I know housing is expensive.
Trust me.
Spend enough time in the metro New York City area, and you’ll discover that “starter home” has become one of the funniest phrases in the English language. People are putting prices on houses today that would have gotten them institutionalized 20 years ago.
So, yes, housing matters.
Families need homes. Young couples deserve a shot at ownership. Builders need less bureaucracy. Interest rates need to come down. All true.
But let me ask a question. If your house is on fire, do you stop and rearrange the furniture?
Apparently, Congress does.
This week, President Trump effectively told Washington to put its bipartisan housing celebration on hold because he wants Congress focused on the SAVE Act.
Good. So do I.
And frankly, I’m tired of pretending this is some fringe issue.
I’ve said repeatedly on my radio program that the SAVE Act is the single most important issue facing the nation right now.
Not because housing doesn’t matter. Not because inflation doesn’t matter. Not because energy prices don’t matter. But because none of those things matter if Americans lose confidence in the system that governs all of them.
I’ve spent decades talking to Americans from every corner of this country. I’ve interviewed presidents, Cabinet secretaries, senators, governors, billionaires, pastors, activists, and thousands of ordinary citizens.
I’ve never had a single caller tell me: “Kevin, I don’t really care whether elections are honest.”
Not one.
Normal Americans understand something Washington seems determined to forget.
Trust comes first. Everything else comes after.
If the scoreboard isn’t accurate, nobody cares who won the game. If the accounting books aren’t honest, nobody trusts the company. If elections aren’t trusted, eventually nobody trusts the government.
This isn’t complicated. And maybe that’s why this issue keeps me awake at night.
I’m genuinely concerned.
Not about the next news cycle. Not about the next poll. Not even about the next election.
I’m worried about what kind of country my children and, God willing, my grandchildren will inherit.
Every week, it seems another openly Marxist candidate wins a primary somewhere. Another radical movement gains ground. Another politician tells Americans that the principles that made this nation exceptional are somehow outdated, oppressive, or no longer relevant.
And sitting underneath all of it is a question we should have settled years ago: Can Americans trust their elections?
Because if they can’t, everything else becomes negotiable.
Liberty becomes negotiable. Rights become negotiable. Self-government becomes negotiable. And once a people lose confidence in self-government, history tells us they eventually lose self-government itself.
What fascinates me is watching the opposition perform intellectual gymnastics to avoid answering a very simple question.
Should American elections be decided by American citizens?
That’s it. That’s the whole test.
Not a dissertation. Not a symposium. Not a cable-news panel. A simple yes-or-no question.
Meanwhile, the same people who demanded identification cards to enter office buildings, airports, schools, concerts, sporting events, federal facilities, and half the restaurants in America suddenly become constitutional scholars when someone suggests voters prove citizenship.
Apparently, buying cold medicine requires more verification than helping choose the president of the United States.
Makes perfect sense. If you’re out of your mind.
What I appreciate about President Trump’s position is that he understands priorities.
Washington loves process. Trump loves pressure points.
Washington says, “Let’s keep moving.” Trump asks, “Are we dealing with the most important thing first?”
This time, I believe he is.
Because housing can be fixed. Inflation can be fixed. Energy prices can be fixed. Even government waste can be fixed if enough people are willing to fight it.
Broken trust is harder. Much harder. Ask anyone who’s ever lost it.
Which brings me to the Senate.
I frankly don’t care who gets credit. I don’t care if Mitch McConnell is irritated. I don’t care if consultants think giving President Trump a legislative victory somehow changes the political landscape.
This isn’t about Trump. This is about the republic.
Leader Thune and every member of the United States Senate should understand that millions of Americans view this issue as foundational.
Not optional. Foundational.
Poll after poll shows overwhelming support for clean, reliable, transparent elections among Republicans, Independents, and even large majorities of Democrats. The American people are not confused. Washington is. Which is why citizens should make their voices heard.
Respectfully. Firmly. Relentlessly.
The Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121.
Call.
Tell them to pass the SAVE Act. Tell them election integrity matters. Tell them trust matters. Tell them America matters.
Because the men who signed the Declaration of Independence pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to establish self-government.
Some lost businesses. Some lost homes. Some lost family. Some lost everything.
Compared to that, making a phone call isn’t much of a sacrifice.
As America approaches her 250th birthday, I’m reminded that freedom is never inherited automatically. Every generation must decide whether it is willing to defend it.
The Founders fought for us when the cost was unimaginably high. The least we can do is fight to preserve what they built.
And if we aren’t willing to know who is participating in our elections, then we’re no longer protecting the republic. We’re gambling with it.
And that’s a bet my children and grandchildren should never have to pay for.