“You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the consequences of reality.” – Ayn Rand. “No one’s rights can be secured by the violation of the rights of others.” – Ayn Rand. Controversy can be useful in highlighting issues that are not properly understood. An evidence-based case can be made that much of American History is misunderstood by millions, just as much of affordable housing and manufactured home history is also misunderstood including among manufactured housing professionals. Following this preface, this report will provide a new op-ed by Judge Andrew Napolitano that touches on a controversial and frankly questionable view of President Abraham Lincoln (R). Judge Napolitano does so in passing, as the focus of his op-ed is property rights, President Woodrow Wilson (D), the rise of the administrative state in the U.S. Napolitano uses some history to shed light on a recent Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruling to make some relevant and thoughtful points that ought to be consider despite the controversial aspect of his column. In an era when “woke,” Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) are buzzwords that are also subject to misunderstanding, there may be an opportunity to take his controversial remarks and turn them into an opportunity in disguise.

To tee up his column, note that Judge Napolitano has written nine books on the U.S. Constitution, per WND. The most recent is “Suicide Pact: The Radical Expansion of Presidential Powers and the Lethal Threat to American Liberty.”

The win that Napolitano’s fact-packed op-ed that follows below covers may shed light on an upcoming Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) case that is pending which the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) recently advised industry professionals about.

That noted, Napolitano’s new column is one that exposes a notion of his that he’s previously raised which is highly controversial. It is about President Lincoln, who is much beloved in American folklore and understandably so. Thus, Napolitano’s passing remarks about Lincoln, which in several ways will seek odd and uncomfortable for modern minds. In any controversy between thoughtful individuals, it is useful to try to understand the other party’s perspective, even if (or especially if) there is disagreement on one or more issues. It is only when people can personally or virtually communicate in an authentic manner that disagreements can be peacefully resolved.

That said, with some qualifiers, the thrust of Napolitano’s article is worth applying the principle of separating the wheat from the chaff.

• Part I of today’s report is the op-ed by Judge Napolitano provided to MHProNews courtesy of the WND NewsCenter.
• Part II is additional information with more MHProNews analysis and commentary in brief it will include a look at a song popularized by Joan Baez that along with some context from left-leaning Wikipedia will shed light on the President Lincoln aspect of Napolitano’s report without necessarily agreeing with it.
• Part III is our Daily Business News on MHProNews manufactured housing and macro market updates and left-right headline news recap.

Grab a favorite beverage, buckle up, and prepare to enter into a realm of American history that has been harmful to millions but which is apparently not being properly addressed or understood by many oif not most pundits, thinkers, and Americans.

 

Part I.

One final trigger warning. Napolitano takes aim a couple of times at President Abraham Lincoln (R), who is best known and celebrated for freeing the slaves during the Civil War and ending chattel slavery in America. History is complex, as are people. As his article makes clear, Napolitano’s key target is President Woodrow Wilson (D) and his role in creating the modern administrative state and other problems that plague our nation today. That’s the wheat that should be sifted from the chaff, but we will look at both in Part II, further below. From the WND NewsCenter to MHProNews is the following.

 

THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE

EPA can no longer regulate that mud puddle

Andrew Napolitano lauds Supreme Court for Madisonian ruling on property rights

By Andrew Napolitano
Published June 1, 2023 at 7:26pm

Last week, the United States Supreme Court, in a surprising display of unanimity, upheld the traditional values underlying property rights when it prevented the Environmental Protection Administration from regulating mud puddles.

Here is the backstory.

I have often thought that after Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson was our worst president. By worst is meant least faithful to the Constitution and most destructive of personal liberty.

With the exception of Lincoln’s dictatorship – during which the federal government used violence to crush the states’ natural rights to secede from a compact they had voluntarily joined, and instead brought about the systematic destruction of 750,000 persons – America from its founding to the early part of the 20th century more or less enjoyed the James Madison model for the federal government.

Under this model, the federal government could only legislate, spend and tax in the 16 discrete areas of governance that the Constitution delegated to it. All other areas of human behavior were left free to individual choices or governance by the states.

From and after Wilson’s presidency, the Madisonian model was replaced by the Wilsonian one. Under this model, the feds could legislate, spend and tax in any areas of human behavior for which there was a national political will, except for those areas that are expressly prohibited to them by the Constitution.

Gradually, the courts permitted Congress basically to write any law, regulate any behavior, spend any money, tax any event and intrude upon any relationship so long as it did not offend an express constitutional prohibition.

The Constitution itself – which Madison designed both to establish the federal government and to limit it – has been a dismal failure as an instrument of limitation. Madison himself wrote that only a structure external to the Constitution could be relied upon to keep the federal government within the confines of the Constitution.

He was referring to the power of the states to nullify acts of the federal government that the states determined were outside its constitutional authority. He was also referring to the natural right that individuals and political subdivisions have to leave the government, called secession. Just as the 13 colonies seceded from Great Britain, Madison argued, individuals can reject the government, smaller subdivisions can leave larger ones and states can leave the feds.

One is not truly free if one cannot leave the government. This applies to persons as well as to political subdivisions. The forced retention of persons or geographical units under the government’s monopolistic jurisdiction is totalitarian.

Without the threat of nullification and secession, there is no effective restraint on the feds.

Now back to Wilson. His governmental sins were many – World War I, the Espionage Act, the federal income tax, the popular election of U.S. senators, the Federal Reserve, rampant racism and his government by experts, known today as the administrative state.

This last insidious structure is not in any branch of constitutional government. It writes rules, enforces them and interprets them. As an example, the U.S. Tax Code, enacted by Congress, runs to 2,600 pages. It is an indecipherable monstrosity. But the IRS’s own regulations – written by IRS bureaucrats, not by Congress – run to 9,000 pages. And the IRS’s interpretations of its own regulations run to 70,000 pages. This is Wilson’s government by experts.

