The Young Turks - Grumpy Gavin

Episode Date: August 29, 2024

Israel launches major operation in West Bank; Palestinian officials say 11 were killed. The Harris-Newsom competition is over and it’s clear who won, and the governor doesn’t seem happy. Elliott County in Kentucky is the only county to vote for Democrats 144 years straight, but then they flipped to Trump. They also voted for Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. CNBC reported on the homebuilding industry and how it’s destroying the housing market." HOST: Ana Kasparian (@anakasparian) SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ https://www.youtube.com/user/theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ https://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks TWITTER: ☞ https://www.twitter.com/theyoungturks INSTAGRAM: ☞ https://www.instagram.com/theyoungturks TIKTOK: ☞ https://www.tiktok.com/@theyoungturks 👕 Merch: https://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Watchlist https://www.youtube.com/watchlisttyt Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey https://www.youtube.com/indisputabletyt The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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story in the rundown today having to do with Gavin Newsom of all people that has me real giddy, real, real giddy, okay? You're going to want to stick around for that story. So we're going to be talking about that in the first hour. We're going to give you an update on what's currently happening in the West Bank. The ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinians continues, and it's getting more and more brutal. So we'll get to that in the first hour as well. I also want to talk a little bit about an element of the housing crisis that is not really reported. It is an underreported story about why it is that it takes so long to develop new housing units. Why it is that when new housing units are developed, they all look the same. They all look like either

cubes or farmhouses. But it's an incredible story having to do with acquisitions and mergers about corruption. It's incredible. So stick around for that also in the first. hour. Second hour, John Iderola will be joining us to talk about a whole host of topics, including vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, of course, on the Republican side, talking about how, yeah, that visit to that donut shop was pretty awkward and we kind of messed it up. Which, honestly, I give him credit for admitting to, shows that at least on some level, he's a human being. So I'm looking forward to covering that with John, along with a bunch of other stories, but just want to encourage you all, if you're watching us live, to like the stream,

to share the stream. It's a free and easy way to help support the show and the work that we do here at TYT. You can also send us your super chats if you're watching us live on YouTube, and you can become a member by just smashing that join button, of course, or you can go to T-Wi-Smash-it. At yT.com slash join. You can join that way as well. All right, without further ado, let's get to our first story. At least 10 people were killed in one of Israel's largest incursions on the territory. The operation involved drones, bulldozers, and hundreds of soldiers across Janine, Nablus, Tubas and Tulkaram.

The Israeli foreign minister has called for the evacuation of Palestinian from parts of the northern-occupied West Bank. Mr. Israel Katz says the army is seeking to, quote, dismantle Iranian Islamic terror infrastructures established there. Israel's war on Palestinians has unfortunately now expanded to the West Bank, where hundreds of Israeli soldiers carried out a large scale military raid in the territory, killing at least 10 Palestinians, and that's according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Now, that overnight raid focused on the northern West Bank, and unfortunately, it does appear that this is only the first stage.

Why do I know that? Well, it's because Israeli officials are saying it, and we'll get to those statements in just a moment. Now, the Janine Battalion, a Palestinian militant group, said six of its members were killed, though it was not immediately clear whether those casualties were included in the count announced by authorities. Hamas's armed wing also said three of its members were killed. So I just want to stop and say, so far it's unclear how many innocent civilians have been killed as a result of these raids. It appears that there are some, you know, Hamas militants, according to what Hamas is saying, who died as a result of the raid.

But the story is developing. And unfortunately, I believe that the war against Palestinians in the West Bank is developing as well. I don't think that this is just a one-time raid. I think this is part of expanding this war and potentially leveling the West Bank to do what the IDF's been doing in Gaza. level it, make it uninhabitable for Palestinians, and essentially pave the way to take complete control of the territory. Now, Hamas is not helping Palestinians much because of the fact that every time that they attack Israel on Israeli soil, Israel retaliates a thousandfold. And a recent attack in Tel Aviv is the excuse that Israel is using now to do these raids in the West Bank. And these rates have been absolutely devastating, not only in regard to potential civilian casualties,

but as it pertains to critical infrastructure in the territory, I'm talking about hospitals. I'm talking about, you know, water mains, which of course are critical in providing water to the Palestinians living in the West Bank. Hamas, by the way, did claim responsibility for an attempted bombing attack in Tel Avid this month, saying it will carry out similar operations for as long as the war in Gaza continues. Now, fortunately, that attack in Tel Aviv did not result in any Israeli casualties, but it doesn't matter. Israel will latch on to that as an excuse to respond, not in kind, but to respond much, much more brutally. And that is what's happening right now.

