In Defense of Greed

The recent rent control laws are a case in point. A recap: The New York state legislature passed a slew of bills recently in the name of protecting tenants. This legislation severely limits landlords’ say over their own property and grants tenants facing eviction up to a year to find a similar apartment in the same area after a reasonable search.

Since I wrote the article about the new rent laws in these pages about a month ago, I’ve been stopped by quite a few people and been accused on the letters pages and in outside opinion pieces of taking one side in a legitimate debate. So let’s be clear: This law is about more than just paying the rent.

A wave of socialism has engulfed this nation over the past few years. It is hard to know whether this is skin-deep or deep-rooted. Candidates for president are falling over each other to propose the more radical plan, the more expensive proposal, the executive order they will issue to grab more taxpayer dollars.

Bernie Sanders will abolish private health care and give it away free at a cost of $32 trillion over a decade. Don’t bother with the math, it’ll break the calculator. Not to be outdone, Elizabeth Warren is promising free college and student debt forgiveness at a cost of $1.25 trillion. A number of the 24 declared candidates running for the Democratic nomination have embraced Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal,” a $96 trillion plan that regulates everything from houses to cows, jobs and health care.