Charbel J Barakat

VP and Counsel for Public Policy, @DRHorton. Trustee, @usouthflorida. Housing, high ed and good govt enthusiast. @Jeopardy champ. Views mine. RTs≠endorsements.

[Pulte @pulte]

Fannie and Freddie also have internal credit scoring data. To have a safer and sounder market, and to increase transparency of the underwriting of our loans, we will be immediately including/attaching that Fannie and Freddie data inside MBS, CRT, and other securitized products.

[Rob Higgins @RHiggins_USF]

A really strong case gets even stronger:
🎯AAU
🎯Largest media market in Florida
🎯New on-campus stadium
🎯400K+ living alumni & 50K+ students
🎯And so much more!

Plus another point now confirmed:
🎯Built-in “super region” rivalry series!

[Young Voices @JoinYoungVoices]

"Housing is one of the largest ways things are going wrong for young people. And people blame that on capitalism, because that's the status quo. But, in fact, housing is one of the sectors of our economy that is least exposed to the free market."

@emmma_camp_ joins @maggiemoda and @SamRaus1 for the pilot episode of Breaking Containment, Young Voices' new podcast about the stories that shape the timeline and front page.

Full episode out this Friday at 3 PM ET.

[Don Pettit @astro_Pettit]

Miami, Florida as seen from the ISS in 2025. This city has changed tremendously since my previous mission, replacing its yellow-orange sodium vapor lights with multi-colored LEDs. The city grid really pops! This LED takeover of city lighting is world wide.

[Jeff Brandes @JeffreyBrandes]

St. Pete approved a $12 million subsidy for 24 “affordable” townhomes…$500,000 per home. The project’s estimated construction cost: $19.1 million, or nearly $800,000 per unit. The homes are expected to sell for roughly half that.

That’s government math.

You don’t solve affordable housing by subsidizing extraordinarily expensive housing. You solve it with policy.

Fix zoning. Allow density. Smaller lots, Cut parking mandates, fees and permitting delays. Make housing cheaper to build.

But fixing broken local policies is hard work.

Writing a giant taxpayer check instead is easy.

And stupid.

[Mike Griffin @mikegriffinFL]

Yes, #1 in the entire United States of America. Again. 🤘👊

[USF Health @USFHealth]

The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine has been ranked the No. 1 medical school in the country for the second consecutive year in the 2026 Medical School Excellence Index. USF was also the only school to receive a perfect score of 100.

The college received top marks for the outstanding GPAs and MCAT scores of its admitted students. This year, the college welcomed the strongest incoming class of medical students in its history, setting new college records with a median MCAT score of 521 — equal to the top 2% nationally — and a median GPA of 3.98.

Read more: https://t.co/l0LoKj2KoZ

[Bobby Fijan @bobbyfijan]

The United States has a housing shortage, but it’s not a lack of homes ~everywhere ... its a lack of the kinds of homes Americans want, located in the places they want to live

There are only three ways to solve the problem:

1) Allow more houses to be built (in the places people already want to live)
2) Reduce the cost of construction (espwhere it's highest)
3) Create more places worth living in (both revitalize existing and building new ones)

[Charbel J Barakat @CharbelB]

@JoshuaSteinman Didn’t know it was gone. Maybe time to bring it back.

[Matt Devitt @MattDevittWX]

HURRICANE ANDREW 34 YEARS AGO 🌀
On this day in 1992 the Category 5 struck South Florida with 165 mph winds. In total, #Andrew destroyed more than 63,500 houses, damaged more than 124,000 others, caused $27.3 billion in damage and left 65 people dead (44 in Florida). What do you remember about the storm?

[Byron Donalds @ByronDonalds]

It’s too hard for young people to buy homes.

@erikadonalds and I have been through this struggle — our first apartment was 1200 square feet. We couldn’t afford the security deposit so we rolled it into our rent.

I have a plan to make home ownership a reality for young Floridians — and it starts with getting the government out of the way.

[Jay Stroman @StromanJay]

What an exciting day at @USFHealthNurse as we celebrated the opening of its newly expanded facility which includes the @TGHCares Nursing Simulation Center!

Grateful to the Florida legislature, Wilton Simpson, TGH and @JCouris for their investment in our students and the future of nursing in Florida. As demand for nurses continues to grow, this new space will help us educate more students and address a critical workforce need across our state. Learn more here: https://t.co/SpuL9lKjD5

Go Bulls! 🤘

@mikegriffinFL @CharbelB @USF_Pres @USFNurseDean @USFHealth

[Brandon L. Simmons @ChairmanSimmons]

Congrats @GaryPayton — @Nike rereleased The Glove and @Oakland put your name on a street. A great year so far!

[Charbel J Barakat @CharbelB]

Government regulations account for 26.4% of the final sales price of a new single-family home, according to @NAHBhome, adding an average of $131,734 based on a mean home price of $499,500.

Here’s a colorful (and not altogether uncommon) example of why.

[Mason @webdevMason]

How normal well-adjusted people become libertarians

[Lance Lambert @NewsLambert]

America's largest homebuilder D.R. Horton currently has 7,600 completed unsold new-build homes, largely across its core Sun Belt growth markets

Meanwhile, America's tightest housing state, Connecticut, has only 5,140 homes for sale across the entire state
https://t.co/btVfBgKLYN

[Senator Bryan Hughes @SenBryanHughes]

Nine months after our bill, SB 840, took effect, more than 8,400 new housing units have come online in Texas. That's exactly what we intended: make it easier to build, increase supply, and expand opportunities for Texans to achieve homeownership.

On Monday, the House Land & Resource Management Committee heard testimony on the effectiveness of SB 840 while also examining how some local governments are circumventing the law and imposing barriers that drive up cost and get in the way of the bill’s effect. We cannot allow government regulations to drive up the cost of homes.

Next session, we'll strengthen SB 840 and advance more common-sense, free-market reforms that cut red tape, increase housing supply, and bring the American Dream of homeownership within reach for more Texans.

https://t.co/dx7MC6dQtr

[Joel Franco @OfficialJoelF]

First time inside the Biltmore hotel in Coral Gables. Can’t believe it took me this long. It was a brief stop while filming my Robotaxi vid 🤩

[Nate Bargatze @natebargatze]

Nobody knows

[Geiger Capital @Geiger_Capital]

250 years.

God Bless America. 🇺🇸

[Todd Spence @Todd_Spence]

In 1982, Robin Williams did a routine as the American Flag for the Norman Lear produced tv special "I Love Liberty" created to bridge political divides - and it's one of the greatest pieces you'll see 🇺🇸