Israel also stands by as Israeli settlers, by the way, terrorize Palestinians living in the West Bank. new. This has been an ongoing issue. And unfortunately, that issue has gotten much worse throughout this war, which began on October 7th, of course. Last year, 1,500 Palestinians were forced out of their homes by Israeli settlers. And that's according to PBS News Hour. They also have a detailed report out that you should watch. But here's a snippet to help you visualize the kind of terror that innocent Palestinian civilians in the West Bank are dealing with. The world watches the war in Gaza, extremist settlers have taken advantage of the distraction. Armed mobs have descended on ancient olive groves on multiple occasions, burning them to the ground.

Accelerating their harassment of Palestinian villages and violent land seizures, shooting Palestinians who stand in their way. Last week, a Palestinian man was shot dead after a group of armed settlers stormed the village of Jeet, setting homes aflame. In late October, three of Yasser Aoudi's family members were killed when a group of young settlers stormed through their village of Kusra on a shooting rampage. The next day, as they drove to the graveyard to bury them, their car was surrounded by armed settlers.

15-year-old Yasser's father and brother were executed in front of him. So while on one hand, Israel likes to latch on to, any attack by Hamas, including a failed attack in Tel Aviv, to justify the brutality that they wage on innocent Palestinian civilians, understand that brutality had been waged on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank by these Israeli settlers for years and years and years with absolutely no consequences. And so again, just to reiterate, just last year alone, 1,500 Palestinians driven out of their homes, out of their land in the West Bank with the IDF stand. by and allowing it to happen.

So Israel's actions are obviously immoral, illegal, but it doesn't really seem to matter to them, even though these actions are also radicalizing more and more people. In fact, since October 7th, Israel has stepped up its raids in the West Bank, since October 7th, at least 607 Palestinians and 15 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank. And that's according to the UN Humanitarian Affairs Office. So this war had already, for the most part, expanded to the West Bank. It's just that now Israel seems hell bent on, you know, increasing IDF presence there and increasing the airstrikes and military activity taking place in the West Bank. Israel says that the raids are only the first phase of what's to come, which is absolutely terrifying, considering what they've already done in Gaza.

Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, said Israel would address the threats in the West Bank with the same determination used against terror infrastructure in Gaza. He said that included temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and any necessary measure. So he says they're going to go after terror infrastructure. Okay, great. So hospitals, is that what they're talking about? Let's watch. Troops surrounding a main hospital in Janine, videos showing bulldozers tearing through streets,

water gushing down a road after the destruction of the main water line. So essentially destroying essential infrastructure, blocking paths to the hospitals, that is what they're referring to when they talk about terror infrastructure. So think about what that means. Think about what it means to block access to hospitals as the IDF is carrying out these military raids and these airstrikes? I mean, how are wounded civilians supposed to get the medical treatment they need to remain alive? I mean, it's the same thing that we've seen in Gaza so far. And Mohamed al-Sadi, who is the director of the Palestinian Red Prescent Society branch in Janine,

said that Israeli army vehicles had surrounded the roads to local hospitals and set up checkpoints, slowing down the organization's ambulances, which could only pass with coordination. So this has been a fear of mine personally that the Palestinians living in the West Bank would soon see the type of atrocities that have been waged against Palestinians living in Gaza. And while the international community watches in horror, our government continues to support anything and everything the Israeli government wants to do. And remember, what they want to do isn't driven by keeping Israelis safe. It's driven by self-interest. Benjamin Netanyahu wanting to remain in power. It's easier to do so if there's an ongoing war. You have this belligerent

prime minister who's being egged on by far right members, people like Itimar Ben-Gavir in the Israeli Parliament. And so this is really, really bad news. And so far I haven't really seen a robust response or any real legitimate substantive response from the United States. But we will give you more on this story as it develops. For now, let's move on to one of my favorite stories of the day. Maybe my favorite story of the year. Okay, let's talk about it. How are you feeling about the switch?

I mean, the switch. Now we went through a very open process, a very inclusive process. It was bottom up. I don't know if you know that. Yes, that's what I've been told to say. Yes, it was a blitz primary, I believe. That's what they called it. It's a very, very fast blitz.