According to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, this is an unconstitutional delegation of Congress’ legislative powers to governmental entities not answerable to the voters. Administrative agency heads are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. But the folks who write, interpret and enforce the rules are permanent bureaucrats who do not change, no matter who is in the White House.

After Congress established the EPA, it authorized it to regulate “waters of the United States.” Based on that five-word phrase, the EPA determined that it had the authority to regulate all bodies of water anywhere in the U.S. This theory was based on expert opinions that all bodies of water are eventually and ultimately connected to each other below the earth’s surface, and thus, EPA can regulate all waters, even wetlands, even mud puddles.

Among the regulations EPA promulgated was a prohibition on the building of any structures that “might affect” mud puddles. Of course, there is no authority in the Constitution for such regulations. Many folks, who either did not challenge similar restrictions on the use of their own lands or who did so and lost, ended up with property on which they pay real estate taxes but for which they have no economically viable use.

The “might affect” standard – written, interpreted and enforced by bureaucrats – is really an assault on the values underlying private property ownership. Yet, by defining “waters of the United States” as only those that have a continuous surface connection to established waters unambiguously owned by the United States, the court not only applied the common understanding of English words, it also manifested the Madisonian respect for the primacy of the wishes of property owners over those of the government.

Property results from the application of labor to natural resources. Property is a component of freedom. The essence of property is the right of the owner to use it, to sell or lease or mortgage it, and to exclude from it whomever the owner wishes – even the government.

When the government enters upon property without the owner’s consent, or when the government bars the owner from using his property as he wishes, this is more constitutionally offensive than a taking for which the Constitution requires the government to pay fair value. Rather, it is an assault on a basic moral principle of human interaction – namely, that the only moral commercial transactions are those which are truly voluntary.

It is free will that government crushes when it assaults property rights. Every once in a while, the courts recognize that. ##

 

Part II – Additional Information with More MHProNews Analysis and Commentary in Brief

“Without the threat of nullification and secession, there is no effective restraint on the feds,” said Judge Napolitano. While the thirst to control the federal government is common among millions of Americans is common and thus understandable, that line by the judge is debatable too. It should arguably should have been rephrased by Napolitano. There are several ways available to restrain the federal government, which ironically Napolitano himself touched on in passing.

Before pivoting to an analysis on his commentary on the Administrative state in the recent SCOTUS decision, let’s pivot first to a better understanding of the War Between the States, better known as the Civil War. As the headline teased, that will be done by starting with the Joan Baez version of a once hit song “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” which has been called into question as more people have “gone woke.”

Definitions are useful. Woke’s meaning has been described as follows. “Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning “alert to racial prejudice and discrimination” per left-leaning Wikipedia.

First, let’s consider some remarks about “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” balad courtesy of Wikipedia, and then the song and lyrics itself. Coupled with some analysis in the light of other evidence and facts, that will then be used to pivot back to some points that Judge Napolitano alludes to but doesn’t directly address in his column above, perhaps due to word count restraints. With that plan, let’s proceed.

 

“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down“

“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” is a song written by Robbie Robertson and originally recorded by the Canadian-American roots rock group the Band in 1969…” “Joan Baez‘s version peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 on 2 October 1971; it did likewise on the Cashbox Top 100 chart.” So says Wikipedia on 6.3.2023.

• Recall that during 1969 and 1971, the Vietnam War was being fought.
• The Civil Rights movement and its nuanced impact on housing issues was also fresh.
• Per Barron’s: “President Richard Nixon announcing the severing of links between the dollar and gold as part of a broad economic plan on Aug. 15, 1971.”
• Per a history section of the U.S. State Department website: “On August 15, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon announced his New Economic Policy, a program “to create a new prosperity without war.” Also per that State Department post: “Nixon announced his New Economic Policy in an address to the nation on “The Challenge of Peace.” Asserting that progress in bringing an end to U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam meant that it was time for Americans to turn their minds to the challenges of a post-Vietnam world, Nixon identified a three-fold task: “We must create more and better jobs; we must stop the rise in the cost of living; we must protect the dollar from the attacks of international money speculators.” To achieve the first two goals, he proposed tax cuts and a 90-day freeze on prices and wages; to achieve the third, Nixon directed the suspension of the dollar’s convertibility into gold. He also ordered that an extra 10 percent tariff be levied on all dutiable imports; like the suspension of the dollar’s gold convertibility, this measure was intended to induce the United States’ major trading partners to adjust the value of their currencies upward and the level of their trade barriers downward so as to allow for more imports from the United States.”

Those points noted, returning to Wikipedia’s narrative on the Baez version of the ballad.

The lyrics tell of the last days of the American Civil War, portraying the suffering of the protagonist, Virgil Caine, a poor white Southerner. Dixie is the historical nickname for the states making up the Confederate States of America.[6] The song’s opening stanza refers to one of George Stoneman‘s raids behind Confederate lines attacking the railroads of Danville, Virginia, at the end of the Civil War in 1865…”

“Some commentators in the 21st century have questioned whether the song’s original lyrics made it an endorsement of slavery and the ideology of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy.[14] In 2009, writing in The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates characterized the song as “another story about the blues of Pharaoh.”[15]”

“An editorial in The Roanoke Times in 2020 argued that these views are based on a misunderstanding of the song, which does not glorify slavery, the Confederacy, or Robert E. Lee, but, rather, tells the story of a poor, non-slave-holding Southerner who tries to make sense of the loss of his brother and his livelihood. It notes that it was written, not by a Southerner, but by a Canadian, and contained factual errors.[17] Jack Hamilton, of the University of Virginia, writing in Slate, said that it is “an anti-war song first and foremost”, pointing to the references to “bells ringing” and “people singing” in the chorus.[18]”

Joan Baez version

“The most successful version of the song was the one by Joan Baez, which became a RIAA-certified Gold record on 22 October 1971.[19] In addition to chart action on the Hot 100, the record spent five weeks atop the easy listening chart.[20] “”

“The Baez recording had some changes in the lyrics.[21] Baez later told Rolling Stone‘s Kurt Loder that she initially learned the song by listening to the recording on the Band’s album, and had never seen the printed lyrics at the time she recorded it, and thus sang the lyrics as she had (mis)heard them.”

