The federal government’s grip on America’s housing finance system is contributing to the very affordability crisis it claims to solve. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government-controlled mortgage giants, now back more than half the $16 trillion residential mortgage market. While they don’t issue loans directly, they purchase mortgages from lenders and securitize them, funneling credit through a government-directed system that distorts prices, encourages risk-taking, and leaves taxpayers exposed. Now, under the direction of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, the Trump administration has reopened the long-stalled debate over what to do with these entities. President Donald Trump recently pledged to take Fannie and Freddie public again, and Pulte has said the administration is considering how to do so while still keeping them in federal conservatorship. This contradictory posture—suggesting privatization while maintaining government control—has left markets, lawmakers, and taxpayers uncertain. That uncertainty matters because the status quo is already creating long-term damage. Fannie and Freddie have been in conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis, when their collapse required a $187 billion bailout funded by taxpayers. That was supposed to be a temporary fix. Instead, they’ve become permanent fixtures of the federal housing system, with an outsized footprint that crowds out private competition and weakens the incentives for prudent lending.Nevertheless, the Trump administration is right — privatization is the answer here. However, it must be real privatization. While the White House can take a phased approach to removing their conservatorship, eventually, it must come off.  Critics of reform argue that ending federal backing could lead to higher mortgage rates. But those same critics ignore the long-term cost of the current arrangement. When lenders and investors operate with the understanding that the federal government stands behind their losses, the result is a mispricing of risk. The implicit guarantee that Washington will step in when things go south may keep rates lower in the short term, but it inflates home prices, misallocates credit, and leaves taxpayers holding the bag when the cycle turns. The government’s role has also expanded in troubling ways. In January, the FHFA raised conforming loan limits to a record high of $806,500. These loans are now eligible for federal backing, meaning taxpayers subsidize million-dollar mortgages. That’s not a policy targeted at helping working families. It’s a distortion that inflates demand in already expensive markets and rewards politically connected interests at the expense of long-term affordability. Meanwhile, the real challenge—supply—goes largely unaddressed. According to Axios, the U.S. faces a shortage of nearly 4 million homes. Easier credit does nothing to solve that. In fact, when supply is constrained, subsidizing demand only pushes prices higher.  The solution isn’t more government-backed debt. It’s more homes. And that requires less regulation and more room for private capital to operate.  According to the National Association of Home Builders, nearly $94,000 of the cost of an average new home is attributable to local, state, and federal regulation. Those barriers choke off new construction, especially in places where demand is strongest. The answer isn’t more government-subsidized credit; it’s a freer, more responsive market. We’ve already seen the benefits of private capital stepping in to increase supply. Private ownership of newly built rental units has grown sharply—by nearly 70% in some areas—bringing stability and options to markets that would otherwise be constrained. Yet instead of encouraging this private-sector dynamism, some in Washington want to shut it down. Lawmakers have floated proposals to ban corporate homebuyers, cap investor purchases, or impose new restrictions on private equity in housing. These misguided efforts mirror the broader failure of Washington’s housing policy: punishing private capital while doubling down on federal programs like Fannie and Freddie that drive up costs and distort incentives. Instead of vilifying the private sector, policymakers should welcome its role in helping lower housing costs and increasing housing supply. Privatizing Fannie and Freddie would represent a great place to start. Fannie and Freddie were never meant to be permanent arms of the federal government. Their continued dominance—underwritten by taxpayers and controlled by regulators—creates a housing system built on political priorities instead of market signals. Privatizing them would correct these distortions. It would restore risk-based pricing to mortgage markets, reduce taxpayer exposure, and invite new entrants and innovation into the system. A phased release from conservatorship—paired with a clear plan to reduce implicit guarantees—would allow a competitive private housing finance market to emerge, while maintaining stability during the transition. Preserving the current model doesn’t protect affordability—it protects dysfunction. If the Trump administration is serious about improving access to housing and restoring fiscal responsibility, it must finish the job: end the conservatorship, get government out of the way, and let the housing market function like a market again. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.  