Dear Editor:

The average price of a house in Lincoln County is currently between $500,000 and $600,000. Let’s say $550,000. The estimated monthly payment for a 30-year mortgage on this house is $3,500. That’s $42,000 a year. We have priced most working Mainers out of the housing market.

The town of Newcastle has been exploring ways of building ‘affordable’ housing. Construction costs for various scenarios are estimated at around $400 a square foot. That’s $400,000 for a modest 1,000 square foot, two-bedroom house. The estimated monthly payment for a 30-year mortgage on this house is $2,200. That’s $26,400 a year. We have priced most working Mainers out of the ‘affordable’ housing market.

In a rare act of bipartisanship, Congress recently passed the ‘21st Century Road to Housing Act’. It is designed to correct the nationwide lack of affordable housing. President Trump refused to sign it unless Congress first passed the SAVE act. If passed, this act will disenfranchise tens of millions of voters, especially married women. It is widely recognized as a voter suppression measure designed to help Republicans in the midterm election.

Trump himself has said with the SAVE act “we won’t lose an election for 100 years.” Almost in the same breath he described the ‘21st Century Road to Housing Act’ as “a big yawn” and “so unimportant.” This from a man who from birth has had a choice of mansions in which to live and has made over a billion dollars from crypto since taking office.

We have a president whose priority is on clinging to power. He views the struggle of tens of millions to earn enough to put a roof over their families’ heads as a “big yawn.”

The disconnect between the billionaires who are in control of our government and the rest of us could not be clearer.

Nigel Calder 

Newcastle