Conservative Affordability Blueprint Backs White House Agenda, Rejects Tariffs and Credit Card Cap

A new conservative blueprint for cutting the cost of living is putting affordability at the center of the midterm debate, backing much of the White House's economic agenda while challenging President Trump on two high-profile proposals: tariffs and a 10 percent cap on credit card interest rates.

The report from Advancing American Freedom, the policy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, lays out 10 ways to lower costs by cutting red tape and expanding production across the economy. It calls affordability the "No. 1 issue facing the American people" and targets costs tied to housing, energy and business.

"Yes, there's an unaffordability crisis and it's the government's fault," Richard Stern, vice president of the Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise at Advancing American Freedom, said.

Housing and Energy Take Center Stage

The plan echoes large parts of Trump's second-term agenda, from easing zoning restrictions and expanding oil and gas access to overhauling Social Security and SNAP eligibility. On housing, it recommends limiting local zoning restrictions, streamlining approval for projects that already meet existing rules and tying roughly $50 billion in annual federal housing aid to zoning reform.

The price tag of red tape is substantial. The National Association of Home Builders estimates government regulations account for about 26 percent of the price of a new single-family home, a burden that has pushed homeownership further out of reach for younger Americans.

On energy, the report calls for more oil and gas leasing and for rejecting state fracking bans. Stern argued greater domestic production could lower costs throughout the economy because energy touches "every good we move, every service provided."

A Split With the White House on Tariffs

Where the conservative blueprint breaks with Trump is trade policy. The report argues the president's sweeping tariffs have raised prices for consumers, strained U.S. alliances and resulted in nearly 900,000 fewer jobs than expected. The authors call for shifting more tariff authority back to Congress.

The administration has defended tariffs as a tool to protect American industry and boost domestic production, and the duties have proven a windfall for Washington -- $30.4 billion collected in January alone, up about 242 percent from $8.9 billion a year earlier, according to Treasury data.

Credit Card Cap Draws Conservative Concerns

The report also opposes Trump's proposed 10 percent cap on credit card interest rates, warning it could make lending to roughly 60 percent of Americans unprofitable. The cap has drawn pushback from financial heavyweights, with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warning of "economic disaster" and House Speaker Mike Johnson calling it an "out-of-the-box" idea with potentially negative secondary effects.

The pushback is a sign of the affordability politics gripping Washington as pocketbook issues loom over the midterms. Stern framed the debate as a question of whether Americans can still build a better future for their families as the American dream slips from their fingers, blaming zoning restrictions for pushing families farther from jobs.

"I hope that people can take away from this, that it's not businesses that are the problem," he said. "It's not entrepreneurs. It's not other Americans. It's government."

What Happens Next

The report gives Republicans a fresh playbook for the affordability fight while putting two of the White House's boldest economic ideas under conservative scrutiny. How the administration responds -- holding the line on tariffs and the credit card cap or adjusting course -- will shape the pocketbook debate heading into November.

With both parties racing to convince voters they have the answer to soaring housing, food and energy costs, affordability has become the defining issue of the election cycle. Stern warned that economic frustration can turn Americans against one another, "viewing each other as the enemy, and that's what socialism is."