The post Why It’s Time To Privatize Fannie and Freddie To Fix America’s Housing Market appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Rep. Ralph Norman, one of the House of Representatives’ hard-line fiscal conservatives, is making it clear that he and a number of others in the House would have difficulty accepting any Senate “big, beautiful bill” that increases deficits. “If it’s more spending and more deficit spending, it’s a nonstarter,” Norman, R-S.C., told The Daily Signal Thursday evening. “We’ve got a group that are hard-liners with that. I’m one of them. The cancer in this country is overspending and we’ve got to address it.” The Super Bowl moment has come for this ten-year spending package, as Senate leadership eyes a weekend vote that would send the bill to the House before the preferred deadline of Independence Day, July 4. The bill would fulfill a number of campaign promises, such as extending President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and funding border security, but some in the House have expressed serious concerns about how it has evolved. Norman is particularly concerned by a number of recent rulings from the Senate parliamentarian, essentially the chamber’s referee, who has slashed a number of cost-saving provisions like that blocking illegal immigrants from accessing Medicaid. Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has done this via the Byrd rule, a Senate rule generally intended to banish non-budgetary provisions in ten-year fiscal frameworks. “Now’s the time to look at each one of these, and if it means overruling it, do it and question it because this is our moment in time to make a difference,” said Norman.  Norman specified that he wanted a Senate vote to overturn the rulings and that he was not calling for Vice President JD Vance to simply overrule them as presiding officer of the Senate. “It’s time to fight,” he said. “If we have to sit up here through July 4 and have to sit up here in all of August on our break, we need to do it. This bill is that important.” He added, “I’m excited about having a bill that mirrors what we sent over there. And if there’s too many changes and more spending, it’s going to be a difficult bill to pass.” Norman’s colleagues, such as Freedom Caucus chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., and Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, are predicting that proposals in the Senate could cost an extra trillion dollars over the ten-year window. Norman says he will not accept any proposal that balloons the deficit to that level. “Chip and Andy are exactly right. It’s a real problem. We’ll look at everything, but this is really something that we would be backing up on what we had initially told the American people and our constituents that we were going to do,” Norman said. But Norman has one source of optimism—he does not think a bill like that would pass the Senate in the first place. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., (left) and House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, (right). (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) “I don’t think it’s going to get out of the Senate. And we met with different Senators recently and they’ve got a bloc over that I think are going to put up enough resistance to not let it get out of the Senate.” Norman is likely referring to Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida, and Rand Paul of Kentucky.  All of them would have to unite against the bill if they wanted to prevent it from passing, since Vice President JD Vance would likely break a tie in the chamber.  These Senate fiscal hawks give Norman hope that the House will ultimately get a bill that resembles the one they sent the Senate. “In large, what we are expecting is predominantly the bill that we sent over with those provisions, those cuts and that’s what we worked for.” One thing Norman demands is time to read the bill once—or if—the Senate passes it. “I do think we’ll be back Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, whenever they get it to us. This isn’t a Nancy Pelosi regime where you have to pass it, then read it and find out what’s in it. We’re going to read it before we pass it and right now it’s got some problems.” The post Rep. Norman Puts Foot Down on Big, Beautiful Bill appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Apple and Google are facing mounting pressure from German authorities to remove the Chinese AI app DeepSeek from their app stores in Germany over data privacy violations. The Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Meike Kamp, has flagged the app for transferring personal data to China without adhering to EU data protection standards. Kamp’s office examined DeepSeek’s practices and found that the company failed to offer “convincing evidence” that user information is safeguarded as mandated by EU law. She emphasized the risks linked to Chinese data governance, warning that “Chinese authorities have far-reaching access rights to personal data within the sphere of influence of Chinese companies.” With this in mind, Apple and Google have been urged to evaluate the findings and consider whether to block the app in Germany. Authorities in Berlin had already asked DeepSeek to either meet EU legal requirements for data transfers outside the bloc or remove its app from German availability. DeepSeek did not take action to address these concerns, according to Kamp. Germany’s move follows Italy’s earlier decision this year to block DeepSeek from local app stores, citing comparable concerns about data security and privacy. Privacy advocates in Europe continue to highlight that DeepSeek not only originates in China but also processes and stores data within Chinese borders. The app’s privacy policy confirms that user data is kept in China, placing it under Chinese legal jurisdiction, which raises further alarm for those focused on protecting personal information in the EU. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Germany Pressures Apple and Google to Ban Chinese AI App DeepSeek appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

YGBKM: Denver Throws Car Owners Under the Bus For Illegals?

