News Vérité

After both houses of Congress overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act yesterday, a quick signature by President Trump was expected. Trump, however, instead chose to hold the legislation hostage to another piece of legislation, the SAVE America Act requring voter ID to vote and basically outlawing mail-in ballots except in rare cases. He says the act is crucial to winning in the November midterms. This is where matters get both interesting and illustrative. Trump attended a meeting with Republican Senators in the Capitol today to discuss both pieces of legislation — along with the Iranian conflict. It was over Iran that matters heated up. Trump himself brought up the subject in light of a Senate resolution requiring him to end the war, passed yesterday with the support of a handful of Republican Senators. One of those Senators was Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, whose recent defeat in his state’s primary came on the heels of Trump’s support for his opponent. Cassidy and Trump reportedly got intp a virtual shouting match over his Iran vote, with the president calling him a “loser.” At one point, Trump told Cassidy to “sit down,” and Cassidy replied that no one tells him

UPDATE: President Trump has tabled signing the ROAD to Housing Act until Senators pass the SAVE American voter ID act. Evidently, a meeting with Senators over the issue grew contentious and even belligerent. Both Democrats and Republicans, in both the House and the Senate, have finally found common ground — the need to increase the nation’s housing stock, in hopes of thereby reducing the cost of homes in general. The House of Representatives voted 358-32 and the Senate 85-5 to pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. President Trump will gladly sign it, as he had personal input into writing the legislation. The bill includes no new funding, but it seeks to streamline some federal regulations, including those for certain environmental reviews and for building manufactured homes. The measure also ties available federal funding to cities’ new housing production. In addition, the ROAD to Housing Act provides grants and incentives to convert vacant, commercial, or underutilized buildings into affordable housing. At Trump’s urging, the law also limits large institutional investors and private equity firms from purchasing single-family homes. The measure, however, is being met with some skepticism by homebuilders for a couple of reasons. One reason is that local

Apologies to Paula Cole and her wonderful song, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”, but I needed a vibrant headline, so I ripped off her lyric. The point here is that, as many of us suspected, President Trump expended so many weapons in the counterproductive Iran offensive that the warehouses are just about empty. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a meeting of munitions manufacturers and suppliers is set for Wednesday at the White House, with Trump set to make an urgent appeal for resupplying the nation’s arsenal of offensive and defensive weapons, including Patriot interceptors and Tomahawk cruise missiles. I personally figured that the first Iranian ceasefire, back in April, was largely a response to fears that weapons were running short. I think I noted then that it would be a perfect time for China to invade Taiwan — not that I’m recommending that course of action, just expressing a huge fear for Taiwanese independence. The problem with Trump’s planned urgent request is that Congress has yet to authorize funding. No money, no guns, hon! A Pentagon spokesperson said not to worry, for the U.S. has a “deep arsenal.” Trump, however, has requested a $1.5 trillion defense budget