It was a blink primary. Oh, a 30-minute convention, you know, between tweet and another tweet. It's amazing how it happened. Yeah, it's been amazing. Oh, I'm sure he really does find it funny. He's not bothered by it at all. You just heard the bitter statements of a snake who unfortunately serves as the governor of California. Some like to refer to him as Gavin Newsom.

I like to refer to him as a smarmy failure of a politician out of the state that I was born and raised in. Nonetheless, Gavin Newsom was fighting hard to be the guy who stepped in to replace Joe Biden if he dropped out of the race, of course. And now some are noticing, look, he's not really doing the type of campaigning for Kamala Harris that he was doing for Joe Biden. What's going on here? Now, of course, we all know what's going on. Newsom was engaging in that campaigning, not for Joe Biden's sake, but in order to increase his name recognition, in case he found himself in a situation where he'd be tapped to replace Joe Biden after he drops out. Now Newsom went from campaigning hard for Biden to barely campaigning at all on behalf of

Kamala Harris, so much so that Democrats, Democratic operatives are now questioning whether his role as a national surrogate for Harris is really something they can lean on. They're questioning if it's even a thing. And so Politico has a great piece about this. They write that the chatter around Newsom was amplified by his subdued showing at the convention, meaning the Democratic National Convention. He was one of the few major statewide California officials not to speak from the DNC main stage. And we were at the DNC. I noticed that.

Michael Shore from TYT, of course, interviewed him as he passed by him and they had a conversation. You can check that out. But it was noticeable that Gavin Newsom's presence in official events for the DNC was minimized. And so I didn't know if that was on purpose. I didn't know what was going on with that. I just took note and then kind of forgot about it. And then these pieces get published. And it was just incredible to see that others are noticing it.

Then you have Gavin Newsom give that statement to the Pod Save America guys. And look, you think Gavin Newsome would be worried. about the lack of the democratic process to find Biden's replacement. If it were, if it were Newsom, he wouldn't have any problem with the Blitz primary. We all know that. Now, Newsom didn't seem to want to take part, possibly over his own frustration that he is not Biden's replacement. The Los Angeles Times reports that convention planners wanted him to kick off Monday

night's primetime programming, but the governor begged off. couldn't make it on time, he said. Children starting a new school year, he explained. Though it's not hard to imagine attending orientation and still making it to the United Center. That's where they had the DNC, which is less than a dozen miles from Chicago's Midway Airport. Is anyone really going to buy that Gavin Newsom really turned down a primetime speaking role at the DNC because children in California were going back to school? come on. Now, one Democratic strategist basically said that, you know, Kamala really doesn't

need that smarmy, SOB, the way Biden did. And I love this comment. This is Paul Mitchell. He's a Sacramento-based Democratic consultant. And he says that Newsom was a uniquely good surrogate for Biden. Kamala doesn't need the energy delivery as much right now. That's got to sting. It's got to sting just a little bit. Politico also notes that other top Harris surrogates include governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Andy Bashir of Kentucky, who unlike Newsom were both part of the Veep Stakes. Ah, he wasn't even considered.

Oh, he wasn't even considered. Okay, let me pause. Some of you who aren't familiar with my previous stories on Gavin Newsom are probably wondering like, geez, what does Anna have against Gavin Newsom. Well, I live in California. So I've seen his lack of leadership. I've seen how awful he has been as a governor. But putting that aside, you know, there's a very specific story that I'd like you to turn to after you watch the show, of course. I did a lengthy, in-depth piece about how Gavin Newsom totally screwed over Californians who lost everything to the largest

fire, wildfire in this state that wasn't caused by climate change. Okay. Climate change exacerbated it. But what caused that wildfire in California in 2018 was PG&E, one of the utility companies here in this state. They couldn't be bothered to replace a $10 hook that was 100 years old. That hook held the electrical wires up. And when it, you know, deteriorated to the point where the wires fell to the ground, well, that sparked, again, one of the worst wildfires in California's history in 2018, people in that town lost everything and they still have not been made whole. Gavin Newsom turned around and bailed out PG&E. That's the kind of governor he is. So he likes to puff up his chest and pretend like he's a man of the

people. He's not a man of the people. He has been an awful leader in the state. And I have a feeling that Democrats on a national level see that failure. And that's probably the reason why he was even considered as a, you know, VP pick. All right. Now with that said, let's also go to Nathan Click, who is the spokesperson for Newsom. He basically says, you know, he is totally focused the next 70 odd days on electing VP Harris, defeating Trump once and for all, and going to the mat for her campaign, just as he did at the convention on Fox and elsewhere at the request of her campaign.

