If you want to learn how to govern a state, look no further than California. Then do everything they don't.
They say California is really a beautiful place. I wouldn't know. I've never been there and have no desire to
visit. But apparently the state richly deserves the derisive nickname of "the land of fruits and nuts." So many
terrible ideas have had their origins in California, and these ill-advised anti-capitalist ideas have a tendency to spread
to the other 49 states.
If you're going to successfully manage a state, you'd be better off using Texas as an example. The state of Texas must
be doing something right, because that's where people are going as they leave California.
Years ago, I started a page about
The California Energy Crunch of 2000, which was
an energy crisis resulting entirely from rabid environmentalism, poor planning, price controls, and
various other effects of leftist politics. Californians oppose the development of every practical
source of energy, but then, when there's not enough electricity to go around, they whimper when the
lights go out.
The subsection about "Sanctuary Cities" has moved to a page of its own,
located here.
Decades of leftist politics
.... resulting in a steady stream of bad ideas.
Overview: The Sovietization
of American Life. Examine California and ask a series of simple questions. Why does the state that
formerly served as a model to the nation regarding transportation now suffer inferior freeways while its multibillion-dollar
high-speed rail project remains an utter boondoggle and failure? Why was its safe and critically needed last-remaining
nuclear power plant scheduled for shutdown (and only recently reversed) as the state faced summer brownouts? Why did
its forests go up in smoke predictably each summer, as its timber industry and the century-old science of forest management
all but disappeared from the state? Why do the state's criminals so often evade indictment, and if convicted are often
not incarcerated — or are quickly paroled? Why are its schools' test scores dismal, its gasoline the
nation's highest-priced, and the streets of its major cities fetid and dangerous — in a fashion not true 50 years
ago or elsewhere today? In a word, the one-party state is Sovietized. Public policy is no longer empirical but
subservient to green, diversity, equity, and inclusion dogmas — and detached from the reality of daily
middle-class existence.
San
Diego county officials spend another $2 million so migrants can afford to travel during busy
holiday season. According to a new article from Emily Alvarenga at The San Diego
Union-Tribune, San Diego county officials just approved doling out another $2 million to local
entities, to assist illegal invaders with the high cost of travel that's typical during the
holidays: ["]Anticipating higher numbers of newly-arrived migrants than usual through
the holidays, county supervisors agreed Tuesday to give $2 million in state migrant-support
grants to help local aid groups fund higher travel costs.["] How else can these people
get where they need to go without taking taxpayer funds to subsidize their financial whims and
desires? Have you ever received a taxpayer-funded handout to offset the cost of your hotel
room? Has the government ever bought your plane ticket so you could get where you
wanted to go? Yeah, me neither.
Newsom
Declares State of Emergency Over Bird Flu; Is This What He'll Use to 'Trump-Proof'
California? California Gov. Gavin Newsom has loudly announced his intention to
"Trump proof" the state ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration in January 2025. Some of the
things he wants to do will be extremely unpopular with the state's residents, and legislators who
watched their districts vote for Trump (or saw big leaps in that direction) will be wary of
publicly signing on to his radical agenda. He's in a bit of a conundrum. He's probably
been longing for the unchecked power he had from March 2020 through February 28, 2023,
when Californians lived under a State of Emergency for the COVID pandemic.
Please
No Kamala as Governor of California. I started to laugh, while at the same time
feeling slightly sad, when I read Kamala Harris was considering running for governor of
California. That's the last thing that benighted state needs, not just because she got her
start on the seamier side of the state's politics (most of it is seamy anyway), but because she
won't go near the fiscal or social policies necessary to revive what Woody Guthrie long ago called
a tarnished Garden of Eden. [...] Could Guthrie have anticipated the state would have half the
nation's homeless, one-third the welfare recipients, 49th in home ownership, the highest rate of
cost-adjusted poverty, an atrocious public school system with the state last in literacy, an aging
infrastructure, and a projected budget deficit of $68 billion, to cite just a few without even
mentioning crime? Well, maybe. The decline, in many ways the near death, of California
is an American tragedy.
The Editor says...
[#1] Let the people of California elect whomever they please, and live with the consequences.
[#2] If you live in California, please stay there, unless you are willing to forsake and abandon the
socialist Democrat party and everything it stands for. [#3] Harris would be the easiest
possible candidate to defeat: She was only scrutinized for the first time in 2024, and all sorts of
flaws and disqualifiers were uncovered, as she was handed the nomination without a vote and ran for President.
Here's
Another Way California Just Found to Make Driving Difficult. On January 1, life
in San Francisco will get that much worse as the city prepares to lose as many as 14,000 parking
spaces. When I moved to the city in 1992, the parking situation was so bad that I looked into
monthly parking at a garage "just" seven blocks from my apartment but blanched at the $110 fee for
a reserved space. I just checked, and that same garage now runs $415 — or $565 if
you need it reserved. San Francisco losing 14,000 parking spots is like pulling six of your
teeth for no good reason. Sure, you can do it, and you'd still be able to eat —
but WHY? The "why" is a new law imposed by the assembly in Sacramento, making it illegal to
park within 20 feet of a crosswalk. Statewide, California is expected to lose about
100,000 parking spaces, and it's an easy bet that the vast majority of those will be in the crowded
cities where parking is already at a premium.
The Editor says...
The goal (of the Left, and that means it starts in California) is to make it impractical or impossible
to own a private vehicle and travel wherever you choose. It's all about control.
California
threatens police; what else is new? As Trump's incoming Border Czar Tom Homan has
made clear, federal law, specifically 8 USC 1324, makes interference with federal officers or
harboring illegal aliens felony offenses the Trump Administration will prosecute. As Homan
has also made clear, he intends to first focus on criminals and gang members. That puts
people like Newsom, Denver's Mayor and other D/s/c mayors and governors swearing not only to resist
deportation efforts, but swearing to use public money to defend illegals, in the position of not
only violating federal law, but doing it to keep vicious criminals in their cities and
states. Circa 2024, that might be a political problem. Wasting public money on D/s/c
priorities people don't want and coddling criminals are standard operating procedure for such
people, but this time it appears there will be consequences for dim-witted virtue signaling.
When a few of them are dragged from their offices to jail, they might begin to see virtue in
cooperation and actual public safety.
In
San Diego, county sheriff vows to defy supervisors' resolution making the city a 'super
sanctuary'. [Scroll down] And it was a strange move, too, given that San
Diego is a border city and being bankrupted by the mass influx of illegals, coming by land and even
by sea in greater numbers than any other part of the country. Some 324,000 illegal border
crossers have flowed into San Diego in fiscal 2024 alone. In the past election, every other
border city reacted strongly against open borders policies through their voting choice, but San
Diego, which until a few days ago was still counting votes in a highly suspect process, somehow did
not. The three leftists on the Board of Supervisors, a majority of four, voted to make it
even easier to come here and commit criminal acts, ending the risk of deportation for
criminals. Ostensibly, it was part of Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to "Trump-proof"
California. But California already has bad laws that protect illegals within the sanctuary
state. This resolution went several steps further to protect criminals who've been caught
commiting murder, child rape and cartel hits from deportation — a decision that made
absolutely no sense, unless of course, one has some kind of stake in the illegal immigration
rackets. The NGO-industrial complex reportedly does, having reportedly advocated for the resolution.
I
closed my store in San Francisco. Bye bye city by the bay, as they call it.
Another organization has joined the ranks of rational people who can no longer support the
irrational situation in the Bay Area. What a shock. Companies can no longer do business
when theft is rampant and the thieves never get arrested. In some cases, the judge puts them
back out on the street in the name of social justice. Of course, nothing will change as long
as people keep voting for the ones who created this mess in the first place. My friends tell
me that voters are waking up and change is coming. Well, I hope so, because you can't have a
city where stores close because theft is rampant or an employee is attacked.
California's
Next Crime Wave — Fuel Theft. California already registers the most
expensive fuel costs and highest taxes in America. According to AAA, as of November 24,
the average price per gallon in California was $4.45 while the national average was just $3.05.
According to a report by Fox News, USC Professor Michael Miche estimates that the 2025 increase
will cost California's 31 million drivers up to $1000 dollars per year more to compensate
for the increase. A University of Pennsylvania study estimates that the CARB tax burden will
increase to .85 cents per gallon by 2030. There's a truism in law enforcement that when
government makes complying with the law too difficult or too expensive non-compliance and even
crime is inevitable.
California is preparing to resist the deportation of illegal aliens in any way it can. San
Diego Used to Be Sane. When I was young, California was weird, but not insane.
You could see the insanity coming, but it seemed a long way away and entirely preventable.
And while San Francisco was weirdo heaven, San Diego seemed to be a middle-class bastion of sanity
and a delightful community. [...] The lesson of San Diego is stark: you cannot let progressives
even get a foot in the door. A small shift in power has led to a massive swing in policies
because progressives' policies are based on a totalitarian ideology. There is no compromise,
no appeal to common sense, no sense of responding to the concerns of ordinary people. It
boils down to exercising power to make as much radical change as possible.
Newsom
appoints Schiff to Senate to complete Butler term. California Gov. Gavin Newsom
(D) appointed Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to the Senate to complete the rest of appointee
Sen. Laphonza Butler's (D) term. The appointment means Schiff, who has served in the
House since 2001 and won election to the Senate last month, will begin work in the upper chamber
several weeks before the start of the next Congress in early January. Butler replaced the
late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) in October 2023 and said she would not run for a full
term, opening the race up to Schiff and others. Schiff has emerged as one of President-elect
Trump's top critics in the House. He led Trump's first impeachment and has openly said his
rhetoric reflects "dictator talk." Butler announced her resignation effective Sunday, and
Schiff was appointed by the governor.
How
California Stole Trump's Popular Vote Majority. December is here, the election has
been over for a month, Trump has picked out his cabinet and California is still counting the
votes. And will go on counting them until the Dems win. Considering Trump's landslide
victory, California had a difficult task ahead of it, but it has already managed to flip the seats
held by Rep. Mike Garcia, Rep. Michelle Steel and just stole the seat held by
Rep. John Duarte. In Duarte's 13th congressional district, California Dems have taken a
month to count a little over 210,000 votes. That's an impressive achievement considering
that the proverbial Florida Man seems able to count the votes on Election night. Even third
world countries seem to do it. It took Democrats 'counting' a full 3 weeks to get the
Democrat challenger to finally take a lead. Four weeks later, they are declaring victory
after finally having 'found' enough ballots. Garcia, Steel and Duarte were all leading on
Election night until late-arriving mail drop ballots showed up. California Democrats flipping
three seats matches the dubious accomplishment of their New York counterparts who also flipped
three seats.
California
Fast Food Restaurants Shed Thousands of Jobs after $20 Minimum Wage Hike.
California's fast food industry shed more than 6,000 jobs after Democratic lawmakers passed a bill
mandating a $20 minimum wage for most fast food and counter service restaurants in the state,
according to a new analysis of labor data. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that
between September 2023, when California governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1228, and
June 2024, Golden State fast food employment dropped from 570,909 jobs to 564,743. That's
a loss of 6,166 jobs, or 1.1 percent, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Employment
Policies Institute. During that same period a year earlier, California fast food restaurants
added 17,528 jobs, a 3.1 percent increase over those ten months in 2022 and 2023, the data show.
Gov.
Gavin Newsom Wants $25 Million from CA Taxpayers to Engage in Lawfare against
Trump. As the 2024 presidential race fades from memory, potential candidates for 2028
plot their course. California Governor Gavin Newsom is high on the list of potential
candidates now, but he is term-limited out of office in 2026. Therefore, he is acting to ensure his
relevance by being a General in the War Against Trump. And he wants $25 million dollars
from the state's coffers to fund it. California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday
announced he is seeking up to $25 million in additional funding for legal fights with the
incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The announcement came on the
first day of a special session of the California legislature dedicated to preparing the liberal
state for the second term of conservative Trump. If approved by the legislature, the
California Department of Justice and state agencies would get the extra funding for court battles
in areas such as reproductive rights, environmental protection and immigration.
The
Corruption of Democracy, California Style. Wishful thinking aside, California did not
participate in the realignment that, on November 5, 2024, may have transformed American
politics forever. The positive spin on California's dismal failure to liberate itself from
failing Democrat policies rests on what are, in the cold light of day, modest achievements. [...]
To begin with, the fact that voters had to overrule a corrupt legislature and judiciary to compel
law enforcement to once again enforce the law is no reason to celebrate. It's just one first
step, in just one area, against a party that wields layers upon layers of stupefying power in every
area of policy. The State Supreme Court is still packed with Democrat appointees. The
state bureaucracy, consisting of a bewildering and almost innumerable collection of regulatory
agencies and commissions, is under the absolute control of public sector unions. Every higher
state office is occupied by Democrats, including activist Attorney General Rob Bonta, a machine
politician who aims to succeed Newsom as California's next governor.
Gavin
Newsom Convenes California Legislature to Pass $25 Million for Anti-Trump Lawsuits.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) convened the state legislature for a special session on
Monday designed to "Trump-proof" the state, including by passing $25 million for use in
lawsuits against the incoming administration. As Breitbart News noted after the election in
November, Newsom announced the special session — not to deal with pressing problems
facing the state, but rather for the political purpose of leading the so-called "resistance" (i.e.
opposition) to President-elect Donald Trump.
Media
Was Fine With Milk and Egg Prices, Panics Over Guacamole Prices. After years of
telling Americans not to worry about high milk, bread and egg prices, the media is panicking over a
threat to their staple: guacamole. [Tweet] [...] Now maybe I'm a little biased because despite
living for nearly a decade in Southern California, I'm not sure why anyone would even eat the
stuff, but when your problem is being able to afford guacamole, instead of milk, bread and eggs,
you have a coastal elite problem. California used to produce a whole lot of avocadoes, but
since Democrats took over and decided to wipe out the water supply for farmers and destroy dams to
create artificial droughts, the avocados either come from Florida or Mexican cartels.
Where do they think gasoline comes from? Oil
field owner sues California over law that would end its Los Angeles-area operations.
The owner of an oil field in Los Angeles County is suing the state of California over a law that
will require it to stop production and plug its wells or face costly fines. Inglewood Oil
Field owner Sentinel Peak argues in the lawsuit, filed this week, that the law, which was signed in
September by Gov. Gavin Newsom, is unconstitutional, the Los Angeles Times reported
Thursday. It is was one of several laws aiming to reduce pollution by giving local
governments more authority to restrict oil and gas operations by shutting down so-called idle
wells, which are not in use but have not been properly sealed and closed, and fining companies for
operating low-producing oil wells in the Inglewood field. The 1,000-acre area southwest of
downtown Los Angeles has approximately 820 unplugged wells, including 420 that are actively pumping.
California's
AG Asks Residents to Snitch on Stores That Don't Comply With Gender-Neutral Toy Law.
California has many problems facing its residents, including earthquakes, wildfires, and housing
crises. People are dealing with heightened crime rates in cities like Los Angeles and San
Francisco. Homelessness has become a near-epidemic in the Golden State. So,
Californians should be comforted to know that Attorney General Rob Bonta is focused on making sure
stores that sell children's products are including gender-neutral sections for their
customers. Bonta's office issued a press release on Tuesday aimed at informing residents on
how to avoid shopping scams and other problems they might face as they swarm retail stores for the
Christmas season. However, in one section, the press release urges residents to snitch on
retailers that fail to comply with a new state law requiring them to provide gender-neutral
sections for toys and childcare products in accordance with Assembly Bill 1084.
California
AG Asks Shoppers to Report Stores That Don't Have 'Gender Neutral' Kids Sections.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a list of suggestions Nov. 26 for shoppers to
avoid scams during the holiday season and requested consumers file reports about department stores
that lack gender-neutral children's sections. State law, established by the passage of
Assembly Bill 1084 in 2021, which took effect at the beginning of 2024, requires department stores
with at least 500 employees across California locations to offer children's sections that do not
separate items based on gender. "By requiring large retailers to maintain a gender-neutral
section, AB 1084 makes it more difficult for these retailers to engage in gender-based pricing
discrimination and reduces the imposition of gender stereotypes on children," the attorney
general's office wrote in a statement.
California
coastal enclave near sanctuary city tries to 'Newsom-proof' itself. The mayor of an
affluent California coastal community criticized Democratic state lawmakers and expressed
frustration over sanctuary state policies he alleges have allowed illegal immigration to flow
uninterrupted after 21 migrants were recently taken into custody off the shores near his
city. Eighteen of the migrants who were detained a mile off the waters of Newport Beach
earlier this month by the U.S. Coast Guard were from Mexico, while two were from Uzbekistan and one
was from Russia. They were handed over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Newport
Beach Mayor Will O'Neill blamed California's Democratic-controlled legislature for passing
sanctuary state laws aimed at shielding illegal immigrants from deportation while overlooking the
potential, unintended financial and public safety implications.
California
Allegedly Threatens Police Officers Over Deportation Compliance. Bill Wells, the
mayor of El Cajon, California, claimed in a Monday post on X that the State of California "is
threatening to take pensions and charge police officers with felonies if they comply with federal
deportation laws. While the Trump administration is working to enforce immigration laws,
California seems intent on blocking these efforts." Wells makes it clear that El Cajon,
a city of approximately 100,000 people located 17 miles east of San Diego, is not a
sanctuary city and that his police officers "are being put in an impossible position." [...] If
these disturbing claims are true, then the battle lines are already drawn for the first major
showdown between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and sanctuary state/city leaders.
Defiance of this magnitude from the government of the largest sanctuary state in the country would
have sweeping implications for President-elect Donald Trump's planned mass deportation agenda.
California
businesses shocked by payroll tax hikes from $55B unemployment fraud. Many California
business owners are shocked by payroll tax increases incurred by the state's $55 billion
COVID-19 pandemic-era unemployment and payroll benefits fraud — which is more than
NASA's annual budget — incurred from automatically approving applications. States
that do not pay off unemployment benefit loans from the federal government, as California and a
handful of other states have done since the pandemic, automatically are subject to rapidly
increasing federal payroll tax increases until the debt is paid off. Chef Andrew Gruel, who
owns and runs Calico Fish House in Huntington Beach, took to X to explain his recent experience
paying his workers in a post that has since garnered over 16 million views. "We just ran
payroll. The payroll taxes were 2K higher than calculated. We called the payroll
company," said Gruel. "They explained (in summary) that California has a budget shortfall, and the
federal government wants money back that it lent California for UI that it 'lost.' They are
making up for it by having business owners pay it."
Newsom
Buys $9.1 Million Bay Area Mansion in Ritzy Enclave with Shady LLC Formed Two Days Before
Purchase. After flooding his state with millions of illegals, Newsom bought a $9.1 [million]
Bay Area mansion in a ritzy enclave so his children can attend an elitist school in Marin County. The
home, which was owned by Daniel Pritzker, cousin of Illinois Democrat governor JB Pritzker, was originally
listed for $10 million, but Newsom got a sweetheart deal. Newsom bought the mansion with MHBD Farms,
LLC, an entity that was formed just two days before the purchase. What's the source of the funds?
RV
Sales To Be Banned Across Six States As California Climate Rules Take Effect. Diesel
motorhome sales are set to be halted in several states at the start of next year due to a new
climate rule from California being enacted, according to RVtravel. Motorhome sales are being
prevented in California, Washington, Oregon, New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey if the vehicles
do not meet certain emission requirements based on regulations from the California Air Resources
Board (CARB), according to RVtravel. CARB amended its Advanced Clean Truck regulations on
Oct. 24, which require all vehicles over 8,500 pounds to produce zero emissions.
Motorhome owners in the six states will not be allowed to register a recreational vehicle (RV) that
is not in compliance with the climate regulation, according to RVtravel.
The Editor says...
The apparent purpose of this law is to inconvenience older white conservatives, because they
are the only people driving around in diesel-engine RVs.
Is
California turning red? Tuesday's elections in California will have been difficult for Democrats to
stomach. A staggering 40% of Californians voted for Donald Trump, with Republicans leading in several of the
most competitive house districts. Even in San Francisco, the uber-progressive mayor London Breed has been
voted out. No wonder, then, that Governor Gavin Newsom has already called for a special session in the
legislature to "Trump-proof" certain policies such as abortion and immigration. On the same day, California
voters also endorsed a significant shift toward stricter law-enforcement measures, with 71% approving Proposition 36,
a statewide ballot initiative aimed at imposing harsher penalties for repeat theft and crimes involving fentanyl.
In doing so, they effectively rolled back some of the state's more controversial "soft-on-crime" policies.
Blue
City Blues. In the wake of the George Floyd riots, some cities that appear on the
"America's most dangerous" list have experimented with defunding their police departments to
various degrees. An interesting approach to reducing the crime rate is to stop reporting
crimes to the FBI altogether, or to change felonies to misdemeanors. California has famously
declared that any retail theft under $950 is classed as a misdemeanor. This has resulted in
countless videos of people calmly walking out of stores with armfuls of merchandise. As a
result, that state is seeing vast numbers of retail store closures. Some residential areas
have become "food deserts" such that the locals must travel ever farther distances to purchase
groceries. The rising tide of commercial office closures in downtown San Francisco, combined
with increasing rates of homelessness, open drug use, and crime, is resulting in noticeable neglect
in that area.
What
is wrong with California? Throughout the fabricated Russia hoax, [Adam] Schiff was
part and parcel of that massive lie perpetrated on the American people re: Trump's alleged
conspiracy with Russia. It was all made-up by Hillary Clinton and her cabal of thugs.
Every day throughout the criminally illegal persecution of Trump, Schiff appeared nightly on the
cable news propaganda sites to lie to the public. He said, night after night, that he had
"seen the evidence" that Trump had colluded with Russia. Not only was Schiff not legally
allowed to reveal what he had ostensibly learned in the SCIF during all those secret meetings
impervious to listening by spies, he committed so many breaches of the law, of the Constitution and
of common decency, that his district promoted him to the Senate. That is a travesty. He
was eventually censured by the House for his part in the hoax. This man should be in prison
for both perjury and treason.
Los
Angeles Voters Overwhelmingly Oust Far-Left DA George Gascón. Los Angelenos
tired of increased crime and rampant homelessness overwhelmingly voted out soft-on-crime, far-left
district attorney George Gascón on Tuesday in favor of Nathan Hochman, a prosecutor with a
more moderate approach. Hochman, a former federal prosecutor and a
Republican-turned-independent, won the race with 61.5 percent of the vote to Gascón's
38.5 percent, according to Los Angeles County Registrar vote totals as of Wednesday
morning. The Associated Press called the race for Hochman early Wednesday.
Gascón's defeat is the latest in a string of losses for Golden State Democrats who were swept
into office promising a progressive vision on crime and punishment. In 2022, voters in San
Francisco recalled their far-left prosecutor, Chesa Boudin, and then overwhelmingly passed a pair
of tough-on-crime ballot measures earlier this year. Preliminary results show that fed-up
voters in Oakland and Alameda County also recalled mayor Sheng Thao and far-left district attorney
Pamela Price on Tuesday over their soft-on-crime approach to the disorder in that community.
Kamala
Harris's Democratic Betrayal. There was a moment that occurred a few days before
Election Day that few Americans heard about, but I doubt it would surprise them. Kamala
Harris was asked by a reporter how she would be voting on Proposition 36 in her home state of
California. Proposition 36 involved increasing certain penalties for drug and theft
crimes. Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that retail theft and open-air
drug use have become high-profile issues in the Golden State. Criminal-justice hawks and
doves bitterly debated the issue, seeing it as a referendum on whether California would adopt
tough-on-crime policies or continue to pursue a more reform-minded approach. It was the
perfect issue for Harris, who started her career in politics as San Francisco district attorney
before rising to state attorney general. If there's anything Harris knows, it's the debate
over tradeoffs between punishment and rehabilitation, public safety and human rights. And
yet, rather than launching into a robust defense of the proposition, which would have helped her
push back on Trumpian accusations that she is soft on crime, or attacking it, which would've been
standing on principle against a measure some Californians regarded as draconian and excessive,
Harris did the most Harris thing possible: She dodged the question in an inartful way.
California's
Prop 36 Passes, a Resounding Condemnation of the Soft-on-Crime Policies Destroying the State.
California has resoundingly voted "Yes" on Prop. 36, which reforms Prop. 47, a decades-old law that
was supposed to usher in criminal justice reform but instead encouraged the escalation of crime. Vice
President and Democrat nominee Kamala Harris may have won the presidential race in the state, but by voting
for Prop. 36, the citizens have rejected the policies she codified in place with her endorsement of
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón and her assistance in seeing Prop 47
passed when she served as California's Attorney General.
From DMV to IRS.
California Sen. Alex Padilla, appointed by Gov. Gavin Newson as the replacement for
Kamala Harris, wants the Treasury Department to provide voter registration services for "people
with limited English." The senator nobody voted for is a key figure in enabling those not eligible
to cast ballots. This is hardly a new development. As a State Department investigation
discovered, false-documented illegals have voted in local, state, and federal elections for
decades. In 1996, illegals cast 784 votes against Republican Robert Dornan in a congressional
race that Democrat Loretta Sanchez won by only 984 votes. California Assembly Bill 60 (2013)
authorized driver's licenses for those "who are unable to provide proof of legal presence in the
United States." Through the "motor voter" program, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) registers
the illegals to vote, but Democrats won't say how many actually voted. In 2015, California
Secretary of State Alex Padilla told the Los Angeles Times he expected "millions of new voters on
the rolls" but wouldn't say how many were illegally present in the United States.
Harris
Won't Say Where She Stands on California Ballot Measure to Reverse Soft-on-Crime Policies.
Vice President Kamala Harris will not reveal her position on a California ballot measure that would
reverse soft-on-crime policies the state enacted a decade ago. Harris, a former senator from
California who began her career as a prosecutor, declined to answer when asked on Sunday whether
she voted for Proposition 36, a ballot measure to strengthen punishments for certain drug and
theft offenses. "I'm not going to talk about the vote on that because honestly it's the Sunday
before the election and I don't intend to create an endorsement one way or another around it,"
Harris said.
CA
Gov. Newsom Throws Hollywood a Lifeline in Form of a Massive Tax Credit. Times
are getting desperate in California, especially in Hollywood. [...] Bidenflation and Hollywood
obliviousness have hit hard, and production costs have skyrocketed, making it increasingly
difficult for films to turn a profit. [...] Given the industry's importance to California, both in
terms of revenues and prestige, Gov. Gavin Newsom has unveiled a proposal to more than double
the annual amount of money allocated to California's film and TV tax credit program. [...] I wish
the Democrats in the state would connect the adverse impact of excessive taxes on other industries,
as well ash show other business enterprises the adoration and respect the film industry gets.
California's
Unelected Tyrants. Democrats claim that the MAGA movement constitutes a "threat to
democracy." Once you cut through their incessant rhetoric on race and gender, the threat the
Democrats most fear is that an elected chief executive may actually try to control the executive
branch. And when candidate Trump aligns himself with capable businessmen, including Elon Musk
and Vivek Ramaswamy, government bureaucrats aren't wrong to be afraid for their jobs along with the
repressive policies they've imposed. Voters who still haven't made up their minds which
threat to take seriously — "protecting democracy" vs. "draining the swamp" —
should ponder life in California, where Democrats, run by bureaucrats and billionaires, wield
absolute power. Decriminalized crime. Record homelessness. Punitive, impossible
cost of living. The highest taxes. Failing schools. Fleeing businesses. And
a state bureaucracy that is openly hostile towards unsubsidized home builders, oil and gas producers,
farmers, loggers, ranchers, manufacturers, and any other productive, job-creating citizens.
A
journey through Los Angeles offers a masterclass in urban dysfunction. As you drive
through the streets of the southside, and along Central Avenue, the historic main street of black
LA, now mostly Hispanic, the ambience is increasingly reminiscent of Mexico City or Mumbai: broken
pavements; battered buildings; outdoor swap meets; food stalls serving customers much as one would see
in the developing world. Democrats, particularly in deep blue California and even bluer cities
like Los Angeles, can clearly win elections. But what they can't do is govern effectively.
Virtually every Democratic city in the land is now in decline. Crime, especially of the violent
variety, is rising. That's shadowed by continued out-migration to less dense, more conservative
areas, a trend that's seeing the country's biggest cities lose out economically.
SpaceX
sues California agency, alleging political bias against Musk and regulatory overreach.
SpaceX has filed a lawsuit against a California agency this week after the body rejected a proposal
to increase the company's launches from the state's coastline to 50 per year. The California
Coastal Commission (CCC) made its decision at an October 10 meeting, despite the U.S. Air
Force (USAF) endorsing the plan on the grounds that more launches of Starlink and Starshield, the
defense-focused unit, are critical to national security. In the lawsuit, SpaceX says that the
commission engaged in "naked political discrimination" when some commissioners cited the political
activity of CEO Elon Musk, while also attempting to unlawfully regulate federal agency
activities. The CCC declined to comment for this story.
'Progressive'
California [is] At War With Progress. Much has been made, as it should have been,
about the stark differences with Elon Musk's SpaceX and the once-great NASA's pathetic
woke-DEI-politically correct existence. Musk wins on merit, but in California, that's not
what counts. So Musk has been vilified because he dared to leave the progressive
plantation. SpaceX has been launching rockets from the Vandenberg Air Force base in Santa
Barbara County for more than a decade. It wants to increase the number of annual launches
from six to 36, and maybe even more. The Air Force has no problem with the plans. The
California Coastal Commission does. It voted 6-4 last week to block the increase. As
one would expect, the opposition was based on Musk's political transformation. He also has
the temerity to be successful in a society that has increasingly come to devalue success and deem
failure and the amenability to be offended to be virtues. That will get him nowhere in California.
Harvard
Kennedy School determines there's no negative impacts to California workers after minimum wage
hike — study does not measure small businesses. In a report from the
Harvard Kennedy School on California's minimum wage increase, authors Daniel Schneider, Kristen
Harknett and Kevin Bruey argue that there have been no adverse effects on hours, scheduling, or
benefits from legislation requiring $20 an hour wage for fast-food worker, but those workers are
all from large fast-food chains. The study only looked at large fast-food companies and did
not consider small businesses who would have much more difficulty in meeting the demands of the
minimum wage law. The report does not exhaustively list the fast-food outlets used as the
basis of the report, only noting that "front line workers at some of the nation's largest
firms — from McDonald's to Chipotle — contend with unstable schedules,
limited benefits, and chronically low wages." The authors laud California as being "at the
vanguard of progressive and innovative protections for fast food workers" and insists the state
raising the minimum wage by $4 on Apr. 1, 2024 to $20 was one of these progressive and
innovative protections" and constituted the largest such wage increase in US history.
State
of the Los Angeles DA Race — George Gascón Faces Likely Ouster. After the news
Tuesday, the disastrous George Gascón experiment in Los Angeles is almost certainly coming to
an end on November 5. A shocking poll showing a 30-point lead for challenger Nathan
Hochman came out Tuesday morning, and a debate between the candidates Tuesday evening showed an
incumbent playing defense. Rampant burglaries, repeat offending murderers, reconsidering a
lighter sentence for the Menendez brothers — none of the topics discussed were good for
an elected District Attorney who has presided over a tumultuous period at the largest local
prosecutor agency in the country. Gascón's main defense on the campaign trail is to
parrot garbage-in, garbage-out crime numbers that come from the politicized criminal justice
realm. He also attempts to paint Hochman as a Republican claiming to be an Independent.
In today's debate though, Gascón had to acknowledge that Los Angeles has gotten so bad that
the whole county is either being victimized by crime or "fearful" it is coming.
Gov
Newsom claims Big Oil is to blame for high gas prices, but new report blames climate
policies. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has continuously denied that
the state's policies have anything to do with sky-high gas prices the state's residents pay,
arguing that it's "Big Oil" driving up gasoline prices. But a new study shows policies have
added as much as $1.91 per gallon to what Californians pay at the pump. According to AAA,
Americans on Saturday were paying on average $3.177 a gallon for gasoline. Californians were
paying $4.676 per gallon on average. The gap can vary. A year ago, the average national
price was $3.814 per gallon, while Californians were paying $6.059 per gallon. According to
the Energy Policy Research Foundation analysis by researcher Max Pyziur, California has several
policies impacting gasoline prices that are entirely unique to the state.
Federal
Judge Humiliates Power-Hungry Gavin Newsom, Slaps Injunction on Anti-Parody Law. We
brought you the story of how a hilarious campaign parody video by the social media account "Mr
Reagan" so triggered California Governor Gavin Newsom that he quickly signed a bill banning the
production or dissemination of videos made with the use of artificial intelligence during election
season. Many pundits including myself immediately called it what it was: unconstitutional.
On Wednesday [10/2/2024], a federal court agreed and slapped an injunction on the law.
Seeking
to Cut Food Waste, California Bans 'Sell By' Labeling on Products. Food products sold
in California will no longer have a "sell by" stamp after July 1, 2026, after Gov. Gavin
Newsom approved the nation's first law governing food labeling. When it goes into effect,
Assembly Bill 660 will require the use of two standard terms for food products that choose to use a
date label — "best if used by" to indicate the quality date of food, or "use by" to
indicate the safety of food. Newsom said in a statement he also believed the new law, which
he signed on Sept. 28, would better inform consumers and "significantly reduce food waste."
Gavin
Newsom Signs Bill Barring Local Authorities from Requiring Voter ID. California
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Sunday that will bar local authorities from requiring photo ID
to vote, which exceeds the state's requirements. California is one of 14 Democrat-run states
that do not require any ID to vote, despite requiring it for many other purposes. Voters at
polling places are checked off against voter rolls without further proof being required; voters who
submit mail-in ballots must include their signatures on the envelopes that are checked by a machine
against the signatures on file in voter registration records. [Advertisement] The City of
Huntington Beach, one of the last conservative bastions in the state, which often opposes
Democratic policies, planned to require photo ID for voting in 2024, after a ballot initiative
passed to that effect in March. [Advertisement] The new law, SB 1174, "would prohibit a
local government from enacting or enforcing any charter provision, ordinance, or regulation
requiring a person to present identification for the purpose of voting or submitting a ballot at
any polling place, vote center, or other location where ballots are cast or submitted, as
specified." [Advertisement]
Why
Did Newsom Veto His Own Car Bill? Here's something you don't see every day.
Normally the California legislature and the Governor's office work hand-in-glove like a well-oiled,
liberal machine, cranking out one disastrous policy after another in the name of political
correctness. But that wasn't the case in Sacramento this week. Governor Gavin Newsom
vetoed a new bill dealing (supposedly) with automobile safety measures, despite having previously
supported the legislation. The bill in question would have mandated all new cars in the state
to monitor a driver's speed and issue a "beeping" alarm if the vehicle exceeded the posted speed
limit by a significant margin. Typically, Newsome loves issuing new mandates on auto
manufacturers no matter what the impact on drivers and owners might be. So what's different
now? Could it have something to do with there being an election just around the corner and
his poll numbers appear to be showing some cracks in his formerly solid blue wall?
California
Dems Want State-Owned Oil Refineries. California has some of the highest gas prices
in the country because it has a ton of taxes and because it demands special gasoline blends that
come through one single refinery and are far more expensive. This is not because oil
companies are greedy (or at least a whole lot less greedy than your average politician which isn't
saying much because California pols make piranhas seem discreet, that's why hundreds of them have
been convicted of corruption in recent years) but because the Dems actively want to make gas too
expensive. And yet they insist on pretending that they're not the reason gas prices are
high. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who does shock at the consequences of his own policies better
than any politician in the land, signed a bunch of bills raising energy prices while blasting oil
companies for being greedy.
California,
a Free State, Apologizes for Slavery as Newsom Signs Reparations Bills. California
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a series of "reparations" bills on Thursday, including a formal
apology for slavery, even though the state entered the Union as a free state in 1850. [...] Newsom
signed several other bills passed by the state legislature and pushed by reparations
activists. As Breitbart News noted, however, the bills did not include actual cash payments
or a reparations fund, provoking protests. The movement for reparations gained traction
during the chaotic summer of 2020, when protests and riots spread across the country in the wake of
the murder of George Floyd by police in Democrat-run Minneapolis, Minnesota. Newsom signed
legislation establishing a committee to study reparations. After it made recommendations that
included massive cash payments and racially separate schools, legislators toned down the
proposals. Newsom only included $12 million toward the reparations issue in his budget
this year, which grappled with a near-$50 billion deficit.
California
Passes Law to Ban All Plastic Bags in Grocery Stores. On Sunday [9/22/2024],
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) signed a bill into law that will ban the use of plastic
bags at grocery stores all across the state. [Advertisement] As reported by Axios, the new
law follows up on a previous law passed ten years prior which forced stores to start selling
"thicker plastic carryout bags that were considered reusable and met certain recyclability
standards," said State Senator Catherine Blakespear (D-Calif.), one of the legislators responsible
for the new bill. [Advertisement] "The truth is almost none of those bags are reused or
recycled," Blakespear claimed, without any evidence. "And they end up in landfills or polluting
the environment." Radical environmentalists have repeatedly claimed that plastic bags make for
one of the most commonly-found items in cleanup efforts at public places. Anja Brandon, a
spokeswoman for the nonprofit group Ocean Conservancy, claimed that "volunteers have cleaned up
enough plastic bags to span the length of the Golden Gate Bridge nearly 30 times." She
also asserted that plastic bags "are not only one of the most common plastics polluting our
beaches, but also one of the top five deadliest forms of plastic pollution to marine life."
The Editor says...
Out of all the millions of plastic grocery bags that are used every year, how many end up in
the ocean? Maybe 10 or 20 per million? Would the governor of California prefer the
return of good old paper grocery bags from 1965? (I would.)
California
Bans Election 'Deepfakes,' Celebrates Biological Ones. California Governor Gavin
Newsom (D) on Tuesday signed a law immediately banning the sharing of election-related "deepfake"
videos, images, or audio, enforceable up to 120 days before an election and 60 days after
an election. He also signed two more laws, which take effect in January, requiring
disclaimers on AI-generated political ads and requiring social media companies to remove deepfakes,
or else courts will force them to do so. [...] The term "deepfake" describes electronic media that
has been manipulated, altered, or entirely fabricated, but which is so true to life that it
deceives people into thinking it is real. [...] My purpose here is not to litigate the debate
between these two arguments, nor explore various compromises that could address the concerns of
each. Instead, I write to demonstrate the contrast between California's aggressive pursuit of
one form of technological deepfake (electronic) and their unquestioning embrace of another form of
technological deepfake (biological). For that is what gender transition procedures are: a
biological deepfake.
Arrested
by Kamala: A Black Mother's Story. [Scroll down] In no small part,
Harris ascended to power on the backs of minority women, women like Cheree Peoples, a victim of
Harris's crackdown on truancy. At the time, Harris was not shy about explaining the rationale
for the crackdown. California schools are funded according to average daily attendance, at
the time about $30 per student per day. Harris, whose supporters included teachers' unions,
spoke openly about the need to increase school attendance in order to obtain more money from the
state and federal governments. In addressing this issue, Kamala once declared on camera, "I
want money!" Harris instituted a program in San Francisco beginning in 2007 to threaten
parents with arrest and a year in jail if their children missed school. When she became
California State Attorney General in 2010, Harris took her "arrest the parents" program
statewide. She openly laughed on camera about mailing parents letters that threatened jail
time, and boasted about sending her most vicious prosecutors from gang and homicide units to
intimidate and prosecute parents who had been arrested.
Gavin
Newsom Signs Bill Into Law Allowing The Government To Ban 'Deceptive' Social Media
Posts. CA Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bill into law that bans the distribution of
"election communications that contain materially deceptive content." According to his own
statement, content from the Kamala Harris Campaign X account could be banned but most likely
won't. CNN recently released a report detailing all of the "deceptive" content coming from
Kamala HQ. "A social media account run by Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign has been
repeatedly deceptive." "[Kamala HQ] has made a habit of misleadingly clipping and inaccurately
captioning video clips to attack former President Donald Trump." In Newsom's own statement,
"deceptive content," as CNN described, is now banned. [Video clip]
The
Los Angeles Times blames Republicans for California's woes. One of the hallmarks of
narcissism is that when things go wrong, it's always someone else's fault. Being a narcissist
means never having to say you're sorry. Nothing more perfectly illustrates this truism than
an essay from yesterday's Los Angeles Times blaming Republicans for California's myriad woes.
While the author is correct that, when Republicans had the chance, they didn't make smart
decisions, the reality is that it's the Democrats who have led California to the desperate place
it's in now. Steve Lopez's essay doesn't make the mistake of blaming Republicans for all the
state's problems. He concedes that Democrats have long controlled the former Golden State,
which is plagued by homelessness, crime, out-of-control housing costs, and poverty. He
contends, however, "that none of that happened overnight, nor did it happen exclusively under
Democratic leadership." Lopez believes that Republican mismanagement during the times that
Republicans controlled the government is as much to blame as Democrat mismanagement. The easy
challenge to that argument is that, since 1970, the legislature has had a Democrat majority, which
became a vetoproof supermajority in 2018.
Positioning
Kamala Harris, the California Candidate. As California native Kamala Harris continues
her word salad presidential campaign, Americans in the other 49 states might wonder how
someone who can't speak without a teleprompter rose to this political level. The key word is
"California," a state so insanely blue that its super-Democrat majority legislature wants to give
reparations to people who were never slaves paid by people who were never slave owners.
California joined the union in 1850 as a free state! Currently, Governor Gavin "Hair Gel"
Newsom has AB1840 sitting on his desk, a law that would help illegal aliens buy homes. "If Governor
Newsom signs AB 1840, someone who has broken the law to illegally enter our country will be
eligible to enter the lottery for a 20% downpayment loan on a home — a loan that legal
California residents will pay for," explains East Valley Republican Women Patriots (EVRWP)
President Joy Miedecke, "This privilege is on top of free healthcare for illegal aliens that the
California Democrats passed last year."
CA
Senate Pro Tem Refuses to Convene Special Session Called By Governor. As he promised,
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation convening a special legislative session on
Saturday after the state Assembly and Senate failed to pass a proposal he submitted on
August 15 that would require the state's refineries to maintain reserves to allegedly prevent
"price gouging" when there are supply shortages. Of course, even analysts within Newsom's
administration agreed that the measure would lead to a further increase in prices instead of
bringing Californians any kind of relief at the pump.
Newsom
Tells CA Lawmakers He'll Force Special Session If They Don't Pass His Bill to Increase Gas
Prices. Grasping for relevance, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is in the midst of
a bit of a temper tantrum this week with the legislature — threatening to convene a special session
if they don't pass his proposal to further regulate California's oil and gas industry.
Industry analysts say that the proposal, which would force refineries to "maintain a minimum fuel
reserve to avoid supply shortages," would lead to increased prices for drivers in California,
Arizona, and Nevada.
Interest
free, no down payment home loans for illegals? California Democrat assemblymember
Joaquin Arambula recently introduced Assembly Bill 1840, a piece of legislation that would extend a
first-time homebuyer loan program to illegal aliens. Should the bill become law, illegal
aliens would be eligible for a new program that would offer them a loan worth 20% of the purchase
price of the property[,] with no monthly payments. And no interest would accrue on the
loan. Ever. Instead, the loan would be paid back when the borrower either refinances or
sells the property. Can't happen, you opine? Assembly Bill 1840 was approved by a key
senate committee just this week. Yes, California is now one step closer to giving illegal
aliens interest-free home loans with zero down payment. And preposterously generous
repayment terms.
A
San Francisco program to produce black male teachers instead threw away taxpayer money.
Democrat programs always sound good but, once in operation, they're consistently disastrous, whether
because of inefficiency, graft, or being easy marks for grifters. San Francisco just added another
program to that list, with taxpayers having coughed up over $700,000 to get black men as teachers
in local elementary schools — and ending up with almost nothing to show for that
money. Democrats believe that they, not the taxpayers who do the work and create actual wealth,
know how to spend money virtuously and wisely. There is no indication that this is the case.
The more money that Democrats get, the more they waste.
Climate
madness is creating a nation of building code scofflaws. REACH Codes are building
ordinances that some local California governments have adopted. They go far beyond the
requirements of California's Energy and Green Building standards codes. They are meant to
reach "climate action" goals, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and accelerate "decarbonization" by
mandating all-electric new construction, upgrades to solar with remodeling projects, and electrical
system upgrades to encourage electric appliance upgrades. These plans take a huge chunk of
out Californian's pocketbooks. If you look at a California energy bill, you'll see that our
electric rates are obscenely high. And if you've ever suffered through one of California's
increasingly frequent power outages, you'd be eternally thankful for elderly gas stoves and heaters
that don't require electric switches to trigger them.
State
Regulations Force Bankruptcy of California Solar Company. On the one hand, the state
of California has decided that it shall become an all-electric, all-renewable power state by, well,
for practical purposes, next Thursday. On the other hand, the state gives utilities a massive
break on how much they pay home solar generators for their excess power, leading to the just
announced bankruptcy of California-based solar system installer SunPower. Welcome to
schizophrenic Sacramento.
San
Francisco Hotels Collapsing, Record Vacancy. Hotels in San Francisco are experiencing
massive financial losses as tourism to the city has continued to drop in the years after the
pandemic and as quality of life issues including homelessness and crime continue to grow in the
Golden Gate City. In June, weekend hotel occupancy rates in the San Francisco-San Mateo were
shown as being down by 22% since the same period in 2019, compared to just 4% nationally, data firm
CoStar Group shows, reports The Daily Mail. Many tourists are staying away because of several
factors, including the expensive prices in San Francisco.
California:
Next Stop, Venezuela. The California Energy Commission (CEC) has proposed several
government regulations of the petroleum industry in order to combat future gasoline price
surges. CEC regulators announced proposed government controls of the petroleum industry,
ostensibly to combat future gasoline price surges. CEC's proposed fiasco is unbelievable
since it has a clear vision of the ultimate outcome: Venezuela. The CEC announcement
comes as Chevron, one of the largest oil companies in the U.S., announced that it will relocate its
operations to Houston, Texas, is moving out of San Ramon, California. Its decision to leave
follows years of aggressive environmental policy making from Democrats that hurt the company's
business. The CEC report is laughably called "Transportation Fuels Assessment: Policy
Options for a Reliable Supply of Affordable and Safe Transportation Fuels in California".
It's laughable because the report title includes the word 'Affordable.'
The
Remarkable Transformation of Kamala Harris. When William McKay killed Riverside
Deputy Sheriff Isaiah Cordero during a traffic stop, the three-strike convicted felon was not in
custody because of Harris's reduced bail rule, despite having been convicted of three previous
violent crimes. Reduced (or no) bail policy along with charge reductions (from felonies to
misdemeanors), and no crime at all if theft, viz., shoplifting, less than $950 — these
were all elements of Harris's pro-crime posture when she was District Attorney of San Francisco
(2003-2010). Her policies turned one of the most popular travel destinations into a dangerous,
crime-, garbage-, and needle-infested, homeless dominated "unlivable hellhole." She extended
her pro-crime approach, adding defund the police, to all of California when she became that state's
Attorney General (2010-2017). Illegal immigration into the Golden State soared under her watch.
Between the open border and Harris's pro-crime attitude, gang violence in general, and particularly
murders in Los Angeles, reached new highs.
Kamala
Harris' Oakland Is a Disaster. [Scroll down] Oakland has every imaginable
advantage of climate and geography. The weather is immaculate [...] and the city has a major
port that is practically a tax gold mine. Yet, Oakland always seems to be on the verge of
full-on implosion. With the departure of the Oakland A's, a Major League Baseball team, at
the end of this season, the city will lose its third and last major sports franchise in a
decade. The loss is symbolic of a city that feels like a collapsing settlement at the edge of
the Roman Empire on the eve of the Dark Ages. It's worth noting that without the last-minute
sale of the dilapidated Oakland Coliseum, the city was looking at a budget shortfall of over
$100 million. The sale hardly solves the long-term problem. Oakland
is pondering doling out reparations to black residents, but a reparations panel said it needed
$5 million just to draw up a plan. This is a city that's used to treating taxpayers like
a piggy bank for grifting. Of course, Oakland has been associated with high crime rates for
decades, but following the mayhem of 2020 the challenge became acute. In 2021, the Oakland
City Council in effect voted to defund its already beleaguered police department. Crime exploded.
San
Francisco's downtown Saks Fifth Avenue bans window shoppers from coming inside. San
Francisco has suffered another blow as one of the most luxurious department stores downtown is
banning window shoppers. Saks Fifth Avenue in Union Square has decided to change its customer
experience by moving to 'appointment-only' this summer, according to KRON4. Locals will have
to pre-book appointments at the store located on 384 Post Street from August 28.
California:
Groups Of Thugs Are Raiding Homes And Cars In The Suburbs. Thieves were caught on
camera breaking into at least 8 cars, 5 garages, and several homes. Thieves targeted a
neighborhood in the East Bay,[California] stealing garage openers from cars and breaking into
homes. Surveillance footage shows the group breaking into cars, garages, and homes, driving a
white Honda Accord around 7 a.m. on Sunday. In one instance, the thieves entered a home
with a woman and children inside, but the woman chased them out after they tried to steal her
car. [Video clip]
California's
New Law Lets Schools Keep Secrets from Parents. Child predators follow a common
playbook: target the victim, gain their trust, fill a need, and, crucially, isolate the child from
her parents. For several years, this has also been standard California state protocol with
regard to schoolchildren questioning their gender identities. On Monday, this scheme became
law. The "SAFETY Act," AB 1955, signed by California Democratic governor Gavin Newsom,
legally forbids schools from adopting any policy that would force them to disclose "any information
related to a pupil's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to any other person
without the pupil's consent." Schools may not, as a matter of policy, inform parents of a child's
new gender identity unless the child volunteers her approval. The law also prohibits schools
from punishing any school employee found to have "supported a pupil" hurtling down a path toward
risky and irreversible hormones and surgeries. The law effectively shuts down the local
parents' rights movement in California by eliminating its most important tool: the ability to
organize at the community level to stop schools from deceiving them.
If criminals are everywhere, blame the bystanders. San
Francisco to fight crime by ordering Tenderloin businesses to close earlier. The San
Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a measure to impose a curfew on businesses in
the city's Tenderloin District over concerns that open businesses are hotspots for crime, drug
dealing and drug use. The legislation also noted how the city's police officers are typically
outnumbered by large groups of "people engaged in illegal activity," suggesting crime in the area's
disarray has grown past law enforcement's ability to control. "Large groups of people engaged
in drug sales and use in the Tenderloin Public Safety Area generally form and congregate in the
vicinity of retail businesses selling food and tobacco products that are open to the public during
those hours," wrote Mayor London Breed in her legislation submitted to the Board of Supervisors.
Kamala's
Legacies. As California's attorney general in 2014, Harris named a proposition that
changed thefts of property valued under $950 from felonies to misdemeanors. Harris called it
the "Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act" but failed to explain how legalizing crime made schools
and neighborhoods safer. She has claimed she took no position on the act, but the ballot
language has exposed that falsehood. Proposition 47 launched a crime wave across the state,
with 31,322 vehicle break-ins in San Francisco alone in 2017, a 24-percent increase from the
previous year. The measure empowered criminals to break into vehicles in broad daylight with
bystanders present. The arrest rate in San Francisco, where Harris previously served as
district attorney, was less than two percent, and under Proposition 47 criminals could expect at
the most a citation. The consequences of the pro-crime measure were obvious to all but the
willfully blind, but the attorney general kept on the quiet side.
Independent
report: As Newsom brags, all California job growth is in government. California
Governor Gavin Newsom touted the state's job growth in his State of the State Address last week,
but a new report from a state agency found the state's private sector employment has been declining
since 2022, with public sector hiring accounting for the entire state net increase in jobs.
California's state-funded, non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office found the private sector lost
154,000 jobs and the public and public-supported sector has gained 361,000 jobs since the peak of
the state's labor market in September 2022. This means on net, the state's 207,000 job
increase in employment since September 2022 has been from growing government-related hiring.
WalletHub
ranks San Francisco 'worst run' city in America for the second year in a row. San
Francisco just took home WalletHub's "worst-run" city in America title for the second year in a
row — which is hardly surprising, considering this is the place where you download a
"poop map" before braving the city sidewalks, open-air drug markets and dirty tents fill the
formerly clean Tenderloin district, and a walking tour with a sardonic sales pitch sold out weeks
in advance — participants were promised an intimate experience with the urban decay of
the "progressive" city, and offered the chance to "get close and personal with the Doom and Squalor
of downtown San Francisco."
Adding
Insult to Injury in San Francisco. What happens in San Francisco if your insurance
drops you because crime is out of control and your store is broken into for the fourth time?
You get a notice from the city that you better fix up your store before they come after you.
[Advertisement] [Video clip] Robbed by the criminals and financially raped by the
city. It's a perfect example of how the government prefers to police the law-abiding and
ignore the criminals. After all, criminals are dangerous and will fight back.
Californians
With No Driver's License Or SSN Can Use A Credit Card Or Gym Membership To Vote. In
California, voters with no government ID can still vote so long as they show a gym membership,
credit card, utility bill, or other low-security identification. Individuals wishing to
register to vote in California are prompted on the secretary of state's website to provide their
driver's license identification number and/or the last four digits of their Social Security
number. But both sections give applicants the option to select a box indicating they lack
that form of identification. [Screenshot] If an applicant checks both boxes, he would later
be prompted to provide other identification, the California secretary of state's office told The
Federalist. Upon further inquiry, an office representative said individuals could provide
proof of identity by showing items such as a credit card, a utility bill, or their gym membership.
California
Mandates Trains That Don't Exist. California has long been infamous for its
regulatory regime, imposing harsh restrictions on businesses and individuals. This pattern
has been accelerating since climate change alarmism took hold in the state, with demands for carbon
emission reductions serving as an excuse to restrict or ban everything from charcoal grills to gas
stoves and more. Vehicles of all sorts have been swept up in this craze, with electric cars,
trucks, and buses becoming the mandatory modes of transportation. Now, however, the state has
its eyes on another form of transportation. Under a new proposed rule, the operation of
diesel freight trains older than 23 years will be banned so they must be replaced with
electric trains. That will certainly come as welcome news to climate change alarmists, but
there's one small problem with this proposal. There are currently no fully electric trains in
commercial production and there is no estimated timeline for when such trains might be commercially
available given the current state of the technology. In other words, California is looking to
mandate the use of trains that do not exist.
California
Budget Deal Slashes Spending but Includes $12 Million for Reparations.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and state legislators struck a deal this weekend to close a
$47 billion budget deficit — and agreed to spend $12 million to implement
proposals to provide reparations for slavery. [...] CalMatters.org reported Saturday on the budget
deal, which combines spending cuts and withdrawals from the state's "rainy day" fund to overcome
the shortfall (which CalMatters says is even higher, at $56 billion): [...] The push for
reparations began in 2020, at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, at both the state and
local levels, in left-wing cities like San Francisco. Proponents began recommending massive
cash transfers, leading Newsom to back away cautiously from cash payments as a form of
reparations. Democrats continued pushing for reparations, despite the fact that the state's
$100 billion budget surplus in 2022 had crashed to a massive deficit by 2024.
California's
Minimum Wage Continues to Destroy Restaurants. Would you rather have some jobs
available at $12 an hour or no jobs available at $20 an hour? The answer may vary depending
on whether you're a business owner or job seeker — or politician or bureaucrat.
Regardless, the opening question, which is of the kind late economist Walter E. Williams often
asked, should be pondered with news that California's new $20 minimum wage is continually claiming
victims. The latest is a San Francisco McDonald's franchisee who'd been in business for
30 years. This pales in comparison, though, to one of the new minimum wage's first
victims: Rubio's Coastal Grill. That chain is closing 48 Golden State locations —
more than a third of its 134 remaining restaurants across California, Arizona, and Nevada.
Democracy
Just Died a Painful Death in California. Well, it sure looks like California is
beyond saving now. In a stunning anti-democratic move, the California Supreme Court ruled on
Thursday to block an anti-tax initiative from appearing on the ballot. This initiative, known
as the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act, was backed by the business community
and sought to make it more difficult to increase taxes in California. Among other things, it
would have required the legislature to obtain voter approval for any new or increased state
taxes. There's nothing groundbreaking about it, as voters in other states have used the
ballot box to approve or deny tax initiatives before. But Gavin Newsom and the
Democrat-controlled legislature were having none of it and filed a lawsuit to block the measure
last fall, claiming that the initiative represented an illegal effort to amend the California
Constitution and would hinder critical government operations. And the California Supreme
Court unanimously sided with Newsom.
California
Jewelry Store Looted In Broad Daylight. At what point do California voters finally
realize that their Democratic Party leaders have abandoned trying to enforce the rule of law and
shout "Enough!"? The latest example of California's decline into a lawless state is a bold
daylight robbery where 20 masked intruders looted a Sunnyvale jewelry store in broad daylight.
