Free Republic

In his budget plan for fiscal year 2026, President Donald Trump has proposed cutting a total of $32.9 billion in funding to HUD. The plan includes a $26.7 billion cut to federal rental aid — approximately 40% of the total — and would essentially end Section 8 and other housing voucher programs, according to NPR.

The Trump administration has considered sharply curtailing vouchers as part of its budget for the 2026 fiscal year... Administration officials recently discussed cutting or canceling out the vouchers and other rental assistance programs and potentially replacing them with a more limited system of housing grants, perhaps sent to states... The cuts to housing programs come in addition to an exodus of the agency’s work force. As of last week, about 2,300 employees opted to accept an offer for “deferred resignation” and leave their jobs...

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy didn't mince words when discussing the "lazy, entitled losers" taking baby boomers' place in today's workforce. Gen Z – the generation born between 1997 and 2012 – has received a bad rap for laziness, entitlement, emotional sensitivity and poor communication skills in recent years. Since they've overtaken their baby boomer grandparents at the office, the changes are already showing for some of those managing them. "They don't want to work. They're spoiled brats," Portnoy said Thursday on "Varney & Co." "They've grown up in a world where it's [an] everyone gets a trophy generation, and...

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner today issued a letter to grantees and stakeholders underscoring that federal housing assistance will no longer be granted to illegal aliens or sanctuary cities. The directive reinforces HUD programs are strictly reserved for the American people, eliminating any ambiguity in policy. ...going forward, grant agreements will include language that will require compliance with Executive Order 14218, and the Department will take steps to ensure that Federal resources are not used to support “sanctuary” policies of State and local jurisdictions that actively prevent federal authorities from deporting illegal aliens.

@RepThomasMassie People should not be allowed to use food stamps (EBT) to purchase sugary drinks like Coke and Pepsi. Libertarian arguments about choice do not apply here. The money being used for EBT was extracted from taxpayers who have no choice in whether to give up their money.

As DOGE’s efforts shift to eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in social welfare programs including SNAP, Social Security, and Medicaid, The Drill Down podcast welcomes a nationally recognized expert in spotting how those programs are rife with fraud. Andrew McClenahan is, among other things, intergovernmental committee co-chair for an organization called the United Council on Welfare Fraud, and has investigated fraud in the food stamp program, including one bust several years ago that stopped a $100 million fraud scheme in South Florida. The group is made up of welfare fraud investigators from every state. In 2018, GAI published a report...

Rochester, N.Y.— People in Rochester's 19th Ward rallied Tuesday for the Good Cause Eviction law to be passed after they claim a tenant was served an "unjust eviction." Lakeisha Ward claims she was served an eviction notice after raising concerns about the property and taking the issues to the city. MORE:Rochester City Council says new eviction law would exclude 35,000 renters Ward said she's not behind on rent and kept up her rent. Torres Turn Key Property Management LLC said Ward was issued a notice to vacate because the owner has different plans for the property. "I have emails saying...

African Americans are trailing their white counterparts in homeownership across age groups at a time when high mortgage rates, elevated prices and stifled supply has made the dream of owning a home out of reach for millions of Americans. A third of Black millennials—the age group born between 1981 to 1996—own their home compared to two-thirds of white Americans. Meanwhile, for those between 43 and 58 years old, or Gen Xers, the situation is slightly better with 52 percent of Black Americans possessing a property compared to 80 percent of their white counterparts, and for boomers, the data breaks down...

-At least 22 people have been shot dead in a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, and 50-60 people injured at three different locations -Robert Card, a 40-year-old Army reservist and firearms instructor from Bowdoin, is named by police as 'a person of interest': his empty car has been found -They have issued a photo of the suspect entering Sparetime bowling alley at 7:15pm; they were also called to a bar and a Walmart distribution center A massive manhunt is underway in Maine for an Army reserve firearms instructor who was sectioned this summer for mental health reasons, and is suspected...

