I built my house thirty years ago and it is worth much more than I paid for the materials. As long as I don’t buy any appliances I couldn’t believe Trump’s tariff fights would affect my finances. I had to connect the dots to see how I have just got dinged.

A few weeks ago I read where home builders were expecting to pay $4,000 to $6,000 or more for the lumber to build homes. Since I am not building a new one, it is not my problem. Yesterday I got my house insurance bill. It had gone up because the cost to rebuild my house had risen.

So we have to pay more so his billionaire friends can raise the price of wood from American trees and override the Wildlife Preservation restrictions to cut in protected areas. Note his comment on the need to cut more trees to reduce fires. That’s another dot to connect.

It’s costing me another few percent. As new houses are built and sold I bet our real estate tax will rise too!