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2 days ago
- Business
Vance made a brief trip to Montana to speak to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, AP says
WASHINGTON -- Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday made a brief trip to Montana, where he spoke to media mogul Rupert Murdoch; his son Lachlan Murdoch, the head of Fox News and News Corp.; and a group of other Fox News executives, according to two people familiar with the trip. Vance met with the group at the Murdoch family ranch in southwest Montana near Dillon, according to the people. They confirmed the visit to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about it. It's not clear why the vice president addressed the group or what they spoke about. A spokesperson for Fox News Channel did not respond to a message seeking comment. The vice president's office does not release a schedule for Vance and did not offer advance notice of the trip, so the surprise arrival of Air Force Two in Butte, Montana, set off local speculation as his motorcade was seen driving away. The Murdoch ranch near Dillon is roughly 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Butte. The ranch, which Murdoch purchased in 2021, is spread across two valleys and a mountain range and has some 12,000 cattle. It sits near Yellowstone National Park along the Montana-Idaho border. According to flight restrictions issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, the vice presidential aircraft was only on the ground for a matter of hours. Vance was scheduled to have lunch with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, according to the president's publicly released schedule, meaning the vice president presumably returned to Washington shortly after meeting the Murdochs 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) away on Tuesday night. Rupert Murdoch and his media organization have long been friendly with Republicans and have, for the most part, had a friendly relationship with Trump. He appeared at Trump's inauguration and was spotted earlier this year in the Oval Office. Rupert Murdoch, 94, stepped down as the head of Fox News and News Corp. in 2023 and handed control over to son Lachlan. Montana state Auditor James Brown told the Montana Talks radio show that he helped Vance's staff arrange the trip. Brown, who did not respond to a message Wednesday from the AP, said he met the vice president when Vance landed at the airport and then helped escort Vance's entourage on an hourlong drive by driving second lady Usha Vance's staff.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Vance made a brief trip to Montana to speak to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, AP sources say
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday made a brief trip to Montana, where he spoke to media mogul Rupert Murdoch; his son Lachlan Murdoch, the head of Fox News and News Corp.; and a group of other Fox News executives, according to two people familiar with the trip. Vance met with the group at the Murdoch family ranch in southwest Montana near Dillon, according to the people. They confirmed the visit to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about it. It's not clear why the vice president addressed the group or what they spoke about. A spokesperson for Fox News Channel did not respond to a message seeking comment. The vice president's office does not release a schedule for Vance and did not offer advance notice of the trip, so the surprise arrival of Air Force Two in Butte, Montana, set off local speculation as his motorcade was seen driving away. The Murdoch ranch near Dillon is roughly 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Butte. The ranch, which Murdoch purchased in 2021, is spread across two valleys and a mountain range and has some 12,000 cattle. It sits near Yellowstone National Park along the Montana-Idaho border. According to flight restrictions issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, the vice presidential aircraft was only on the ground for a matter of hours. Vance was scheduled to have lunch with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, according to the president's publicly released schedule, meaning the vice president presumably returned to Washington shortly after meeting the Murdochs 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) away on Tuesday night. Rupert Murdoch and his media organization have long been friendly with Republicans and have, for the most part, had a friendly relationship with Trump. He appeared at Trump's inauguration and was spotted earlier this year in the Oval Office. Rupert Murdoch, 94, stepped down as the head of Fox News and News Corp. in 2023 and handed control over to son Lachlan. Montana state Auditor James Brown told the Montana Talks radio show that he helped Vance's staff arrange the trip. Brown, who did not respond to a message Wednesday from the AP, said he met the vice president when Vance landed at the airport and then helped escort Vance's entourage on an hourlong drive by driving second lady Usha Vance's staff. ___ Associated Press writers Zeke Miller in Washington and Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Vance made a brief trip to Montana to speak to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, AP sources say
