{"id":2645348,"date":"2026-08-15T07:09:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T11:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/zohran-mamdanis-war-on-affordability\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T07:13:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T11:13:50","slug":"zohran-mamdanis-war-on-affordability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/zohran-mamdanis-war-on-affordability\/","title":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani&#8217;s war on affordability"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fzohran-mamdanis-war-on-affordability%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2645348&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>As the November 3 midterm elections approach, voters&#8217; concerns about President Donald Trump&#8217;s perceived indifference to affordability issues persist, despite ongoing inflation during his terms which contributed to his electoral support. Meanwhile, Democrats appear to lack a serious approach to tackling inflation, with some party figures, like NYC Mayor zohran Mamdani, actively pursuing policies that may worsen economic challenges. Mamdani&#8217;s initiatives, such as rent freezes and proposed taxes on pieds-\u00e0-terre, have led to skyrocketing rents and low vacancy rates in New York City. His support for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chicago-mulls-government-owned-grocery-store-as-retailers-bolt-city\/\" title=\"Chicago considers government-owned grocery store as retailers leave ....\">government-run grocery stores<\/a> has not prevented grocery inflation from exceeding national rates.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Mamdani advocates for the delivery Protection Act (DPA), which aims to force Amazon to employ third-party delivery drivers directly, potentially raising costs for consumers and threatening small delivery businesses. The bill could consolidate economic power into Amazon,reducing the independence of numerous small DSPs and their workers,and ultimately increasing delivery costs or relocating operations outside the city. Despite Mamdani&#8217;s popularity rising locally, his policies tend to increase costs for residents and may undermine what consumers value most-affordability and convenience. the article suggests that both major political parties struggle with addressing the cost-of-living crisis and highlights Mamdani as an emblem of left-wing policies that could further complicate economic conditions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the clock ticking toward the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-election\/\">Nov. 3 midterm elections<\/a>, Republicans face deep voter concerns about President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s seeming indifference to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/affordability\/\">affordability issues<\/a>. The perception exists even though sustained price hikes occurred between his nonconsecutive terms \u2014 a key reason voters returned him to the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/white-house\/\">White House<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The good news is that there is zero evidence Democrats are taking the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/inflation\/\">inflation<\/a> issue any more seriously. And if New York City Mayor <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/zohran-mamdani\/\">Zohran Mamdani<\/a>\u2018s nearly eight-month tenure is any indication, the party\u2019s ascendant socialist wing is actively committed to making the problem worse.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4686778\/midwest-senator-investigation-roblox-child-safety-grooming-explicit-content\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Midwest senators open investigation into Roblox allegedly putting profits over child safety<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/4686536\/joe-concha-florida-naked-dining-restaurant-go-fully-clothed-to-arbys\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Joe Concha on Florida\u2019s naked dining restaurant: \u2018I\u2019ll happily go fully clothed to Arby\u2019s\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4686257\/tariffs-on-mexican-beers-popular\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Americans want to make domestic beer great again: Poll<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Mamdani passed his infamous rent freeze on a million housing units across<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/new-york-city\/\"> New York City<\/a> and proposed his unprecedented tax on pieds-a-terre, rents in Manhattan have skyrocketed to an all-time high of $6,655 per month. That corresponds with the city\u2019s overall vacancy rate plummeting to its lowest point in nearly 60 years.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And despite going forward with government-run grocery stores in the name of affordability, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has found that the price index for food at home in the New York metro area (nearly half of which is composed of the actual city proper) has risen by 2.1% since Mamdani took office. That\u2019s nearly twice as fast as the increase in grocery prices nationally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, it should come as little surprise that Mamdani\u2019s next obsession is Amazon. And not to help the e-commerce giant even further slash prices, but specifically to bolster them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mamdani is promoting the Delivery Protection Act, a proposed New York City Council bill that would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-wont-push-companies-to-drop-beijing-olympics-over-genocide-he-pushed-mlb-boycott-over-gop-law\/\" title=\"Biden Won\u2019t Push Companies To Drop Beijing Olympics Over Genocide; He Pushed MLB Boycott Over GOP Law\">push major companies<\/a> to hire employees directly rather than relying on contractors. The firms counter that this will raise prices and slow service.