US Vice Presidential Debate: What Democrat Tim Walz and Republican JD Vance said on housing crisis

The US stepped closer to the November 5 presidential elections after the two vice-presidential candidates met in New York City on October 2 for a live debate hosted by CBS News, discussing a slew of issues, ranging from immigration and the economy to border control and international conflict.

Among the topics debated was the US’s housing crisis.

WHAT WALZ SAID

Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota and the Democratic vice presidential candidate, said the problem with housing is it is viewed as a commodity and not many people actually live in the properties they buy. Walz leaned on some nostalgia to drive home his point.

“I bought and owned one house in my life. My mom still lives in the house where I was. And when I think of a house, I think of Christmas services after midnight Mass, where you go with your family. We need to make it more affordable. “

Walz pointed to what was being done in his state to alleviate the situation: local efforts and investment in housing to cut red tapes and encourage more construction. And then, Harris is proposing assistance with the first mortgage down payment. Walz was quick to point to Minneapolis.

“Minneapolis is the one city where we’ve seen the lowest inflation rates. We’ve seen a 12% increase in stock because we put some of these things in. And we’re implementing a state program to make sure we give some of that down payment assistance,” he said. “We get it back from people, because here’s what we know. People with stable housing end up with stable jobs. People with stable housing have their kids able to get to school.”

He went further to admit the root cause of the problem: there aren’t enough affordable houses in the country.

“… but we can make sure that the government’s there to help kickstart it, create that, create that base,” he added.

WHAT VANCE SAID

The Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance noted that the mass deportations of undocumented individuals planned by his running mate, Donald Trump, would automatically bring down the sky-high housing prices in the country.

“We should be kicking out illegal immigrants who are competing for those homes, and we should be building more homes for the American citizens who deserve to be here,” Vance said.

The Senator from Ohio blamed the Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris for letting in immigrants into the country, saying that had increased competition for the limited housing options available.

“Twenty-five million illegal aliens competing with Americans for scarce homes is one of the most significant drivers of home prices in the country,” Vance said at one point.

Furthermore, responding to the planned policies listed by Walz, Vance asked why Harris, the sitting vice president of the country, has not done anything she is proposing in her tenure so far.

“If she wants to enact all of these policies to make housing more affordable, I invite her to use the office that the American people already gave her, not sit around and campaign and do nothing while Americans find the American Dream of homeownership completely unaffordable,” Vance said.

Despite Vance’s harsh claims, economists in the country blame the long-term decline in housing supply for the high prices now.

What would be his solution to the crisis? Vance pointed to Trump’s plan.

“As Donald Trump says, ‘Drill, baby, drill.’ One of the biggest drivers of housing costs, aside from illegal immigration, is think about it: if a truck driver is paying 40% more for diesel, then the lumber he’s delivering to the job site to build the house is also going to become a lot more expensive,” Vance said. “If we open up American energy, you will get immediate pricing release, relief, for American citizens, not, by the way, just in housing, but in a whole host of other economic goods too.”