The Trump Effect – During Good Economic Times
With less than two months to go until the general election, a new poll is providing a potential boost to Republicans hoping to keep control of the house. Sixty-nine percent of respondents to a new CNN poll rated the current economy as "somewhat" or "very good" — and 49 percent approved of Donald Trump's handling of the economy. But there’s a downside for Republicans, too: among that same group of people, the President’s overall job approval rating is only 36-percent. That’s down 6 points from last month. With a new White House controversy almost every day, the president's favorability and trustworthy ratings are dropping as well. So with numbers like these, do all-in Trump supporters have any real chance of winning beyond the deepest of red states? And how will pro-Trump candidates in Massachusetts, like Republican Senate candidate Geoff Diehl, end up impacting more moderates like Governor Charlie Baker, who just gave Diehl his endorsement? Jim Braude was joined by Jesse Mermell - former communications director for Governor Deval Patrick, and Jennifer Nassour, former chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party and COO of ReflectUS, a bipartisan, female-focused political organization.
Are Boston’s Luxury Apartments Serving As Cash Cows?
A new report from the Institute for Policy Studies finds that more than a third of the units in Boston’s new luxury buildings are owned by limited liability companies and trusts — thus allowing their owners to remain anonymous. And 64 percent of the owners in these buildings do not claim a residential tax exemption. What does this mean? It means the owners are using these $3 million units as either second homes or investment properties — turning them into what the report's authors refer to as "wealth-storage units." And the authors say some units have the signs that, in other jurisdictions, would trigger an investigation for possible money laundering. Jim Braude was joined by Boston City Councilor Lydia Edwards, chair of the Committee on Housing and Community Development, and Chuck Collins, one of the report’s authors.
A New View of Sally Mann
Next up — the photographs of Sally Mann are a study in reconciliation. Raised in Lexington, Virginia — she loves her native South, but is well aware of its traumatizing history, she loves her children, but also knows the perils of childhood and innocence. As Arts Editor Jared Bowen shows us — her once-controversial photographs are now on view at the Peabody Essex Museum.
IMHO: Extend Housing Help for Displaced Puerto Ricans
Jim Braude gives his thoughts on the hundreds of Puerto Ricans still in housing limbo in the continental U.S. after last year’s hurricanes.
