Cost of Living Crisis
Putting people over corporate profits.
Families are working harder than ever before, but still struggling to keep up with the cost of living. Simple things like a roof overhead, food on the table, and bills paid. That’s not because we lack resources, it’s because our economy is rigged for corporations and the wealthy. In Congress, I’ll fight to raise wages, rein in corporate greed, and make housing affordable so every family has the stability and dignity they deserve.
The Basics
Everyone deserves a wage they can live on. I’ll fight to raise the federal minimum wage, tie it to inflation so it keeps up with the cost of living, and cap CEO pay at no more than five times the salary of their lowest-paid employee, forcing companies to invest in their workers, not just executives.
Working families shouldn’t foot the bill for corporate greed. I’ll close loopholes that reward stock buybacks and bloated executive bonuses, making sure the biggest corporations pay their fair share.
Safe, stable housing is not a luxury, it’s a right. I’ll support national rent stabilization models with local flexibility, ban hedge funds and large corporations from buying up single-family homes in our neighborhoods, and regulate short-term rentals so families have a fair shot at finding housing. And I’ll fight for a federal vacancy tax on homes that sit empty, because in a country with more than enough housing for everyone, there’s no excuse for properties to be hoarded while families go without.
We need homes people can actually afford, built by and for our communities. I’ll champion social housing co-ops, community land trusts, and permanently affordable units, while ending exclusionary zoning and incentivizing multi-family housing near jobs and transit.
Billionaires didn’t build their fortunes alone. They exploited workers, infrastructure, and systems paid for by all of us. I support a wealth tax modeled on Senator Elizabeth Warren’s plan: an annual tax on the net worth of households and trusts above $50 million. But I believe we should go further, with a flat 3% annual tax on extreme wealth. That money can fund affordable housing, education, healthcare, and the everyday services families rely on. And let’s be honest: the ultra-wealthy won’t miss it.
FAQs
Because a one-time raise isn’t enough. If wages don’t rise with the cost of living, workers fall behind again. Indexing the minimum wage to inflation ensures families can keep up, not get left behind.
No. Tying wages to inflation actually discourages corporations from hiking prices unnecessarily, because higher costs of living would mean higher wages for workers. Right now, companies can raise prices without consequence — this change holds them accountable and protects workers from falling behind.
Social housing is housing that’s built and managed for people, not profit. Two common models are:
Housing co-ops, where residents collectively own and manage the building. That keeps rents affordable and decisions in the hands of the people who live there. We already see this working right here in Greenbelt, where a community co-op has been providing stable, affordable housing for generations.
Community land trusts, where a nonprofit or community group owns the land and leases it for housing at affordable rates. This keeps homes permanently affordable, even as neighborhoods change.
These models are proof that we can build housing that stays affordable long-term and puts control back in the hands of the community.
A vacancy tax is a fee on homes that sit empty for long periods of time. It discourages investors from hoarding housing and pushes properties back into the market for people who actually need them. In a country with more homes than homeless people, no one should be left without a roof while houses sit empty as investment assets.
