Here’s why you can’t afford a house: Government debt is twice as high as all the mortgages in America - combined.

Photo above - incumbent politician Dwayne Comacho runs for reelection in the film "Idiocracy". Spoiler alert . . . he won.

A recent imaginary conversation: “Hey, Mr (or Mz) banker, I’d like to borrow $400,000 for a home mortgage”.

Banker “Sorry, no can do, Cassandra. $400,000 is your share of America’s government debt. We lent it already. Why do you think interest rates are so high?”

(my rejoinder) “Why the heck did you do that?”

Banker – “It’s not like we had a choice. The government actually REQUIRES us to buy their T-Bills, to fund the national debt. They say it’s safer, and for our own good – and yours. But if T-Bills are so good, why have nations like China, Saudi Arabia, and India been dumping them for years? Those old T-Bills our bank was required to buy are now only worth pennies on the dollar, ever since the new ones with triple high interest rates came out.”

Okay, I’m going to cut this imaginary conversation short here. But it’s all true. See the links at bottom. Government debt is twice as high as all the mortgages in America. And you personally probably don’t even have a mortgage. Only 40% of Americans do. Everybody is else either living in an apartment, a sidewalk tent, or paid off their mortgage long ago but can’t move to the sunbelt because their adult kids are still living at home, playing video games, and smoking legalized pot.

If banks DIDN’T have to bend the knee to the Federal Reserve, and buy those unloved Treasury Bills, there would be that much money available for mortgages. If renters didn’t have trillions in credit card and BMW car loans, there would be more money for mortgages too. But that’s not the government’s fault. It’s our own. Let’s move on . . .

Raising taxes isn’t going to fix this. There’s no way congress is going to curtail its spending simply because we give them even MORE money. That has never happened in US history. The only outcome will be that Bezos and Musk move to someplace like Antigua or Kuwait, where the income tax rate is zero. If you think raising taxes will only hit the rich, talk to someone who lives in California, New York, or New Jersy. A friend bought a 2,500 SF house in house in Bronxville this spring. 0.2 acres. No on-street parking. The property taxes are $3,000 a month. No, they are not a millionaire. But they are a banker, and think these numbers are normal.

Our national debt was used to create entitlements and freebies. Those entitlements were designed to buy votes on election day. 97% of House of Representatives seeking another term in 2024 were re-elected.

The system works!!! Thank you for voting.

I’m just saying . . .

Q1 2025, Release Tables: Mortgage Debt Outstanding, Millions of Dollars; End of Period | FRED | St. Louis Fed

Debt by State 2025

Treasury Marketable Securities Regulations — TreasuryDirect