California
Applies Broken Windows Theory in Reverse. Thanks go to the erstwhile Golden State for
warning us what we have to look forward to if we do not pry Democrats from power and reject leftism
root and branch: [Tweet with video clip] Shoplifting is effectively legal in
California. Smashing through the front of a store so as to loot it is still against the law
(until such law is found to have a disparate impact on Persons of Preferred Pigmentation), but by
now it hardly matters. By encouraging low-level crime, California has thrown the broken
windows theory into reverse and then into overdrive.
Summer
Surprise: The Looming Biden Replacement. In February, I predicted that it can't
be Joe Biden representing the Democratic Party in November, and that he would be replaced sometime
in the summer before the Democratic National Convention. [...] Who, after all, are the "many
popular Democrats" that Nate Silver imagines Democrats to have on the bench? Gavin
Newsom? California is a failing state at the moment, having gone from a $100 billion
surplus after federal COVID stimulus to a $73 billion deficit in just two years. It is
currently enduring an unprecedented homelessness crisis while also experiencing an exodus of
high-income taxpayers. Meanwhile, it is welcoming illegal aliens and unskilled laborers who
benefit from California's ambitious welfare state.
Be
Prepared for Chaos. I find it impossible to believe that President Biden will be the
Democratic nominee, and if he is, that he can win. What do the Democrats do? They
certainly can't substitute Kamala Harris for Biden; she's tanked in opinion polls even lower and
faster than has Biden. There are no nationally known non-geriatric substitutes in the wings,
save for California governor Gavin Newsom, whose record for screwing up is at least as bad as
Biden's. Youth and a good haircut can only go so far outside Newsom's home state. Even
liberals are now conceding the West Coast has lost its way and become dysfunctional, and who is a
better avatar of West Coast progressives than Newsom?
California's billionaire
utopia may not be as eco-friendly as advertised. Silicon Valley billionaires are
still aggressively moving forward with their attempt to create a utopian, sustainable "city of
yesterday" near San Francisco atop what they describe as "non-prime farmland." However, an
accredited land trust now claims California Forever's East Solano Plan is intentionally misleading
local residents about the "detrimental harm" it will cause ecosystems, as well as its potential to
"destroy some of the most self-reliant farmland and ranchland" in the state.
California
Gov. Gavin Newsom Caught Charging U.S. Taxpayers For Illegal Alien Healthcare.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been caught charging U.S. taxpayers for the healthcare bills
of the state's illegal alien population. According to local media, Newsom filed nearly
$53 million worth of reimbursements that the state now must return to the federal government:
[...] A review conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspector general's
office revealed that California employed an "outdated calculation" method for claiming federal
reimbursements between October 2018 and June 2019. This method failed to exclude services
provided to noncitizens, which must be paid for by the state.
Is
California Moving Toward Government-Owned Electricity? The first obvious hurdle to
"public ownership" — socialism — is the Fifth Amendment, which concludes,
"nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." Here are the
valuations of the state's two largest private utilities:
• PG&E: $48 billion
• Southern California Edison: $82 billion
• Total: $130 billion
Where is the state of California supposed to get that kind of money? Float a bond?
The state treasurer lists California's current state bond indebtedness at $71.7 billion.
And they've only started issuing the $6.4 billion in new bonds for Proposition 1, which
voters passed on March 5. In sum, a state takeover would effectively nearly triple state
bond indebtedness.
Newsom's
Budget Crisis: Slashing Safety to Fund Climate Goals. California Governor Gavin
Newsom has put forward a budget that includes significant cuts to public safety funding, even as
the state grapples with a massive deficit and pushes for aggressive climate goals focused on
equity. In his proposed budget, released in May, Newsom highlighted the necessity of
"difficult decisions" to address the estimated $27.6 billion deficit expected to persist for
years. The proposal includes a $97 million reduction in trial court operations,
$10 million from the Department of Justice's Division of Law Enforcement, and more than
$80 million from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
First
Defund or Abolish, Now Disarm the Police? Southern California, particularly the San
Diego area, has already been beset with more than its fair share of problems. Illegal aliens
are flooding the region, homelessness is out of control, and crime has been on the rise. The
police in both San Diego and Los Angeles have had their hands full. But if one gun control
group has its way, the cops' hands will be a bit more empty if they don't have any guns. CBS
News just concluded a two-year study into how the police buy their firearms and how they dispose of
them when they reach the end of their service life. They found that some of the old guns the
police sold were later found at crime scenes. Further, they investigated the gun companies
that sell firearms to the police and determined that some of them have been cited for violations
when they improperly sold weapons or ammunition. Now, San Diego is considering a law that
would ban the police from doing business with those companies.
Why
Does California Keep Acting Like Its Own Country? Two California governors have
visited China and signed environmental accords as if they were the heads of state instead of the
heads of a state. Now the madness continues with the EU lobbying California over AI. [...]
States do not get to run their own foreign policy. They don't get to sign accords with
foreign nations. And yet California Democrats keep doing this sort of thing.
California
Dems vote to continue protecting illegal alien pedophiles with 'sanctuary' policies.
California Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R) on Tuesday forced a vote regarding his bill, Assembly Bill
2641, which would end "sanctuary state" protections for illegal aliens convicted of sex crimes
against children. California's sanctuary policies prevent state authorities from turning over
illegal immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The restricted cooperation
forces ICE to expend more of its own resources to locate and detain illegal aliens who have
committed additional crimes. Essayli proposed a motion on Tuesday that forced California
lawmakers to vote on whether to hear his proposed bill. Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Jim Wood
(D) cut off Essayli's microphone while he was announcing the motion. "Thank you,
Mr. Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and invoke the California constitution to
withdraw Assembly Bill 2641, which will end sanctuary state protections for convicted illegal
immigrant pedophiles," Essayli stated. The speaker instructed Essayli to stop before turning
off the assemblyman's microphone.
California
ranks last in opportunity due to cost living: U.S. News. According to new state
rankings, California ranks dead last in opportunity due to its high cost of living, says the U.S.
News and World Report. USNWR's report uses cost of living, economic opportunity, and equality
to create its opportunity metric. California's nation-worst cost of living was the main
driver of the opportunity ranking, as its economic opportunity and income inequality were both
better than more than half of American states'. "California was the birthplace for opportunity
where our ancestors came to seek a better life and pursue the California Dream," State Sen. Brian
Dahle, R-Bieber, who was California Governor Newsom's opponent in the 2022 general election, told The
Center Square. "Housing, electricity, and gas continue to rise, and [Democrats'] solution is to
tax, regulate, and mandate no matter the outcome."
The
Democrats' Anti-Business Policies Create The Food Deserts They Decry. A decade ago,
California made shoplifting under $950 a misdemeanor, so shoplifting is de facto legal. That
basically means that you can steal $949 worth of merchandise every single day and likely never go
to jail. So, if you steal that $949 worth of goods every day and sell them for 25 cents
on the dollar, you can generate an income of $86,000 a year tax-free! [...] In the hellhole that
has become San Francisco, city supervisors have proposed a bill that would allow citizens to sue
retailers if they close without giving the city six months' notice. That means, basically,
that after struggling to make a profit, when a store finally decides to bite the bullet and close
its doors, the Democrats running the city will have decreed that the store must remain open for
another six months, regardless of how much money it loses.
California
Looks to Ban 'Clear' Service. Are you a frequent flyer? If so, you really
should get Clear, a service that allows you to shorten your wait time in the TSA security
line. It costs $189 a year, so if you don't fly often, you might want to pay the time tax,
but if you fly more than 2-3 times a year it is well worth it to simplify your airport
experience and reduce aggravation. [Tweet] Aggravation, of course, is exactly what the DEI
crowd wants people to experience, and since more White people are likely to buy Clear, two
California legislators are looking to ban the service. To be clear, Clear is not the same as
the federal government's TSA pre-check, which gets you around even more barriers than Clear
does. Rather, the company uses biometric IDs to ensure the identity of the person preparing
to fly. It is sort of a pre-screening, in which you exchange money and agree to give a
company your fingerprints and a retina scan in exchange for a shorter line experience. Very
dystopian, and yes, I pay for it. I hate lines.
Blaming
Victims: San Francisco's Irrational Grocery Store Proposal. A member of the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors, Dean Preston, recently proposed that grocery stores in the city
that decided to close their doors, perhaps because of continual theft from their shelves and
threats to their staff, should be forced to give six months' notice of their intention to close and
try to find another store willing to take over from them; moreover, they would be liable to claims
for compensation from local residents whose lives are adversely affected by their decision if they
fail to comply. When I read this, I laughed: I thought it must be satire. But no:
the proposal was meant in deadly earnest. These days, satire is policy. [...] I think 99 out
of 100 people would still think that the best way to deal with widespread theft would be to
catch and punish the thieves rather than grant them impunity and license to continue. Mad as
the idea may be to force stores to put up with theft rather than do something to reduce it in the
first place, there is a certain contorted logic to it; namely, that the thieves are not so much
criminals as victims, and that when they purloin goods they are not acting from greed, dishonesty,
or other such disreputable motives, but are seeking compensation for all the wrongs that they have
suffered for the past 400 years. Their theft, in fact, is therapeutic; it is restorative
justice.
California
reparations bill on licensing unconstitutional say critics. A California reparations
bill prioritizing black applicants in state professional licensing is likely unconstitutional and
violates the U.S. Constitution's equal protections clause under the 14th Amendment, says the
Pacific Legal Foundation. AB 2862, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gipson, D-Carson, would
"require boards to prioritize African American applicants seeking licenses under these provisions,
especially applicants who are descended from a person enslaved in the United States." The bill
was introduced in February as a broader package of reparations for Black Californians, a package
that did not include direct cash payments.
San
Francisco Bill Would Let People Sue Grocery Stores for Closing Too Quickly. The San
Francisco Board of Supervisors is considering a remarkable policy that would allow people to sue
grocery stores that close too quickly. Earlier this week, Supervisors Dean Preston and Aaron
Peskin introduced an ordinance that, if passed, would require grocery stores to provide six months'
written notice to the city before closing down. Supermarket operators would also have to make
"good faith" efforts to ensure the continued availability of groceries at their shuttered location,
either through finding a successor store, helping residents form a grocery co-op, or any other plan
they might work out by meeting with city and neighborhood residents. Lest one thinks this is
some heavy-handed City Hall intervention, the ordinance makes clear that owners still retain the
ultimate power to close their store. It also creates a number of exemptions to the six-month
notice requirement.
Sacramento has a lot in common with Sodom and Gomorrah: Sacramento
declares itself a sanctuary city for transgender people. The Sacramento City Council
voted unanimously Tuesday night to declare the California capital a "sanctuary city for transgender
people." The resolution, which takes effect immediately, ensures that no city resources will be
used to criminalize trans people seeking transition-related care or to cooperate with jurisdictions
seeking to enforce laws that criminalize the care elsewhere. It comes as conservative
lawmakers across the country have enacted laws to limit both surgical and nonsurgical forms of
gender-affirming care for minors — including puberty blockers and hormone replacement
therapy — within the last handful of years. Twenty-four states limit gender-affirming
care for trans youths, according to LGBTQ think tank Movement Advancement Project.
Newsom
exempts more 'friends' from $20/hour fast-food wage law. Not too long ago, Gavin
Newsom got caught with his hand in the cookie jar of political cronyism. In response to a
draconian law passed raising fast-food worker wages to $20 an hour, known as A.B. 1228, Newsom
carved out a little exemption for his friends at Panera Bread on the laughable grounds that these
establishments bake bread on the premises. In reality, the owner of several Panera establishments
was a high school buddy who was a really good donor to his campaigns. Once caught, Newsom
backed off, but right when he thought no one was looking, he went right back to the cookie
jar again to carve out more little exemptions for his friends who donated well, as if word had gotten
around, signing off on a "cleaned-up" bill known as A.B. 610.
State
Farm Cuts 72,000 California Policies, Citing Wildfire Risk. State Farm General
Insurance Co. will cut about 72,000 policies in California beginning in July, the latest move by
the state's biggest insurer to cope with growing risks from wildfires and other natural
disasters. The move comes just nine months after State Farm announced plans to stop issuing
new coverage in the most populous US state. In the latest announcement on March 20, the
company also cited reinsurance costs and constraints posed by decades-old insurance rules as
reasons why it decided not to renew policies on 30,000 homes and 42,000 commercial apartments.
The cuts account for about 2% of the insurer's policies in the state. State Farm said it
reached its decision following an evaluation of the company's commitment to uphold its claims-paying
capabilities and adhere to financial solvency laws. "This decision was not made lightly and only
after careful analysis of State Farm General's financial health," the company said in a statement.
Recalled
San Francisco DA Says Victims Don't Have Rights Under the Constitution. Crime victims
don't have rights under the Constitution, former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who
was recalled by voters in 2022 amid an escalation of crime, said during a conference here at UC
Berkeley School of Law. Boudin's surprising comment came as part of a larger debate between
the Left and Right on criminal justice issues at the March 8 gathering, called "Justice
Unveiled: Debating Crime and Public Safety Conference." [Video clip] The
ousted San Francisco prosecutor led a discussion with California district attorneys that also included
Cully Stimson, a Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow who is a crime expert and former prosecutor.
Hollywood
Studios Reap $25 Billion from States' Film Tax Credits; Taxpayers See Massive Losses.
Hollywood has reportedly received a whopping $25 billion in state tax incentives to date —
a win for studios like Disney and Netflix but a big "L" for ordinary taxpayers, who are footing the bill
for the giveaways. Frequently championed by Democrats, state tax credits for movie and TV
productions are intended to juice local economies by creating jobs and boosting revenue for small
businesses that provide services like catering and transportation. That, in turn, is supposed
to generate more tax dollars. But despite the $25 billion spent so far, states are
seeing paltry returns on their investment — sometimes less than 20 cents on each
dollar given away, according to studies cited in a New York Times report.
A
week after primaries in California and they still haven't counted all the votes.
"Count all the votes!" as the lefties liked to say loudly. That was their justification for
mass mail-in ballots in California, ballot-harvesting by illegals, and extended voting for weeks
and weeks. Election Day? No, election month. They said it was to expand the
franchise to "marginalized communities" and raise turnout. Curiously, turnout has now hit a
near-record low in a presidential primary year as this Secretary of State supplied data makes
clear. Before these new "innovations" were enacted, mostly in the era of COVID, it was not
unusual to have turnout in such years in the 70% range. Today, they got ... 34%, just
slightly above 2022's 33.2%, which wasn't a presidential primary election year. Now we're
onto the extended counting. [...] They said they'd count all the votes — and as of
today, they haven't counted all the votes. Which is funny stuff, because supposedly
less-developed nations like Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, with much larger populations of voters,
can count all its ballots overnight on 100% turnout in some cases, and still come up with a
result that's fair and normal.
California
city bans non-government flags, angering LGBTQ groups. Voters in California's
conservative Huntington Beach approved a measure that would restrict all non-government flags from
being flown on city property, prompting backlash from LGBTQ advocates. Measure B, authored
by Huntington Beach City Councilman Pat Burns, passed with more than half of the city's vote,
according to the latest tally on the county's registrar website. The measure, for which
voters cast their ballots on Super Tuesday, will prohibit breast cancer awareness, Pride,
Confederate and all other non-U.S flags on city property. Burns told Fox News Digital in an
interview that the measure was not meant to be discriminatory against any group, but to encourage
residents to unite under a common American identity. Most of the backlash Burns said he has
received has been from LGBTQ advocates. I'm against the identity politics, I think it's
divisive," Burns said Friday. "I think it's demeaning to be honest, that flag, that I find is
so insulting to LGBTQ. And I know that they support it, but in my mind, it's demeaning that
they need some kind of special recognition to feel like they're part of our community. People
are equal and those kinds of things are divisive."
California
to help 'undocumented immigrants' purchase homes? California Assemblymember Joaquin
Arambula has introduced Assembly Bill 1840, aimed at expanding home ownership opportunities for
"undocumented immigrants" in the state. The bill would make illegal aliens eligible for first
time homebuyer loans. The bill, as originally introduced earlier this year, was aimed at low-
and middle-income citizens, but Arambula apparently decided that was too exclusive, and
therefore recently proposed his updated version. This is yet another kick in the shorts to
citizens, especially since the formerly Golden State has the highest priced housing —
and by far the most homeless people — in the nation. California is already the
only state to fund comprehensive health care for undocumented immigrants. And it has a
stupefying projected budget deficit of $73 billion with an average personal debt of $84,730
... which "undocumented immigrants" undoubtedly will not have to pay. Illegal migrants
pouring across our Southern border have allegedly been handed credit cards and cell phones.
In some cases, they are being put up in very nice hotels. Moreover, residents and property
owners in places like Boston, Denver and New York City have been asked to take these immigrants
into their own homes.
Newsom
Donor Greg Flynn Agrees to Pay $20 Minimum Wage Amid 'PaneraGate' Scandal. Panera
Bread franchisee and Newsom donor Greg Flynn announced on Wednesday that he would be complying with
the AB 1228 $20 per hour wage law for fast food companies when it begins next month following over
a week of backlash against him and Governor Gavin Newsom over allegations that he had originally
been exempt to the law because of his donor ties with Newsom. When AB 1228 was passed last
year, all fast food companies were covered under the bill, directing them to make the new minimum
wage for their industry only from $16 an hour to $20 an hour. Initially there were only a few
exemptions: certain restaurants in grocery stores, and restaurants with on-site bakeries, with
Panera Bread being the largest one exempted. For months, this went without question, as the
reasoning behind it seemed reasonable. [...] News outlets began looking into who owned these Panera
Bread locations. That's when it was discovered that Flynn, who owns well over a third of the
exempted Panera Bread locations in the state, is a major donor of Governor Newsom, as well as a
high school friend.
It
Looks Like Another Soros DA in California Will Face a Recall Election. It looks like
another Soros DA in California will be facing a recall election. As we've been reporting,
proponents of an effort to recall Alameda County's District Attorney, Pamela Price, have been
gathering signatures for months to place a recall election on the ballot. On Monday those
proponents turned in 123,387 signatures — 50,000 more than the 73,195 required. Alameda
County Registrar of Voters Tim Dupris now has ten days to run validation checks to ensure that the
signatures are from registered Alameda County voters and certify the number of valid signatures
submitted. If his office certifies that at least 73,195 valid signatures were submitted, a
recall election must be held.
Illegal
Aliens to Get Interest-Free Home Loans Under New Democrat-Backed California Bill.
Illegal aliens will get interest-free home mortgage loans under a new California bill.
Democrat assemblymember Joaquin Arambula (Fresno) recently introduced Assembly Bill 1840 to extend
a first-time homebuyer loan program to illegal aliens. If the bill becomes law, illegal
aliens will be eligible for a new program that offers a loan worth 20% of the purchase price of the
residential property. There are no monthly payments and no interest accrues on the loan.
Rather, the loan is paid back when the borrower refinances or sells the property. The borrower
will have to pay back the original loan plus a 20% increase in the value of the property.
Panera
Bread Exempt From $20 Per Hour CA Minimum Wage Law, Because Newsom Protects His Wealthy
Buddies. In September 2023, California passed a $20 an-hour minimum wage
increase, which had an immediate chilling effect over fast food and fast casual chain dining.
Many of these restaurants upped their already increased prices; some fired staff — like
Pizza Hut did with its delivery drivers — and moved to more self-serve and robot
checkout. Some are even closing locations. Unless you're Panera Bread. In
California, Greg Flynn owns multiple Panera Bread chains in the state. Flynn also happens to
be a "friend" of California Governor Gavin Newsom. You do the math. [Tweet]
Coincidentally... Panera
Bread to launch cheaper sandwiches, abandon dinner in 'largest menu transformation
ever. Panera Bread plans to expand its salad and sandwich options with the "largest
menu transformation ever" — including many items for less than $10 — as it
shifts away from dinner meals, the company announced Thursday. The popular chain —
which recently earned an exemption from California's new $20-an-hour minimum wage law —
will add nine new menu items and enhance the recipes for 12 existing classics in a "new era" at the
company, according to a press release. The rollout at Panera's more than 2,100 locations is
slated to begin April 4.
Longtime
Newsom Donor Owns Panera Bread, Which is Exempt From California Minimum Wage
Increase. California Gov. Gavin Newsom fought to exempt fast-food chains from
the new minimum wage increase if the company baked its own bread and sold it as a standalone
item. The minimum wage will increase to $20. But why? The first and only
restaurant you think of is Panera Bread. [...] [Panera Bread owner Greg] Flynn is a regular donator
to Newsom. He gave $100,000 to fight against the recall. Newsom got another $64,800
during his 2022 reelection campaign. People close to Flynn told Bloomberg News he "has been
known to tout his relationship with Newsom" and bragged "he can reach the governor via text."
New
$20 minimum wage law in California set to take effect, but people notice an 'obscure'
exemption. Talk about fortuitous! In a strange turn of events, one of Gavin
Newsom's biggest donors hits the jackpot, and when the state-mandated $20 minimum wage for certain
fast-food workers takes effect in April, this lucky duck employer won't be subject to complying
with the increase, thanks to an "obscure" exemption in the statute. [...] Greg Flynn is a
billionaire, one of Newsom's (and other Democrats') most loyal and longtime benefactors, and
according to Bloomberg, "the largest restaurant franchisee in the US, if not the world." Flynn's
fast-food portfolio includes establishments like Taco Bell, Wendy's, and Pizza Hut[,] but his
California fast-food portfolio is limited to one brand: Panera Bread. And,
surprise surprise, the new law's "obscure exemption" seems only applicable to... Panera Bread.
Federal
Judge Clobbers California's Silly Ban on Billy Clubs in Devastating Ruling. A federal
court has made a critical ruling related to the Second Amendment and the concept of
self-defense. The decision strikes at the heart of California laws intended to limit one's
ability to protect themselves against violent criminals. Judge Roger Benitez handed down a
ruling in the case of Fouts v. Bonta on Friday, striking down a ban on citizens
possessing or carrying billy clubs and other forms of less lethal weaponry. In his decision,
Benitez questioned the legality of the statute, which criminalized Californians simply for owning a
billy club, a tool that is commonly used by members of law enforcement, but is also used by
civilians for personal defense. "Americans have an individual right to keep and bear arms,
whether firearms or less lethal arms," the judge wrote, also arguing that "The Second Amendment to
the United States Constitution 'guarantee[s] the individual right to possess and carry weapons in
case of confrontation.'"
California:
North Korea of the USA. The Cold War presented the world with one of the largest
controlled experiments in human history, which offered the contrast between East and West Germany,
and North and South Korea. Both historic nations were reduced to rubble in war and then
partitioned, after which they pursued diametrically opposed policies for the next two generations,
with starkly contrasting results. Democratic capitalism rapidly made West Germany and South
Korea into prosperous economic and cultural powerhouses, while East Germany and North Korea
stagnated and remained mired in poverty and tyranny. Today the United States is repeating a
parallel controlled experiment, between "red states" and "blue states." As was the case under
Communism, Americans are voting with their feet, moving in large numbers from high-tax,
high-regulation blue states to low-tax, business-friendly red states. The data show red
states are experiencing faster economic and personal income growth, and better social performance
on a number of key indicators, such as crime, affordable housing, and public education.
San
Francisco Totally Loses Its Mind By Electing A Chinese Woman Who Can't Vote Legally To The
Elections Commission. San Francisco's Board of Supervisors appointed the first
non-citizen to the San Francisco Elections Commission last week. The non-citizen appointee
will now be responsible for helping oversee and develop policies for San Francisco's Department of
Elections despite being currently ineligible to vote herself. According to KQED, Kelly Wong,
who is an outspoken advocate for immigrant rights, was sworn in last Wednesday at San Francisco
City Hall by Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin. Wong is believed to be the city's
first non-citizen to become a member of the San Francisco Elections Commission.
[Video clip]
San
Francisco Admits First Non-citizen to Elections Board. San Francisco has appointed a
non-citizen to its elections commission for the first time, even though she cannot vote. [...] As
Breitbart News has noted, non-citizens are allowed to vote in San Francisco in school board
elections. It is not clear how firm the separation is between those registered to vote for
school board elections and those registered to vote for all other elections. Democrat-run
jurisdictions have attempted to expand voting rights to non-citizens, hoping to capitalize on the
large number of immigrants — legal and illegal — that have entered the
country thanks to loose Democratic Party border policies.
Barbara
Lee Wants Outrageous $50 Minimum Wage. Democratic House Rep Barbara Lee recently
appeared on a debate stage and stated her case for a $50 federal minimum wage. Lee has been a
House Rep in a district mainly covering Oakland since 1998. She was debating other candidates
who were running for US Senate in California. [Tweet]
The
California Energy Scam: Newsom's Actions Of "Leaking" Emissions To Poorer Developing
Countries. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has been vocal about his commitment
to reducing in-state greenhouse gas emissions, but much of his "success" has been accomplished by
"leaking" those emissions to offshore locations with miniscule environmental regulations compared
to California. The state also has the highest poverty rate in the nation, the highest state
income tax in the nation, the highest gas taxes in the nation, and record homelessness.
California is probably the most environmentally regulated location on the planet. The state
also has the highest poverty rate in the nation, the highest state income tax in the nation, the
highest gas taxes in the nation, and record homelessness.
Yes,
It Is Real: Woke Kindergarten Destroying Bay Area School. Woke Kindergarten.
It sounds like a bad joke. But unfortunately, it is very real, and a Bay Area school is
dropping $250,000 to this for-profit company to provide indoctrination to students who are already
doing badly in school. [Tweet] It tells you something — nothing good, of
course — that a school that is doing a horrendous job of giving kids a basic education
is spending money to train teachers to turn children into woke warriors. Given that reasoning
skills are counterproductive when you want children mindlessly mouthing platitudes about indigenous
rights, the elimination of work and rent, and the need to eliminate Israel, it makes perfect sense.
[Tweet]
Newsom
Stands By 'Equitable' Electricity Bills as Opposition Builds. California governor
Gavin Newsom is standing by the state's soon-to-be-implemented "equitable" policy to base
electricity bills on income, rather than usage, even as public and political opposition to the idea
builds in the Democratic coalition. A spokesman for the governor said on Tuesday that Newsom
is looking forward to seeing a final proposal from the state's utilities commission "that is
consistent with" the 2022 law that required the agency to devise an income-based billing system.
"California must combat climate change by rapidly expanding the use of clean electricity in our
vehicles and buildings, while at the same time making it more affordable for low-income
Californians," the spokesman said in a statement. Newsom's commitment to California's
income-based electricity billing plan followed a press conference by a group of Democratic
lawmakers who want to reverse the policy, after they voted in its favor as part of a 2022 budget
bill. Citing public outcry, they condemned the plan as another price hike for Californians'
astronomical energy bills that would punish conservation-minded households while also subjecting
everyone to invasive income checks.
California
toddler killer to walk free unless Gov. Newsom overrules parole board. A
California child killer who reportedly beat his girlfriend's 3-year-old son so badly he suffered
dozens of traumatic injuries, broken bones and "pulverized" organs, is one step closer to walking
free after state officials approved his parole despite a prosecutor's pledge to keep him behind
bars for the rest of his life. The only chance to uphold that vow is now in the hands of
Gov. Gavin Newsom. Patrick Goodman, now 49, killed Elijah Sanderson in early
December 2000. The medical examiner reportedly found that some of the injuries had been caused
by swinging the child by his wrist into a wall repeatedly. A parole hearing took place in
December, where District Attorney Brooke Jenkins' office argued against Goodman's release.
Critics have become more vocal after the San Francisco Public Safety News site published the
transcript Wednesday.
California
Bill Calls for Tech to Make New Cars Unable to Speed. Someday in the not too distant
future, it might no longer be possible to drive a brand-new car faster than 80 mph in
California. That's because state senator Scott Wiener earlier this week proposed a new bill
that aims to prevent certain new vehicles from going more than 10 mph over the speed
limit. In California, the maximum posted speed limit is 70 mph, meaning anything north
of 80 mph would be off limits. The Speeding and Fatality Emergency Reduction on
California Streets — or SAFER California Streets, for short — is a package of
bills that includes SB 961 that was published Tuesday, which essentially calls for speed governors
on new cars and trucks built or sold in California starting with the 2027 model year. These
vehicles would be required to have an "intelligent speed limiter system" that electronically
prevents the driver from speeding above the aforementioned threshold.
The Editor says...
Will a police car have such a limiter? Of course not. What about the governor's car? How about
Nancy Pelosi's car? The new rules, just like the old rules, apply only to us, not to them.
Wait
Until Rep. Eric Swalwell Finds Out Who Is Responsible for the Carjackings He's Terrified
Of. Congressman Eric Swalwell, who we occasionally must remind ourselves tried and
failed miserably to run for President of the United States, has taken to social media to bemoan the
state of crime in California. [...] But it's Swalwell's mention of "soft on violent-crime
prosecutors" that intrigues me. It's definitely a partisan issue. I mean, you aren't
seeing Republican prosecutors giving a slap on the wrist (or less) to misdemeanor offenders, nor
are you seeing them refuse to prosecute some major crimes. But you are seeing this from
Democrat prosecutors, like Diana Becton of Alameda County, California. Becton, if you'll
recall, feels that officers need to consider whether or not looters "needed" the goods they were
stealing. As one might guess, if looters can get away with just stealing whatever goods they
"need," they tend to escalate. Escalation in stealing things usually tends to lead to
stealing cars. Surely Swalwell understands this, right?
Pro-abortion
California state representative introduces bill to ban 'cruel' glue traps for rats and
mice. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), a famously left-wing and pro-abortion member of
Congress with a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America, recently introduced a bill to outlaw
glue traps designed to eliminate rodents ... because he considers them to be "cruel" and
"inhumane." The glue traps, that is. Lieu took to social media to lobby for the
criminalization of glue traps, the use of which he deems to be "ruthless:" [Tweet]
California
Crazy: Woman Who Stabbed Date 108 Times, Killing Him, Gets Only 100 Hours of Community
Service. I live in California and frequently write about its crime problems stemming from
disastrous progressive policies like Proposition 47 — which changed a slew of offenses from
felonies to misdemeanors — and woke George Soros-backed district attorneys like LA's George
Gascón. But even my jaw dropped when I heard about this judge's decision in Ventura County.
Bryn Spejcher, now 33, got high on marijuana in 2018, stabbed her boyfriend over a hundred times, knifed
her dog and then herself, and yet received no jail time because defense experts deemed that she experienced
"cannabis-induced psychosis" — a conclusion which the judge amazingly agreed with. To
put it bluntly, this is absolute lunacy.
Police
recruiting: California self-destructs. Americans are used to calling their
local police and receiving a rapid response. Or at least they were — in some
places — some of the time. A case in point is Alameda, California, which like the
rest of California, is self-destructing: [...] It's often said California sets trends for the rest
of America. The current trends, however, would seem to be (1) buying U Haul stock is a very
good idea, and (2) going to work anywhere in California as a police officer is a very, very bad idea.
A
Government that Sows Division and Subsidizes Madness. In the name of "social
justice," San Francisco's Democrat-controlled government has responded to rising violent crime and
general lawlessness in the city by attacking police officers as "white supremacists" (even the
non-white ones) and reducing the penalties for and enforcement against violent crimes. (As the
economists say, when you want more of something, subsidize it.) Because citizens and businesses
have been left defenseless against organized theft (and, in fact, are even told not to resist the
robbers and thieves who assault them), businesses and entrepreneurs have had no choice but to move
away. Now that San Francisco's remaining residents (the ones who keep voting for poop-covered
streets and subsidized crime) are finding it difficult to find (and maybe steal) basic necessities,
they are very upset that grocery and convenience stores refuse to be perpetual victims. Have
Democrats learned a lesson? Of course not.
Adam
Schiff Wants to Save 'Democracy' by Abolishing the Electoral College and Packing the Supreme
Court. Rep. Adam Schiff has a new plan to save 'democracy' by abolishing the
filibuster, getting rid of the Electoral College and packing the U.S. Supreme Court. At this
point, it's pretty clear that when Democrats talk about 'democracy' what they really mean is
anything that the far left likes. Schiff trying to present this as a defense of democracy is
pure hilarity and he is the only one who doesn't get the joke.
We
Are in an Abusive Relationship with Our Government. California is now covering the
costs of genital-mutilating surgeries for illegal aliens. Leftism's slippery slope invariably
leads to depraved absurdity. Consider how Governor (receding) Hairdo and the Pyrite State's
other communist saboteurs have greased the shifting ground under Californians' feet:
[#1] There is no illegal immigration crisis.
[#2] There may be a crisis, but California taxpayers won't be paying for it.
[#3] Taxpayers may have to foot the bill for the illegal immigration crisis,
but California will do nothing to incentivize illegal immigration.
[#4] After further review, these aliens aren't "illegal," but rather "undocumented."
[#5] Health care is a human right.
[#6] California must provide "undocumented" aliens healthcare.
[#7] Mutilating the genitals to make them look like the opposite sex is health care.
[#8] California taxpayers must pay for "undocumented" aliens' genital surgery.
[#9] Californians who object to paying for undocumented aliens' genital surgery
may be guilty of "hate" crimes and will be prosecuted.
California
proposes mere $8.5 billion spending cut against $68 billion deficit.
California governor Gavin Newsom proposed a $292 billion state budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal
year, driving economists to wonder why he plans only $8.5 billion in real spending cuts
against what the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office says is a projected $68 billion
deficit. Newsom hit back against the LAO, claiming the state's deficit is only
$37.8 billion. "Those of you who are writing about a different number I hope are
immediately correcting that number," said Newsom in a press event announcing the budget. "We
have been pretty [expletive] transparent with you by making the point publicly, not just privately,
that that was not the number, but it continues to be reported as gospel."
Judge
Orders California School District To Reinstate Teachers Who Refused To Lie To Parents Under Trans
Policy. A federal judge ruled Wednesday that two California teachers who were placed
on administrative leave for refusing to hide students' gender transitions from parents should be
reinstated. Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West filed a lawsuit against the Escondido Union
School District (EUSD) and the California State Board of Education in April last year over a policy
that required educators to hide a child's preferred pronouns and gender identity if a student asks
to keep parents in the dark. Mirabelli and West were put on administrative leave in May, but
a judge ruled this week that the district must reinstate the teachers.
Blue
State Dems Introduce Law That Could Jail People For Using Gas Powered Lawn Mowers.
Two Democratic Washington state representatives pre-filed a bill on Dec. 5 that would make
operating a gas-powered lawn mower or leaf blower a gross misdemeanor punishable by jail time, a
fine or both. State Reps. Amy Walen and Liz Berry authored a bill to be considered in
their state's upcoming legislative session that would ban "gasoline-powered and diesel-powered
landscaping and other outdoor power equipment," a group that includes common lawn care tools like
lawn mowers, weed whackers, pressure washers and snow blowers, among others. Violating the
new law would be punishable "by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in
the county jail for up to three hundred sixty-four days, or by both for each separate violation."
Making a crime out of something that is not a crime: Washington
state Democrat bill would jail people for using new gas leaf blowers. Washington
state Democrats are proposing to outlaw new gas-powered lawn equipment, like leaf blowers, with
legislation that could land violators in jail. [...] Under the proposed law, the Washington state
Department of Ecology would have a Jan. 1, 2026, deadline to "adopt rules to prohibit engine
exhaust and evaporative emissions from new outdoor power equipment." The bill carries limited
exemptions for gas-powered equipment used by government agencies and for commercial or residential
use when there is no "suitable zero emissions outdoor power equipment technology" available.
California
Will Soon Fine Stores That Don't Have A 'Gender Neutral' Kids Toy Section. A new
California law slated to go into effect on January 1, 2024, will mandate stores that sell
children's items to have a gender neutral section, according to a state government website.
The law applies to stores that sell "childcare items" or toys and employs a minimum of 500
employees across store locations, and it requires that they offer a section where "a reasonable
selection of the items and toys for children that it sells shall be displayed, regardless of
whether they have been traditionally marketed for either girls or for boys," according to its
text. Stores that do not comply with the law could face a civil penalty and charged $250
after the first offense or $500 for later offenses.
Gavin
Newsom Frees Gangster 154 Years Early. A former gang member and convicted mass
shooter was released after serving just eight years of his life sentence by Gov. Gavin Newsom
(D) — and given a new job in the California State Capitol. A Los Angeles
Times puff piece aimed at softening the tale of violent offender Jarad Nava attempted to
explain away his crimes by bringing up his rough childhood, and cited Newsom to make the case that
he's a truly reformed member of society. [Tweet]
Santa
Ana, California, May Give Voting Rights to Illegal Aliens. Voters in Santa Ana,
California, a deep-blue city in Orange County, will soon decide whether or not to give local voting
rights to potentially tens of thousands of foreign nationals, including illegal aliens. Next
year, during the November 5 election, voters in Santa Ana will be asked whether or not they want to
approve giving the right to vote in municipal elections to foreign nationals, including illegal
aliens, which would then go into effect by 2028.
Understanding
the 'Always Blue' Mindset. Republicans are invariably frustrated that facts don't
move the dial in elections. No matter how bad Democrats are, nothing changes. [...] [There
is] a commonly expressed philosophy of this voting block: "Always vote blue, no matter
who." In a nutshell, that slogan/explanation provides the answer that has confounded so
many observers over the years. They have puzzled over why California Democrat voters seem
impervious to things like soaring homelessness, poverty, crime, taxes, and cost of living, a
shrinking quality of life and population for the first time on record, the second worst public
school system in the nation, massive unmet infrastructure needs now hovering near $1 [Trillion],
state debt also measured in $Trillions, all topped with the leadership hypocrisy of things like maskless
French Laundry dinners during mandated lockdowns. Not only did Governor Newsom survive the
recall vote, he did so with a whopping 62% of voters supporting him. Many reasonable people
scratch their heads and ask, "How does any logical person vote for more of this?"
What those people don't understand is that logic is not in play.
Records
Show Adam Schiff Financed $1.7 Million Maryland Home As 'Prinicipal Residence'. A
California Republican House hopeful told RedState she uncovered a scheme by Rep. Adam Schiff
(D.-Calif.), who is running for the California Senate seat vacated by the passing of Democratic
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, where the congressman reported his Maryland home as his primary
residence to secure a lower mortgage interest rate — meaning he either lied on a
federally-insured loan document or from 2003 to 2021, he was not a resident of his Burbank
district. "I filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee, and I did get an email receipt,"
said Christine Bish, who has worked as a real estate professional for two decades and who worked as
an in-house investigator at a law firm. "They did receive my submission, and I followed up with
them, and they said, once it's submitted, they cannot give me any updates."
California
Spent Over $4M On Gender-Related Surgeries For Prisoners In Past 6 Years. California
has spent more than $4 million in taxpayer dollars on gender-related surgeries for inmates around
the state, including numerous death row inmates, since 2017. The Washington Free Beacon
released a report where it stated that millions of dollars have been spent on sex changes and other
gender-related operations and procedures for 157 inmates since California became the first state to
agree to pay for these types of operations for prisoners, with four of those criminals on death
row. According to the report, since 2017, California paid for 35 male convicts to surgically
receive artificial vaginas and vulvas at a cost of $2.5 million to taxpayers, and 11 male prisoners
received breast implants at a cost of more than $180,000. The state government also paid more
than $1 million for the removal of 40 female detainees' breasts.
Newsom
signs $25 minimum wage law for all hospital workers, finds out afterward it will cost California $4
billion. Governor Hairspray doesn't pay attention much to California's budget numbers
when he signs off on a bill. [...] So now the state gets to pay the janitors, gardeners, Mexican
cleaning ladies (yes, real ones, and they live in Mexico and commute), gift shop clerks, and anyone
else in the employ of a hospital, $25 an hour, no exceptions, and no matter what the value of their
jobs are in the free market. What a great way to spend the state's revenue at a time of a
$14 billion deficit. Now Newsom gets an $18 billion deficit, but when you have a
billion here, a billion there, who's counting?
California's
Adam Schiff Has Actually Been Living In Maryland For Two Decades, Docs Show.
Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff has reportedly been living in Maryland for two decades,
documents that surfaced Wednesday showed. Mortgage records revealed Schiff claimed his 3,420
square foot property in Maryland as his primary residence, according to CNN. The congressman
also reportedly claimed his 650 square foot condo in Burbank, California, as his primary residence
to reduce his $7,000 tax bill. [Tweet] Schiff did not take an exemption on his Maryland
home, the outlet reported. However, he reportedly signed documents stating both his Maryland
and California properties were primary residences. A spokesperson for Schiff, Marisol
Samayoa, claims the congressman's primary residence is in California.
Adam
Schiff, Who Wants to Replace Laphonza Butler of Maryland as California's Newest Senator, Lives in
Maryland Too! Could Maryland soon have another Senator claiming to be from
California representing them in the near future? Cristina Laila revealed last month that
Gavin Newsom's senate replacement, radical Marxist lesbian Laphonza Butler, actually lives in the
Old Line State rather the Golden State. She was even registered to vote there last
year. Butler replaced the late Dianne Feinstein, who passed away in late September.
Butler announced last month she would not run for a for a full six-year term. She will
instead just serve out the remainder of Feinstein's term which expires in 2024. It turns out
lying pencil-neck Adam Schiff, who wants to replace Butler, has a very similar problem. He
too has claimed his primary residence as Maryland.
Oakland,
California, is falling apart. Last month, at a small church in East Oakland, Calif.,
hundreds of fed-up city residents gathered outside of a community safety meeting held by Mayor
Sheng Thao and District Attorney Pamela Price. The group was as diverse as it was united, and
despite the reduction in their quality of life over the past year, there was a palpable energy of
hope. Seneca Scott, a community leader, hosted the get-together under the banner of his
Neighbors Together Oakland (NTO) organization. A one-time Oakland mayoral candidate, Scott
formed the group in 2021 as a response to the influx of outside money and special interest groups
that have contributed to his city's decline.
Gavin
Newsom Pledges California Will Be Xi Jinping's 'Long-Term, Stable, and Strong Partner'.
Chinese state media continued to gush over visiting California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday,
hailing the Democrat's warm meeting with dictator Xi Jinping as a triumph of "mutual respect, peaceful
coexistence, and win-win cooperation." Newsom said that under his leadership, California is ready
to become "China's long-term, stable, and strong partner." [...] A good deal of Newsom's enthusiasm for
doing business with China revolved around climate change, electric vehicles (EV), and green energy technology.
A
Dubious Legislative Move in California. California lawmakers have really outdone
themselves with another entry in the wacky law hall of fame. You see, it's not their first
rodeo in passing some head-scratching legislation, but this one takes the cake for unintended
consequences. The new California law that's all about decriminalizing loitering has
inadvertently turned into a pop-up open-air market for prostitution that you won't find in the
tourism brochures. And guess what? It's the very folks they claim to be protecting, the
Black community, who might feel the brunt of it. Black men, Black women, housing values,
they're all in the mix, and it's hard not to think, "Is it time for some fresh faces in the legislature?"
Crime-Ridden
Blue City Residents Underreported Crimes By Nearly 50%. Nearly half of crime goes
unreported in San Francisco, a poll published on Wednesday by local political research group GrowSF
found. The survey, which received 458 responses, found that although nearly a quarter of San
Francisco residents have been the victim of a crime, 47% chose not to report the incident to the
police, according to GrowSF. Nearly 80% of respondents listed crime and public safety as a major
concern for the city, while 65% said that they disapproved of how Democratic Mayor London Breed was
responding to major issues in San Francisco.
Newly
appointed California Sen. Laphonza Butler will not seek election to a full term in
2024. Newly appointed California Democratic Sen. Laphonza Butler will not seek
election to a full term in 2024. Butler — who was named earlier this month by
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to complete the remaining term of the late Dianne
Feinstein — says in a statement she made the decision after considering "what kind of
life I want to have, what kind of service I want to offer and what kind of voice I want to bring forward."
Due
to Dem-Backed Law, Prostitution Spreads In California. Californians are complaining
about barely-clothed prostitutes roaming the streets in broad daylight, an issue heightened by
Democratic Gov. Newsom signing Senate Bill 357, local officials say. SB 357, which was
authored by Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener and backed by the ACLU, decriminalizes
"loitering with intent to commit prostitution." Critics say the law effectively decriminalizes
prostitution in California. National City Mayor Ron Morrison, an independent, recently
criticized the law, telling Fox News that prostitutes are now "wearing less than what you would
consider a scanty negligee" and "flaunting it in everybody's face."
The Editor says...
There is a very effective way to get scantily-clad whores out of the streets: Stop voting for Socialist Democrats.
California
to institute missing child alert system specifically for black youth. NBC News has
reported that California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed Senate Bill 673 into law, thus
making the erstwhile Golden State the first to create a missing child alert system specifically for
black children. According to NBC: ["] [...] The Ebony Alert will be used for missing
Black people aged 12 to 25.["] Fantastic. But what about missing black people
under 12 or over 25? Perhaps there needs to be a separate alert for each of those groups.
Twenty-one to twenty-five-year-olds don't seem like "youth" to me, yet those under 12 certainly are.
What
if Laphonza Butler decides to run for the Senate seat? The pipe dream of some Black
women in California for the last three years has been getting one of their number into the United
States Senate. Black women have been there before, in the persons of Carole Moseley Braun of
Illinois, who served from 1993 to 1999, and California's own Kamala Harris from 2016 until elected
vice president in 2020. But for almost four years after Harris' accession to the nation's nominal
No. 2 political job, there were none. That left a void Gov. Gavin Newsom three years ago
vowed to fill if another vacancy arose in a California Senate seat — and he named
Laphonza Butler quickly after the pioneering Dianne Feinstein's death in late September.
Butler was sworn in less than five days after Feinstein's demise. Newsom thus kept one
promise. But by not requiring that Butler commit to being a mere caretaker, a seat filler, he
broke another prior commitment. Newsom left it to Butler to decide whether or not to seek a
full term next year, breaking his commitment to name a mere interim senator.
CA
Gov Newsom Lowers Consent Age to 12 for 'Gender Counseling' Without Parents 'OK'.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill into law that permits children as
young as 12 to reside in government-funded "residential shelter services" to undergo mental health
treatment or counseling for their gender identity without parental consent or even being informed
by doctors. The bill, known as Assembly Bill 665, allows 12-year-olds to consent to such
treatment if they are considered "mature enough to participate intelligently in the outpatient
services or residential shelter services" and if they are the "alleged victim" of incest or child
abuse who poses a risk to themselves or others — no proof of genuine harm is
required. The bill, signed by Newson over the weekend, further states that medical
professionals must consult with the minor to determine "whether involvement of the minor's parent
or guardian would be inappropriate."
Where
is the red-state Laphonza Butler? The way to change the fundamental imbalance between
the parties is by reforming the way we select nominees. Following the sudden death last week
of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Governor Gavin Newsom needed to pick an interim
replacement. He had a large bench of Democrats from which to choose in the once Golden
State. So what did he do? He went with the biggest leftist imaginable — a
registered voter from Maryland, no less! In Laphonza Butler, Newsom didn't find only a
reliable leftist vote but also a ferocious voice and leader for every cause Democrats hold
dear. By selecting a lesbian activist who is the head of the most prominent pro-abortion
organization in the country, Newsom figured he'd floor the gas pedal in a state where Democrats
cannot lose and elevate an out-of-state resident who has never held office. Why?
Because it serves their interests.
Newsom's
bottomless cynicism reflected in his appointment of a black, lesbian, Maryland voter to fill
remainder of Feinstein's Senate term. It's impossible to be too cynical about Gavin
Newsom, the Brylcreem-topped governor of California who lusts after the Democrats' nomination for
president, even as he publicly mouths support for Biden. This is a man who bedded his best
friend's wife, after all. Caligula looks on in envy at the brazenness of Newsom's designation
of Laphonza Butler to fill the remainder of Dianne Feinstein's Senate term, expiring in January
2025. As a way of mocking the institution, Caligula only joked about appointing his horse
Incitatus as consul, a role reserved for senators, while Newsom has actually appointed a longtime
Maryland resident and registered voter to represent California in the Senate, a body the
Constitution designated to represent that sovereign states in the federal government. Butler
will take a big pay cut to join the Senate, which pays $174,000 for non-leadership solons.
The top-paid executive at Emily's List reportedly earns $950,000, almost five-and-a-half times what
a Senator earns, and more than 30 times the average income in the United States. But don't
expect the usual critics of CEO compensation to utter a peep.
Newsom's
'First Black Lesbian' Senate Appointee Immediately Hit With Scandal, Cover-Up. The
recent death of former Sen. Dianne Feinstein left Gov. Gavin Newsom in a
predicament. Would he keep his promise to fill the seat with a black woman even though two
white people (Adam Schiff and Katie Porter) are leading the 2024 race for the seat? As
RedState reported, the answer is yes. Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler, whose only
qualifications appear to be working on Kamala Harris' failed 2020 presidential campaign while being
a "black lesbian." Naturally, the California governor is touting the latter. [Tweet with
video clip] I'm just really glad we select the most powerful people in the country
based on race and who they sleep with. I mean, what could possibly go wrong with such an
approach? What does merit have to do with governing competently anyway? Let's ask
Newsom, who apparently appointed a Maryland resident to the seat, birthing an immediate scandal.
Gavin
Newsom Picks The Perfect Democrat. Is it really that weird that Laphonza Butler,
California Governor Gavin Newsom's pick to replace Diane Feinstein in the Senate, lives in
Maryland? Now, incidentally, this isn't one of those instances where a politician is spending
an inordinate amount of time in DC (before leaving office and becoming a lobbyist and making it
official). Newsom's spokesperson confirms that Butler resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, and
is registered to vote in that state. We're just skipping the part where we pretend senators
represent states rather than political parties. [...] At this point, any Democrat who
doesn't treat skin color as at least partly determinative of a person's worth is going to be
in trouble. And it's not just moral preening over race. Butler, Newsom notes, will be
the first "lesbian Black woman to join Congress in US history." In most news pieces on the
appointment, we learn who Butler prefers to sleep with before we hear any of her accomplishments.
Newsom's
appointment confirms that abortion is the heart of the Democratic Party. It's normal,
if mildly corrupt, for presidents to appoint their top fundraisers to ambassadorships. It's
remarkable that Democrats have transferred one of their top fundraisers to a U.S. Senate
seat. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has announced he is appointing Laphonza Butler to fill
the Senate seat left vacant by Dianne Feinstein's death. Butler is one of the leaders of the
abortion lobby, and as such she is one of the leading Democratic fundraisers. She is the
president of EMILY's List, which raises money for Democratic women who defend abortion. [Tweet]
"Fundraising juggernaut" is a good description of EMILY's List. In the prior presidential
election, EMILY's List spent $79.6 million. It's one of the top ideological PACs in spending
and fundraising, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Its affiliated super PAC,
called Women Vote!, spent another $47 million in the 2020 cycle. But EMILY's List isn't
merely a fundraising juggernaut. The group is basically a gatekeeper for the Democratic Party.
California,
the Great Destroyer. California is a one-party state. There are no statewide
Republican elected officeholders. Progressive Democrats also enjoy a supermajority in both
houses of the legislature. Only 12 of 52 congressional seats are held by Republicans.
And almost all of California leftwing politicians are funded or influenced by Silicon
Valley — the richest corridor in civilizational history, with $9 trillion in market
capitalization. In sum, a now broke California became a medieval society of Leftwing
ultra-rich and Leftwing ultra-poor. On one end, there was no longer the skill or expertise to
modernize the state. And on the other, an elite became more interested in dreaming of heaven
on earth for itself as it ensured a veritable hell for others.
Newsom
to Appoint Laphonza Butler to Fill Feinstein's Senate Seat — She Lives In
Maryland. California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) will appoint Laphonza Butler to fill
Feinstein's vacant Senate seat. "California Gov. Gavin Newsom will appoint EMILY's List
President Laphonza Butler to fill the seat of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, elevating the
head of a fundraising juggernaut that works to elect Democratic women who support abortion rights,
according to a person familiar with the decision." Politico reported. Laphonza Butler lives
in Maryland and registered to vote there last year!
A
COVID Tyrant For President? In addition to driving people from his state with
policies that become more deranged with every passing year, Newsom was a malevolent pandemic
warrior who should have been punished for his offenses. Voters deserve to know just how
vicious he was — and that he remains unrepentant. It would be hard to argue that
any another state mistreated its citizens more than California. Given the opportunity thanks
to the novel coronavirus outbreak, Newsom smoothly tapped into his just-below-the-surface
authoritarianism (the same urge to dictate that afflicts nearly every Democrat in the nation).
When he issued his stay-at-home command in March 2020, which the Los Angeles Times called
"unprecedented" in "modern California history," it was the first stomp of the heavy boot that
Newsom would keep on Californians until February of this year. Only then did he surrender his
self-granted emergency powers — five months after he vetoed a bill that would have
limited the authority governors can wield during a declared crisis.
Berkeley Retail Shutting
Down Just Like San Francisco. Rising crime, looting, and tolerance of drug-addled
transients taking over the streets has led to an exodus of retail establishments from San
Francisco. Now another Democrat-controlled California city is enjoying the same exodus of
retail establishments: Berkeley. Here YouTuber Metal Leo looks at streets near Cal
Berkeley University, where store after store after store are closed, boarded up or for lease.
[Video clip] Banks, pharmacies, cinemas, pizza chains: all closed. The only thing
that seems to be open are Starbucks.
California
quietly passes bill repealing COVID 'medical misinformation' law. California
legislators have subtly passed a bill that would repeal a law targeting doctors who take a stand
against mainstream COVID-19 narratives after previously labeling them as engaging in "medical
misinformation." Assembly Bill 2098, which Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last
year, considers medical doctors and surgeons to be guilty of "unprofessional conduct" if they
"disseminate misinformation or disinformation related to COVID-19, including false or misleading
information regarding the nature and risks of the virus, its prevention and treatment; and the
development, safety, and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines." The legislation also subjected
physicians found to have violated the law to disciplinary action from the Medical Board of
California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, including potential suspension of
medical licenses.
California
launches lawsuit against Big Oil, but only wants cash 'damages' not an end to
production. California is alleging a corrupt conspiracy in which fat cat capitalists
prioritized profits before people and intentionally deceived the public about looming
"catastrophic" climate change consequences they "knew" would manifest as a result of their
product's use, but the state isn't even asking the court to prohibit the defendants from continuing
this alleged criminal behavior? Instead, Gavin Newsom, California Attorney General Rob Bonta,
and all the other Machiavellian civil servants will drop the lawfare just as long as the defendants
agree to foot the bill for the recent spate of storm-related damages and finance a fund for future
losses too? This sounds eerily similar to... extortion.
The
Bay Area is still struggling to recover from 'defund the police' (now they're hoping Texas can
help). Three years after "defund the police" became a BLM rallying cry, San Francisco
and other Bay Area cities are still trying to recover from the brief popularity that phrase once
had with mayors and city councils. San Francisco is still down hundreds of police officers
and has come up with a new plan to attract more recruits: Go to Texas. ["]The
San Francisco Police Department is visiting four Texas university campuses through September as
part of new recruiting efforts to find candidates outside of California. For the first time,
police officer candidates will be tested outside of California, with a written test, a physical
ability test and an oral interview.["] [...] You really have to soak in the comedic aspect
of far left San Francisco going to bright red Texas to try to find officers. For six years,
San Francisco had banned business with Texas.
It's
Really Time for Parents to Move Their Families Out of California. If you're a
California resident and a parent, you really ought to leave the state now. On Friday, the
California Assembly passed AB 957, which means that a parent who doesn't "affirm" their child's
"gender identity" could lose custody of that child. AB 957 amends the state Family Code to
include "a parent's affirmation of the child's gender identity or gender expression as part of the
health, safety, and welfare of the child." The bill is now headed for Gov. Gavin
Newsom's desk, where he will most certainly sign it.
California
Dems Could Remove Visitation Rights for 'Non-Affirming' Parents. California Democrats
are threatening the visitation rights of divorced or separated parents who don't "affirm" their
gender-confused child's identity under a last-minute change to a proposal meant to protect children
from abusers. The Democrats have put forward two bills that would change California family
law to make "gender affirmation" part of a child's health, safety, and welfare, trying to pass them
side-by-side. The first, which was introduced earlier this year, would allow judges to remove
custody from "non-affirming" parents. The second would force custody judges deciding
visitation rights to consider "a parent's affirmation of the child's gender identity or gender
expression," according to language added to the bill last week that will take effect if the first
proposal passes.
Why
wind and solar power are running out of juice. Alternative energy
madness — and that's what it is — has had its biggest impact in
California. But New York and New Jersey have adopted most of that state's mandates.
