It’s Saturday, December 4th, and this is your Morning Wire. Listen to the full podcast:
1) Proceeds From Chart-Topping Song Go To Charity
The Topline: Country star John Rich of the band Big & Rich talks to Morning Wire about his new hit Christmas song with ‘Dirty Jobs’ host Mike Rowe.
Quote Of The Day: “I think America…needed a laugh for a minute, and we’re moving into Christmas. So it was the perfect time. And what a great surprise, man, to look up and see it at number one.”
– John Rich, country music star and host of “The Pursuit”
Mike Rowe and John Rich/YouTube screen shot
“Santa’s Gotta Dirty Job”
The new Christmas song, “Santa’s Gotta Dirty Job,” skyrocketed up the charts this week, becoming the number one song in the world on iTunes. It was written and performed with former Dirty Jobs’ host Mike Rowe.
The two are donating 100% of the proceeds to charity with 50% going to Folds of Honor, which puts kids through college who lost a parent fighting for the United States in combat. Proceeds will also be donated to the Mike Rowe Works Foundation, which provides scholarships to kids for trade school
David Dee Delgado/Stringer/Getty Images
2) Presidential Statues Removed From NYC
The Topline: In recent days, it was announced that statues of Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt would be removed in New York City.
Quote Of The Day: “George Washington was a slave owner. Was George Washington a slave owner? So will George Washington now lose his status?… Are we going to take down statues to George Washington? How about Thomas Jefferson? … Now are we going to take down his statue? … You’re changing history, you’re changing culture.”
– President Donald Trump, 2017
The Statues
An 884-pound statue of Thomas Jefferson in New York City was recently packed up in a wooden crate after a mayoral commission voted to remove the statue from City Hall where it’s been for almost 200 years. The reason for the removal was because Jefferson was a slave owner.
A statue of Theodore Roosevelt is also being moved from its location in front of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City to Medora, North Dakota. It will be on long-term loan to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library which will open in 2026.
In June, the New York City Public Design Commission unanimously voted to remove the statue and put it into storage. The statue has been described as “controversial” and “problematic,” because the 26th president is flanked by a Native American on one side and an African man on the other. The museum said it conveyed a “racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing.”
Phillip Spears via Getty Images
3) Home Prices Skyrocket
The Topline: Home and rental prices remain exceedingly high across the country.
Quote Of The Day: “One, on the building front, we are way behind. Obviously, you know, from the downturn that happened in 2008 to where we are at now, we are at historic lows on kind of where folks are building…we’d have to double the pace in the next five years in order to catch up for the demand that’s out there.”
– Century 21 CEO Michael Miedle
Record Highs
In September, home prices were up 19.1% from a year before, marking a continuation of extremely high home costs across the country.
This comes from a measurement out of the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price marker.
Reference Point: The median growth in U.S. home prices was 4% between 2019 and 2020. August had a 19.6% year over year gain.
Prices in Phoenix jumped a whopping 33%, Tampa saw a 28% gain, and Miami home prices climbed 25%. Every one of the 20 cities in the report showed gains in the double digits. Chicago and Minneapolis saw the smallest increases — at about 12% and 13% respectively.
Rental prices are also going up in many non-urban areas across the country.
According to Redfin, average monthly rents also increased by 13% across the country, the biggest rate gain in two years.
In 29 of the 50 biggest metropolitan locations in the country, rent price increases surpassed mortgage fees for new homebuyers.
Potential Causes
Experts point to the pandemic as a reason for the increase, as many people left big city apartments for suburban homes when the lockdowns were put in place and mortgage interest rates were low.
There’s also a supply-and-demand issue, as many existing homeowners aren’t selling their homes and new home building has slowed due to supply chain problems. In September, the number of new home permits was the lowest in more than a year for multifamily and single home permits.
Experts also say the speedy increase in rents could lead to more inflation issues as workers turn to their companies to ask for higher salaries to keep up with housing costs.
Cliff Lipson/CBS/CBS Photo Archive/Contributor via Getty Images
Other Stories We’re Tracking
General Hospital
The longest-running soap opera on television, “General Hospital,” has experienced some high-profile departures over ABC’s COVID vaccine mandate, which went into effect on November 1st. Two of the show’s most-popular stars, Ingo Rademacher and Steve Burton, were fired in recent weeks over the mandate.