Thousands of previously overlooked manuscripts paint a new picture of a period many have dismissed as "backwards".

For the first time in 15 years, you can see a game of shadows across Saturn. You won't see it again until 2040.

The new theory, scientists believe, solves long-standing mysteries of physics, including the black hole information paradox and the nature of dark matter. Physicists at Leiden University in the Netherlands believe their theory, called the “Quantum Memory Matrix,” could help explain some of the universe’s biggest mysteries. The theory says that spacetime itself stores a history of quantum information in “memory cells.” It’s another theory that attempts to explain the paradoxes that arise when general relativity and quantum field theory collide, Popular Mechanics reports. The black hole information paradox was first posed in the 1970s by physicist Stephen Hawking. The paradox boils down to the idea that black holes destroy information via Hawking radiation over incredibly long periods of time. But quantum field theory suggests that quantum information cannot be destroyed, but must instead be preserved. This has led to several theories, including that information is somehow encoded in the event horizon of the black hole itself and is escaping in Hawking radiation in a way that we simply cannot detect, or that it even travels to an entirely different universe. Now physicists have come up with another theory called the Quantum Memory Matrix (QMM). Physicists believe that space-time itself may contain a “memory” that records the history of the universe. In a sense, space-time is made up of “memory cells” that could solve not only the black hole information paradox, but also explain other major mysteries of space-time, such as dark matter. “Modern physics describes all particles and forces as excitations in quantum fields, structures that span space and time. Space-time itself is no different, and each of the cells of space-time will have a quantum state that can change,” the physicists say. “These cells can be thought of as tiny dials or switches. There is also a kind of quantum information that describes how each cell relates to others, and it is not contained in any one cell but in a ramified network of relationships between them.” For example, in the black hole information paradox, as an object moves through space, it interacts with these space-time “dial” that imprint the information. When the black hole evaporates, a process that takes between 10 to the 68th and 10 to the 103rd years, the surrounding space-time remains. That is, the information does not disappear after all, but is recorded in the “memory” of the universe, scientists say. By using quantum computers to test the theory, physicists have expanded beyond gravity, insisting that the MCM applies to all four fundamental forces of nature. Physicists have also suggested that the weight of information woven into spacetime could be an alternative explanation for dark matter, which makes up most of the mass of the universe but barely interacts with ordinary matter. The post The Universe May Have Its Own Memory, Physicists Say appeared first on Anomalien.com.