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They\u2019re right \u2014 the proposal, if it became law, would immediately raise prices for consumers. It would also jeopardize thousands of subcontractors\u2019 incomes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Amazon\u2019s business model has a lot to do with it. Amazon employees at a fulfillment center find, package, and send your items to a sortation center or \u201ccarrier facility,\u201d where they\u2019re usually sorted by another set of Amazon employees and handed off to contracted delivery drivers. These contractors often take packages to a final delivery station, where Amazon employees again sort and distribute packages for the last few miles of delivery, handing them off to contracted workers. These workers are either Amazon Flex drivers, who, like Uber drivers or Taskrabbit movers, are individual 1099 gig workers using their own vehicles and setting their own schedules, or they are W-2 employees of subcontracted companies called Delivery Service Partners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you think that the DPA targets the former, surprisingly, you would be wrong. Instead, the DPA would require Amazon to directly employ the delivery drivers who are already W-2 employees of DSPs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Amazon, DSP employees earn an average of $24 per hour, and the DSPs themselves, 25% of which are owned by black or Hispanic operators in New York City, are required to offer health insurance and 20% more paid time off than the city\u2019s minimum. Because the DSPs are hyperlocal companies, they both know the minutiae of the city\u2019s delivery routes and allow more scheduling flexibility than the nation\u2019s second-largest private employer would be able to.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In practice, Mamdani, who claims to loathe oligarchy and big business, is asking Amazon to destroy over 40 small businesses and subsume their economic power. If the Democratic Party wanted to pass a national version of the DPA, thousands of DSPs would be outlawed and hundreds of thousands of DSP employees would either lose their jobs or be hired by Amazon. The Teamsters have been enthusiastically endorsing the bill specifically because, while 40-something employers would be difficult to collectively bargain against, DSP workers would be much easier to organize once within Amazon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The cost of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/amazon\/\">Amazon<\/a> being forced to internalize operations that they decided the DSP would handle more efficiently would be passed down to consumers, or, if those costs were too astronomical, Amazon would move all of its last-mile delivery operations out of the city and into the wider metropolitan area, which would still increase costs and delivery times. The increased costs to consumers matter more than whatever third-order effects happen to the delivery drivers, even if Mamdani\u2019s delusions actually were to come true. After all, 70% of voters polled by Navigator Research say they prefer lower costs over higher wages because we are a nation of consumers, not of organized labor.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance-and-economy\/4684253\/zohran-mamdani-rising-favorability-new-york\/\">MAMDANI\u2019S FAVORABILITY IN NEW YORK CONTINUES TO CLIMB<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But just as Mamdani\u2019s rent freeze is leading to higher rents and his government grocery stores have coincided with higher grocery inflation than the national average, the DPA will not lead to higher wages for former DSP employees or higher employment numbers, and that\u2019s not really the point. The purpose is the pain on Amazon and pain for the consumers, who have relied on Amazon to make their lives more affordable and convenient throughout a decade when the government, especially with the pandemic and inflation, has actively worked to make their lives worse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Republicans may face an uphill battle with voters who overwhelmingly prioritize the cost-of-living crisis. But if new left-wing superstar Mamdani is any indication, the Democratic Party won\u2019t fare much better.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Tiana Lowe Doescher (<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TianaTheFirst\">@TianaTheFirst<\/a>) is an economics columnist for the <\/em>Washington Examiner<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats&#8217; inflation stance mirrors Mamdani&#8217;s NYC policies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2693,"featured_media":2645349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mamdani-affordability.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[18297,36587,38068,61689,56601],"class_list":["post-2645348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-affordability","tag-housing-crisis","tag-social-activism","tag-urban-policy","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mamdani-affordability.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2693"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2645348"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2645352,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645348\/revisions\/2645352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2645349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2645348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2645348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2645348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}