Sales of new internal combustion vehicles will be banned beginning in 2035 in the states. All
of the electricity sold to retail consumers will have to be "zero-emissions." Homeowners and
building owners will be forced to replace gas- and oil-burning space and water heaters with
electric heat pumps. And, gas stoves will be regulated out of existence. New York also
will soon implement another California import: a carbon "cap-and-invest" program, which will impose
a tax on fossil fuels sold by wholesalers and utilities. The billions of dollars collected
each year will provide a green slush fund, allowing the governor and legislators to hand out money
to their politically favored cronies, as has so often been the case in the past. Washington
State began its "cap-and-invest" program in January of this year. Modeled after California's,
Governor Jay Inslee promised the program would have "minimal impact, if any. We are talking
about pennies." Instead, the program has raised gasoline prices — almost 50 cents
per gallon so far this year.
"Nonviolent
Crime" Is a Myth. Five days after sustaining serious injuries, a San Francisco store
clerk named Yowhannes "John" Tewelde has died. He was beaten with a baseball bat by a man
whom he tried to stop from stealing beer from his store. Tewelde's death marks yet another
homicide in the Bay Area, which, between San Francisco and Oakland, has seen an enormous amount of
crime and mayhem in recent years. The nature of Tewelde's death illustrates an important
reality that progressives working to ease up on supposedly nonviolent crimes don't seem to
appreciate: even "minor" offenses like retail theft, open-air drug use, and smoking on subway
platforms are frequently backed by a threat of violence. Had Tewelde not intervened, allowing
the thief to take what he wished, progressive prosecutors like former San Francisco district
attorneys George Gascón and Chesa Boudin probably would have refused to prosecute him, citing
the nonviolent nature of the offense. All we'd have is a lowly shop owner forced to shoulder
the cost of a few cheap beers. No big deal, right? Wrong. The decision to ignore
the theft would allow an individual who was in truth both willing and able to kill over $10 to
remain on the street. It would be only a matter of time before he did something terrible.
Bay
Area Councilman Has Keys, Wallet Stolen While Speaking to Shopkeepers About Safety. A
councilman in California's Bay Area was speaking to shopkeepers about safety when he had his wallet
and keys stolen, according to a report from CBS Bay Area. Reportedly, Emeryville council
member Kalimah Priforce rode his bike to Bay Street to spend the afternoon "visiting nearly every
store to ask employees about their experience and sense of safety." "A lot of stores that can't
afford private guards, they need panic buttons, a direct line to the police, so they don't actually
have to pick up the phone, call the police dispatch," explained Priforce. While he was at the
mall, Priforce phoned police because he discovered his wallet and keys were stolen from his bike bag.
California
Dem-led committee advances bill to let killers serving life without parole request
re-sentencing. A bill that would allow killers serving a life sentence without parole
to possibly be re-sentenced cleared a major hurdle Friday in California's Democratic-led state
Legislature. The state Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced Senate Bill 94, which now
moves to the next phase of voting. The bill would allow California prison inmates serving a
sentence of life without parole (LWOP) for certain crimes to petition for re-sentencing if the
offense occurred before June 5, 1990, and the completion of at least 25 years of their
sentence. Those convicted of first-degree murder of a police officer would be exempt.
Those who are re-sentenced would have the opportunity to someday go in front of a parole board,
which could deny them release.
Los
Angeles (Just Like California) Is Dying A Slow And Painful Death. Just over a week
ago, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared war on the recent smash-and-grab robbery trend infecting
the county's retail stores. She announced a new regional task force consisting of 22
investigators to focus entirely on curbing the shoplifting phenomenon sweeping Southern
California. Unfortunately, it seems lawless perpetrators did not get the message. Since
the task force — including officers from police departments across the region, along
with state and federal support — was assembled, at least three more large group
incidents have been reported. On Tuesday of this past week, a video from the Citizen app
showed five masked thieves ransacking a Dior counter inside a Macy's at the Shops of Santa Anita
Mall. They grabbed boxed sets of perfumes, threw them into trash bags, and ran away as
onlookers gasped. In a separate incident, also posted on the Citizen app, a video shows the
aftermath of a flash-mob robbery at a Footlocker store on Melrose Avenue, one of the city's most
popular shopping districts.
California's
Newsom Hints at Legislative Crackdown on Parental Rights. California governor Gavin
Newsom (D.) signaled Monday that Democratic lawmakers are crafting a last-minute legislative
crackdown on school districts that alert parents if their child expresses a change in gender
identity. "I'll be meeting with the [assembly speaker and senate leader] this evening, we'll be
discussing it," Newsom said during a speech about public school funding where he touted California
as pro-parents' rights. "I know that the LGBT [legislative] caucus has some language they're
working on. I haven't had the privilege of looking at it. It's a work in progress."
Newsom failed to give any further details on the forthcoming proposal. His impromptu
announcement was in response to a reporter who asked him to weigh in on two Southern California
school districts that passed policies to notify parents if their children say they are transgender
or nonbinary. Representatives for Newsom and the state's top Democratic legislators did not
respond to requests for comment.
Power Vacuum.
California Senate bill 233 [...] which has passed the Senate and is now winding its way through the
Assembly — states that all new electric vehicles to be sold in California after 2030 be
"bi-directional". Because the state has decided to essentially go all electric without having
the ability to actually provide enough electricity, the climate warriors have gotten a bit creative
and now see the millions of EVs in the state as tiny batteries to make up for their
incompetence. Currently, not every EV can send power back to the grid (like home solar panels
that ship excess power to their local utility.) The bill — almost certain to pass
because it's stupid and this is California -- would change that. The bill, however, is only
the first step in the process of being able to drain your EV as the actual technology to get the
electricity back onto the grid, well, does not actually exist. As with so many other Golden
State climate-related projects, it is based on being able to do it someday... probably... maybe.
A
Very Bad Week for Civilization in California. A group of "up to 30" teens poured into
a Nordstrom's store in Topanga, Calif., in a "smash and grab" looting that went off with military
precision. [Tweet with video clip] [...] Dear Californians: It ain't rocket
science figuring out what's happening in your beautiful state. This is a direct result of lax
enforcement of the law and a reluctance of prosecutors and district attorneys to uphold the basic
values of civilization.
Gavin
Newsom wants to make America Oakland. The CNN report is just ghastly. One woman
is crying her heart out as she leaves a place she's spent her whole life is. I should say,
"Is forced to leave." But I also wonder who she's been voting for all these years as things
went south. [Tweet with video clip] Gangs are targeting Asian families. We
keep hearing that's a problem — a racist problem — but you never hear who's
doing it, although we've all seen the videos. And then, when perpetrators are caught in these
racially targeted crimes? What happens in Newsom's CA to offenders, when they are arrested
for RACIST crimes against innocent people, usually elderly, who can't defend
themselves? [Tweet]
California
Democrats Play Affirmative Action Games Over Feinstein Senate Seat. Race-based
preferences are taking over the competition for Dianne Feinstein's California Senate seat. On
Thursday, The New York Times revealed Feinstein surrendered power of attorney to her daughter in a
report on the 90-year-old senator's failing health. The longtime legacy lawmaker is unable to
make legal decisions of her own while making major legal decisions for the country. [...] If she
resigns, Gov. Gavin Newsom has already pledged to appoint a black woman to the seat.
Newsom made the commitment in 2021 after upsetting Democrats by appointing then-Secretary of State
Alex Padilla, California's first Latino senator, to replace Kamala Harris after her election to
vice president. It's no coincidence, then, the most vocal supporters of Feinstein's
resignation, such as California Rep. Ro Khanna, have endorsed Rep. Barbara Lee in the
crowded Senate primary. In fact, Khanna, who co-chairs Lee's campaign, was the first member
of Congress to request Feinstein step down, according to The Hill.
California's
new Marxist math. California has approved new radical K-12 math standards that are
openly a vehicle for Marxist ideology. The stated goal is equity in math learning for
non-whites and those from low-income families. The framework notes that "black, latinx,
indigenous, women and poor students" have been underrepresented in the curriculum throughout
history." Equity will be implemented in the curriculum by dumbing down and sugar-coating the
lessons and infusing them with political issues and student organizing.
Orwellian
or Kafkaesque? Kafka's brainchildren are recklessly coughing up tyrannic edicts while
using for an excuse the artificial hysteria being generated over reasonably normal weather.
The Biden administration has recently announced that all military vehicles will run on
batteries as of 2030. Since the purpose of fighting a war is to not lose, vast
quantities of diesel-powered field generators will be needed to keep the caissons rolling
along. Governor Hair Gel of California has followed along by announcing a ban on the sale of
gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. The trick with this is to have enough lead time so the
victims of such nonsense will have forgotten the original announcement — and will be
more surprised than angry when they realize they've been screwed. As of next January,
California's already legislated ban on the sale of gas-powered gardening equipment will take effect.
Salesforce
CEO Warns San Francisco's Downtown [is] "Never Going Back To The Way It Was". San
Francisco is a 'hellhole' that epitomizes everything wrong with how progressives govern
cities. That's because Democrats in City Hall believe that most criminals are
victims — don't arrest them — which allows for open-air drug markets,
homelessness, and violent crime to thrive. Due to failed social justice reform policies, the
business conditions in downtown San Francisco have become challenging. Furthermore, the
ongoing structural decline in demand for office space has thwarted any potential economic recovery
in the area. [Tweet with video clip] Marc Benioff, chief executive officer of
Salesforce, the city's largest employer and anchor tenant in its tallest skyscraper, understands
the metro area is in trouble.
How
does the city bounce back from this? One of the enduring mysteries of life is how
people and societies can see disaster coming and do nothing to avoid it. [...] We are seeing this
principle in real time with the collapse of cities like San Francisco and Portland. They have
been liberal bastions for so long that the idea of bucking the Democrat Party is unthinkable, no
matter how bad things get. And they are getting very very bad in both cities. San
Francisco has produced some of the most powerful politicians in California. Off the top of my
head, I can name the current governor, Gavin Newsom, the current VP, Kamala Harris, and of course
Senator Diane Feinstein. Many of the most powerful people in the legislature hail or hailed
from the city, and the tradition of moving up the ladder from SF to the heights of power is ancient
in political terms. When the Democrat Party took its radical Left turn the city moved with
it — led it, in fact — and the results have been disastrous.
The
Classic Psychology Text That Predicted Today's Urban Decay. It's a question that most
Americans who follow the news ask themselves daily: "How can the residents of so many of the
nation's largest cities keep supporting local officials who tolerate the ongoing destruction of
their communities?" [...] [Why ...] did San Franciscans elect a mayor, London Breed, whose obvious
reluctance to crack down on criminal behavior has since forced the city's largest mall to close,
two of its best hotels to declare bankruptcy, and tens of thousands of high-earning taxpayers to
move away? [...] And why, in 2022, did Los Angelinos pick another progressive Democrat to be their
next mayor, rather than the candidate who promised to finally do something about the city's
exploding homelessness problem?
Another
day, another business closure in San Francisco (you'll never guess why). La Cocina
opened in the Tenderloin in 2021. The concept was a single space with a bunch of different
food options. It was always intended to be a temporary arrangement but not quite this
temporary. [...] As with every other business that has closed this year, there are multiple
reasons. For one thing, the decline of foot traffic thanks to people working from home means
there just isn't the lunch rush there might have been prior to the pandemic. But the city's
other well-known problems also played a role.
California
Bill Would Let Judges 'Rectify Racial Bias' in Sentencing, for 'Reparations'. The
California state legislature is considering a bill that would allow judges to use sentencing in
criminal cases to "rectify racial bias" in the criminal justice system as a whole. The bill,
AB 852, passed the State Assembly in May and is currently going through the committee process in
the State Senate. It notes that existing law already allows defendants to challenge their
sentences as racially biased, but it would add that judges can consider race in sentencing.
A
Covid Postmortem. When the pandemic began, researchers in California were the first
in the United States to analyze the threat accurately and offer sensible advice, urging focused
protection for the elderly, while warning that school closures and lockdowns were futile and
destructive. But instead of heeding their expertise, the progressives dominating the state's
public and private institutions launched campaigns to defame, ostracize, and silence them.
These experts, like so many other fleeing Californians, had to leave the state to find leaders who
embraced scientific analysis and rational policies. No other state infringed upon individual
liberties more zealously. California was the first to lock down and the last to end its state
of emergency (at the end of February of this year). It closed not only schools and businesses
but also playgrounds, parks, and beaches. A police boat in Malibu chased down a solitary
surfer so that he could be arrested and handcuffed; another surfer was fined $1,000 for endangering
precisely no one. Church gatherings were outlawed for nearly a year, until the Supreme Court
finally overturned the ban. Other courts had to intervene to keep public schools in San Diego
and Los Angeles from mandating vaccines for students. California suffered one of the nation's
worst spikes in unemployment during the pandemic, and it was one of the slowest to recover
economically, despite the increased profits flowing to Silicon Valley.
California
Is Set to Pass Laws Allowing for State-Sanctioned Kidnapping and Required 'Affirmation' of
Gender-Confused Kids. My home state of California is Bizzarroland, totally over the
edge. It was bad enough, but now it has crossed the Rubicon and blown up the bridge and
burned the boats. The Golden State is set to take away parental rights and create a police
state where a court and judge must (not may) affirm a child's chosen made-up gender "identity." But
that same California requires permission for a minor to get a tattoo. Make sense of it.
I can't. Soon in California, if the Democrat super-majority gets its way, confused children
can be taken from a parent(s) and chemically castrated and mutilated at the minor's request.
Think that sounds far-fetched? It isn't. Assemblymember named Wendy Carrillo is the
author of AB 665. Eight days ago, during open debate and discussion on her bill, she made the
gallery erupt in spontaneous laughter when she said: ["]We would never move policy that
seeks to separate children from their parents.["] The AP and USA Today are all in for
the left, so, of course, they published articles claiming the arguments against are overblown.
No, they are not. AB 665 will alter the legal landscape and specific language. What does
AB 665 say and ultimately do? It's the state of California amending the Family Law Code
to legally kidnap confused children.
The
Endless Lies Democrats Tell In Defense Of Their Failed Californian Utopia. Democrats
and the corporate media in general have invested an intense amount of energy into a propaganda
campaign that paints California as the central pillar of the US economy and American
governance. According to them, California is a socialist Utopia essentially holding the rest
of the nation up on its shoulders, and without such blue states we would spiral into
oblivion. For the sake of focus, I will only break down California's mismanagement
here. Specifically, I think it's important to debunk many of the false fiscal claims made by
Gavin Newsom; the same claims which are spreading like a cancer into leftist talking points all
over the internet.
California
Residents Fear New Bill Gives Mental Health Professionals Authority To 'Emancipate' 12 Year Olds
From Parents. California residents fear mental health professionals are one step
closer to giving custody of minors 12 and older to the state after lawmakers advanced a bill on
Tuesday that aligns with existing laws for children to receive certain services without parental
consent. On Tuesday, lawmakers in the state's Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Assembly
Bill 665, which gives minors over the targeted age group authority to receive mental health
services from counselors and therapists who could allegedly sign off on children checking into
state-run youth shelters as long they provide evidence of serious physical or mental harm to
themselves or others, or if they're a victim of incest or child abuse. Although the bill's
text does not explicitly contain language that changes the state's child welfare system or removal
processes, some Californians allege the law — authored by Democrats Assembly Member
Wendy Carrillo and State Senator Scott Wiener — indicates "parental separation and
emancipation of minors."
Gavin
Newsom's shadow campaign for president. Democratic governors don't tend to jump at
the chance for a sit-down interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. They also don't tend to do
tours of states they consider hostile to their own, like Florida. But then there's
California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom . He prefers the national stage to dealing with the
rampant dysfunction happening in his own state. And while Newsom claims he isn't running for
president, the evidence suggests he actually is. True, Newsom may not be mounting a primary
campaign against a sitting president of his own party who has announced he is running again.
But Newsom is clearly running a shadow campaign just in case President Joe Biden doesn't fulfill
his pledge to become the Democratic 2024 presidential nominee.
State
Senator Tells Parents to Flee His Own State Amid Law That Would Take Kids Away From Non-'Affirming'
Parents. A California state senator told a gathered crowd of parents at the
California Senate Judicial Committee to flee the state on June 13 during a hearing on a bill which
would put parents who don't affirm their child's "gender transition" in danger of child abuse
charges. Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, is the lone Republican on California's Senate
Judiciary Committee, and he has served in the California Legislature for 11 years. He was
also the lone voice warning against language in AB 957, which a Democratic senator had amended on
June 5 to rewrite the California Family Code to list "gender affirmation" alongside a child's need
for "health, safety, and welfare."
California
Bill Would Charge Any Parent Who Doesn't Affirm Transgenderism With 'Child Abuse'. A
recently amended California bill would add "affirming" the sexual transition of a child to the
state's standard for parental responsibility and child welfare — making any parent who
doesn't affirm transgenderism for their child guilty of abuse under California state law.
AB 957 passed California's State Assembly on May 3, but a co-sponsor amended it after hours in
California's State Senate on June 6. Assembly Member Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, wrote the
bill and introduced it on Feb. 14. State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, co-sponsored
it. Wilson's child identifies as transgender. Originally, AB 957 required courts to
consider whether a child's parents were "gender-affirming" in custody cases. Wiener's
amendment completely rewrites California's standard of child care.
New
Commiefornia Bill Would Take Custody Of Children Whose Parents Don't Give Them Sex Change
Operations. A newly revised California bill would treat parents' refusal to "affirm"
their child's gender identity as a violation of health, safety, and welfare in the context of
custody disputes. The bill, which has already passed the State Assembly, would require judges
adjudicating such disputes over transgender-identifying children to favor the parent who "affirms"
the child's preferred identity. [Video clip]
California
to fall far short of energy needed to power EV mandate, report says. California will
fall 20% short of generating the necessary electricity to meet the state's 100 percent electric
vehicle mandates, according to a new report released by the California free-market think tank, the
Pacific Research Institute. "California's green energy mandates will require more energy from
the electricity grid instead of fossil fuels, making it less likely that the grid can generate the
necessary power," Dr. Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson, the study's authors, said in a press
release. "These policies jeopardize California's energy security and, without a miracle leap in
technology, are setting us up for future energy shortages." Governor Gavin Newsom signed an
executive order in 2020 mandating that all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in California
starting in 2035 must be zero-emission vehicles.
Time
for the Elephant to Use Its Tusks. [Scroll down] California's progressive
Governor Brylcreem, silver spoon wedged firmly in cheek above his pencil neck, somehow manages the
political trifecta of being unmistakably fascist, oily, and blow-dried. All of this makes him
a heartthrob for the (D) electorate and a genuine threat to win the presidency, whether in 2024 or
2028. From his "nation state of California" pretensions to his homeless industrial complex;
from his corrupt deals with China to Sacramento's proposed trillions in "reparations" for
non-slaves; from his constant racial scapegoating of white men and fear and loathing of Republicans
to California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) registering illegal aliens to vote; from his
maskless bacchanals bursting the mercury on the hypocrisy meter to his unfortunate gamine of a wife
feeling compelled to testify about an assignation of some sort with a hoary, encrusted Harvey
Weinstein, this ridiculous fop and poseur of a governor and the horrifically degraded state of
California are assuredly a sneak preview into America's near and increasingly [dismal] future if
America doesn't pull back from the cliff's edge right now.
New
California Law Will Base Electricity Bills on Income Level. A new law in California
will force those who make more money to pay more for their electricity. Under the new rules,
higher-income earners will pay seven times more than low-income earners. [...] Customers will see
the new changes starting in 2025.
California
Advances Bill To Help Shoplifters Steal. Shoplifting in California may get a lot
easier, after the state Senate passed a controversial bill on May 31 that would make it illegal for
store employees to confront thieves. SB 553, authored by Democrat Senator David Cortese (San
Jose), requires employers to maintain violent incident logs, provide active shooter and shoplifter
training, and to discard policies requiring workers to confront suspected active
shoplifters, the Epoch Times reports.
Radio
Free America. [Scroll down] Look at what the nation's largest home
insurer, State Farm, just did. They dropped California, no longer writing new property
insurance policies. In our politically correct world, State Farm cited rising construction
costs as a prime factor, but that also would apply to Florida, New York, and many other
places. The real reason can only be their loss history in general, and fraud in
particular. This has affected State Farm's ability to lay off exposure to the huge
reinsurance market that all insurance companies access. Homelessness, lawlessness, and overly
pro-consumer courts are bankrupting not just insurance companies, but businesses large and small.
You
Knew It Was Coming: CA Law Would Make It Child Abuse to Not Affirm Your Kid's 'Gender
Identity'. You knew a bill like this was coming, and you knew it would probably
emanate from the California legislature because while the Golden State state crumbles, its leaders
spend most of their waking hours obsessing over transgenderism and what kind of car you
drive. AB 957, the "Family law: gender identity" bill, passed California's State Assembly on
May 3, but radical state Senator Scott Wiener (D-SF) added an amendment on June 6 that would change
the state's standard of the well-being of a minor to "include a parent's affirmation of the child's
gender identity as part of the health, safety, and welfare of the child." In other words,
you're guilty of child abuse if you refuse to call your son "Jane" and buy him dresses.
Authorities could take your kid away if you don't bend the knee.
California
Bill Would Classify Not Affirming Child's Transgenderism As 'Child Abuse'. A recently
amended California bill would classify not affirming a child's gender identity by one or both
parents as "child abuse." AB 957 was introduced into the California legislature by
Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City) and state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). The
bill rewrites much of the state's family law and classifies "a parent's affirmation of the child's
gender identity as part of the health, safety, and welfare of the child." The bill amends
Section 3011 of the Family Code, which deals with child custody disputes, and requires that a court
determining the "best interests" of the child must consider affirmation of transgender
identity. If a parent were to deny the child's "gender identity," it would be a violation of
the child's health, safety, and welfare — equivalent to child abuse. Because the
bill changes the definition of what constitutes the "health, safety, and welfare" of a child, any
organization interacting with children — including schools, churches, and
hospitals — would be required to affirm gender transitions in minors.
California
Bill Would Redefine 'Infertility' To Give Men Access to Pregnancy Treatments.
California lawmakers are advancing a bill that would redefine the inability of men to get pregnant
as "infertility" and entitle them to insurance-covered fertility treatments. The legislation,
which passed in the Senate late last month and is about to be taken up by the Assembly, would
require employer-sponsored insurance plans to cover in vitro fertilization, including implantation
in pregnancy surrogates. Supporters of the legislation have touted it as an overdue step
toward "fertility equality" for LGBT people.
This is the equivalent of legalizing shoplifting. Bill
to Stop Employees Confronting Shoplifters Passed by California Senate. Lawmakers in
California are hoping to push through controversial legislation that would ban retail staff from
stopping thieves stealing from their stores. Senate Bill 553, which was submitted by State
Senator Dave Cortese, has been passed by the State Senate and will now progress to policy committees
in the State Assembly. Cortese hopes the proposed law will prevent workplace violence and
protect staff from being forced by their employers to step-in during robberies. But some
store bosses are furious about the plans, with the California Retailers Association mocking the
move as an open invitation for thieves "to come in and steal."
California
Senate Approves $300 Weekly Checks for Unemployed Illegals. The California Senate on
Tuesday voted to pay $300 weekly checks to unemployed illegal immigrants even as the state faces a
roughly $31.5 billion deficit and mass illegal immigration. Democratic state senators passed
Senate Bill 227 by Sen. María Elena Durazo (D.) with a 30-7 vote, sending the measure to
the Assembly for approval. The legislation would offer undocumented aliens up to 20 weeks of
unemployment benefits if they meet minimal work requirements. California's unemployment
insurance fund, which was defrauded of some $31 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic, would be in
charge of dispensing the checks. California employers are on the hook for the fund's $20 billion
debt in the form of higher payroll taxes that threaten employee-heavy small businesses and restaurants
already devastated by California Democrats' strict COVID-19 lockdowns.
California
Lawmakers Will Honor Anti-Catholic Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Member. California
lawmakers plan to honor a member of the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" despite backlash over the
Los Angeles Dodgers also honoring the anti-Catholic drag group. The "Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence" is an organization of men who dress in drag queen versions of Catholic religious habits
and claim to have a "ministry," according to its website. The California State Legislature's
LGBTQ Caucus will honor Michael Williams, a member of the "Sisters" who goes by "Sister Roma" and
uses "she/her" pronouns. "For more than three decades, Sister Roma has been one of the most
outspoken and globally recognized members of San Francisco's Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence," the
caucus said in an announcement about its 2023 "Pride Honorees."
Government
Corruption Has Succeeded In Turning America Into A Banana Republic. Are you the type
of person who works hard, saves money, and invests with the intent of accumulating lasting
wealth? If so, you've likely noticed that things don't quite add up between what you're
regularly told about how the economy and financial markets work and what you actually experience.
[...] To be perfectly frank, prices are corrupted by governments for the purpose of extracting
capital from the economy and rearranging society in strange and unnatural ways. In
California, for instance, Assembly Bill No. 205, which was approved by Governor Newsom in 2022,
requires power companies to charge customers a base fee that escalates by income bracket. A
recent proposal, would forcibly compel high income earners to pay a base fee that's over 400 percent
more than low income earners. This is in addition to the actual use rate. Is it fair and
just to penalize people with high incomes? Does the government know how to spend money better
than the people who earned it? Sacramento thinks so. As does Washington through its
execution of federal income tax policies.
The
Left Has Pushed the Envelope. California is facing a crushing $32 billion
deficit. Yet it flirts with an $800 billion-dollar "reparations" payout to the state's
Black residents. No one has any idea where the money for that would come from.
No one can define who would qualify. No one can explain why a state that never
allowed slavery eight generations ago now owes selected Californians billions of dollars it does
not have. One of the reparations board leaders asserts Blacks might be willing to accept an
"installment" plan of payments.
Gov. Newsom
reportedly floated Oprah as a potential replacement for Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has floated appointing media mogul Oprah Winfrey if
Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat becomes vacant amid deepening health concerns. According to
the Associated Press, Winfrey is among the names that Newsom is considering appointing should
Feinstein willingly leave her seat. The 89-year-old California Senator returned to Washington
on May 10, after a shingles diagnosis and treatment that kept her out of action for
10 weeks. And while the thought of slotting in a celebrity with no political experience
into the high-profile seat may seem random, there may be some planning behind it. In 2021,
Newsom promised to appoint a Black woman to Feinstein's post if her seat became vacant.
Newsom
Melts Down As Target Pulls Some 'Pride' Products Amid Outrage: 'Doesn't Stop Here'.
The governor of the largest state in the country is lashing out on Twitter at the CEO of Target
over its decision to remove some of its "Pride" collection products. On Tuesday night,
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) tweeted, "CEO of Target Brian Cornell selling out the LGBTQ+
community to extremists is a real profile in courage." "This isn't just a couple stores in the
South. There is a systematic attack on the gay community happening across the country.
Wake up America," he continued. Finally, the tweet took a bizarre, fearmongering turn as
Newsom claimed, "This doesn't stop here. You're black? You're Asian? You're
Jewish? You're a woman? You're next." [Tweet]
Christian
Broadcasters Join Pushback Against California's "Misinformation" Censorship Law. The
National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) has announced that it has joined a lawsuit against a law in
California, which its proponents say is aimed against online hate speech — but which is
actually simple censorship. The NRB, an association of Christian communicators, in this way
joined other plaintiffs — The Babylon Bee, Tim Pool, and Minds, Inc. — in a
bid to block the implementation of the law, AB 587. Proposed by Democrat Jesse Gabriel and
signed last September by California Governor Gavin Newsom, it mandates that companies behind social
media platforms report what is deemed as hate speech, disinformation, radicalization, extremism,
harassment and foreign political influence to the authorities, in this case, the California
Attorney General. The law envisages fines of up to $15,000 per day for each violation for
those who fail to comply.
The
Absurdities of Our Age. How could a dysfunctional state like California even
contemplate $800 billion in reparations? The state currently faces a $31 billion annual
deficit — and it's climbing. The state's $100 billion high-speed rail project is
inert, a veritable Stonehenge of concrete monoliths without a foot of track laid down.
California's income tax rates are already the highest in the nation. Its sales taxes,
electricity rates, and gas taxes and prices are among the steepest in the country. And for
what? Crime, homelessness, and medieval decay characterize the once great downtowns of San
Francisco and Los Angeles. It is now not safe to walk alone in any major California city
after dark. Shoplifting and smash-and-grab theft are no longer treated as real crimes.
The result is the mass flight of brand stores from our downtowns and inner cities, with all the
accustomed cries of "racism," even as racist public prosecutors pick and choose whether to indict
the arrested on the basis of race. California infrastructure, once the best in the county, is
now among the worst. Decaying and crowded freeways, inadequate water storage, and pot-holed
streets are the new norm. Once robust gas, oil, mining, and timber industries are nearly
inert. The state's public schools are dysfunctional.
Gavin
Newsom Backtracks: Open to Cash Reparations for Slavery, After All. California
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) now says he is open to the idea of cash reparations for slavery, after
he indicated several days ago he was opposed to the idea, which was recommended by his own task
force on the issue. [...] Fox News Digital reported that Newsom was declining to back the
committee's forthcoming recommendations, saying that confronting the legacy of slavery "is about
much more than cash payments." Now, however, after a predictable media storm and backlash
from the black activists whose hopes he had raised with the reparations task force, Newsom is
moving back in the opposite direction.
The
Counterattack of Reason. The nonsensical notion fanned by California's Governor Gavin
Newsom for votes that a state which never had slavery should compel those who never owned slaves to
pay those who never were slaves, seems to have hit the rocks of reality. The reparations
panel he installed to look into this was endorsing payments as high as $1.2 million for every black
California resident. At this point, looking at a huge budget deficit, not incidentally due to
the Democrat mismanagement of his state, Newsom blinked. It was reported that he denied he
meant "cash reparations" and then, in the face of blowback from disappointed grifters, his
spokesman denied that he meant what had been reported.
CA
Gov. Newsom Manages to Turn a Massive Budget Surplus Into a $32 Billion Deficit —
in Just One Year. [F]ew other states are running at a deficit, and at $306 billion
California has the largest budget of them all. Some critics argue that the fault lies with
the state's progressive tax code which relies on wealthy taxpayers whose income fluctuates with the
performance of the stock market. You could also argue that, like our president, Newsom loves
to spend but doesn't seem to be so good at math. He proposed a variety of financial moves
that he says will solve the problem: [...] Of course, the deficit has grown another $10 billion
since he announced those plans, so their effectiveness is questionable.
California
Gov. Newsom [is] Less Than Enthusiastic About Reparations Checks. Legal
Insurrection recently reported that the California Reparations Task Force formally recommended that
the state offer payments of up to $1.2 million to every qualifying Black resident.
Apparently, the thought of writing checks that exceed the California budget was more than
super-progressive Governor Gavin Newsom could take. He has declined to endorse the
reparations panel's payment plans.
Reparations:
A Slow Motion Riot. The California reparations controversy continues to spin out of
control as we head for either a major confrontation or hyperinflation. It appears that
Governor Gavin Newsom will reject the latest proposal, but expectations have already been stoked to
the point where politicians will have no graceful exit. Less than two months ago it appeared
that the California Reparations Task Force was set to recommend reparations payments in the amount
of 640 billion dollars (despite California's total budget of less than half that amount). That
number has since increased to 800 billion dollars in what is reported as a "cautious"
estimate. Activists have denounced even this amount as insufficient while demanding 200
million dollars per person. It is apparent that the demands will only go higher. The
numbers are staggering. More staggering is the callousness with which those that know better
throw these numbers around with little regard for math, morality, or realism of any kind.
Dems
starting to discover that reparations demands are a political trap. In California,
which likes to see itself as a trend-maker for the rest of the nation, the Democrat-dominated
Legislature passed and Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill, AB-3121, establishing a "Task
Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans," effective October 2, 2020.
Nine members were to be appointed, 5 by the governor and 2 each by the leaders of the state
house and senate. But despite the law's mandate that "Members shall be drawn from diverse
backgrounds to represent the interests of communities of color throughout the state," 8 of the 9
members were African Americans — which means that they also had a personal stake in the
outcome of their deliberations. Otherwise known as a "conflict of interest," as Daniel J.
Flynn points out. Is it any surprise, then, that the task force ended up with a set of
recommendations that would bankrupt the state, costing an estimated $800 billion, two-and-a-half
times the state's annual budget?
Shoplifters
at San Francisco Target strike every 10 minutes. Workers in a San Francisco Target
store say they are being shoplifted every ten minutes, as the city faces an exodus of retail stores
due to theft. Employees say they have watched individuals actively 'shoveling' goods into
bags before making off. Multiple products including shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes and some
foods are now kept behind barriers that require staff to open them.
San
Francisco's Doom Loop: What it's like to live in a city that no longer believes its problems can be
fixed. [Scroll down] On Market, near 6th, a security guard stood in front
of Blick art supply. He'd just ejected a man who had been smoking fentanyl inside the store,
a man his bosses suggested he should refer to as "an unhoused guest." The guard, who described
himself to me as "a cis white male who stands six feet tall," had previously worked security one
block east at the Anthropologie. But that, he said, was just for show. He wasn't even
supposed to try to stop shoplifters who, at other stores on Market Street, filled up bags, or
sometimes even suitcases, with food they needed to feed themselves or their families or merchandise
to sell on the black market on Mission Street. But here, the guard told me, his co-workers'
pay depended on sales. His job was to make it tolerable for customers to shop.
Reparations
Derangement Syndrome. A panel in California, where rotten public policy ideas
metastasize like a fungus growing in dark, slimy conditions, has approved paying reparations to
descendants of slaves. It is impossible to overstate just how insane this is. The
reparations task force, appointed by Boy Gov. Gavin Newsom, voted Saturday to recommend the
state pay out as much as $800 billion to the descendants of enslaved or free black people who were
in the U.S. by the end of the 19th century. That's 2.5 times the size of California's annual
budget. Recipients could rake in as much as $1.2 million each. Or more. Much
more. Because San Francisco's reparations advisory committee has recommended the city's
qualified African American residents be given a $5 million lump sum.
California
reparations panel approves payments of up to $1.2 million to every Black resident.
The California Reparations Task Force formally recommended that the state offer payments of up to
$1.2 million to every qualifying Black resident. The task force held a public meeting in
Oakland, California, on Saturday and voted on the final set of recommendations to be sent to the
state's legislators. The nine-member panel called on the state to offer its Black residents a
formal apology in addition to the payments. "Reparations are not only morally justifiable, but
they have the potential to address long-standing racial disparities and inequalities,"
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said after attending the meeting.
California
Reparations: "Justice-Involved" Californians O.J. Simpson And Bill Cosby To Finally Get Their Just
Deserts. A California panel approved recommendations on Saturday that could mean
hundreds of billions of dollars in payments to Black residents to address past injustices.
The proposals to state legislators are the nation's most sweeping effort to devise a program of
reparations. The nine-member Reparations Task Force, whose work is being closely monitored by
politicians, historians and economists across the country, produced a detailed plan for how
restitution should be handled to address a myriad of racist harms, including housing
discrimination, mass incarceration and unequal access to health care. Created through a bill
signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in the wake of the nationwide racial justice protests
after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the panel has spent more than a year conducting research
and holding listening sessions from the Bay Area to San Diego.
California
reparations task force votes to approve restitution plan. California's reparations
task force voted on Saturday in favor of a reparations program, the first of its kind in the United
States. The committee of nine members voted to give final approval a plan with detailed
explanations for how restitution should be made to victims of systemic racism, housing
discrimination, mass incarceration, and health care inequities. The plan now goes to state
legislature for approval. If passed, it could mean hundreds of billions of dollars in
payments to black residents of the Golden State.
Activists
demand higher payments from California reparations task force: '$200 million' per
person. Activists on Saturday demanded that the state of California pay millions of
dollars to each Black resident in reparations as a way to make amends for slavery and subsequent
discrimination, dismissing the mammoth proposals from California's reparations task force as too
little. The demands were made at a highly explosive official meeting of the task force, which
was created by state legislation signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020. The committee
was hearing comments from the public as it considers final recommendations to submit to the
California Legislature, which will then decide whether to implement the measures and send them to
Newsom's desk to be signed into law. An activist identified as Reverend Tony Pierce was one
of the most outspoken people at the gathering, making reference to the famous "40 acres and a mule"
promise to former slaves when he took the podium.
The
modern corrupt legislative way of doing business: Know nothing, fund everything!
This week the Democrat-controlled legislature of the state of California passed a bill allocating
$150 million dollars from which cash-strapped hospitals could obtain loans to help pay their bills.
[...] Loans will have to be repaid in six years, though it will be possible for the loan to be
forgiven if the hospital meets certain requirements. In another news report describing the
process in which this bill was approved and passed included one particular quote that illustrated
magnificently the modern manner in which almost all American legislatures now function, from small
city councils to Congress in Washington, regardless of party. As stated by one state senator
during preliminary hearings before the bill passed: "We don't know how many hospitals, we don't
know which hospitals. We don't know which areas those hospitals are (in), we don't know
anything. [...]"
California
reparations panel hints at $1.2 million payments to each Black resident. Economists
advising California's task force for reparations have estimated that it will cost $1.2 million
per Black resident, paid over a lifetime. California is one of multiple states debating the
feasibility of economic reparations for Black Americans whose ancestors were victimized by the
Atlantic slave trade and its legacy, despite the fact California was designated as a free state
when it joined the Union. The push for reparations gained major momentum in 2020 after the
death of George Floyd at the hands of police, but it remains an economically and culturally
controversial topic. California, which frequently makes national headlines for experimental
progressive policies, has recently reached an economic estimate.
California's
Public School Exodus. No issue is more pressing in California than education.
In late October, the state released scores for the first post-Covid-shutdown state standardized
test, conducted earlier last year. The results were horrendous. Less than half of all
students who took the Smarter Balanced test — 47.1 percent — met the
state standard in English language arts, down 4 percentage points from 2018-19. One-third of
students met the standard in math, down 6.5 percentage points. Only 16 percent of black
students and 9.7 percent of English learners met standards in math. Not only did test
scores plummet; the state's chronic absenteeism rate has also skyrocketed. The no-show rate
leapt from 14.3 percent in 2020-21 to 30 percent in 2021-22.
Nordstrom
closing 2 San Francisco stores, cites 'dynamics' of downtown area. Nordstrom will
close both of its downtown San Francisco stores in the coming months, citing the "dynamics" of the
downtown market as the region continues to see a rash of retail thefts by brazen thieves. In
a memo to employees, Chief Stores Officer Jamie Nordstrom said the company will not renew its lease
for its San Francisco Centre Nordstrom store and the Market Street Rack store across the street.
[...] The Westfield mall, where the downtown Nordstrom is located, and its owner,
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, said the closures "underscores the deteriorating situation in Downtown
San Francisco," the San Francisco Standard reported. "A growing number of retailers and
businesses are leaving the area due to the unsafe conditions for customers, retailers, and
employees, coupled with the fact that these significant issues are preventing an economic recovery
of the area," a mall spokesperson said.
The
Real Gavin Newsom. In 2004, Newsom was elected mayor of San Francisco and instantly
made national news by "authorizing city officials to issue same-sex marriage licenses, in defiance
of state law." That was certainly another useful trait: He had no qualms about breaking the
law. In 2009, Newsom took his first shot at running for governor of California. Failing
at that, in 2011, he ran for and won the office of lieutenant governor under Jerry Brown. Yet
another useful trait: Newsom knows all about hanging onto political coattails. Both Brown and
Newsom were re-elected in 2014. Since Brown couldn't run again in 2018, Tikkanen observed,
"Newsom coasted to victory" in the general election and took office in 2019. One of Newsom's first
executive orders as governor was to do away with the death penalty.
San
Francisco Ends Boycott of 30 States with Conservative Laws after Limitations Proved Ineffective, Costly. The
San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to end a boycott of 30 states that passed conservatives laws after the
rule proved costly and ineffective. The board voted 7-4 to repeal a 2016 law that prohibited city employees from
traveling to or doing business with companies in states that passed conservative laws. The board of supervisors
first enacted the law in an effort to punish states that had enacted what it viewed as restrictions on LGBT rights after
the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Since
2015, the board had amended the law to include states that, in its view, had limited voting rights and abortion access.
"It's not achieving the goal we want to achieve," said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, the sponsor of the legislation to
repeal the boycott. "It is making our government less efficient."
Another
day, another store closing in San Francisco (actually two). Earlier this month I
wrote about San Francisco's flagship Whole Foods supermarket which announced it was closing after
just one year because of high theft and security issues for employees who worked there.
Today, SFGate reports another store downtown is closing after two decades. [...] Anthropologie
didn't say why it was closing. Is it inflation? Was it the pandemic and the subsequent
urban doom loop? Or did it have to do with retail theft and threats against employees from
deranged street people? The reality is it could be all three at once but don't discount theft
as a big factor. San Francisco leads the nation in property crime.
DA
accused of 'extreme departure from California law' with charges in 5-year-old girl's
murder. A radical California DA is under fire for going easy on three gangbangers
charged with shooting a 5-year-old girl through the heart and killing her earlier this month.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price declined to add gun and gang enhancements to murder
raps against the suspects — a "staggering" move which could significantly lessen their
sentences. "Not filing gun and gang enhancements in a case like this is an extreme departure
from California criminal law practice," veteran Los Angeles County prosecutor Jason Lustig told The
[New York] Post. "It's extreme." The Berkeley Scanner first reported the lack of
enhancements alongside basic murder charges and called it a "break in precedent" and the "first
time anything like it has happened in Alameda County" in such a serious case.
CA
musing on mandating your EV be able to help power the grid. This news is going to go
in the Does California EVER Think Anything Through file, because I have seen no clear-cut
proof that they do. [...] In a twisted way, this makes sense for a state that already can't keep
the lights on — use all those lovely, honkin' yuge batteries in EVs sitting in driveways
to take the load off the grid (vehicle-to-grid/V2G) or help consumers either keep their own
electric bills down or function during an outage by powering their house with the Tesla in the
driveway (vehicle-to-home/V2H). As CA legislators think, "If it works for 5 people, we can
make everyone do it." What doesn't make sense is, again, CA can't keep the lights on.
Vicious circle. For your car battery to be charged enough to run the house or help take the
load off a failing grid, it has to be charged/juiced up to discharge.
California
Goes Full Communist: Utilities to Base What They Charge on How Much You Make. The
state of California is implementing full Marxism before our very eyes under the guise of "equity."
And so now there can be no possible doubt if there ever was for anyone: instituting Communism
has been what "equity" initiatives have been about all along. Now three of its most powerful
utility companies are saying that they're going to charge based not on how much of their product
was used, but on how much money the user makes. In simpler times, if you bought something,
you paid for it. Rich or poor, tall or short, black or white, female or male, wise or
foolish, everyone paid the same amount for a product. But in our more enlightened era, we
know how unjust that really is. It deprives the poor of access to vital goods and services,
and that injustice must be redressed.
California
Electric Bills Will Be Based On How Much You Earn. What's next, a proposal for
supermarkets that can charge you based on your income for bread and eggs? Also, Best Buy
should charge you for a new phone based on your earnings. Airline tickets? There can be
three tiers based on earnings. Not that it matters how much California utilities charge for
power that they can't deliver anyway to people fleeing the state as fast as they can. If you
like your Communism, you can keep your Communism.
CA
Rep. Kiley Introduces Constitutional Amendment Requiring Election of U.S. Senators.
[Senator] Feinstein's term is up in 2024, and she's said she's not seeking re-election (though there was
some confusion around that statement). [...] If Feinstein resigns before her term ends, under California
law Gov. Gavin Newsom would have the power to appoint a replacement to serve until the next general
election. Newsom already promised to appoint a black woman to the seat if Feinstein resigns before
2024. Since Lee (a black woman) has already declared her candidacy and has powerful endorsements,
Newsom would be under massive pressure to appoint her. Newsom already appointed one of the state's
senators, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-because of course), and he likely relishes the idea of being able to
appoint another since he uses them as political patronage jobs and ways to gain DEI brownie points.
California Republicans are getting weary of all of this appointing, which makes the climb toward electoral
relevance in the state even more difficult. Freshman Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) has now introduced
a Constitutional Amendment providing that "U.S. Senators, like Members of the House, must always be elected
rather than appointed."
The Editor says...
If the governor has "already promised to appoint a black woman to the seat," isn't that premeditated racial discrimination?
California
Hits the Gas on Its Way to Failed Commie Statehood. [Gavin] Newsom began his
political career in San Francisco, the city that spawned bottom-feeding haters of liberty like
Dianne Feinstein, Granny Boxwine Pelosi, and the cackling weirdo who is currently one heartbeat
away from the presidency, Kamala Harris. Under normal circumstances, the governor's vibe
wouldn't affect so much of what goes on in the state. The Wuhan Chinese Bat Flu Plague,
however, gave Democrat governors like Newsom a taste of tyrannical power that they have been
reluctant to give up. The Golden State is now very much a reflection of its Soviet-esque
chief executive.
Welcome
to Gavin Newsom's California, Where the Looting Is Easy. California Gov. Gavin
Newsom has eyes on running for president if Joe Biden somehow moves out of the way. It's why
Newsom has been attacking red states, and in particular, Florida, trying to pick a fight with
Gov. Ron DeSantis. He's hoping that will up his national profile. [...] What's funny is
that places like Florida are doing far better than his state. It's why people have fled
California and other states like it by the hundreds of thousands. He's spending a lot of
money to attack other places while he doesn't seem to [care] about the mess that he and other
Democrats have made in the Golden State. Let's take a look at what he leaves behind whenever
he leaves town — a completely out-of-control state, one which residents are fleeing.
California
Quietly Pushes Scary New Law — The State Could Take Kids Away From "Non-Affirming"
Parents. California claims to be at the front of the progressive movement, and
Gov. Gavin Newsom believes his state sets a precedent the entire country should follow.
Newsom has made these remarks numerous times in the past, and we'll likely hear them a lot more
often if he runs for President in 2024. "Turning America into Cali" might be his rallying
cry. But several million parents won't be on board with what they're trying to do in the
Golden State now. Currently, California lawmakers are considering a bill that would actually
allow state officials to take kids away from families — and they wouldn't even have to
tell the parents until afterward.
A
note from inside Gulag California. If it weren't so serious, Gavin Newsom's current
assault on red states would be hilarious. What he is peddling as "democracy" is
totalitarianism in its worst form. What's frightening is that there are millions of voters
throughout America who will lap up what he's selling. Why? Because they are Zombie
Voters; brain-dead people who do zero research and even less thinking before they vote. They
get their news from TikTok and Facebook. They vote based on how they feel about a candidate
instead of what they think about that candidate's positions. It's sad but true.
California is full of them. Most California voters don't know how to think because most were
never taught. [...] Children from California public schools are by and large the people who keep
California deep blue. They show up at the polls and vote for candidates without knowing one
single thing about them or giving one instant's thought to what that person will mean for them or
their future.
How
Low Can Blue Cities Sink? Take San Francisco. Things are so bad there that
Whole Foods, an iconic liberal company, has shut its flagship store in that city after just one
year of operation, due to rampant crime and drug use that, the company said, made it impossible to
assure the safety of its employees. But when it comes to commercial real estate, San
Francisco, while very bad, is not the bottom of the barrel. John Phelan reports on a series
of corporate departures from Minneapolis and St. Paul. The numbers are grim. [...] The
reality is worse than these numbers indicate. Large chunks of downtown Minneapolis (and
St. Paul) are not recorded as vacant because someone is paying rent on them, but in fact
no one is working in those offices. Companies are simply waiting for their leases to
expire. Thus the situation is getting worse, not better.
As
We Predicted, Gavin Newsom's Schtick Isn't Going Over Well With Democrats in Red
States. I've consistently made the observation that California Democrats have a very
tough time getting traction outside of the state because they've never been challenged on their
positions or been held accountable by the media in any way. They don't even need to give
campaign speeches or long-form interviews because at this point they don't need to. So, like
Kamala Harris, once the rest of the country gets to see what they're all about, they're not
fans. Gavin Newsom is the latest California political superstar to suffer this fate, and he
hasn't even declared for POTUS yet. Over the last week or so he's been traveling to red
states, acting like the savior who'll be bringing enlightenment to the rubes stuck there.
Unsurprisingly, for anyone who's ever lived outside a narcissistic bubble, that doesn't go over
well, especially in the South.
The
Nightmare of Reparations. The [California Reparations] Task Force is considering a
payment of $360,000 each to 1.8 million black people in California. The total cost would
be $640 billion. (California's total budget this year is only $286 billion — a
number with which the Task Force is apparently unconcerned.) Undoubtedly, many Republicans will
argue that the proposal is "too high." This argument will dominate the public debate, as it is
the only anti-reparations argument that the national media will allow to break through the usual cloud
of disinformation. The result of such a debate will be a lower number (also unaffordable) that
might be enacted as a compromise. Try to imagine a number that would be affordable —
either for California or the U.S. as a whole since the federal government is the ultimate source of
payment. The U.S. is over 30 trillion dollars in debt. To make this proposal affordable,
the payments would have to be reversed. Instead of receiving money, the 1.8 million black
people contemplated in California would have to pay to the U.S. government $360,000 per person per year
for the next 50 years. That would result in enough money to pay off the current U.S. debt.
Of course, that will not happen and the U.S. debt will never be repaid. But it serves as a reminder
that any amount of reparations would be too much. There is no acceptable compromise.
LA
County's proposal to 'decarcerate' jail population withdrawn after pushback from public, law
enforcement. A controversial proposal by Los Angeles County Board members to
"decarcerate" jails was withdrawn from Tuesday's agenda after opposition from the public and law
enforcement. The agenda item was titled "Los Angeles County to take Actionable Next Steps to
Depopulate and Decarcerate the Los Angeles County Jails." Introduced by Supervisors Lindsey
Horvath and Hilda Solis, the proposal outlined that it would "Declare the state of mental health
services and overcrowding in the Los Angeles County jails a humanitarian crisis, requiring the
County to move with all deliberate speed on meaningful solutions; and prioritize decreasing the
number of individuals entering the Los Angeles County Jails."
Gavin
Newsom is cornered by the reparations clown show he unleashed. California's Governor
Gavin Newsom finds himself in such an awkward position that he is refusing comment on a gathering
storm that will not go away, and which has the possibility of turning his presidential ambitions to
ashes. Newsom is known to many as "Governor Brylcreem" for the large amount of greasy pomade
he favors for his coiffure. He will need all the lubricant he can come up with to slip
through the trap he has constructed for himself. [...] Democrats totally control both houses of the
legislature, and who among them would vote against reparations? Blacks' share of California's
population is well below the national average, but in a state utterly dominated by the left, it
would take courage — and leadership from the governor — to go against the fad
(and left wing obsession) of reparations.
'$5
million is too little:' Activists tell California reparations committee to aim
higher. Activists on Wednesday demanded that the state of California pay millions of
dollars to each Black resident in reparations as a way to make amends for slavery and subsequent
discrimination, dismissing the idea of payments of $5 million per person as "nothing" and "too
little." The demands were made at an in-person meeting of the California Reparations Task
Force, which was created by state legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020. The
committee was hearing comments from the public as it considers final recommendations to submit to
the California Legislature, which will then decide whether to implement the measures and send them
to Newsom's desk to be signed into law. The task force is considering a proposal to give just
under $360,000 per person to approximately 1.8 million Black Californians who had an ancestor
enslaved in the U.S., putting the total cost of the program at about $640 billion.
Dem
Bill Will Allow School Psychologists to 'Kidnap' Kids as Young as 12 - Remove from Homes Without Parental
Consent. A California legislative proposal that its sponsor says will increase mental health
services for children is being attacked by its opponents as "state-sanctioned kidnapping." Democratic
Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo said her bill fixes an issue that denies poor kids on the state's Medi-Cal
insurance plan the same coverage as other children. "[Assembly Bill] 665 is about making sure all
young people, regardless if they have private health insurance or are Medi-Cal recipients, have access to
mental health resources," Carrillo said, according to the Sierra Sun Times.
The Editor says...
This bill isn't about "access" or mental health or poor kids. I suspect it's about transvestites,
sex change operations, and grooming.
Realigning
California Would Realign America. California's role in influencing the future of the
country is unparalleled. In addition to its economic and demographic weight, California
remains the epicenter of America's media and entertainment industry, as well as its high-tech
industry. Even if several American states defy the momentum of California's political class,
laws governing California frequently end up becoming federal policy. The abyss is coming for
us all, and its epicenter is in California. [...] In general, ballot initiatives are a good way to
keep California's progressive elites off balance and drain their treasuries. Qualifying a
ballot initiative in California today will cost proponents between $5 and $10 million. But
if it represents a serious threat to the environmentalist industrial complex, the woke tycoons, or the
government unions, they will spend many times that amount to defeat it.
California
Reparations Board Seeks to Resurrect 1860s Agency That Helped Freed Former Slaves.
First, as we recently reported, San Francisco is poised to hand out $5 million in pretend
"reparations" — taxpayer money — to every black resident of the city.
And California was never a slave-owning state, mind you. Now, the California Reparations Task
Force is recommending reviving a modern version of the Freedmen's Bureau — an
all-encompassing agency created in 1865 to assist previously enslaved black people — to
administer any benefits related to the aforementioned taxpayer handouts. Crazy? We're
talking about the People's Republic of Woke California, what do you think?
Will
the Last One to Leave California Please Turn on the Lights. [T]he latest shoe to drop
is the failure of Silicon Valley Bank last week. But fear not, like major U.S. corporations
and some financial institutions that have been deemed as too big to fail, states like
California now qualify to join that august body of TBTFs. The Feds have now made 'an
exception' and have propped up SVB, guaranteeing that all depositors will now get all
their money back (so much for our banking regulations that only safeguarded up to $250K per
depositor). Why? The Feds say that they fear 'contagion' (read: a run on banks) and
that this action is justified and is not to be considered a 'bailout.' Californians have once again
been spared the pain of facing reality and the equal application of America's laws. They are
still free to continue to live comfortably in the land of eternal darkness and self-delusion.
California
reparations panel RAISES amount it wants to give 1.8 million black people from $220,000 to $360,000
each. Black Californians could be in line for $360,000 each as part of the state's
plan to dish out 'reparations' to descendants of slaves. Secretary of State Shirley Weber
told a meeting today that California must 'admit its sins and change the narrative,' to pave the
way for initiatives similar to ones already being considered in other states. But there has
been no detail about how the $650 billion project will be funded amid concerns over California's
growing deficit which is expected to worsen due to a jobs blood bath in its tax-generating Silicon Valley.
Sequoia
Capital executive admits 'even Democrats like me are fed up with San Francisco'. I
guess all that "culture" (human feces and heroin needles) and "excitement" (rampant crime) of life
in a big city is getting a little old for Michael Moritz, a partner at Sequoia Capital. But,
don't you smug conservatives get any ideas, these blights aren't a byproduct of Democrat
ideas — San Francisco is merely "held hostage" by "political classes." In an essay
published by The New York Times today, Moritz acknowledged the city was indeed "crippled" by
"homeless encampments" and "drug addicts" before he blamed conservatives for rubbing Democrat noses
in the mess. [...] He describes this phenomenon as "tyranny of the minority." Is this a
prelude to reinvigorated efforts to abolish the Electoral College?
America Is Becoming a Corrupt
Country. Shoplifting, flash robberies, and rampant crime have dramatically increased since so many
jurisdictions have dramatically raised the dollar threshold of felony theft (in some places, stealing something worth
$950 is a misdemeanor). Police won't waste time arresting crooks who prosecutors won't prosecute. The result
is that petty theft on a grand scale has become a way of life for tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands) of
people. Target alone estimates that it lost $600 million last year to theft in the San Francisco Bay
region. Add to this the rises in carjacking, burglary, and mugging. The rise in crime inherently means more
criminals and more acceptance of living on someone else's money.
California's
Predicted Fiscal Firestorm Has Arrived. Democrats' profligate spending, greed, and lack of imagination on
how to run America's most populous state have been disastrous. An investment research group says California's "tax
policy is killing the Golden Goose in the Golden State." And that's not the only problem. Governor Gavin
Newsom sent billions of Joe Biden's specially printed, inflation-causing Covid money to voters for "inflation
relief" before his latest election. He teed up "free" kindergarten for four-year-olds, and gave out "free"
healthcare to illegal aliens. His reckless spending was the fiscal equivalent of putting on a pork chop suit and
heading out to the closest dog park. Now, of course, he'll be blaming this fiscal cliff on someone —
anyone — else. Newsom helped destroy contracting jobs and continued to waste money on the Train
to Nowhere.
We
Deserve Reparations From Stupid People. The City of San Francisco, the bayside burg that gave us Nancy
Pelosi and sidewalk toilets, is now proposing the ultimate in nonsense — a few million bucks of reparations
for everyone whose grandparents came from the right continent at the right time. Actually, it's more generous than
that, because you may also be eligible if you were a victim of the Drug War — that is, if you were a scumbag
drug dealer justly imprisoned for slinging poison before the narcotics were effectively legalized by the same leftists
whose hometown proposes this giveaway. Well, if a bunch of people who were never slaves should get free money from
people who never owned slaves, I propose that the people forking over the dollars be the liberal San Francisco Democrats
who never owned slaves.