Okay, so we'll see it. I mean, he's going to headline, you know, a fundraiser for her. Apparently, it's not a problem. You know, he doesn't have any bad feelings. But look, again, in my opinion, the truth is that when he was campaigning on behalf of Biden, when he was going state to state, he wasn't really campaigning for Biden. He was campaigning for himself. Now, why do I believe that? Well, because when he was going state to state, he wasn't talking about Joe Biden's political vision. He was talking about his own political vision, what kind of leader he is. And by the way, if he had anything positive to say about his leadership, just take a look at how he's led California. I mean, he picked fights with red state governors to increase his name recognition.

He even had a debate on Fox News with Florida governor Ron DeSantis when Ron DeSantis was still running in the Republican primary. He also paid for political ads, not promoting Biden, promoting him, even though he wasn't officially running for anything. And the LA Times notes that he ran TV ads and put up billboards promoting himself as a champion of abortion rights. Now, look, there's no chance that Kamala Harris is going to drop out of the race. So why the hell would he use up his time and energy to go out there and do campaigning on behalf of Harris?

And I say on behalf of Harris, because again, his campaigning on behalf of Joe Biden wasn't really on behalf of Joe Biden. It was on behalf of himself. Finally, just an excerpt that I had to share with you all from the Los Angeles Times. Mark Baraback writes that people who know both of them, meaning Harris and Newsom, said Newsom was not distressed to watch Harris stumble through the early stages of her vice presidency. And they said Harris was not terribly displeased to see Newsom forced to fight an attempted recall, though she did come to California for a home stretch rally on his behalf. Remember, we're talking about two California politicians who sure have to work together.

They're part of the same party and they were part of the same state. But we're talking about two individuals who are very competitive and are competing against one another for positions of power. And so while they do appear to be friends publicly, behind closed doors, they be sniping. Okay. So I think that the smaller role that he has played in the campaigning for the presidential ticket is really indicative of what motivated him when he previously did the campaigning for Joe Biden. It wasn't for Joe Biden. It was all about Gavin Newsom.

And if you look at his so-called leadership in California, everything he has done hasn't been about the people of California, it's always been about Gavin Newsom. All right, we got to take a break. When we come back, we've got more news for you, including this incredible new piece put out by more perfect union. One of my favorite field reporters for them, John Russell, has an incredible piece about a town that forever voted for Democrats, but they turned on Democrats and now support Trump. He asks them why. And I think it's important to hear what they have to say when we come back. Welcome back to the show, everyone.

I'm your host, Anna Kasparian. And thank you to everyone who's been sending comments and super chats. We will read some super chats during our next social break. And thank you to everyone who has become a member, t.com slash join to become a member through our website. You could also do it by hitting that join button on YouTube. All right, let's get to one of my favorite reports from More Perfect Union. Elliott County looks like any other part of rural Kentucky, but it's not. In fact, it might have the weirdest politics of any place in the country. That's because Elliott County voted for

Democrats in every presidential election for 144 years straight. FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ, Carter, Clinton, Obama, and then? In 2016, vote for Donald Trump? Yep. 2020? Yep. 2024. Yep. Definitely. The single largest swing from Obama to Trump happened right here. But a few years later, something just as surprising happened. Elliott County voted for Governor Andy Bashir, a Democrat. More perfect unions reporter John Russell, one of my favorites, to be quite honest, just came out with a new fascinating investigative report on Elliott County, Kentucky, where the residents there lost and then later regained their faith in the Democratic Party.

Now, I love these reports specifically because of, of the fact that you have a reporter, John Russell, going into a town that turned on Democrats to support Donald Trump. And he's not going there to make fun of them. He's not going there to highlight their worst moments. He's going there to actually understand what motivates them, what drives them, and why they had a change of heart in regard to the Democratic Party, especially as it pertains to recent presidential elections. But he also wants to understand, And okay, you guys turned on Democrats when it comes to, you know, the presidential race. But you guys are supportive of a Democratic governor.

Like what gives? So I think it's a fascinating story. And I think it's really important for us all to understand each other, even if we disagree vehemently politically. So we're going to break down this report piece by piece. First, let's watch him talk to Elliott County residents about the area's history and why it was such a democratic stronghold. I started out a Democrat because I was, my father was. And that was just something, it's just like your life's name. You're a Democrat.