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday made a brief trip to Montana, where he spoke to media mogul Rupert Murdoch; his son Lachlan Murdoch, the head of Fox News and News Corp.; and a group of other Fox News executives, according to two people familiar with the trip. Vance met with the group at the Murdoch family ranch in southwest Montana near Dillon, according to the people. They confirmed the visit to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about it. It's not clear why the vice president addressed the group or what they spoke about. A spokesperson for Fox News Channel did not respond to a message seeking comment. The vice president's office does not release a schedule for Vance and did not offer advance notice of the trip, so the surprise arrival of Air Force Two in Butte, Montana, set off local speculation as his motorcade was seen driving away. The Murdoch ranch near Dillon is roughly 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Butte. The ranch, which Murdoch purchased in 2021, is spread across two valleys and a mountain range and has some 12,000 cattle. It sits near Yellowstone National Park along the Montana-Idaho border. According to flight restrictions issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, the vice presidential aircraft was only on the ground for a matter of hours. Vance was scheduled to have lunch with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, according to the president's publicly released schedule, meaning the vice president presumably returned to Washington shortly after meeting the Murdochs 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) away on Tuesday night. Rupert Murdoch and his media organization have long been friendly with Republicans and have, for the most part, had a friendly relationship with Trump. He appeared at Trump's inauguration and was spotted earlier this year in the Oval Office. Rupert Murdoch, 94, stepped down as the head of Fox News and News Corp. in 2023 and handed control over to son Lachlan. Montana state Auditor James Brown told the Montana Talks radio show that he helped Vance's staff arrange the trip. Brown, who did not respond to a message Wednesday from the AP, said he met the vice president when Vance landed at the airport and then helped escort Vance's entourage on an hourlong drive by driving second lady Usha Vance's staff. ___ Associated Press writers Zeke Miller in Washington and Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Vance made a brief trip to Montana to speak to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, AP sources say
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday made a brief trip to Montana, where he spoke to media mogul Rupert Murdoch; his son Lachlan Murdoch, the head of Fox News and News Corp.; and a group of other Fox News executives, according to two people familiar with the trip. Vance met with the group at the Murdoch family ranch in southwest Montana near Dillon, according to the people. They confirmed the visit to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about it. It's not clear why the vice president addressed the group or what they spoke about. A spokesperson for Fox News Channel did not respond to a message seeking comment. The vice president's office does not release a schedule for Vance and did not offer advance notice of the trip, so the surprise arrival of Air Force Two in Butte, Montana, set off local speculation as his motorcade was seen driving away. The Murdoch ranch near Dillon is roughly 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Butte. The ranch, which Murdoch purchased in 2021, is spread across two valleys and a mountain range and has some 12,000 cattle. It sits near Yellowstone National Park along the Montana-Idaho border. According to flight restrictions issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, the vice presidential aircraft was only on the ground for a matter of hours. Vance was scheduled to have lunch with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, according to the president's publicly released schedule, meaning the vice president presumably returned to Washington shortly after meeting the Murdochs 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) away on Tuesday night. Rupert Murdoch and his media organization have long been friendly with Republicans and have, for the most part, had a friendly relationship with Trump. He appeared at Trump's inauguration and was spotted earlier this year in the Oval Office. Rupert Murdoch, 94, stepped down as the head of Fox News and News Corp. in 2023 and handed control over to son Lachlan. Montana state Auditor James Brown told the Montana Talks radio show that he helped Vance's staff arrange the trip. Brown, who did not respond to a message Wednesday from the AP, said he met the vice president when Vance landed at the airport and then helped escort Vance's entourage on an hourlong drive by driving second lady Usha Vance's staff. ___ Associated Press writers Zeke Miller in Washington and Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report.
