Ranked Choice Voting Money Trail and Rising Interest Rates Squeeze Homebuyers

On October 25, 2022, Kim Monson examines election integrity concerns and housing affordability pressures with congressional candidate Erik Aadland on CD7 challenges, Capital Research Center’s Mike Watson on who funds ranked choice voting, and real estate experts Karen Levine and Lorne Levy on navigating the turbulent mortgage market.

Congressional Race in CD7

Start listening at 7:00 – Hour 1

Erik Aadland, Bronze Star recipient and congressional candidate for District 7, warns that radical Democrat policies are destroying the country. With Ed Perlmutter retiring, the open seat race has become a battleground over federal spending, border security, and crime. Aadland reports being outspent five to one by the Democrat machine but remains committed to grassroots campaigning.

He emphasizes that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has pledged the first vote of a Republican-controlled House will defund the 87,000 new IRS agents authorized in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act. Aadland argues Colorado leads the nation in auto theft, bank robberies, and has become the cocaine capital of the country due to soft-on-crime policies his opponent supported in the legislature.

“I’ve put my life on hold. I’ve risked my family’s financial future to take on this task, not because I want to be a politician, but because I love this country.”

Erik Aadland, Congressional Candidate CD7

Following the Money Behind Ranked Choice Voting

Start listening at 26:00 – Hour 1

Mike Watson, research director at Capital Research Center and managing editor of Influence Watch, exposes the funding network behind ranked choice voting initiatives appearing on Colorado ballots. Watson reveals that Catherine Murdoch, wife of James Murdoch and unlike the conservative Rupert Murdoch quite liberal, serves as the major financier through Unite America and Unite America Fund.

The research shows a vast network of big liberal philanthropies including Open Society Foundations, the Hewlett Foundation, Joyce Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and Rockefeller Brothers Fund all supporting FairVote, the think tank advocating for ranked choice voting nationally. Watson explains the system creates complexity that average voters with busy lives cannot navigate, as it requires ordinal ranking of multiple candidates rather than simply selecting a preferred choice.

“It assumes the fundamental, what I would say the fundamental flaw of ranked choice voting is that it assumes that the average voter thinks the same way as a committed ideologue.”

Mike Watson, Research Director, Capital Research Center

Navigating the Mortgage Market Crisis

Start listening at 5:00 – Hour 2

Lorne Levy, mortgage specialist with Polygon Financial Group, explains creative solutions for buyers facing the meteoric rise in interest rates. The buy-down strategy allows sellers to contribute funds that reduce the buyer’s interest rate temporarily, with a 2-1 buy-down dropping rates from 7% to 5% in year one, 6% in year two, then settling at the original rate.

Levy notes that seniors on fixed incomes increasingly turn to reverse mortgages as inflation erodes their retirement savings while asset values in 401Ks decline. He emphasizes that borrowers must qualify at the full rate to ensure they can afford payments when the buy-down period ends, protecting both lender and borrower.

“You marry the house and date the mortgage.”

Lorne Levy, Mortgage Specialist, Polygon Financial Group

Property Tax Storm Approaching Homeowners

Start listening at 15:00 – Hour 2

Karen Levine, award-winning realtor with RE/MAX Alliance, breaks down why Colorado homeowners face a potential 40-50% property tax increase in 2024. The reassessment for 2023 will capture property values at the peak of the market during the 18-month lookback period from June 2021 to December 2022.

Levine critiques Proposition 123’s affordable housing approach, arguing that subsidized housing does not create genuine affordability for the middle class. When government subsidizes housing, it creates winners and losers while driving up prices for everyone not receiving subsidies. She explains that the lack of condominium construction, due to construction defect legislation, has eliminated the traditional entry point to homeownership.

“I do have a problem if they get richer at the cost of the middle class. And that’s where some of this public policy gets a little annoying.”

Karen Levine, RE/MAX Alliance