You know, growing up, I was always taught you got to vote Democrat, vote Democrat, vote Democrat, vote Democrat. What did it mean to be a Democrat? Was it connected to anything? That is just how the county went. The Democrats was given money for the county, and we were trying to get roads fixed, trying to, you know, make this county something. Yeah. And that's who was helping us.

When a county votes for one party for 144 years straight, it can be hard to know where that kind of loyalty even comes from. Some folks say that FDR's New Deal had something to do with it. The New Deal put millions to work building roads and schools and bridges, created Social Security, and established by law the right to form a union. And for decades, it's cemented the idea that Democrats were a party for the working class. Democrats were looked at for the poor people. Yeah, they were for the poor people.

Great, great grandparents were Democrats and, you know, just taught through the years from FDR on. They believe that was the union support. I mean, look, it almost seems obvious if you're someone who consumes a lot of political content and has been cognizant of the ways in which the political parties have changed. I do think that the flow of corporate money into campaign coffers for Democratic candidates has had a huge impact in changing what their priorities are. But what's clear to me is that the goodwill among voters that was spurred by FDR's America, by the policies that he championed and managed to pass, that has run out. And so the Democratic Party has been having a lot of difficulty branding

themselves as the party of FDR, when they've also been the party of free trade agreements, which has decimated certain industries and certain communities in this country, when they have agreed to and carried out all sorts of corporate subsidies, when they've made banks whole, when they've made Wall Street whole, even as these were the major players, the main players in destroying our economy in 2008, while also simultaneously. neglecting the Americans who lost their homes, who lost everything as a result of that financial crisis. These are issues that anyone paying attention noticed with the Democratic Party. They have been kind of cast aside as the party of the elite now.

And that is not good, electorally speaking. And so Russell then tried to figure out why Elliott County broke so strongly for Donald Trump. And let's see what they found. I think a lot of it is that we're tired. I'm not saying that Donald Trump's not crooked. I'm not saying Joe Biden's not crooked. They're all crooked. Yeah.

But, you know, whenever we get an extra $30 or something in our paychecks, that makes a difference. I'm doing hate to try to feed the kids. At the end of the 80s, the median household income in Elliott sat at $37,000 adjusting for inflation. Today, it's about $39,000. In other words, they haven't seen a raise in over 30 years while the cost of living has only gone up. Even after 140 years of voting for Democrats, we have lived not in poverty, not near the poverty line,

in extreme poverty. The poverty level being so hard, it was like, does he have a rope to throw us? And that's what it was. Trump wasn't getting votes from New York City and L.A. and all these big towns, he was getting votes from these little counties all across America. Yeah, I think it's his anger. And everybody else in this country is angry. His anger filled his campaign. And it was like, oh, I felt this for such a long time. Someone's relating to me. So I have so many things to say about this.

First off, the tax cuts, right? Oftentimes when we talk about Trump's tax cuts, we talk about how the people in this country who benefited the most from those tax cuts were corporate executives, the richest individuals, right? Corporations saw their taxes go from 35% to 21%. And Trump claimed that he was going to do away with corporate loopholes, corporate tax loopholes. He did not do any of that. So the effective tax rate for corporations was much, much, much lower to the point where you have fabulously successful and profitable companies like Amazon pay nothing in federal taxes and in fact get money returned to them from the federal government. It's just insane, right? However, the element of his tax bill that benefits ordinary working people is actually set to

expire. He made the corporate tax cuts permanent, but the tax cuts, which doubled the standard deduction for working Americans, that is going to expire soon, unless Congress extends it. So it's important to know about that. The other thing I want to say is, look, I have fallen for this trap in the past, and I am remorseful about it. I am not judging anyone else who falls for this trap, but I just want to kind of caution you all about it. Okay? So we're talking about a rural part of Kentucky that was a Democratic stronghold. They voted for Obama, not once, but twice. They got him reelected.

And when you hear the media and overall the Democratic Party, try to brush aside these Americans who voted for Trump as nothing more than Americans who are fueled by their hatred and racism, please don't fall for that. Okay. Are there racists who support Donald Trump? Absolutely. Okay. But I don't think that the majority of Republican voters are voting for Trump specifically because they're racist. A lot of these people voted for Obama. And they're They're screaming from the rooftops about what it is that they like about Trump. They're talking about what it is that made them turn away from the Democratic Party. And I think it's important to listen to them, especially if the Democratic Party in particular wants to win them back. Now, one Democratic politician did win them back. We're going to get to that in just a moment. But Russell also found out that the issue of immigration was particularly important to Elliott County voters. Here's what they had to say.

