Jim McGovern is the United States Representative from the Second Congressional District in Massachusetts. After being in the House of Representatives since 1997 — that’s 14 terms! — he tweeted:

I’m on the floor talking about how we need to cut grocery prices, lower people’s mortgage and rent costs, and make it easier for folks to get ahead.

The Distinguished Gentleman from Massachusetts was whining that people’s grocery bills are too high, and that mortgages and rents are too high, and need to be brought down. And yes, those are issues on which former and future President Donald Trump, and the majority of Republican congressional candidates ran, but the point is obvious: those costs skyrocketed right after President Joe Biden took office, taking office with Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress, though the GOP won a bare majority in the 2022 elections, the Republicans winning largely on the high inflation during Mr Biden’s first two years, inflation which drove those grocery and housing prices so high.

Why, it’s almost as though the Democrats’ policies didn’t work.

“Affordable housing” has been the Democrats’ theme of late, but that raises an obvious point: what is “affordable housing” like in cities run by the Democrats? From The Philadelphia Inquirer:

The death of Jah’Nae Campbell underscores the lax oversight of Philadelphia’s low-income rental housing | Editorial

As repeated complaints went unheeded, the 12-year-old’s family blames substandard living conditions inside their West Philly affordable housing complex for her death.

by The Editorial Board | Thursday, December 5, 2024 | 7:00 AM EST

Did 12-year-old Jah’Nae Campbell die because of where she lived?

The courts will get to decide whether the nonprofit landlord, HELP USA, and its property manager are liable for her death. But what is clear is that the West Philadelphia apartment she shared with her mother and siblings had a myriad of housing code violations — from a broken ceiling to mold climbing the walls — and that no one in charge did much to help, regardless of years of complaints.

The Inquirer had an uncredited photo of the hole in the ceiling here, and if you look at it closely, you can see that the ceiling joists/floor joists for the floor above appear to have moisture showing. Water leaks are the kind of things that bring down drywall ceilings.

As reported by The Inquirer’s Ryan W. Briggs and Samantha Melamed, the toxic conditions in the apartment worsened Jah’Nae’s asthma, which afflicts Philadelphians at three times the national average. On March 8, Essie Campbell rushed her daughter to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center because she couldn’t breathe. According to doctors, the young girl’s heart stopped.

Jah’Nae’s story is unbearably sad, but while the family was alone in their struggle to improve their living conditions, their situation is far from an aberration. Philadelphia has one of the oldest housing stocks in the nation, leaving many of the city’s poorest residents forced into housing in substandard and sometimes dangerous situations.

Much of my good friend Daniel Pearson’s main editorial concerns the failures of Philadelphia’s city government to do their jobs. But, I’ll point out one thing from the internally linked news article that Mr Pearson failed to include: the dwelling was rented by a non-profit landlord, HELP USA. According to HELP USA’s website, they:

provide shelter to meet people’s immediate needs, as well as support to succeed as individuals, as families, and as communities. We envision a world where safe and stable housing is a starting point for everyone, because housing is the foundation upon which people can build better lives.

The news article also stated:

The complex where Campbell lives operates through a convoluted management chain.

A private property manager, Arco, runs day-to-day operations through a contract with HELP USA, a New York City-based nonprofit with ties to the family of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. That nonprofit, in turn, has since 1997 held a ground lease with a second nonprofit, a subsidiary of Community Council Health Systems (CCHS).

CCHS, which owns and is headquartered at the site, has been in duress since former executives pilfered from its bank accounts.

HELP USA was started in New York City, a city which has mostly been run by Democrats. Philadelphia has been under total Democratic control since the end of the Truman Administration. So, I have to ask: how is it that cities run by Democrats, and a non-profit founded by liberals, is such an utter failure at providing “affordable housing”?

Earlier this year, an Inquirer investigation detailed the missing millions — frittered away, according to auditors, on questionable real estate deals, purchases of artwork, and more than $84,000 in 76ers tickets, among other things. And, all the while, the nonprofit’s services, like providing mental health treatment, suffered as the $16 million-a-year organization hemorrhaged money.

“(M)ore than $84,000 in 76ers tickets”? Maybe they got to see my favorite 76ers scene, when 6’11” Ben Simmons was afraid to dunk over 6’1″ Trae Young. 🙂

Let’s tell the truth here: in cities completely controlled by Democrats, “affordable housing” can’t seem to be provided, and when it is provided, even by organizations with liberal mindsets and ideas, it’s barely livable and falling-down crap. And when those Democrat-run cities have added all sorts of regulations to keep housing safe, and more expensive, they don’t keep up their ends of the bargain.

Philadelphia has been completely controlled by the Democrats since the beginning of 1953; Republicans have had no real power in the City of Brotherly Love. And, as the Inquirer reported in September, Philly has retained its cherished status as America’s poorest big city. Is it possible, just possible, that Democratic policies just don’t work?