Now, a New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled for Ithaca Renting, agreeing with the local business’s position that the Section 8 program’s inspection requirement was a violation of the Constitution’s protection against searches. In his ruling on June 27th, Hon. Mark G. Masler says the Attorney General’s argument “is fundamentally flawed for the simple reason that, as set forth above, a landlord cannot accept a Section 8 housing voucher as payment for rent without agreeing to participate in Section 8, which, in turn, requires that the landlord authorize warrantless searches.” Judge Masler’s ruling points out that the Housing...

link only

New York State Attorney General Letitia James is suing an Ithaca landlord for allegedly denying housing to low-income tenants. Landlord Jason Fane, his company Ithaca Renting Company, and his related entities are all subject to the suit. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that Mr. Fane and his real estate agents refused to accept Section 8 vouchers at his properties, in violation of New York’s housing laws against source of income discrimination. The lawsuit alleges that agents at Ithaca Renting repeatedly told renters they do not accept government assistance vouchers. Through her lawsuit, Attorney General...

The new American way of life... For a guy and his girlfriend with two kids, all you have to do is follow these proven steps: 1. Don't marry her! 2. Always use your mom's address to get your mail. 3. The guy buys a house. 4. The guy rents out the house to his girlfriend with his two kids. 5. Section 8 will pay $900 a month for a 3 bedroom home. 6. Girlfriend signs up for Obamacare, so the guy doesn't have to pay for family insurance. 7. Girlfriend gets to go to college for free for being a...

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill last week that will remove the cap of the size of affordable housing apartment communities built by developers wanting to qualify for a property tax exemption. The bill — HB2610 — allows for more construction of larger apartment communities across the state that will income-eligible tenants can rent, according to a press release. Tom Simplot, the Arizona Department of Housing Director, said in the release that the new law will aid with increasing affordable housing by ridding of any unnecessary barriers to development. By removing this burdensome regulation, non-profits can build...

Democrats may use their massive “infrastructure” plan to bribe local governments to essentially abolish suburbs, by making grants contingent upon towns and counties allowing apartments in any neighborhood, including those currently limited to single-family homes. That creates two scenarios, both of which benefit Democrats seeking power: If jurisdictions want to preserve a small-town feel, they must turn down the money, meaning the massive infusion of taxpayer dollars turns into a bonanza for Democratic-dominated cities, while leaving others out. Or if centrist suburbs give in to the temptation to take the money, they would essentially be signing a contract to become...

President Trump recently decided to rescind the Obama administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, which put pressure on suburbs to construct more low-income, high-density housing in their communities. Trump’s decision met with a predictable outcry. “It’s not even a dog whistle anymore,” Connecticut senator Chris Murphy tweeted. “Our President is now a proud, vocal segregationist.” Somehow, Democrats still see the suburbs as racially homogenized, lily-white enclaves — something they haven’t been for a long time. According to demographer Joel Kotkin and urban studies professor Alan Berger, 151 million Americans live in the suburbs and exurbs, compared with only 25...

He’s locked up on murder charges — but still has a rent-regulated apartment. A deadbeat tenant who allegedly killed a man in his Bronx apartment beat an eviction proceeding while in jail on Rikers Island thanks to a controversial new state rent law, The Post has learned. Charles Votaw’s landlord first slapped him with a 10-day notice demanding more than $7,000 in unpaid rent on June 6 last year, the first step to boot him from his federally subsidized Section 8 apartment in Fordham Heights. But on June 14, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act...

A bill filed in advance of the next legislative session would make gold and silver legal tender again in the state of South Carolina. State Representative Stewart O. Jones submitted legislation that would restore gold and silver to their status as legal tender in his state. In an op-ed written in October, Representative Jones set out the sound economic principles that support his proposed statute: To understand the full extent of the debt and the destruction of the dollar, it’s essential to realize that paper money has a history of being printed as bills of credit to finance runaway government....

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Nov. 22, 2019) – A bill prefiled in the South Carolina House would make gold and silver coins legal tender in the state. Passage of this bill would take a step toward creating currency competition in South Carolina and undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money. Rep. Stewart Jones filed House Bill 4678 (H.4678) on Nov. 20. Under the proposed law, “gold and silver coins minted foreign or domestic shall be legal tender in the State of South Carolina under the laws of this State. No person or other entity may compel another person or other entity to...

California landlords would no longer be allowed to reject prospective tenants solely because they hold federal Section 8 housing vouchers under a bill passed by the state Legislature on Wednesday. 300,000 Californians who receive the vouchers. The program provides the largest direct federal subsidy for low-income tenants. “Why do we continue to criminalize and penalize and have bias against people who are poor?”