Where's the border rank for you in the list of, you know, political issues that matter? One. It's number one? Yes. How long have you felt the way that you do about the border? Probably in the last two years. The way they're letting them come in and it's like, you know, it's like there's got to be a stop to it somewhere. Why do you think so many people are coming up across the border?

Well, it has to be, you know, they've got to be a hell of sense. spot down there. I mean, I can understand what's going on. They just want something better. What are those forces that are keeping us on the road, whether you're coming from Kentucky or Honduras? Why are people moving around? Feed their family. They're leaving horrible conditions to come here. I get it. Right. I understand that. Right. But there has to be a right way of doing it. Where is our funding for those people? Why are we not putting it back into our Social Security into our veterans. Why aren't we doing that?

You tell me, you're the leftist. Yeah, yeah. I thought that was an important part of the video. Because that is what her vision of leftism is. Individuals who, you know, don't care about ordinary Americans, individuals who, you know, would rather help people who enter the country illegally. I don't think that's a good thing, to be honest with you. But what I also got from that video, or that portion of the video, was that they're not

hateful toward immigrants. They understand why they would want to come here, especially for economic opportunities, for better conditions. But as you heard from that woman, I mean, she wants a pathway to citizenship. That is not a statement that would come from an individual who hates immigrants. And by the way, if you watch city council meetings in Chicago, when there was a mass influx of asylum seekers in Chicago, and the federal government, under Biden's leadership, basically failed to give them the resources to handle it, they were furious. And we're talking about a diverse group of people. We're not just talking about white people who are furious about it. And we've shown you some of those city council meetings to kind of show you that, hey, this is a huge political liability for Joe Biden.

But anyway, I thought that was an interesting part of what they had to say. Now, Elliott County is now somewhat of an enigma because while voters there support Donald Trump currently, they also support the current Kentucky governor, Andy Bashir, who is not a Republican. He is, in fact, a Democrat. And so Russell tried to find out why that is. Let's watch. We hear this phrase, why do people vote against their interests? Listen, it makes me mad because that's telling us.

telling us we're dumb and we're not. Andy Bashir is the governor of Kentucky. In 2019 and in 2023, Bashir pulled off something most people thought was impossible. He won as a Democrat in Trump country. Yeah, I mean, some of this stuff is kind of crazy. Take a look here. Both times he won Elliott County.

I certainly think at least for me, winning Elliott County was about waking up every day focused on the same issues that Kentuckians wake up and worry about. It's not the outrage of the day in Washington, D.C. It's things like, do I have a good job, one where I can afford to raise my family? Who is moving my life forward? Bashir won partly by distancing himself from the National Democratic brand, which has become toxic in Kentucky. But he's not a moderate either.

He ran as a pro-union candidate, campaigned on raising teacher pay, and implementing universal pre-K. And like many folks in Elliott County, Bashir traces his political roots. back to the new deal. FDR showed up and he produced. And my grandparents met on a WPA project. They were Democrats their entire life. And FDR was a major reason why. Currently, support among voters for unions is at a record high. It's the highest level since the 1960s. So when we talk about the economic populism, really, speaking to and resonating with voters across the political aisle. This is what we're talking about. And I do think that Democrats on a national level have a lot of work to do to change

their branding. Because right now, their branding screams to working Americans in the middle of the country that they have no interest in representing them, that they only have interest in representing the elite. That's not good for Democrats. Now, luckily, I do think that Kamala Harris gets it to some extent. And I love that, you know, one of her recent political ads focuses on housing affordability. The economic message coming from her, while not very specific and while she's getting a lot of jabs from the corporate press about it, I think is headed in the right direction. And it kind of robs Donald Trump of what's made his campaigning successful. I mean, he has positioned himself as an economic populist. But I'm very curious to see how that plays out in the debate,

which is going to take place on September 10th. We'll be doing special coverage of that debate, so definitely tune in for that. But it is important to understand your fellow Americans, regardless of who they're voting for, because you want to know what the logic behind it is. And yes, some Trump supporters might say crazy things at his rallies. But I think it would be a mistake to paint a picture of all Trump supporters by just looking at those videos or looking at those interviews. Try to understand the people around you. Try to understand what motivates them. I really do think that the country would be headed in a better direction.

