Tom Coale

Baltimore Fishbowl | Maryland Now podcast explores solutions to the state's housing crisis Housing shapes affordability, economic mobility, school enrollment, transportation, and the long‑term competitiveness of Marlyand. The state's housing shortage is already driving residents away, strai...

Just joined the Maryland Now podcast to talk about Maryland’s housing shortage—and why it’s still so hard to build the homes we need. Great conversation on barriers and real reforms.
#MDPolitics #Housing
baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/ever...

From Senator Chris McDaniel: “Lately, some folks have taken to calling ICE “the Gestapo.” It sounds fierce. It feels righteous. But it isn’t true, and it isn’t harmless. The Gestapo was a secret police force. No warrants. No courts. No lawyers. And no appeals. People vanished in the night, not because they broke the law, but because the law no longer meant anything. The knock on the door was the sentence. ICE isn’t that. Not even close. ICE is a public agency enforcing laws passed by elected officials. Its agents file reports. They seek warrants. They lose cases. Judges stop them. Lawyers challenge them. Some detainees go home. That’s not tyranny. That’s bureaucracy, for better and worse. You can hate immigration policy. You can argue enforcement is too harsh, too sloppy, or too broad. You can work to have the law changed if you wish. That’s a republic doing what it’s supposed to do. But when you call ordinary law enforcement “the Gestapo,” you cheapen real evil. You turn history into a slogan and suffering into a metaphor. And once every badge is tyranny, no tyranny is left to recognize. In Mississippi, I was raised to believe words should earn their weight. This one hasn't yet. It throws around the language of dictatorship while living under a system where courts still rule, lawyers still argue, and the government still loses. That difference matters. Because the day enforcement becomes secret, unchecked, and answerable to no one, we won’t need to borrow names from history. We’ll know exactly what we’re dealing with. And we’ll wish we’d kept our words honest.”

“ICE isn’t the Gestapo. The Gestapo was…” (proceeds to describe qualities that apply to what ICE is currently doing)

Remember when Walking Dead killed too many main characters in brutal ways and the fan base dropped off?

I feel like that's the 2025-26 NFL season.

I’m seeing posts from people (outside of MN) about how US citizens should carry their passports.

And let me say that *inside* MN, we are calmly responding to requests with: “No, I don’t have to show you any documentation.”

Because that’s how you protect everyone, regardless of immigration status.

Now that everyone is focused on the water usage of AI to generate holiday images, may I interest you in a discussion of how golf courses are a sub-optimal land use that uses WAY too much water and would be better utilized for housing?

ND Gov. Kelly Armstrong at @yimbytown.bsky.social : on any policy change, 20% of people will be cranky & loud against, 80% are supportive but busy living their lives & don’t speak up. Ignore the 20%. Turn off your social media. Find a compelling emotional hook to engage the silent 80%.

Former Baltimore City councilman’s outburst pauses housing hearing Proceedings at a Baltimore City Council hearing were briefly paused Thursday after a former councilman refused to cede the microphone.

While the headline focuses on a particular element of testimony, @halliemiller.bsky.social does an excellent job throughout the piece addressing the subject of parking reform. #MDHousing

www.thebanner.com/community/ho...

Highlighted quote: "Abundance advocates maintain that the solution to the issue is *solely* one of increasing supply and specifically removing public barriers to private expansion of supply."

The highlighted quote is a good example of why trying to hash out disagreements in good faith with left-NIMBY orgs is exhausting and ultimately fruitless. The lead author on this report *knows* this isn't true, and he knows it because we had a whole exchange about this in the pages of Dissent!

this is fantastic news for Arlington, and hopefully reassuring to Montgomery County officials, who are considering a more modest version of the zoning reforms Arlington passed in 2023

Critics focusing on Abundance instead of Stuck and Why Nothing Works allows them to step around the premise that:
1) things weren't always this way;
2) housing has been more affordable when we've built more of it; and
3) unfettered veto-based populism makes govt do bad things.

We're really about to start playing peek-a-boo with hurricanes like the old timey days.

A YIMBY Theory of Power Pro-housing advocates offer an analysis of class relations that is more sophisticated and has more explanatory power than the one held by many critics of the “abundance agenda.”

my buddy @resnikoff.bsky.social off the top rope with some actual class analysis www.thenation.com/article/soci...

Baltimore County needs leadership with fresh ideas, real experience, and the drive to get things done. We are One County. Ready for that kind of change? Let’s build it together.

Join the campaign: nickforbaltimorecounty.com

#NickStewart2026 #StewartForBaltCo #OneCounty

Thank you, Delegate Lewis!

Community meetings are like direct democracy, but only if you're free at 5:30 pm on a Tuesday.

this is fantastic news! next step: the House floor. if you haven’t already, you can send your delegates a note asking them to support Housing for Jobs here ⬇️ ggwash.org/housingforjo...

Great to see Housing for Jobs move out of the House Environment and Transportation committee earlier today! Thank you sub-committee chair Delegate
@robbynlewis46th.bsky.social and E&T chair Delegate @mkorman.bsky.social an for your work on this bill! #MDHousing

Has Progress on Affordable Housing Stalled Maryland Capital with Jayne Miller · Episode

I love any chance to talk housing policy with
@jemillerbalt.bsky.social. @govwesmoore.bsky.social
and the #Maryland legislature have taken big swings to address the #Housing Crisis this session and many of those efforts are well on their way to final passage.

open.spotify.com/episode/1q7Z...

Hey...what?

“Giving people a subsidy for a good whose supply is choked is like building a ladder to try to reach an elevator that is racing upward.”
- @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social & @dkthomp.bsky.social, #Abundance

I never expected "we should build more of the things we need" to be a controversial take. #Abundance

JD Vance's brother says that building affordable housing is tantamount to American slavery.

The Leopards Are Getting Fat It's fun to pretend elected leaders in charge of a nation of 350 million people can handpick who suffers and who does not.

"Taking pleasure in the suffering of others will get us nowhere...You will only root for the spread of Measles in the Trump +35 district until it reaches the Harris +10 district, and maybe one day reaches you in your bright blue state."

bad-faith-times.ghost.io/the-leopards...

@yappelbaum.bsky.social's new book Stuck answers some of these questions. The answer is normally racism wrapped in classism.

Exciting new polling from @ggwash.org showing strong support for the tenets of @govwesmoore.bsky.social's Housing for Jobs Act.

60% of Marylanders believe allowing more homes will help create jobs, increase customers for local businesses and make homes more affordable.

ggwash.org/files/H4Jpol...

The personal opinions of planners and staffers are one of the most significant and under-appreciated aspects influencing if your city builds or not.

In the most recent UMBC poll conducted by Maryland's top vibe-checker @mileahkromer.bsky.social, 63% of respondents identified the cost and availability of #housing as a "high priority". This outperformed taxes, economic growth, environment and transportation.

marylandmatters.org/wp-content/u...

I want my children to grow up in a world where, as adults, they can have coffee at 3 pm and go to sleep at 9 pm.

Old and busted: Social Media Consultant
New hotness: AI Consultant

I'm adding @yappelbaum.bsky.social's new book Stuck to the list of books I recommend for those seeking to understand the #housing crisis.

Rest of list (unranked):
@jerusalem.bsky.social On Housing
@shanedphillips.bsky.social The Affordable City
@conordougherty.bsky.social Golden Gates