With that background, here is the song and lyrics performed live in 1971.

 

 

This live recording by Baez of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is from 1978. Remarks posted on YouTube reveal that this song is still much beloved.

 

 

One reason to include music in this column is music often sticks in the mind. But it also sheds lights on the topics raised by the judge’s op-ed. More following the lyrics and credits.

 

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Song by Joan Baez

Lyrics

Virgil Caine is my name and I drove on the Danville train

‘Til so much cavalry came and tore up the tracks again

In the winter of ’65, we were hungry, just barely alive

I took the train to Richmond that fell

It was a time I remember, oh so well

 

The night they drove old Dixie down

And all the bells were ringin’

The night they drove old Dixie down

And all the people were singin’

They went, “Na, na-na-na, na-na”

“Na, na, na-na, na-na, na-na-na”

 

Back with my wife in Tennessee and one day she said to me

“Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee”

Now, I don’t mind, I’m chopping wood

And I don’t care if the money’s no good

Just take what you need and leave the rest

But they should never have taken the very best

 

The night they drove old Dixie down

And all the bells were ringin’

The night they drove old Dixie down

And all the people were singin’

They went, “Na, na-na-na, na-na”

“Na, na, na-na, na-na, na-na-na”

 

Like my father before me, I’m a workin’ man

And like my brother before me, I took a rebel stand

Well, he was just eighteen, proud and brave

But a Yankee laid him in his grave

I swear by the blood below my feet

You can’t raise the Cain[e] back up when it’s in defeat

 

The night they drove old Dixie down

And all the bells were ringin’

The night they drove old Dixie down

And all the people were singin’

They went, “Na, na-na-na, na-na”

“Na, na, na-na, na-na, na-na-na”

 

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: פרידור שי / חן אודי / Robertson, Jaime Robbie

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down lyrics © Universal Music Corp., Canaan Music, Inc., Pw Arrangements, Canaan Music Inc. ##

 

Unpacking – The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down – Meaning, Then How It Relates to Judge Napolitano’s Thesis

That song is packed with meaning, as poetry and ballads often are. It should be stressed that all songs are products of the time they were written. Songs, poetry and other forms of artistic expression are forged in part by the cultural, economic, and political currents and the grasp of history of a given era.

Before pressing deeper, the following is per SongMeanings, which offers this interpretation of the lyrics.

Virgil Caine is a railroad engineer–a good job because it’s more stable than farming (like his father) and it gets him exempted from conscription. He supports the Confederacy because he lives and works there and because even in the middle of a war, his life looks pretty good. He might even become a railroad conductor some day.

In late March 1865, Union Major General George Stoneman leads a cavalry division through northwestern North Carolina, southern Virginia, and Tennessee, tearing up railroad tracks at every opportunity to cut the lifeline between Virginia and the states further south. It’s not in the song, but Virgil is no fool. He knows what his trains have been carrying to Richmond. Realizing that the war is almost over, he packs up his wife and they move to Tennesee Lee’s surrender. By May 10th, one month and one day after the surrender, Virgil has given up all hope. Apparently he holds out in Virginia until Jefferson Davis passes through Danville after the surrender, but knowing all is lost, he and his wife move to Tennessee.

Railroads aren’t running. and Virgil has to cut wood for his livelihood. His customers, some of whom are probably Union occupation troops, take the best of his wood and they don’t pay well. It’s not in the song, but all around he sees the economic, social, and political system of the south in ruins. One day, his wife calls to him to point out the steamboat Robert E. Lee on the Mississippi. The Lee was (and might still be) the fastest commercial vessel on the river. The boat, however, was built in Indiana. It’s decor is majestic, but it has nothing to do with what Virgil’s life is like now.

When Virgil says “Like my father before me, I will work the land,” he is expressing his determination to get back something of what he has lost. It would have been much easier if his brother had survived the war to work with him, but as it is, Virgil is alone. “You can’t raise a Caine back up when it’s in defeat.”

What about the chorus? On the night the war ended, bells undoubtedly rang to celebrate the return of peace. “na na na na na na na na na”? That could have been any of a number of syllables. For me, at least, “Na na na” conjures schoolyard taunting: “You can’t catch me. Na na-na na na.”

 

MHVille’s Danville Connection

Note that Danville is in Virginia. Danville happened to be the site for the field hearings by Congress of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (MHIA). The MHIA happened to have explored, among other issues, the failure by HUD to implement the so-called “enhanced preemption” segment of the federal law. Rephrased, an apparent failure of the administrative state ironically is explored by members of Congress at the same location that is mentioned in “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” song.  You just can’t make these coincidences up.

 

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The Robert E. Lee paddleboat, per Wikipedia:

Robert E. Lee (steamboat)

History
Launched	1866, at New Albany, Indiana

 

The song’s lyrics mention “Now, I don’t mind, I’m chopping wood. And I don’t care if the money’s no good.” The comments cited above in SongMeanings noted that: “His [Virgil Caine’s] customers, some of whom are probably Union occupation troops, take the best of his wood and they don’t pay well. It’s not in the song, but all around he sees the economic, social, and political system of the south in ruins.” There is some truth to that, but part of that economic ‘ruin’ was arguably the fact that the paper Confederate dollars were “no good.” So, there is certainly a possible interpretation which holds a lesson for us today. Because our paper dollars have dropped in value significantly in recent years to what’s commonly called “inflation.” More precisely, contemporary paper (fiat) dollars are being eroded in value, or are being devalued. The effect is that prices as measured by those paper dollars seem ‘inflated’ or are higher. Newcomers or those who missed it may recall the fact that Biden-era inflation was a product of Democratic policies, as a leading Democrat – then House Majority Whip James Clyburn – said.