It would be a lot less divided if we were willing to do that. And I know it's hard. But again, anything worth doing tends to be harder to do. Let's take a break. When we come back, I want to talk a little bit, well, about the housing market and an element of the housing crisis that doesn't get much attention but is leading to housing unaffordability. We'll be right back. Smash that join button, be a TYT member, help support what we do, keep us independent from any corporate influence. And I do want to just read a comment from how Blair you, who says, R.M. Brown has expressed his desire to be a guest on TYT again. Please invite him. He's hilarious and brings much needed comic relief when the news can be heartbreaking. And Anna, Daddy can do no wrong. So I love R.M. Brown. He has my number. So if he wants to

come on, reach out, would love to book you. He's a great guy, one of the principled people on the left who I enjoy watching, actually. So definitely check him out. All right, let's get to our next story. This one's a doozy. Both 2024 presidential candidates have ideas to fix the housing market. But neither stance seems to prioritize a key underlying issue. A lack of competition is also contributing to the low supplier household.

Enormous housing costs are a massive issue for many Americans. As we know, the housing crisis has been a problem and it's been a problem for several years. And it's partly due to a lack of supply. But one massively underreported reason for that shortage in housing supply is the explosion of mergers and acquisitions in the home building industry. How did we not know this? Now again, this is underreported, but CNBC did put together. a fantastic video detailing how bad these mergers and acquisitions really are, how it translates to slower construction for much needed housing, and how it also drives up

the cost of housing. So before we get into it, just know that the number of builders has declined 65% since 2007. And that was, of course, right around the time of the financial crisis. Now, first let's find out just how concentrated the home building industry has become. Over 400,000 businesses building homes in the United States in 2023. The industry remains fragmented, but the biggest firms have advantages that are helping them increase their control of numerous local housing markets. Just 10 builders are behind more than half of the new homes in 49 of 50 metro regions in the United States. You're seeing cities like Tampa as an example where today the top 10 builders have more than 80% market share. That just makes it very hard for any new builder to get a foothold.

If you look at relevant markets well defined for housing, then you see that in many places, it took the two firms that were merging from having 30% each to having 70 or 80 or 90% of the housing market. That's a disaster for a number of different reasons. which tends to end with you being priced out of the housing market, and it's partly due to the fact that these home builders that just get bigger and bigger as they gobble up the smaller home builders, they really do have an interest in slowing down construction of new houses. That sounds crazy, right? Totally sounds insane. Well, by slowing down construction, that increases the value of the limited supply on the housing market. which means that they can sell their developments for an inflated price. We're going to get to that in just a moment. But it's also important to understand how the hell did this happen? How did this industry get so concentrated? Well, this report explains at least a few of those reasons.

Let's take a look. The largest 100 home builders in the United States were behind about half of new single-family home sales in 2023, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins. The top 10 builders combined had 10% market share. Today, only three decades later, the top 10 have 50% market share. And Horton, the biggest, has 15% market share. So the concentration has been accelerating. My team estimates that about 2 thirds, 70% of the unit growth that the big builders are delivering is from acquisitions.

Okay, so that again further explains just how concentrated things are. But what's really interesting is that, you know, the economic crash in 2008 really destroyed the economy in more ways than most people realize. And it did spur the mergers and acquisitions, this explosion of mergers and acquisitions that we're seeing in the home building industry. Let's watch. The two biggest home builders in the United States are D.R. Horton and Lenar. Both have outperformed the S&P 500 between August 2014 and August 2024. Their business is really going gangbusters. And if you look at the stocks, they're way up because they were able to grab such market share. A lot of the small to midsize builders

just simply couldn't make the math work. Their borrowing costs were so high that a lot of them either went out of business or agreed to be purchased by the larger builders. And so the larger builders were able to weather the storm that came about as a result of the economic crash of 2008. They also have a much easier time with getting capital, accessing capital. And so since they have more liquidity, it is easier for them to just gobble up all of the smaller home builders. And, you know, the barrier to entry for smaller builders is just increasing. impossible. And so there's this situation that has come about as a result of the economic crash that has really set the stage for these mergers and acquisitions that again

translates to less housing being built. The housing market having insane prices associated with homes, right, that typical middle class families used to be able to buy. And, you know, the other thing is, you know, that's created the ideal conditions for the big home building companies who are making cash hand over hand. Meanwhile, the services they offer, and this is the important part to really hone in on, okay? The services that they offer are getting worse and worse. And this explains so much, if you're living in the suburbs, if you're living in a major city, it doesn't matter. I don't know if you guys have noticed this. I certainly have. All of the new developments, all of the new homes that are being built look exactly the same. And they look cheap.