Most of us agree that California is leading the nation — in the wrong direction. California
Secretary of State: We Can 'Lead the Nation' on Reparations. California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley N.
Weber said that the Golden State can "lead the nation" by passing reparations for the descendants of black slaves.
California entered the Union as a free state on Sep. 9, 1850. The state has been considering reparations under a law
proposed by Weber, then in the State Assembly, and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in 2020, during the height of
the frenzy around the Black Lives Matter movement. A committee was formed to consider proposals for reparations
and to make recommendations to the legislature. As Breitbart News has reported, reparations could amount to
$230,000 per recipient, though some claim even that will not be enough. The committee is due to report its final
recommendations to the state legislature later this year for consideration. California currently faces a budget
deficit of roughly $22.5 billion.
If
Reparations Are Owed, the Democratic Party Should Pay Them. Let's analyze the issue of reparations from
the standpoint of morality and practicality. Most people believe that compensation for misdeeds should come from
the people who caused the misdeeds. For example, if John Smith and Joe Brown recklessly damage your car, you
expect Smith and Brown (or their insurance companies) to pay for the repairs. Normally, you would not expect the
repairs to be financed by the entire town in which you live: That would make no sense. What if Joe Brown died
shortly after the accident? Would you expect his children or grandchildren to pay you? Probably not.
Instead, your claim for compensation would be focused on the surviving reckless driver, John Smith. We can apply
this logic to the reparations issue. Obviously, no person alive today existed during the slave era or as an adult in
the subsequent Jim Crow or Ku Klux Klan eras. However, there are certain responsible entities that existed then and now:
• The United State government
• Eleven slave states of the Confederacy plus four union slave states
• A handful of corporations with origins dating before the end of slavery
• The Democratic Party
I did not include the Republican Party for a very good reason: It was formed in 1854 by a bunch of abolitionists
for the express purpose of ending slavery, which was accomplished at enormous cost 11 years later.
'Defund
the Police' LA City Council member asks LAPD for extra patrols around his office. A newly-elected Los
Angeles city councillor who campaigned on a pledge to abolish the police has been left red-faced after a staff member
rang the LAPD to request protection for his broken-down car. Hugo Soto-Martinez, a trade union activist and member
of the Democratic Socialist party, was elected in December. Soto-Martinez campaigned against 'armed militias
occupying our neighborhoods,' saying that the existing policing system was 'completely corrupt, immoral, and needs to be
changed drastically.'
Court
Slaps Down California's Attempt To Muzzle Doctors Who Dissent From Covid Groupthink. [Scroll down] In
passing the law, the California legislature made multiple "findings," including facts purveyed by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) that there is a much higher risk of death for unvaccinated individuals from Covid-19 than the vaccinated.
The legislature also found that "the spread of misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines has weakened public
confidence and placed lives at serious risk" and that "major news outlets have reported that some of the most dangerous propagators
of inaccurate information regarding the COVID-19 vaccines are licensed health care professionals." Soon after Newsom signed
AB 2098, a group of doctors and organizations representing doctors filed suit in federal court in California.
California's
plan to power EVs has one glaring shortcoming. You may have already heard about California Governor Gavin
Newsom's announcement last year that his state will ban the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. Restrictions on
how many non-electric vehicles can be sold will begin in just three years. This is making all of the climate
alarmists very happy, of course, but there is a significantly large fly in the ointment of this plan. In order to
charge up roughly 12.5 million EVs on a daily basis, the state will need to have a lot of electricity available on
the power grid. But nobody seems to have run through all of the numbers with the Governor. Some people who
actually did the math work with the Institute for Energy Research, and they have some bad news for Governor
Newsom. The state's plan is based on "a myriad of assumptions" about its electrical grid, and a lot of those
assumptions are simply unrealistic in a very big way.
California's
fake water crisis. This year, California was hit by not one but nine "atmospheric rivers" that drenched
the state, flooded communities, and filled reservoirs. [...] However, California officials are saying that the massive
storms have not solved the drought problem. Water customers may be asked to continue conservation efforts.
Agricultural users can expect only 30 percent of regular water deliveries. These drought provisions will
continue despite the following:
• Tens of trillions of gallons of freshwater that dropped upon the state from the storms:
• A snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains that is double the size of an average year;
• Many reservoirs, especially in the state's northern part, now have over 100 percent capacity;
• Rains so intense that they could have filled a reservoir the size of the massive Hetch Hetchy water system that supplies San Francisco once every 24 hours; and
• Water districts reporting underground storage replenished by billions of gallons of water.
All these factors should point to surpluses. The long drought should be over. Each atmospheric river
provided its share to make California wet again. But there is nothing like a good crisis to keep things liberal,
especially in eco-friendly California. The good news is that the rains dumped tens of trillions of gallons upon
the parched land. The bad news is that most of the water ended up in the Pacific Ocean. California is
in a state of a manufactured crisis.
Judge
blocks California's covid misinformation law. On January 25, the case of Hoeg v. Newsom
prompted a federal judge to pause California's covid misinformation and disinformation law for violating the First and
14th Amendments to the Constitution. Five doctors who are plaintiffs in the case say Assembly Bill 2098 violates
their constitutional rights. These include Drs. Tracy Hoeg, Ram Duriseti, Aaron Kheriaty, Pete Mazolewski,
and Azadeh Khatibi. Gov. Gavin Newsom and other elected officials, including the president and members of the
Medical Board of California, are named as defendants in the case (and there is also a second lawsuit, separate but
related in nature, called Hoang v. Bonta that makes similar allegations). AB 2098 puts a muzzle
on California doctors, preventing them from providing information to their patients that the state deems to be
"misinformation" or "disinformation." Doctors who advise and treat their patients based on science rather than
lies face the potential loss of their medical license under AB 2098.
The
most dangerous legislator in America? California State Senator Scott Wiener could be the most dangerous
legislator in the nation. That's the lesson I took away from a great piece by Abigail Shrier I just read in City
Journal, one of the best magazines in America. It shines a light on Weiner's one-man crusade to empower human
traffickers in the State of California under the guise of protecting LGBTQIA+ rights. [...] And as Shrier describes in
the opening to her piece, Weiner got a law passed that vastly expanded the street prostitution trade, by removing all
penalties for a loitering law that gave police probable cause to arrest street prostitutes. In practical terms
that meant that police couldn't identify minors who were being trafficked and separate them from their abusive
pimps. The result has been drastic — the number of young women escaping sex slavery in California has
dropped to near zero.
Federal
Judge Uses Covid Regime Case To Attack Key Leftist Tactics. A new California law that went into effect on
January 1st is intended to punish doctors who spread "misinformation" about Covid — and especially about
treatment options and the dangerous mRNA injections. That law has been challenged in federal court. In what
follows I'll be drawing from an article in the Sacramento Bee, which was brought to my attention by Thomas Lifson.
Yesterday Judge William Shubb stayed enforcement of the law, while subjecting it to a withering critique. What I
found particularly encouraging is that a federal judge directly attacked a major shibboleth of Leftist ideology as well
as one of the Left's key tactics in attacking the free flow of information to the American public.
California's
COVID-19 Misinformation Law Blocked by Judge. A federal judge in California on Jan. 25 paused the
state's so-called COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation law that has been challenged by doctors in two lawsuits,
claiming it violates their constitutional rights. In Hoeg v. Newsom, five doctors alleged that the state law,
AB 2098, is unconstitutional under the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The doctors, Tracy
Hoeg, Ram Duriseti, Aaron Kheriaty, Pete Mazolewski, and Azadeh Khatibi, filed their lawsuit against Gov. Gavin
Newsom and other officials, including the president and members of the Medical Board of California. A separate
related lawsuit, Hoang v. Bonta, makes similar allegations. The doctors say the law prevents them from
providing information to their patients that may contradict what the law permits or prohibits. They also alleged
the law was used to intimidate and punish physicians who disagreed with prevailing views on COVID-19.
Reckless Reparations
Reckoning. Here are 10 reasons why the nation's — and especially California's —
discussions of reparatory payouts are dangerous in a multiracial state, and why reparations are not viable either in an
insolvent state or a bankrupt nation at large. [...] [#3] California is at the forefront of the reparation lobbying
effort. Yet it was neither a slave nor a Jim-Crow state. On the eve of the Civil War, the federal census
recorded only about 4,000 free black citizens residing in the free state of California, or about 1 percent of the
nearly 400,000 residents in 1860. The relatively new state remained part of the Union, in which no major battles
of the war over slavery were waged. The pathology did not exist anywhere in California and the population was
overwhelmingly loyal to the Union. In other words, reparations based on slavery is not a cohesive argument for the
current-day 40 millions of California, in which over one-quarter of the residents were not even born in the United
States. [...] [#9] There has not been slavery in the United States in some 158 years since the end of the
Civil War. If a generation can be defined as 25 years, there has not been a living American with personal
experience of slavery in generations.
California's
'Misinformation' Law Targets 'Doctor Zero'. A new and unconstitutional, Orwellian gag-order law took
effect on Jan. 1. Titled "Physicians and surgeons: unprofessional conduct," the law permits the Medical Board
of California to discipline doctors who "disseminate" misinformation. It's an obvious and direct attack on the
First Amendment — freedom of speech — as well as the Fifth Amendment, which says an individual
cannot be compelled by the government to provide incriminating information about himself, and the Fourteenth Amendment's
equal protection under the laws. This law attempts to mandate a new and undefined standard known as "contemporary
scientific consensus" and illegally suppress differing professional opinions counter to this consensus on
COVID-19. Differing professional opinions are of course protected from governmental interference and censorship by
the First Amendment. The importance of differing professional opinions is also enshrined in the practice of
medicine by the longstanding right and traditional entitlement of patients to the time-honored "second opinion."
If everyone were forced to adopt the undefinable "contemporary scientific consensus," second opinions could be deemed to
be "misinformation."
California's
new digital license plates made cars trackable by hackers. Reviver says it's mission is to "modernize" the
driving experience, and the way it does that is by developing the world's first digital license plate and connected
vehicle platform. But security researchers looking into how safe that "modernization" is have found a way to poke
significant holes in this design. Some of the vulnerabilities discovered show that malicious outside actors can
track GPS location of digital license plates owners. Reviver rolled out digital license plates last October and is
still the only company that sells them in California. They are being marketed as legal to use across the US, while
it is also becoming legal to buy them in more and more states. Those who own such plates, or plan to do so, will
be interested to hear that researcher Sam Curry shared in a blog post that it is possible for hackers to access the
"super user" admin mode of any user, and from there on effectively remotely take over.
California's
Crazy New Year: Five Radical Laws Go into Effect. [#3] AB 2147: Decriminalizing Jaywalking Because of
Racism — This law, called the "Freedom to Walk Act," presumes that jaywalking is a racist crime because it is
supposedly enforced unevenly — by the nation's most left-wing state — in "communities of color"
where people supposedly cannot afford to pay the fines. The law prevents police from stopping people who are
crossing the street illegally unless they are in danger. [...] [#5] SB 357: Decriminalizing Loitering
for Prostitution — This law, another by State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), decriminalizes
loitering in public for the purpose of committing prostitution (which remains a crime). It also allows those
convicted of such loitering to petition courts for the dismissal and sealing of their cases. The law aims to
remove the social stigma of sex work; it also comes amid a statewide crime wave.
An
Actual Threat to Our Democracy. The ever-crazier California legislature has passed a law that, as the Wall
Street Journal's editors describe it: ["]...creates a state council to dictate wages, working conditions
and benefits, among other things, for fast-food workers who aren't unionized. The law is intended to coerce
fast-food franchises to surrender to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).["] Can that possibly
be constitutional? I don't know, but it any event it is a terrible idea: ["]...the state council
could issue edicts such as raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $22 a[n] hour.["]
Year
in Review: California Got Even Crazier in 2022. California Democrats love to say their state's laws lead
the way. But where, exactly, are they leading us? Here are some guideposts. [#2] The Safer
Streets For All Act: California's pimps can now operate in the open after legislators decriminalized streetside
sex solicitation in the name of equity. Supporters of the bill, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D.),
sought this repeal of California's longtime anti-loitering law, claiming police used it to target minorities and
transgender people. Victims of sex trafficking opposed the new legislation, since the anti-loitering policy helped
cops find exploited kids.
Black
actor blasts $223,000 reparations payments suggested by California commission. Actor Faizon Love has
lashed out at the notion that black people in California will be given $223,000 in reparations, saying that the money
will only be used to purchase luxury cars. Love, 54, made the eye-opening response in an interview with YouTube
channel Vlad TV as the debate over reparations for slavery in the Golden State continues. The Meteor Man star
said: '[...] That's another trick man, because that money's gonna go right back to Cadillac and right back to [Mercedes] Benz.'
The Editor says...
How true. If you give someone $223,000 of someone else's money, they're likely to spend it foolishly. Not just
on a Cadillac, but on cigarettes, beer, tattoos, and lottery tickets. The m0ney will be all gone in a few months, and
the cars will be junk in 15 years.
San
Bernardino County Residents Vote to Study Secession from Far-Left California. San Bernardino County
residents voted for officials to study the possibility of seceding from California as more grow increasingly tired of
the state's far-left policies. The county approved the advisory ballot proposal, which was voted upon in November,
earlier this week, the Associated Press (AP) reported. San Bernardino's Board of Supervisors' next step is likely
to form a committee that will study if state and federal public funds were fairly distributed with local governments
within the county.
Universal
Basic Income Hits the Bay Area — If You're Black. At least three guaranteed income initiatives
in the San Francisco Bay Area openly discriminate against white residents, limiting or entirely preventing their
participation in programs that dole out no-strings-attached cash. The programs — all of which are
publicly funded — violate both the United States and the California state constitution, lawyers say, as well
as civil rights laws that ban race discrimination in contracting and by the recipients of government funds. The
initiatives include the Black Economic Equity Movement, which provides $500 a month exclusively to "Black young adults,"
the Abundant Birth Project, which provides $1,000 a month to "Black and Pacific Islander mothers," and the Guaranteed
Income for Transgender People program, which will dole out $1,200 a month and "prioritize enrollment" of transgender
"Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC)." They are financed by the National Institutes of Health, the
California Department of Social Services, and the city of San Francisco, respectively.
Condo
prices in San Francisco plummet as drug abuse and crime soar. Luxury condo prices in the heart of downtown
San Francisco have plummeted as drug abuse and crime have spiraled out control — and as many techies continue
to work remotely. Data analyzed by Compass shows the Golden Gate city — once pegged as the hottest real
estate market globally — has since fallen fast. The median sale price of a two-bedroom condo, for
example, has fallen 16.5% since 2021, while sale prices in surrounding areas have slipped only 7%, according to the
market report.
Civil Disobedience
Starts Here. As COVID-19 cases increase, the Los Angeles County public health director is
threatening — yes, that's the right word — another indoor mask mandate. It's a hob-nailed
boot on the neck. Angelenos need to resist, for themselves and the rest of the country. "As COVID cases and
other viruses continue to rise, the Southland is inching closer to a mask mandate," the Los Angeles CBS affiliate
reported Sunday. Barbara Ferrer, the county director of public health, who is not a physician, not a nurse, not
even a paper shuffler at a doctor's office, but a social welfarist, said last week that "masking" is one of several
"commonsense mitigation strategies" that "remains a very sensible approach." Don't mistake mask mandates as
harmless cases of officials acting in an abundance of caution or just covering their backsides, as government always
does. Mask mandates are open displays of outright meanness, a manifestation of authoritarian urges to control
others. There is no data, no reputable research that tells us mask mandates works. In fact, the data tells
the opposite. Yet officials such as Ferrer and the Sacramento schools chamberlains are insisting that masks must
go back on.
California
voters may block the new fast food minimum wage law. In August, the California legislature narrowly passed
a new law designed to micromanage the fast food industry in that state known as the FAST Act. (Fast Food
Accountability and Standards Recovery Act.) Governor Gavin Newsom signed it into law on Labor Day. The food
and beverage industry started raising the alarm immediately, describing all of the negative effects this legislation
could produce. The law would allow the legislature to create an unelected board (the "Fast Food Council") that
would oversee everything from benefits and wages to working hours. But one industry group began collecting
signatures to demand a referendum on the new law. The deadline for submitting signatures was this Monday and it
looks like they met the goal.
California
seeks to punish oil companies with new penalty. California lawmakers on Monday introduced legislation to
penalize oil companies for alleged price gouging, setting up a showdown with an industry that has long wielded political
influence in the Golden State. At the urging of Gov. Gavin Newsom, California Senate Budget Chair Nancy
Skinner, D-Berkeley, proposed a new bill that would levy a penalty on oil companies when their profits exceeded a
legally-established threshold. The money raised by the penalty would then be placed in a fund that would be
directed back to taxpayers in the form of rebates. But the initial bill language is vague, failing to define the
profit threshold that oil companies would be penalized for exceeding and lacking an explanation of who would be eligible
for the rebates. Newsom said those specifics will be sorted out over the course of the special session. The
move comes two months after the Democratic governor first unveiled a plan to levy a windfall profits tax on oil
companies that were running up record earnings while Californians were getting squeezed at the pump.
San
Fran is a hellhole for a reason. Earlier today I wrote about an infant who overdosed on fentanyl while
playing in a park. The child's nanny had taken her to the park for a walk and among the detritus left by druggies
was enough fentanyl to cause a near-fatal overdose. Luckily the EMTs arrived and saved her life. This is
modern San Francisco, Nancy Pelosi's shining city on a hill. The park is a few blocks from Pelosi's scene of the
crime home. I stumbled across this new investigative report an hour after I finished writing that post, and it
helps explain why San Francisco is a [...] mess. [Tweet] As I have said before, public employment in San
Francisco isn't public service; it is nothing but another government grift. Not that most of the taxpayers in San
Francisco don't deserve to lose money to the confidence men; they are idiotic enough to keep voting for this
[stuff]. Still, David Sjostedt of the San Francisco Standard deserves kudos for reporting the story. If San
Franciscans aren't engaged enough to care about the decline of their once-breathtaking city, at least people from
more sane venues can learn from their experience.
California
Releases Thousands of Convicted Pedophiles Within a Year of Conviction. California has released thousands
of convicted pedophiles after spending only a few months in prison. Such pedophiles have been convicted of "a
range of horrific acts, including raping kids under 14," according to the study investigation conducted by the U.K.
Daily Mail. More than 7,000 persons convicted of "lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of
age" have been released in the same year they were convicted. Convicts who committed even more heinous crimes,
such as sodomy and rape of children, also served short sentences.
Keywords: Buying votes, money laundering, slush fund, graft. Oakland Will
Send Taxpayer Dollars To Residents So They Can Donate To Politicians. Oakland, California, is set to give
adult residents vouchers to donate to candidates for local office every other year, according to The San Francisco
Chronicle. Nearly 74% of the city's voters approved Measure W, mandating that the city biannually send four
$25 dollar vouchers to residents 18 years of age and older for donations to mayoral, City Council or school board
candidates, the outlet reported. The program will be paid for with city general funds and include legal permanent
residents who lack U.S. citizenship.
California
Still Has More Than 250,000 Uncounted Ballots. While Arizona's handling of the midterm election has been
the focus of media outlets and pundits for some time, California still has more than 250,000 uncounted ballots across
the state. It's been more than two weeks since America voted in the 2022 midterms, yet the largest state in the
country is still counting ballots. The vast majority of the uncounted ballots are from people who voted by mail,
with Sacramento County failing to count a whopping 84,000 mail-in ballots. [...] The remaining ballots represent a tiny
fraction of the total votes cast in the Golden State in 2022, but it's prompted some to ask what is taking so
long. The answer is simple: In 2020, during the pandemic, California, along with other states, began mailing
ballots to all registered voters. The practice became permanent in 2021, CNN reported, and ballots postmarked on
or before Election Day must be accepted for up to seven days after the polls close.
Five
Developments That Waited Until After the Midterms. Did you notice that there have been many stories
breaking recently that are inconvenient to the left-wing narrative? I did. And I noticed that they came out
after the midterm elections were over — when they'd have no impact on the vote. Wasn't that nice and
convenient? Here are four of those stories. [#1] Newsom's budget deficit: After back-to-back
years of running surpluses, this week we learned that California is back in the red. Back in May, the Golden State
had a nearly $98 billion surplus, but new projections show that California will have a $25 billion deficit in the
2023-2024 fiscal year. Luckily for Gov. Gavin Newsom, voters reelected him last week before the news broke.
Los
Angeles and L.A. County buy into guaranteed income movement. Following a national trend, Los Angeles and
Los Angeles County have embraced the popular guaranteed income concept to combat poverty by offering low-income
residents no-strings-attached money. The city of Los Angeles offers a guaranteed income program to 3,200
participants chosen at random to receive $1,000 per month for 12 months. Los Angeles County has responded with two
guaranteed programs of its own. The county's pilot guaranteed income program involves 1,000 participants who will
receive $1,000 monthly payments for three years. The budget is $16.3 million, and the county will use federal
COVID-19 relief money to pay for the program, according to Los Angeles County. The program began in August.
CEO
blasts San Francisco as 'city of chaos,' closes store over rampant crime. The CEO of a popular clothing
brand Cotopaxi is closing the company's only San Francisco store due to "organized theft rings" and a lack of safety in
the city, he announced this week. CEO Davis Smith announced the closure in a lengthy post on social media, saying
the location faces regular attacks by thieves with virtually no response from law enforcement. "We are closing the
store due to rampant organized theft and lack of safety for our team. Our store is hit by organized theft rings
several times per week. They brazenly enter the store and grab thousands of dollars of product and walk out,"
Smith wrote. "We started keeping the door locked and opening it only for customers, but even then, they'll have a
woman go to the door, and then hiding individuals rush into the store as soon as the door opens. Our team is
terrified. They feel unsafe. Security guards don't help because these theft rings know that security guards
won't/can't stop them," he added.
How
'woke' policies turned Downtown San Francisco into an urban drug-den. Earlier this month, old-fashioned
Xeroxed copies of a newspaper article appeared across the Mid-Market neighborhood in Downtown San Francisco. The
article, from the San Francisco Chronicle, featured the headline: "S.F. D.A. Brooke Jenkins says she'll consider murder
charges for fentanyl dealers." The article was taped to walls on neighborhood corners regularly frequented by drug
dealers. At least one of those Xerox copies had the headline translated into Spanish — all the better
for the dealers in question, most of whom are Honduran nationals, to get the message. The photocopies were
distributed by Matt Dorsey, Supervisor for the district that includes the Mid-Market area, which is adjacent to the
Tenderloin (in San Francisco, which is both a county and a city, Supervisors are the equivalent of City Council members
in other cities). Dorsey's office had organized a neighborhood clean-up and the Supervisor had handed the article for
volunteers to promote. Dorsey is himself a recovering addict and prior to becoming Supervisor, he was the
Communications Director for the San Francisco Police Department. Ridding the neighborhood of drug dealers is his
number one priority — a goal he shares with new District Attorney Jenkins.
California's
Water Supply Falls Victim to CRT. California's agricultural production is as large as Texas and Iowa
combined. The state's Mediterranean climate and fertile valleys help make it the fifth largest supplier of food
and fiber in the world. It all depends on water. Most of the state's crops rely on irrigation as opposed to
rain. Irrigation is regulated by a system of water rights held by public and private parties. Notice these
are "rights" and not "privileges." The exercise of these rights to bring about beneficial uses of water such as
growing food is a complicated area of law and policy. History proves that giving the government control over the
food supply is usually a recipe for famine. Still, there are many environmental and so-called social justice
organizations that would like to move all the privately held water rights to state control. One way to do so is by
influencing state water rights agencies through Critical Race Theory.
California
makes it illegal for doctors to disagree with politicians. Conformity of thought is now required whether
it is online, on college campuses, or, if you are in California, in a physician-patient relationship. PayPal
recently introduced a $2,500 fine for anyone involved in "the sending, posting, or publication of any messages, content,
or materials" that — in "PayPal's sole discretion" — "promote misinformation." After a
firestorm of criticism, PayPal withdrew the policy, claiming the whole thing was a misunderstanding and was not official
policy — hardly a convincing explanation from a site with a history of banning those it considers politically
incorrect. But California physicians have had no such relief. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed
California Assembly Bill 2098, making it the first state to attempt to censor what physicians can say about COVID-19 to
their patients. This is a dangerous, and likely unconstitutional, effort that other states must resist.
Rubber-stamped
elections, California style. Welcome to the Grand Duchy of California, a place run so poorly that the
streets and the homeless existing on them are both rotting, citizens have no expectation of public safety, our public
schools ranked 38th for quality, and gas costs $6.49 a gallon (regular). We've mandated a move toward electric power as
"clean" energy, no matter the outrageous cost and total inefficiency. We're heavily taxed, with income tax of up
to 13% and about a 10% sales tax (that varies from county to county). Police policy in the cities seems to be to wait
15 minutes before responding to an in-progress report, lest the officer be endangered. Despite this path to
destruction, voters have no real choice for governor this November. You'd think, given these examples (and I could
go on), that we'd have a vibrant contest for governor. People were passionate enough to try a recall last
year. Maybe that failure took the starch out of their sails. This year, we have a Republican candidate
running, but you've probably never heard of him — he's basically invisible. Gavin Newsom, the worst
governor in the history of the state, is running virtually unopposed. He didn't even bother putting a candidate
statement in the official voter information guide. Ask anyone on the street, and he has no idea who Newsom's
opponent is.
California
Decriminalizes Jaywalking Due to Alleged Racial Bias. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a law Friday that
will decriminalize jaywalking across California, ending the familiar practice of police handing out tickets to
pedestrians on the argument that the law is enforced more often against minorities than other people. The new law,
AB 2147, known as the "Freedom to Walk Act," could bring an end to a cultural difference that has marked otherwise
libertine Californians as being uniquely deferential to laws governing pedestrian traffic.
The State of Dreams: Every utopia
is a dystopia. Especially California. It's a cool dark night in California and all the lights are
out. Sloping rooftops dotted with solar panels gleam even more darkly than usual. The air is still and not a
single breeze stirs even the lightest wind turbine. Somewhere out in the darkness Diablo Canyon, the aging nuclear
plant, still running, is keeping what power there is on. [...] The great westward drive that began with Lewis and Clark
has been steadily rolling backward. Southern California is filled with moving trucks headed to Arizona, Texas and
Nevada. Those who can afford it, fly to Florida. The Russians were here once and then the Spanish. The
American presence in California was more comprehensive and lasted longer, but may one day leave sagging Wells Fargo banks
and decrepit mini malls filled with sushi places and nail salons the way the Spanish left their names and their missions
up Highway 101. It's a beautiful country, but so is Afghanistan and any number of otherwise unlivable places.
California
wants to listen in at your next doctor's appointment. There is a new bill making its way through the
California Legislature that could punish doctors for straying from "the contemporary scientific consensus" for COVID-19:
California's AB 2098 would discipline physicians for disseminating or promoting "misinformation" or "disinformation" as
it relates to COVID-19. Aside from the problem that the "consensus" on COVID-19 is constantly changing, the bill's
language is ambiguous and, as some California lawyers say, almost certainly infringes upon physicians' First Amendment
right to freedom of speech.
SF
grocery store shut down due to rat infestation created by the birdseed lady. Who is up for another San
Francisco story? This one starts in a neighborhood called Glen Park where there's a local grocery store called
Canyon Market. It's a nice looking place. Yesterday, Canyon Market was shuttered by the health department
after the city found evidence of a "severe" rodent infestation. [...] The birdseed woman may not be homeless but it
sure sounds as if she has some mental problems. And just like every other person with mental problems wandering
the streets of San Francisco (or Los Angeles), the city's default position is to do nothing until it creates a big
enough crisis to make the local news. Then, finally, the city might stir itself to do something about the actual
problem. In this particular case, it has taken two and a half years just to put out some rat bait.
Real
Estate CEO In Major Democrat City Says He Can't Convince Clients to Buy Due to Unmitigated Crime. San
Francisco was once a crown jewel of California but is now a drug-infested, crime-ridden, tax-plagued example of how not
to run a city. It's a city with its own "poop map," so needed because the homeless in the city defecate in the
wide-open wherever they feel like it. According to Fox Business, the CEO of a real estate company says that he's
at a point where convincing potential clients to move to or buy property in San Francisco is becoming very
difficult. So much so that he wrote a letter to the city after he, himself, was robbed in front of his own home in
broad daylight at gunpoint.
Group
Using West Virginia Model to Create "New California" Serves Gavin Newsome Notice of Constitutional
Default. A massive group of concerned citizens and constitutionalists have had enough of the
unconstitutional insanity taking place in the state of California. This group is using the West Virginia model to
create a new state that will abide by the US Constitution separate from the state of California. The New
California group has been working for months and years to get away from the radical and unconstitutional actions taken
by the current leadership in California. This group has created its own committees in counties throughout the state.
Flashback:
Gavin Newsom Shipped Homeless People Out of San Francisco With 'One-Way Tickets'. Governor Gavin Newsom
sent a letter to Merrick Garland on Thursday requesting the Attorney General look into "kidnapping" charges for those
involved in Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' effort to send illegal immigrants to Martha's Vineyard. But if shipping
people out of state to try and give them a better life amounts to "kidnapping," Newsom has some explaining to do.
In July of 2019, SFist published an article critiquing a program called 'Homeward Bound,' an effort initiated by Newsom
as mayor of San Francisco in 2004. The program paid for bus tickets out of town, presumably with the destination
being to friends and family willing to take the homeless individual in. SFist, however, described it as a program
with a nice name which masks the fact that it "gives unsheltered San Franciscans a one-way Greyhound bus ticket out of
town and asks them to please never come back."
Human
Composting Is Now Legal in California, Leading the Way to 'Soylent Green'. It comes to mind, because this
1973 futuristic movie was set in 2022. Let that sink in. It also comes to mind because thanks to Biden's
economic agenda (or lack thereof), much of the dystopian ethos of that world is being baked into our everyday
lives. The World Economic Forum keeps pushing new forms of insect protein on us, and it was only a matter of time
before cannibalism was happily presented as an idea whose time had come. For the sake of the environment, even our
death traditions are being restructured to fit the paradigm of you will own nothing and you will be happy with it.
It's wasteful to plant a headstone to memorialize your loved one, not to mention selfish.
California
Governor Signs 'Most Aggressive' Package of Green Laws. California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday
announced a sweeping package of what he called the country's "most aggressive" climate measures to "accelerate the
state's transition" to non-conventional energy sources. The package includes 40 bills that appear to provide
new green rules on laws related to things ranging from large-scale industry to the family home and private and public
transportation. The Democratic governor's office said in a statement the package of climate change-focused
measures aims to cut pollution and target "big polluters." It comes as America's most populous state has struggled
to provide stable electricity for residents amid a heat wave, which saw the state asking residents to use less power and
suggest the best times to use air conditioners or charge electric cars.
If
You're Going to San Francisco... No, stop! Don't even think about going to San Francisco. The
place is a disaster area, possibly as bad as Portland. If you think that is impossible, check out this photo essay
in the Daily Mail. The story is about the city's new "soft touch" approach to drug addiction and homelessness.
"Nobody's going to jail," city officials say. No, they're going straight to the morgue. San Francisco has seen
nearly 1,700 fatal fentanyl overdoses so far in 2022. The text is depressing, but the message is really in the dozens of
photographs that accompany it. Addicts openly shooting up; homeless encampments on the streets; filth everywhere.
Inside
LA's out-of-control juvenile jails where violence rules in the Newsom era. Imagine a jail where inmates
rule over guards who fight for survival daily among killers, carjackers, and vicious gang members. That's life
every day inside Los Angeles County Juvenile Hall. "Our juvenile halls are on the verge of collapse. I really
believe someone is going to get killed at some point," one official told the Washington Examiner. A series
of state and local laws designed to clear California lockups have reached down to juvenile facilities where inmates
learn now that they can get away with anything short of murder, officials said.
California
[is] on [the] Verge of Threatening [the] Licenses of Doctors Who Dissent on Covid-19. California
physicians who dissent from the prevailing view of Covid-19 and its vaccines could have their licenses revoked under a
recently passed law. California Assembly Bill 2098 states: "It shall constitute unprofessional conduct for a
physician ... to disseminate misinformation or disinformation related to COVID-19, including false or misleading
information regarding the nature and risks of the virus, its prevention and treatment; and the development, safety, and
effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines." A finding of "unprofessional conduct" would force the state bodies that license
and regulate doctors "to take action against" the accused, the bill notes.
It's a mental hospital without walls -- and without treatment. Viral
video shows homeless fighting in squalid conditions on San Francisco street. A viral video making its
rounds on social media offers a grim new snapshot of San Francisco's surging homelessness crises as two men can be seen
brawling amid squalid conditions on a city sidewalk. The shocking scene was filmed and posted to Twitter by J.
Terrell Allen, who said he stumbled upon the wild fight in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood on an evening walk.
Video, posted to Twitter Thursday, shows two men — one of whom is shirtless — wrestling on the
ground that's littered with debris as the majority of other apparently homeless people look on with little interest.
Democrats
Can't Even Deliver Water and Electricity. Democrats are in complete control of California and can't
deliver enough water and electricity to keep its citizens comfortable. This is outrageous. What's even more
outrageous is the lack of outrage. Too many Americans have been gaslighted into accepting what should be wholly
unacceptable as normal — their own government's ongoing failure to provide them with the basic necessities
that sustain life. Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but there was a time when the least we expected from government was
enough electricity and water. Ask Mr. One-Term President Jimmy Carter about that. The issue that
derailed his presidency (along with the Iran hostage crisis) was gasoline shortages.
California
governor signs bill to keep last reactors running. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom
signed legislation Friday intended to open the way for the state's last operating nuclear power
plant to run an additional five years, a move that he said was needed to ward off possible
blackouts as the state transitions to solar and other renewable sources. His endorsement came
one day after the plan was approved in a lopsided vote in the state Assembly and Senate, and
despite criticism from environmentalists that the plant was dangerous and should be shut down as
scheduled by 2025. Newsom has no direct authority over the twin-domed plant, which sits on a
bluff above the Pacific midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. PG&E must obtain
approval for a longer run from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees plant safety,
as well as a string of state agencies.
Democrats
[are] Making California [a] 'Refuge' Hub for Teen Sex Surgery. California Democrats
in the State Assembly and State Senate have advanced legislation that would make the state a
sanctuary where out-of-state parents can take their children to undergo sex change
procedures. On Monday [8/29/2022], the legislative body passed Senate Bill (SB) 107 along
party lines, with all 19 Republican assemblymembers voting against it and 60 Democrats supporting
it. State Senator Scott Weiner introduced the bill, and a release from his office asserted it
would "provide refuge for trans kids and their families."
The
revolution brewing in San Francisco's Castro district sounds familiar. Olivia Murray
wrote about the fact that business owners in San Francisco's Castro district are fed up that the
city is doing nothing to stop the influx of homeless into the district, complete with bodies
splayed on the sidewalk, litter and, of course, human waste. For those of us who remember the
city in the 1970s, this is a familiar tale — and one rife with possibilities.
Beginning in the 1960s, San Francisco had the biggest and most vibrant gay meccas in the world,
located right on Castro Street, with the hub where Castro intersected with Market. By the
mid-1970s, we high school students often went there for the great old movies at the Castro Theater,
to visit the cool boutiques, to eat at the trendy-but-still-affordable restaurants and, naturally,
take in the street scene. The hedonism was off the charts as mostly gay men and a few lesbian
women, all fresh "out of the closet," reveled in their new freedoms.
Poll:
71% in California Back Proposition 1, Abortion Until Birth. A new poll reveals that
an overwhelming majority of registered voters in California approve Proposition 1, a constitutional
amendment that would guarantee the right to abortion until birth if passed by a referendum in
November. [...] Proposition 1 appears to extend the right to abortion through birth. The new
poll, conducted by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, suggests that 71% of
registered voters approve of Proposition 1, and only 18% oppose it.
Businesses
bite back: Newsom's COVID mandates suffer triple court defeats. California courts
dealt a blow this month against Gov. Gavin Newsom's COVID-19 mandates, which forced businesses
to close and cleaned out churches for more than a year. It's been two years since Newsom
locked down America's leading economic powerhouse with a strict disaster declaration that slowed
commerce and prompted a pandemic exodus. A trio of rulings show that businesses are starting
to see justice in the courts for alleged misery they say was unjustly imposed. "It will be a
chilling effect for the tyrants of the future," civil rights attorney Mark Meuser told the
Washington Examiner. "These [court rulings] are needed to rein in the abuse of
emergency powers by tyrant Newsom."
Gascón
Recall Campaign Will Review Rejected Signatures; Possible Legal Action. The campaign to recall Los Angeles
County District Attorney George Gascón will review the signatures that were rejected by county officials, a spokesperson
told Breitbart News, one day after enough signatures were rejected to defeat the recall effort. Gascón, who took
office in December 2020 after being elected with the help of millions of dollars in spending by left-wing billionaire George
Soros, has pursued radical "reform" policies that many voters blame for a surge of violent crime in L.A. He is one of 75
"progressive" prosecutors Soros has installed across the country. In July, the recall campaign handed in 26% more than
the required target of 566,857 signatures. But on Monday, county officials claimed that 27% of the signatures had been
invalid for a variety of reasons, causing the recall effort to fail.
George
Gascon recall effort fails to qualify for ballot in Los Angeles. The effort to recall Los Angeles District
Attorney George Gascon has failed to gain enough support for ballot qualification. A total of only 520,050 of the
715,833 signatures collected in the recall effort were valid, the registrar-recorder's office in Los Angeles County
announced. The recall effort needed 566,857 signatures to qualify. A breakdown of the signatures deemed invalid
found 88,464 signatures belonged to people who were not registered, 43,595 were duplicated, 32,187 were from different
addresses, 9,490 had mismatched signatures, 7,344 were canceled, 5,374 were from out-of-county addresses, and 9,331 were
deemed invalid for other reasons, according to the office.
Huge
California County Approves Measure of Possible Secession for 2022 Midterms. The San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors this week voted to add a November 2022 ballot measure that would allow the county to secede from
California. The measure, which was voted on 4-0 by the supervisors Wednesday [8/3/2022], would ask San Bernardino
residents: "Do the citizens of San Bernardino County want the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to study all
options to obtain its fair share of state and federal resources, up to and including secession?" [...] Over the years, some
California counties have evaluated the possibility of seceding from the Golden State due to monetary, cultural, and other
differences. In 2016, a failed ballot measure would have split California into six states, while a 2018 proposition
that also failed would have created three new states.
Just
Who Is This Gavin Newsom Guy? California has America's highest state income tax, ranging up to 13.3% for high
earners (and he wants to raise it further), plus a 1% "surcharge" tax for mental health services on those earning over
$1 million. On top of this, we have a 7.25% state sales tax — again, the highest in America —
to which are added local taxes. We also have America's high gas tax, which is meant to fix our crumbling highways and
streets. Yet these same highways and streets are crumbling just as fast as they were before, filled with potholes,
teeming with garbage. Despite the high tax rate and vast expenditures on education, California schools are
failing. California ranks 44th of 50 states on education quality and outcome. Our K-12 curriculum is filled with
Critical Race Theory doctrine. Before I retired, I hired a few public high school graduates and can attest to their
poor basic reading and math skills.
LA
opened a fancy new bridge and locals are doing their best to shut it down every night. Los Angeles recently
opened a half-billion dollar bridge which connects the neighborhood of Boyle Heights to downtown LA. The bridge is know as
the Sixth Street Viaduct or, more commonly, the Sixth Street bridge and it was opened to traffic on July 10 but police have
been forced to close it down four of the last five nights because of problems with some area residents: [...] It really is a
pretty good looking bridge but for whatever reason it has become the hot spot to be seen and make videos. Someone set
up a barber chair and was giving a haircut in the middle of the bridge last week. [Tweet] That stunt went viral and
probably encouraged a lot more people to show up and try to capture their own moment of glory on the bridge. Two days
ago the bridge saw it's [sic] first marriage proposal. [Tweet]
New
Los Angeles bridge opens, then quickly closes amid chaos. The newest bridge in Los Angeles, a $588-million
architectural marvel with views of the downtown skyline, opened to great fanfare on July 10. It has already been closed,
to great dismay, several times since then amid chaos and collisions. The 6th Street Viaduct — which soars over
the concrete-lined Los Angeles River to connect downtown to the historic Eastside — quickly became a hotspot for
street racing, graffiti and illegal takeovers that draw hundreds of spectators to watch drivers perform dangerous stunts in
their vehicles.
The Editor says...
This is exactly the behavior one should expect in a state that's all crime and no punishment.
Taxpayers
on hook as Gascon brings in nation's highest-paid attorney in legal battle with his own prosecutors. Los
Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, whose own deputies sued him for permission to charge repeat offenders to the fullest
extent of the law, has pulled out all the stops in his California Supreme Court appeal against them, retaining one of the
nation's top lawyers. Neal K. Katyal, a former Acting U.S. Solicitor General who represented Al Gore in the 2000
election dispute and has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court dozens of times, is also reportedly one of the country's
highest-paid attorneys. Reuters reported in May that the Georgetown law professor and partner at Hogan Lovells was
charging as much as $2,465 an hour to represent a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson in a bankruptcy case. At the time,
that was more than the $2,295 an hour former Attorney General Eric Holder was billing.
Gavin Newsom
takes vacation to Montana — one of 22 states [to which] California bans state-funded travel.
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California is spending time with his family in Montana — a state on California's list of
banned places to travel to using state funds. The Office of the Governor said Newsom did not use state funds for the
trip. The ban on state-funded trips to Montana, along with 21 other states, is because of the state's anti-LGBTQ
policies. "The travel ban applies to expending state funds," Erin Mellon, the communications director for Newsom, told
Insider. "The Governor's travel is not being paid for by the state. Connecting the two is irresponsible and
falsely implies there is something untoward." Newsom departed for a vacation to the Treasure State Friday but did not
initially announce where he was traveling to. He will return home on Monday, Mellon said. Th
Newsom
faceplant: Vacation in Montana despite Newsom-ordered travel bar on official business. So goes the
Glorious 2024 Hope of Democrats — from the French Laundry frying pan into the LGBTQIA++ fire. Gavin Newsom
just aired an ad in Florida lecturing California's burgeoning ex-pat population in the Sunshine State how much freedom
they're losing, especially in regard to sexual choices and women's rights. After launching that salvo in clear
anticipation of the 2024 election cycle, California's governor left for vacation — but his office stalled on
answering questions as to where he went. And for good reason, as CalMatters reporter Emily Hoeven discovered.
After griping about Florida's lack of liberty on such matters, Newsom went to Montana for his time off — a state
that Newsom had barred California officials from traveling to conduct business on the very same issues Newsom highlighted in
his lecture: [...]
It
Sure Seems Gavin Newsom Broke CA Law by Making His Security Detail Travel to Montana. As RedState's Cameron
Arcand reported Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vacationed in Montana with his family over the 4th of July
holiday — a state that is currently on the list of states to which California has banned state-sponsored travel
because it's deemed to have anti-LGBTQ "discriminatory laws." Well, he's on vacation, right? That's private travel,
ostensibly paid for by the Newsom family, and no big deal? Not exactly. Newsom is afforded a state-funded
security detail through the California Highway Patrol (CHP), and there's no indication that those officers are not with him.
That apparently puts Newsom in violation of California's AB-1887, signed by Newsom's predecessor, Jerry Brown, in 2016.
California
announces it will become the first state to give health insurance to undocumented immigrants. Governor Gavin
Newsom released attack ads on Monday urging Florida residents to move to California in the days after it became the first
state to move to offer all illegal immigrants state-subsidized health insurance. Newsom bought $105,000 worth of ad
spots that started airing on Fox News in Florida, which is sparking speculation that he could mount a presidential run in
2024. The ads urge Sunshine State residents who are fed up with their Republican Governor Ron DeSantis to head
west. DeSantis is rumored to be considering a 2024 run as well[,] despite former President Donald Trump likely to seek
the nomination.
Californians
Are Fleeing In Record Numbers, But Gavin Newsom Has This Solution. The similarities between California Governor
Gavin "Gruesome" Newsom and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are quite remarkable. They both spend far too much
time focusing on their hair and looking in the mirror. They're both entirely self-absorbed and are thoroughly impressed
with themselves. And they're both completely incompetent, far-left clowns with virtually no morals. Newsom and
Trudeau are truly despicable human beings. They also appear to be in a competition to see who's the biggest knucklehead.
California
Lt. Governor Calls for Defiance of Supreme Court Decision. The latest laugh riot comes from California
Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis — yes, she is a Democrat — coming out with this amazing comedy
routine that, even by the network on which it aired standards, namely MSNBC, was a tad over the top. [...] What stands out
even above Kounalakis' open advocation of defying the law, which as a Democrat in California she is well-versed, as anyone
who's taken a gander at the southern border can testify, is her odd dismissal of Supreme Court justice Clarance Thomas.
Is it racist? Not really, but it is interesting.
The Selfish Californian.
We hear plenty of reasons for the perfect storm that imploded California. One-party, progressive government, of
course. Decades of unchecked illegal immigration, without doubt. Years of mass flight out of state of the
productive middle classes, certainly. But perhaps the most important, but overlooked, reason has been the infusion of
trillions of dollars of mostly tech capital into the state. Unimaginable sums of market capital warped politics and led
to a top-down, feudal society, run by progressive elites who are shielded from the ramifications of their own toxic
ideologies. More specifically, the common denominator was the emergence in California of a selfish, monied, left-wing
political class. In concrete terms, it cared little for others but masked that unconcern with abstract leftism,
emulating medieval penance and indulgences to assuage guilt over its enjoyment of sheltered and very good lives.
The
8 Most Insane Proposals in California's 492-Page Reparations Report. Black Californians could enjoy child
support forgiveness, free college, free health care, fewer police, and a long-term "truth and reconciliation commission"
should Golden State lawmakers pass the proposals outlined this week by the state's Reparations Task Force. Following a
2020 law to study the subject, a panel of left-wing academics and policymakers on Wednesday released their findings on how
California can remedy the harm against the state's black residents caused by slavery and discrimination. All black
Californians are eligible for the benefits of the program if they can prove they are "descendants of African Americans
enslaved in the U.S. or of free Black people living in the country before the end of the 19th century." A new state
agency, called the California African American Freedmen Affairs Agency, would provide genealogical tests for residents.
Gabe
and Steve: Look at your city. It's automatic. Every shooting is followed by a Democrat U.S.
senator giving a speech about gun control, or else someone in San Francisco preaching to the rest of us. The latest is
Gabe Kapler, the manager of the San Francisco Giants. Gabe was once a top prospect, played here in Texas with the
Rangers and then went into coaching. This is what Kapler said: [...] I understand that Kapler is angry about what
happened in Uvalde, Texas. Who isn't? Kapler follows Steve Kerr, the other local coach with Warriors, who once
wanted to get police out of Oakland's schools. Memo to Steve and Gabe: How do you drive to work? Have you
checked the state of your city? The decline of civil order? The people on the streets? The crime? The
fact that people are leaving your city and state? The attacks on shops? [...] Uvalde was horrible. San Francisco
is horrible 24/7.
California
law requiring women on corporate boards is unconstitutional, judge says. A Los Angeles judge has ruled that
California's landmark law requiring women on corporate boards is unconstitutional. Superior Court Judge Maureen
Duffy-Lewis said the law that would have required boards to have up to three female directors by this year violated the right
to equal treatment. The ruling was dated Friday [5/13/2022]. The conservative legal group Judicial Watch had
challenged the law, claiming it was illegal to use taxpayer funds to enforce a law that violates the equal protection clause
of the California Constitution by mandating a gender-based quota. The law was on shaky ground from the get-go with a
legislative analysis saying it could be difficult to defend and then-Gov. Jerry Brown saying he was signing it despite
the potential for it to be overturned by a court.
You
can rent a 'bunk bed pod' in the Bay Area with 13 other people for $800 a month. The housing crisis in the San
Francisco Bay Area has gotten so bad that one startup is now offering renters the chance to live in a "bunk bed pod" with 13
other people for just $800 a month. Brownstone Shared Housing posted an ad for anyone looking to live in Palo Alto, the
birthplace of Silicon Valley and the home of Stanford University. Tenants are given the opportunity to shack up in a
house with 13 other people. They sleep in a "bunk bed pod" while sharing two bathrooms. The pods are "fully
equipped" with electrical outlets, shelves for books, a rack from which one can hang clothes and laundry, hooks to hang
plants and other decorations, and black curtains at the end of each pod for privacy. Normally, the three-bedroom home
would house a single family.
New
San Diego Ordinance Changes the Definition of 'Woman'. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday [5/10/2022]
adopted a new definition of "woman" that would reportedly allow biological males identifying as females to be included as
women in jails, homeless shelters, and even domestic violence shelters. Biological men in domestic violence shelters.
That sounds like a recipe for disaster. The ordinance was passed on April 26 and officially ratified Tuesday, both
by party-line, three to two votes.
San
Diego County Passes Ordinance to Change Definition of 'Woman'. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has
adopted a new definition of "woman" that would reportedly allow male-to-female transgender residents to demand inclusion as
women in jails, homeless shelters, and domestic violence shelters. The ordinance, passed by a 3-2 vote on April 26, and
ratified on May 10 by the same margin, adopts the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW), an international treaty adopted in 1979. The treaty was signed by then-President Jimmy Carter in 1980, but
it was never brought to the Senate for ratification. But the ordinance goes further, expanding the definition of
"woman" to include those who simply identify as women: [...]
Gavin
Newsom: California Taxpayers to Subsidize Abortion Tourism. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)
announced plans Wednesday to spend an additional $57 million on abortions for uninsured, out-of-state residents who travel to
the state to have abortions because of restrictions on abortion in their own states. The announcement brings Newsom's
proposed spending on out-of-state abortion tourism to $125 million, over and above what he proposed in January. The new
spending comes ahead of an anticipated decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the
controversial 1973 ruling that established a "right" to abortion. A leaked majority opinion by Justice Samuel Alito in
the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization would return authority over abortion to the separate states.
The
Ongoing Concern Of The State Of California Is In Question. [In California,] there isn't one Republican
statewide officeholder. Republicans only have 11 of 53 Congressional seats. The rest are Democrats. Both
houses of the state legislature have super majorities (Democrats). The ninth federal appellate court is the most liberal
in the nation. So, they got what they wanted; the left did. [...] Because about four or five to 6 million
voters — we don't know the exact number of the old Ronald Reagan, Pete Wilson, Arnold Schwarzenegger voters (32 years
of Republican governors) — they moved. And they moved because:
• paying the highest electricity, gas, sales, income tax in the nation.
• 47/50 rated schools
• terrible infrastructure, 48th on roads and bridges.
• And California had high crime.
That was a bad deal compared to Texas, or Florida or Wyoming or Nevada. And, then, we had $6 trillion dollars of market
capitalized wealth that came in to Silicon Valley in 30 years, and that created a whole class of coastal millionaires, who were
never subjected to the consequences or the ramifications (of bad public policy).
Why
Gavin Newsom Is Creating A Water & Energy Disaster. California Gov. Gavin Newsom yesterday claimed he was
taking major action to address the drought affecting California and the West. More than 90% of California is in severe
drought, up from 65% just one year ago. He said he had created an agreement that was a win-win-win for residents,
farmers, and conservationists. In truth, Newsom is starving California of both water and energy. We are in the
worst energy crisis in 50 years and yet Newsom is planning to shut down the largest single source of energy in California,
Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. Meanwhile, he has failed to build a single new large water project, despite the fact that
California voters in 2014 passed a $2.7 billion water bond to pay for them. Can't water conservation save us? It
can't. Newsom declared a drought emergency last year and urged residents to reduce our water use by 15%. We only
did so by 6%. It's true that mandatory restrictions between June 2015 and April 2016 reduced water use by 25%.
But the state was ultimately rescued in 2017 by large atmospheric river storms, not conservation.
Our
third-world country on the West Coast. A few years ago, a friend from Brazil visited Los Angeles and was
appalled at what he saw. He called it a third-world country, an amazing comment since my friend lives in
São Paulo. He said that L.A. is not what he remembered 25 years ago. It was sad, or so he said.
Well, California is in decline, no matter how wonderful the climate is. [...] How does such a failed state survive?
Well, the rich live in well-protected gated communities and attend a climate change seminar often to feel relevant. The
poor, and whatever is left of the middle class, have to survive the crime, high cost of living, and a collapse of law and
order. Normally, such a political class would be thrown out of office by angry voters. Incredibly, the Democrats
have achieved the winning formula: they win elections while refusing to take care of their constituents. I don't
know how they do it, but they do it.
California's
Vanished Dream, by the Numbers. Even today amid a mounting exodus among those who can afford it, and with its
appeal diminished to businesses and newcomers, California, legendary state of American dreams, continues to inspire optimism
among progressive boosters. Laura Tyson, the longtime Democratic economist now at the University of California at
Berkeley, praises the state for creating "the way forward" to a more enlightened "market capitalism." Like-minded analysts
tout Silicon Valley's massive wealth generation as evidence of progressivism's promise. The Los Angeles Times suggested
approvingly that the Biden administration's goal is to "make America California again." And, despite dark prospects in
November's midterm elections, the President and his party still seem intent on proving it. But most Californians,
according to recent surveys, see things differently. They point to rising poverty and inequality, believe the state is
in recession and that it is headed in the wrong direction. Parting with the state's cheerleaders, the New York Times'
Ezra Klein, a reliable progressive and native Californian, says the Golden State's failures are "making liberals squirm."
Green-Lighting
Infanticide in California. The Democrat party of 2022 continues to push the bounds of its radical agenda, with
particular focus on "abortion rights." California Assembly Bill (A.B.) 2223 is the most egregious of the fourteen new
abortion bills this year in California. It is critical that A.B. 2223 not become law. A.B. 2223 offers
protections to people involved in the death of the unborn, as well as of recently born babies, from "the threat of criminal
prosecution of pregnancy outcomes." This bill, as written, would implicitly protect those involved in infanticide from
criminal prosecution.
California
proposes four-day work week for companies with more than 500 employees which would force firms to pay overtime to anyone
working more than 32 hours per week. California's Democratic-led Legislature wants to mandate a three-day
weekend for all workers at large companies in the state. A new bill being discussed in the state assembly would see the
official working week reduced from 40 hours to 32 for companies with 500 employees of more. Any work carried out beyond
the 32-hour limit would run into overtime and be paid at time-and-a-half, while those working more than 12 hours a day or for
more than seven days a week would be paid double their normal wage.
San Francisco
Supervised Drug Use Site Operator Fabricated Data And Then City Officials Lied About It. The operator of San
Francisco's supervised drug use site fabricated the number of people who the site allegedly served, according to a San
Francisco Department of Public Health executive, whose emails were released as part of California's Public Records Act.
"I think Gary is just making up random #s," wrote Dr. Rob Hoffman, Special Project Manager with the San Francisco
Department of Health, in a February 8 email to other city employees including ones with the Department of Emergency
Management and city homeless service agencies. Gina McDonald, co-founder of Mothers Against Drug Deaths, filed the
public records request, and was the first to report that of the 23,367 drug users who have visited the Tenderloin Linkage
Center, just 18 have received drug treatment.
California's
greenie 'food waste' law hits the reality wall. In their never-ending quest to remake and remodel California
into a greenie socialist paradise, the tsentral planners running California have once again blundered like boobs again,
failing to anticipate the unintended consequences of their feel-good 'food waste' law. The law, which went into effect
this year, forbids restaurants and groceries, no matter where [...] they are, from discarding unused food and legally binds
them to donate it to food banks instead. No word from the report on whether the items are old or expired or unfit for
human consumption. We'll just have to take the greenie word for it that it's all a good thing. But as usual,
there are problems they didn't expect from all this virtue-signalling in the name of saving the earth: [...] The report
states that just the cost of driving around and picking up unused food in rural areas is a monster money-eater in the era of
Joe Biden's "I did that" gasoline costs, piled on top of California's huge fuel mandates and taxes that were all in place earlier.
California's
"corporate diversity" law ruled unconstitutional. Between 2018 and 2020, California passed two so-called
"corporate diversity" bills intended to put more women and minorities on the boards of directors for corporations having
headquarters in the state. AB 826 required corporations to have an increasing number of women on their boards, up to
as many as three if the board had six or more members. Then came AB 979, which mandated that boards have at least one
member of an "underrepresented community" by the end of 2021. Companies found to not be in compliance would be fined hundreds
of thousands of dollars. The latter bill ran into a major setback on Friday when Judge Terry Green of the Los Angeles
County Superior Court ruled that Ab 979 was unconstitutional, violating the state constitution's equal protection clause.
