“Taken individually, none of these provisions solves the housing shortage. Taken together, they represent one of the most substantial federal efforts in decades to address the regulatory, financing, permitting, and construction barriers that limit housing supply.” 🏗️🏢 @tahrajirari.bsky.social

The Biggest Housing Bill in Decades Is Almost Law

Last August I made a bet in this newsletter: the ROAD to Housing Act was the most consequential housing legislation in a generation, and almost no one was paying attention.

therebuild.pub

Nice article by @tahrajirari.bsky.social on permitting reform. While she normally writes about housing, this one deals with regulations that strangle working-class entrepreneurs and communities of color with red tape. This kind of deregulation should have always been a Dem issue.

BTW, if you're at all interested in what Democrats in urban areas can do to improve affordability, particularly in housing, this is the Substack for you.

Why Is It So Hard to Renovate?

Simple home renovations now cost five figures in big cities

therebuild.pub

Excellent new article from Tahra Hoops today on how blue cities' over-regulation is driving up the costs of home renovations. Well worth a read. It's so emblematic of what needs to change if Democrats are going to do better on the cost-of-living.

Catch @awjustus.bsky.social in @tahrajirari.bsky.social's and @garywinslett.bsky.social's Substack, The Rebuild! www.therebuild.pub/p/with-preap...

With preapproved building plans local, state, and federal policymakers take aim at soft costs

While Tahra’s off today, we’re handing the mic to Andrew Justus—a housing policy analyst at the Niskanen Center who works on housing, transportation, and infrastructure.

therebuild.pub

They need to do the David and Victoria Beckham meme with this.

I appreciate this piece from @garywinslett.bsky.social & @tahrajirari.bsky.social about Medicaid and what it means for rural communities. I particularly like this callout that the point is to kick people off of Medicaid to achieve the "savings." open.substack.com/pub/colrebui...

New: The battle for the House in 2026 will be won in the suburbs. Our analysis shows Democrats targeting districts where economic anxiety over healthcare, childcare & daily costs is high. With just 3 seats between the parties, cost-of-living issues will decide who governs. 🧵

Democrats need a real pro-family agenda that makes it easier, and cheaper, to raise kids. @garywinslett outlines 10 smart policies, from baby bonuses to single-stair reform. Families deserve affordable childcare, safe cities, and homes that work for real life.

NEW: California voters put housing costs first, yet the Senate made Aisha Wahab housing chair. She says “protect supply, curb demand” and fights parking reforms. Putting a brake pedal at the wheel shows Sacramento won't kick its anti‑development habit. By @GaryWinslett

New Rebuild Post! Maritime protectionism has failed for 100 years. It didn't build us a fleet. It won't now. But the USTR's originally proposed fees of up to $1.5M per port call on Chinese ships will raise prices, shrink exports, and creates more chaos for U.S. businesses. 🧵

NEW Economist/YouGov Poll: 55% of Americans believe Trump's recent tariffs will hurt their financial wellbeing. The negative perception crosses demographic lines but is strongest among Black (64%) and Hispanic (60%) respondents. 🧵

Tomorrow's "Liberation Day" is just the start of a trade war that jeopardizes America's economic growth. When we limit ourselves to domestic production of basics, we sacrifice the diverse economic ecosystem that drives prosperity. 🧵

NEW: NYC's Airbnb ban has been in effect for 18 months, and the unintended consequences are piling up. Beyond failing to lower rents, it's disproportionately harming outer borough communities and small businesses.

NEW: Last week, @PatrickRuffini coined the term "Combative Centrism" to describe what could be a winning strategy for Democrats. With cost of living back to being the #1 voter concern, Democrats need a strategy that's both forceful and practical. 🧵

New Tourism Economic Impact Report from Waymo just dropped! In SF alone, Waymo visitor rides contribute: • $39.7M+ in total economic output • $15.98M in income generated • More spending at hotels, restaurants & attractions

America faces a critical housing shortage with millions of homes in underproduction. The only way out is to build more and now lumber prices are hitting 30-month highs all due to tariffs + construction costs are soaring. We need affordability to build more, not higher prices.