deeply made, okay? And there's a reason for that. Let's watch. Experts believe that the industry became less productive as its lead companies consolidated. The average builder, when I started in the early 90s, would tell the consumer that they would deliver the house in 40 or 50 days. Over the course of my career in the last 30 years, that went from weeks to months. So it's incredibly unusual that you have an industry where you have negative productivity, essentially where it's getting longer versus shorter. To be honest, it's not like the house is super more efficient or more tech friendly than it would have been before. They're also able to bring down their own costs because they've simplified the models of the

home. There are far fewer actual floor plans and models that you can choose from. There would be 10% more housing built if we had the levels of competition of 2006. So if you kind of feel like the new homes that are being built look like pre-feiting. fabricated homes. I mean, there's a reason for that. They're specifically simplifying their model in order to lower their costs, but they're also doing something else. They are intentionally limiting supply in order to be able to sell those homes at a much higher price. So Lewis Cantaro, who is a professor at the John Hopkins Carey Business School, said the following. When you have a monopoly, you have an interest in withholding supply to increase demand, really to increase

prices. That's what we see happening. And one of the variables contributing to the continuous rise of housing prices or house prices. We have some large dominant players who do not want to produce as much as they can because they know it will bring down the prices of their other units. So they intentionally avoid building, or they build over a staggered period of time. And so it explains so much, it really does, because it does seem to take much longer to build housing. As someone living in California where we have a severe housing shortage, you'll notice that, you know, municipalities will provide these insane grants to developers and builders. and it'll take them so many years to build one apartment building, to build, you know, one neighborhood of homes. And they do so at insanely inflated costs. Now, why is that? Well,

there's less competition in this sector of the economy. There's less competition among home builders. And when you have this situation where you just have a few players that are super dominant, gobbling up everyone else, well, you're not going to have as much competition. And that's to be a problem. We're experiencing that problem right now. And look, I want to be clear, this isn't the only factor in the housing crisis, but it is one of the main factors. And it is kind of amazing that up until now, there really wasn't much coverage of it at all. Like CNBC put this out and kind of put it on our radar, which I'm super grateful for. Look, we trash MS. We do trash MSNBC, but we trash CNBC, especially like when it comes to their anchors and, you know,

how nervous they get any time a conversation of wealth redistribution comes up. But they also have some wonderful journalists who do reports like this. So I do want to give them a thumbs up and give them props for covering this story. Now, again, you also get hit with the boring floor plans and the farmhouses and cubes that they put out there. Kamala Harris, by the way, has made housing costs, one of her big issues that she wants to address, part of her economic policies. But unfortunately, her proposals have not really tapped into this particular issue, the issue of monopolization among home builders.

And so hopefully someone will put it on her radar, but also keep in mind that tech billionaire, Reid Hoffman, who gave generously to Kamala Harris's campaign, is hellbent on ridding the Federal Trade Commission of Lena Kahn, who's currently the head of that. government agency. Why does he want to do that? Well, Lena Khan actually wants to enforce antitrust laws, thus preventing certain mergers and acquisitions from happening. And so it remains to be seen if Kamala Harris is going to make good on that, you know, ask from Reid Hoffman. I really, really hope she doesn't make that mistake. But as we've also talked about on the show, politicians are just like anyone else. They are motivated by incentives and disincentives. So,

If the money talks, that's not a good sign for Kamala Harris's leadership on this issue. I don't want her to do away with Lena Kahn. But we'll see what happens. The good thing is she's hyper-focused on increasing housing inventory. And she's also focused on doing something about private equity firms snatching up residential property to then rent out so they can be, you know, the slum lords of the country. I'm totally against them doing that. And I'm glad that she has said something about it on a national level. Let's see if she actually does do something about it.

Should she get elected as the next president of the United States? All right. We got to take a break when we come back. Second hour of the show, John Iderola joins us to talk about a whole host of topics, including J.D. Vance's Mayacolpa after he had an awkward moment at a donut shop. Thank you.