DEI is the real cause of America’s housing crisis

Why doesn t Hermes just produce more bags and then everyone can have a Birkin That s basically the argument of people pressing President Donald Trump to declare a housing urgency The fact is there s plenty of housing just not in the bulk desirable neighborhoods Population expansion is slowing deportations are increasing and new home construction already outpaces family creation The shortage is a myth created by activists so they can force residential living patterns to conform to DEI dogma A simple calculation proves it The Census Bureau collects annual records on both the number of households and the available housing stock The latest evidence shows million households and million housing units an excess supply of over million units Activists cannot deny the excess so instead they argue that it is not enough BLAME DRUGS AND MENTAL ILLNESS NOT PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR THE CHAOS GRIPPING OUR STREETSA well-functioning housing domain has a natural vacancy rate Just as labor markets need unemployment for efficient job matching housing markets need vacancies for buyer-seller alignment renovations and seasonal use Activists say that rate should be instead of the current and to hit that target an additional million units are needed But they are cherry-picking the baseline rate Census information tracked since shows vacancy rates have fluctuated wildly ranging from to There is no stable natural rate In the current era s rate falls well within this historical range When you stop using artificially high assumptions the shortage disappears entirely Perhaps anticipating this activists also argue that demand is higher than census statistics shows First they claim construction has fallen behind historical trends from million units annually in - to million since creating a cumulative deficit Second they argue for massive pent-up demand claiming millions of people would form separate households if housing were cheaper using statistical models to estimate - million missing households HERE'S WHY HELPING THE HOMELESS REBUILD THEIR LIVES IS KEY TO AMERICA S FUTURE SUCCESSBoth arguments assume demographic conditions that no longer exist America has transitioned from rapid population upsurge of over annually before to a more stable in contemporary times projected to reach by The next years will add million people versus million in the prior years reflecting lower birth rates and longer lifespans Deaths will exceed births by as the population matures Meanwhile the current administration targets deporting one million people annually a figure not included in Census projections that assume stable immigration Like Birkin bags the real trouble isn t supply it s that people want particular neighborhoods and no amount of construction changes that reality What s really going on here is that activists are manufacturing a housing emergency in order to impose a DEI regime on where people choose to live This is a corruption of the Fair Housing Act FHA which was focused on equality of opportunity not results The bill did aim to disrupt segregated living patterns but only through the narrow mechanism of eliminating overt housing discrimination In particular restrictive covenants redlining and explicit racial hindrances TRUMP IS TRYING TO SAVE AMERICAN LIVES WHILE DEMOCRATS LET CITIES SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROLAs the legislative history records the goal was to ensure families could live where they wish and where they can afford acknowledging that financial threshold remained a valid constraint on housing choice This day s activists have abandoned that sensible framework Instead they want to eliminate disparities in living patterns by lowering public standards through leadership coercion Their chief target is local zoning laws which serve the essential function of maintaining region character It s why Washington D C which bans skyscrapers doesn t look like Manhattan New York City s Economic Growth Corporation exemplifies this approach scolding neighborhoods like the Upper East Side SoHo and the West Village for restrictive land use regulations that limit density They explicitly note that Region Districts producing the least affordable housing are disproportionately white Their demographic focus reveals the true agenda CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONThe Obama administration weaponized this logic through HUD s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule forcing towns that accepted federal funding to eliminate zoning laws and to provide detailed reports on racial demographics The effort had an key political dimension By forcing high-density low-income housing into suburban communities activists aimed to flip red areas blue President Trump recognized the stakes in his first term and tasked a White House gang led by John McEntee to eliminate the rule which they did in days Biden reinstated it but HUD Secretary Scott Turner wisely eliminated it again soon after taking office Unfortunately particular Republicans and Libertarians have fallen for the housing shortage hoax and still don t realize that eliminating sensible neighborhood standards like zoning are a stalking horse for imposing DEI quotas This is a dilemma because housing activists continue to push their radical agenda aggressively at the state level In Massachusetts passed a controversial law forcing the towns along the commuter rail line to change their suburban zoning laws to permit high-density low-income housing The bill was drafted to look optional and incentive-based but officers are enforcing it as mandatory Similar efforts are afoot nationwide amplified by liberal columnists like Paul Krugman calling for increasing population density meaning eliminating suburban single-family zoning Democrats have brought DEI quotas to every institution in America Your neighborhood is next That s the real housing predicament CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM DANIEL HUFFPaige Bronitsky is a property attorney who served as a deputy assistant secretary at HUD and as a White House senior advisor in the first Trump administration Follow PaigeBronitsky