The Sheer Madness
of Today's Left. Here in California, Governor Gavin Newsom has gone mad. He reigns over the most
expensive gas and diesel prices in the history of the United States, at over $6 and $7 a gallon respectively in most parts of
the state. Californians suffer under the highest gas taxes in the nation and are shutting down nuclear plants.
They seek reductions in clean burning natural gas generators at a time of drought when hydroelectric production is
constrained. So what does Newsom do? To fuel his state, and keep a shrinking middle class sustainable, does he
tap California's huge gas and oil reserves? They are the seventh largest of the 50 states and might bring down prices
in a state that consumes more fossil fuels than any state but Texas. No, that would be green heresy. So instead
Newsom has proposed spending $11 billion in subsidies to drivers — at $400 per registered vehicle —
so that the state's drivers can buy more smelly, dirty gasoline and diesel fuel that they otherwise would not at the
prohibitive, but secretly desirable, $6-7 a gallon price.
Who Are
the Real Haters? When Governor Gavin Newsom disappeared for a few weeks after receiving a COVID shot, the
public worried: was he alive? His wife did not like this curiosity. You might think citizens have a right to know
where their leaders are. Nope. She viewed the nosy public as haters. Mrs. Newsom posted: "When
someone cancels something, maybe they're just in the office working; maybe in their free time they're at home with their
family, at their kids' sports matches, or dining out with their wife. Please stop hating and get a life."
Hating? Who was hating? Note how this situation works. If you disagree with a liberal, in style or
substance, you are therefore a hater. She reminds me of Hillary. Anybody who doesn't agree with her is a
deplorable — i.e., someone who deserves to be hated.
First
Openly 'Transgender' Judge Appointed to California Bench. California has appointed its first openly
'transgender' judge, announced Governor Gavin Newsom (D) on Friday [3/25/2022]. Judge Andi Mudryk, 58, who "transitioned"
four years ago, is one of eight new appointees to serve on the Sacramento County Superior Court. [...] Social justice
advocates throughout the state lauded the move as a victory for "diversity and equity."
California
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to give tax breaks and up to $800 debit cards to all Golden State drivers as gas hits $5.88 a
gallon. California drivers shouldering the highest gas prices in the nation could soon get a tax break, free
public transportation and up to $800 debit cards to help pay for fuel — but economics experts warn it'll drive up inflation
even more. The proposal was revealed Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, as gas prices have continued to soar in
recent weeks from pandemic-induced inflation and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 'That direct relief will address the issue
that we are all struggling to address and that is the issue of gas prices,' Newsom said in a video posted on Twitter this week.
Gavin
Newsom Signs Law to Make Abortions Free in California. Lawmakers are staying busy to make sure abortion on
demand is the law of state as the United States Supreme Court revisits Roe v. Wade, including in California where women
will be able to abort their unborn child for free. [California Governor quote omitted for brevity, among other things.]
Senate Bill 245, named the Abortion Accessibility Act, prohibits insurance companies from charging a deductible, co-pay,
or deductible for the procedure, which in California is available until "fetus viability."
California
Democrats Float $400 Checks to Taxpayers After Hiking Gas Taxes. California Democrats, who have raised gas
taxes and vehicle license fees in recent years, are now proposing to send $400 checks to the state's taxpayers to help defray
the high cost of fuel in the latest surge, which is hitting the state's drivers hard. While the entire country is
paying more for gasoline, thanks to surging post-pandemic demand, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the Biden
administration's hostility to oil and gas development, California's price is the highest in the nation.
Shoplifter
struts behind [the] counter of [a] San Francisco Walgreens as staff watch helplessly, fills huge bag with stolen
goods. A San Francisco shoplifter was filmed filling a bag with stolen goods behind the counter of a Walgreens
store as staff stood helplessly and watched. The heist took place on Tuesday at a Walgreens in the Richmond area of the
city, and saw the brazen shoplifter hurl bananas and cookies at one man who confronted him. It is the latest in a long
line of shocking shoplifting outrages to hit the famously-liberal Bay Area.
What
if San Francisco Does Not Recover? San Francisco looks worse now than I've ever seen it. Like any major
city, San Francisco had bad areas before 2020 — those rough areas you knew to avoid — but you could go
anywhere else, basically unmolested. Today is something entirely different. The streets are dirty. Homeless
encampments, trash, and excrement can be found all over. Car break-ins are so frequent that it has basically become a
non-government-imposed tax for people who come here. Of course, some areas are much worse than others, but almost all
areas of the city suffer from this decay, and it is appalling. Every year, the city seems to find new ways to dig
deeper and deeper toward ruin. But what happens to San Francisco if it really does not recover? What if the
financial woes, homeless encampments, rising crime, and dwindling police force are the new normal for this once great city?
Doctors
sue California for threatening to punish them for not facilitating assisted suicide. California doctors who
object to assisted suicide are fighting an amended state law that implicates them in their patients' intentional
deaths. They are suing California officials, including Attorney General Rob Bonta, Department of Public Health Director
Tomas Aragon, and Medical Board members to block SB 380, which made it easier for patients to commit suicide under the End of
Life Options Act that took effect in 2016. The original law issued a broad exemption for healthcare providers, granting
them a liability shield for "refusing to inform" patients about their right to physician-assisted suicide and "not referring"
patients to physicians who will assist in their suicides. The amended law removed it, leaving providers vulnerable to
"civil, criminal, administrative, disciplinary, employment, credentialing, professional discipline, contractual liability, or
medical staff action, sanction, or penalty or other liability."
More
word vomit, more racism, more pork. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced his new SMARTER plan
yesterday. It purportedly moves our state forward to a COVID policy that acknowledges that the CCP virus is endemic
rather than pandemic. [...] SMARTER stands for Shots, as in making more available; Masks, by promising to procure enough N95s
for all; Awareness, in terms of having more-state infrastructure (my husband pointed out today that infrastructure
replaces pork quite handily); Readiness, which again means throwing lots of money ($1.7 billion) at recruiting,
training, hiring, and advancing "an ethnically and culturally inclusive HHS workforce." Then there's Testing, ramped up even
more (why?); Education, AKA keeping kids in school (and vaccinated and masked), but also noting that $4.5 billion has been
"devoted to improving mental and behavioral health for California's children and youth"; and Rx (treatment), which is again
all about equity (distributing treatment resources and the non-specific "continuing evolution" of treatment).
California
Tyrants Self-Identify: Only The Vaxxed Can Work. It's not law yet, but there is legislation in California
that requires all workers, even independent contractors, to take the coronavirus vaccine. [...] "Long-awaited workplace
coronavirus vaccine mandate legislation drops today," Politico reported Last week. "The sweeping bill from Assembly
member Buffy Wicks would apply to all employees and independent contractors, regardless of how big their employer is, and
threatens penalties to noncompliant businesses." Wicks, a Democrat from Oakland, must have missed the truckers in
Canada whose fuse was lit by a government vaccine mandate, as well as the Biden White House's failure — thanks to
the Supreme Court — to force businesses to require employees to be vaccinated and regularly tested. But
then, she is a lawmaker in California, a one-party state whose "leaders" care little about individual freedom. She is
also a member of the party whose voters "support harsh measures" against the unvaccinated.
Gov.
Newsom announces no change to school masking policy because unions said no. Last Wednesday, Gov. Gavin
Newsom said changes to the state's school mask mandate would be coming soon. The state's indoor mask mandate for the
vaccinated ends Tuesday and the expectation reported at several news sites was that a change to the school policy would be
announced today. But today [2/14/2022] came and instead of announcing a change, Newsome sent California's HHS Secretary
out to issue a two week delay: [...] So why the change? There's really no doubt about that. California's
teacher's unions demanded more time and as always they got what they wanted.
Soros-Funded
DA George Gascón Rationalizes Crime-Wave Epidemic. Like other cities run by Democrats, Los Angeles is
going through an epidemic of violent crime. Its Soros-funded DA George Gascón has a lot of blood on his hands for
increasing the mayhem. When he was sworn in, he said his office would not prosecute a host of misdemeanor crimes, or
seek the death penalty for even the most heinous murders. No surprise that, as Broken Windows policing confirmed nearly
two decades ago, tolerating "non-violent" crimes has increased violent ones. "The data," as City Journal's Soledad
Ursúa, reports on LA, "show staggering surges of homicides, gun violence, and sexual assaults, and one can see with
one's own eyes the open-air drug scenes, rampant homelessness, streets lined with human excrement and needles, prostitution,
filth, and squalor. Last year saw 52 percent more homicides than in 2019; shooting incidents were up 59 percent
over the same period, according to the LAPD." Much of this violence has come at the hands of street-bums and addicts.
Chesa
Boudin accused by San Francisco police chief of concealing evidence to frame a cop. It's one thing for a
leftist district attorney of Chesa Boudin's stripe to fail to do his job prosecuting violent crime and focus only on
prosecuting cops for malfeasance. We know about that part. It's quite another to frame those cops because you
can't find any truly bad ones, in a bid to achieve the grand Sorosian narrative of bad cop, good criminal. That's what
the San Francisco police chief is accusing Boudin of pulling.
California
Train Robberies Recall Wild West Lawlessness. According to Union Pacific Railroad's senior director of public
affairs, Lupe Valdez, from October 2020 to October 2021, train robberies shot up by 356%. Not only that, but the railroad
company is considering diverting its trains around Los Angeles to avoid the rampant theft. "Union Pacific Railroad says
90 containers on average are getting hit each day," The Wall Street Journal reported. "Thieves climb onto the trains
when they stop, use bolt cutters to break into containers and help themselves to the goods, discarding what they don't want
or can't carry." The result is undelivered packages and garbage strewn along the railroad tracks. California
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 20 visited the site of the wreckage and spoke about how terrible it all looked. He
acknowledged that the mess made California appear to be a "Third World country."
California
State University Prepares To Permanently Drop SAT, ACT From Admissions Process. California State University,
the largest-four year university system in the country, is poised to eliminate SAT and ACT standardized tests from its
undergraduate admissions process, following a trend in higher education over concerns that the exams are unfair to minority
and low-income students. The Board of Trustees for the 23-campus CSU system will vote in March on recommendations to
end the testing requirements, which were presented at a meeting Wednesday and met with widespread enthusiasm.
Schadenfreude
overload on virtue-signaling former mayor of San Luis Obispo who stepped down 'to fight climate change'. Few
things delight me more than watching climate cultists with Big Plans to change the way we live running headlong into reality
and discovering that their ideas just don't work. When those people are elected officials (or former ones) or when they
hold leadership positions in NGOs, the schadenfreude meter redlines. The story of Heidi Harmon, who stepped down from
being mayor of San Luis Obispo, California last August to battle climate change, is one to savor. For those unfamiliar
with it, San Luis Obispo is a lovely coastal community of just under 50,000 people, founded as a Spanish mission town before
the American Revolution, located roughly halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is home to California
Polytechnic State University ("Cal Poly"), a well regarded state university campus of about 22,000 students that accepts
roughly one in four applicants.
Can Los
Angeles Be Saved? On Monday, off-duty LAPD officer Fernando Arroyos and his girlfriend were out in South L.A.
looking at houses, in anticipation of getting married and settling down there. Sure, it was after dark, and most
Angelenos do not venture out at night these days, but Fernando was LAPD, highly trained in police work and educated at U.C.
Berkeley, and thought he had it all down. Then four gangbangers from the local crime organization (too highly advanced
to be called a gang), Florencia 13, saw the silver chains around his neck and decided to rob him. Arroyos told his
girlfriend to run. Shots rang out, at least one hit Arroyos, and he died on the way to the hospital. [...] Usually,
when a cop is murdered, the city's mayor and D.A. come out and angrily vow to catch and prosecute the killers to the fullest
extent, and they file charges. After all, they are the apex of the law enforcement pyramid. If they don't care,
the people are in deep trouble. This is the response from D.A. Gascon's office, though: a condolence tweet for the
"death of an off-duty police officer" without even saying his name, without even admitting it was a murder.
Union
Pacific blasts Los Angeles DA for going soft on crime, considers rerouting trains amid rail car looting. Major
rail carrier Union Pacific is considering rerouting its trains after blasting Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon for
going soft on crime amid a spike in rail car looting. UP General Director of Public Affairs Adrian Guerrero wrote a
letter detailing how at least 90 rail car containers are broken into each day, with criminals being caught and released only
to come back and loot again. "These individuals are generally caught and released back onto the streets in less than
twenty-four hours," Guerrero wrote. "Even with all the arrests made, the no-cash bail policy and extended timeframe for
suspects to appear in court is causing re-victimization to UP by these same criminals. In fact, criminals boast to [UP]
officers that charges will be pled down to simple trespassing — which bears no serious consequence."
Soft-on-crime
Los Angeles DA ripped after child molester faces little or no time. Los Angeles' top prosecutor is under fire
for allowing a transgender woman who sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl as a minor to face a no-jail wrist-slap
sentence. Hannah Tubbs, now 26, pleaded guilty to attacking the girl in a women's bathroom at a Denny's restaurant in
2014, two weeks before she turned 18, the Los Angeles Times reported. LA District Attorney George Gascón filed
charges against Tubbs in early 2020, not long after taking office. But the progressive DA has refused to try juveniles
as adults, citing studies that show adolescent brains aren't fully developed until age 25 and claiming that young offenders
can be rehabilitated in juvenile facilities.
California
Extends Indoor Mask Mandate. California's mask mandate for indoor public settings will remain in place until at
least Feb. 15, officials announced. The state's Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly made the
announcement on Jan. 5, citing a rise in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. The statewide mandate was
scheduled to expire on Jan. 15, one month after it was reintroduced. Among the indoor public spaces affected are retail
stores, restaurants, theaters, family entertainment centers, and government offices. Ghaly said residents should
consider wearing higher-grade masks, not simply scarves or loose-fitting cloth face-coverings. He said many masks that
people donned in the early days of the pandemic are "not as helpful today," urging people to consider masks that are
well-fitted on the face without gaps or ventilators.
Here is what confuses me
about San Francisco.. [Thread reader] We have the most liberal, left-wing government & population in the
country. We have a $13B budget. And we have 8,000 people sleeping in the rain this week. [...] Progressives tend to blame
Republicans for almost everything. Yet here we are — not a Republican in sight — and I think we may be
the most deranged city on the planet. Nowhere is there such inequality. I have never seen destitution at this scale.
Today's
deep question: Do all California's education-equity execs live in Texas? Answer: Nope. One
of them lived in Philadelphia, for instance. However, the latest California education executive to be discovered by
Politico living out of state tendered her resignation ... from Dallas: [...] As a newly minted Texan, that irony makes my
day. Gavin Newsom made a big show of launching that ban — which most Texans likely appreciated —
while his patronage regime paid at least one of its executives to live in Texas.
California's
Zero-Bail Policies Have Been A Deadly Failure. In 2020, as an emergency measure during the COVID-19 pandemic,
the California Judicial Council, hoping to prevent COVID's spread, had implemented zero-bail schedules to reduce jail
populations. Senate Bill 262 was later introduced in another of a series of attempts to eliminate most monetary
bail. For reasons having nothing to do with protecting health and safety, Senate Bill 262 would have made the schedules
permanent. In effect, if defendants could not afford bail, they would simply be released. The grim reality of
zero-bail policies became increasingly apparent as late summer turned to fall. Dramatic expansions in crime.
Rampant retail theft. Law enforcement and prosecutors unified in their complaint that the zero-bail schedule was a
problem. A big problem. In fact, the Judicial Council had terminated the zero-bail schedule order even
before its emergency authority expired, presumably because these policies failed.
No
wonder why people and businesses are dumping California. [Scroll down] As to the loss of personal and
economic freedom, consider the following examples. As of the end of 2021, a publicly held company headquartered in
California must have between one and three female board members, depending upon its size, or face a fine of $100,000.
The California Department of Education has proposed an "equitable math" framework. California Political Review says the
framework "promotes the concept that working to figure out a correct answer is an example of racism and white supremacy
invading the classroom." As of January 1, 2022, California's new bacon law is scheduled to take effect.
According to the Associated Press: "Put simply, the law requires that breeding pigs, egg-laying chickens and veal calves
be given enough space to stand and turn around. For pigs, that means they no longer can be kept in narrow 'gestation crates'
and must have 24 square feet of usable space." Producers predict shortages and more expensive bacon and pork products.
Why
Progressives Defend Drug Dealers. If you asked most progressives if they'd be okay with having a
highly-profitable, multi-billion dollar foreign corporation sell on their sidewalks a highly addictive product, which kills
two people a day, most would say "no," and yet that's what San Francisco progressives are allowing by not shutting down the
open air drug dealing by Honduran fentanyl dealers who work for a global cartel. Why is that? Why do people who
claim to care so much about addicts, human dignity, and city life oppose shutting down the open drug scenes that are
destroying them?
Why
LA Must Show the Gascon the Door. If Los Angeles district attorney George Gascon has his way, the City of
Angels will have sex offenders and violent criminals in their teens roaming free, under the pretext that they are
juveniles. Never mind that they may be repeat offenders. Never mind that such leniency will encourage gangs to
get their work done by those who should be in school or on the playground. Thankfully, there is growing outrage against
Gascon's abominable ideas and a campaign to have him recalled is gathering steam. It must succeed so that Los Angeles
is spared the fate of San Francisco, which Gascon (as DA in 2011-19) left in shambles and, in the words of former San
Francisco deputy DA Nancy Tung, with the reputation of a city "where you can commit a crime and get away with it."
He
Thought He Was Going To Walk Out With Free Stuff, She And Her Firearm Had Another Idea. Google "Shoplifting in
San Francisco" and you will find more than 100,000 hits. And you will find lots of YouTube videos, where you can watch
a single thief, or an entire gang, walk into an SF Walgreens or CVS and empty the shelves. Most walk in, go about their
pilfering, and then walk out, though at least one thief rode their bike into the store and departed the same way, carefully
navigating their two-wheeler down a narrow aisle. We probably shouldn't call it shoplifting anymore, since that term
connotes the idea of a person trying to conceal their crime. In San Francisco, there is no attempt to conceal theft,
and there is almost never any effort by store employees, including security personnel, to confront the thieves. The
most they do is record the thefts with their cell phones. Why is shoplifting so rampant? Because state law holds
that stealing merchandise worth $950 or less is just a misdemeanor, which means that law enforcement probably won't bother to
investigate, and if they do, prosecutors will let it go.
California
education 'equity' official resigns because she lives in Texas. The California Department of Education's equity
project manager has resigned due to the fact she lives in Texas. Pamela Kadakia worked for the California state
department while living in Texas, according to Politico. Additionally, the Lone Star State is on California's
state-funded travel ban list. California law mandates that state employees live there unless they need to live in
another location for their work, such as lobbying in D.C. Kadakia is the second California education equity official to
depart in recent weeks. The Golden State's first superintendent of equity, Daniel Lee, resigned earlier this month.
Politico reported how Lee lived in Philadelphia while collecting a salary of more than $161,000 from the state of California.
California
Education Official, Exposed for Living in Texas, Resigns. A second California education official has resigned
after it was revealed she had been working in the government job while living in the state of Texas. Pamela Kadakia has
stepped down as California Department of Education equity project manager, and her departure has been confirmed by the
department, Politico reported Thursday [12/23/2021]. "We sought to ensure that all our personnel were in line with the
new guidance," a CDE statement read. "In doing so, we accepted Ms. Kadakia's resignation." Not only does the
guidance require CDE officials to earn their government salary while working in the state, but the state also bans its
employees from traveling to Texas and 17 other red states because they have laws the state disagrees with and deems
"discriminatory," according to the report.
The Editor says...
Every state has laws that some of the other states don't. That's the reason this country is a conglomerate of 50 separate
states. California bans travel to certain other states because the other states' laws aren't the same as California's.
Other states' laws are the other states' citizens' concern, not California's.
California
'Deputy Superintendent of Equity' Resigns After Illegal Hiring [is] Revealed. A recent Politico investigation
found that California's first Department of Education deputy superintendent of equity, Dr. Daniel Lee, was hired even
though he "lives in Philadelphia and has a separate job there, more than 2,500 miles away" from the California schools he was
charged with "fixing." Afterward, California Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-06) sent a letter to the Government Operations
Agency in Sacramento questioning the lawfulness of Lee's hiring. [...] Remarkably, only a few days later Lee resigned from
the position. However, if you're like me and don't live in woke world, you probably didn't even know there was such a
position as a deputy superintendent of equity; nor is it likely you know what such a creature does. Don't worry, no one
really knows what he does.
Philadelphia
resident who was high-ranking California Dept. of Education official resigns. A high-ranking official in the
California Department of Education has resigned after a report showed he had been collecting more than $160,000 on the
taxpayers' dime while living and mostly working on the East Coast. California's first-ever deputy superintendent of
equity, Dr. Daniel Lee, has resigned, a spokesperson for the Department of Education confirmed Wednesday [12/15/2021].
The resignation comes after Politico first reported Lee is a Philadelphia resident who had been friends with California
Superintendent Tony Thurmond for more than two decades.
Man
Dies Of Heart Attack Because Paramedics Refuses To Enter His Building Due To Commiefornia COVID LAWS.
Paramedics in Southern California refused to enter a post-acute-care facility to treat a man in cardiac arrest last month
because of "some COVID-19 law," according to a Rialto Police Department report. Body camera footage shows an officer
arriving at the Rialto Post Acute Care Center on the evening of Nov. 11 and greeting two paramedics from the Rialto Fire
Department, who were standing outside with their masks on. The first 30 seconds of the footage are muted, which is
standard for many police body cameras, but the officer wrote in his report that the paramedics were there for an unrelated
patient and said the facility was being "problematic." [Video clip]
The Editor says...
If your fear of germs is that intense, you shouldn't be a paramedic.
In
San Francisco, People Now Leave Their Trunks Open So Thieves Won't Smash Their Windows. People in California
are reportedly leaving their vehicles' trunks open to deter thieves from breaking their vehicles' windows. Vehicle
break-ins are reportedly on the rise in San Francisco and Oakland. To keep potential thieves from damaging their
property, some people are emptying out everything of value from their vehicle, unlocking their doors, and leaving the trunk
open while they go about their business. [Video clip]
America's Unamerican Smash-And-Grab.
[Scroll down] Within the first section of Proposition 47 lies the primary driver of "smash and grabs." Shoplifting
is defined as "entering a commercial establishment with the intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during
regular business hours" where the value of the property does not exceed $950." That is, according to the California
penal code, if someone enters the store when employees are present (putting them at risk) and loots $950 worth of items (if
not more, as seen in many of the smash-and-grab cases), they should be allowed to walk free without punishment. This
reclassification only allows criminals to get away with crimes instead of reducing crime itself. For instance, on
November 19th, 20 to 40 people organized a burglary at a San Francisco Louis Vuitton store. It was not an act of
opportunity but a raid organized to some extent through social media and messaging apps. With only five officially
arrested in the above case, criminals are growing bolder, leading to more smash and grab events, such as when 90 people
raided a Nordstrom Rack at the Walnut Creek shopping facility on November 20th. An estimated $100,000 worth of goods
were stolen there.
San
Francisco becomes first city to require sick leave for nannies, cleaners, gardeners. The San Francisco Board of
Supervisors on Tuesday [12/14/2021] unanimously passed groundbreaking legislation to provide paid sick leave for cleaners,
nannies, gardeners and other domestic workers. The measure — the first of its kind in the country —
would affect some 10,000 people in San Francisco who work in private homes to clean, cook, tend children, garden, do personal
organizing, or provide non-medical care for disabled people or seniors. This workforce is typically low-paid with many
women and immigrants, supporters said.
Liberal
California Politicians Promise To Be Tough On Crime As Thefts, Shootings Increase. California Democrats are
toughening their stance on crime amid increasing violence and homicides, with many politicians pledging to invest in law
enforcement. Crime in California has skyrocketed over the past two years, with homicides in San Francisco jumping 15%
in 2021 compared to 2020, and over 50% compared to 2019. Statewide, homicides, property crime, violent crime and larcenies
have all risen since before the pandemic. Retail thefts in particular have plagued the state, most notably in Los
Angeles and San Francisco, where organized gangs of criminals will break into and loot storefronts of their merchandise.
Even
San Fran residents are getting sick of their liberal reforms. To put it mildly, things haven't been going well
in Nancy Pelosi's home stomping grounds of San Francisco. The homelessness plague is out of control and crime has been
on the rise in ways that even the most liberal and forgiving residents can no longer ignore. The problem was compounded
in multiple ways when Chesa Boudin was elected to be the District Attorney after running on a platform of getting rid of the
police and promising to not prosecute "smaller crimes." (Boudin is now facing a recall election.) The filth and the
property crime are driving some people to look for a way out and flee the city. The Associated Press talked to several
such beleaguered residents recently and heard horror stories that are increasingly familiar.
The
California Crime Wave. Many people in the multi-troubled state of California are living in fear. It is
bad enough that for almost two years the Democrats in charge of the state government have used the war on COVID as an excuse
to expand their powers and abuse us with strict lockdowns, school closings and mandates. But seven years ago the
state's so-called progressives brought us Proposition 47, a sentencing "reform" measure that among other things essentially
decriminalized retail theft by making stealing anything with a value of less than $950 a mere misdemeanor. If you
combine that dumb idea — which the Los Angeles Times points out "was co-authored by then-San
Francisco — now Los Angeles — Dist. Atty. George Gascón and strongly supported by
then-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom" — with the even dumber idea of defunding the police, you will understand
why California is in the midst of a crime wave.
Brazen
crime, open drug use and trashed streets have some residents of tolerant San Francisco say they've had enough.
San Francisco's brazen crime, open drug use and trashed streets have made even the most progressive of the city's famed
liberal residents demand a return to law and order as they seek to recall the woke district attorney. News of attacks
on Asian American seniors, burglarized restaurants, and boarded-up storefronts in the city's once-vibrant downtown greet the
citizens of the City by the Bay on a near-daily basis. And that was before a series of headline-grabbing crime stories
in which mobs of looters smashed windows and grabbed luxury purses in the downtown Union Square shopping district.
Breaking
the Maritime Shipping Impasse. Two new laws in California have degraded the air quality in the Los Angeles
area. One is Assembly Bill 5 and a new California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulation banning older diesel trucks
from operating in the state. Assembly Bill 5 has basically outlawed independent truckers from hauling freight, thereby
reducing the total number of trucks operating in the state. This, combined with the banning of the older diesel trucks,
has created a supply chain backlog. leaving large container vessels either at anchor or steaming in lazy circles off shore
because the anchorages are too crowded to safely anchor there. While at anchor or underway, these ships must run their
engines to turn generators to power and maintain vital shipboard systems and doing so these ships emit huge quantities of
oxides of Nitrogen (NOx), oxides of Sulfur (SOx), particulate pollution, and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). The
offshore sea breezes carry this polluted air into the Los Angeles basin, adding to an already significantly polluted air shed.
Oakland
Unified among Calif. school districts phasing out D, F grades for high school students. Some of California's
largest school districts are trying an unconventional tactic to help students re-engage in school after distance learning and
boost their chances of acceptance into the state's public colleges: by dropping D and F grades. Los Angeles Unified,
Oakland Unified, Sacramento City Unified, San Diego Unified and other districts are phasing out grades below a C for high
school students. If a student fails a test or doesn't complete their homework, they'll be able to retake the test and
get more time to turn in assignments. The idea is to encourage students to learn the course material and not be
derailed by a low grade that could potentially disqualify them from admission to the University of California and California
State University.
The Editor says...
What is so important about guaranteeing university admission for academic deadbeats? What will happen to them at the
university? What will happen to us if a D-level sluggard ends up as an architect or a nurse?
California
plans to be abortion sanctuary if Roe [is] overturned. With more than two dozen states poised to ban abortion if the
U.S. Supreme Court gives them the OK next year, California clinics and their allies in the state Legislature on Wednesday
revealed a plan to make the state a "sanctuary" for those seeking reproductive care, including possibly paying for travel,
lodging and procedures for people from other states.
California
Needs To Stop Its Crime Spree Before It Goes National. Californians have only themselves to blame. They
passed Proposition 47 in 2014 by a 60%-40% margin. Among the measure's provisions is a sort of decriminalization of
some thefts. Members of the criminal class are well aware that Prop 47 allows them to steal as much as $950 worth of
goods without being charged for a felony. That's why some have been seen adding up their "takes" on calculators to be
sure they don't exceed the threshold, and will be busted for only a misdemeanor if arrested at all. The bandits have
also been emboldened by prosecutors who are reluctant to prosecute — Chesa Boudin in San Francisco, George Gascon
in Los Angeles — and a statewide no-cash-bail policy for suspects who can't afford the going rate. While in
many cases the policy supports our system's presumed-innocent principle, it also acts as a get-out-of-jail-free card,
allowing repeat offenders to steal again. Inspired by criminals' success in California, thieves have hit stores in
Chicago and Minneapolis. How long before every big city in the country is overwhelmed by similar crimes?
When
intersectionality intersects with reality. When drug dealers complain about the lack of law enforcement
protection, the boomerang has come full circle and hit us in the back of the head. Gangs of smash-and-grab thieves have
targeted cannabis shops in the San Francisco Bay Area while firing 175 shots and stealing about $5 million's worth
of products. Alphonso "Tucky" Blunt, owner of a legal cannabis shop, criticized poor police protection and the
bureaucratic details of business in Oakland: "I was safer, and had more money, [selling] on the street, illegally."
Such is the economic reality of the Bay area. The thieves resell the stolen pot on the streets. City supervisor
Rafael Mandeman said, "Sadly, the illegal market is flourishing by undercutting the prices of legal businesses, which is bad
for our economy as illegal businesses pay no taxes." For politicians, the sad part is the "no taxes" part.
For the owners, it is the loss of their business.
San
Francisco restaurant that ordered cops out is poster child for the local wokester idiocy. [Scroll down]
They actually turned cops, who would have been paying customers, away. Restaurants the world over are famous for
welcoming cops to their establishments. Some give free food or discounts. This is how the cop-and-donut legends
got started. Others do it to ensure that cops will always come if there's a problem. Customers find the presence
of police comforting historically, the same way anyone would if there was a wildfire in the area and the fire truck decided
to park in one's driveway, as happened to my sister during the big Bonsall "Lilac" fire a couple of years ago. When she
saw the gargantuan CalFire truck parked at her residence on the nightly news, even with the sky red and the front-yard palm
tree on fire, she knew it was going to be OK, and it was. It's natural. But not to these guys.
Nothing
is Anybody's Fault. [Scroll down] San Francisco has been the worst-hit of many Democrat-run cities by
organized retail theft rings stealing for profit millions of dollars in merchandise. [...] It's of a piece with Soros-funded
D.A. Chesa Boudin's policy of releasing people from jail unless they threaten public safety. His nonaccountability
policies for crime this week forced the release of a woman who stole $40,000 worth of merchandise. You could also hold
accountable California voters who in 2014 approved Prop 47, a ballot measure that put the threshold for felony theft at
$951 — a figure that's not cumulative. You can rob $950 worth of stuff every day and walk out free as a
bird. Maybe smart merchants will just label everything in the shop $951. Maybe Californians who can't find any
available shops will rethink Prop 47 — along with the folks they elect to carry out the law. Maybe shops in
California cities will shutter and close; commercial property tax revenues will sink; and Californians will drive to Nevada
to buy their necessities and use drone deliveries from fortified warehouses in state.
Why Looting
Turned San Francisco Into A Ghost Town. Usually at this time of year, San Francisco's luxury stores are decked
with holiday garlands. Instead, they're boarded up after widespread "flash mob" looting turned Union Square —
the city's most fashionable shopping district — into an area resembling a blighted neighborhood in Detroit.
"It's a ghost town," said Michelle Tandler, a San Francisco native and high-tech entrepreneur, whose photos of the stores
barricaded in plywood went viral on social media this week. "Every store has a security guard. People are going
to lose their jobs. And these things have a ripple effect." Two weeks ago, San Francisco was the first of several
progressive cities hit by smash-and-grab mobs of thieves, sometimes as many as 80 in a group. Video from the San Francisco
looting of Louis Vuitton shows criminals walking casually out of the store, goods in hand. Other cities hit include Los Angeles,
Chicago and Minneapolis.
14
arrested over L.A. smash-and-grab thefts, but all released as leaders call for end to COVID no-bail policy.
Authorities in Los Angeles on Thursday [12/2/2021] announced more than a dozen arrests in recent smash-and-grab thefts at stores where
nearly $340,000 worth of merchandise was stolen, part of a rash of organized retail crime in California. Fourteen
people were arrested in connection with 11 brazen robberies between November 18 and 28, but all were released from custody,
police Chief Michel Moore said. Most bailed out or met no-bail criteria, and one is a juvenile, he said. At a
joint news conference, both Moore and Mayor Eric Garcetti called for an end to a no-bail policy for some defendants aimed at
reducing overcrowding at Los Angeles County jails during the coronavirus pandemic.
Looters
steal $5 million of products from 15 cannabis shops in the San Francisco Bay Area in a single month: One
business. Cannabis shops across the San Francisco Bay Area have been thrown into dire straits as gangs of
thieves broke into more than 15 shops throughout November during the series of 'smash-and-grab' robberies that are plaguing
California. Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong told reporters that 'hundreds' of vehicles targeted marijuana stores
in Oakland last month, firing 175 shots and stealing about $5 million worth of products. Alphonso 'Tucky' Blunt, owner
of Blunts and Moore, told MJBizDaily that his store lost about $25,000 during a November 22 raid, where more than a dozen
burglars ransacked the store.
California
Faces Statewide Mandatory Water Restrictions as Drought Worsens. California is currently facing mandatory water
restrictions as drought grips the state. "Despite a wet start to the water year, conditions have dried out since that
first storm and we are still planning for a below-average water year," Karla Nemeth, director of the Department of Water
Resources, said in a statement. "That means we need to prepare now for a dry winter and severe drought conditions to
continue through 2022."
L.A.
Arrests 14 for 'Mass Looting,' but Lets All of Them Go. Officials in Los Angeles announced Thursday with great
fanfare that they had made 14 arrests in connection with recent "mass looting" events in the city — but all
fourteen have since been released from jail, either with or without posting bail. [...] "Progressive" policies to reduce or
eliminate bail have come under the spotlight recently, after a number of high-profile crimes allegedly committed by those
released, including a mass murder in a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin. California has a particular problem:
not only is cash bail being removed, but the state is governed by Proposition 47 of 2014, which makes retail thefts of up to
$950 misdemeanors instead of felonies, meaning that fewer are ever fully prosecuted. Both Los Angeles and San Francisco
have seen mass looting events in the past several weeks.
Having
attacked truckers, California now has a new target. One of my correspondents is an incredibly acute observer of
the Democrats' non-stop assaults on the State of California, especially in the transportation industry. He recently
sent me an email about the fact that California didn't stop with its attack on trucking. Instead, California Democrats
are also going after the shipping industry.
Why Crime
Is Out Of Control in San Francisco. When Chesa Boudin ran for San Francisco district attorney in 2019, he said
crime was caused by poverty, wealth inequality and inadequate government spending on social programs. He called
prostitution, open drug use and drug dealing "victimless crimes" and promised not to prosecute them. The result has
been an increase in crime so sharp that San Francisco's liberal residents are now paying for private security guards, taking
self-defense classes, and supporting a recall of Mr. Boudin, with a vote set for June 2022. Retailers like Walgreens
and Target are closing stores in the city, citing rampant shoplifting. Last week, a shockingly organized mob of looters
ransacked a downtown Louis Vuitton store. Mr. Boudin and his defenders say crime in San Francisco has actually
declined under his watch. The store closings had little to do with shoplifting, they insist; Walgreens announced in
2019 it would close stores as a cost-saving measure.
University
of California system permanently abandons standardized testing for admissions. Too many of the "wrong" people
are gaining admission to the University of California's nine campuses. The racial bean counters are therefore altering
the process by which applicants are judged. The nation's premier public university system is not going to base its
admissions process on standardized testing of any sort. "Test-free admissions" is to be the rule. [...] Admission will
now rely on grades, student essays, and teacher recommendations. All of these factors seem much more vulnerable to bad
actors and manipulation. The end of testing is brought to you by progressives who are convinced that standardized tests
help maintain white supremacy.
California
Sued Over Law Forcing Appointment of Minorities and LGBT to Corporate Boards. A conservative think tank filed a
federal civil rights lawsuit against California to halt a law that will force quotas on publicly held corporations
headquartered in the state, requiring them to appoint board members based solely on their race and sexual orientation.
The legislation at issue is the fruit of last year's race riots that caused more than $2 billion in property damage and were
organized nationwide by Black Lives Matter and Antifa. The lawsuit, National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR)
v. Weber, was filed on Nov. 22 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. Defendant Shirley
Weber, a radical left-wing academic before entering politics, is being sued in her official capacity as California secretary
of state. Until January of this year, the San Diego-area Democrat was a member of the California State Assembly, where
she championed AB 3121, a law creating a task force to develop proposals to pay reparations to blacks to compensate them for
having ancestors a century and a half ago who were enslaved.
California
County Issues Mask Mandate for Private Homes Ahead of Thanksgiving. Santa Cruz County in California issued a
mask mandate for all indoor settings, including private homes, ahead of the holiday season. The mandate went into
effect at 11:59 p.m. on November 21 and requires "all individuals to wear a face covering when indoors regardless
of vaccination status." "Unfortunately, a potential winter surge appears to be a significant threat to the health and
safety of our community," said Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel in the announcement.
The Editor says...
They're telling you what you can do inside your house because of a "potential winter surge" of a disease that's so terrible, many
people don't even know they have it. If you're going to live in fear of a "potential winter surge," you should at least
be afraid of something that is likely to happen, and much more likely to affect us all. Like a winter surge in the
price of gasoline.
San
Francisco's Mayor Has a 'Genius' Idea to Stop Looting Over the Holiday. Some people still don't believe this,
but Prop 47 is a law — deceptively titled 'Safe Schools and Neighborhoods Act' — that reduces many
felonies to misdemeanors and provides for the early release of certain violent offenders and sex offenders. One of the
most unbelievable provisions of Prop 47 is one that makes it just a ticketable offense to steal up to $949 worth of goods
from any given retailer on any given visit. That's right — visit. You can clean out the deodorant
section at Walgreens, go back to your drug den, then come back an hour later and hit the diapers and feminine products if
that's your jam. You've seen the videos. People do this. They take what they want and casually walk
away. They know the law. They know law enforcement has no ability to stop any of it. It's not just San
Francisco that is seeing this nonsense growing; it has pretty much permeated every part of the state by this point.
What's worse — the broken windows theory has most definitely applied to the chaos in California. Criminals
have become emboldened by the tacit permission to loot stores at will. Now they are becoming organized and hitting
larger targets.
Chesa
Boudin gets religion on shoplifting. There's nothing like a smarmy, smug leftist who's realized he's cooked his
own goose. That brings us to the case of Chesa Boudin, the district attorney of San Francisco, who's effectively
legalized shoplifting in the name of "criminal justice reform." He's prompted massive store closures with ugly videos
of broad-daylight robberies on large and small stores. Boudin's refusal to prosecute has turned San Francisco into
another socialist crime pit, Caracas. And now, like his mentor Hugo Chávez, he's facing a voter recall. This
seems to be concentrating his mind, given that he's suddenly changing his tune — and comically enough, fooling no one.
Cultural
Marxism, Are We Supposed to Ignore What All the San Francisco Looters Have in Common? Perhaps there is a rule
book somewhere that says you must not point out that all of the San Francisco looters who hit Nordstrom and Louis Vuitton are
black. There are hundreds of media reports talking about the brazen nature of the ongoing mob and rob situations, but
no one seems to point out what they all have in common. All of the people doing the robbing are black. Here's an
example of CBS outlining a massive mob-n-rob of Nordstroms just outside San Francisco. [Video clip]
Dozens
Of Looters Storm Nordstroms In Commiefornia — Where Else. Dozens of looters swarmed into the Nordstrom store
in downtown Walnut Creek Saturday night [11/20/2021], terrorizing shoppers, ripping off bag loads of merchandise and
ransacking shelves before fleeing in a several vehicles waiting for them on the street. Walnut Creek Lt. Ryan
Hibbs told KPIX 5 that police began receiving calls about the looting at around 9 p.m. He said there were approximately
80 individuals who ran into the store and began looting and smashing shelves. Video shot at the scene shows the masked
looters streaming out of the store, carrying bags and boxes, jumping into the cars. Dozens of police vehicles also
responded to the scene. [Video clip]
Three
California school districts vote to defy state's vaccine mandates for children, risk losing state aid.
Updated: A third California school district has boted to resist the childten's vaccine mandate[.] Two school
districts in a mountainous rural county of California are leading the way in resisting a medical experiment on its
children. Calaveras County is rebelling against the State of California's plan to force children 5 [to] 11
years old to receive the experimental Covid pseudo-vaccines to protect against a virus which is of essentially no risk to
otherwise healthy kids. The county is neither heavily populated (estimated 45,000 souls) nor wealthy and lies at high
altitude in the gold country of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and foothills. It is so rural that there is only one
incorporated town, Angels Camp, in the entire county.
San
Francisco tourists are being warned not to rent cars. People who have opted to go to San Francisco for vacation
are being told not to rent vehicles. Why? Because of the extreme increase in vehicle burglaries in the
city. The reason behind the advice that is being given to tourists is easy — there are too many vehicle
burglaries that are occurring in the city. Criminals are going through town and breaking into different vehicles
looking for quick items they can take off with and later sell or trade.
Gavin
Newsom Extends Emergency Order Yet Again, Until March 2022. On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) who two
months ago survived his recall election, extended the COVID state of emergency yet again. It will now extend until
March 31, 2022, which is a full four and a half months from now, and a little over two years since the World Health
Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. As Tom Tapp reported for Deadline, this is the third time that Newsom
has issued such an extension.
California
Fraudsters Get Rich Off Unemployment Benefits. California has shelled out at least $20 billion in fraudulent
unemployment benefits since the beginning of the pandemic, with 11% of all benefits paid in the Golden State. That is
more than the 2021 budgets of Delaware, Maine, and Montana combined. The $20 billion given to criminals who
fraudulently collected benefits comes out of the more than $178 billion in unemployment benefits since the start of the
pandemic, the Los Angeles Times reported. State officials have blamed that on Congress' quick expansion of unemployment
benefits that allowed people to get weekly checks without safeguards to stop people who weren't eligible. California
state officials approved at least $810 million in benefits in the names of people who were in prison, including dozens of
infamous killers on death row, the Los Angeles Times reported, and even $21,000 in benefits were sent to an address in
Roseville under the name and Social Security number of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
The
Left's Bungled Revolution. The supply chain debacle has been portrayed by media as one of those inexplicable
black swans that come out of nowhere and are beyond human comprehension. This is nonsense. The sole cause of this
"crisis" is a demented diktat from Gavin Newsom forbidding trucks more than three years old from loading at California
ports. The logic behind this is unknown, but presumably has something to do with Gaia being angry. The end result
is what we see: ships backed up off LA, containers piling up in the ports (or even dumped in hapless LA neighborhoods), and
shortages as far as the eye can see. Lost amid all the uproar are the nation's truckers, who must be boiling over with
fury. (Try to find a single quote from one in the legacy media.) Florida governor Ron DeSantis has immediately leapt
in to offer his state's ports to all comers, and will presumably be followed by other governors, so long-term, the situation will
right itself, as tends to happen in capitalist economies. But the wounds inflicted will last a long time —
and California slides ever closer to the precipice.
Gavin
Newsom's Double Jab of Covid booster and flu shot made him sick enough to cancel Scotland trip and disappear from public view
for nearly two weeks. California governor Gavin Newsom had an adverse reaction to getting the Covid booster and
a flu shot within days of each other, leaving him with muscle weakness and fatigue, claim sources in the family's inner
circle. The governor was last seen in public on October 27, after receiving a COVID-19 booster shot in Oakland.
He had gotten a flu shot on October 22. Newsom finally appeared in a photo attending Ivy Getty's star-studded wedding
this past weekend after disappearing from the public eye for nearly two weeks.
Why
San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin is unlikely to survive his recall. How's George Soros feeling these days?
Seems his fair-haired boy, San Francisco's radical left-wing district attorney, Chesa Boudin, who's pretty much letting every
thug in the city escape prosecution as San Francisco goes to hell, has drawn enough signatures to ensure his placement on a
recall ballot come June 7, 2022 — and then some.
Where's
Gavin Newsom been? At Getty heiress's wedding. The Twitter-sphere, The Daily Mail, and even The
Sacramento Bee were looking everywhere for Gavin Newsom on Monday after the California governor canceled events and ducked
out of sight for a few days. Did he have COVID or a reaction to his recent booster shot? Nope. Newsom was
at the Ivy Getty wedding on Saturday at City Hall, a guest and two media outlets say. Getty is a billionaire oil
heiress and great-granddaughter of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi officiated the
500-person wedding under the grand rotunda of the closed City Hall.
It
Looks Like Gavin Newsom's Been Located — at an Ostentatious Getty Wedding. As our Jennifer O'Connell
reported earlier today, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-French Laundry) hasn't been seen in public since October 27, the
day he received his COVID-19 vaccine booster. Newsom was scheduled to fly to Glasgow to attend the COP26 climate change
conference two days later, but his trip was abruptly canceled. Initially some speculated that perhaps he realized how
silly it was to fly across the globe to speak at a climate change conference when he could simply participate virtually. Then,
Newsom's office claimed he was attending to "unspecified family issues" and his office wouldn't elaborate when asked by the press.
San
Francisco grocery store closing earlier due to shoplifting. A 24-hour San Francisco grocery store will now be
closing early due to excessive thefts at night, joining other retailers that have been forced to alter their hours due to
rampant stealing. The Safeway grocery in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco has moved from operating 24 hours a
day to closing from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., KPIX reported. The news station reported that customers were surprised
by this decision. [...] This decision by the Castro Safeway comes less than a month after pharmacy retail giant Walgreens
announced it would be closing some locations in San Francisco due to organized retail theft. One San Francisco
Walgreens that was closed last year was reportedly losing $1,000 to theft a day.
Brazen
Thugs Just Walk Out Of Nike Store With Boxes Of Expensive Sneakers In California. This is what happens when an
entire state decides $950 or less is now a misdemeanor instead of a felony. Watch as these thugs just casually walk out
of a Nike store in California with expensive sneakers, knowing the worst that will happen to them is a slap on the wrist.
[Video clip]
Shippers
fear 'catastrophic' fallout from 'crazy' California port fees. The cure is worse than the disease, say critics
of an emergency plan of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach backed by the Biden administration. If you think port
congestion is bad now, just wait for what comes next. On Wednesday [10/27/2021], two days after the ports of Los
Angeles and Long Beach announced a surprise emergency fee for containers lingering too long at terminals, the National
Shippers Advisory Council (NSAC) held its inaugural meeting. NSAC, created to advise the Federal Maritime Commission,
is composed of 12 U.S. importers and 12 exporters. Members include heavy hitters like Amazon, Walmart, Target, Office
Depot and Ikea. Council members had a lot to say about the California port fees — none of it good.
Former
Soros Activist Explains How Progressive Policies Ruined San Francisco. There's a crisis in San Francisco.
Homelessness has skyrocketed and drug use is rampant. Michael Shellenberger moved to San Francisco in 1993 to work on
liberal causes, and even spent time working for George Soros' foundation. He advocated the decriminalization of drugs
and promoted drug treatment programs. But, Shellenberger says, he began to worry when he saw the number of drug
overdose deaths in America rise from 17,000 in 2000 to more than 70,000 by 2017. "Clearly, we are in the midst of a
massive drug crisis," Shellenberger says, "and it felt like nobody was offering a particularly clear explanation of it or
offering very good solutions." Out of frustration over the problems he was seeing in San Francisco and other liberal
cities, Shellenberger became determined to diagnose the problems driving the homeless crisis and find solutions. He
presents the result of his research and investigation in his new book "San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities."
As
Expected, Joe Biden Pledge To Speed Up California Ports Amounts to Absolutely Nothing. In a rare act of
journalism, NBC actually followed up on the October 13th grand proclamation of Joe Biden to speed up California ports.
What they found is exactly what everyone suspected, the grand prose from the White House was a political pantomime —
absolutely nothing has changed. [Video clip] As noted, and as previously outlined, the issues with the backlog
of the California ports have absolutely nothing to do with rapid unloading of ships and container vessels. The issue is
the inability of California truckers to move those containers. The problem is a shortage of CA emission compliant internal
transportation trucks to move the containers out of the port and into the U.S. mainland.
The
California Version of The Green New Deal is What's Creating The Container Shipping Backlog. Hundreds of
requests for details on the specifics of the container shipping backlog. So, I spent 3 days calling sources, digging
for details and gathering information on the substantive issue at hand. The epicenter of the problem is not what is
being outlined by financial media, corporate media and politicians who have a specific interest in distracting from the
issues at hand. This has nothing to do with COVID-19. The issues being discussed today relate to events that
happened a long time ago. As a matter of fact, it was so predictable that Amazon, Walmart, UPS, FedEx, Samsung, The
Home Depot and Target all had taken actions years ago — long before COVID — because they knew this day
would come. It was not accidental that those companies showed up at the White House to discuss the issue, because
there's now a full court press to hide it.
California
Drove Truckers Out of Business. Now Store Shelves Are Empty. 2019 was described as a "bloodbath" for the
trucking industry with 640 trucking companies across the country filing for bankruptcy in just the first half of the
year. Thousands of truck drivers were left unemployed. Many went into the expanding last mile delivery business,
some as contractors for Amazon. But California truckers and businesses had their own special woes. Two years ago,
Governor Newsom signed the Democrat supermajority's Assembly Bill 5 into law. While AB5 was billed as a crackdown
on Uber and Lyft, forcing the companies to treat l freelance contractors as employees, the gig economy companies pushed
Proposition 22 so that they were the only ones exempt from the law. (A Democrat judge has since illegally blocked
the approved ballot measure while falsely claiming that it was unconstitutional.) AB5 however was less about Uber than
it was about outlawing freelance employees in order to force them into unions. The union power grab inconvenienced Uber
and Lyft, but crushed freelance workers in a variety of fields including journalism. One of the fields was trucking.
Target's
iconic downtown San Francisco store closing amid shoplifting frenzy. Target is disputing a report that it is
closing its iconic downtown San Francisco store amid claims the store is plagued by shoplifting threats costing the retailer
at least $25,000. The California Globe reported that Target is shuttering its store on Mission Street between Third
and Fourth Streets. But Target says the story isn't true. A Target spokesperson said it is not closing the
Mission Street store, but confirmed the retailer will close a different downtown San Francisco store on Bush Street in
November because of underperforming sales.
Is
Newsom Punishing Those Who Tried To Recall Him? Ralph Waldo Emerson said "when you strike at a king, you must
kill him." Gov. Gavin Newsom is no king, and last month's recall campaign was not intended to harm him physically.
But it's foolish to believe he won't respond as a monarch who narrowly missed losing his crown would. The recall
failure has emboldened the man. He now feels he has a greater mandate than ever before to push through his blue-state
agenda. In the recall results, the governor saw a California where the opposition to progressive policies is so weak,
and so utterly irrelevant to the work of the state's ruling class, that he and the legislature can roll right over those who
see politics and policy differently. They're a group to be punished for daring to challenge his office.
Can
California Be Saved? Part One. California has so many problems, can it be saved? I mean for regular
Californians. The tech billionaires and top government workers obviously have it good. But the rest of us?
It's worth trying, anyway. A timely new book offers a blueprint for advancing solutions to 10 problems. Three are
below. I'll cover the other seven later. This isn't a typical "bash California" book. It's the best
collection of solutions available today. All the authors are experts. I have worked with most of them, or they
have been my sources. "Saving California: Solutions to the state's biggest policy problems" is edited by Steven
Greenhut for the Pacific Research Institute in a nicely designed paperback or Kindle ebook.
The
California Supply Crisis Was Entirely Predictable: Just Ask Hayek. In short, [Friedrich] Hayek and the
"Chicago school" argue no central planning is adequate in anticipating and distributing economic resources in a
society. No individual despot or group of central planners have enough knowledge to act prudently and with
foresight. It will, instead, always result in inefficiencies, supply and demand distortions, and lowered economic
growth. In addition, because central planners, by definition, must take control away from individuals, it reduces the
people to a form of "serfdom." The people in a socialist system are coerced to comply. We do not yet have a
socialist political system in this country, though California may be as close as we've come with its governmental overreach
in economic, employment, educational and social matters.
The
California Version of The Green New Deal is What's Creating The Container Shipping Backlog. Hundreds of
requests for details on the specifics of the container shipping backlog. So, I spent 3 days calling sources, digging
for details and gathering information on the substantive issue at hand. The epicenter of the problem is not what is
being outlined by financial media, corporate media and politicians who have a specific interest in distracting from the
issues at hand. This has nothing to do with COVID-19. The issues being discussed today relate to events that
happened a long time ago. As a matter of fact, it was so predictable that Amazon, Walmart, UPS, FedEx, Samsung, The
Home Depot and Target all had taken actions years ago -long before COVID- because they knew this day would come. It was
not accidental that those companies showed up at the White House to discuss the issue, because there's now a full court press
to hide it. There is one very specific regional issue driving the problem. [...]
How
California seriously messed up its drought problem. At the beginning of the 20th century, both relied on well
water to sustain their populations. And both had ambitious plans to build aqueducts to import snow melt from the fairly
distant Sierra Nevada mountains. It was then that renowned naturalist John Muir formed the Sierra Club to fight the San
Francisco project. He was successful only in delaying the building of the O'Shaughnessy Dam that formed the Hetch
Hetchy reservoir. That delay allowed William Mulholland to be first by completing the Los Angeles-Owens Valley aqueduct
in 1913. When the gate releasing the water opened, Mulholland famously said, "Here it is. Take it." And thus,
Los Angeles eclipsed San Francisco as the primate city of California. In order for the L.A. city fathers to pass the
construction bond for the aqueduct, they had to play up a major drought in the 1880s. The bond was passed, but the
drought was a fiction...that wasn't exposed until the late 1970s by Scot Stine, at that time a graduate student at U.C.
Berkeley. Stine's subsequent work nonetheless shows serious droughts in California's past.
Corrupt
democrat Los Angeles city councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas indicted in federal corruption probe. The New York
Post is reporting that a high-level Los Angeles Democrat has been indicted in a federal corruption probe.
Councilman Mark Ridley Thomas, 66 along with former dean Marilyn Louise Flynn, 83 are expected to be arraigned in the next
few days on charges of conspiracy, bribery, honest services mail fraud and honest services wire fraud. The charges
carry decades in prison if they are convicted, although honestly at their age, the chances of any type of lengthy sentence is
questionable.
Lawn
Companies Issue Blistering Response to Newsom After He Moves To Destroy Their Businesses. Back in the days when
humor writer Dave Barry had a regular newspaper column, he would frequently mention some outlandish thing that was actually
true and follow it with the statement: "I am not making this up." Regarding a new law signed by Democratic
California Gov. Gavin Newsom: I am not making this up. California, the place where reality goes to die, has
outlawed the sale of off-road gasoline engines beginning in 2024, according to The Washington Post.
Theft-plagued
Walgreens shuts down five more stores in San Francisco: At least 17 have already closed due to 'legalized
shoplifting'. Walgreens is shuttering another five of its stores in crime-ridden San Francisco because of
rampant shoplifting by thieves who waltz past security guards and sell the items outside the drugstore chain's doors.
The national chain has closed 17 of its 70 San Francisco locations in the past two years because of the shelf raiders, who
have swiped everything not behind lock and key. Thefts in the chain's 53 remaining stores are five times the average
for their stores elsewhere in the country, according to company officials.
Walgreens
closing 5 more San Francisco stores due to theft. Walgreens said Tuesday that it will be closing another five
San Francisco locations, citing the ongoing rampant theft plaguing the city. "Due to ongoing organized retail crime, we
have made the difficult decision to close five stores across San Francisco," a Walgreens spokesperson told FOX Business in a
statement. "Each store will transfer prescriptions to a nearby Walgreens location within a mile radius and we expect to
place the stores' team members in other nearby locations."
In
just two days, California governor signs [a bunch of stuff] into law. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a
number of 'woke' bills into law over the weekend including a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers to schools requiring students to
be taught 'ethnic studies'. One liberal-pleasing law will see gender-neutral children's sections being required in
large toy stores while female students in schools and colleges will be provided free menstrual supplies in women's
bathrooms. Newsom hastily signed the flurry of new bills into law on Saturday night ahead of his Sunday night deadline
for approving or vetoing new legislation for the year.
