Harris makes housing affordability a key campaign issue
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris,
now
officially
the
Democratic
Party
nominee
for
the
President
of
the
United
States,
is
hitting
the
campaign
trail
with
housing
affordability
as
a
central
theme.
“There’s
a
serious
housing
shortage,”
Harris
said
at
an
event
in
battleground
state
of
North
Carolina,
according
to
a
CBS
News
reporter’s
posting.
“In
many
places,
it’s
too
difficult
to
build,
and
it’s
driving
prices
up.
As
president,
I
will
work
in
partnership
with
industry
to
build
the
housing
we
need,
both
to
rent
and
to
buy.
We
will
take
down
barriers
and
cut
red
tape,
including
at
the
state
and
local
levels.”
She
also
expanded
on
previous
comments
she
has
made
regarding
corporate
landlords
and
their
purported
impacts
on
rent
prices.
“Some
corporate
landlords
—
some
of
them
—
buy
dozens
if
not
hundreds
of
houses
and
apartments,”
Harris
said.
“Then
they
turn
them
around
and
rent
them
out
at
extremely
high
prices,
and
it
can
make
it
impossible
then
for
regular
people
to
buy
or
even
rent
a
home.”
This
week,
the
Harris
campaign
also
released
a
TV
ad
designed
to
draw
attention
to
a
plan
she
previously
laid
out
designed
to
spur
the
construction
of
3
million
new
homes
over
the
course
of
a
presidential
term,
set
to
air
across
battleground
states
including
Arizona
and
Nevada
according
to
reporting
by
the
Associated
Press
(AP).
Housing
language
from
Republican
nominee
Donald
Trump’s
presidential
campaign
has
been
largely
focused
on
tying
housing
issues
to
immigration.
In
June
during
a
campaign
event
in
Wisconsin,
Trump
said
stemming
illegal
immigration
would
serve
to
lower
housing
prices.
Trump
has
also
accused
Democrats
—
first
President
Joe
Biden,
and
now
Harris
following
Biden’s
decision
to
bow
out
of
the
race
—
of
waging
a
“war
on
the
suburbs”
that
he
has
vowed
to
stop
if
elected.
“The
Trump
campaign
has
also
opposed
efforts
by
Democrats
to
encourage
the
construction
of
apartments
and
condominiums
in
suburbs
and
cities,
which
could
alleviate
the
housing
shortage,”
the
AP
reported.
“Trump
has
said
in
a
video
that
such
efforts
are
‘Marxist’
and
would
be
a
‘war
on
the
suburbs’
that
would
destroy
property
values.”
At
a
rally
earlier
this
month,
Trump
also
said
without
substantiation
that
Harris’
$25,000
first-time
homebuyer
assistance
plan
would
benefit
illegal
immigrants.
“She
has
no
clue
how
she’d
pay
for
$25,000
to
every
first-time
homebuyer,
including
illegals,”
he
said
at
a
rally
in
York,
Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile,
the
Harris
campaign
appears
to
be
thinking
that
housing
is
an
issue
that
could
animate
more
voters
to
turn
out
for
her
this
November.
“The
Harris
campaign
plans
to
hold
housing
affordability
events
in
the
Pennsylvania
cities
of
Harrisburg,
Philadelphia
and
Pittsburgh,
as
well
as
the
Arizona
cities
of
Phoenix
and
Tucson,”
the
AP
reported.
“There
will
also
be
events
in
the
Nevada
cities
of
Las
Vegas
and
Reno
and
the
North
Carolina
cities
of
Asheville
and
Charlotte,
in
addition
to
Savannah,
Georgia.”
Related