Morning Wire - Congress Races to Pass Spending Bill & Home Sales Plummet | 12.23.22

Episode Date: December 23, 2022

Congress scrambles to pass its Omnibus spending bill, new data shows trouble for some homeowners and renters, and in the wake of their Netflix series release, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have requested a royal summit and an apology. Get the facts first on Morning Wire.   Get 10% off your first order or Coffee Club subscription with code WIRE: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/   Text ‘WIRE’ to 231231 for a complimentary bottle of Nugenix Total T. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With a government shutdown looming, the Democrat-led Congress has scrambled this week to pass a $1.7 trillion omnibus package. We discussed the 11th hour political wrangling and what's in the sprawling 4,000-page funding bill. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, December 23rd, and this is Morning Wire. Home sales have plummeted in recent months, and new data could spell trouble for some homeowners and renters. We look at the latest in the housing market. And in the wake of their blockbuster Netflix miniseries, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are reportedly requesting a royal summit and an apology.

When someone who's marrying in who should be a supporting act is doing the job better than the person who's born to do this, or it shifts the balance. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Imagine the joy of pre-scheduled coffee delivery, your favorite roasts at your door, when you need them. It's really the gift it keeps on giving.

right now you can go to black rifle coffee.com and use promo code wire for 10% off coffee, merchandise apparel, or when you sign up for a coffee club subscription. Stop your family's Christmas stockings with all the highest grade coffee roasted right here in America by veteran-led teams of coffee experts. Go to black rifle coffee.com with promo code wire for 10% off. With the deadline for a government shutdown quickly approaching, the Democrat-led Congress managed to push through a $1.7 trillion spending package on Thursday. But the 4,000-page bill was met with resistance from conservatives who say it's loaded with unnecessary spending.

Here to discuss the bill and the 11th hour efforts to pass it is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo. Hey Amanda, so a lot of frantic dealmaking here. Tell us about this omnibus package. Hey, John. Yeah, well, Congress has failed to pass normal spending bills, so they've turned to this omnibus package to finance all of the government through the end of next September. It allocates $8.58 billion in defense funding. That's up 10% from last fiscal year and more than $770 billion for non-defense, so-called discretionary programs and includes 12 different appropriations bills. Lawmakers have been battling out over a number of issues, but a major snack came Wednesday when Republican Senator Mike Lee tied funding for Homeland Security to maintaining Title 42. Now, we've reported about this before. Title 42 allows the U.S. to expel migrants on the basis of public health. This was enacted under Trump over COVID concerns. Democrats want to lift this measure, but Border Patrol warns that that could more than double border crossings in an already overwhelmed system. Right.

Former Democrat Kirsten Sinema, she's now an independent. She introduced an amendment on Thursday compromising on border funding and extending Title 42. That amendment effectively gave cover to both sides on the issue. And by making it an additional amendment vote, it got the bill back on track. So with that, the Democrat-controlled Senate was able to get enough Republicans to push the bill through yesterday, sending it to the House where Nancy Pelosi was waiting to fast-track it. Now, this bill is a stunning 4,155 pages long, and the deadline to avoid a shutdown was midnight tonight. There obviously hasn't been much time to review what's actually in this bill. Yeah, that's right.

And unfortunately, this is not totally new for. Congress. To that point, here's Senator Rand Paul speaking about the spending package on Tuesday. The process stinks. It's an abomination. It's a no-good rotten way to run your government. Six trillion-dollar entity, and they want 24 hours to process this, and then they want to go forward. All right. So what is actually in this bill, at least what we know so far? Well, we have $45 billion in aid to Ukraine. Then there's another $38 billion in disaster aid. $2.6 billion that will partly fund U.S. attorneys prosecuting more January 6 defendants, as well as funding for a variety of welfare or government assistance programs.

Then there are also some add-ons that have generated some controversy on the right. Right. There's been a lot of buzz about some of the specific spending items. Tell us about some of those. North Carolina Republican Rep. Dan Bishop pointed out a package that allocates $410 million towards border security in places like Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Tunisia. This at a time when our own border is severely lacking in resources. There's a $65 million commitment to Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery, $3 million for bee-friendly highways, a plan to phase out large-scale drift net fishing, and new oversight on horse racing. Then there's a $575 million commitment for family planning or, quote, reproductive health care in areas that could threaten.

and endangered species. Conservatives are concerned that this could mean funding for contraceptive, sterilization, and even potentially indirectly fund abortion. Also included in the bill is $1.2 million

for LGBTQIA plus pride centers, $477,000 for the equity institution in Rhode Island tied to, quote, anti-racism virtual labs, and $3 million for the American LGBTQ Plus Museum. We could kind of go all

day with these, but I'll finish up with a section of the bill that designates a federal building in San Fran as the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building and a $3.6 million transportation department allotment for a Michelle Obama Trail in Georgia. So this bill is seen as a win for most Democrats, so they've been behind it pretty consistently. What has the Republican response looked like? A lot of Republicans wanted this bill passed. Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, he's the vice chairman of the Committee on Appropriate he encouraged Republicans to hop on board highlighting the big defense budget as a win for the GOP.

Then there were a number of Republicans, more than 30, who threatened to stop any bills supported by someone voting for this spending package. Yeah, so pretty fierce response against it. It's a fascinating battle with, you know, trillions on the line here. Amanda thanks for reporting. Anytime. That was Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo. Coming up, the latest housing data is in. Man, are you feeling less like your old self these days?