 

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Back to the song.

For centuries, wars have been fought in part based upon propaganda. That was true of the Civil War, it was true of the Vietnam War. The Southern states allowed slavery, but most southerners were not slave holders. There were some black slave holders, but most were white. There were free blacks as well as enslaved ones. Jumping back in time, there was a period in U.S. history where whites were indentured servants. Meaning, the issue of personal freedom in U.S. history is often obscured and distorted, for whatever reasons. Perhaps due to the considerable focus on the role that slavery played in America in recent decades, what is often missed is that slavery has been a global phenomenon. The map below clarifies that point, because every continent in the world, with the possible exception of frozen Antartica, has had long episodes of slavery. There have been and still are variations of slavery, such as indentured servitude or feudalistic serfdom. Indeed, before ‘whites’ came to the Americas, there was already slavery here. When one indigenous tribe defeated another, it was not uncommon that the vanquished would become slaves of the victors. Oddly, by focusing so much on slavery in the past, what is being missed is the threats of slavery in the present in places like Communist China and the rising of a new feudalism.

Notice: the graphic below can be expanded to a larger size.

See the instructions below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.

 

Slavery was a central, but not the only issue that sparked the Civil War (a.k.a. War between the States). Indeed, as Study.com points out: “Most historians agree that about 15-25% of Southerners owned slaves on the eve of the Civil War.” So, most did not own slaves. Left-leaning PBS said similarly: “Even with this enormous expansion of slavery, 75 percent of white southerners did not own slaves.” So, what was it that the Baez ballad about Virgil Caine and others in the South fought for, if not for slavery?

Battlefields, in a post on the Reasons for Succession (which begins to close in on Judge Napolitano’s thoughts on President Lincoln) says: “Many maintain that the primary cause of the war was the Southern states’ desire to preserve the institution of slavery. Others minimize slavery and point to other factors, such as taxation or the principle of States’ Rights.” In fact, a review of primary sources does indicate that slavery was a key issue, but not the only one. States rights, for example, was a concern.

That same article in Battlefields points out that: “Debates concerning the true causes of the Civil War are unlikely to cease.  Historians often cherry-pick evidence that supports preconceived notions while ignoring large quantities of contradictory material.” It aptly points out that each state declared its reasons for succession that often included slavery, but noted other factors too.

Citing the successionist document from Texas, they complained that the federal government wasn’t protecting them from incursions from Mexico (sound familiar?), nor against Indians (Native Americans). Texans during the War Between the States thought they may have been better off as the independent Republic of Texas.

Another example that look at original sources looked at the southern state of Georgia. Under the heading: “Georgia accuses Northern manufacturing interests of exploiting the South and dominating the federal government” are these remarks.

The material prosperity of the North was greatly dependent on the Federal Government; that of the South not at all.” “The navigating interests [of the North] begged for protection against foreign shipbuilders and against competition in the coasting trade. Congress granted both requests, and by prohibitory acts gave an absolute monopoly of this business to each of their interests, which they enjoy without diminution to this day. Not content with these great and unjust advantages, they have sought to throw the legitimate burden of their business as much as possible upon the public; they have succeeded in throwing the cost of light-houses, buoys, and the maintenance of their seamen upon the Treasury, and the Government now pays above $2,000,000 annually for the support of these objects. [MHProNews note: $2,000,000 in 1860 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $73,099,518.07 today, an increase of $71,099,518.07 over 163 years, per an inflation calculator linked here.] Theses interests, in connection with the commercial and manufacturing classes, have also succeeded, by means of subventions to mail steamers and the reduction in postage, in relieving their business from the payment of about $7,000,000 annually, throwing it upon the public Treasury under the name of postal deficiency. The manufacturing interests entered into the same struggle early, and has clamored steadily for Government bounties and special favors.”

Some in America cynically want to tap into the animus that arises with the topic of slavery. However, as was mentioned earlier, modern slavery is widely ignored and tolerated, which calls into question the understanding of the issue past or present.

Notice: the graphic below can be expanded to a larger size.

See the instructions below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.

 

Some assert that there are millions of de facto slaves in Communist China, yet the U.S. gave them most favored nation trade status years ago. As left-leaning Wikipedia says: “In the 1990s, continued “most favored nation” status for the People’s Republic of China by the United States created controversy in the USA because of its sales of sensitive military technology and China’s serious and continuous persecution of human rights. China’s MFN status was made permanent on December 27, 2001.” There are those who say that forms of slavery is occurring in Africa, other parts of Asia, and even in the Americas.

So, without agreeing with Judge Napolitano on Lincoln’s supposedly being the worst president ever, there are issues that many gloss over with respect to Lincoln and American history before, during and after the U.S. Civil War.

As the brief review of U.S. history, partially through the lens of that Joan Baez version of “The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down,” reflected there are several woes then and now. Some believed that key business interests dominated the federal government. The loss of gold backing for the dollar was a factor then and now in the purchasing power of paper (fiat) currency. Wars and conflicts are fought in part due to the  military-industrial complex and intelligence agency interests, as Presidents Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower (R) and John F. Kennedy (D) each said in their own ways.

That noted, Napolitano makes an interesting point about Woodrow Wilson and the rise of the modern administrative state. There is talk today of succession between ‘red states’ and ‘blue states.’

History is often told through the lens of the winner of a conflict. History is often twisted to suit an agenda. Because most don’t pay enough attention to history, those who twist it often get away with it.

From the official U.S. Census for 1860, which means, pre-Civil War, among the observations is that in South Carolina, the “free coloreds” (i.e.: blacks) population grew at a faster rate than whites and slaves. From page vi of that year’s census, linked here, are the following insights.

