Food and Housing Costs Still Shoot Through the Roof – By Eve Ottenberg (Counterpunch) / Oct 27, 2023
The cost of living is high in the U.S., as monopolies gouge consumers at every turn. With a loaf of whole wheat bread at six dollars and gas prices still elevated and only going up, any trip to the store or the pump is painful. But that’s nothing compared to keeping a roof over your head. Even in the best of circumstances, say a retiree whose mortgage is paid off, things get worse, as property taxes and homeowners’ insurance skyrocket. Meanwhile, the American carbon-polluting dream of car ownership becomes ever more costly, as insurers hike rates dramatically, the cost of a new set of tires exceeds $600, and the average price for a new vehicle is $48,000.
But just forget about buying a home. With interest rates on a 30-year mortgage close to eight percent, who can afford that? Besides, a typical home price of nearly $500,000 lies far beyond the reach of most Americans, while rents zoom up again. The average cost of a one-bedroom apartment a year ago was $1770, a 39 percent increase over the previous year, this year it’s over $2000, and rents only keep shooting up, up, up. No wonder so many people live in tents. That’s the real estate of the American future.
Officially and recently, the stats on homelessness were revised up, from the longstanding and mendacious 500,000 to 600,000. This should wave a red flag for any unbiased observer. For years, the U.S. government asserted two contradictory “facts:” 500,000 people undomiciled but 4.5 million homeless children. Given that at most every four of those 4.5 million kids is accompanied by a single parent, do the math. That’s 4.5 million roofless children plus at least roughly 1.12 million homeless adults, probably plus the original, laughably low-ball half million homeless. That’s over six million unhoused souls, or approaching two percent of the American population. Maybe more. This is a national disgrace. Last year, Washington funneled over $100 billion to its pet proxy war in Ukraine – what about $100 billion for low-income housing, so some of these folks don’t have to sleep under the stars and risk death from exposure? Large numbers of them are military veterans, who dumpster-dive for their dinner before curling up for a nap under an overpass. That’s some reward for their service to their country.
CONTINUE > https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/10/27/food-and-housing-costs-still-shoot-through-the-roof/
