Tearing off the mask of ‘affordability’

[mystery-ak]

November 28, 2025
Tearing off the mask of ‘affordability’
By Mark C. Ross

Move over, diversity and discrimination, let alone Epstein — American politics has a new buzzword.  Unlike its buzzy predecessors, “affordability” has support from both sides of the aisle.  The dividing line is drawn between those who want government to do more make stuff more affordable and those who know that taxes and  unjustified government interference with markets are the main reason that prices are higher than they ought to be.

For the sake of discussion, there are four classes of stuff where affordability is particularly important: housing, health care, energy, and food.  Energy and food are both commodities, stuff created and consumed on a continuing basis, so they can be lumped together.  Health care is a service — a particularly desirable service, but one that is also rather expensive since it is both labor- and capital-intensive.  And housing is an investment that also provides a necessary function.

The prices for energy and food are vulnerable to supply fluctuations.  I once saw an economics professor describe inelastic demand as it affects the price of lettuce.  Much of America’s winter crop is grown on the irrigated parts of the southwestern desert, such as the Imperial Valley.  Every now and then, that area is hit by severe weather that can wipe out much of the lettuce crop.  Mom and Pop can choose not to buy overly expensive lettuce and eat cabbage and carrots instead.  Restaurants that have salad bars, however, don’t get to choose.  We recently saw something similar when eggs went way up in price because a bird flu epidemic drastically reduced the supply of chickens.  These prices would’ve still gone up about as much even if the dollar were on the gold standard.

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https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/11/tearing_off_the_mask_of_affordability.html

[Smokin Joe]

Anything is affordable--provided you have enough money.
It can't buy happiness, but it gets most anything else if your pile is high enough.

The problem is, the government came along and said "we won't pay a dime more than $XXXXX for that" and the price became (overnight, or sooner) $XXXXX.

Only most of us couldn't cough up $XXXXX, only the folks on government programs.
So the 'wealthiest' of us fund things for the poorest that we can't afford for ourselves.

Which is why there are so many morbidly obese poor people.

As for "healthcare" the scam is to roll over the adjustments and other unpaid Xs into 'unpaid' bills, take the loss, and never show a profit so they can apply for grants (yep, more tax money) to pick up the slack, while the administrators kick back with salaries in mid six figures and up.

Good duty if you can get it, I reckon...