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See the instructions below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.

Also, per the U.S. Census Bureau: “Owning one’s home has long been considered a part of the “American Dream.” In 2000, 2-in-3 householders in the United States owned their own homes; in 1900, less than half owned their homes.”

The case can be made that authentic human progress can’t be measured absent a firm and objective moral foundation. If slavery is considered evil, and it routinely is (understandably so), then one must ask. Why is U.S. trade with Communist China tolerated? Why do some black athletes, for example, endorse and celebrate products that are made in China by de facto slave labor? For that matter, why does anyone of any ethnic or racial heritage endorse or celebrate products made by slave labor? Why do so many corporations do business with China, including manufactured housing, when the U.S. has to spend tens of billions of dollars every year for military and social programs that are the consequence of that trade? If slavery was evil then, and a moral case can be made for that, then surely slavery now is to be equally condemned, right?

We have a generation that has come of age during the smart phone era. There is more computing power – and access to raw information – in hundreds of millions of handheld devices today than some of the old bulky Wang computers had. Per Obsolete Computers Museum on the old Wang computers: “The main processor unit measures approximately 2 1/2 feet wide, 2 1/2 feet deep, and 3 feet tall.” “The Wang 2200 Computer had a storage capacity of 4KB RAM.” By comparison, “The Apple iPhone 14 is available in 3 storage options: 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB.” But without the predecessors of the computer industry, like the old Wang, how would the smart phones of today exist? The development in tech or any other aspect of society is rarely even. The lack of understanding of genuine history, which is not partisan because there are problems in the history of both major parties, results in a clearer grasp of why we are where we are in this time and in our place within it.

 

Back to the main points for today.

• Millions today have at best an incomplete view of history. Even many historians have a twisted view of history.
• The size and scope of government in the U.S. has grown astronomically, almost like the difference between a big, old clunky Wang computer and a sleek iPhone. But note that contrast. Governments have grown larger, while computers are smaller and better. Has larger government solved our national ills? Isn’t it obvious that the honest answer is no? Then, how is big, bloated government progress?
• However flawed Judge Napolitano’s thoughts on Lincoln may be, his points on Woodrow Wilson are far more insightful.
• Property rights are fundamental to human rights.

 

• People ought to be ‘free’ in a legal sense to pursue legitimate (moral and lawful) pursuits. Among those ought to be the right to own property.
• Not just war, but other forms of conflicts are routinely the result of propaganda. Just as history was twisted in the insightful but troubling dystopian George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty Four (1984), so too history and current events are both manipulated today.

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• Too many laws and regulations today have limited our freedoms in ways the founders may have never imagined.
• Freedom is never free. The price of freedom includes the willingness to struggle for personal rights and to work to protect the rights of others.
• Rights come from God, not man. That’s what the founders believed, and while the road to liberty for blacks in America was uneven, no one alive today had anything to do with the slavey that existed over 150 years ago.
• It is entirely unjustified to take from another by force or deception that which is the right of another.
• Napolitano is correct in saying the recent SCOTUS ruling is a positive development, because it defends property rights.
• What merits additional understanding is how the rise of the administration or regulatory state in America has largely failed.
• Author of Hunt for Liberty and AMAC member Mike Kapic in an email to MHProNews cited the following three Ayn Rand quotations. Kapic’s thesis proposes a different solution than the break up of the union as what Napolitano oddly suggested is the only check on federal power. It includes using a Convention of the States, and the recovery of the “principles” of the Laws of Nature’s God, Self-Evident Truths, Who Makes the Decisions, the meaning of our Founding Documents, who We the People are and our action toward restoration of our Founders dream for our children’s children.”
• “You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the consequences of reality.” – Ayn Rand
• “If some men are entitled by right to the products of the work of others, it means that those others are deprived of rights.” – Ayn Rand
• “No one’s rights can be secured by the violation of the rights of others.” – Ayn Rand

Part of the game being played in America and in other nations is divide and rule. Pitting people against each other is part of the Machiavellian machination. It doesn’t take much reading to discover the following. Some want a new civil war. Some want to bait members of our society into violent behaviors that will justify martial law. Peaceful paths to recovery do exist, as those who favor a convention of the states, a return to U.S. Senators being appointed by state legislatures, reining in the administrative state (which also includes members involved in the “deep state”), or using a robust application of antitrust and RICO and other laws to tame the deep pockets who have for too long held sway over politicians.

One need not agree with the politics of influential Congressman James Clyburn (SC-D) on history to recognize the truth of these remarks.

 

 

The founders compromised on slavery, it was the ‘only way’ to get consensus in order to fight the British and for the American colonies to become the first 13 independent and confederated states. The U.S.’ first compact between the states. Per the Library of Congress: “The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. However, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781.” On the White House webpage regarding the U.S. Constitution (the second and current one, with amendments) it says: “On September 17, 1787, 39 of the 55 delegates signed the new document, with many of those who refused to sign objecting to the lack of a bill of rights. At least one delegate refused to sign because the Constitution codified and protected slavery and the slave trade.” Some of the founders were slaveholders, but it was not uncommon to see slaveholders to free their slaves upon their death. The carnage of the Civil War was what finally ended the formal institution of slavery in the U.S.A. People ought not be treated as property.

But the battle for the future of the Republic has shifted to other fronts.  Property rights are being thwarted for millions by current de facto if not de jure policies.

An array of threats exist for America. Can they be simplified? Perhaps. If boiled down to core moral principles, then what appears to be complicated can actually become much simpler.

 

 

For people of whatever ethnic, social, economic background or other ‘group’ identity, the time test principle of seeking the truth by sifting out the wheat from the chaff is essential. There is both wheat and chaff in Judge Napolitano’s thoughts posted above. To learn more about these topics, including how they play out in manufactured housing as well as other aspects of our society, see the linked and related reports.

