A Place Called Home: How Democrat Policies Drive up the Cost of Rent
When I was 21 years old I moved out of my Army Barracks and into my apartment, ever since then my wife and I have rented. It’s not that we don’t want to own our piece of the American dream, we do! We just can’t afford it. For the last year and a half, we have been in the market to buy a home but just haven’t been able to find one that we could afford. That is the thing about crippling housing costs, they make it almost impossible to save for a down payment. Tragically Democrats and their policies are squarely to blame for robbing young people like us of the American Dream.
When my wife and I first rented our apartment in 2021 it cost us a little less than $600. Today we are renting a 2 bedroom unit for $1000. And this increase in costs isn’t unique to us. According to an analysis of the rental market in Moscow, the average price of a 2-bedroom unit was $750 in 2021. Today it is $1,050, an increase of 29%!
In 2021 a more liberal flavor of city councilors were elected in Moscow, including a Democrat now running for the State Senate, Julie Parker. You and I were told affordable housing would be a centerpiece of this new progressive agenda, instead, Parker presided over a massive 29% increase in rental prices. Parker is now running for State Office making the same promises about affordable housing, but if her record is any indication of her delivery, young and low-income Idahoans are about to get stuck with a bigger bill.
Which leads us to our question: Why are Democrat Policies so bad for Renters like me? Essentially it comes down to two things: Regulation and Taxes. Democrats love both, and Republicans believe in a free market.
Democrats Support Excessive Regulation:
One reason rents are often higher is excessive regulation. Einstein told us that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so when the government regulates someone gets stuck with the response to that regulation. Sadly the person who gets stuck with this cost is almost always the tenant.
Until recently local governments in Idaho were allowed to require rental units to rent to folks on Federal Housing Assistance. Sounds like a great idea, right? The problem is this meant landlords had to have all of their units passable by HUD Standards. So peeling paint? I can’t rent it. AC not working? I can’t rent it. Bath faucet not working? It doesn’t matter if I only take showers, I can't rent it.
How do landlords respond to these regulations? Market evidence shows us landlords either don’t rent the unit (reducing the availability and competition for prospective tenants) or they increase their prices to accommodate these repairs and inspection costs. It doesn’t matter if I don’t use Federal Housing Assistance I will still bear the cost of these regulations because every unit on the market must pass these inspections.
Earlier this year Republican State Representative Brandon Mitchell led the fight to pass legislation prohibiting these burdensome and anti-renter policies. His bill, HB 545, allows landlords to provide more units to the market and bring down costs for tenants. But what did his Democrat opponent Kathy Dawes do? Ms. Dawes took to the Moscow City Council’s public comment time to give a stump speech railing against what she called the dangers of an “unscrupulous distant landlord” that just had to be regulated by the government. Ms. Dawes' opposition to legislation like this makes clear that Democrats are only interested in waging a crusade against landlords, no matter how many tenants get hurt.
Democrats Push for Bigger Tax Hikes
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons rents are rising is property taxes. Your landlord may not want to raise your rent, but he isn’t running a charity. When property taxes go up it’s only so long before tenants start footing the bill.
A careful review of the websites of this year’s Democrat candidates shows a laundry list of promises, everything from essential ones (like public education) to not-so-essential ones (like a new fleet of electric vehicles for the City of Moscow). Just take a look at the big promises they are making:
- A program to reduce elder care costs
- A program to make healthcare cheaper
- A program to make groceries cheaper
- A program to fix climate change
- A program to expand childcare, etc., etc., etc.
All of these promises sound wonderful… and they cost money, and chances are if that money is locally appropriated it’s coming from property taxes. And if property taxes go up so will rent.
But don’t worry, you may end up homeless but the City of Moscow will be running on 100% renewable energy.
Every time you hear the Latah Democrats make another pricey promise and dismiss another fiscal outlay as ‘necessary’ remember those promises are being fulfilled on the backs of renters like me. If our public servants want to engage in philanthropy they ought to do so with their own money not the taxpayers.
A Time to Choose
Nearly 60 years ago Ronald Reagan warned us about the dangers of government tinkering in the free market. As Reagan put it “For three decades, we've sought to solve.. problems… through government planning, and the more the plans fail, the more the planners plan.”
Sadly, Latah Democrats are not interested in heeding Reagan’s wise words. They don’t care if rent continues to balloon, so long as they can continue to cling to power and rail against the ‘evil landlords who keep us all in bondage’. But as the philosopher Voltaire declared “It is difficult to free fools from the chains they adore”.
I for one will be voting for lower rent. I will be voting Republican.