People's
Republik Of California: Say Goodbye To Your Gas Mowers And Lawn Implements. You know, this is For Your
Own Good. That seems familiar. The definition of Progressivism is "Nice Fascism". That doesn't mean these
are nice people, it means they'll run your life for you own good. It makes sense when mom and dad do this when you're a
kid. Not when you're an adult. But, hey, a goodly chunk of you moonbats in California keep voting for this stuff[.]
Gavin
Newsom signs woke law forcing stores to have 'gender neutral' sections where traditional blue and pink toys and toothbrushes
are banned. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a woke law on Saturday forcing stores to have 'gender
neutral' sections where traditional blue and pink toys and toothbrushes are banned. Large department stores must now
display products like toys and toothbrushes in gender-neutral ways — a win for LGBT advocates who say the pink and
blue hues of traditional marketing methods pressure children to conform to gender stereotypes. The new law, however,
does not completely outlaw traditional boys and girls sections at department stores. Instead it says large stores must
also have a gender neutral section to display 'a reasonable selection' of items 'regardless of whether they have been
traditionally marketed for either girls or for boys'.
California
law bans small off-road gas engines, including lawnmowers and chainsaws. California took another step toward
its goal of ridding the state of all gas-powered engines thanks to a new bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday
[10/9/2021]. The new law will ban the sale of all off-road, gas-powered engines, including generators, lawn equipment,
pressure washers, chainsaws, weed trimmers, and even golf carts. Under the new law, these machines must be
zero-emissions, meaning they will have to be either battery-powered or plug-in, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Nero
Newsom Fiddles With Ridiculous Laws, as California Continues to Implode. Last week, Huntington Beach, CA
suffered an oil spill, caused by an undersea fuel pipeline being pierced by a ship's anchor. As I mentioned here, that
damage could have been caused by one of the thousands of ships clogging the Southern California waters around the Port of Los
Angeles. This is currently under investigation. In the meantime, the ships are waiting to be off loaded, but
cannot because of the inefficiency of dock workers. Thank you, Labor Unions. Governor Gavin Newsom does not care
about the causation, the fact that our supply chain of goods and services has been horrifically disrupted, and that hundreds
of truckers, retailers, and average citizens are losing money by the day. No, Governor Hair Gel is urgently concerned
about a "greener future", and getting rid of fossil fuels by 2035.
New
California law mandates that big retailers maintain gender-neutral kid aisles. Gov. Gavin Newsom on
Saturday [10/9/2021] signed a law that requires large California retailers to maintain gender neutral toy and childcare
sections. The new law, Assembly Bill 1084, requires that retailers with 500 or more employees in the state of
California "maintain a gender neutral section or area, to be labeled at the discretion of the retailer, in which a reasonable
selection of the items and toys for children that it sells shall be displayed, regardless of whether they have been
traditionally marketed for either girls or for boys," according to the legislative counsel's digest.
California
Gov Gavin Newsom signs law to eventually ban gas-powered lawn equipment. California will soon ban the sale of
new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers after Governor Gavin Newsom signed off on the new law on Saturday [10/9/2021].
The move is aimed at curbing emissions from a category of small engines on pace to produce more pollution each year than
passenger vehicles. The gas-powered equipment to be banned uses small off-road engines, a broad category that includes
generators, lawn equipment, pressure washers, chainsaws, weed trimmers and even golf carts.
California
becomes first state to bring in compulsory ethnic studies for high school students. California became the first
state in the nation to make ethnic studies a required class for high school students after five years of debate. The
requirement would apply to students who graduate in 2030 and was created and approved by the state Board of Education in
March after Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar measure last year until it was 'inclusive of all communities.'
During the bill signing on Friday [10/8/2021], Newsom said students 'must understand our nation's full history if we expect
them to one day build a more just society.
If
America's going to split apart, here's what will happen to you. California — it's always California,
isn't it? — recently banned any state-sponsored trips by its employees to Ohio. This is based on a 2016
California law that imposes penalties on states that California officials deem to be discriminating against lesbians,
homosexuals, bisexuals, or transgender residents. At issue is Ohio's new "conscience law," which allows medical
providers to refuse to perform certain procedures, such as gender mutilation surgeries, if they violate a doctor's religious
or moral beliefs. The Land of Gavin Newsom now restricts state-financed travel to 18 other states which have a combined
population of 116 million people. And recently California slapped its travel restriction on states that require
transgender athletes to participate in high school sports based on their sex. This trend is spreading among other
states and even to cities. For ten years, Los Angeles has been restricting travel by city employees to Arizona because
of its immigration policies. City departments have also been told not to do business with Arizona firms. A few
years after that, L.A. added restriction on trips to North Carolina and Mississippi over their transgender bathroom laws.
California
Now Bans State-funded Travel to One-third of America. California's Democrats have now banned state-funded
travel to so many states in protest at their legislation on social issues that the bans now cover one-third of the United
States by population, after a new ban on Ohio was introduced last month.
Gov.
Newsom mandates shots for ALL California students from 7th to 12th grade - but exempts staff. Governor Gavin
Newsom has been condemned for his 'wrong and cowardly' mandate which demands all California students from 7th to 12th grade
get the COVID-19 vaccine but does not require their teachers to get the shot. Social media erupted in outrage Friday
night as people pointed out the alarming difference between the rules for children and staff, with many accusing the governor
of being influenced by the powerful teachers' unions. 'Kids must get vaccine, but teacher don't have to. The
lesson? Kids need a better union,' one person tweeted.
Newsom
signs sweeping reforms, raises age for new cops to 21, can lose badge for 'racial bias'. California
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a number of sweeping police reform bills that take aim at alleged law enforcement
misconduct and will allow officers to be stripped of their badges for "racial bias" and other deemed offenses. On
Thursday [9/30/2021], surrounded by what Newsom called "moral leadership" and the family members of those killed by law
enforcement officers, he signed into law eight police reform bills claiming that they would increase transparency and
accountability. He was joined by California Attorney General Rob Bonta who proclaimed that there is a "crisis of trust"
between citizens and officers.
Here's a way to guarantee 110 percent voter turnout: California
to mail every voter a ballot in future elections. Every registered California voter will get a ballot mailed to
them in future elections under a bill signed Monday [9/27/2021] by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law makes
permanent a change adopted during the pandemic for the 2020 election and the recent recall against Newsom. California,
the nation's most populous state, joins several other Western states in mailing all voters a ballot, including Utah,
Colorado, Washington and Oregon. Republicans who hold a minority in the state Legislature opposed the expansion of
voting by mail.
California
Gov. Newsom Signs Law Making Universal Vote-by-Mail Permanent in State. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a
measure Monday [9/27/2021] that makes vote-by-mail permanent in California, coming after the tactic was used in 2020 and was
left in place during this month's recall election. The Democrat governor issued a statement as he signed Assembly Bill 37,
which now requires the state to send ballots with prepaid return envelopes to all voters in statewide elections and local contests.
"As states across our country continue to enact undemocratic voter suppression laws, California is increasing voter access, expanding
voting options, and bolstering elections integrity and transparency," Newsom said.
We're
coming up on the bad part of the 'cycle of democracy'. The cycle of democracy is attributed to Scottish
economist Alexander Tytler: ["]A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist
until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the
majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy
always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.["] With the restoration of Gavin
Newsom to his California governorship through the failing 2021 recall process, the state cements its trajectory of collapse.
California's
Audit-Proof Scheme to Steal Elections. [Scroll down] As in 2020, ballots for the September 14 recall were
mailed to every registered voter in the state, which includes at least one million illegals the DMV automatically registered
to vote when they got driver's licenses. Alex Padilla handled the "motor voter" program before Newsom tapped him for
the Senate seat of Kamala Harris, when Joe Biden sniffed her out for his running mate. Shirley Weber, San Diego
Democrat, took over as secretary of state, and first tried to keep Larry Elder off the ballot, claiming that he failed to
file the proper forms etc. Elder sued and won, and that gave the black conservative a boost in the polls.
Newsom's handlers didn't like it. "I have my own operation working," crowed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the San
Francisco Democrat is also "making calls to defeat the recall of our governor." Newsom was once Pelosi's nephew by
marriage, but the governor's connections are far more extensive. Gavin Newsom's grandfather was a crony of the first
Gov. Brown and his son, Gov. Jerry Brown, appointed Newsom's father to a judgeship. When he announced the
state of emergency in March of 2020, Newsom hailed the leadership of Nancy Pelosi, and ever since he has ruled as virtual
autocrat. Newsom signed a $1 billion deal for masks with a Chinese company and hid the details even from fellow
Democrats. Newsom locked down Californians while cavorting with colleagues sans mask at the upscale French Laundry.
While many public schools remained shuttered, Newsom sent his own children to an upscale private school. And so on.
Newsom
Says Biden Supported His Move to Abolish Suburbs in California. California Governor Gavin Newsom's first move
after he beat the recall effort in California was to sign legislation allowing lots to be subdivided which would effectively
eliminate suburbs. The legislation was obviously frowned upon by suburban voters. As The New York Times reported,
lawmakers were worried about "angering suburban voters, whose preferences for single-family home living have been regarded as
politically sacrosanct." SB 9 "was furiously opposed by homeowners and local government groups who said it 'crushes
single-family zoning' and would be 'the beginning of the end of homeownership in California,'" the Times said.
Watch
out, NIMBYs. Newsom just dumped single-family zoning. In one of his first moves after surviving the
recall, Gov. Gavin Newsom took his boldest steps yet to fix California's housing shortage by signing a package of bills
that will transform the state by getting rid of single-family zoning and making it easier to build the housing the state so
desperately needs. Of the three housing bills Newsom signed Thursday, the most consequential is Senate Bill 9 because
it will allow up to four units of housing on a single-family lot. Another, Senate Bill 10, creates a voluntary program
that makes it easier for cities to upzone any urban or transit-adjacent parcel of land, including a single-family lot, to allow a
building of 10 units or fewer.
Democrats
have little to cheer about in California recall victory. Democrats are crowing about California's
Gov. Gavin Newsom surviving his recall election, and by a 64% to 35% margin. [...] Democrats outnumber Republicans in
voter registrations 40-25, and Democrats who've been elected have made the state a shambles for decades. In other
words, it's not just from Newsom that the state is a mess, and there's no sense of a huge sudden crisis, which probably
worked to Newsom's advantage. Rolling blackouts, high energy prices, wildfires, unchecked crime, and homelessness have
all become a way of life in California. Republican voter registrations have declined because a lot of Republicans have
fled. So not that big a surprise that Newsom won. Democrats shouldn't count on this as a national model.
Newsom in fact ran an ad hominem hate-Elder campaign, painting him solely as "Trump," and unfortunately, Elder could
not fight it. Newsom had cash from his billionaire patrons across the country that Elder could not match, as well as
the support of the entire Democrat political machinery. Newsom also had unions working hard to increase turnout, which
means he's got favors to repay.
California's
Democrat Machine Protects Newsom From Defeat. The Democrat machine in California has been successful in
defending Governor Gavin Newsom from defeat in Tuesday night's recall election. On Monday night, President Joe Biden
campaigned for Newsom in Long Beach and made the election a referendum on President Donald Trump. Ahead of the
election, Newsom's administration sent mail-in ballots to every registered voter in the state and used federal Wuhan
coronavirus relief money to issue checks to voters.
California:
A legit recall result but evidence of fraud remains. Here are some examples of fraud in this go-round that have
been reported from multiple sources: Multiple ballots mailed to residents in the mass mail-in balloting —
these were reported all over, often from duplicate registrations (I know someone in Glendale who got one of these) and
registered residents who had moved away decades ago. Ballot secrecy compromised as voter choices were visible from the
holes in the ballot envelopes as well as through a flashlight. That's incompetent design or more likely, quite
intentional. Actual problems casting ballots, for Republicans only, based on faulty or rigged election machinery.
This happened in the corruption-plagued San Fernando Valley and hasn't been addressed. Evidence of tainteed voter rolls
based on the 449,000 Californians who were dismissed from jury duty for not being citizens. Leftist fact-checkers who
have tried to dismiss this by saying illegals aren't allowed to vote beg the question of whether such people are
registered — it turns out they are, because the Superior Court Judicial Branch of California has explicitly stated
that it selects jury pools based on voter rolls. It also says it gets those names from DMV registrations, which, the
DMV supposedly has separated carefully citizen from noncitizen — which we know they haven't.
California
Governor Newsom Survives Recall Election. California voters overwhelmingly chose to keep Democratic Governor
Gavin Newsom in office in a recall election on Tuesday [9/14/2021]. Newsom was spared after a projection by the
Associated Press showed that a majority of voters opted against recalling him. With 61 percent of the estimated vote
in, early returns showed that 5.3 million voters supported keeping Newsom in office, while 2.5 million Californians voted in
favor of his removal. In remarks Tuesday evening at the California Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento, Newsom
said it "appears we are enjoying an overwhelmingly 'no' vote here tonight."
One-Party
Rule: When Corruption and Radicalism Collide. New York and California are glaring examples of one-party
rule gone bad, resulting in tyrannies of the hard left. They are also contrasts of how the populace in one state is
impotent to reject corrupt, one-party rule and how the populace of the other has availed itself of a constitutional pressure
valve, the recall petition, for political self-correction. Each state demonstrates the extreme dangers of one-party
rule recognized 250 years ago by America's Founders and addressed by the U.S. Constitution through federalism at the national
level. [...] Californians exercised their constitutional right to recall the unpopular Governor Gavin Newsom. The
September 14 election will determine whether Newsom stays or is replaced by a Republican, most likely talk-show host Larry
Elder. The reasons why Californians are giving Newsom an up or down vote are several: huge encampments of the
homeless, gasoline prices at $5 a gallon, fires raging, water scarce, drug use rampant, and schools among the worst in the
nation. Newsom also grossly mismanaged COVID shutdowns, hurting many small businesses.
[Some]
California Republicans [have been] told they already voted[,] due to something 'wonky' with computers, KTLA
reports. Reports of voting issues are coming out of California in advance of Tuesday's special recall election
when the fate of embattled Governor Gavin Newsom will be decided, leading to confusion and suspicion among some voters.
According to a local news report, residents who went to cast their votes at a Woodland Hills high school were shocked when
they were told that they had already voted according to computers. The problems occurred at an early voting site at El
Camino Real Charter High School where several people were informed by staffers that they wouldn't be able to cast their
ballots and were given provisional ballots instead. Those who were turned away appear to have one thing in
common — they are Republicans.
What
'Big Government' and individual liberty mean to me: Larry Elder. California Gov. Gavin Newsom [...]
who used the coronavirus to abuse his authority, overstepped his role as governor, virtually locking down the entire state
and shuttering businesses, while he enjoyed himself — mask-free and indoors — with friends and
supporters at a world-famous fancy restaurant. We saw the same with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at her hair salon in San
Francisco. Such hypocrisy merely adds insult to injury, however. Nearly a third of California's restaurants have
permanently closed due to COVID. The state's unemployment rate is 7.6% — the second highest in the
nation. Nearly 69,000 Californians filed new jobless claims for the week ending August 14, the highest total in three
months for the state. One group disproportionately hurt by the type of repressive COVID policies are women —
because they are often overrepresented in industries most affected by the shutdowns, such as tourism, cleaning and domestic
services, and entertainment. Ironically, Newsom fervently claims that he cares about women. By contrast, I
believe individuals do not need the government to tell them how to think and what to do. The notion of individual
liberty and personal responsibility is the complete opposite of big government. The liberty to choose to get
vaccinated, or how much to pay someone who agrees to work for me — and the responsibility for any negative
outcome — is what allows a society to be healthy and strong.
Somebody
Paid $3.7 Million Cash for CA Gov Newsom's Estate — But Who?Somebody paid $3.7 million cash,
through an LLC, for a 12,663 square foot, 8-acre estate in December 2018 that was then transferred (or gifted) to California
Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife shortly before the First Couple obtained a $2.7 million cashout mortgage loan on the
property. A year after originally breaking that story we still don't know who that somebody is and whether the
transaction was legal or not. Newsom's spokesperson, Nathan Click, has given two diametrically opposed explanations as
to the origin of the cash, and neither hold up to scrutiny.
Recall the California
Ideology: The Golden State is heading for a colossal train wreck. California once was run by alternating
conservatives and mostly centrist Democrats. True, paleo-liberal governors like Pat Brown greatly expanded the welfare
state. But they also believed in pushing integration, building freeways, dams, aqueducts, and power plants, while
preventing forest fires, directing the mentally ill into state hospitals, and ensuring the state enhanced the housing,
timber, oil and gas, nuclear, and agricultural industries. So why and how would anyone deliberately destroy that
heritage? Why allow California to have the highest aggregate basket of income, sales, property, and capital gains taxes
in the nation, the highest gas and power prices in the continental United States, and nearly the worst schools and
infrastructure, the largest populations of homeless, welfare recipients, illegal aliens, and, soon, criminals?
Biden
heads to Cali, accused of working harder to save Gavin Newsom's skin than US hostages. With the recall vote for
California Governor Gavin Newsom now less than a week away, Democrats are frantically working to save his hide and even
President Joe Biden will be pitching in as voters go to the polls to render their verdict on his political career. In
news confirming what many have speculated, Biden will emerge to hit the campaign trail for the embattled governor who faces a
serious threat that could derail the dreams of the ambitious product of the corrupt San Francisco Democrat machine. On
Tuesday [9/7/2021], White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden would travel to the left coast "early next week" where
he will join efforts to energize the party faithful and to prevent a nightmare scenario for Democrats if the recall is successful.
Unpopular
Former CA Senator to Campaign for Unpopular Governor. Speaking as a current Californian, I wouldn't treat the
recall as a done deal. Far from it. Democrats have a huge organizational advantage that they can use to rig
elections (think of the 2020 presidential race as the Californication of national elections) and a pretty big cultural
advantage. Newsom has bet that he can counter his unpopularity in the state by nationalizing the election. It's
why his ads don't tout his accomplishments. Not only because they don't exist, but because the state machine has put
all of its money on turning this into a national race so California voters don't think about what a mess the state is.
Newsom's biggest ad used to feature Elizabeth Warren decrying Texas. A newer ad features Bernie Sanders. Neither
of them are especially pleasant, but they make Newsom seem personable by comparison.
It's a reverse shakedown. It's also unsustainable. San
Fran to start paying known criminals monthly stipend to stop killing, eligible for bonuses. One of America's
"wokest" cities, San Francisco, intends to start paying high-risk criminals to not shoot each other. Starting in
October, 10 known criminals will receive a $300 stipend every month that they abstain from busting some caps. The
chosen criminals will also be eligible for a $200/month bonus if they meet certain milestones like obtaining a job.
"The idea is to provide the small number of San Franciscans who authorities believe are most at risk of shooting
someone — or being shot — with an incentive to get help and stay out of trouble," according to the San
Francisco Examiner. "The initiative will pair participants with newly hired life coaches from the Street Violence
Intervention Program, known as SVIP, who will help them make the right choices and access services. The theory is that
the up to $500 stipend will serve as an incentive to participate — and stay engaged," the paper notes.
The
official explanation for California's suspicious recall election envelopes. In California, Jacqueline Timmer of
American Voters Alliance reports that, in at least three California counties, the return envelopes for the recall election of
Gov. Gavin Newsom have circular punch-holes in them that allow a person to see whether a voter voted to retain Newsom or
not. In response, through a tweet, and through a later comment to Fox News, the clerk of one the counties (Los
Angeles) said that the punch-holes assisted "accessibility for low vision voters to locate where to sign the envelope[.]"
Apparently, the clerk was saying that such voters could feel on the envelope where to sign. But if a voter needs
punch-holes for that, how was he able to complete the ballot in the first place? [...] Is this really an intentional scheme,
or is it simply a case of innocent error? Even if it were intentional, how would we ever know? All we do know is
that, under mail-in voting, such a question may arise; under direct, in-person voting, it cannot.
California's
Recall Election Has Already Been Stolen. California's gubernatorial recall election is officially September 14,
but "Election Day" has ceased to have any meaning, Mail-in ballots were automatically sent to every registered voter on August 16.
Return postage is "free," pre-paid by California taxpayers. The registration deadline was August 30, but you can still register
to vote "conditionally" and cast your vote immediately, right up to and including on the 14th. Mail ballots do not have to be
received by "Election Day." Ballots received up through September 21, a week after the election, will still count. Which
gives the people in power plenty of time to correct any "mistakes" revealed by the initial vote tallying on September 14. You
will recall that a drug-addled miscreant was recently apprehended in his car with 300 stolen mail-in ballots. The police found these
ballots not due to brilliant detective work but because someone reported a man passed out in his vehicle. "Police are working with
officials to ensure that all voters affected by the thefts get new ballots," reported the Los Angeles Times.
The
Obscenity of Paroling Sirhan Sirhan, Assassin of Robert F. Kennedy. Last week, a California parole board voted
to allow the release of Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian immigrant to shot and killed Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY)
immediately after he won the state's crucial presidential primary in June 1968. The decision to accept the parole
board's recommendation now goes to the governor — who could be Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), or a replacement, if
Newsom loses the Sep. 14 recall election and does not decide on the parole before he leaves.
California
Governor Worries His Recall is a Referendum on Joe Biden and Democrats. The Atlantic Article interviewing the
perpetually inept far-left advocate for all things big government, Gavin Newsom, doesn't specifically say the California
governor is worried about his recall being a wider referendum on Joe Biden, but the gorilla in the room is visible through
the fear the interview conveys.
The Editor says...
Every legitimate voter in California is well aware of the price of gas, which is
enough to defeat the current governor.
Latest
Alleged Election Fraud in California May Have Changed Election Outcome. [Scroll down] According to the
complaint that was filed on Aug. 13, and which the government will ultimately have to prove, four of the defendants
registered to vote at the home of another defendant, Jace Dawson, who was also a candidate for the City Council, even though
they didn't live there, in order to vote in the election. Another defendant registered to vote at Galvan's house
despite also not actually living in Compton. Dawson apparently saw an opportunity for mischief when Compton decided to
have an all-mail election, responding to a text from another defendant giving him that news and saying Dawson should "come
for that seat baby!" Dawson responded "Yeeeees absolutely!!!!" Dawson lost the primary election in April to Galvan
and then apparently conspired with Galvan to help Galvan win the June general election. The texts outlined in the
criminal complaint among the various defendants about their possession of the absentee or mail-in ballots of voters are
disturbing. In one text, Dawson tells Galvan he has "the ballo[t]s but they didn't fill it out or sign it so I have to
track them down to sign the ballot at least." Galvan responded by telling Dawson to bring "them over." In other
words, Dawson apparently had possession of voters' blank absentee ballots, giving him and/or Galvan the opportunity to fill
them out with the votes they wanted. And this was not an isolated incident with one ballot.
White
House Confirms: Joe Biden to Campaign for Gavin Newsom in California Recall. White House press secretary
Jen Psaki confirmed Wednesday that President Joe Biden still intends to campaign for Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in the Sep.
14 California recall election, despite the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan. "I can confirm, the president does still plan
to go and campaign for Governor Newsom in California ... that is still certainly his plan," Psaki said. Psaki added
that she did not have any particular dates or details about Biden's plans to travel to, and campaign in, California.
Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder (R) leads most opinion polls among potential replacements for Newsom, should he be
recalled. On Tuesday, in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Elder dared Biden to campaign for Newsom: [...]
Larry
Elder Dares Joe Biden to Campaign for Gavin Newsom. Conservative radio host Larry Elder told Breitbart News in
an exclusive interview on Tuesday evening that he would welcome the prospect of President Joe Biden campaigning for incumbent
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in the recall election. Biden issued a message of support for Newsom earlier this month.
[...] Vice President Kamala Harris, a former U.S. Senator from the state, will campaign with Newsom in the San Francisco Bay
Area on Friday [8/27/2021].
Voter
fraud concerns [are] mounting in tight California recall election. Facing the political fight of his life and
sinking polls indicating he could lose in the Sept. 14 recall election, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is now plagued by
rising concerns over alleged voter fraud after the Secretary of State's Office sent out mail ballots to 20 million
voters. Earlier in the year, the state legislature passed a measure to send out mail ballots to every registered voter
whether they asked for one or not. Newsom's opponents argue this was done as a way to protect him from losing,
suggesting the only way he could win was through fraud. Two legislators sued Newsom last year over an executive order
he issued changing election procedure. The lawsuit is on appeal and expected to go to the U.S. Supreme Court. One
of the plaintiffs, State Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin), is running to replace Newsom.
If you're on the fence about the Gavin Newsom recall...
[Thread reader] [H]ere are reasons with references why you should vote YES to recall Gavin Newsom:
[#1] $30 billion in EDD fraud. According to an audit that blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration for "significant missteps and inaction" costing taxpayers $10.4 billion and counting. To put in perspective, that's enough to pay every single public school teacher a 6 figure salary.
[#2] California has the highest poverty rate in the nation. Under Newsom homelessness has increased by almost 7%. There are now homeless camps under freeway overpasses and on vacant land throughout the state.
[#3] Newsom claimed the state conducted fire prevention work on 90,000 acres, but the state's own data shows the real number is actually only 11,399 acres resulting in the worst fire season on record.
[#4] Despite having the highest taxes in the nation & a $75 billion surplus Gavin Newsom looks to continue to increase taxes on Californians.
[#5] When Newsom told CA to shut down resulting in devastating permanent business closures he attended a fancy dinner at the elite French Laundry restaurant. In attendance was one of Sacramento's most powerful lobbyists.
[#6] Newsom has put special interests before kids and kept schools closed. Parents had to sue to force schools to reopen. Meanwhile, Newsom sent his kids to private school.
[#7] Under Newsom's failed leadership, the exodus of jobs and productive citizens from California has accelerated. Major companies have relocated and California lost a Congressional seat for the first time in history.
[#8] CA energy policies have failed: Newsom has acknowledged that blackouts have resulted from California's failure to "predict and plan" but he has still signed legislation that has made the problem worse.
[#9] [...]
[#10] [...]
California
Earthquakes Can't Do As Much Damage As Progressive, Blue State Government. Here's where California is today after two decades of
progressive, Blue State governance:
• Executive magazine has named California the worst state for business for 15 straight years.
• California imposes the heaviest regulatory burden on small businesses in the country.
• The business tax climate is worse only in New Jersey.
• Businesses of all sizes continue to flee the state.
• Property rights are being violated at an alarming pace. Just ask the "Central Valley farmers
who've had their land seized in the name of high-speed rail" and are still waiting to be compensated by the state.
• People are leaving in large numbers, and many who haven't yet are desperate to escape.
• That is if they are able to leave, because many of the roads and highways leading out are so
cracked up they're hard to navigate. Forty-one states have better systems.
• The state's unofficial "road diet" means that motorists have to spend more time on the crumbling
tracks than they should because the state has the worst traffic congestion on Earth.
• Liberty continues to be crowded out by growing government authority. The Cato Institute ranks
California 48th in freedom among the states, a position it has occupied since 2011.
• The state has had the highest poverty level in the country in recent years.
• While California's public education system is failing, the state has gone to war with charter
schools, which are not only popular with parents and students, they raise student achievement.
• The highest average gasoline price is found in California, which not coincidentally also has the
highest gasoline tax in the nation.
• Even though it accounts for only 12% of the U.S. population, 25%-30% of the nation's homeless live in California.
• The runaway public employee pension system threatens to devour the state.
Prop. 22
is ruled unconstitutional, a blow to California gig economy law. California's giant ride-hailing and delivery
companies suffered a setback Friday [8/20/2021] as a state Superior Court judge invalidated a 2020 ballot proposition that
allowed Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and other app-based businesses to classify their workers as independent
contractors. In a lawsuit brought by the Service Employees International Union and several drivers, Alameda County
Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled that Proposition 22 is unconstitutional and unenforceable. That's in part
because the law, Roesch wrote, infringes on the power of the Legislature explicitly granted by the state Constitution to
regulate compensation for workers' injuries.
Can
Larry Elder Save California? The answer to the question posed by the title is "No," at least not alone, and I
suspect Larry Elder would agree. But the hack cliché is that every journey of a thousand miles begins with a
single step, and dumping Governor Hairstyle in favor of someone who is not a complete buffoon is a necessary first
step. Word on the street is that Larry Elder is the most likely to win if Question 1 ("Should we dump this idiot
Newsom?") and move on to Question 2 ("Now that we're rid of that twit, who do we want to foist this thankless job upon?").
[...] The Democrats thought they were smart, and among their antics (like moving up the recall election to mid-September
thinking it would help them but instead planting it right inside the Delta wave) was not entering any big-name Democrat for
Question 2.
In
California, your recall vote is not secret. As the California recall referendum approaches, we know that the
leftist California gang determined to entrench Gov. Gavin Newsom in power, no matter how unpopular he is with voters and
no matter how much they want him out, has been busy. So here's the latest rig they've cooked up, exposed very well by
an apparently concerned liberal named Jennifer Asper. [Video clip] Seems the envelope to the state's mail-in
ballots, which have already gone out except reportedly to people who signed the recall referendum petition, contains two
holes. Those two holes expose the contents of the one-vote ballot in exactly the right strategic place. Asper's
Instagram and Twitter video, done very well, demonstrate the problem.
Larry
Elder vows to do away with vaccine, mask mandates in Calif. if elected governor. Larry Elder, prominent
conservative talk radio host and a leading candidate in the California gubernatorial recall election, vows to end mask and
vaccine mandates in the Golden State if elected. "When I become governor, assuming there are mandates for masks and
statewide mandates for vaccines, they will be suspended right away," said Elder during a news conference on Zoom, according
to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle. "This is America. We have freedom in America." While Elder
himself has been vaccinated and believes "vaccines work" he said he doesn't believe the government should decide for
people. He thinks that the irreversible health care decision of whether or not to get a vaccine should be up to each
person. Elder indicated that he personally chose to get vaccinated under his doctor's advice due to his age, 69, and an
underlying health condition. Elder, who calls himself the "The Sage from South Central," also took to Twitter to
confirm his position and make clear that any face mask or vaccine mandates in place will be "immediately revoked," not if,
but when he is elected governor.
Elder
Ignores Mainstream Media in First Online Press Conference. Neither the Los Angeles Times nor Politico (both of
whom had multiple reporters) and a host of other mainstream media suspects, including the Associated Press, got to ask a
single question Friday at Larry Elder's first online Zoom press conference for the California gubernatorial recall. The
likes of the Bay Area Yu Channel, the Sing Tao Daily and Lynn Ku of KTSF did. If you enjoy seeing MSM stuffed shirts
being upended, it was quite a hoot. A reporter from the LAT — I won't name him out of a courtesy he didn't
seem to have himself — was throwing a tantrum in the Zoom chat room due to his receiving a lack of
attention. And if you sense a pro-Asian bias in all this, you are obviously correct and it was obviously deliberate on
the part of the Elder campaign. These seemingly small Asian outlets — considering the size of California's
Asian community, they could be quite big in actuality — were given the only opportunities to ask questions.
And their questions were quite substantive. It was rather like the reverse of a White House press conference,
particularly during the Trump era, when question after question from CNN et al was of the "When did you stop beating
your wife?" nature.
The
LA Times begs Californians not to boot Newsom. We're one month out from the California recall election and the
polls have continued to tighten, though most of them predict Newsom surviving by a slim margin. Perhaps it's the
unexpected closeness of the vote that moved the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times to publish a beseeching letter to
Californians, urging them to not be tempted into opting for some new blood in the Governor's mansion. Their concern for
the welfare of the state (or should we simply say "the welfare state?") seems touching, but the editors also don't do a very
good job of hiding their real reason for wanting to keep him. Also, when they get around to attempting to defend
Newsom's performance as governor during his first term, it comes off as more of an apology for him than a defense.
Don't
Call It a Comeback — Biden, Harris to Stump for Newsom. [T]he man who shuttered businesses and dined
at French Laundry of all places amid the wineries he shut down (except, of course, his own), has turned most of his state
into a giant homeless encampment — complete with needles and excrement maps — and raised taxes to a
level normally occupied by the Big Dipper is calling on an administration that has overseen ballooning inflation, a massive
influx of illegal immigrants, and a hike in fuel prices that could eventually rival the '70s to save his backside? And
that isn't even a deep dive into the policies of the White House and Newsom's office. Those are just the greatest hits.
Oakland
Chinatown Leader Demands Gov. Newsom Declare State Of Emergency. Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce
President Carl Chan asked Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday to deploy California Highway Patrol officers to the city's
troubled streets and declare a local state of emergency in an attempt to stem the rapidly rising tide of brazen robberies and
violent assaults. Chan and other officials spoke at a press event late Tuesday morning [8/10/2021] that called for
additional measures in Oakland to curb crime, including the deployment of more law enforcement officers and installation of
more surveillance cameras.
Newsom's
Recall Problem Is with Hispanic Voters. Two new independent polls on California's September 14 recall election
have a startling explanation for why Governor Gavin Newsom is in trouble. His support among minority communities is
crumbling as issues such as crime, COVID restrictions, and a huge unemployment-benefits scandal dominate the race. The
Emerson College poll found that among likely voters, 48 percent favored keeping Newsom in office versus 46 percent
who want him gone — a slim two-point margin. In a new poll by SurveyUSA taken for three media outlets, the
recall leads 51 percent to 40 percent.
California
GOP Won't Endorse A Candidate In Special Election To Recall Democratic Gov. Newsom. On Saturday morning,
California Republican Party delegates opted to withhold an endorsement in the upcoming special recall election set for
September 14 when Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom could be ousted from office. Officials said the decision was made
"with nearly 90 percent support" during a virtual meeting the day after two influential California Republicans reportedly
encouraged members of the state GOP not to endorse a candidate.
Mayor
of major U.S. city to pay nearly $23,000 for ethics violations. San Francisco Mayor London Breed will
personally pay $22,792 in fines imposed by the city's Ethics Commission for violating ethics standards while in office,
according to various reports. London Breed agreed to pay the fines imposed by the Ethics Commission, calling them
"fair," the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The commission said the fines were "significant," as Breed had misused
her mayoral title for her personal benefit. The Ethics Commission fined Breed for several violations, including asking
then-California Gov. Jerry Brown in October 2018 to release her brother Napoleon Brown from prison, where he was serving
a 44-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter and armed robbery, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Breed and
family members sent the letter to Brown in October 2018, asking for the release of her brother for crimes for which she said
he had faced excessive punishment.
In
California, Recalls are not Just for the Governor. Just about everyone in America is aware that California
Governor Gavin Newsom is facing a recall election. But California has a lot more recall news than simply the recall of
its governor. In fact, the state is in the midst of a genuine recallapalooza. The state has recall challenges
underway for not just the governor, but also two district attorneys and over 48 assorted mayors, city councilmen, and school
board members. And that recall count is only as of July. It seems that it's not all love and harmony in the
Golden State.
Poll:
Gavin Newsom [is] Down [by] Double-Digits In [his] Recall Election. Results of a new poll out Thursday show
California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom deep underwater with little more than a month to go until voters cast their
ballots in a statewide referendum. According to a survey of 1,100 Californians conducted Aug. 2-4, more than half were
in favor of Newsom's firing, while only 40 percent were opposed. The poll, conducted by Survey USA with the San Diego
Union Tribune, illustrated bipartisan support for the recall effort that was also showcased in the petitions drawing about a
third of all signatures collected from Democrats and independents. Republicans said they supported Newsom's removal by
an 8:1 margin, while Democrats said the same 3:1. The survey is raising the alarm for team Newsom with 40 days to go
until recall day on Sept. 14, when voters will decide in a yes/no question whether the governor should remain in office or be
removed. Residents will then vote on a replacement. Unless a majority vote for removal, the results of the second
ballot will be meaningless except for a showing of who might be the front-runner in 2022.
54% Of Hispanic
Voters In California Say They Would Vote To Recall Newsom. More than half of Hispanics in California say they
would vote to recall Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to an Inside California Politics/Emerson College poll
published Tuesday [8/3/2021]. The poll of 1,000 registered voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3%, showed
Californians are split on the issue with 46% in favor of recalling Newsom and 48% are against it. Among Hispanics, 54%
said they would vote to recall. A majority of black and Asian respondents support keeping Newsom, while among whites,
support for and opposition to removing the governor is evenly split, according to the poll. Newsom's response to
COVID-19, a rise in crime in his state, and an uptick in unemployment are the major reasons why some people want to recall
him. The special election is scheduled for Sept. 14, and 41 Californians are officially running against Newsom.
Soon,
no one in California will be able to bring home the bacon. In just five months, California may well be the
first state in America that effectively bans any pork products. This is because, back in 2018, voters approved an
animal welfare proposition setting out space requirements standards for those who breed pigs, egg-laying chickens, and veal
calves. While chicken farmers and veal producers across America have mostly met those standards, it seems the hog
farmers have had a harder time. This is an interesting story because it touches upon the laws of unintended
consequences and the effect a state like California has on the rest of America.
The Editor says...
Once again, Democrat voters have failed to look down the road before voting. Once they get tired of the impending bacon shortage,
there will be another vote, and the anti-bacon law will be repealed. The lefties could have saved themselves a lot of trouble
(which they have yet to experience) by thinking ahead.
Chesa
Boudin stands up for shoplifters and drug dealers. San Francisco's broad-daylight retail heists have shocked
the nation in their brazenness. They've triggered the closings of stores, such as Walgreens, and the shortening of
hours from retail giants such as Target. Forty-four percent of city is planning to move out, with 80% citing
out-of-control crime. But the shoplifters have got a defender, too — in San Francisco District Attorney
Chesa Boudin. So do the drug dealers. The only problems out that Chesa sees are the victims. Which tells us
a lot about the state of moral bankruptcy of the wokester movement, and what the New Yorker dismisses as the "backlash."
Bacon
in California May Soon Be More Hard to Find as Pig Rules Take Effect. Thanks to a reworked menu and long hours,
Jeannie Kim managed to keep her San Francisco restaurant alive during the coronavirus pandemic. That makes it all the
more frustrating that she fears her breakfast-focused diner could be ruined within months by new rules that could make one of
her top menu items — bacon — hard to get in California. [...] Animal welfare organizations for years
have been pushing for more humane treatment of farm animals but the California rules could be a rare case of consumers
clearly paying a price for their beliefs.
California's
recall is America's final warning. On September 14, Californians of all political persuasions will answer two
questions on their ballot: 1) Do you want to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom? 2) Whom do you
want to replace him? The fate of our nation will be determined by the outcome of those two questions. How can I
say that? First, you have to know what's really going on, so let's pull back the curtain. Months ago, Ric Grenell
publicly said he had no interest in running for governor because Pelosi's daughter said there wasn't going to be a recall.
If it came down to it, Feinstein would have a sudden reason to retire, and Newsom would appoint himself to fill that Senate
seat. Yet here we are, with a recall election on the calendar. What changed? We the People. The recall
signature effort shocked the world just by forcing the vote to happen. The establishment greatly underestimated how much
Californians loathe this governor. He's toast. Damaged goods. The challenge now is to mitigate his impact
going forward.
The
Dissident California Right Is the Future. The new Left came to power convincing voters to let it run the state
on behalf of multiple imagined victims and social inequities, but it has been so long since their leftist politics delivered
anything of actual use to anyone that no honest person in the state can be ignorant of the actual political system and its
objective anymore. California is now composed of an enormous priestly class of state and municipal workers, together
with myriad quasi-independent contractors and semi-private companies which are essentially dependent upon state government
contracts and largesse for their economic survival, united with extremely profitable nonprofit activists and the already
fantastically wealthy using the sympathetic story of the state's enormous homeless, poor, and immigrant population to ensure
perpetual rule for themselves. It doesn't matter that nothing ever gets better for this last group — that
homelessness increases exponentially, or that the poor are increasingly without decent housing, energy, education, or
healthcare.
SEIU
to Newsom: Stuff your vaccine mandate. The civil war brewing between Democratic executives and the unions
that elect them spread to California yesterday — and at the worst moment for Gavin Newsom. Facing a recall
election prompted by his incompetent handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Newsom rushed to match Joe Biden's actions by
imposing a vaccine-or-mask-and-test mandate on the state's workforce. The union representing the largest number of
those workers publicly blasted Newsom for his unilateral abrogation of the collective bargaining agreement and declared that
they would refuse to cooperate.
California
governor Gavin Newsom compares unvaccinated to drunk drivers. California Governor Gavin Newsom has compared
unvaccinated individuals to drunk drivers. He appeared on CNN to discuss the recent spike in coronavirus cases due to
the Delta variant. As US health authorities are considering re-instating mask guidelines even for vaccinated adults due
to the surge of cases, Mr Newsom claimed that individuals who refused to take the vaccine posed a risk to the public similar
to drunk driving. "It's like drunk drivers, you don't have the right to go out and drink and drive and put everybody else
at risk including your own life," Mr Newsom said.
San
Fran to spend $300,000 on designer garbage cans despite worsening homeless crisis. Thanks to misplaced Democrat
priorities on the local and state level, the entire state of California is slowly turning into a dumpster fire. On the
state level, Democrat-run cities like San Francisco are preparing to spend up to $300,000 for designer trash cans as crime
continues to spike. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the city's Board of Supervisors is convinced that the
root of the city's endless crisis is all the trash and litter on the streets. "Our streets and our sidewalks are a mess
and the cans we have out there now are actually part of the problem," one supervisor, Matt Haney, said to the Chronicle.
Plummeting
reservoir levels could soon force Oroville hydropower offline. A major California hydroelectric power plant
could soon stop generating power amid worsening drought conditions. According to state water officials, the Edward
Hyatt Powerplant at Lake Oroville could go offline as soon as August or September — a time frame that would
coincide with a feared power crunch this summer. The plant, which opened in the late 1960s, has never been forced
offline by low lake levels before. "I think it's a bit shocking," said Jordan Kern, a professor at the department of
forestry and environmental resources at North Carolina State University. "The fact that it's projected to go offline
just speaks to how severe the drought is," said Kern, who studies how power grids are impacted by extreme weather.
'Their
Hands Are Tied': San Francisco Locals Demand Change To Stop Brazen Crime. San Francisco local businesses and
employees are calling for change as they describe increasingly brazen shoplifting and car break-ins. Many residents
told Fox News they believe changing California law Proposition 47 is the solution. "The police are actually wonderful,
their hands are tied, that's what's going on out here." Gianni, a local who works in Fisherman's Wharf, told Fox News.
San Francisco Police Department's Public Information Officer, Robert Rueca explained "There's a threshold of 950 dollars that
needs to be met in order for a misdemeanor to turn into a felony when it comes to theft."
Judge
Orders California to Include Larry Elder on Recall Election Ballot. Late Wednesday afternoon, attorney Harmeet K.
Dhillon announced that a California judge has ordered Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber to include Republican Larry
Elder on the final ballot for the September 14 gubernatorial recall election. The ruling applies to two concurrent
suits brought against Weber to remedy the fact that Elder was left off Monday's preliminary list of candidate names.
Dhillon and her colleague attorney Mark Meuser represented California voter Betty Chu while Larry Elder was represented by
attorney Steve Baric: [Tweet]
Newsom
threatens: We might be headed back to lockdowns and school closures if people don't get vaccinated. It's
an indirect threat. He doesn't say anything will definitely happen, rather that Californians won't need to "worry"
about in-class instruction and closing small businesses again if more people get vaccinated. And if they don't,
then...? My memory's starting to fail in old age but I could have sworn that the CDC and the American Academy of
Pediatrics issued guidance within the past two weeks that schools must reopen this fall. No matter how bad the
pandemic gets, depriving kids of any more classroom time is too dangerous to their development. Make 'em mask up,
spread out, open the windows, do whatever you've gotta do. But keep them in class. Evidently Newsom didn't get the memo.
License
to shoplift: Two thieves brazenly stroll out of TJ Maxx with armfuls of clothes. Two men casually walked
out of a Los Angeles area TJ Maxx with their arms full of what appears to be stolen goods as brazen shoplifters continue to
rampage through California retail stores. Viral video posted earlier this week shows two men carrying armfuls of jeans,
jackets and other apparel as they casually saunter out of a TJ Maxx in the Granada Hills section of the San Fernando Valley
north of Los Angeles. 'That looks great,' one man is heard saying in the video as the two men head toward the door with
the stolen loot, making no haste as they leave.
This
Is What's Become Of California Since They Decriminalized Shoplifting. This is what is happening daily in California
these days now that legislators voted in Prop 47, where thefts under $950 will not be prosecuted, so cops will not bother
showing up. The account shared a shocking video Tuesday of what they call an "organized shoplifting crew" hitting a
TJ Maxx store in La Canada Flintridge, an L.A. environ. The video shows two black men casually strolling out of the
store with their arms full of merchandise still on their hangers. One of the men carries a large, oversized duffle bag on
his back, clearly filled with more items.
Pausing
a minute to consider the damage leftism does to America. In California, robberies of items worth less than $950
are misdemeanors, not felonies. Moreover, in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, the prosecutors whom George Soros
placed in office will not prosecute crimes. They exist to protect criminals, not law-abiding citizens. And that
is how you end up with this video: [Video clip]
This
Shocking Video Shows Just How Brazen Crime In California Has Become. California's slide into chaos has not been
an accident. A huge reason for the striking rise in homelessness and both petty and violent crime is Prop 47, a bill
deceptively titled the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. The actual bill couldn't be further from the title. It
reduces the penalties for felony crimes, allows for early release of violent criminals, changes some violent felonies to
misdemeanors, and allows criminals to steal up to $950 dollars per day in property without prosecution. As a result,
police officers are less and less likely to respond to calls reporting petty theft, as there isn't much they can do with a suspect.
California
is releasing 76K inmates early, including violent felons. With little notice, California on Saturday is
increasing early release credits for 76,000 inmates, including violent and repeat felons, as it further trims the population
of what once was the nation's largest state correctional system. More than 63,000 inmates convicted of violent crimes
will be eligible for good behavior credits that shorten their sentences by one-third instead of the one-fifth that had been
in place since 2017. That includes nearly 20,000 inmates who are serving life sentences with the possibility of parole.
LAPD
to stop charging criminals for many offenses. Law enforcement and the incarceration of known criminals is such
a 20th-century concept, right? That seems to be the message once again coming out of Los Angeles now that ultra-liberal
George Gascon is in charge of the county District Attorney's office. The latest announcement coming from the LAPD is
that more suspects who are arrested for a variety of non-violent crimes, including some felonies, will not be taken to court,
prosecuted, or put in jail. Instead, they will be "diverted" to community support programs and social services.
Rather than incarceration, the suspects will be provided with "care and treatment" without facing the stigma of being treated
like a criminal. And just as a reminder, this new policy is being put in place at the same time that the city is facing
a historic surge in crimes of all types.
California
pays Liberty Counsel $1.35 million to settle Harvest Rock lawsuit. One year after Liberty Counsel sued
Gov. Gavin Newsom on behalf of Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry, the state of California paid a
settlement of $1.35 million on July 15. As a result of Liberty Counsel's lawsuit, a federal district court in May
approved the first state-wide permanent injunction in the U.S. against COVID restrictions on churches and places of worship.
Under the statewide permanent injunction, all California churches were allowed to hold worship services without discriminatory
restrictions. The injunction also required the state of California to pay $1.35 million to Liberty Counsel to cover
attorney's fees and other costs. The money will be used to continue litigation on behalf of other churches against COVID
restrictions, including a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, the nonprofit religious freedom organization said in a statement.
Why
Joe Biden Won't Defend Women from Transgenders. The issue of transgender 'rights' is hot right now because more
people are beginning to understand that they are waging a rights war on women and girls. Recently, at the Wi Spa in Los
Angeles, a man escorted by two self-professed lesbian activists paraded his intact male genitalia around in the area of the
spa supposedly reserved for the female clientele (including very young girls). California Civil Code 51(b) is being
interpreted as meaning that male indecent exposure is now legally acceptable. Which means that adult males can parade
around exposed in full view of young girls and claim this is a transgender 'right.'
After
San Francisco shoplifting video goes viral, officials argue thefts aren't rampant. A flurry of shoplifters in
masks and hooded jackets sprinted from a downtown Neiman Marcus last week and into getaway cars with armfuls of designer
handbags — a scene captured on video and raising fears that rings of thieves were hitting retail businesses. The
incident, which remains under investigation, was only the latest to give an impression of lawlessness running rampant in San
Francisco's stores, where people have been caught on recordings openly swiping products seemingly without repercussion.
But city leaders are pushing back at that image after the release Monday [7/12/2021] of a midyear public safety report. Police
data shows overall thefts are down 9 percent in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2020, when the
city was on lockdown and many businesses closed during the onset of the pandemic.
California
issues school mask mandate and rescinds it within hours. This turned out to be one of the quicker cases of a
governmental about-face in recent memory. Despite the CDC's recent guidance saying that it was safe to go back to
in-person learning at schools and universities without the need for masks, the state of California decided to make up its own
rules yesterday. State health officials not only ignored the CDC guidance but went several steps further. The new
instructions would have forced schools to bar students from campus if they refused to wear a mask. That lasted for
approximately four hours. Then Gavin Newsom and state public health Director Mark Ghaly apparently thought better of
it. They won't be issuing orders for colleges and universities, and the "mandate" for public K-12 schools will leave
the decision up to the schools. So in reality, there is no mandate at all.
San
Francisco Political Leaders Out of Touch as City Descends Into Lawlessness. If you don't like the explosion of
violent crime, you're a racist. That's the message sent by a top aide to the San Francisco district attorney to a
self-described "Democrat" who had said on Twitter that the jump in crime had made people afraid for their lives and dubious
about the city's future. The Democrat tweeted that "every single one of my friends right now is considering leaving"
San Francisco because of the big increase in crime, adding: "My friends are scared for their children, and their
husbands are scared for their wives." Kate Chatfield, a senior director for San Francisco District Attorney Chesa
Boudin, responded from a now-locked Twitter account: "'Husbands are scared for their wives' — your reminder that
the 'crime surge' crowd shares the same ideology as The Birth of a Nation."
The Unlivable
City. People are fleeing California in general, and San Francisco in particular, in droves. As to San
Francisco, the fundamental problem is lawlessness. Which means not just violent crime, which the city has in abundance,
but a breakdown in the fundamental norms of civilization that make urban living possible. The main problem is that San
Francisco's far-left city administration has decided not to prosecute theft. The result, naturally, is an epidemic of
theft. Thus Target, for example, is now closing its San Francisco stores at 6 p.m. [...] How low has San Francisco
sunk? Check out this video of thieves openly stealing handbags and similar products from a Neiman Marcus store:
[Video clip]
What's
happening in San Francisco goes far beyond 'shoplifting'. We're hearing a lot about the overwhelming number of
murders and attempted murders in Chicago and New York. San Francisco, however, has gone in a different direction.
It seems to have become the "shoplifting" capital of America. This honor goes along with its long having been the
capital of America for car break-ins. It's so bad that I know suburbanites who refuse to drive in the City. The
latest "shoplifting" video is an impressive one, showing a whole gang of thieves racing out of San Francisco's Neiman Marcus
store on Union Square, clutching what appears to be thousands of dollars in handbags.
California
taxpayers to pay $1.3 billion to enroll more illegal immigrants in Medicaid. California taxpayers will soon pay
more in taxes to enroll more illegal immigrants in Medicaid, a plan that was part of a recently approved state budget.
Younger illegal immigrants are already enrolled in Medicaid, SNAP and other federally funded programs. The plan
proposed by California Democrats guarantees that low-income illegal immigrants older than age 50 will receive health
insurance. Coverage would take effect in 2022 and cost taxpayers $1.3 billion per year. It follows a
$213 billion taxpayer-funded plan proposed in 2019 to allow low-income illegal immigrants between the ages of 19 and 25 to
enroll in Medicaid. Democrats then estimated that adding 90,000 people to Medicaid would cost taxpayers $98 million
per year.
The
Genesis of Our American Collective Meltdown. [Scroll down] California is the worst run of our
states. But it is also always a helpful bellwether of where we are descending. The state has plenty of oil and
natural gas. There are still remnants of a once thriving nuclear and hydroelectric industry. But power outages
are now commonplace — to the point that, like Third-Worlders, we merely shrug when the lights go out as if it were
a green way of reducing carbon emissions. Forty million people driving on roads and highways intended for 20 million
people [...] Gas can range from $4.00 to over $5.00 a gallon; $100 fill-ups are common. [...] Californians are leaving in
droves, but housing costs are still soaring. [...] High-speed rail is a tragic joke. It is inert and unfinished.
The ostentatious half-built overpasses stand like modern graffiti-stained versions of Stonehenge. [...] Mention San Francisco
to a Californian, and the same, monotonous warnings arise: don't go there! And if you must, don't park
there — since smashing into a car and stealing its contents are viewed as understandable redistribution rather
than criminal acts. [...] In California, logging an acre of timber is insurrectionary; 400,000 acres going up in smoke is
"stuff happens."
Target,
Walgreens make drastic changes due to increase in San Francisco thefts. According to the California Retailer's
Association three cities in our state are among the top 10 in the country when it comes to organized retail crime — Los
Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento. Already we are seeing the negative impact it is having in San Francisco with
stores permanently shutting down or closing early. It has become one of the most pressing issues in our city today.
Target has now acknowledged that San Francisco is the only city in America where they have decided to close some stores early
because of the escalating retail crime.
California
bans state travel to Florida, 4 more over anti-LGBTQ laws. California officials have added Florida and four
other states to a list of places where state-funded travel is banned over laws that purportedly discriminate against LGBTQ
individuals. State Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, announced Monday that Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota and
West Virginia had joined Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South
Dakota, Tennessee and Texas on the no-go list, which was first created in 2016. "When states discriminate against LGBTQ+
Americans, California law requires our office to take action," Bonta said in a statement. "These new additions to the
state-funded travel restrictions list are about exactly that ... Rather than focusing on solving real issues, some
politicians think it's in their best interest to demonize trans youth and block life-saving care.
What
Was California Thinking? Back in 2014, the political leadership of California became alarmed at the rapidly
rising prison population in the state. The state was also under court order to reduce the overcrowding in state
prisons. [...] The first thing they did was pass Proposition 47 — the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.
That sounds like something everyone would want. 58% of Californians voted in favor of the measure. [...] Nothing in Prop 47
was designed to actually reduce crime. It redefined drug use and theft of property valued at under $950 as misdemeanors rather
than felonies. Punishment would no longer be imprisonment, but a fine of $1,000. The objective of prison population
reduction was achieved by not incarcerating criminals, rather than by eliminating criminal behavior. [...] Prop 47 also allows
those imprisoned under previous guidelines to petition for early release. If a convict is in prison for stealing less than
$950, he is now eligible for early release. As many as 10,000 state prisoners have been released.
Amid
Surging Crime Rates And Murders, Oakland City Council Votes To Defund Police. Despite recently receiving $190
million from the Biden Administration, the City Council of Oakland, California voted Thursday to defund their police
department by almost $18 million. The city's crime rates have skyrocketed, seeing a 90 percent increase in murders,
88 percent increase in carjackings, and 70 percent increase in shootings all in the last year. Sixty-five lives have been
lost, and 1,300 robberies have been recorded, yet, the city redirected police funds toward the Department of Violence Prevention, "with
the intention of improving public safety" via alternate means. On Monday [6/28/2021], the Department of Violence Prevention's chief
was interrupted during an on-camera interview by an attempted armed robbery. The department's chief was being interviewed on the
steps of Oakland City Hall, when they were attacked. The suspects remain outstanding.
California
Democrats seek to change rules ahead of Newsom recall. California Democrats hope to pass an election reform
bill that would help Gov. Gavin Newsom stave off a likely recall election later this year. Assembly Bill 152,
first proposed in the California State Assembly in January and currently under consideration by the state Senate, would
"allow the Secretary of State to certify the sufficiency of the signatures before the Joint Legislative Budget Committee has
had 30 days to review and comment on the estimate if the Legislature has appropriated funds it determines are reasonably
necessary to conduct the recall election and has designated funds for that purpose in the Budget Act or another statute."
Under current state law, the Department of Finance issues a cost estimate, and then the Joint Legislative Budget Committee
has 30 days to review and comment on the costs.
Why
Newsom Needs to be Recalled. [Scroll down] A large part of the focus of the recall effort has been
Newsom's response to the pandemic, which has seemed heavy-handed to many residents, with questionable lockdowns and other
restrictions on daily life. And, of course, there's the nausea-inducing spectacle of Newsom flouting his own lockdown
to party it up at one of the most exclusive restaurants in the country, Napa's famous French Laundry. While Newsom
deserves all the scorn rained down on him for that incident, it is a sideshow, really. Its only long-term value may be
to awaken the residents of California to Newsom's shallow approach to governing the state and his reluctance to address
California's chronic problems. Finally, there's the issue of Newsom's dereliction as the head of California's
administrative bureaucracy. There hasn't been a lot of reporting on the billions of dollars in fraud discovered in
California's unemployment insurance program, but it is an outrage and as the chief executive of the state, he bears ultimate
responsibility.