IDing Core Problems – Offering Fixes – ‘Project 2025-Mandate for Leadership’ – Concerns, Facts, Emerging Cures, Plans, and Analysis; plus MHVille Markets Update

 

Supreme Court Case Could Significantly Advance Manufactured Home Producers’ Interests in Nation’s Capital

Name Calling, Evidence, Facts, and Manufactured Housing’s Primary ‘Muckraker’ Shed Light on Manufactured Home Industry Underperformance; plus Sunday Weekly Headlines Recap

Investopedia’s Cautionary Post on Illusory Truth Effect. What Is the Illusory Truth Effect? How Does Illusory Truth Effect Apply in MHVille? Fact Check, Analysis, Viewpoints Plus MH Stocks Update

Part III – Daily Business News on MHProNews Markets and Headline News Segment

The modifications of our prior Daily Business News on MHProNews format of the recap of yesterday evening’s market report are provided below. It still includes our signature left (CNN Business) and right (Newsmax) ‘market moving’ headlines. The macro market moves graphics will provide context and comparisons for those invested in or tracking manufactured housing connected equities.

In minutes a day readers can get a good sense of significant or major events while keeping up with the trends that are impacting manufactured housing connected investing.

Reminder: several of the graphics on MHProNews can be opened into a larger size. For instance: click the image and follow the prompts in your browser or device to OPEN In a New Window. Then, in several browsers/devices you can click the image and increase the size. Use the ‘x out’ (close window) escape or back key to return.

 

Headlines from left-of-center CNN Business – from the evening of 6.2.2023

• Retail sinks
• Here’s the real reason Target’s stock is dropping
• Dow surges over 700 points as investors cheer jobs report and debt ceiling deal
• Twitter loses its top content moderation official at a key moment
• Volkswagen reboots its groovy 60s-era VW Bus. This time it’s faster, roomier and electric
• Owners of 143,000 Lincoln SUVs warned to park outside due to fire risk
• How Chick-fil-A became a target for going ‘woke’
• YouTube will now allow 2020 election denialism content, in policy reversal
• Pigs, rabbits and fish are dying from searing temperatures in China
• Beyond FDIC insurance: How protected is your money outside of banks?
• Dow surges more than 700 points
• Fitch warns it could still downgrade America’s credit rating despite debt ceiling resolution
• Don’t store cash in Venmo and PayPal, US regulator warns
• The US economy added 339,000 jobs last month, soaring past expectations — again
• Airbnb sues New York City over its short-term rental restrictions
• Commercial and multifamily mortgage delinquencies rose in the first part of 2023
• Netflix shareholders reject sky-high executive pay packages
• Apple may soon show off its biggest and riskiest new hardware product in years
• Elon Musk is accused of insider trading by investors in Dogecoin lawsuit
• Hong Kong leads global market rally with best day in three months
• The uber-wealthy are doing just fine and Wall Street is cashing in
• The Senate just passed the debt ceiling bill. Here’s what happens next
• Elon Musk says his Shanghai factory makes the ‘highest quality’ Teslas
• Journalists at the nation’s largest newspaper chain are walking off the job in a showdown with its CEO

 

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See the instructions below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.