Actor Diego Luna wrapped up his week of guest hosting ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday by giving an ode to Kimmel, where he claimed that the regular host is needed to preserve democracy. Luna claimed that, “I know there is a lot of focus in your media about the differences between our cultures and the violence south of the border, but I hope, this week, I was able to open up the dialogue. We should be doing more of that. Telling our stories and finding what connects us. Yeah. We shouldn't let our cultural exchange be divided by borders, by ignorance, by fear, or a wall built by your president.”     Next, Luna tried to suggest Trump is a dictator, “We're going through a hard time. Authoritarian leaders and expressions are on the rise, and it's happening everywhere. Leaders who attack the press, use the military against their own citizens, and claim they have the answer to everything. Does that sound familiar?” Trying to be hopeful, Luna added, “But it's in our hands to do something. There are many ways to push back. One way is by making fun of them every night like Jimmy does. Yeah, yeah. Using comedy. Using comedy to defend freedom. They don't like that [bleep].” Luna also insisted that, “We can't take that for granted. We, the audience, have to defend spaces like this. Without satire and voices like Jimmy's that question and challenge the abuse of power, democracy doesn't just weaken, it can disappear. And we cannot let that happen. There's a lot the rest of us can do as well. Like voting. And volunteering. And marching. Because you know what else these strong men really don't like? To be unpopular.” Kimmel calling Trump names may make liberals feel better about themselves, but it isn’t exactly substantive. Meanwhile, the logic behind his actual critiques of Trump needs some work. Regardless, Luna added, “There’s another No Kings protest on July 17th. So, yeah. I mean, if you're not going to a Kid Rock concert that day, maybe you can check it out. Go out. You know, by making your voice heard, you won't just make the United States of America great again, you'll help to make the world a little better.” Luna was not done urging viewers to go to a No Kings protest. Later, he welcomed labor activist Dolores Huerta and asked her, “These are dark times, as you said. And I heard the other day an interview you gave where you said, "I hope people get upset and start doing something." And I want to ask you, I mean, how do we get them upset? What's there for us to do? What needs to happen? How do you see the near future?”     Huerta compared immigration enforcement to kidnapping as she also promoted No Kings, “Well, I think when people see what's happening in the news or people are being sent to prisons in other countries, the way the people are being treated, kind of, the brutality. People are being kidnapped off the streets. I think people are really upset about that and angry. And we do see that people are protesting. We saw 5 million people on the streets all over the United States of America. No Kings Day. People are stepping up.” The fate of democracy does not depend on Jimmy Kimmel, but the fate of the light night comedy talk show format may depend on hosts realizing that deliberately alienating half the country is not good for business. Here is a transcript for the June 26 show: ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live! 6/26/2025 11:41 PM ET DIEGO LUNA: This has really been a great week for me. And before I wrap up my final monologue, I want to say something. I know there is a lot of focus in your media about the differences between our cultures and the violence south of the border, but I hope, this week, I was able to open up the dialogue. We should be doing more of that. Telling our stories and finding what connects us. Yeah. We shouldn't let our cultural exchange be divided by borders, by ignorance, by fear, or a wall built by your president. That he paid for it, by the way.  We're going through a hard time. Authoritarian leaders and expressions are on the rise, and it's happening everywhere. Leaders who attack the press, use the military against their own citizens, and claim they have the answer to everything. Does that sound familiar?  But it's in our hands to do something. There are many ways to push back. One way is by making fun of them every night like Jimmy does. Yeah, yeah. Using comedy. Using comedy to defend freedom. They don't like that [bleep].  And we can't take that for granted. We, the audience, have to defend spaces like this. Without satire and voices like Jimmy's that question and challenge the abuse of power, democracy doesn't just weaken, it can disappear. And we cannot let that happen. There's a lot the rest of us can do as well. Like voting. And volunteering. And marching. Because you know what else these strong men really don't like? To be unpopular. There’s another No Kings protest on July 17th. So, yeah. I mean, if you're not going to a Kid Rock concert that day, maybe you can check it out. Go out. You know, by making your voice heard, you won't just make the United States of America great again, you'll help to make the world a little better.  … 12:27 AM ET LUNA: These are dark times, as you said. And I heard the other day an interview you gave where you said, "I hope people get upset and start doing something." And I want to ask you, I mean, how do we get them upset? What's there for us to do? What needs to happen? How do you see the near future? DOLORES HUERTA: Well, I think when people see what's happening in the news or people are being sent to prisons in other countries, the way the people are being treated, kind of, the brutality. People are being kidnapped off the streets. I think people are really upset about that and angry. And we do see that people are protesting. We saw 5 million people on the streets all over the United States of America. No Kings Day. People are stepping up.

