I saw a story in ‘The Guardian.’ A data tracking company called BatchData produced some data that was analyzed by the ‘Orange County Register.’ They discovered that nearly one-fifth, or 19% of homes in California are investor owned. When you get to the mountain regions of the state, like Shasta County, the rate surges to 83% investor-owned homes! In seven counties – Sierra, Trinity, Mono, Alpine, Plumas, Modoc and Calaveras – investors owned more than 50% of homes.

The article noted that traditional home buyers are being, “sidelined by affordability constraints.” Then, they turned reality on it’s head by saying the institutional investors are “providing essential marked liquidity while targeting distinct property segments and geographic markets.” The article pretends the investor owned properties are “filling a crucial role in tight markets.”

I say, have long said, and will continue to say, that investor owned properties are creating the tight markets AND the “affordability constraints” that have sidelined traditional home buyers. Traditional home buyers simply cannot compete with institutional investors who can offer all-cash, over-asking prices with no home inspections and the seller chooses their time in escrow.

Institutional investors have been inflating the cost of housing through their unfair, anti-competitive tactics and now that cost has sidelined so many, they’re claiming they’re doing the market a favor by buying up the properties. Useless politicians (I apologize for the redundancy) all have the same, useless answer: build more! I guess we’re just not supposed to ask how building more helps address a shortage caused by institutional investors when said institutional investor will just swoop in and buy THOSE properties, too.

There is one solution to ending the housing crisis in California (and everywhere else, by the way) – and ONLY one solution: ban institutional investors from buying single family homes. It’s really very simple. It’s not even new. THAT USED TO BE THE LAW until 2011. It was changed, ostensibly to get the economy moving again after Wall Street crashed the economy in 2008. In only 14 short years, the invested money has seized control over the housing market and created a homelessness crisis worse than anything this country has ever seen.

I’ll tell you this: block institutional investors from buying single family homes and force them to divest in those they’ve already claimed and the housing market will correct itself…

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Brave Sir Donald ran away!
Bravely ran away, away.
When danger reared it’s ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled.
Yes, brave Sir Donald turned about,
and gallantly he chickened out.
Swiftly taking to his feet,
He beat a very brave retreat.
Bravest of the braaaave, Sir Donald!
– With deepest apologies to ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’

Run away!

That seems to be the strategy the GOP settled on to avoid this whole Epstein mess. The House would run away and find a hidey-hole a little over a week before a month-long vacation in an effort to avoid any difficult questions and to protect their pedophile Precious. Meanwhile, Donny, himself, ran away to Scotland to play a round of golf – at the bargain low price of $10 million American taxpayer dollars.

It hasn’t worked out so well for 47 in Scotland. You see, they have actual journalists, there. People he has little to no control over. Journalists who ask questions and don’t bow down and kiss…whatever. So, when he got to Scotland, he found the questions just as biting, maybe more so.

He should just release the files. He DID promise he would and he should. At this point, the ONLY way to convince the world he’s not in those files as a customer is to release them and show the whole world. ANY innocent person would readily do that in order to prove their innocence and I don’t see any reason for Donny to do less. ANY innocent person would. Any self-important, bloviating, blowhard would, too, if for no other reason than to regain control of the narrative. He’s certainly a self-important, bloviating, blowhard so why won’t he…? Right. An INNOCENT person would. He won’t. He can’t.

A person who knew he was guilty as charged of having sex with minors would certainly NOT release the files that prove it. Instead, they would try distraction. They would try to create different scandals. They would point fingers at others, “Hey, look over there!” They would lie. They would get their toadies to lie. They might offer a pardon for favorable testimony to any living (for the moment) participants to the crime. Of course, they’d deny that part. They’ll call it a hoax. Guilty people ALWAYS call it a hoax. Innocent people don’t have to.

He’s supposed to run away again to England in September. When he gets there, he’s going to find bus stop kiosks wallpapered in photos of him and the best friend he ever had, Jeffrey Epstein. It seems to me that ‘Run Away’ isn’t a strategy that’s going to work out so well…

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$134 million dollars. That’s the estimated cost to the US for Donny’s stupid little stunt in which he sent US Marines to stand around in LA for a while. Hey, Doge. DOGE! I’ve found some fraud, waste, and abuse for you.

The way these clowns are spending, they’re certainly NOT trying to cut the budget. They just want to make sure we only spend money on stupid things that harm people…