Humans have very few basic needs to live a happy life–love, food and water, clothing, shelter, and education. I want to talk today about shelter or housing. We need housing to protect us from the elements and give us a feeling of home. Americans have a distorted notion of housing. Instead of treating housing as a need, Americans see it as an investment. As income and wealth become more stratified in this country, so have housing prices and availability. Developers build for the high end market ignoring the other housing markets. I have heard that experts expect the average price of a home in San Diego next year to top $1,000,000. Middle class people can afford it and for get about low income individuals. The government must end policies that treat housing as investments. They are popular policies, but if all Americans are going to get their shelter needs met, tough decisions need to be made.