Writer. Thinker. Advocate. @southwestpolicy https://xitter.gq/t.co/lL8Cx7sEhG https://xitter.gq/t.co/WVtX1xxpnG
Joined February 2021
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From February, still true: institutional investors own less than 1% of U.S. single-family homes, per AEI. In Q3 2025 the big ones sold 5,798 homes and bought 4,663, per BatchData. Banning the buyer doesn't build the house. southwestpolicy.com/housing-…
On California's ballot today, Prop 45 would let housing and other "essential" projects opt into a 365-business-day limit on environmental review. Courts could halt only the flawed part of a project, not all of it. A permit that never comes houses no one. calmatters.org/environment/2…
In 2016 the Fed stopped asking debit issuers to split costs into fixed and variable. Now the Eighth Circuit says the cap must track marginal cost. If the ruling stands, the Board should bring those questions back first. Rehearing deadline: Dec. 10. southwestpolicy.com/incremen…
Patrick M. Brenner retweeted
The Senate permitting bill answers a real problem. But states can already site regional power lines together: federal law consents to compacts among three or more neighbors. Congress could approve those in advance, rather than let FERC override a state. southwestpolicy.com/transmis…
Patrick M. Brenner retweeted
California's Prop 37 would put buyers of new homes into a second mortgage for up to 17% of the price, at a rate the ballot doesn't set. On an $800,000 home, that's up to $136,000 more debt. Easier credit doesn't make homes cheaper. More homes do. voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propos…
Patrick M. Brenner retweeted
rent freeze, meet lending freeze. Freddie Mac has paused new loans on NYC rent-stabilized buildings while it weighs the fallout, and Fannie now underwrites them for 4 to 8 years of flat rents, The City reports. Somebody still has to pay for the boiler. therealdeal.com/new-york/202…
The Senate permitting bill answers a real problem. But states can already site regional power lines together: federal law consents to compacts among three or more neighbors. Congress could approve those in advance, rather than let FERC override a state. southwestpolicy.com/transmis…
rent freeze, meet lending freeze. Freddie Mac has paused new loans on NYC rent-stabilized buildings while it weighs the fallout, and Fannie now underwrites them for 4 to 8 years of flat rents, The City reports. Somebody still has to pay for the boiler. therealdeal.com/new-york/202…
Patrick M. Brenner retweeted
More than half of Massachusetts land zoned for single-family homes requires nearly an acre per house, per the National Zoning Atlas. Tuesday's Question 7 would allow a home on 5,000 sq ft lots with sewer and water. Starter homes need small lots. zoningatlas.org/zoning-repor…
Patrick M. Brenner retweeted
ISO and the GHG Protocol said in Sept 2025 they would "harmonize their respective greenhouse gas standards and jointly develop new global rules."
@pmbrenner91 warns the framework "risks becoming embedded" in American regulatory systems.
southwestpolicy.com/the-carb…
Patrick M. Brenner retweeted
"More than 200 million bank accounts connect through Plaid alone," notes a 2025 white paper by @pmbrenner91 and Lucas J. Parker, arguing banks "must be permitted to recover the costs" of secure data transmission. The @CFPB's 2024 rule is enjoined (Nov 2026).
southwestpolicy.com/report-1…
Redwood City votes Tuesday on rent control: rents rolled back to Oct. 2025 levels, then raises capped at 60% of inflation or 5%. The city's consultant says running it could cost up to $11M a year. Caps ration the homes that exist. They don't add any. kqed.org/news/12090248/redwo…
California's Prop 37 would put buyers of new homes into a second mortgage for up to 17% of the price, at a rate the ballot doesn't set. On an $800,000 home, that's up to $136,000 more debt. Easier credit doesn't make homes cheaper. More homes do. voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propos…
Patrick M. Brenner retweeted
"'Incremental cost' has multiple meanings, and marginal cost is one of them."
After the Eighth Circuit's Oct. 26 debit-cap ruling, @pmbrenner91 argues the @federalreserve "should seek rehearing en banc."
southwestpolicy.com/incremen…
Patrick M. Brenner retweeted
A rule barring banks from charging for data access doesn't make the data free. "It sets the price at zero," @pmbrenner91 wrote in National Review (July 2026). His alternative: "Let banks and fintechs negotiate over the pipes."
southwestpolicy.com/theres-n…
More than half of Massachusetts land zoned for single-family homes requires nearly an acre per house, per the National Zoning Atlas. Tuesday's Question 7 would allow a home on 5,000 sq ft lots with sewer and water. Starter homes need small lots. zoningatlas.org/zoning-repor…
bellingham votes tuesday on banning rent-pricing software. collusion is already illegal, and the doj's realpage settlement already bars realpage from using rivals' nonpublic rent data. apartments the ban would add: zero. yahoo.com/news/politics/arti…
Patrick M. Brenner retweeted
Shift 10% of big-truck freight to rail and you save 1.5 billion+ gallons of fuel a year, railroads told Congress. UP and NS project their merger takes 2.1 million truckloads a year off the road. It won't set diesel prices. It would burn less diesel. southwestpolicy.com/diesel-i…
Patrick M. Brenner retweeted
When an account is overdrawn, "the bank instantly extends unsecured credit with no collateral, no underwriting, and no repayment guarantee."
@pmbrenner91 in @thehill (Sept. 2025): "Risk and price are inextricably linked."
southwestpolicy.com/the-hill…
Patrick M. Brenner retweeted
The @NAIC reported $161.4 million in 2024 revenue, but its key-employee pay isn't public. Michigan law requires NAIC to report it there. A policy brief by @pmbrenner91 urges other states: "Enact a Michigan-style reporting statute."
southwestpolicy.com/regulati…