Headlines from right-of-center Newsmax 6.2.2023

• House GOP Pushing to Reform FBI Before Reauthorizing FISA
• House Republicans are pushing for major reforms to the FBI following a report on its use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act from special counsel John Durham. [Full Story]
• Newsmax TV
• Fallon: Calls to Oust McCarthy Not ‘Realistic’
• Riley Gaines: Endorsing DeSantis | video
• Lewandowski: Media Treats Biden Gently After Fall | video
• Sethi: Biden ‘Needs to Get a Walker’ | video
• Comer: Biden Allegedly Paid by Country ‘We Haven’t Discussed Yet’ | video
• Kirk Cameron: Millions Are Done With Wokeness | video
• Oliver North: Colleges Teaching What – Not How – to Think | video
• Vance: Debt Ceiling ‘Bad Deal All Around’ | video
• Ric Grenell: Trump Target of 2-Tiered Justice | video
• Tech CEO: Fears of Advanced AI Warranted | video
• Sethi to Newsmax: Biden ‘Needs to Get a Walker’
• President Joe Biden’s falls, including the on-stage spill he took at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation Thursday, are leaving the United States “one hip fracture from Kamala Harris becoming president, and that is very scary” Tennessee trauma surgeon Dr. Manny Sethi tells…… [Full Story]
• Related Stories
• Lewandowski to Newsmax: Media Treats Biden Gently After Fall
• Biden Bangs Head Before Addressing ‘Sandbagged’ Fall
• Biden Trips, Falls During Air Force Graduation Ceremony
• Haley Warns of ‘President Harris’ After Biden’s Fall
• Trump on Latest Biden Fall: ‘That’s Not Inspiring’
• WH: Biden ‘Fine’ After Fall at Air Force Graduation
• DOJ: No Charges for Pence on Classified Docs
• The Department of Justice has informed former Vice President Mike [Full Story]
• At Least 50 Dead, 500 Hurt in India Rail Crash: Officials
• At least 50 people have died, more than 500 were injured and many are [Full Story]
• RNC Sets Date, Criteria for First Presidential Debate
• In a news release on Friday, the Republican National Committee’s [Full Story]
• FBI Director Wray to Brief Comer Monday on Biden Doc
• House Oversight Committee chair James Comer, R-Ky., will be briefed [Full Story]
• More MLB Players Chide Dodgers Over ‘Blasphemous’ Invite
• A growing number of baseball players say there’s no room for “woke” [Full Story] | Platinum Article
• Philadelphia Tourism Agency Promotes LGBTQ Events |video
• Kirk Cameron to Newsmax: Millions of Americans Done With Wokeness |video
• House GOP Pushing to Reform FBI Before Reauthorizing FISA
• House Republicans are pushing for major reforms to the FBI following [Full Story]
• US: Tanks, F-16 Jets Won’t Be Ready for New Ukraine Offensive
• Training for Ukrainian forces on advanced U.S. Abrams tanks has [Full Story]
• Kremlin: NATO Membership for Ukraine Would Cause Problems for Years
• Ukraine Says it Downed 36 Russian Missiles and Drones
• Blinken: No Ukraine Cease-Fire Without Russia’s Withdrawal
• Zelenskyy Orders Audit of All Bomb Shelters in Ukraine
• Russia: Chechen Special Forces Launch Offensive in Ukraine
• Russia: 2 Killed After Ukraine Shelled Border Regions
• Enforcement Lags on Anti-Catholic Crimes
• Attacks on Catholic churches have steadily increased since 2020, [Full Story]
• New North Korean Space Launches Coming ‘Fairly Soon’
• Don’t dismiss North Korea’s failed satellite launch this week as an [Full Story] | Platinum Article
• Iranian American Tells Newsmax of Being Assassination Target
• An Iranian-American targeted for assassination by the Islamic [Full Story]
• Senate Approves Debt Ceiling Deal, Sending It to Biden
• Senate Approves Debt Ceiling Deal, Sending It to Biden
• Fending off a U.S. default, the Senate gave final approval late [Full Story]
• Debt Deal Leaves McCarthy Empowered, Yet Still Threatened From the Right
• Between Fiction and Reality: How Biden Team Spun Debt Ceiling Talks |video
• Trump: GOP Should’ve Gotten More From Debt Deal
• CIA Chief Burns Quietly Visited China in May
• CIA director William Burns visited China last month for talks with [Full Story]
• $1.1B Agreement Reached Over PFAS in Water Supply
• Lawyers have reached a $1.1 billion agreement with DuPont, Chemours, [Full Story]
• Target Takes $12.7B Hit After Pushing DEI
• Since its CEO hailed DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) [Full Story] | video
• Brands Bottoming Out: 5 ‘Woke’ Campaigns Costing Companies |Platinum Article
• Conservatives Slam Disney’s Woke Agendas for Young Girls
• Millions View Musk’s ‘What Is a Woman?’ Tweet
• Elon Musk’s tweet with a link to The Daily Wire’s documentary “What [Full Story]
• Twitter Loses 2nd Safety Officer in 2 Days
• Twitter Cancels ‘What Is a Woman?’ Over ‘Misgendering’
• Musk Invites RFK Jr. for Discussion on Twitter Spaces
• Twitter’s Head of Trust and Safety Resigns
• Trump Blasts Biden During Iowa Town Hall
• Former President Donald Trump condemned the “witch hunts” that he has [Full Story]
• Trump: I Don’t Like the Term ‘Woke’
• Former President Donald Trump has often used the term “woke” to slam [Full Story]
• Fort Bragg Renamed Fort Liberty to Erase Confederate Namesake
• Fort Bragg shed its Confederate namesake Friday to become Fort [Full Story]
• Anheuser Stock Loses $27B Over Dylan Mulvaney
• The stock of Bud Light parent Anheuser-Busch has lost a walloping $27 [Full Story]
• Jim Jordan Writes AG About Smith Probe
• House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote to Attorney [Full Story]
• Yahoo! News/YouGov Poll: Little Improvement for DeSantis
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officially launched his campaign for [Full Story]
• House Panel Probing FTC Chair Lina Khan
• The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has opened an [Full Story]
• Judge Recuses Himself From Disney-DeSantis Suit
• A federal judge in Florida has recused himself from a court case [Full Story]
• US Employers Add a Stunning 339,000 Jobs in May
• The nation’s employers stepped up their hiring in May, adding a [Full Story]
• Breast Cancer Drug Reduces Recurrence by 25 Percent
• Even when the disease is caught early, breast cancer recurrence is [Full Story]
• Trump, DeSantis Jab at Each Other on Campaign Trail
• Former President Donald Trump kept up a steady drumbeat of criticism [Full Story]
• Twitter’s Head of Trust and Safety Resigns
• Twitter’s head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, told Reuters on [Full Story]
• Biden to Pick Physician Mandy Cohen to Lead CDC
• S. President Joe Biden plans to select former North Carolina health [Full Story]
• New Details Emerge on Jeffrey Epstein’s Death
• Jeffrey Epstein called himself a “coward” and complained he was [Full Story]
• Baseball’s Garvey Weighs GOP Senate Run in California
• Baseball legend Steve Garvey, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers [Full Story]
• Strong Job Market Makes Recession More Elusive
• The nation’s employers stepped up their hiring in May, adding a robust 339,000 jobs, well above expectations and evidence of enduring strength in an economy that the Federal Reserve is desperately trying to cool…. [Full Story]
• Surging Megacaps Make Some Consider Cashing Out
• Tyson Foods to Cut 262 Non-Relocating Workers
• Trevor Gerszt: 3 Reasons the US May Already Be in Recession
• Fed Chair Spoke With UBS CEO Amid Banking Crisis
• Health
• Doctors Share How They Find a Good Doctor
• Finding a doctor you like, trust, and feel confident with is a tough task. While the pool of primary care physicians is shrinking, it is becoming increasingly difficult to secure an appointment with the doctors of your choice to guide your medical journey. The first step is… [Full Story]
• Medicated Eye Drop May Slow Nearsightedness in Kids
• Low Sexual Satisfaction Linked to Cognitive Decline
• CDC Warns of Potentially Fatal Gulf Coast Bacteria
• As Legal Gambling Surges, Should Schools Teach Teens about Risk?

Notice: the graphic below can be expanded to a larger size.

See the instructions below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.

2022 was a tough year for many stocks. Unfortunately, that pattern held true for manufactured home industry (MHVille) connected stocks too.

See the facts, linked below.

