And why everyone’s ignoring it
"We need universal rent controls in this country, and we actually need the federal government to champion them."
For Americans to live a productive, prosperous, happy life, homes need to be truly abundant.
The city of Oakland’s longest rent strike has ended in victory for tenants. They didn’t just win necessary repairs or rent control; they decommodified their housing, getting profit-motivated landlords out of the picture altogether.
Yes, this Communist politician in Graz, Austria, wants to redistribute wealth, but a focus on housing, her own modest lifestyle and a hard childhood have helped her popularity.
The federal government has for years enabled the private market to make money off our housing needs. Now, as home prices and rents skyrocket, there is a simple solution: offer people a public option for housing.
Wang fears that millions of “invisible evictions” will occur over the coming months as landlords ratchet up the pressure on tenants, pushing tenants to “self-evict.”
At local minimum wage rates, a worker would have to put in 79 hours a week, nearly two full-time jobs, to afford a modest one-bedroom rental, a report finds.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development can provide $10 million to tenant organizers each year, but the funding has largely gone unspent since the early 2000s. Will that change with a new administration and newly approved HUD secretary?
Such a plan, said Rep. Jamaal Bowman, "would allow people to live with dignity and respect, to know that our federal government cares about their well-being and their health."
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