Posted on 03/05/2007 8:24:25 AM PST by AuntB
I want to thank my colleagues, our host, Ken and Mary, for hosting this hearing, and you for coming such a long way to make it a reality, and Helen, of course, for her great contribution.
You know, Southern California used to be a place where you could dream, where a young couple could get married, and they could have children, and they could have a dream, and they could pursue that dream, and in many cases achieve it.
And a centerpiece of that dream was home ownership, and my reason, Mr. Chairman, for being here is because I think that that dream is disappearing rapidly, and I can see it very clearly in the facts and figures we're going to put up in a few minutes when we have testimony from some of our witnesses.
But, you know, the average home in San Diego County today is $265,000, and the estimates are that as a result partly of Fish and Wildlife in Carlsbad and other factors—there are other agencies that are involved—that 265, $270,000 median priced home in San Diego County is about 35 percent higher than it needs to be, and that money does not go to profit for developers. It does not go to the construction crews, the people that carry the lunch buckets and build the homes. Those are actually fairly low costs. They are basically in line with the rest of the country.
Plywood and two-by-fours cost the same across the country, but what makes our homes so expensive is the cost of regulation, and so that dream is becoming unachievable. Today you have to make about $70,000 a year to be able to qualify for the median priced home in San Diego County, and that means that our young couples are not able to buy homes. And most of our growth now is coming from people who are having families in our districts. It is not coming from outside folks coming into San Diego and Riverside Counties. So we have a real problem. The American dream is slipping away.
And part of the answer is going to be brought about, I think, by this hearing because we are going to listen to some people who would have been able to have built those homes, and I think home building is a very honorable profession, Mr. Chairman. They would have been able to build those homes for a lot less money, sell them for a lot less money, and that young couple would not have been paying 7 or 7 1/2 percent interest on an additional 30 or $40,000 per home for the next 30 years if government had acted reasonably.
And I have said this before, Mr. Chairman. This may be a little strong, but I talked to one person who actually took a photograph of one of the bumper strips on one of the Federal employee's cars at the Carlsbad office that said essentially, ''Home Builders Can Go to Hell.'' Now, I thought about that.
What if you were a veteran and were going into the Veteran's Affairs Office to try to get your veterans check and you saw the car, happened to see the car of one of the people who was supposed to wait on you and serve you, and it said, ''Veterans Can Go to Hell. That's my attitude,'' or what if you were a senior citizen going to the Social Security Administration and you saw a bumper strip that said, ''Senior Citizens Can Go to Hell''? What kind of service would you expect when you walked in those doors?
Unfortunately, Mr. Chairman, I think that that attitude has largely been manifested in real action by some members of the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife office. But let's make this hearing contribute to that most important goal for Southern California, and that is, once again, making the dream of home ownership achievable.
Antoninus, will you please add me to the Duncan Hunter ping list. Thanks!
Real free trade will play well in the midwest.
Real free trade (as opposed to subsidized trade) and border control are why the GOP hierarchy are doing their best to pretend Hunter doesn't exist. It's also why he stands an excellent chance in the general election.
Excellent. http://www.gohunter08.com
Duncan Hunter Bump!
http://duncanhunter2008.us
I like the Chuck Yeager endorsement.
If Yeager is a right wing extremist nut job, then I'm in good company.
A recent report on Hunter.
SCHotline Press Releases
March 3rd, 2007
Spartanburg, SC – With John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Duncan Hunter all finishing in a statistical tie for first place at 24% each in the Spartanburg County, South Carolina straw poll, the big story is that of the surprise top finish by Duncan Hunter.
Mike Dixon, longtime GOP activist and former South Carolina 4th District Party Chairman, said “However you stack and restack the top three, the results are clear, Duncan Hunter has emerged as the conservative alternative South Carolina Republicans have been looking for.”
Commenting on Hunter’s strong showing, Spartanburg Republican Gerald Emory said, “Now we have a true Ronald Reagan conservative that we can support. This is a proud night for the Grand Ole Party.”
Duncan Hunter when speaking to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., about his finish in the South Carolina poll said, “You know, I woke up to … one of the commentators saying that the only reason that Hunter beat all those guys in South Carolina is because his Marine son has been there for a week. Well, I looked down at that army of consultants, everybody who was vertical in South Carolina was hired by the other guys, and I said, ‘You know, that is a good match-up: One Marine versus 550 consultants.’ We did have the advantage!”
Dead-heat for: McCain: 24 % Giuliani: 24% Hunter: 24%
Followed by Brownback: 13% Romney: 12% Huckabee: 3%
http://www.gohunter08.com/shownews.asp?artid=31
Or for that matter Pissant. You are in good company.
Now lets see what bag of tricks Rudy used in NY regarding protery rights.
This thread needs every imaginable BUMP it can possible get! Had this been up on FR before the last couple of FR polls, Hunter would have run away with the whole thing!!!
It looks as though even real conservatives who advocate for real free trade can't resist economic populism. Hunter is no different than the democrats when it comes to trade. He appeals to class warriors who want the government to raise costs for all Americans in an effort to protect their chosen special interest.
If we have so many people headed to the unemployment office today, why is our unemployment rate just 4.6%, which is lower than the averages for the past three decades? If we're a nation of fast food workers why do our incomes and net worth keep rising? Hunter is right on a lot of issues but he's playing to the Lou Dobbs and Pat Buchanan wing with this protectionism. That does not bode well for his chances. Hopefully, he knows better than to begin ranting about Benedict Arnold CEO's.
Antoninus, I will do it. So don't PING them again and annoy folks.
Getting dual pings about Hunter won't annoy me :)
VETERANS FOR HUNTER PING!!!
VETERANS FOR HUNTER PING!!!
Yep, I have noticed that as well.
"Real free trade (as opposed to subsidized trade) and border control are why the GOP hierarchy are doing their best to pretend Hunter doesn't exist. It's also why he stands an excellent chance in the general election."
Your correct, the blatant rigging of this process is incredible. Hunter has throttled everyone with little or no help from Fox or the MSM. This playing with our supposed democratic elections is sickening.
Hey, the elite at FOX and MSM it is totally obvious what you are doing! By the way FOX, how about more mind numbing coverage of Anna Nichole Smith?
Tell you what, let's just end this farce and you can tell the unwashed who our president will be. (dripping in sarcasm)
"Hunter is no different than the democrats when it comes to trade. He appeals to class warriors who want the government to raise costs for all Americans in an effort to protect their chosen special interest."
Nope, not true. He sees the de-industrailization of America with respect to China as a National security issue. He has not been complaining about trade with Japan, Taiwan, Chile, Australia, France, Britain, etc etc. He wants revamp the trade agreements with China, and he has no use for anyone other than the USA having authority to govern our trade. He is no Buchananite.
He certainly didn't disagree with a free trade deal with Austrailia.
Perhaps Hunter's bone of contention is with countries that tend to be hostile with American interests (i.e. Mexico and the flood of illegals it intentionally sends over, China and their military spending, etcetera).
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