The
Solution To California's Water Crisis Lies Off Its Coast. In California 1 to 1.5 acre-feet will supply a year's
water for the average household. Lake Shasta, the largest reservoir, holds 4,552,000 acre-feet. It would cost about
$1.4 million to add 634,000 acre-feet, enough to support 2 million people yearly, including adding more water to be
added to agriculture. However, the SWCB is environmentally opposed to any height addition to the Shasta dam.
Indeed, across California, deep-rooted environmentalism has made it difficult to put into practice solutions to increase
water storage or produce new water through desalination.
California
set to extend state eviction moratorium beyond June and cover 100% unpaid rent for struggling tenants.
Lawmakers in Sacramento are poised to extend statewide eviction protections beyond the end of June to ensure emergency rental
aid reaches struggling tenants in time to cover potentially all of their unpaid rent during the pandemic, a move strongly
backed by local renter advocates and met with resistance by many landlords. The underlying issue is that state and
county governments have been slow to distribute the $2.6 billion in federal funds to cover back rent. In Sonoma County,
officials have so far disbursed less than 10% of the $32 million set aside for its rental aid program. Renter advocates
fear that if a statewide moratorium on most evictions is not extended, many tenants won't receive assistance in time to stay
in their homes and avoid crushing debt.
San
Francisco cops say viral Walgreens shoplifting incident is par for the course. San Francisco has become a
shoplifter's paradise — with thieves like the one caught on video looting a Walgreens emboldened by relaxed
punishment for the crime as businesses shutter, cops say. The Walgreens heist, which happened right in front of a
security guard, renewed the debate over a controversial city law called Proposition 47. "What happened in that Walgreens
has been going on in that city for quite a while," San Francisco police Lt. Tracy McCray said on Fox News' "America's
Newsroom" Wednesday. "I'm used to it," McCray continued. "I mean, we can have a greatest hits compilation of
people just walking in and cleaning out the store shelves and security guards, the people who work there, just standing by
helplessly because they can't do anything."
Police
investigating attempt to steal SF school board recall petitions. This actually happened about two weeks ago but
it just got covered in the San Francisco Chronicle last Friday [6/11/2021]. The backstory here is that a group of
parents in San Francisco have launched a recall petition aimed at three members of the school board. Fed up with the
board's focus on renaming schools (on the grounds that current names are racist) and ending merit based admissions to Lowell
High School (on the grounds that meritocracy is racist), the group is trying get Board President Gabriela Lopez, former Board
VP Alison Collins and Faauuga Moliga recalled. They have been collecting signatures to get the issue on the ballot.
Gov.
Newsom won't lift virus 'state of emergency'. While California will end most of its coronavirus restrictions on
June 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday he will not lift the statewide "state of emergency" that gives him broad powers
to either suspend or declare new rules and regulations. California has been under a state of emergency since March 4,
2020. Since then, Newsom has authorized billions of dollars in emergency spending and issued at least 47 executive orders to
alter or suspend 200 state laws and regulations because of the virus, according to a resolution authored by Republican state senators.
California
Gov. Newsom Releases His Political Prisoners. June 15 should be celebrated as the Golden State Independence Day.
On this date, more than 15 long months after he issued his first imperial order limiting the movements of an ostensibly free people,
Gov. Gavin Newsom reopened the state. "Never Again" should replace "Eureka" on the Great Seal of California as a reminder of
the misery inflicted by the governor. It's arguable that no other state was more restrictive during the coronavirus pandemic.
WalletHub ranked California 45th in "fewest COVID-19 restrictions." But because California has, at nearly 40 million, more
residents than the five states (and District of Columbia) that were more restrictive, a case can be made that its lockdown rules were
more stringent since they affected a greater number of people. Newsom, sued 55 times by Californians who felt they had been
unfairly bound by his commandments, took a heavy-handed approach to the coronavirus outbreak. Columnist Steven Greenhut observed as early
as May of last year that Newsom was acting as the "King of Sacramento" and Californians had little choice but to serve at his pleasure.
Slammed
by COVID-19 Shutdown, San Luis Obispo Boosts Newsom Recall. Though in-person service came and went at the Paso
Robles winery Paix Sur Terre during the pandemic, alcohol consumption skyrocketed, making for winemaker Ryan Pease's "best
year ever." But despite personal gains, Pease couldn't shake the feeling of guilt when talking to neighbors who
struggled to run restaurants and small businesses throughout San Luis Obispo County. When the opportunity came to back
a recall petition to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom, the lifelong Democrat signed his name. "Our mindset here is, because
we're so isolated from other metropolitan areas, we take care of each other. We create our own economy," said Pease,
37. "Even though I'm a Democrat and blue, we don't like to be told what to do here."
Gavin
Newsom Goes Back on His Word, State of Emergency Will Remain in Place After June 15 Deadline. On Friday,
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) alerted state residents that he was not going to lift he state of emergency on June 15, which
was the proposed date. Newsom made the announcement during a press conference while announcing winners of a vaccine
lottery, "Vax for the Win," where those selected win $50,000 cash prizes. By the way, it's taxable. Welcome to
California, the state with the highest income tax. The casual reveal came during what Eric Ting of SF Gate called a
"testy press conference" in his headline, also indicating in his piece that it was "often tense." The exchange was
between Newsom and AP reporter Adam Beam, who referenced the June 15 date.
California
State Water Board is Manufacturing a Drought by Draining Reservoirs into the Ocean. "In the last 14 days, 90%
of Delta inflow went to sea. It's equal to a year's supply of water for 1 million people. #ManMadeDrought," Central
Valley farmer Kristi Diener said. Diener, a California water expert and farmer, has been warning steadily that water is
unnecessarily being let out to sea as the state faces a normal dry year. "Are we having a dry year? Yes," Diener
says. "That is normal for us. Should we be having water shortages in the start of our second dry year? No.
Our reservoirs were designed to provide a steady five year supply for all users, and were filled to the top in June 2019."
If there's one thing a tyrant loves, it's a "state of emergency." Gov.
Newsom Won't Lift COVID 'State Of Emergency' When California Reopens. California Gov. Gavin Newsom on
Friday said he will not lift a state of emergency that gives him broad powers to impose or suspend rules involving the
coronavirus when the state fully reopens its economy on June 15. But he still intends to lift most mask and other
restrictions on that date. California has been under a state of emergency since March 4, 2020. Since then,
Newsom has authorized billions of dollars in emergency spending and issued at least 47 executive orders to alter or suspend
200 state laws and regulations because of the virus, according to a resolution authored by Republican state senators.
California
Ordered to Pay $2 Million in Legal Fees to Church that Violated Coronavirus Restrictions. After a lengthy court
battle, the government of the state of California backed down in its efforts to enforce coronavirus restrictions on a church
that continued hosting in-person worship services, and has now agreed in a settlement to pay the church's $2 million worth
of legal fees, Breitbart reports. When the state repeatedly attempted to enforce strict capacity limits, mask
mandates, and other "social distancing" requirements on the San Diego-based Pentecostal church, the church's lawyers filed
suit with the United States Supreme Court, winning all three suits. This ultimately led to lawyers on behalf of the
state of California agreeing to the settlement, which was approved by a federal judge. Responding to the settlement, an
attorney with the Thomas More Society, a legal group that represents churches facing suppression of their First Amendment
rights, pointed out that while businesses such as Costco were limited to 50 percent capacity, while churches were forced to
stay as low as 25 percent, and sometimes even lower.
Chesa
Boudin blames lazy, racist cops for San Francisco's crime surge and his own unpopularity. Apparently, all would
be paradise in crime-pit San Francisco if it weren't for all those lazy, racist cops who are persecuting poor, heroic Chesa
Boudin, the city's leftist do-nothing district attorney. That's the word from young Chesa, stepson of Bill Ayers, son
of a terrorist convicted of killing a black cop, and former Hugo Chávez adviser, who's suddenly found himself unpopular
in the city and facing a voter recall.
Judge
orders Calif gov Newsom to pay $1.35 million for illegally locking down church. I am pretty certain that
California taxpayers will have to cough up the money to pay for Gavin Newsom's misbehavior, even as cop-haters press to make
police officers personally liable for judgments against their actions on the job. Nonetheless, it is a satisfying
development in the disposal of Newsom's unconstitutional shutdown of religious services in the name of COVID. [...] The order
came as part of a settlement agreement between Harvest Rock Church, represented by Liberty Counsel, and the state of
California that also included a permanent injunction against imposing restrictions on churches and other houses of worship.
CA
Gov. Newsom Ordered to Pay $1.35M in Legal Fees for Shutting Down Churches. This week, a California
District Court approved the settlement of Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry's lawsuit against
Gov. Gavin Newsom, establishing the first state-wide permanent injunction in the country against COVID restrictions on
churches and places of worship. The Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit religious rights law firm, represented Harvest Rock in
their legal proceedings against the governor and the state. Under the settlement agreement, discriminatory restrictions
on worship and religious gatherings may no longer be applied to churches and places of worship.
Newsom
Forced to Pay 1.35 Million in Church Lawsuit, Continues to Happily Gaslight. Last week, a California District
Court approved and entered a Settlement Agreement between Harvest Rock Church (HRC), Harvest International Ministries, and
Governor Gavin Newsom. HRC filed a lawsuit back in 2020 opposing the COVID restrictions that shut down in-person
worship throughout the state. The Supreme Court's April decision was the catalyst that allowed the settlement of a
number of cases against Newsom and the State of California.
Facing
Dry Year, CA State Water Board is Draining California Reservoirs. "In the last 14 days, 90% of Delta inflow
went to sea. It's equal to a year's supply of water for 1 million people. #ManMadeDrought," Central Valley farmer
Kristi Diener said. Diener, a California water expert and farmer, has been warning steadily that water is unnecessarily
being let out to sea as the state faces a normal dry year. "Are we having a dry year? Yes," Diener says.
"That is normal for us. Should we be having water shortages in the start of our second dry year? No. Our
reservoirs were designed to provide a steady five year supply for all users, and were filled to the top in June 2019."
California
Democratic lawmakers look to remove penalty for possessing firearm during crime. Reform-minded activists in
California vow to move forward after a bill that would have dramatically reduced, and in some cases eliminated, enhanced
sentences for crimes committed while using a gun failed to advance through the legislature Thursday [5/20/2021]. "AB 1509
was held in the Appropriations committee and will not move forward this year," Greg Fidell, policy manager of Initiate Justice,
wrote on Twitter. "This is very painful — but we will be back stronger next year." The state lawmakers
who backed the Anti-Racism Sentencing Reform Act claim the existing law, which allows prosecutors to seek additional time
behind bars, is racist — 89% of the roughly 40,000 inmates serving gun enhancement sentences in California are
people of color, according to figures from Restore Justice.
Court
Permanently Stops Gavin Newsom From Locking Down Churches. Today, a California District Court entered an order
approving Liberty Counsel's settlement of the lawsuit on behalf of Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry
against California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The full and final settlement was approved today the District Court and thus
is the first state-wide permanent injunction in the country against COVID restrictions on churches and places of
worship. Once entered by the District Court, this full settlement will be the first state-wide permanent injunction in
the country against COVID restrictions on churches and places of worship. Under the agreed state-wide permanent
injunction, all California churches may hold worship without discriminatory restrictions. Under the settlement,
California may no longer impose discriminatory restrictions upon houses of worship. The governor must also pay Liberty
Counsel $1,350,000 to reimburse attorney's fees and costs.
California
Governor Newsom Using Federal COVID Bailout Money to Bail Himself Out of COVID Recall Effort. California
Governor Gavin Newsom is taking the federal COVID bailout money to new levels of manipulated intent by using the funds to
bail himself out of a recall that is based on the COVID dictates he initiated. Thus part of the reason why the highly
political federal agencies lifted the COVID rules surfaces. Politically the blue state shutdowns were backfiring, and
the ramifications were getting more serious by the day. The CDC responded to the political shift against JoeBama and
lifted their mandates. Simultaneously, Governor Newsom goes on a spending spree in California to provide bailout money
to all the favored leftist causes.
Paywatch:
Thanks to the Public Employee Union, Multiple LA Lifeguards Make Nearly $400K a Year. As reported by Forbes,
lifeguards in The Golden State can really clean up. Per OpenTheBooks.com CEO Adam Andrzejewski, his
organization found that, in 2019, 82 LA County guardians of the shore raked in more than $200,000. Seven lifeguards
reeled in more than $300,000. And — look out, Mitch Buchannon — one swim-trunked savior pulled in
$391,971. Here's how Fernando Boiteux's earnings break down: $205,619 in salary, $60,452 in perks, and
$125,900 in benefits.
These incremental changes only go in one direction, and that is the direction of more government control of your life. Gov.
Newsom proposes kindergarten for 4-year-olds. California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a "total
transformation" of public schools in America's largest state Wednesday by offering pre-kindergarten to all 4-year-olds,
opening up college savings accounts for low-income students and offering universal after-school care in disadvantaged
communities. Newsom announced the measures as part of a broad new education spending package made possible by the
state's surprise budget surplus.
Red
Pills Are Falling Down All Over the Golden State. Californians are realizing how deeply deluded they have been
about the condition of their state. The first signs of enlightenment came when an intrepid band of dissidents tried yet
again to gather enough signatures to force a recall election of Governor Gavin Newsom. With no money, and four failed
attempts already on record, nobody expected the fifth effort to succeed. But a year later, this volunteer army of
several thousand Californians gathered nearly 2.2 million signed petitions. In early May, California's secretary of
state will almost certainly announce certification of the signatures. And later this year, California's feckless governor
will be fighting for his political life. Recalls are contagious. Inspired by the Newsom recall, efforts are now
underway to force recall elections in San Francisco and Los Angeles County, targeting the District Attorneys in those cities.
In the
Name of Equity, California Will Discourage Students Who Are Gifted at Math. California's Department of
Education is working on a new framework for K-12 mathematics that discourages gifted students from enrolling in accelerated
classes that study advanced concepts like calculus. The draft of the framework is hundreds of pages long and covers a
wide range of topics. But its overriding concern is inequity. The department is worried that too many
students are sorted into different math tracks based on their natural abilities, which leads some to take calculus by their
senior year of high school while others don't make it past basic algebra. The department's solution is to prohibit any
sorting until high school, keeping gifted kids in the same classrooms as their less mathematically inclined peers until at
least grade nine.
Keeping
the dangerous criminals out of prison isn't a winning plan. All decent people want our prisons to be safe
places. One could, potentially, make prisons safer by removing the dangerous criminals from the prisons and releasing
them onto the streets. Yes, the logic is there. The sense, the morality, and the justice, on the other hand, are
totally absent. Sadly, California is part of a growing trend of states that believe they are choosing freedom over
punishment. Instead, they are diminishing society's freedom by abandoning justice and safety. Of course, offering
second chances to those who earn them is a good thing. Failing to penalize offenders adequately or deter them in the
first place, though, is an invitation to cultural rot and mayhem.
California
Granting Early Release to 76K Inmates — Including Some Pretty Nasty Dudes. This just in from the
no-longer-Golden State: California is giving 76,000 inmates, including violent and repeat felons, the opportunity to
leave prison earlier as the state aims to further trim the population of what once was the nation's largest state
correctional system. Shocked? Me neither. As reported by AP, more than 63,000 of the 76,000 inmates, who
were convicted of violent crimes, will be eligible for "good behavior credits" that shorten their sentences by one-third
instead of the one-fifth that had been in place since 2017. That includes nearly 20,000 inmates who are serving life
sentences with the possibility of parole.
76,000
California Violent, Repeat Felons Get Earlier Releases. California is giving 76,000 inmates, including violent
and repeat felons, the opportunity to leave prison earlier as the state aims to further trim the population of what once was
the nation's largest state correctional system. More than 63,000 inmates convicted of violent crimes will be eligible
for good behavior credits that shorten their sentences by one-third instead of the one-fifth that had been in place since
2017. That includes nearly 20,000 inmates who are serving life sentences with the possibility of parole. The new rules
take effect Saturday but it will be months or years before any inmates go free earlier. Corrections officials say the
goal is to reward inmates who better themselves while critics said the move will endanger the public.
76,000
California Inmates [are] Now Eligible for Earlier Releases. California is giving 76,000 inmates, including
violent and repeat felons, the opportunity to leave prison earlier as the state aims to further trim the population of what
once was the nation's largest state correctional system. More than 63,000 inmates convicted of violent crimes will be
eligible for good behavior credits that shorten their sentences by one-third instead of the one-fifth that had been in place
since 2017.
Enough
verified signatures submitted to qualify for recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. California
Gov. Gavin Newsom will likely face a recall election after the campaign to recall the Democrat reached the requisite
number of signatures to qualify for the question to be placed on the ballot this year. More than 1,626,000 verified
signatures were collected, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber reported on Monday, which is more than 100,000 above
what is needed to force a recount. The window for signature collection ended in March, and since then, officials have
conducted a lengthy signature verification process. Voters will now have the opportunity to submit a written request to
their county registrar of voters over the next 30 business days to have their name removed from the petition.
Chesa
Boudin and now the dead baby. It's getting harder and harder to justify San Francisco District Attorney Chesa
Boudin's let-'em-all-out prosecutorial policies. He calls it 'restorative justice.' In reality, it's bad guys go
free. Last December, the radical leftwing D.A. tried to extricate himself from the deaths of two innocent women hit by
a drunken thug in a stolen car who mowed them down in a hit-and-run following a burglary. The thug was a parolee who
was only out on the streets because Chesa let him out of jail. After that travesty, Chesa said that other people did
it, claiming "systemic failure." That excuse didn't work, and shortly afterward, triggered a public effort to recall him.
Public
school enrollment plunges in California — and everywhere else. Have the wokesters finally reached a
tipping point? Leftists of multiple stripes have been making public schools horrible places, and now students are
bolting. [...] In California, it's white students who are bolting most. The AP reports that they constitute 22% of
school enrollment but account for half of the exits. They're moving on to private schools, whose enrollments are up, or
to homeschooling, which is available to anyone with a literate and motivated parent. Or else just moving to a better
state. It suggests that poor black and Latino kids, who form far larger demographic groups within the California
districts, might just be not bolting because economically, they can't.
Kroger
Closing Ralphs And Food 4 Less In Long Beach Saturday Over Hero Pay Law. Kroger is closing two of its stores,
Ralphs and Food 4 Less, on Saturday after the City of Long Beach mandated that the company pay employees $4 extra an hour in
"hero pay" amid the coronavirus pandemic. As customers came by the store on Saturday [4/17/2021], there wasn't much
left to buy and the shelves were visibly empty, but people in the neighborhood said they wanted to shop there one more time.
California
Dems Want the Name, Address of Everyone Who Signs a Recall Petition. California Democrats are doing it
again. Whenever they're afraid that the electorate might have a mind of its own and might be tired of their
shenanigans — so much that a recall against one of them might be successful — they attempt to change
the rules midstream. They did this in 2017 when State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Orange County) was successfully recalled
despite Democrats passing legislation that retroactively changed the number of signatures needed to qualify a recall
petition. [...] Now Newman is back in the State Senate and has sponsored legislation that would allow politicians targeted by
a recall to get a copy of the petition — including the names of everyone who signed it and their contact
information. Why would they need that? Newman believes people who signed a recall petition against him were given
false information about what they were signing and that he should have had an opportunity to correct that.
Supreme
Court Rules Against California's Limits On In-Home Religious Gatherings. The U.S. Supreme Court in a divided
decision late Friday ruled in favor of lifting restrictions on in-home religious gatherings, overturning a lower court ruling
that upheld Gov. Gavin Newsom's limits on people from different homes. The 5-4 unsigned ruling follows other
similar decisions recently regarding churches and the coronavirus pandemic. The decision noted it was the fifth time
the court has rejected the Ninth Circuit's analysis of California coronavirus restrictions. Chief Justice John Roberts
dissented but did not sign the dissenting statement submitted by justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen
Breyer. The ruling stated that before it can limit religious gatherings, the government must prove they pose a greater
danger than secular activities that remain open, such as shopping or attending movies.
Ex-Trump
Official Launches Group Looking to Flip California Red. When it comes to potential Republican challengers for
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a recall, Ric Grenell, the former acting director of national intelligence
under then-President Donald Trump, is a name that gets mentioned frequently. Whether or not he runs is still up in the
air, although he's reportedly been laying the groundwork. However, talking to Fox News this week, Grenell detailed a
more ambitious goal: He wants to "Fix California." That's at least the name of his new group, which he's
launching to bring "permanent" change to the Golden State after the Democratic Party there has lurched to the left.
The Editor says...
I see this idea as quixotic at best. California's political system is designed to keep Democrats in office forever,
with very little competition. Even if Republicans take over tomorrow, the mess that has been created by Democrats was
the result of decades of mismanagement, and would take an enormous upheaval to rectify. Homeless bums and drug addicts
would have to be rounded up by the hundreds and locked up somewhere. Illegal aliens would have to be
uprooted and deported en masse. All the state laws that have created a hostile environment for small
business would have to be repealed. None of that is going to happen. California is on the road to ruin,
and the brakes have failed.
California's migrant
mess. California, epicenter of the nation's illegal immigrant population and the first sanctuary state, hasn't
seen its borders overrun due to the nearly complete border wall. The state's economy had already been smothered by
extended COVID-19 lockdowns, businesses fleeing to other states, and children kept home and out of school. But relief
was short-lived. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, and Health and Human Services
Secretary Xavier Becerra, all Democrats, worked out a plan to bring 1,450 minor girls to the San Diego Convention Center as a
way to ease conditions in Texas. More than 500 girls are now on-site, with the rest to arrive shortly. And 70
brought COVID-19 with them.
The California Left's Abuse of
IRS Info. Judicial Watch is fighting to protect the First Amendment rights of non-profit donors across America
from a new California law which "compels the disclosure of certain organization's donors [to its state government]."
"This challenge to California law has now made its way to the Supreme Court," Fitton explained last month. Filing an
amici curiae (friends of the court) brief, Judicial Watch is asking the Supreme Court to consider or take up the
case. "We're obviously asking for this California law to be overturned," Fitton continued.
The
'most terrifying story I have ever had to report': Glenn Beck reveals newly approved CA school curriculum. California's
Board of Education voted unanimously to approve a new, multimillion-dollar Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, which will be offered
statewide with many of the state's largest school districts making it a requirement for graduation. According to National
Review, the curriculum is "probably the most radical, polemical, and ideologically loaded educational document ever offered up
for public consideration in the free world." On the radio program Tuesday [3/30/2021], Glenn Beck reacted to the newly
approved curriculum, calling it "the craziest, most terrifying story I have ever had to report."
Against
California's Ethnic-Studies Curriculum. To graduate from high school in the state of California, students have
to take just three years of English and two years of math. Democrats in the state are now trying to add another subject
to these paltry requirements, which are among the most lax and lenient in the nation. Chemistry, biology, physics,
history, geography, civics, and foreign languages have all been passed over. As it turns out, the subject that
California's political machine wants taught to all children in the state without exception is ethnic studies. Today,
the state's Board of Education will vote on whether or not to approve a model curriculum for this subject to be used in each
and every Californian public school. The state legislature has signaled its intention to make the curriculum mandatory
if the Board of Education gives its approval. If such a bill is signed into law, ethnic studies will be the only
subject in California with the same pedagogical priority in K-12 classrooms as reading, writing, and arithmetic.
California
county funds welfare program that excludes whites and males. Something strange is going on out in Marin County,
California. The elected officials there have instituted a pilot program offering a universal basic income in the form
of a monthly stipend to a limited number of participants. That in and of itself isn't unique, as programs such as this
have been tested in other places, such as Stockton, California. A couple of aspects of this program, however, really
are unique. The most glaring among these is the fact that in order to qualify, participants have to be women. No
males need apply. On top of that, the program is not available to white women, but only to women of color.
Los
Angeles agency votes for $36M police funding boost as crime surges. Officials in Los Angeles voted this week to
re-fund their police amid an upswing in crime. Less than a year after "defund the police" fervor swept across major
cities from coast to coast, Los Angeles County Metro, the region's public transportation agency, voted Thursday [3/25/2021]
to boost police funding by $36 million. The vote passed 12-0, including a "yea" from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a
major advocate of defund the police measures, who chairs the board. The money will go toward the agency's
law-enforcement contracts with the Los Angeles Police Department, Long Beach Police Department and Los Angeles Sherriff's
Department. Los Angeles has been among the nation's leading communities in efforts to defund the police.
The Editor says...
The inevitable "upswing in crime" could have been avoided if the county leadership had any amount of foresight, along with the
backbone necessary to resist the mobs.
Whites need not apply. Oakland
launches guaranteed pay plan for low-income people of color. The mayor of Oakland, California, on Tuesday
[3/23/2021] announced a privately funded program that will give low-income families of color $500 per month with no rules on
how they can spend it. The program is the latest experiment with a "guaranteed income," an idea that giving poor people
a set amount of money each month helps ease the stresses of poverty that often lead to poor health while hindering their
ability to find full-time work.
Asian-Americans
Worry About Democrat Bill 'Legalizing' Mugging. Here's a snapshot of why these violent assaults keep
happening. And why they're happening so often in California and New York, in areas where crime has essentially been
legalized. The upsurge in store robberies in California was driven by pro-crime measures that essentially legalized
shoplifting. Now the Democrats want to all but legalize robbery. [...] SB82 specifically states that, "This bill would
define the crime of petty theft in the first degree as taking the property from the person of another or from a commercial
establishment by means of force or fear without the use of a deadly weapon or great bodily injury." That means a mugging
is now petty theft as long as the thugs don't use a gun or cause 'great bodily injury[.]'
California
Police Reform Bill May Ban Christians From Law Enforcement. California Assembly Bill 655 would require police
departments to investigate whether not potential cops had "engaged in membership in a hate group, participation in hate group
activities, or public expressions of hate." It would make such activities "grounds for termination." When
Americans think of a "hate group," many minds would conjure up a domestic terrorist group motivated by racial animus like the
Ku Klux Klan. Yet some transgender activists and organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) use the term
"hate group" as an epithet to demonize their political and ideological opposition. The SPLC has become notorious for
branding mainstream conservative and Christian groups as "hate groups" because they advocate against same-sex marriage or
transgender activism.
Congressional
Democrats push a job-killing law even Californians couldn't stand. In the 2020 election, 63% of California
voters backed President Biden. On the same ballot, those voters essentially repealed a job-killing state law that Biden
and Democrats now want to impose on a national level in the form of the PRO Act. That California law, A.B. 5, attempted
to force businesses that use contract and freelance workers into hiring them with employee benefits. Instead, it
predictably caused freelance work to dry up throughout the state. News conglomerates cut loose their California-based
freelancers. A variety of independent contractors, such as truck drivers, professional service providers, and
interpreters, suddenly faced financial ruin. Legislators were forced to carve out multiple exceptions to their
ill-considered law in a last-ditch effort to save it, but even that wasn't enough. In the end, Uber and Lyft, the
iconic ride-share applications that the law had originally targeted, came within a hair's breadth of shutting down all
service in California. A judge stepped in and blocked the law just in time.
CA
Dept of Ed voting on curriculum that would encourage students to chant to Aztec god of sacrifice. The
California Department of Education (CDE) is set to vote on a new ethnic studies curriculum that reportedly calls for the
"decolonization" of society in America and encourages students to chant to the Aztec god of human sacrifice. The
curriculum will focus on "social consciousness" and cultures that have allegedly not gotten enough attention in
textbooks. That would include "African American, Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x, Native American, and Asian American and
Pacific Islander studies," according to the CDE. "By affirming the identities and contributions of marginalized groups
in our society, ethnic studies helps students see themselves and each other as part of the narrative of the United States,"
the overview states.
San
Francisco's Poop-Patrol Boss Made $380K, Didn't Do [His Job], And Has Been Charged With Corruption. In 2019, we
highlighted a tripling in reported human waste in the public way. Citizens filed 10,644 complaints in 2014 and the
number of complaints escalated to 30,996 cases by 2019. [...] Mohammed Nuru, the public works director and self-titled
@MrCleanSF, was in charge of keeping city streets clean and oversaw a $500 million budget. He was indicted by the
Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2020. Nuru was charged with one count of alleged public corruption and is innocent until
proven guilty. "The complaint describes a web of corruption involving bribery, kickbacks, and side deals by one of San
Francisco's highest-ranking city employees," said U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson. "The public is entitled to honest
work from public officials, free from manipulation for the official's own personal benefit and profit."
Soros'
SF DA Chesa Boudin Tried Zero Murders and Only 2 Sex Assaults. There's a pro-crimes arms race among Soros DAs
bent on freeing the most criminals and convicting the fewest. But even within that fishbowl, Chesa Boudin, Weatherman
royalty backed by Soros, is something special. The Marina Times, which California Democrats have been trying to stamp
out, has the numbers and they're something special. [...] Just keep in mind, Chesa Boudin is the DA of San Francisco, not a
small town in Iowa. These are staggeringly insane numbers that paint a picture of a justice system that has essentially
shut down.
Gavin
Newsom, In Recall Hole, Keeps Digging. California Governor Gavin Newsom gave his "State of the State" address
last night [3/9/2021] and decided he wasn't giving his opponents and advocates for his recall enough ammunition. So he
obliged them by choosing to frame his campaign for "equity" as a question of not going back to "normal" when the pandemic
ends because "normal accepts inequity." Telling people that things will not "return to normal" after what they've been
through is not a way to win friends and influence voters. It is, in fact, another reason to sign a recall petition and
vote the incompetent governor out of office.
Gavin
Newsom's State of the State: 'I Have Made Mistakes ... but We Own Them'. California Governor Gavin Newsom
delivered his annual "State of the State" address from an empty Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night [3/9/2021], hoping to rally
support as he faces a likely recall election in the coming months. Newsom struck an optimistic tone, noting that the
state's coronavirus numbers were improving. And he admitted errors: "We have made mistakes," he said. "I
have made mistakes. But we own them. We learn from them. And we never stop trying."
The Editor says...
I suspect the governor is mistaken if he thinks such a lame statement is enough to keep him from being recalled.
Newsom
recall leaders say they have enough signatures to trigger an election. Leaders of the effort to recall
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday [3/7/2021] they've collected 1.95 million signatures a little more than a week
before the deadline, a number they believe will be more than enough to trigger a special recall election. County and
state elections officials still need to verify that nearly 1.5 million are valid signatures from registered California voters
before the recall can qualify for the ballot. But recall supporters said Sunday that they're confident they've
collected enough. The most recent signature verification numbers from the Secretary of State's Office found that about
83% of the signatures counted by early February were valid. There's no guarantee that validity rate will hold for the
remaining signatures, but if it does, proponents would reach the threshold needed to trigger a special recall election.
Newsom
films pro-vaccine PSA inside restaurant that's closed due to pandemic restrictions. Via Breitbart, is it really
so hard for this guy to stay out of restaurants during a pandemic? His night out at one a few months ago might end up
costing him his job. If that's not a reason to dine in until COVID is over, I don't know what is. This PSA was
filmed at Los Amigos restaurant in Fresno. Fresno is in California's "purple tier," per Fox News, which means indoor
dining isn't allowed. Yet there was Newsom with comedian George Lopez, firing off this PSA about vaccinations inside
the building. Fox notes that he was at Los Amigos to discuss a relief grant received by the restaurant's owners to help
them weather the economic storm until restrictions are finally lifted. Okay, but why did they need to meet indoors to
do that?
California
Bill Would Give $1,000 Fines to Retailers With Separate 'Girls' and 'Boys' Toy Sections. Retail stores in most
of California are only allowed to operate at 25 percent capacity. A new bill in the state legislature would ensure that
whatever part of their shop is allowed to be open is as inclusive as possible. Last week, Assembly Members Evan Low
(D-Cupertino) and Cristina Garcia (D-Los Angeles) introduced a bill that would require retailers to offer their toys and
childcare products in a gender-neutral format. Brick-and-mortar shops would have to display the majority of their
products and clothing aimed at children in one undivided, unisex area on the sales floor. They'd also be barred from
putting up signage that would indicate whether a product was intended for a boy or girl.
Vox
vs. Reality: California unemployment fraud. [Scroll down] The problems with the California
system weren't new ones and Vox pointed to California Assembly member David Chiu who it reported was "spearheading the
charge" to improve it. The article contains a link to this piece in the LA Times from last August. It's
headlined, "California lawmakers ask Newsom to act immediately on unemployment claims" and it describes a letter which
Assembly member Chiu and a bipartisan group of lawmakers had sent to the governor. [...] You get the picture. Chiu was
telling the governor to get the money out the door fast and worry about the paperwork later. And Vox was citing this as
the kind of effort needed to fix the problems with the California system. In the same piece we're also informed that
one of the problems with some unemployment systems is an emphasis on detecting fraud.
Meet
George Gascón, the Rogue Prosecutor Whose Policies Are Wreaking Havoc in Los Angeles. If you have followed
our rogue prosecutor series, no doubt you were disturbed by Boston's Rachael Rollins and her list of "15 crimes" you can now
commit there, appalled at the anti-police policies of Philadelphia's Larry Krasner, disgusted by the actions of Baltimore's
Marilyn Mosby, nauseated by the weekly death tolls caused by the apathy of Chicago's Kim Foxx, and disconcerted by the
predictable anti-victim policies of Fairfax's Steve Descano. The goal of each of these Soros-backed rogue prosecutors,
as we wrote in our research paper on the topic, is to "fundamentally reverse engineer" the role of the prosecutor and to
fundamentally transform our criminal justice system. To that end, they have enacted policies that favor defendants,
ignore drug laws, prohibit prosecutors from filing certain misdemeanors, and require prosecutors to cut sweetheart deals with
many offenders.
California Suddenly Pushes
Strict 'Signature Match' for Gavin Newsom Recall Drive. California Governor Gavin Newsom, once considered a
rising superstar in the Democratic Party, is suddenly facing a serious effort to get him removed from power. The
petition "Rescue California" has gathered over 1.5 million signatures, enough to qualify to put his recall up for a vote; but
the State of California is poised to go into overdrive to throw out signatures that do not match exactly. [...] Robert
Barnes, a constitutional attorney, notes that California resident Kanye West was removed from the 2020 election ticket due to
signature-matching. "How did Democrats kick Kanye West off the ballot in his home state?" he tweeted. "By
demanding a strict signature match. Guess what rate of signatures were rejected by the election officials? Over
half. Yet the signatures magically match for the general election?" The Rescue California petition drive is thus
pushing to drive far beyond the 1.4 million minumum for signatures and has set a target of at least 1.9 million,
according to organizer Thomas Del Beccaro.
5.7
million Californians to receive $600 stimulus payments. On Tuesday [2/23/2021], California Gov. Gavin
Newsom signed a $7.6 billion coronavirus relief package providing aid to 5.7 million people. Under the package,
$600 one-time payments will go to qualifying Californians, including many who were left out of receiving federal stimulus
funding. "Regardless of your status, those who have been left behind in the federal stimulus, California is not going
to leave you behind," said Newsom.
The Editor says...
Who was "left out of receiving federal stimulus funding?" Illegal aliens. Nobody else, as far as I know.
California,
land of delusion. The latest verbal gymnastics our local San Francisco Bay Area, 11 o'clock news team tried and
failed to explain was why, when COVID cases are rapidly plummeting, we are not opening the state. There are only five
counties that have "graduated" out of the deadly Purple Tier as of this morning [2/21/2021]. After months of touting
the so-called crisis in ICU capacity, now we get no mention of that issue. Instead, we're treated to ten minutes of
proud stories about massive new vaccination sites. These are immediately followed by stories about the lack of
available vaccine doses. It's almost funny. We are exhorted to do our duty and get vaccinated, for the common
good, if we can find any vaccine. I know people who desperately wanted it and had to drive for hours to locate doses.
Personally, I wouldn't get the vaccine. But that's another story.
Gavin
Newsom's crony capitalism racket. Now that California's Gov. Gavin Newsom has a recall petition apparently
reaching the threshold for ballot qualification, there's some renewed press interest in what he's about and what he really
does. Unlike, say, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose style seems to be bullying, machine politics, and use of
snarling political muscle, Newsom's racket for maintaining power seems to be crony capitalism, or, perhaps more accurately,
crony socialism. This isn't surprising in a state with the highest inequality ratios in the nation — big
billionaires in a couple of urban enclaves and a lot of impoverished and marginalized people pretty much everywhere
else. Reason magazine points out that Newsom has found a way to positively thrive on it and, with COVID restrictions,
positively supercharge himself for it.
Donations
'Requested' by Newsom Exploded as His Emergency Powers Ballooned. In 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's
office reported that individuals or organizations made $226 million in private donations to organizations at Newsom's
request. These "behested payments" were a record-setting haul eclipsing all prior donations on record by nearly
$100 million. While most donations supported COVID-19 relief efforts, a closer look suggests Newsom's fundraising
was supercharged not just by the pandemic, but also by the broad emergency powers the Democratic governor has assumed because
of it. Behested payments are a unique feature of California politics. State law defines a behested payment
as a donation to a government program or charity made "at the request, suggestion, or solicitation of, or made in
cooperation, consultation, coordination or concert" with a public official. While payments of $5,000 or more are
disclosed to the public, they remain an overlooked portion of politicians' finances, even though contributions often come
from businesses with interests in the state government. Last year, Newsom raised a combined $45 million from insurance
giants Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente for Project Homekey, his housing initiative. Newsom had selected
Blue Shield CEO Paul Markovich to co-chair California's task force on COVID-19 testing. In January, the governor again
tapped Blue Shield, with assistance from Kaiser Permanente, to manage vaccine distribution across the state.
Funk & Wagnall's
Standard Dictionary of the English Language, 1964 International Edition, Volume One, page 548.
California's
Multibillionaires Intend to Conquer the World. As the oldest man ever to be elected U.S. president begins his
administration, his immediate blizzard of executive actions suggests the energy of someone much younger. The reason for
this is obvious. Joe Biden is not running the country. He is a president in name only. The edicts coming
out of the Oval Office, along with the imminent legislative initiatives, are produced by the American equivalent of a Soviet
politburo, with the political and financial power behind this politburo coming from California. The
political actors occupying key roles include Kamala Harris, whose role as the tie-breaker in the U.S. Senate makes her the
most powerful vice president in recent memory, and Nancy Pelosi, who presides over the U.S. House of Representatives —
both San Francisco Democrats. These two politicians are only the most visible Californians in a group that includes cabinet
secretaries, administrative appointees, and what is by far the largest state Democratic congressional caucus. More
significant is the fact that Californians also provide the financial power behind the Biden politburo, as well as
the cultural power that propels the Democratic narrative.
California is collapsing.
The on-the-ground reality — as opposed to that portrayed in the media or popular culture — is more
Dickensian than utopian. Rather than the state where dreams are made, in reality California increasingly presents the
prototype of a new feudalism fused oddly with a supposedly progressive model in which inequality is growing, not
falling. California now suffers the highest cost-adjusted poverty rate in the country, and the widest gap between
middle and upper-middle income earners. It also has one of the nation's highest Gini ratios, which measures the
inequality of wealth distribution from the richest to poorest residents — and the disparity is growing.
Incredibly, California's level of inequality is greater than that of neighbouring Mexico, and closer to Central American
countries like Guatemala and Honduras than developed nations like Canada and Norway.
Rural
Californians are fighting to reclaim their state, even if that means starting their own. Mark Baird is a
third-generation Californian who hopes to one day be a first-generation Jeffersonian. Baird, like many in California's
sprawling, mostly rural north, is disillusioned with his state's Sacramento-based government, which he believes no longer
represents northern interests. That's why Baird and many others in the 23 counties above Sacramento have officially
declared the reclamation of their state, even if it means breaking away and starting anew in the proposed 51st state of
Jefferson, named for the third U.S. president.
Are you
feeling safer yet? A New York Post editorial quotes New York City police commissioner Dermot Shea: "We
have made staggering numbers of gun arrests, taking guns off the streets from felons, but when you look, three days later,
four days later, those individuals are back on the street committing more gun violence." The editorial continues by
saying that years of often ill conceived criminal justice reform has set up a revolving door that frees even repeat offenders
almost instantly. And "[w]orse, because everyone knows the perp will be back in the neighborhood again — and
the no-bail law lets the defense know right away who has talked — witnesses are ever-harder to come by." Well,
that's in one Democrat-run state. What about California? According to Hotair.com: "Through a series of
measures starting back in 2014, the state of California has made it increasingly easy for people to commit property theft and
get away with it[.] ... Even in cases where they do manage to catch somebody stealing, it's too often not worth the trouble
of taking them down to the station because they'll just be released immediately without bail anyway." One result of this
is that California businesses are shutting down for good.
Organizers
Reportedly Hit Number Of Signatures Required To Force Recall Vote For Gavin Newsom. Organizers behind the
effort to recall California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom said late on Wednesday evening that they have reached the number
of signatures required to force a recall election this year. The multi-million dollar movement to oust Newsom from
office comes in response to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. California has had nearly a million more cases
than the state with the second highest number, and just recently passed New York as the state that has had the most deaths
from the pandemic.
'Woke'
warriors at San Francisco school board deny gay white dad with a mixed-race daughter a place on volunteer parent committee
because he is not diverse enough. A gay white father of a mixed-race child has been denied a spot on the San
Francisco Board of Education's volunteer parent committee because his race doesn't bring enough diversity to the group.
The issue of whether to allow Seth Brenzel to volunteer for the 15-person parent advisory council was debated for almost two
hours on Tuesday night during a board meeting. The parent advisory council, who had unanimously supported Brenzel to
join their all-female committee, had submitted his name to be approved by the school board. His candidacy, however,
faced opposition from some board members and members of the public who argued that there wasn't enough diversity on the
council — even though there are five seats currently empty.
DDA
Jonathan Hatami Files a Harassment Lawsuit Against LA County District Attorney George Gascon. Los Angeles
County District Attorney George Gascon has only been in office a little over two months, but he is already a boil on the side
of Lady Justice. Gascon has not only raised the ire of the Deputy District Attorneys in his office, but of District
Attorneys in other counties across the State. Gascon's "Special Directives" are being disregarded by local and regional
law enforcement, and the liberal-leaning District Attorneys Union has filed a restraining order against him. Los
Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold, and Judge James C. Chalfant have recently neutered Gascon's policies of removing
enhancements and special circumstances in criminal cases, and not enforcing three-strike allegations.
Several
of D.A. George Gascón's reforms [have been] blocked by L.A. County judge. Los Angeles County Dist.
Atty. George Gascón was barred from implementing a significant part of his sprawling criminal justice reform
platform Monday, after a judge ruled his plan to end the use of sentencing enhancements in thousands of criminal cases
violates California law. The order stemmed from a lawsuit filed late last year by the union that represents hundreds of
L.A. County prosecutors, alleging some of Gascón's plans exceeded his legal authority and put line prosecutors in an
ethical bind. Sentencing enhancements can add several years to a defendant's time in prison if certain criteria are
met, such as using a gun causing severe injury during the commission of a crime, or being a documented gang member.
Effort to recall
Gavin Newsom moves closer to becoming a reality. An effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom is
nearing the number of signatures needed with over a month to go before the deadline. "It's highly possible we could get
to 1.5 or 1.6 [million signatures] by the end of this week," said Anne Dunsmore, the campaign manager and finance director of
Rescue California, one of the two groups responsible for the recall effort. The groups have collected 1.4 million of
the 1,495,709 required to force a recall election but will likely have to collect more than the minimum as some signatures
will be invalidated upon review. Dunsmore's group is hoping it can collect 2 million total signatures ahead of the
March 17 deadline, something she says she is confident the group can accomplish.
California's
latest move to thwart its own law enforcement efforts. The day may yet come when the California legislature
proposes a new bill that will actually improve the lives of its citizens, my friends, but today is not that day. The
latest bit of madness to come out of the Golden State is known as Senate Bill 271, and it's clearly designed to make people
less safe rather than safer. Currently, anyone wishing to run for Sheriff in any of California's counties must have
either a certification of competence from the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training or recent, equivalent
salaried law enforcement experience. Makes sense, right? If you're going to put someone in charge of a major law
enforcement agency, it might be nice if they actually knew something about law enforcement and the challenges that officers
face out on the streets. But SB-271 would eliminate that requirement entirely. The stated reason is clear.
They want people who are interested in reforming, defunding or abolishing the police to be able to run for the position.
California
politicians demand grocery stores pay workers more; groceries close instead. Every business operates at a risk,
and the risk-reward ratio was obviously closed to the point that it didn't make sense to put effort into a store with
declining profits. Is this so hard to understand? Apparently, it is, because an emotionally driven, fact-bereft
city councilperson going by the name of Mary Zendejas, who sponsored the bill, said that "it really saddens me that they'd
rather take away 200 jobs instead of doing the right thing, which is paying hazard pay for these local grocery store workers
who risk their lives everyday they come in and who are putting their lives on the line every second they're working."
There is so much wrong with this sentiment. In Zendejas's world, there is now a moral obligation of private companies
to pay whatever rate is deemed appropriate by leftists on a given day. Today it's a $4-an-hour boost because everyone
is a hero. Tomorrow it's a national $15-an-hour increase. These are entirely arbitrary numbers, and by Biden's
logic, if there is no evidence that they upset the balance of supply and demand, then why stop there?
Are
TVs Attracting the Pandemic? Now that Joe Biden has been elected president of the United States and
Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom is the target of a recall effort, the science on the "Flumanchu" has
miraculously changed. KTLA informs us, "After a two-month ban, Los Angeles County restaurants are once again
welcoming customers for outdoor dining Friday." The get-out-of-"Wuflu"-jail order includes restaurants, wineries and
breweries. Then the troll takes effect: "But when the eateries reopen, they can't have televisions on, according
to the county's new health officer order." What's the science behind that senseless royal decree? Nowhere
else in the country are restaurants forbidden to operate their TVs. Costco's electronics' departments have multiple TVs
going from open to close, some with a screen as big as a bedsheet. Yet there have been no reports of coronavirus
outbreaks in Costco. Why are televisions only potentially deadly when patrons are chewing?
Pelosi,
Biden and Newsom Show How Grift and Fraud Makes the Democrat World go Round. The big news out of California
this week is that the utterly incompetent jackasses in the Newsom administration paid out no less than $31 billion in
fraudulent unemployment payments since last April. I say "no less than" because some reports peg the number at a cool
$50 billion. And that's just in one state. [...] Yeah, I guess when you're sending unemployment checks to crime
organizations in China and Russia, your security measures could be said to be lacking.
Facebook
Says No More Ads For Movement To Recall Gavin Newsom. Fascbook is doubling down. Since the violence at
the Capitol our dear leader, the almighty Zuck, has sought out to silence dissent against his comrades in the Democrat
party. While of course Fascbook is free to do as they please as a private company, somehow claiming to be a free and
open forum at the same time is a bit disingenuous. Their actions continue to threaten the free exercise of speech by
individuals and by the press, as numerous personal accounts have been suspended for alleged "hate speech" and seemingly
innocuous articles posted by news organizations on only one side of the aisle (guess which side) are now being flagged by
Fascbook's "fact checkers" as false or for other vague violations.
Carlsbad,
CA Says No More to Lockdowns. May It Be a National Model! [Scroll down] A different, more local
revolt began last weekend in Carlsbad, CA, a town just north of San Diego. Its restaurant and bar owners decided
they're weren't going to take it anymore. They're no longer going to allow witless politicians to destroy what they've
worked so long to build. They're going to open their businesses to eager customers. Some will ask what California
legislators right up to Governor Gavin Newsom will say. Ideally the mini-revolt will wake these sick people up to the
extraordinary damage they're doing, but if not it's worth reminding everyone that the very individuals in government who are
presently limiting your right to work, operate your business, and live your life as you desire, used to not be in
government. Some even used to have regular jobs in the private sector. The main thing is that they're not experts
on medical matters, nor are they abnormally smart. They just happen to be good at politics. They're in no
position to tell us how to live, or operate our businesses, or whether or not we should have a job to go to. They're
just people who want power, prestige and money, only they want it the easy way.
Gov.
Newsom plans to cancel California's COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday
[1/25/2021] plans to lift regional stay-at-home orders across the state — allowing restaurants to resume outdoor
dining amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report. Sources briefed on the governor's plans told the Los
Angeles Times that all counties will return to a colored tier system that assigns local risk levels based on the number of
cases and positivity rates. Most counties will go into the "widespread" risk tier, which allows hair salons to provide
limited services indoors but restricts many other nonessential indoor business operations. Some elected officials and
the restaurant industry have fought in and out of court to overturn the highly controversial outdoor dining ban, according to
the newspaper.
Calif
Gov Newsom appears to be retreating on Covid restriction as recall petition signatures surge. [Scroll
down] Newsom is fighting for his political life in the face of a recall petition that already has garnered 80% of the
signatures necessary for a recall election to be conducted by the state. [...] The immediate spark of the surge in signatures
was the release of photographs of Newsom attending a lavish birthday party at the French Laundry in the Napa Valley, one of
the most famous and expensive restaurants in America, with no mask and sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with his pals, including
the honoree for the occasion, a lobbyist. This in defiance of the lockdown orders he had imposed on lesser Californians.
SF
DA Boudin Skips Memorial For Women Killed By Drunk Parolee — to Tweet About Inmates Not Receiving Vaccines. On
Friday afternoon [1/22/2021], a grieving mother who'd flown to San Francisco from Japan to collect her daughter's body and
belongings spoke at a memorial for that daughter, which was held on a sidewalk near the intersection where a drunk parolee in
a stolen car mowed her and another woman down on New Year's Eve. After running over Hanaka Abe, 27, and Elizabeth
Platt, 60, the parolee kept going, but was quickly apprehended by law enforcement. The crash has been big news in San
Francisco because the man who committed the horrific crime shouldn't have been on the street. Troy McAllister, 45, was
released from prison and placed on parole in April 2020 after serving five years for robbery. He was arrested in
November and December on felony charges, but instead of actually filing the charges the San Francisco DA's office simply
notified McAllister's parole officer that he'd been arrested [...]
Why
Is Gavin Newsom Hiding Coronavirus Data from the Public? California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom is hiding
key coronavirus data from the public while inexplicably allowing several counties in the state to reopen. Following a
surge in November, Newsom unveiled new lockdown orders that divided the state into five regions, with each region locking
down whenever ICU hospital capacity dipped below 15 percent. Before long, about 98 percent of the state's population
fell under the new restrictions. Despite ICU capacity still south of 15 percent, the governor has lifted restrictions
for 13 counties in the Greater Sacramento area, the AP reported. State data updated daily shows the Sacramento region
currently has an ICU capacity of around 7.8 percent at the time of this writing.
Effort
to Recall California Governor Gavin Newsom Attracts More Than 1.2 Million Signatures. The effort to recall
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has attracted more than 1.2 million signatures. Recall organizers have until March
17th to collect 1,495,709 signatures. Californians are fed up with Newsom's authoritarian Covid lockdown orders that
have destroyed thousands of small businesses. Newsom came under fire after he ordered businesses to close while keeping
his own winery, Plumpjack Winery open.
Biden's
HHS Appointee Launches Civil Rights Investigation Of Nation's Largest Sheriff's Dept. On Friday [1/22/2021],
California's Democratic Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is also President Joe Biden's choice to head the Department of
Health and Human Services, announced that he is launching a civil rights probe into the Los Angeles County Sheriff's
Department (LASD). The agency is the largest sheriff's department in the United States and operates America's biggest
jail system. According to a news release from Becerra's office, "the investigation will seek to determine whether LASD
has engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing."
California
state senator trying to legalize hard drugs. Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has made good on his
promise to begin his effort to "decriminalize all drug use" step by step with the introduction of several bills at the start
of the new legislative session. Senate Bill 57 creates "safe injection sites" where drug addicts can use illicit drugs
under medical supervision. Senate Bill 73 lowers the criminal penalties on users and dealers of heroin, opiates or
opium derivatives, salts, cannabis, phencyclidine (PCP), and other dangerous drugs. Still promised, but not yet
introduced, is a bill Wiener says will legalize all psychedelic drugs such as LSD and magic mushrooms.
California
Democrat floats $23 minimum wage. California Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., asked his Twitter followers this
week to consider the benefits of raising the minimum wage above $20 per hour. In a since-deleted post captured by
ProPublica, Khanna noted that raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour is expected to lift 1 million people out of
poverty — while envisioning what an even steeper increase would do. "Raising the minimum wage to $15 would
lift 1 million people out of poverty. Imagine how many more lives would be impacted if we matched the rate of
productivity and made it $23/hr," the post read. A spokesperson for Khanna's office did not return FOX Business'
request for comment as to why the post was deleted.
It's
no time for Biden to be California dreamin'. We did a double take at the report this week that Joe Biden, once
inaugurated as president, would treat California as the administration's "de facto think tank," placing it "center stage
again in Washington's policy arena." Surely, only Biden's enemies would spread such a vicious rumor about the new chief
executive. But the sources for the extraordinary story are supporters of Biden and his Californian running mate Kamala
Harris. The wonder is not that Biden would try to imitate California on policy — he's always been ready to
try anything harebrained — but rather that his allies would admit they planned to do something so obviously foolhardy.
California
COVID-19 benefits fraud could reach $9.8 billion. California may have paid out nearly $10 billion in phony
coronavirus unemployment claims — more than double the previous estimate — with some of that money
going to organized crime in Russia, China and other countries, according to a security firm hired to investigate the
fraud. At least 10% of claims submitted to the state Employment Development Department before controls were installed
in October may have been fraudulent, Blake Hall, founder and CEO of ID.me told the Los Angeles Times. The Times on
Friday [1/15/2021] said that would work out to $9.8 billion of the benefits paid from March through September.
A
Successful Recall of California Gov. Newsom Could Portend a Disaster for Democrats in 2022. As has long
been transparently predictable, the eve of the inauguration of Joe Biden has coincided with the determination of state and
local elected Democrat officials that the threat of a COVID-19 pandemic has passed, and economic and social life in
Democrat-controlled cities and states can now begin to return to "normal". [...] Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot suddenly has a
plan for reopening bars and restaurants in Chicago. [...] But one Governor who apparently has not received the message that
the political imperative of knee-capping the economy to get rid of Donald Trump has now passed is California Governor Gavin
Newsom. He is maintaining the restrictions that have been in place for months, continuing to impose regulatory
restrictions in California on a per county basis.
An
L.A. councilman lied to the FBI. Probation officials say he deserves no jail time. It was the first blockbuster
case to surface in the federal corruption probe of Los Angeles City Hall — a multi-count indictment accusing
former Councilman Mitchell Englander of taking envelopes of cash, lying to the FBI about that money and obstructing its
investigation. Englander, while serving in office, made false statements to FBI agents during three separate
interviews, prosecutors said, providing untrue information about his dealings with a businessman who gave him $15,000 in two
casino bathrooms. The case was resolved quickly, with Englander pleading guilty to a single count of scheming to
falsify material facts. But now, prosecutors are voicing objections to the sentence recommended by federal probation
officials: three years' probation, a $9,500 fine and no jail time or community service.
Re-Open
Cal Now, Day 2: Sheriffs John D'Agostini and Scott Jones -- Constitutionality of the Lockdown Orders and the Rule of Law. The necessary element
of a "Police State" is cooperation from law enforcement to do just that: "enforce" the orders given, no matter how burdensome, unreasonable, and more
importantly, unconstitutional. Thankfully, there are Sheriffs in certain California Counties who take seriously their oath to the Constitution, the
rule of law, and their commitment to serve the people over and above a Governor's or unelected bureaucrat's executive orders or restrictions. [...] Then he
laid out simpler questions that even a 6th grader could understand:
• What amount of force is appropriate to enforce health orders?
• If someone is resisting compliance to health orders, what sort of force is appropriate for us to use against that person?
• Are we supposed to cite someone or release them if they are violating health orders or are we supposed to book them in jail?
• What if we see a public official violating health orders? As we've seen on the news, are we supposed to issue a warrant for that public official?
People in the audience actually yelled, "Yes!" to the last question, then everyone dissolved in laughter and applause. Newsom's French Laundry
debacle looms large in our legend.
Docs
reveal Governor Newsom's secret $1B CCP mask deal. A conservative legal watchdog group has announced that it
received hundreds of pages of documents revealing the contract materials and communications related to a $1 billion contract
for face masks between the California Office of Emergency Services (OES) and the Chinese Communist Party linked BYD.
BYD reportedly has been barred by law from some federal contracts for providing faulty electric vehicles and lithium
batteries to U.S. buyers. The documents, all 848 pages of which can be viewed here, reveal that an OES legal
representative admits that the state deviated from their normal procurement process for this contract. Additionally, in
the contract with the OES, BYD uses a different name, Global Healthcare Product Solutions, LLC., and BYD provides no
liability or warranty for the masks if they are faulty.
