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Comment by greedo | Hacker News Reader

Sure, your ideas are so unique, never heard of them before; except from people who don't understand how politics work. Prop 13 isn't going anywhere, especially not with both California's dysfunctional legislature, and its popularity with homeowners. Same with mortgage interest deduction. You'll never see a major candidate campaigning to reduce the deduction because it's political suicide.

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Support for abolitionism was political suicide at once point, too.

I reject the idea that "political feasibility" can ever be a conversation-ender, especially when put against a true injustice.

Prop 13 (and all other subsidies for special interests) are unjust and unsustainable; they persist due to the support of these special interests (and the indifference of everyone else). With the proper education and elegance, one can hope for a day that we can see through this and implement the right policies.

And anyway I think you'll find it just as 'impossible' to do any zoning change that reduce any asset on the mortgage holder's books: Anything that actually reduces land price is equally politically 'impossible'. One may as well try do something that is going to work broadly and fairly rather than a random patchwork of small superficial zoning fixes.

And incidentally it's probably easier to argue for fairness and fiscal responsibility than to argue for bulldozing open space to put in a high-rise apartment.

Politics is the art of the possible. Sure Prop 13 might get revoked. Anything is possible, but is it probable? People have been railing against Prop 13 for decades. The longer a law is in effect, with clear beneficiaries who vote, the longer a law will persist.

Will it revoked today or tomorrow? Certainly not. But with the proper amount of contemplation and dialogue, will we get the point that we can decide upon more optimal policy? I believe so.

At any rate, I'll always fight for dialogue upon the BEST policies before settling upon a compromise, as this will guide us in the right direction.

Do you have a suggestion of what might work?

There's only so much you can do to increase affordable housing in SF/Bay area without infringing on the rights of property owners. Rezoning so more vertical structures can be built will help, but not much in the scheme of things. SF will just continue to be an expensive area to live in. There's not always an easy or realistic fix to some problems in life.

> infringing on the rights of property owners

When this refers to the beneficiaries of land grabs (either directly or indirectly), I don't think an appeal to the natural rights of property owners holds much power.

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