What lawmakers can do to address affordability

Welcome back here at 723 on this Wednesday morning. So, you know, affordability was a major issue for voters during the midterms. But what do lawmakers need to do in order to enact real change? So joining us now to break this all down, business expert Gene Marks for us this morning. Gene, great to have you. Good morning. Good morning. Thanks for having me on. Absolutely. So, you know, now that these results are in, we know, you know, what voters really cared about during these elections. What can lawmakers realistically do to bring down the cost of everyday things? So I'm glad you used the word realistically, because we obviously have a stalemate Congress. And just keep in mind that no matter what Congress passes, it has to be signed by the president. And he has already called himself Mr. Veto, which means that it's gonna take a two-thirds majority to override anything that, any legislation that gets vetoed by the president. So I don't want people to get their hopes up, but. There are some things that Democrats, a Democratic Congress can do. So for starters, there's tariffs. Tariffs have increased costs for a lot of different people across the board. I don't want to get into an argument as to whether you support them or oppose them, but they've definitely contributed to inflation. I actually think that there are enough GOP senators and House Republicans that could actually contribute and join with Democrats and override any potential presidential veto when it comes to tariffs. I think that's the one area that I think that Congress itself could actually have legislation that helps our pocketbook. So that's number one. Number two, obviously, is the war in the Middle East and that is impacting energy costs and that impacts The cost of price for gas, but energy costs, our petroleum is used in so many different products that we buy and that we use during the day. So we have to figure out an end to this conflict. Will this come through diplomatic means? Will it come through just staying the course with sanctions? Will there be military involvement? Congress and the president needs to work on that. Once there is stability in the Middle East, there'll be more stability with energy prices. And I think that will make things more affordable for us as well. Finally, I have a few other things, but just for the reason of time. There's a shot at immigration legislation, which could really help business owners and people have more opportunities. So that's something that I could see both the White House and Congress coming together on. So those are three. Three areas that I think could happen during the next two years. Okay, so these seem like reasonable actions because it does seem like we want it all now. So it's good to hear about reasonable things that could actually help. I immediately think about the rate hike that happened with the Fed a little bit ago. That brings to mind mortgage rates, things like that. So can you talk a little bit about housing? That is a major expense for families. What would it take to bring down those costs? Yeah, I mean, mortgage rates are what they are, and it's really not Fed-driven. It's inflation-driven. Okay. The banks themselves determine mortgage rates based on the Treasury market. And the Treasury market is, they respond to inflation. Right now, inflation is elevated, and even Treasury yields just yesterday increased. They took a big jump. So when banks look at that, You know, that's how they're like, you know, because they want to make money on long term mortgages. They want to make sure they're keeping up with inflation. So don't pay attention to the Fed. Pay attention to the Treasury markets. That's going to tell you where interest rates are going when it comes to mortgages. And my only advice is, is particularly people are looking to buy a house. I mean, you know, there is you can buy homes today. This is not something that's out of your reach. I do believe that people do. Make your choices when it comes to spending. And if you want to afford a house and want to have that kind of thing, maybe that means you have to make some hard choices on eating out or going to Starbucks every day or taking that vacation to Disney this year. I think there are choices that people can make that can help make a mortgage payment more affordable. But I guess on that end, my question is, can you budget your way out of not having enough money? I mean, everything costs more these days. Aren't making more money in some cases, especially with the cost of living. They're also the amount of money they're making isn't going up. So can you budget your way out of poverty in some cases? Yeah, I mean, I have some tips for you. OK, so, you know, it's all about cutting your expenses. So, you know, right now, wages are not really keeping up with inflation for a lot of people. So we've got to really sort of tighten the screws in our expenses. So some thoughts, right? Number one. AI has become a great way to help cut your expenses. You can connect ChatGPT or Claude or some of the other AI platforms directly to your banking account and it can look at it and analyze it and give you lots of advice for where you can cut some expenses if you don't. I feel comfortable doing that from a security reason and I do get that. You can always upload your bank statement after waiting out your account number and all of that and ask me to analyze it that way. You would be surprised at how many great cost cutting suggestions AI can give to you to try and tighten up your budget a little bit. Secondly, I don't know if you're the same way, but we have so many streaming services You know, and online payments that we forget all these and they add up. So you can cancel a lot of that stuff. You know, if you're getting like your streaming services through Google, Google Play, if you go cancel Google Play subscriptions, you Google that, it will take you right to a site where you can go through all your subscriptions and start canceling them. And even if you're saving 10, 20, 30 bucks a month, that really does add up. Yeah, Gene, these are great tips. And we appreciate you being with us this morning. Unfortunately, we got to go, but we hope to see you again soon. Thank you. Thank you. We'll see you soon. Absolutely.