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Everyone Is for Affordability, but No Candidate Will Deliver
Goldberg says campaigns are making promises on prices and housing that economic and political constraints cannot deliver, as affordability remains a top voter concern.
- The Dispatch Editor-in-Chief Jonah Goldberg argues that political campaigns overpromise on affordability, relying on simplistic populist slogans that fail to account for complex governing realities and necessary economic trade-offs.
- Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist mayoral candidate, built his 2025 campaign on the affordability 'mantra that carried' him to victory in New York City, imposing a partial rent freeze on about 40 percent of the city's rental stock.
- More recently, Mamdani endorsed a plan restricting third-party delivery contractors in New York; a study sponsored by opponents found it would add $664 in delivery fees per household annually.
- President Donald Trump campaigned on lowering prices, yet his 50 percent tariff hike on Canadian lumber will add more than $10,000 to average home construction costs, contradicting his affordability messaging.
- Goldberg contends that populist appeals blame 'sinister forces' for problems rather than acknowledging governing's complexity. Failing to deliver on such simplistic promises breeds disappointment and invites more populist ire.
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14 Articles
14 Articles
Star-Herald+8 Reposted by 8 other sources
Everyone is for affordability, but no candidate will deliver
Remember "affordability" mania?The time was 2025. A young, charismatic democratic socialist candidate for New York City mayor named Zohran Mamdani became a viral sensation. His secret? "Affordability."
News & RecordReposted by 
Winston-Salem Journal
Winston-Salem JournalJonah Goldberg: Everyone is campaigning on ‘affordability’ that no one can deliver
Remember “affordability” mania?
·Cherokee County, United States
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Goldberg: Everyone is campaigning on ‘affordability’ that no one can deliver
Remember “affordability” mania?The time was 2025. A young, charismatic democratic socialist candidate for New York mayor named Zohran Mamdani became a viral sensation. His secret? “Affordability.”
·Charleston, United States
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Total News Sources14
Leaning Left3Leaning Right0Center11Last UpdatedBias Distribution79% Center
Bias Distribution
- 79% of the sources are Center
79% Center
L 21%
C 79%
Factuality
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