‘Stomach Churning Year’ CNN-Wall Street ‘Forget 2022’ Down Year – Major Equities Data Compared to Manufactured Housing Stocks, Manufactured Home Community REITs, Performance for Year by Company

 

====================================

Updated

• • • NOTE 1: The 3rd chart above of manufactured housing connected equities includes the Canadian stock, ECN, which purchased Triad Financial Services, a manufactured home industry finance lender.
    • NOTE 2: Drew changed its name and trading symbol at the end of 2016 to Lippert (LCII).
    • NOTE 3: Deer Valley was largely taken private, say company insiders in a message to MHProNews on 12.15.2020, but there are still some outstanding shares of the stock from the days when it was a publicly traded firm.  Thus, there is still periodic activity on DVLY.
    • Note 4: some recent or related reports to the REITs, stocks, and other equities named above follow in the reports linked below.

Q1-23 Manufactured Home Shipments YoY -29% Drop But Triad’s Origination Up-ECN Capital’s Triad Financial Services–5.15.2023 Q1-2023 Financial Results-Remarks, Corp Insights; plus MHMarkets Update

Legacy Housing Financial Results and Earnings Call 1Q 2023-‘Sales Slowed but Margins Improved’ Duncan Bates Boasts of Manufactured Housing ‘Business Tailwinds’ Official Data-Analysis

Manufactured Housing Institute Claims ‘Effective Branding’ for ‘Manufactured Housing’-Seriously? Target Rich Satirical Saturday Examines MHI Claims, Messaging, RESULT$; plus MHVille Stocks Update

Sun Communities – ‘Development in Our DNA,’ ESG Stance, Q4 2022 Year End Results Earnings Call & PR – Facts, Insights Beyond PR and Official SUI Statements; plus MHVille REITs, Stocks Update

Nobility Homes, Inc. Sales and Earnings for its Fiscal Year 2022 Report, Result$ Best Inflation – Net After Taxes Up 34%, More Fact$; DeSantis ESG and NOBH; plus MHVille Stocks, Market Updates

‘Killing’s as Easy as Breathing’ ‘Bad Guys Know More Games’ Warren Buffett Annual Berkshire Hathaway Letter, Clayton Homes, 21st, VMF-Manufactured Home Loans-Compelling MHVille Expert Views

‘Manufactured Housing in the News,’ Unpacking UMH CEO Sam Landy Op-Ed’ It’s Time for Bi-Partisanship on Affordable Manufactured Housing Homeownership’ in HousingWire; plus MHMarkets Updates

CEO Mark Yost, Skyline Champion Insiders SELL Million$ Value SKY Stock, Home Sales Drop-4th Q 2022 (3QFiscal2023), Official Result$-Facts, Analysis, Info Beyond PR; plus MHVille Stocks Update

BlackRock Document Exposes Central Banks like Federal Reserve on Recession; Manufactured Home Producer Cavco Industries 2022 Year End Results (CVCOQ3.23) Facts+Analysis; plus MHVille Stocks Update

Manufactured Home Communities (a.k.a. ‘Mobile Home Parks’ – SIC) – Exploring UMH Properties; Fellow Manufactured Housing Institute Member Yes! Communities Suits and Settlements; plus MH Markets Updates

2023 …Berkshire Hathaway is the parent company to Clayton Homes, 21^st Mortgage, Vanderbilt Mortgage and other factory-built housing industry suppliers.
· LCI Industries, Patrick, UFPI, and LP each are suppliers to the manufactured housing industry, among others.
· AMG, CG, and TAVFX have investments in manufactured housing related businesses. For insights from third-parties and clients about our publisher, click here.

Disclosure. MHProNews holds no positions in the stocks in this report.

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• Manufactured housing, production, factories, retail, dealers, manufactured home, communities, passive mobile home park investing, suppliers, brokers, finance, financial services, macro-markets, manufactured housing stocks, Manufactured Home Communities Real Estate Investment Trusts, MHC REITs.

That’s a wrap on this installment of “News Through the Lens of Manufactured Homes and Factory-Built Housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, stock, investing, data, metrics, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)

By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship along with numerous awards in history. There have been several awards and honors and also recognition in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anar Pitre-CEO Lotus Capital Partners-Vexing Manufactured Housing Institute Claims in Fact Check of Forbes ‘What Manufactured Home Communities Investors Need to Know’ – Inaccurate MHI Data Shown

Call for Congressional Oversight Hearings of Manufactured Home Industry Regulators Highlighted by Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR); plus MHVille Markets Update

‘Global Disinformation Index’ Warren Buffett Ally Bill Gates’ Microsoft Org Charged-Cutting Revenue to Conservative Views via Xandr, GDI; plus Sunday MHVille Headlines Recap

#1 Texas’ Manufactured Housing Builders Survey Says They are ‘Ready for a Rebound’ But Data Point in Question, DOE MH Energy Rule Too – Facts, Analysis; plus, MHVille Stocks, Markets Update

Clayton-Next Step Off-Site Built ‘White Paper’-Manufactured Homes, ThinkND ‘Magic of the Mind-Everyday Illusion, Misdirection, Deception’ MHI Members’ Claims Analyzed; plus MHVille Markets Update

Department of Energy Publishes ‘Unacceptable’ Manufactured Housing Energy Rule Extension, MHI Remarks, Ex-MHI and MHARR’s Danny Ghorbani Offers Focused Praise – plus MHVille Stocks, REITs Updates

Manufactured Housing Institute Claims ‘Effective Branding’ for ‘Manufactured Housing’-Seriously? Target Rich Satirical Saturday Examines MHI Claims, Messaging, RESULT$; plus MHVille Stocks Update

 

50 State YTD 2023 Manufactured Home Production, Shipment Data Compared to NAR, NAHB Insights –Stick Builders Up While MH Falls – NAR Says ‘More Inventory Critical’ – Obstacles and Opportunities in MHVille Snapshot