New York Post
24-04-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Miranda Devine: Leftists to blame for much of the US housing crisis — as almost a third of Americans are ‘housing-poor'
It was typical of Joe Biden's presidency that, when faced with a difficult problem, he would take the cynical approach of finding a scapegoat to blame while making a promise he never intended to keep. His response to the housing affordability crisis last year was a textbook case: blame 'rent-gouging' landlords and greedy realtors, make the false promise that his administration would build 2 million new homes via more deficit spending, and hope nobody asks questions — a safe bet, considering the incurious media that surrounded him. 'Folks are tired of being played for suckers and I'm tired of letting them be played for suckers,' Biden said in a campaign speech hammering his scapegoats last year. Having promised to lower housing costs during his State of the Union address earlier in the spring, Biden's fiery rhetoric showed he had not the faintest idea how to solve the problem. During his presidency, the cost of a median-price home more than doubled, and rents soared to record highs, according to a Heritage Foundation paper, 'Biden's Housing Headache.' In several cities, it takes more than the entire median household after-tax income to afford a median-price home. Housing-poor adults Almost one-third of American adults are 'housing-poor,' spending 30% or more of their income on a place to live. The result is that Americans 'increasingly live out of their cars because they can't afford housing.' Some cities have taken to reserving parking lots exclusively for homeless workers. Young people have all but given up on the American dream of homeownership that their parents and grandparents achieved. 'The Biden administration has effectively transformed homeownership into a luxury outside the reach of the middle class,' wrote the authors. It should not be this way. But Damian Eales, the CEO of (a fellow News Corp. company), has a plan. His 'Let America Build' campaign launched this week identifies urgent policy changes that would increase housing supply and make homeownership affordable. For instance, relaxing zoning restrictions around transit hubs to allow for development of multi- family housing would go a long way to solving the problem of 4 million 'missing' homes. 'I want America to build more homes,' says Eales. 'The real reason housing is unaffordable is not realtors' commissions. It's a lack of supply and that's a political issue.' In its latest 'Housing Report Card,' has identified states that have successfully met housing demand and those that are failing. No surprise that New York comes in third to last with an F grade, worse even than California. The median listing price for a house in New York is $664,622 while median household income is $81,057. In South Carolina, the most affordable state, the median listing price was almost half at $354,429 while median household income is $64,898. Eales points out that Texas, the third-most affordable state with a median listing price at $370,663, has just 9% of the population of America but represents 15% of new homes being built. By contrast, California (median listing price $756,185) has 12% of the nation's population but only builds about 7% of its new homes. 'In other words it is taking more than it's giving and the upshot is that it is exporting people to Texas,' says Eales. New York is even worse: With 6% of the population, it represents just 3% of new homes being built. Perverse incentive Housing over the past half-century has become a wealth-building vehicle that requires values to increase significantly over time, a perverse incentive achieved only by limiting supply. According to statistics compiled by the National Zoning Atlas for 170,000 New Yorkers are living with family or friends because they can't afford to buy their own place. 'There is demand for more housing units in the metro area that could be met by building more, but there simply aren't enough homes to meet the need,' says Sara Bronin, founder & CEO of Land Use Atlas, Inc. With a complex building code more than 1,000 pages long, 'zoning significantly constrains housing production in New York State,' she says. Get Miranda's latest take Sign up for Devine Online, the newsletter from Miranda Devine Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Want even more news? Check out more newsletters For instance, in Westchester County, multifamily housing is allowed on only 5% of land, and very little is permitted around transit stations. Westchester is exceptionally well served by the Metro-North Railroad, which connects directly to Grand Central Terminal, so relaxing zoning laws around stations as has happened in New Rochelle and White Plains would boost housing supply and stimulate local economies while preserving the semi-rural atmosphere of the rest of the county where half the land is zoned for 1-acre lots. Bronin has logged zoning conditions for every transit station in New York state, and found that only a handful allow for multifamily development. 'Much of the land around transit stations is owned by the state or independent authorities,' Bronin says. 'I am a huge fan of the idea that New York state should consider transit-oriented zoning legislation that requires all jurisdictions with train stations to build multifamily dwellings around them. We're not talking about skyscrapers but reasonably sized developments. Even a small town can support four- or five-story apartment buildings.' Property developers are not investing in multifamily projects in New York City because 'the cash and time costs associated with receiving approval from the city and the restrictions around what can be built is slowing housing-inventory growth in the metropolitan area.' In other words, politicians accommodating NIMBY tastes have pushed up housing prices by 'manufacturing scarcity,' to borrow a phrase from the hot new book for Democrats, 'Abundance,' by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. Blue state scarcity The authors point out the scarcity of housing is most acute in the richest cities in blue states governed by progressive elites. Between 1940 and 1950, America built 8.5 million new housing units, they say. But in the late 1970s, home construction started to fall behind the pace of population growth, and the cost of housing relative to wages began to rise. 'After the Great Recession, the housing market crashed, and home construction in the 2010s was obliterated.' 'Today, the average number of dwellings per thousand people in the developed world is about 470, according to the OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development]. France and Italy have nearly 600. Japan and Germany have about 500. The US has only about 425 . . . The result is a housing crisis of staggering proportions.' It means residents of blue states and cities are voting with their feet. In 2023, New York lost 284,000 more residents than it gained. 'Young families are leaving large urban metros so quickly that several counties — including those encompassing Manhattan, Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco — are on pace to lose 50% of their under-5 childhood population in the next 20 years.' Michael Bloomberg once declared when he was mayor that housing in New York City was 'a high-end product, maybe even a luxury product.' But that's not a healthy situation, and leads to a city of vast wealth disparities where nobody wants to live.