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Well, according to the latest numbers from the National Association of Realtors, the sale of previously owned homes fell by 7.7% in November. compared to the month before, and they're now down 35% since last November. That not only marked the 10th straight month of decline, that's the longest on record, but also the weakest single month since May of 2020 when COVID lockdowns first started, and the market was really in a temporary panic. We also saw residential permit applications, which typically give you an idea of new construction on the way and how optimistic builders are, fall 11.2% month over month.

Oh, 11%. Yeah. And remember, because of how long. the process of closing on a home takes, these numbers actually reflect where the market was back in September or October. So experts of caution that there's a good chance, things are actually much worse off than they appear right now. It doesn't sound like good news. How is the market changing as things cool off? So you can also tell things that cooled down by the incentives being offered to buyers. When the market was hottest over the summer and past spring, buyers were really the

ones bending over backwards. But now we've seen a complete reversal as buyers are the ones with leverage. We've seen a growing number of sellers offering cash to help lower mortgage rates for buyers or even pay for inspection fees. And mortgage lenders are also really getting creative as well to try and just get people to want to buy a home. And those falling home prices aren't just affecting those selling or buying a house. They're also impacting current homeowners. Exactly. Millions of Americans now have considerably less equity in their homes than they did just a year ago. Now, if you bought your house 10 years ago, the drop over the last 12 months won't be the end of the world.

To that point, Americans have never had more equity in their homes than they do right now, and most people are still way up on their purchase. But those who bought when prices were at their peak over the spring and summer are in serious trouble. According to Black Knight, over a quarter million home buyers who made a purchase in 2022 are already underwater on their investment. In total, one in 12 people who bought a home last year is underwater on that mortgage. Now, in the long run, most folks will still end up ahead if they sit tight, but it is a scary proposition for a lot of people,

and most real estate experts say there will be a lot more people in that same boat over the next year unless things make a quick turnaround. We've talked on this show about how the price of rent has gone up considerably this year, even as home prices have come down. Tell us about that. Yeah, we did see a slight decline from October to November.

Rent prices are still up around 20% over the last two years. On that note, we talked to John Lecky. He's a researcher at rent.com. Here's how he explained the role of the housing market on rental demand. Typically when you have the higher mortgage rates, it prices first-time buyers out of the market. It causes some people to sell to try to take advantage of the high prices and then hold off on selling or hold off on buying until prices kind of come down. And so all of that creates more renters and that creates more demand and that demand will push up the rental price.

Now, the rental market could start to cool a bit as more homes go on the market, but that likely won't happen until mortgage rates come down. For a lot of potential sellers, it's just not that that appealing to sell your home and take on a 7% mortgage rate when you're currently locked into 3 or 4%. So it does seem like a lot of people are in a holding pattern until we get a better idea of where rates are headed. Well, I'm sure a lot of people are hoping rates and rents come down. Cabot, thanks for reporting. Anytime. That's Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips. While Prince Harry and Megan Markle's Netflix documentary has attracted record audiences in the UK, polls suggest it has not helped rehabilitate the couple's image with the British public.

The release of the series has culminated with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, reportedly asking for a summit and an apology from the royal family. Here to explore whether the Harry and Megan documentary represents a turning point for the British royal family is Daily Wire Culture reporter Megan Basham. So, Megan, I admit I did not watch this. Was it primarily a critique of the British press and maybe an attempt to correct the record? Or did it feel like a more pointed personal message to other royal family members? Well, that's what I'm here for, Georgia.

I watch these things so that other people don't have to. And what I can tell you is that it does deal with the press and broader societal issues at some points, but it really does feel personal. I expected the six-part series to address the rift between the Sussexes and the rest of the royals, but I did not expect it to make such pointed criticism of them. And frankly, the show is almost shocking in how much bad family blood we see on display. To give you just one example, in the first 15 minutes, Harry seems to imply that his brother chose to marry Duchess Kate out of obligation rather than love.

I think for so many people in the family, especially obviously the men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mold as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with. The difference between making decisions with your head or your heart. And then at a later point, the Prince offers details about the private meeting the family had when Harry revealed his and Megan's intention of leaving royal service. It was terrifying to have my brother screaming shout at me

and my father say things that simply weren't true and my grandmother quietly sit there and sort of take it all in. At one point, Prince Harry even went so far as to suggest the other royals were jealous of Megan. So that's just a quick selection of many more moments in the same vein, and it doesn't begin to address the accusations that have received a great deal of coverage, including accusations that the palace has a problem with racial bias.

And how has this series been received? You know, not well, really by any, but the series only has a 38% positive rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes. And if audience score is even worse at 17%, the couple are clearly cast as the heroes and victims. Now, I understand that the rest of the royal family declined to be interviewed, but I don't think it would have been hard for the producers, which actually does include Harry and Megan, to find some commentators willing to rebut some of the accusations on the palace's behalf. And they didn't do that. To cap it all off, they are reportedly demanding an apology and

summit. Given that this series is already being so badly received, that seems somewhat tone-deaf. Now, when you say they're requesting a summit and apology, what's the context for that? And what are the other royals saying? So it was originally reported by the Sunday Times and supposedly came from reputable insiders. Neither Harry or Megan nor the palace have a officially commented on it. But suffice it to say they don't see relations between the palace and the Sussex's softening anytime soon, especially given that Harry's memoir, Spare is due out next month, and it is reportedly even more sensational. Well, Megan, I'm going to count on you to read that one for me. Okay, I will. All right, thanks, Megan. That was Daily Wire Culture reporter,

Megan Basham. Well, that's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll back this afternoon with the news you need to know.