NEW post in The Rebuild by @GaryWinslett on critical minerals: US depends on China & others for materials vital to tech & green energy. How can we help reverse this? Restore the Bureau of Mines to secure domestic supply chains & reduce foreign dependence.

NEW The Rebuild post out today! Boomers love progress—until it moves next door. Older progressives have become the biggest roadblock to housing reform. The generation that once championed change now blocks it when their property values are at stake. 🧵

🚨 New Substack Alert: The Rebuild Dems need to get back to basics: 🏗️ Building more 📉 Lowering costs 🏆 Delivering results Less process obsession, more progress. Join @tahrajirari.bsky.social and @garywinslett.bsky.social as they explore how Dems can govern better, cut red tape - and win again.

NEW: Excited to announce, I am starting a Substack with the great @garywinslett: The Rebuild! The Rebuild will focus on how Democrats can break through bureaucracy, build more, cut costs, and actually deliver results that win back voters' trust. 🧵+ Link below ⬇️

Will it ever end? Auto tariffs threaten global automakers and risk major supply chain disruption. With 50% of US auto market being imports, these tariffs could spike car prices, hurt consumers, and damage integrated North American manufacturing networks.

Unofficial CTV News Mirror@ctvnews-mirror.bsky.social · 2y ago

Donald Trump says auto tariffs coming around April 2

"There is nothing to study since it does not impact me because I am rich"

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2y ago

REPORTER: Would you direct agencies to study the impact tariffs would have on prices in the US? TRUMP: No. There's nothing to study. It's gonna go well.

Trump’s plan to treat VATs as tariffs is bad economics. VATs are standard consumption taxes, not trade barriers. This move risks unjustified tariffs, higher prices for Americans, and retaliation from key trade partners—hurting U.S. businesses more than it helps.

Bloomberg News@bloomberg.com · 2y ago

New: Trump moved to impose reciprocal tariffs on US trading partners with no clear date for when it would take effect

Well, that is not what they are but we also have the Gulf of America now so I guess we are just calling things whatever they want now

FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · 2y ago

TRUMP: WILL CONSIDER COUNTRIES THAT USE A VALUED-ADDED TAX SYSTEM AS TARIFF

"He believes" is holding up a lot of this sentence here. I don't think even he knows what Trump is going to exempt. It's a free for all.

FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · 2y ago

🔴 US HOUSE SPEAKER JOHNSON: I BELIEVE THE WHITE HOUSE IS CONSIDERING EXEMPTIONS TO RECIPROCAL TARIFFS INCLUDING AUTOS AND PHARMACEUTICALS.

🚨 January inflation jumped 0.5% (vs. 0.3% forecast), with big spikes in: • Fuel oil +6.2% • Gas +1.8% • Food at home +0.5% (eggs +15.2%!!) • Transport services +1.8% • Insurance +2.0% With 25% tariffs looming on food/energy/metals, supply chain pressures could worsen.

Temu's shift to "half-custody" shipping due to Trump's tariffs means higher consumer prices ahead. Merchants losing bulk shipping benefits & handling new logistics costs themselves. With both Temu & Shein adapting to stricter rules, the era of ultra-cheap Chinese goods may be ending.

Important to note that the 2018 tariffs on steel and aluminum led to increase costs and likely resulted in "75,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in firms where steel or aluminum are an input into production." But yeah, we will be owning Canada with this one.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2y ago

Trump: "That's why Canada should be our 51st state ... essentially we're putting on a 25 percent tariff without exception on all aluminum and all steel."

This morning, WH advisor said they want to increase labor supply - yet past steel tariffs like those in 2002 cut nearly 200k downstream jobs vs 187k total steel jobs. New tariffs would work against this goal and attempt to "fight inflation" by cutting jobs and raising costs.

Megan Cassella@megancnbc.bsky.social · 2y ago

Just now from the White House: a sweeping expansion of the steel and aluminum tariffs from 2018: - Upping tariffs from 10% to 25% on aluminum; keeping rate at 25% on steel - Re-imposing tariffs on allies that had negotiated side deals or quotas - *No exceptions or exemptions*