W
hen politicians speak, it's wise to keep your BS detector on high alert. Virtually everything they say is laced with spin and exaggeration, regardless of their party affiliation. As a New York columnist, I'm accustomed to writing about Democrats, but Republicans and socialists are just as guilty.

    President Trump's flair for showmanship and his casual relationship with the truth make skepticism essential. Take his executive order aimed at reducing housing costs, which blamed the Biden administration for an "historic inflation crisis" without providing any concrete evidence or specifics. The order promised to deliver emergency price relief and increase prosperity, but offered no details on how this would be achieved.

    Trump's campaign also made vague promises about mass deportations lowering home prices and making federal land available for housing development. However, these claims were either unfounded or misleading. For example, Trump pledged to make federal land available for housing, but there is little such land in areas where people want to live and work.

    In contrast, the Biden administration's Housing Supply Action Plan, announced in May 2022, aimed to close America's housing supply shortfall by creating and preserving hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units. While this plan was ambitious, it only applied to participants in specific programs, not Americans in general. The plan also included rental assistance and downpayment assistance, but its impact was limited.

    The Biden administration's efforts were part of a broader push to address the housing supply problem, which is largely driven by local restrictions on development in high-demand areas. Trump, as president, had previously endorsed these restrictions when he repealed the Obama administration's Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which aimed to reduce segregation and increase affordable housing options.