Hi friends,
Conservatives know what every working family knows: America is still too expensive.
We must stay engaged and we MUST get out the vote. President Trump’s policies are working. This ship is turning around, but you don’t undo years of bad policies in 18 months.
Time to focus on keeping the administration strong and keeping the power of Congress to continue the wins.
Affordability
A trip to the grocery store costs too much. Filling a tank costs too much. Families who work hard deserve better. They are concerned. We must meet that concern honestly.
No president, Congress, or governor can erase years of accumulated price increases overnight. A lower rate of inflation does not mean that prices immediately return to where they were. We did not get into this problem in a day, and we will not get out of it in a day.
But that is not an excuse for inaction. It is a reason to keep moving in the right direction.
The conservative answer to affordability is not another government check, another bureaucratic program, or another promise that Washington can manage every detail of family life. The answer is to make America less expensive to build in, produce in, work in, and live in.
That begins with energy.
Gasoline prices are not simply a number on a roadside sign. Higher fuel costs raise the price of food, freight, farm inputs, construction, travel, and nearly everything delivered to a store shelf. The uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz is a reminder that energy security abroad reaches directly into the American household budget. We can’t change that overnight either.
America cannot control every foreign conflict. But we can control whether we are prepared for one.
We should produce the energy we need here at home. Check! We should build the pipelines, refineries, transmission, storage, and infrastructure needed to keep the country running. Check! We should pursue reliable power, including oil and gas, nuclear energy, and other sources that can strengthen the grid without making families hostage to foreign instability. Check!
Energy abundance is not merely an economic issue. It is a national-security issue and a family-security issue.
Housing is another affordability test. We need more starter homes, more manufactured housing, more responsible development, and faster, fairer permitting.
But conservatives also require that growth respects property rights. The answer to high costs is not to steamroll ranchers, farmers, homeowners, and rural communities for the benefit of politically connected developers. Infrastructure projects, data centers, pipelines, transmission lines, and industrial facilities must be transparent, properly sited, accountable for water and road impacts, and respectful of landowners’ rights.
We can build more without surrendering local control. We can strengthen the economy without sacrificing the people who steward the land and produce our food.
That is the conservative difference.
We believe in work, ownership, family, local communities, and the dignity of self-government. We believe that a stronger economy is built from the ground up—not imposed from Washington down. We believe a family should keep more of what it earns and face fewer obstacles when it tries to build a life.
The road back to affordability will take persistence. It will require discipline in spending, serious regulatory reform, reliable energy, stronger domestic production, and a willingness to measure results rather than celebrate slogans.
But the direction matters.
Every unnecessary permit removed, every home built, every reliable source of energy brought online, every dollar kept out of Washington’s wasteful machinery, and every property right defended moves us closer to an America in which ordinary people can again afford an ordinary, decent life.
Never stop fighting for freedom. Fight, fight, fight!
References:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/investments/ (Some present, some promised)
BEA reported that new foreign direct-investment expenditures totaled $232.2 billion in 2025, up $76.8 billion—or 49.5%—from 2024.
Texas Comptroller’s Economic Development and Analysis
As always, do your own research and make up your own mind.
White paper on land and water rights: Property Rights and Freedom: A White Paper on America’s Disappearing Land (8/13/2025)
United we stand. Divided we fall. We must not let America fall.
VoteTexas.gov, https://www.votetexas.gov/get-involved/index.html
Disclaimer:
As always, do your own research and make up your own mind. This Substack is provided for informational and commentary purposes only. All claims or statements are based on publicly available sources and are presented as analysis and opinion, not legal conclusions.
No assertion is made of unlawful conduct by any individual, company, or government entity unless such claims are supported by formal public records or verified legal documents. The views expressed here reflect my personal perspective on property rights and land use issues.
While I strive for accuracy and transparency, readers are encouraged to verify all details using the official sources and references provided. Any references to third-party material are included solely for your consideration and do not necessarily reflect my views or imply endorsement.
If you share this content, please include this disclaimer to preserve context and clarity for all readers.
Until next time…
Please share your thoughts in the comments. Or email me, and let’s have a problem-solving conversation. I welcome ‘letters to the editor’ type emails and may publish yours. I hope we can create a caucus with positive, back-to-the-founders’-dream-for-America results. Have a topic you want to know more about?
Some housekeeping…
Going forward, you may need to check your spam folder. And please mark this address as ‘not spam.’ If the newsletter isn’t in your spam folder either, you should look in the Promotions tab.
You can always see everything on the website, RationalAmerican.org.
Thanks again for reading! I’m glad you’re here!
I admire your optimism. Your pathway to affordability is so logical, yet the majority of voters in at least half the US want more government intervention and handouts. How do we convince them to vote differently?