US Leaders Prove Again How Out of Touch They Are

US Leaders Prove Again How Out of Touch They Are

They Simply Do Not Understand Economics or Math in General 

Cristal M Clark 

Colorado learned right off that one of the provisions in the new stimulus package that was meant to help renters cover that monthly bill is not going to put a dent in the issue at hand. I would venture a guess that many other major cities are realizing the same. 

Now that Congress is pushing for $2000 stimulus payments after not only a media and public outcry but Trump stuck his rather large arse in the deal people feel less hopeless. Honestly though, he should have been pushing for this rather than lying about election fraud, of which none exists except for the guy who wrote in a vote on behalf of his mother, his dead mother, for Trump. 

Either way, at least he said something in the end. 

If the $600 didn’t get your attention and tick you off, hold onto your hats folks because the rental assistance provision is so far out of touch with today’s reality you’re going to walk away demanding term limits, and political leaders who clearly understand the public they serve, know the states they serve, what the economic situation is. 

So Colorado learned that we will get paid as much as Minnesota or Wisconsin from the HEROES Act rental assistance, but Colorado needs nearly twice as much to cover Coloradans’ rent because our rent costs twice to three times as much as it does in Minnesota or Winsconsin. 

Under the Hero’s Act that means that our rent costs more than our share of the U.S. population.

Each state government will get a share of that money in proportion to its share of the U.S. population. Colorado, with 1.74% of the U.S. population, will get $383 million. State and local governments will then use it how they see fit. And it better not go to section 8 or any type of subsidised housing, period. This is for the working class that under any other circumstance would not qualify for section 8 or subsidised housing. Those individuals are already receiving subsidies. 

A 5 year old could figure this out, if you don’t understand the rental costs nationwide and you decided to give rental assistance during a pandemic but, for instance  like with Colorado who has a grossly exaggerated rental cost and who gets the same rental assistance as a state with roughly the same population but with cheaper rent, you are unfit to serve in any capacity in public service or office. That says a lot about our so called leaders making all these decisions so as to help and to protect us doesn’t it? These people are unfit truly to be in office, so out of touch with those of us you claim to represent. I wonder in the last two decades just how many politicians have taken the time to understand the community or nation they serve right?

While this will not help Colorado renters much, it also shows that the sheer greed of developers and the real estate industries who have been out of control in this state since 2010. It also shows us just how many people do live paycheck to paycheck. 

The cost of rent should never be more than what people make but again, that is a leadership issue, when city, municipal and state leaders want to attract the wealthy and affluent, you create a problem rather than solve one. Thanks to the pandemic that is illustrated perfectly for us. These leaders lure great companies to their cities and states by offering tax breaks and such, the companies rarely if ever keep their end of the bargain and cities don’t bother to check so things become out of balance, hence the rental rates you see in some cities. Colorado is not California nor is it New York, but our leadership thinks it wants to be, the people however feel vastly different because it hit our pocketbooks in not good ways. 

New York is a fantastic example, they built all of these super luxurious and expensive apartments, townhomes and lofts hoping to attract the super wealthy and that failed now they are looking at turning some of that into “affordable housing,” and shelters for the homeless. 

Now the nation down the road here might also be looking at another housing collapse. Luxury apartments are a waste of money quite frankly, the material that goes into them is not what you’d get if you were to buy a home. Sure it looks nice and fancy, but the reality is, developers will use the cheapest most realistic looking material that they can, like realistic looking tile that is just a fake wall covering, and sell it as luxury. Not to mention now that many have restaurants and bars on the lower level along with small retail which are closed during the pandemic, along with the gyms in them, it tells what a waste these are. 

Here in Colorado from Longmont, Boulder, Broomfield, Westminster, Northglenn, Thornton, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Lakewood, Denver, down to Englewood, Littleton, Parker, the DTC, Centennial, Castle Rock, and every city in between since 2010 what you see if you watch closely were due to the increased cost of rent and cost of living in general, the working class was left behind as wages stopped increasing so, they were starting to rent extra space out hoping to be able to save, which is still going on unchecked. People even rented couches out. Those that were in grossly overpriced apartments have renters park on streets and hike in just so cars would not be towed, if you were lucky to have a parking lot. In Denver, property management groups swept in and brought up Victorian homes that were already remodeled as apartments, slapped new paint all over, threw down new carpet and started charging 2-4 times more for rent but had no parking or amenities, but they had to compete with the luxury apartments so, renters were forced to take in roommates who are largely not on leases. All of that drove up the cost of purchasing a home and taxes which again led to rental situations that are more often than not, illegal in most major cities. City leaders everywhere should have prevented that – that out of touch with reality rental costs, it would have kept rental costs down and we’d not be looking at such a horrible rental crisis today. We took away the people’s ability to save, the working classes’ ability to save and by far, we are the largest home buying and renting population that any city, state or municipality has. 

The sad truth is, that has been going on since 2010 and ignorance is not an excuse one can use to dismiss it and now of all times to have to face an even worse housing crisis in the face of a pandemic city leaders are being hit with the mistake they or those before them made with all of that greedy thinking without looking first. It’s like reading, you know learning so you are educated enough to make a decision that benefits the state, city or municipality you serve. Understand what people earn before you try to overrun your city with overpriced rental properties that are going to go under in the face of a worldwide crisis. But you know I guess here in the US it’s not live and learn I mean look at the state of our infrastructure. Highway systems are a complete joke, our electrical system is a joke, we have population growth in some parts of Denver that happened faster than cell towers could grow so in those areas most people have no cell service, yea no one was thinking of population growth realistically.  

Point being is that you already fail as a leader the second you don’t take the time to truly understand how growth and your precious economy need to be hand in hand instead of overnight. IF you are not looking out for your constituents as that growth happens so as to ensure they can afford to continue to live in the city they built, your as a leader are not worth your weight in gold. Useless is what that kind of leader is. 

Leaders more often than not only think of growth and wealth, the wealthy, they usually don’t take much time to consider the working class. You know the people who make the growth happen in cities, by being the middle working class and when things crash, it is because of that lack of thought, education and understanding. But that simple economics, something our leaders in the US have no concept of, whatsoever. 

Cristal M Clark

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