POLL: What was the worst media take of the week? (Vote below)     NOMINEES:    1. Erin Burnett: There Was a “Friendliness” To Iranians Who Chanted “Death to America” “I remember, Dana, at one point being in Tehran years ago and they’re chanting ‘death to America’ all around me, even as I say, ‘Oh, I’m an American, reporting for CNN.’ And they were happy to speak to me. So those two sort of jarring realities of the chant and yet, the friendliness have existed together.”— Anchor Erin Burnett on CNN’s Inside Politics with Dana Bash, June 24.    2. Diego Luna: I Don’t Understand How Trump’s “Hate Speech” Took Root In This Country “I have never been able to fully understand how it is that someone like Donald Trump is able to acquire this level of power. I always struggle to understand how his hate speech can take root in a country whose nature has always been a welcoming one.”— Actor Diego Luna substitute hosting on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, June 23.    3. Jonathan Capehart: Republicans Are Afraid That “Being Human” Will Get Them on Wrong Side of Trump “There’s been silence, crickets, because they’re [Republicans] afraid of doing the right thing, of being human, will get them on the wrong side of the President of the United States. Folks should be very concerned about that.”— Washington Post associate editor/PBS contributor Jonathan Capehart on PBS’s News Hour, June 20.    Loading…   Funded by James P. Jimirro

Jennifer Sey struck a nerve when she declared that her company, XX-XY Athletics, operates without an HR department.“They produce nothing,” Sey said at Freedom Fest earlier this month. “They monitor our words. They tell us what we can and cannot say. They inhibit creativity. It’s bad for business.”The DEI bureaucracy has hijacked creativity and initiative across American institutions. The answer is more vision, more empowerment, and more responsibility.That viral moment — now with more than 5 million views on Instagram — and her subsequent op-ed resonated for one simple reason: She’s right. HR’s bureaucratic grip is choking American innovation. The diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucracy is killing creativity. Worst of all, it’s draining the humanity from the workplace.At the Texas Public Policy Foundation, we’ve embraced a different path. We ditched the traditional HR model and built a self-governing culture grounded in vision, empowerment, and personal responsibility. And it works.We’re a 100-person organization working across nearly every area of public policy. Every legislative session, we help pass dozens of reforms in Texas. We do this without the heavy hand of HR.The typical HR regime — endless training sessions, speech policing, pronoun mandates, and risk-averse hiring filters — doesn’t just waste time. It demoralizes bold thinkers. It cultivates mediocrity.Instead, we’ve built a culture on three pillars.1. VisionEvery member of our team knows why we’re here: to advance liberty, opportunity, and prosperity through principled policy. We don’t need compliance officers to enforce that vision. It’s clear. It’s motivating. And it’s shared.A 2016 study in the International Journal of Economic and Administrative Studies backs this up. Researchers Gary S. Lynn and Faruk Kalay found that clarity of vision — meaning shared understanding and communication around goals — had a significant positive effect on performance.In plain English: Clear goals drive real results. Ditch the hall monitors. Trust your people.2. EmpowermentWe replaced top-down control with radical trust. No mandatory seminars. No endless policy reminders. Just continuous mentorship, honest feedback, and the freedom to take risks — even fail.This culture empowers innovation. We hire people with integrity, not compliance credentials. And we trust them to deliver.RELATED: Trump deep-sixed DEI — but is it undead at major federal contractors like Lockheed Martin? Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesWhen someone missteps, we don’t need HR to issue a demerit. The team steps in — graciously but directly — with shared accountability.As Sey put it, HR’s approach produces “mediocre people with no opinions.” We hire big thinkers with strong character. Then we let them run.3. Personal responsibilityA self-governing culture demands ownership. No hall monitors or permission slips. Each person knows his or her role — and takes it seriously.This attracts the kind of people who actually get things done. It’s the reason we’ve succeeded in passing bold, controversial policies despite heavy opposition. We don’t wait for permission. We build.Jennifer Sey’s stand against HR’s dead weight is more than a media moment. It’s a call to action.The DEI bureaucracy has hijacked creativity and initiative across American institutions. But the answer isn’t more rules. It’s more vision, more empowerment, and more responsibility.At TPPF, that formula has unleashed our team’s potential — and it can do the same for any organization willing to stop cowering before rule-makers and start trusting risk-takers.The soul of your business — and the soul of America — depends on it.