@btaylorforcongress.bsky.social
🚒 Firefighter/Paramedic 💙 Democrat for U.S. Congress | FL-21 🌴 St Lucie, Martin, and Palm Beach County 📝 Healthcare, Affordability, and Clean Water https://bernardtaylorforcongress.org
Visit my website to view the legislation I would propose to combat this. Link in my bio.
It gets worse. They're expanding into build-to-rent now. Purpose-built neighborhoods where every home is a rental. Designed from the ground up to never be sold. Lennar, sells 20% of its new construction directly to institutional landlords. Houses sold to Wall Street before the foundation is poured.
NAR data shows first-time homebuyers fell to 24% of all purchases last year. Lowest in 43 years of tracking. Average first-time buyer age is now 38. In 1981 it was 29. A whole generation priced out and funneled into rental contracts held by Wall Street.
And they don't even need prices to go up. They just need you to keep paying rent. When you can't afford a down payment because institutional buyers inflated prices, you rent. From them. The same people who made buying impossible made renting mandatory.
Wall Street figured out single-family rentals generate 12-15% annual returns when you combine rental income with property appreciation. Better than the S&P average. With near-zero rates from 2009-2022 they borrowed billions at 2-3% and bought assets appreciating at 8-12%. Free money machine.
Homes that families lost for $80k in 2009 are now rented back to those same families for $2,400/mo.
That's the business model.
They started during the 2008 crash. Millions of Americans lost their homes to foreclosure. Those homes went to auction. BlackRock and its subsidiaries showed up and bought entire neighborhoods in bulk. In some Phoenix zip codes they bought 90% of the foreclosed homes in a single quarter.
Here's a number that will make you queasy. In 2010, institutional investors owned less than 1% of single-family rental homes in the US. Today it's 5%. Sounds small until you realize that's $120 billion in residential real estate controlled by three firms: BlackRock, Blackstone, and Invitation Homes.
BlackRock now owns more single-family homes than any landlord in American history. 340,000 houses. Buying 3,000 more every month.
They're not buying them to live in. They're buying them so you can't.
I’m running for Congress because I believe our priorities should start with people.
If you agree that feeding children should never be controversial, join this campaign.
Let’s build an economy that works for families.
Our national priorities say a lot about who we value.
If we can find $93 billion for the Pentagon in a month,
we should be able to find the resources to feed our kids.
Universal school meals would:
• Help children focus in class
• Reduce stigma for struggling families
• Support working parents
• Improve long-term health outcomes
It’s one of the simplest investments we can make.
I’ve seen how poverty and food insecurity show up in real life.
Hungry kids.
Stressed parents.
Communities stretched thin.
This isn’t abstract policy to me.
If we can spend $93 billion in a month preparing for war…
we can spend the same amount making sure every kid in America has breakfast and lunch at school.
Let’s put this into perspective.
$93 billion is roughly what the Pentagon spent in a single month.
Meanwhile, millions of kids in America rely on school meals as their most reliable source of nutrition.
The Pentagon spent $93 billion in one month.
That same amount could fund universal school breakfast and lunch for every child in America for two years.
No child in the richest country on Earth should be learning on an empty stomach.
If you believe Congress should ask tougher questions before sending Americans into war…
join this campaign.
Let’s send leadership to Washington that actually represents the Treasure Coast.
So yes, on behalf of Florida’s 21st District:
I’m sorry we sent someone to Washington who won’t stand up to reckless foreign policy.
Congress should treat war with the same seriousness.
War isn’t a talking point.
It’s lives. Families. Generations.
I’ve spent my career responding to crises.
The first rule in an emergency is simple:
Slow down. Assess the situation. Don’t make it worse.
Instead of pushing back or demanding accountability, Mast has publicly backed the administration’s military posture toward Iran and opposed efforts to restrict those war powers.
The Foreign Affairs Committee isn’t just ceremonial.
It’s supposed to ask hard questions about military escalation, diplomacy, and whether sending Americans into conflict is justified.
Our representative, Brian Mast, is the Chair of the United States House Foreign Affairs Committee.
That position carries enormous responsibility when the United States is on the edge of war.
On behalf of Florida’s 21st District, I owe the country an apology.
We sent someone to Congress who had the power to question a rush toward war…
and chose not to use it.
They said it was “disrespectful” when a Marine protested in uniform…
But back when a Congressman walked the halls of Congress in a foreign military uniform, it was silent.
Same country.
Same uniform rules.
Very different outrage.
If we’re talking about respect for the uniform, be consistent.
What’s your favorite place on the Treasure Coast water?
Let’s protect it.
Clean water shouldn’t be controversial.
It should be common sense.
The goal is simple:
- Reduce harmful runoff into our waterways
- Invest in water infrastructure
- Protect the Indian River Lagoon
- Hold polluters accountable
That’s why I created the Treasure Coast Clean Water Act.
