residential units.

State Level - Streamline residential permitting. Reform outdated permitting and approval processes that unnecessarily increase construction timelines, financing expenses, and development costs. Every additional month of regulatory delay ultimately makes housing more expensive.

State Level - Reform property taxation. Gradually transition away from taxing the combined value of land and improvements toward a system that places greater emphasis on land value. Stop penalizing property owners for constructing and improving housing while allowing valuable, undeveloped land to remain comparatively undertaxed.

Federal Level - Reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Reduce federal incentives for excessive mortgage borrowing, particularly large or high-risk loans, and reassess federal exposure to adjustable-rate mortgages. Federal mortgage policy should promote sustainable homeownership rather than encourage buyers to assume increasingly expensive debt.

Federal Level - Reduce construction costs. Immediately eliminate tariffs on essential residential construction materials and remove unnecessary federal barriers to interstate commerce in prefabricated and modular housing. If private manufacturers can produce quality homes more efficiently, government should not make it unnecessarily difficult to do so.

HIGHER EDUCATION

The federal government should use its financial leverage to demand institutional efficiency and encourage lower-cost educational alternatives.

Tie federal funding to administrative efficiency. Reduce or condition certain federal funding streams for institutions with out-of-whack administrative staffing relative to faculty. Universities should be incentivized to prioritize instruction and student outcomes rather than perpetually expanding administrations

Reform federally backed student lending. Establish reasonable federal loan limits that account for regional costs of living and the actual cost of delivering an education. Federal lending should not function as an unlimited revenue source that enables institutions to raise tuition without meaningful market resistance.

Expand community and junior colleges. Create federal tax incentives that encourage the establishment and expansion of community colleges and junior colleges. Students should have access to lower-cost options for completing foundational coursework and obtaining marketable credentials without automatically assuming four years of university expenses.

MEDICAL COVERAGE

Expand catastrophic coverage options. Roll back Obamacare restrictions that unnecessarily limit access to lower-premium catastrophic insurance plans for younger, generally healthier adults. Consumers should have greater flexibility to purchase coverage that protects against major medical expenses without requiring them to pay for benefits they may neither need nor want.

Increase the supply of physicians. Expand federally supported residency positions, particularly in specialties experiencing physician shortages. Pair that expansion with incentives for medical schools to increase enrollment and training opportunities for American citizens. We cannot expect healthcare costs to moderate while artificially constrained training capacity limits the supply of medical professionals.

Address public-program reimbursement and cost shifting. Reevaluate Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement structures, covered benefits, and provider payment incentives to reduce financial pressures that may contribute to higher private insurance premiums. The objective should be a financially sustainable system that does not continually shift additional costs onto working families and employers.

AND FINALLY, THE GOP NEEDS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY.

Frankly, I would start by firing whoever is currently responsible for the party's economic messaging.

None of these proposals represents a quick fix. We are talking about reversing decades of policies and inflationary pressures that have economically screwed over a generation of Americans.

These fixes won't happen overnight

But the GOP can begin explaining the problem immediately.

Instead of pointing to aggregate economic statistics and telling young Americans that the economy is doing great, Republicans should acknowledge the distinction between general economic growth and the actual cost of establishing an independent, middle-class life.