Elected
DA's Throughout California Slam LA County DA Gascon's Policies, Refuse to Grant Jurisdiction. Now it's not just
the majority of his 1,000 subordinates who are publicly and vehemently opposed to new Los Angeles County District Attorney
George Gascon's policy directives. Three elected California District Attorneys (all female, interestingly enough) have
slammed Gascon's policies, and two of them sent letters directly to Gascon refusing to allow him to prosecute any cases that
arose in their counties.
New California COVID Orders:
Residents Can Travel No More Than 120 Miles From Their Homes. Despite insanely restrictive lockdowns for 10
months, travel restrictions, quarantine requirements, business closures, mask mandates and school closures, California has
some of the worst COVID numbers in the nation. The state currently has a total of just over 3,800 COVID
fatalities. Of course, in a state of 40 million that is .0095% of the population, but we're really not allowed to put
perspective on COVID-19 numbers these days. That little tidbit was for the curious. In a state like this one,
there is no such thing as policy failure. If a policy isn't working, we just get more of it. On Wednesday, the
California Department of Public Health announced new "guidance" for people in California who have the nerve to want to wander
around their free country. CDPH wants Californians to stay within 120 miles of their residences except for
"essential" travel.
Petition
to Recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom Exceeds 1 Million Signatures. The petition to recall California
Gov. Gavin Newsom exceeded one million signatures this week. "The people are being heard loud and clear, and it is
not a matter of IF we are going to reach our goal necessary that will trigger a recall election of Newsom, it is just when we
cross the finish line," Orrin Heatlie, the lead proponent of the effort to remove the Democrat, in a statement. There
are approximately nine weeks for organizers to gather 500,000 additional signatures, which would put the petition on the
ballot for Californians to vote on. March 17 is the deadline. Heatlie called the recall campaign a "literal
steamroller and Gavin Newsom's failed policies are being runover and flatten [sic] by the People of California who will no
longer be held hostage to his dictatorial failed policies." Newsom's office hasn't responded to requests for comment on
the petition.
Soros Soars, GOP Cowards
Cower. I devoted my Dec. 15 column to newly elected Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón and
his benefactor George Soros. Gascón has one goal: to put the people of L.A. at the mercy of criminals.
He's the face of anarcho-tyranny, and George Soros is the wallet. [...] As I wrote in my Dec. 15 column, a key element in
Gascón's victory was the fact that the local GOP didn't lift a finger to oppose him.
The
riskiest American county to live in might surprise you. There are more than 3,000 counties in the United
States. If I were to ask you which one of them was the riskiest place to live, you might be tempted to say it would be
a county encompassing Baltimore or Portland. Perhaps New York City and Chicago would make your list. In some
cases, you might be correct, but not for the reasons you think, at least according to a new study compiled by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency. You see, my initial reaction was to think about places with the highest violent crime
rates, gang violence and street mobs. But what FEMA was looking at was the odds of a natural disaster striking and
wreaking havoc on residents. And coming in at the top spot on the National Risk Index was Los Angeles County.
The reasons have nothing to do with the Crips and the Bloods or their incompetent government, however.
Los
Angeles County Prosecutors Sue Gascon For Not Enforcing The Law. Los Angeles County District Attorney George
Gascon hasn't even been in office for a month yet but he's been making more headlines than the pandemic. Unfortunately
for Gascon (and the citizens of his county), few of those breaking news items have been of the good variety. The wildly
liberal, anti-cop DA has been working overtime to empty the jails and prevent the prosecution of criminals, even as crime
rates have been surging in the City of Angels. The latest news out of his office won't be changing that pattern at
all. His own prosecutors are going to court to ask a judge to block their new boss's orders and prevent them from
having to break the law themselves by carrying out his directives. And it looks like they have a pretty solid case.
San
Francisco will give $5,000 to help your small business, unless you're a white guy. No check for the
privileged. At least that's the plan in San Francisco where they're passing out $5k grants to small businesses, but
making sure only the right kind of people get the relief. They say they are using this as an opportunity to advance the
city's "equity goals." In a press release from the mayor, she says they are prioritizing "minority-owned businesses
including women-owned, immigrant-owned, people of color-owned businesses," with the money. For those unfamiliar with
history, this is a practice formerly known as "discrimination." Maybe after these white male business owners watch
their livelihoods crumble to nothing around them, they can take some time to examine their privilege.
San
Francisco Proves It's In Full Societal Regression by Embracing Pre-Civil Rights Era Methods. San Francisco
apparently forgot that we in America judge people by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin, but the
radical left that has taken over the city has long abandoned the idea that virtues we've learned over the past decades mean
anything. According to a press release by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, money is to be distributed to struggling
businesses across the city. The catch? Priority will be given to businesses according to race and sex.
LA
Orders Everyone to Stay Home; Asks Hollywood to Maybe Pause. If anyone needed any further reminders that not
only are we not all in this together, but a handful of powerful special interests are calling all the shots. The
essential and non-essential categories are gigantic scams. In California, not only is Hollywood considered essential,
but while people are being ordered to stay home, Hollywood is being asked nicely if it wouldn't possibly consider pausing
production. [...] This isn't the treatment that restaurants are getting. It's also not the treatment that so many other
businesses are on the receiving end of. Small businesses that are told to close and don't close, are harassed by
inspectors. [B]ut Hollywood is politely requested to maybe please consider pausing production. Don't expect the
entertainment industry, which pays the bills of California Democrats, to abide by this any more than they abided by the early
proposed curfew for filming, which was almost immediately rescinded. We're not all in this together.
4
California Small Business Owners Share Their Struggles to Survive Under Lockdowns. California small businesses
are crumbling under the weight of a new stay-at-home order and a lack of meaningful financial assistance.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, issued a new region-based lockdown order for California on Dec. 3, forcing more
California businesses to close their doors or severely limit operations. "We are at a tipping point in our fight
against the virus, and we need to take decisive action now to prevent California's hospital system from being overwhelmed in
the coming weeks," Newsom said in a statement announcing the new restrictions.
The Editor says...
Various governors and county kingpins have been saying things like, "We are at a tipping point in our fight against the virus," for almost a year now.
According to them, we're always at a critical moment in history: We must act immediately if we are to forestall disaster! This moment is
critical! Don't ask any questions, just do as we say! It's only for a few (more) weeks! Trust us!
California
Supreme Court Rules Thousands Of Sex Offenders Are Eligible For Early Release. On Monday [12/28/2020], the
California Supreme Court ruled that thousands of inmates convicted of non-forcible sex crimes may be eligible for early
release under a ballot measure that was overwhelmingly approved by voters four years ago. The initiative, called
Proposition 57, was written by then-Governor Jerry Brown (D) and passed by nearly two-thirds of the electorate. It was
crafted to reduce the state's prison population, saying any person found guilty of a "nonviolent felony offense" would be
eligible for early parole. Brown said it was never intended to cover sex offenders. However, the original
language did not exempt them from consideration. Lower appeals courts had ruled that nonviolent sex offenders could not
be excluded, and the high court affirmed those rulings.
California
is clobbering small businesses with a retroactive tax grab. Isabel Rubinas of Glen Ellyn, Ill., operates
Lollipop Seeds, a virtual boutique that sells clothing for young children online. And like many small specialty
businesses, its sales have slumped badly during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's also being clobbered by the California
Department of Tax and Fee Administration, the state agency that oversees the collection of sales and use taxes. This
month the CDTFA froze Rubinas' business bank account in Illinois in an effort to collect thousands of dollars in taxes on
sales that Lollipop Seeds made to California shoppers through Amazon.com in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The freeze threatens
to push Lollipop Seeds out of business. And her dilemma is not unique.
California
Gives Criminals Vaccine Before Elderly. Criminals are currently the top victim class among Democrats. And
that means privileging killers, muggers, and rapists above everyone else. California, as usual, leads the way in the
pro-crime dystopia.
The
Sovietization of California. [Scroll down] Yet, here I am, sitting in a state where corruption reigns
(one of the leading Democrats of the last half-century told me years ago that politicians in California are window dressing;
the real power in California is wielded by unions) and where, for nine months, normal life has been shut down, schools have
been closed and small businesses have been destroyed in unprecedented numbers. During these last five days in Florida,
a state governed by the pro-freedom party, I went anywhere I wanted. First and foremost, I could eat both inside and
outside restaurants. At one of them, when I stood up to take photos of people dining, a patron who recognized me walked
over and said, "I assume you're just taking pictures of people eating in a restaurant." That's exactly what I was
doing. I even took my two grandchildren to a bowling alley, which was filled with people enjoying themselves playing
myriad arcade games as well as bowling. None of that is allowed almost anywhere in California. It is becoming a
police state, rooted in deception and irrationality. Restaurants have been shut down (except for takeout orders), even
for outdoor dining, for no scientific reason. After ordering Los Angeles county restaurants closed, the health
authorities of Los Angeles county acknowledged in court that they had no evidence that outdoor dining was dangerous; they
ordered restaurants closed, even to outdoor dining, solely in order to keep people home. The left's claim to "follow
the science" is a lie. The left does not follow science; it follows scientists it agrees with and dismisses all other
scientists as "anti-science."
Recalling
Gavin Newsom. Governor Gavin Newsom is a disaster. Newsom is hypocritical, incompetent, and a
non-thinker. How bad does California have to get before people will consider someone who has an "R" after their
name? Just look at his actions over the past year. American Thinker interviewed many who think that the
governor needs to be recalled. Orrin Heatlie is the lead proponent of the nonpartisan recall effort. He feels
that the governor is acting as a tyrant, taking action over and over against the will of the people. He thinks, with
plnety of evidence, that the governor is out of touch with reality: the bill that put independent contractors out of work,
the bill to reduce penalties for certain sex crimes, the worsening of the homeless problem, mismanaging the gas tax, the
high-speed rail line to nowhere, fumbling fire management, and of course his handling of the pandemic, just to name a few of
his missteps. Under the state law for recalls, a hard copy of the petition must be signed in ink, rather than handling
it online. Heatlie is hoping every Californian will sign the petition. The court has granted an extension until
March 17th because they are halfway there but need about 900,000 more signatures. Tom Del Beccaro is working in synch
with Heatlie in an effort to recall Newsom. Del Beccaro agrees with Heatlie on all the reasons why Newsom should be recalled.
California
Dems Shut Down State Over Lack of ICU Beds, After Adding Only 7% More ICU Beds in 8 Months. Governor Newsom's
latest shutdown order closes down small businesses and warns residents to stay at home if their area's number of available
beds in intensive care units drops below 15%. "By invoking a Stay at Home Order for regions where ICU capacity falls
below 15 percent, we can flatten the curve as we've done before and reduce stress on our health care system," Governor
Newsom, fresh from partying at the French Laundry, declared. Spring had given way to summer and then to autumn and
winter, and California Democrats are still using the pretext of preserving "ICU capacity" and "flattening the curve".
The rationale of shutting down an entire state, not so much for the sake of stopping the virus, but for keeping enough beds
open in intensive care units, never made much sense even back then. It's insane now.
Is
Small Business Aware of California's $21 Billion Surplus? A report from the bipartisan Legislative Analyst's Office
says California's savings account could grow to more than $18 billion by the end of 2021. California had a record
$21.5 billion surplus in the state budget in 2018. Newsom and the Democratic-controlled state Legislature spent more
than half of that money on paying down debts and boosting reserves. About $4 billion of it went to support ongoing
programs while the rest was used for one-time projects. Where did it go exactly and where is it going? Small
business owners deserve to know. As Congress debates more funding, a contentious point was federal dollars bailing out
states[, and] we see now that Pelosi is lying as California does not need a bailout.
Motion
Filed To Depose Gov. Newsom Over Calif. Protest Bans At Capitol. The complaints continue to pile up
for California Governor Gavin Newsom. Not only is Newsom combating a massive recall effort across the state, but some
are calling on him to testify about the ban on protests he made at the Capitol last spring. A motion requesting a
deposition was filed by plaintiffs Ron Givens and Christine Bish. Both are involved in a lawsuit that began in April
when California Highway Patrol refused to issue permits for demonstrators at the Sacramento Capitol. CHP claimed the
decision was made in the interest of public safety amid the pandemic. As it's a civil case, attorneys for the state
argued that Newsom, the former highway patrol commissioner, and the public health director cannot be deposed because all
witnesses currently or previously held public office.
California
Sheriff Rejects Court Order To Reduce Inmate Population, Blasts The ACLU. The sheriff of Orange County,
California, said on Wednesday that he would fight a recent order issued by a local superior court judge to significantly
reduce the number of inmates housed in the county's jail system due to COVID-19 concerns. According to FOX 11 News,
Sheriff Don Barnes "is refusing to release any more" incarcerated people despite the mandate. "These people who remain
in the jail, they may have diabetes, but they're also charged with murder," Barnes told the outlet during an online
interview. "Or they may be over 65, but may be a child molester." Sheriff Barnes posted an open letter to social
media on Wednesday afternoon announcing his intention to appeal last Friday's directive by Judge Peter Wilson to cut the
detainee population in all congregate living areas by 50%. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed in April by the
America Civil Liberties Union seeking to protect medically vulnerable people from coronavirus infection.
California
Sheriff Refuses To Release 1,800 Inmates After Judge's Order. A California sheriff is refusing to comply with a
judge's order to release 1,800 inmates from Orange County jails, including individuals who have been imprisoned for murder,
due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson on Friday ordered the
release of 50 percent — or 1,858 inmates out of 3,716 — to curb the transmission of COVID-19, the
disease caused by the CCP virus. "I have no intention of releasing any of these individuals from my custody," said
Sheriff Don Barnes, pushing back against the order. "We are going to file an appeal and we're going to fight it and if
the judge has any intent of releasing any one of these individuals, he will have to go through line by line, name by name,
and tell me which ones he is ordering released."
With
his star dimmed, California's Newsom could face recall. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has had a rough
year. The next one might be even tougher as a recall effort appears to be gaining momentum, fueled partly by outrage
over the first-term Democrat dining with friends at an opulent restaurant while telling state residents to spurn social
gatherings and stay home. It's not uncommon in California for residents to seek recalls but they rarely get on the
ballot — and even fewer succeed. Several launched against Newsom faded but another attempt is drawing
greater attention as his fortunes change while he enters a critical stretch in his governorship.
Inside
Soros DA George Gascon's Office: Deputy DA's Threatened, Intimidated to Uphold New Policies. Soros-funded
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, as we've reported, made major waves during his first week in office. On
day one, he issued nine Special Directives instituting "criminals first" policies like failing to prosecute many
misdemeanors, a blanket prohibition on seeking the death penalty or life without parole, and a ban on charging juveniles as
adults. Throughout the week, victims, law enforcement officers, and court personnel were shocked to see the results of
those policies in action in the courtroom (including a failure to charge enhancements or "strikes" against a man accused of
decapitating two of his children).
Judge
to California's 3rd Largest County: On Account of COVID, Release Half Your Convicts. How do you empty a
large county's jail system by half? That's a question currently demanding an answer, as a West Coast judge has ordered
that very thing. As reported by The Daily Wire, on Friday, Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson dictated Sheriff Don
Barnes must liquidate Orange County's jail system by 50%. The decision comes following the American Civil Liberties
Union's April lawsuit demanding the release of disabled and vulnerable inmates in light of the pandemic.
New
DA Gascon to decline prosecution on range of low-level crimes. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's
Office will no longer prosecute a range of misdemeanor crimes, from resisting arrest to drug possession to making criminal
threats, according to a memo issued this week by new DA George Gascon. [...] The memo spells out misdemeanors which should be
declined or dismissed before arraignment, with a number of exceptions at the discretion of the prosecutor. Among
them: Trespassing, disturbing the peace, driving with no license or a suspended license, making criminal threats, drug
possession, drinking in public, loitering to commit prostitution and resisting arrest, among others.
As
The CA Recall Grows and Small Businesses Revolt, Newsom Gaslights and Says he Has "Great Reverence" for Small
Business. Governor Gavin Newsom is feeling the heat of a growing Recall effort that already has over 800,000
signatures, small businesses that are refusing to go through a second lockdown, and County Sheriffs who are refusing to
enforce this latest Stay-At-Home effort and are essentially telling him to go pound sand. [...] When confronted with his
hostile policies toward small business via some regulation he has allowed the legislature to vote in and that he signs, or
another tax, he does a song and dance about his "humble" small business beginnings and how much he "respects" them.
Nobody is buying it anymore.
Tyranny
Reversed: California Judge Slaps Down Newsom Over Religious-Worship Shutdowns. Just how huge a precedent
will the recent Supreme Court decision in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn turn out to be? We can take one
measure from a California court late yesterday [12/10/2020] in Father Trevor Burfitt v Gavin Newsom. In a stinging
rebuke to Gov. Newsom, Judge Gregory Pulskamp imposed an injunction against enforcement of California's planned COVID-19
restrictions. Using Brooklyn as a guide, Pulskamp ripped California's arbitrary decision to shut down houses of
worship while allowing commercial businesses to remain open. Any such limitation on an explicit and textual constitutional
right requires a strict scrutiny standard, Pulskamp ruled and cited Brooklyn for support. But Pulskamp wonders
whether the restrictions even pass a smell test.
White males are no longer considered. Isn't that racial discrimination? LA
Times editor to Feinstein: Be "selfless" so Newsom doesn't have to choose between a Black or Latino replacement for
Harris. "Selfless," in this case, means "get out of our way so we can indulge our identity-politics wishes."
This plea from LA Times editor Erika Smith coincidentally comes at the same time as today's big New Yorker piece about Dianne
Feinstein's alleged mental-acuity decline. One has to wonder whether this might be motivating the Capitol Hill sources
who talked with Jane Mayer, too. [...] The problem, as Smith sees it, is that Gavin Newsom has to pick someone to fill out
Kamala Harris' remaining Senate term. The opening has created a food fight between the two key ethnic demographics of
the Democratic Party in California. Black party leaders see the Harris seat as theirs, while Latino leaders have grown
tired of waiting for their turn at California's Senate representation.
LA
District Attorney Whistleblower: Gascon's Sentencing Special Directive Is Illegal. New Los Angeles
District Attorney George Gascon has had the most active first week on the job of probably any officeholder ever,
anywhere. On Day One he issued nine Special Directives to his staff, instituting a wet dream of Black Lives Matter and
Antifa justice policies — and decreed that those policies should be implemented in all pending cases and even up
to 20,000 cases in which the criminals were already sentenced. On Day Two he dropped charges against a "protester"
accused of trying to wreck a train (you read that right) during a protest against the LA Sheriff's Department after deputies
shot and killed a known gang member and drug dealer, Dijon Kizzee, who'd pulled a gun on them. We can't wait to see
what the rest of the week will bring.
New
Los Angeles DA Snubs Staff, Meets With BLM, Will Implement Radical Progressive Agenda. The worst fears about
the new district attorney in Los Angeles County, George Gascón, are already materializing. After defeating the
incumbent DA on November 3, Gascón was sworn in on Monday [12/7/2020]. Gascón announced that his office would
immediately end cash bail for many offenses, refuse to pursue the death penalty, and cease trying juveniles as adults for
violent offenses.
California
Court Order Frees 250 Criminal Illegal Aliens into U.S.. Criminal illegal aliens who were released from
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody due to a court order in Adelanto, California, have been re-arrested for
child sex crimes, burglary, drug possession, and drunk driving. By October, ICE released more than 250 illegal aliens
from their Adelanto detention facility after a court order mandated that they free up space. Those released were put in
the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program that places GPS ankle bracelets on each illegal alien as they are freed into the
interior of the United States.
LA
Restaurant Owner Rips Garcetti Hypocrisy: Why Shut Me Down While Allowing A Hollywood Canteen In My Parking
Lot? Earlier this week, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti banned outdoor service at restaurants in response to
the COVID-19 transmission spike. That includes Pineapple Hill Grill and Saloon in Sherman Oaks, whose owner Angela
Marsden sunk $80,000 into social-distanced outdoor dining infrastructure and had planned to reopen today. Marsden went
to the store yesterday to collect a few items for a planned protest, but got a big surprise when she arrived at the parking
lot adjacent to her dining patio. [Video clip]
Supreme
Court sides with church challenging Calif.'s COVID-19 restrictions. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday [12/3/2020] ruled
against a pandemic-related order by California Gov. Gavin Newsom banning some indoor religious services, agreeing with
critics that it is unconstitutional. In a one-page order, the high court granted a petition from lawyers for Harvest
Rock Church in Pasadena, Calif., seeking to set aside a lower court ruling upholding Newsom's ban.
California Secedes
from Black America. [Scroll down] Proposition 16, which would have allowed for favoritism of nonwhites in
public employment, education, and contracting, lost by a wide margin. Yet the backers of Prop. 16 outspent the
opposition $30 million to $2 million. And what a list of backers it was! The California Democrat Party and every
Democrat officeholder in the state championed Prop. 16, as did every major newspaper. Every leftist "social justice"
organization — the ACLU, NAACP, NOW, the ADL, BLM, even the Sierra Club and the PTA — backed Prop. 16.
So did the Chamber of Commerce, Twitter, Facebook, Netflix, Microsoft, Uber, Dropbox, Reddit, Lyft, Yelp, AirBnB, Instacart,
Gap, Levi's, United Airlines, Wells Fargo, the 49ers, the Giants, and the Oakland A's. Soros backed it. The Chan/Zuckerberg
Initiative backed it. Ava DuVernay backed it. Kaiser, Blue Shield, and PG&E backed it. All those heavy hitters.
All that money, and in a "blue state" no less. And yet... it wasn't even close. The big bucks, the big endorsements, the
push from big business and big tech, came to nothing.
Governor
Preen. If Hollywood were to cast a governor and future president, and if a straight white male were still
politically acceptable, he would look like California's Gavin Newsom. The 53-year-old governor, a former mayor of San
Francisco, Newsom handsomely epitomizes the preening politics of the California elite class that has nurtured and financed
his career from the beginning. Like aristocrats of the past, Newsom seems oblivious to the realities felt by
constituents among the lower orders. In the face of massive wildfires, he postures on climate change, conflating fires
with an angry mother Earth — as opposed to poor land management — and uses the conflagration to justify
a radical policy of switching to all-electric power over the next decade, with the elimination of gas-powered cars by 2035.
In the midst of a near economic free-fall, he favors raising taxes and works to tighten pandemic lockdowns; and, with the
state losing its ability to train workers, he backs an education system where almost three out of five California high
schoolers graduate unprepared for either college or a career.
Who
Paid For the (Alleged) $15,000 Wine Bill Gavin Newsom and Friends Racked Up at French Laundry? [Scroll
down] Newsom can receive up to $500/year in gifts from someone who's not a registered state lobbyist. Could they
get around that restriction by claiming it was Newsom's wife who received the gift, and not the Governor? Nope. A
gift to Jennifer Siebel Newsom is considered a gift to Gavin Newsom for the purposes of FPPC reporting. If someone else
paid for Newsom's dinner, the only possible way that could be done without skirting required financial disclosure rules would
be if his longtime friend, the birthday boy, paid for the dinner, and if none of the lobbyist birthday boy's clients had
business currently before the state. Given that executives from the California Medical Association, clients of lobbyist
birthday boy, were in attendance, and that we're in the middle of a pandemic, claiming that exemption might not work.
But who knows. This is Teflon Gavin we're talking about.
Gov. Newsom's
Regime Is Crumbling. The era of one-man rule in California is over. A California Superior Court has ruled
in favor of me and fellow legislator James Gallagher in our lawsuit challenging Gov. Gavin Newsom's abuse of
power. The judge ruled that Newsom violated the state constitution by unilaterally ordering that all registered voters
be sent mail-in ballots. More importantly, she found good cause for a permanent injunction restraining Newsom from
issuing any further unconstitutional orders that make "new statutory law or legislative policy." The court rejected
Newsom's extraordinary claim that a state of emergency centralizes the state's powers in the hands of the governor, thus
turning California into an autocracy. This is the unlawful basis on which Newsom has collapsed our system of checks and
balances, issuing 58 executive orders and changing over 400 laws unilaterally.
Gavin
Newsom's apology for flouting his mask and social distancing regs make him the most obvious liar since Joe
Isuzu. I am enjoying the squirming of Nancy Pelosi's nephew, California Governor Gavin Newsom, now that he has
been exposed as completely disregarding the COVID guidelines he is trying to force 40 million Californians to follow.
The very same man who told us that when dining out we should put a mask on in-between bites, that we should have no more than
10 people (from no more than 3 households) at our outdoor Thanksgiving celebrations was spotted and photographed
violating all of his strictures on the rest of us. Even worse, the party was held at The French Laundry, one of the fanciest
and most famous restaurants in the world. And it was a 50th birthday party for one of his old friends, who just happens to
be a lobbyist. Also in attendance: The CEO and chief lobbyist of the California Medical Association, who like
Newsom obviously don't believe the mask and social distancing regulations are genuinely important. You've probably seen
the utterly phony "apology" he made to Californians at a press conference. But take a good look at his smiles as he
lies like a Persian rug. He seems to think that the rubes, who are expected to give up their family gatherings at
Thanksgiving, are so dumb that they will buy it.
Gavin
Newsom Manufactures a COVID Crisis to Make California Miserable Again. Fresh on the heels of the Sacramento
Bee's criticism of Gavin Newsom's multi-family extravaganza at the famous French Laundry, a swanky $350-a-person-before-the-wine-is-ordered
restaurant in Yountville, California, and after having his wrist slapped by the state Judiciary for exceeding his constitutional authority
in issuing emergency lockdown orders, he's decided that he really doesn't care what the plebs of his state think or what the law says about
his executive limitations. He's locking the state down again. The reason, as he and the media would have you believe, is that
California is experiencing a surge in positive COVID-19 tests, having just crossed the one million mark in cases. You're supposed
to focus on that big, scary number and not Gavin Newsom's blatant hypocrisy or his unlawful executive overreach, and certainly not the many
questions swirling about the looming prospect of the Trump legal team's potentially exposing massive election fraud, which could have an
enormous impact on the future of our republic.
Rules For Us and Rules For Them.
Of all the quotable lines in George Orwell's Animal Farm, few resonate as much as this one: "All animals are equal, but
some animals are more equal than others." [...] That quotation has been referred to often in recent days after
Gov. Gavin Newsom — fresh off of issuing a new set of edicts admonishing Californians to dine alone at home
and curtail their Thanksgiving celebrations — was caught dining with his wife and 10 other friends at a birthday
party for a prominent lobbyist at the French Laundry in Yountville. It's bad enough for the governor to seemingly violate
his own edicts, but to do so in Napa Valley, at one of the nation's toniest restaurants, certainly gave off the wrong vibe.
Don't
[Bring California's Problems To] The Rest Of America. California's political class is widely regarded as among
the most corrupt, irresponsible, hypocritical, hard left and incompetent of any comparable group of state politicians in the
country, which is saying a lot. The troubles have been on full display this week. A week after imposing sweeping
new restaurant closures across much of the state and telling Californians not to gather in groups for Thanksgiving,
California Gov. Gavin Newsom admitted on Monday that he attended a birthday party for an old friend at an ultra-swank
Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry. Never mind that the party for his buddy, himself a lobbyist, also included
a bunch of medical industry lobbyists. The photos show not only more people in attendance than allowed under state
guidelines, neither the governor nor his wife were wearing masks.
Gavin
Newsom's Thanksgiving hypocrisy: Witness at 3-star Michelin restaurant says governor ate inside and NOT outdoors like
he claims. California governor Gavin Newsom dined indoors when he joined friends for a birthday dinner earlier
this month, a witness has claimed, challenging the governor's account of the celebrations. The witness, a woman who has
not been identified, said she was eating at the French Laundry restaurant on the same night as Newsom — who was dining in a
private room with 11 other people. She said a sliding glass door to the room was initially left open, but was pulled
across because the governor and his party were being 'very loud'.
Newsom
considering statewide curfew as he orders emergency business shutdowns. Nearly three-quarters of California
counties must now operate under the state's most stringent pandemic restrictions, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday,
and health officials are considering a statewide curfew as coronavirus cases surge more dramatically than they did during a
summer spike. Indoor dining, gyms and movie theaters, among other businesses, must either remain closed or shut down in
41 of the state's 58 counties. The governor said he is "sounding the alarm" due to "the fastest increase California has
seen" since the pandemic began. Coronavirus cases have doubled in the last 10 days across the state, which hit the
grim milestone of 1 million coronavirus cases last week.
The
California Elections Pandemic. The once Golden State, renowned for creating and exporting much of what
constitutes American popular culture, now exports a vote-fraud rich, elections-stealing contagion across the nation. [...] A
consequence of Californizing elections will be rampant cynicism. Sullen distrust will take hold. Voters, in
droves, may elect not to vote. Yet nonparticipation may be the best case. In time, the nation may devolve into
warring political factions, who thuggishly vie to control the levers of power. Does that seem surreal?
Investigate Latin America, where countries are colored with rigged elections and associated violence.
California
judge rules Gov. Gavin Newsom overstepped authority with mail ballot order. A California judge has ruled
that Gov. Gavin Newsom overstepped his authority when he issued an executive order requiring vote-by-mail ballots sent
to all registered voters, according to reports. Sutter County Superior Court Judge Sarah Heckman ruled Friday
[11/13/2020] that Newsom did not have the authority to amend or change existing election law — even during a
pandemic. The ruling put a permanent injunction on Newsom, prohibiting him from changing existing law under the
California Emergency Services Act (CESA), according to KCRA. The ruling does not affect the results of the 2020 general election.
One-Party
Democrat Rule Is Killing California, And It's Coming For The Country. [Scroll down] COVID sucked the air
out of the room in the presidential debates, and in the media in general. However, my home state was never debilitated
by the Wuhan virus, which likely hit the West Coast in the early months of this year before spreading through the rest of the
country, and never overwhelmed our hospitals. The real epidemic we are witnessing on our streets daily and with which
so many of us have firsthand experience is the drug epidemic. Corona victims are not falling down dead on our streets,
like they did in videos from China; opiate addicts are. During our never-ending lockdown, drug overdoses in San
Francisco reached two a day. For comparison, San Francisco has seen a total of 149 COVID deaths. While nearly all
coronavirus patients eventually recover, few druggies do, so they stay on our streets until death, blocking off entire
sections of the city and taking over public transportation.
Newsom's
Latest COVID Regs [are] Nuttier Than a Holiday Fruitcake. Not many Californians will be trekking over the river
and through the woods to Grandmother's house for the holidays this year if Gov. Gavin Newsom has his way.
According to guidelines issued by his office, Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations in the Golden State can include members
of no more than three households, including everyone present — hosts as well as guests. Granny will
obviously have to be a little more careful about which set of aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews she invites this year.
And for those who do wrangle an invitation, forget about singing any Christmas carols — or music of any kind, for
that matter. Newsom's edict directs that: • instrumental music will be allowed, but only if the
musicians maintain at least a six-foot physical distance between themselves (and all musicians must be from one of the three
households; playing of wind instruments is strongly discouraged); • everyone singing or chanting
should wear a face covering at all times; • all those singing, shouting, chanting or dancing should
maintain physical distancing beyond six feet; and, • they are strongly encouraged to do so quietly (at
or below the volume of a normal speaking voice).
Liberal
California Emigrants are Toxic. Since 2012, California has overwhelmingly sent more transplants to Arizona than
any other state. When surveyed, escaping Californians cite high taxes, high crime rates, unaffordable housing,
out-of-control homelessness, and high unemployment rates as their top reasons for fleeing. Who is responsible for
creating such an alarming living environment within the state? California liberals. A November, 2020 report
produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University stated that California has 395,608 regulatory restrictions.
The sheer volume and scope of California regulations creates such a compliance nightmare that they kill entire industries,
send housing prices to unattainable heights, and restrict even commonplace liberties for which conservative leaning states
are known. Piled onto California's endless river of regulations are its nonsensical laws and policies. Twenty
major metropolitan cities or counties in California have established laws, ordinances, regulations, or other practices that
shield illegal immigrants from prosecution after committing a crime.
Judge
rules California Gov. Newsom's vote-by-mail order was improper. A California judge ruled that
Gov. Gavin Newsom's executive order requiring mail-in ballots to be sent to every registered voter in the state was
unconstitutional. Sutter County Superior Court Judge Sarah Heckman issued her ruling on Monday [11/2/2020], which also
contained a permanent injunction, instructing the governor not to issue further orders that would be similarly
improper. Tuesday's election will be unaffected by the ruling because a vote-by-mail order was ultimately passed by the
state's Legislature.
Judge
rules California's Newsom overstepped his authority with election order. A California judge on Monday
[11/2/2020] issued a tentative ruling in favor of two Republican state lawmakers who had filed an abuse of power lawsuit
against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Executive Order N-67-20, which Newsom signed in June, required that counties
mail all eligible voters vote-by-mail ballots before Election Day and regulated the number of polling stations.
Assemblymembers James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, and Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, challenged Newsom's order in court, arguing that
Newsom's Emergency Services Act — implemented in March amid the burgeoning coronavirus pandemic —
prevented the governor from issuing more executive orders or creating new laws.
California
governor sends his children to private school as local public schools remain closed. California Gov. Gavin
Newsom is sending his children to attend modified in-person instruction at a private school even as the public schools that
serve his local district remain closed for now. Newsom's children are "phasing back into school," he told media on Friday
[10/30/2020], "and we are phasing out of our very challenging distance learning that we've been doing, so many parents are doing up
and down the state." The governor and his wife Jennifer Newsom have four children. They were in private school
prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
CA
Governor Gavin Newsom Ignores Crime Surge yet Claims Preparation for Post-Election Chaos. The headline in the
Hill yesterday, "California governor preparing state for civil unrest following election," is laughable. Governor Gavin
Newsom's idea of any form of preparedness is to stay at home and wear a mask. If anything, his policies of the last
year have guaranteed the civil unrest, rather than any measures to quell it. [...] Of course, King Gavin gave no specifics
about exactly what he planned to do to prepare for any potential election night chaos. Chief Dominick Rivetti of the
Beverly Hills Police Department has already announced that he will close down Rodeo Drive on Election Day and the day after,
and his police department will be on high alert from the Halloween weekend through Tuesday [11/3/2020].
King
Newsom bans indoor gatherings for Thanksgiving and Christmas. California won't allow indoor family gatherings
for the holidays, Christmas and Thanksgiving, and outdoor gatherings are limited to three families for a maximum of two
hours. This is arbitrary and tyrannical. "Gatherings that include more than 3 households are prohibited.
This includes everyone present, including hosts and guests. Remember, the smaller the number of people, the safer,"
reads the "Guidance for Private Gatherings," issued by the California Department of Public Health on October 9.
SF
DA Chesa Boudin surveys crime victims on how to make life easier for their attackers. Chesa Boudin, the radical
left-wing San Francisco District Attorney on whose watch San Francisco has become a crime-infested Caracas-like hellhole, is
starting to draw criticism from crime victims for his unwillingness to prosecute crimes. And adding insult to injury,
he's now using them as fodder for a survey on how to make their attackers' lives better. [...] The aim of course is to use
the responses to advance his political career, smothering out the victims' real concerns in order to advance his let-'em-out
political agenda in a quest for higher office. Always the P.R. man, Chesa is focused on gaslighting the public for his
own self-aggrandisement, claiming he's prosecuting criminals, while he's mainly attempting to get the victims of crimes he
never prosecuted to answer his survey with carefully worded options on what his priorities should be, leaving off the option
of 'prosecuting violent crime' and taking violent thugs off the streets as choices.
L.A.
County Sends Health Department Workers To Fine Church That Sued Newsom. A Catholic church in Los Angeles County
is alleging that the local government dispatched two health department officials to harass them in retaliation for their
priest suing Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials. On Oct. 15, two health officials
showed up at Our Lady of the Angels Church in Arcadia, California, a congregation affiliated with the dissident Society of
St. Pius X. The officials watched approximately 11 parishioners leave the building from the sidewalk and then
cited them for holding indoor worship services in violation of COVID-19 restrictions, according to a copy of the citation
forwarded to The Daily Wire. The citation carried with it a $1,000 fine.
California's
Gavin Newsom goes bonkers issuing Thanksgiving COVID orders. For someone whose previous career was in San
Francisco's trendy restaurant industry, California's Gov. Gavin Newsom has some bizarre ideas about why people gather;
what a comfortable dining experience is; and how people, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says, will do what they do.
Nope, he's got some weird stuff up, motivated, he says, by a supposed new wave of COVID: [...] Anyone with a lick of common
sense knows that neither he nor his constituents are going to observe these ridiculous diktats on the country's biggest
family holiday from the comfort of their own homes. The arbitrariness of these regulations is incredible. Two
hours together? Why not one point five hours instead? Thousands of lives could be saved!
The
Grinch Who Stole Thanksgiving. Governor Gavin Newsom's Department of Health has issued an updated "Guidance for
Private Gatherings" in time for Thanksgiving. Basically, fun is illegal in California: ["]Gatherings that
include more than 3 households are prohibited. This includes everyone present, including hosts and guests.["]
So if you have three kids, you can invite two of them. ["]All gatherings must be held outside. Attendees
may go inside to use restrooms as long as the restrooms are frequently sanitized.["] This would not work well in
Minnesota.
California
Just Declared War On Thanksgiving With Kafka-Level Regulations. Gov. Gavin Newsom just gave Californians
more regulations for an early Christmas present — and anyone hoping to celebrate the holidays with family better
hope there's a gift receipt. Just in time for the Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities, when most families gather
with loved ones, California's Democrat governor has issued a new set of regulations that bans gatherings of more than three
households. Additionally, no indoor gatherings are permitted, so don't plan on eating around the dining room table
unless you lug it out into your backyard. Newsom's ban on gatherings of more than three households means that a family
with more than two grown children can only have two visit at the same time. According to the Pew Research Center,
almost two-thirds of mothers in their young forties in 1976 had three or more children. If those mothers are
grandmothers now and their children are grown, that means up to two-thirds of families would be banned from bringing all
their children under one roof for the holidays.
Close
To Half A Million Ballots [have been] Sent To California Voters Who Have Moved Or Died. Why do you suppose
California Republicans are setting up their own ballot drop boxes at churches and gun shops to offer voters a safe way to
ensure their votes make it to election officials for counting? Do you suppose they have some concerns about how well
the mass mail-in voting system will perform when it's put to the full test on November 3rd? Perish the thought.
I'm sure everything will be fine. Well... nearly everything. But we might not be entirely confident about the
eventual fate of roughly 400,000 ballots that went out this month. That's because their voter rolls don't appear to
have been tended very well over the years and that huge slug of ballots went to people who had either moved out of the state
or taken up residence in cemeteries.
Freshman
House Democrat offers the GOP a pickup opportunity amid crumbling campaign. California's 21st Congressional
District was the last district to be called in the 2018 election, with Democrat T.J. Cox defeating incumbent Republican David
Valadao one month after election day. In a year of crazy election news, their rematch has become even more chaotic.
Cox started his 2018 run in California's 10th District, abandoning the crowded primary after the only Democrat running against
Valadao dropped out. Cox's carpetbagging didn't seem to matter too much as he landed the endorsement of the Fresno
Bee, the district's largest paper. Valadao had won his district in 2016 by nearly the same margin as Hillary Clinton
had, but the 2018 Democratic wave proved too much to survive.
California
Democrat Legislature Passed a Stupid "Vote Harvesting" Law and Are Now Paying the Price. To begin with,
California has the most ridiculously lax ballot harvesting law ever imagined. They passed it in late Nov. 2016 after
Donald Trump won the Presidency, and they clearly had in mind making use of it in a variety of nefarious ways in 2018.
They did so to great benefit, flipping several Congressional races in traditionally GOP districts that had become purple over
the course of several election cycles. The basic practice, as employed by Democrats, was to know the home address of
every Democrat who requested an absentee ballot in the 2018 election. One way they did that was by aggressively pushing
registered Democrat voters to ask for absentee ballots and track those who did by their home address given when they sought
the ballot through the party. In the days leading up to the election, an army of volunteers — many of them
union members from all parts of the labor movement in California, started knocking on the doors of those voters. Many
were elderly or otherwise housebound.
How
California Is Turning Into a State Governed by Identity Politics. If you thought racial identity politics were
just a fleeting flirtation of the radical left, California's new laws suggest otherwise. On Sept. 30, California
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into state law a bill setting up a nine-member board to study the amount of reparations that
should be owed to black people for slavery and Jim Crow. [...] But that's hardly the only racially divisive law California
has passed this year, since the Legislature convened in a coronavirus-racked session in June. The same day, Newsom
signed a bill to establish diversity quotas on corporate boards for racial minorities. Corporations with between four
and nine board members will now be required to have at least two racial minorities, while corporations with more than nine
board members will be required to have at least three represented.
Gov.
Newsom Says He Is in 'No Hurry' to Reopen Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood. Don't expect Disneyland,
Universal Studios Hollywood and Knott's Berry Farm to open anytime soon, according to California Gov. Gavin Newsom at a
press conference Wednesday [10/7/2020]. He said there is "no hurry in putting out guidelines," but state officials are
continuing to work with amusement parks in California after the pandemic prompted closures in March. He called the
process "very complex," adding, "We don't anticipate, in the immediate term, any of these larger theme parks opening until we
see more stability in terms of the data."
Ignoring
Current Problems, California Cooks up Illogical Reparations Bill. Apparently, when California's one-party
government cannot find solutions to current existential crises, it turns to divisive issues that have little to do with the
safety and well-being of its 40 million citizens. California has the highest gas taxes in the nation, even as its
ossified state highways remain clogged and dangerous. Why, then, does Sacramento kept pouring billions of dollars into
the now-calcified high-speed rail project? When fires raged, killed dozens, polluted the air for months, consumed
thousands of structures and scorched 4 million acres of forest, in response the governor thundered about global
warming. But Newsom was mostly mute about state and federal green polices that discouraged the removal of millions of
dead and drought-stricken trees, which provided the kindling for the infernos. When gasoline, sales and income taxes
rose, and yet state schools became even worse, infrastructure remained decrepit and deficits grew, California demanded that
federal COVID-19 money bail out its own financial mismanagement.
Masks
Are Turning America Into Northern California. [Scroll down] Palo Alto, like much of Northern California,
was a cesspool of fear and grievance. The work being done was obviously incredible; the coolest and most useful
technology on the planet was all being born up and down the Bay Area. But the culture outside of the cushy campuses and
start-ups was one of persistent paranoia. You couldn't cross a street in Palo Alto without hearing voices warning you
of the dangers that lurk about. No, seriously. They had little recordings in the crosswalks that were on a
24×7 loop warning of general dangers. It was creepy. [...] And with the help of masks, that's how Jake Tapper and
Anthony Fauci (the posterboys for their leftist institutions) want all of America to be. And there are plenty of people
across the country who would gladly move into that kind of reality.
Gavin
Newsom goes 'Bananas': 'Don't forget to keep your mask on in between bites'. So Gavin Newsom of California has
gotten excited about masks again, just as Joe Biden and assorted leftists have made it mask-wearing the most recitable part
of the Democrats' party platform in the wake of President Trump's diagnosis of COVID. Joe Biden is out preaching for
the wearing of masks, but for Newsom, merely wearing them at the grocery store is no longer enough. [...] It's also a day
late and a dollar short, being ordered a time when COVID cases are way down in California and deaths are precipitously
declining. [...] A ridiculous order like this, detrimental to public health, is nothing short of the whims of a dictator
drunk on power. It's like a scene from Woody Allen's 1971 Bananas about a fictional tropical dictator who looks
like Fidel Castro.
Newsom's
office tells Californians to wear masks 'in between bites' of food when dining with members from same household in public.
Gov. Gavin Newsom's office told California residents they should wear masks "in between bites" of food while dining in public spaces
with people from the same household. "Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend? Don't forget to keep your
mask on in between bites," the office of the governor tweeted over the weekend. "Do your part to keep those around you healthy,"
the tweet added.
The Editor says...
Fortunately, a tweet is not a law.
California governor's
office tells diners to wear masks 'in between bites'. The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom has told
residents in the Golden State that if they go out to eat, they should be wearing a mask "in between bites" to protect
themselves from COVID-19. [...] For emphasis, the tweet shows an image of someone at a dining seat wearing a mask, then not
wearing a mask while taking a bite, and then putting the mask on again. However, the image then advises people to
"minimize the number of times you take your mask off." California has allowed limited indoor dining to resume in a number
of counties. San Francisco allowed indoor dining last week at 25% capacity. California has had more than 800,000
cases and more than 16,000 deaths due to the virus.
The Editor says...
That is not true. The total number of deaths from Covid-19 is less than 10,000 nationwide. The number of people
who have died with the virus (not from it) is much higher.
Oops! What an unfortunate error! Better luck in 2024. L.A.
County: Over 2,000 mail-in ballots sent without the option to vote for president. Nearly 2,100 mail-in
ballots were sent to voters in Los Angeles without the option to vote for the next president of the United States, according
to the Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office declared them "faulty
ballots," the report noted. "While this has impacted a very small number of Los Angeles County voters ... we
nevertheless apologize to those affected by the mistake," said Michael Sanchez, a spokesman for the county clerk's office,
according to the LA Times.
The Editor says...
This tells you one thing about the Los Angeles County election officials: Nobody checks the ballots before they are
sent out. Or worse, they knew there was an omission and thought nobody would notice. Or worse still, they hate President
Trump so much that they were willing to interfere in the election. In any case, I can confidently predict the number of
county officials who will lose their jobs as a result of this: Zero.
Gavin
Newsom Edges Ahead in the Country's Dumbest Governor Competition. COVID-19 has certainly exposed one of two
things. Either some of the dumbest people in the country are leading our states, or they are so hyperpartisan they will
beclown themselves to toe the Democrats' preferred narrative on the virus. The latest ridiculous instructions come from
Gavin Newsom's office: ["]Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend? Don't forget to keep
your mask on in between bites.["] [...] One of the primary reasons that masking is controversial is because people
don't know how to use [them]. Apparently, this lack of knowledge goes straight up to the governor's office in
California. As a former healthcare worker trained on how to don and doff personal protective equipment (PPE) properly,
this is painfully stupid.
A
man wanted to open an ice cream shop, unfortunately he was in San Francisco. It's difficult to open a business
in some parts of the country because of all the red tape involved. One of the places where that's definitely the case
is San Francisco. Last Friday the San Francisco Chronicle published a column outlining Jason Yu's attempt to open an
ice cream shop in the city and the months and months of delays he has faced trying to take his project through various
slow-moving departments. Yu decided he wanted to open a shop selling green tea flavored ice cream back in 2018.
Eventually, he found an empty storefront and in June 2019 he signed a lease which cost him $7,300 per month. He knew it
would take a few months to open but he was prepared for that. He hired an architect to make plans for new electrical
and plumbing but there were no structural changes needed and no changes to the outside of the building. Six months
later, in June 2019, he submitted his plans to the Department of Building Inspection. And that's when his real
nightmare began.
California
Is a Cautionary Tale for America. Anyone with the means to flee Detroit, does so. Likewise, the Golden
State hemorrhages residents, as they build their lives in differently managed states. [...] California bounds from one crisis
to another, with most of them being self-imposed. The latest one involves the raging wildfires that turned our air into
a putrid soup. Obviously, heat waves and high winds were the proximate cause, but poor land management, ill-conceived
liability and insurance laws, and the misuse of existing firefighting budgets are the fundamental problems. The last
crisis involved homelessness. Just because COVID-19 pushed it off of the front pages doesn't mean that it's become any
less severe.
L.A.
Ordered to Pay NRA Six Figures After Losing First Amendment Case. The Washington Free Beacon reports, a
federal court ordered the city of Los Angeles to pay the NRA's lawyer fees of approximately $150,000, just months after he
ruled a city ordinance violated the gun-rights group's First Amendment rights. The City of Los Angeles tried to penalize
any contractor with ties to the NRA. The NRA sued over the ordinance and federal district court judge Stephen Wilson
ruled it was an unconstitutional violation of the NRA's First Amendment rights. The city eventually repealed it and on
Tuesday, the judge ordered city officials to pay the NRA's attorney fees totaling about $150,000.
Bob
Iger quits California economic task force as Disney lays off 28,000 workers. Disney chairman Bob Iger quit
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's coronavirus recovery task force just two days after the Mouse House said it was cutting
28,000 jobs at its US parks business. A Disney rep wouldn't say why or exactly when Iger resigned from the task force,
which was formed in April, according to the Sacramento Bee, which first reported the news late Thursday [10/1/2020].
Disney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from The [New York] Post.
California
governor signs corporate boardroom diversity law. Hundreds of California-based corporations must have directors
from racial or sexual minorities on their boards under a first-in-the-nation bill signed Wednesday by Gov. Gavin
Newsom. The diversity legislation is similar to a 2018 measure that required boardrooms to have at least one female
director by 2019. Like that measure, it could face court challenges from conservative groups who view it as a discriminatory
quota. Supporters evoked both the coronavirus pandemic that is disproportionately affecting minorities and weeks of
unrest and calls for inclusion that followed the slaying of George Floyd in May in the custody of Minneapolis police.
EPA
chief to Newsom: You don't have the power to ban gas-powered vehicles. EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler
rebuked California governor Gavin Newsom yesterday [9/28/2020] for his executive order barring sales of gas-powered vehicles
in the state by 2035. California no longer has the authority to impose such regulations, Wheeler reminded Newsom, and
it also lacks the power, literally:
Newsom
OKs sterilizing treatments for teens. Despite the medical evidence and moral outcry, Gov. Gavin Newsom
celebrated the signing of a bill that allows gender clinics to provide transgender drugs and surgery known to sterilize
children and adults. Newsom praised AB 2218 for "strengthening protections for LGBTQ+ Californians" and providing an
"additional step forward" in "our march towards equality," in a weekend press release. "By rejecting the concerns of
doctors and parents, and siding with LGBT activists, Governor Newsom is yet again ignoring the heartbreak his policies will
unleash," said Jonathan Keller, President of California Family Council.
California:
The Golden State in Utter Decay. With increasing homelessness, a soft approach to criminal prosecution, and the
ongoing embracing of illegal immigration, violent crimes are increasing after having seen a reduction the past few years.
According to The Trace, "homicides are sharply up this year" in California as a whole, and cities such as Oakland, with a 26%
increase, have seen a significant increase in the number of murders. With the jump in violent crimes, what steps has
California's government taken to reduce certain crimes? They recently passed the controversial bill S.B. 145, which
will ultimately end up reducing accountability and sentences for adults who sexually assault children as young as 14.
What a brilliant idea. Apparently, California's leadership believes that the pedophile community had been treated unfairly.
Group
Robs A CVS In Broad Daylight As Employees And Manager Just Watch. Ever since California decriminalized what the
state considers 'petty crime', this sort of brazen robberies of stores has become more and more common. Add mask laws
to the mix, which conceals criminals' identities, you can bet on a lot more of these broad daylight heists.
[Video clip]
California
Wants Me to Vote, Even Though I Haven't Lived There for Over 8 Years. States across the country are
experimenting with a mass switch to mail-in elections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But is it wise for states
to make such a big change, especially in light of messy voter rolls around the country? What I was sent earlier this
month by election officials in Alameda County, California, makes me worried that ballots going to the wrong locations will be
a significant concern this year. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters notified me by mail at my parents' address in
Oakland that I would receive a ballot when the state sends them out Oct. 5. This is following Gov. Gavin
Newsom's executive order that all California voters receive a mail-in ballot before the Nov. 3 election.
Pregnant
Black, Pacific Islander women in San Francisco to receive $1,000 monthly supplement. Approximately 150 pregnant
Black and Pacific Islander women in San Francisco will receive a $1,000 monthly supplement during their pregnancies and for
the first six months of their babies' lives, the city's mayor announced. Mayor London Breed's (D) office said on Monday
that the Abundant Birth Project is the first of its kind in the country. The project's goal is to eventually provide a
supplement for as long as two years post-pregnancy. [...] Black infants are nearly twice as likely to be born prematurely
than white infants in San Francisco. Pacific Islander infants have the second-highest preterm birth rate in the city,
according to the mayor's office. Black families also account for half of maternal deaths in the city and 15 percent of
infant deaths, although they represent just 4 percent of all births.
The Editor says...
[#1] There is a lot of discussion about mothers and babies, but no mention of the babies' fathers in the article above.
[#2] What's so special about Pacific Islander women? Which Pacific islands? Are these women U.S. citizens?
[#3] If black babies are so important, why are so many black babies aborted in San Francisco, with the enthusiastic support
of some of the same left-wing do-gooders?
California
imposes racial quotas on corporate boards. California's legislature is mandating racial quotas for corporate
boards. "Experts say" that "runs afoul of constitutional principles," according to the Wall Street Journal. "New
legislation passed over the weekend would mandate that publicly-traded companies headquartered in the state must have at
least one director from a minority community by the close of 2021. There are more than 500 public companies based in
California in the Russell 3000, which accounts for the vast majority of companies."
Poll:
Californians oppose gender mutilation and sterilization bill. Sixty-four percent of California voters do not
want Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill to pay for transgender drugs and surgeries known to sterilize minors and adults,
according to a new poll. The survey, conducted by Spry Strategies in conjunction with the Women's Liberation Front,
shows that conservative Christians and radical feminists, who have joined forces to oppose AB 2218, are more in step with
California voters than state legislators. The controversial bill passed the Assembly 54-10 and the Senate 28-9 late
last month, and now sits on Newsom's desk awaiting his decision.
LA
County's Public Health Director says what we suspected about the lockdown. [Scroll down] Los Angeles
County is America's most populous county, the largest government entity in America that is not a state or the federal
government, and the third-largest metropolitan economy in the world. It's also entirely Democrat-run, as evidenced by
poverty, drugs, and homelessness, as well as its vast wealth inequality. Los Angeles students still cannot go to school
but must, instead, do online learning. We already know that part of the problem is that the teachers' union had some
pretty stringent demands, few related to the students' physical and mental well-being. However, it turns out the
continued school closures are also because of politics. We know this because LA County's Public Health Director,
Barbara Ferrer, admitted as much when speaking to a gathering of school nurses and other school administrators: [...] There
is no scientific connection between the election and the Wuhan virus. There is, however, a cynical connection between
the lockdown and the election. The Democrats know that, and Ferrer finally said it out loud.
Los Angeles
County bans trick-or-treating this Halloween due to coronavirus. Traditional Halloween activities won't be
allowed for residents in Los Angeles County this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to local health
officials. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced a ban on door-to-door trick-or-treating,
carnivals, festivals, live entertainment and haunted houses. "Door to door trick or treating is not allowed because it
can be very difficult to maintain proper social distancing on porches and at front doors especially in neighborhoods that are
popular with trick or treaters," officials said in a news release detailing guidelines for the annual tradition.
Update: Los Angeles
quickly reverses trick-or-treat ban. Los Angeles pulled a Halloween switcheroo on Wednesday — first
banning, and then quickly unbanning, trick-or-treating. Less than a day after saying the door-to-door candy grab is
banned due to coronavirus concerns, county officials changed course and said the popular children's tradition is now just
"not recommended." The revision came after parents and businesses "went apoplectic with outrage," Deadline reported,
citing a press briefing by LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. Also not recommended — but no
longer outright banned — are LA's popular "trunk-or-treat" events, in which costumed kids go car to car instead of
door to door.
California
to Offer Drive-Thru Voting for November Election in Orange County. Orange County, California, is offering
voters the option to submit a drive-thru ballot this November election season to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
The county will use the Honda Center in Anaheim as a staging location, allowing voters to cast their ballots from their cars
or in person inside the arena, the Daily Pilot reported.
California
DA's new policy to consider looters' 'needs' before charging them. A California district attorney is requiring
her prosecutors to consider looters' "needs" when weighing criminal charges against them. The new mandate, set forth by
Contra Costa County District Attorney Diane Becton, makes it tougher to prosecute looting cases in the county, which sits
just outside San Francisco. Investigators must now consider "was this theft offense substantially motivated by the
state of emergency, or simply a theft offense which occurred contemporaneously to the declared state of emergency?,"
according to the policy reported by local outlet East County Today.
California
legislature passes bill easing sex offender registry requirements for sodomy with minors. California
legislators passed a law Monday easing sex offender registry rules for those who commit sodomy or other sex acts with minors
in order to end "discrimination against LGBTQ young people on the sex offender registry." The bill, which now heads to
Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk, would "exempt from mandatory registration under the act a person convicted of certain offenses
involving minors if the person is not more than 10 years older than the minor and if that offense is the only one requiring
the person to register," according to the bill.
Californiastan
Continues Its War on Christians. [Scroll down] But even if a genuine pandemic rather than COVID-Con
raged, pastors should never close churches. Both liberty and the Lord demand that we defy such dictatorship.
California
bill to form reparations task force advances after 33-3 state Senate vote. State senators in California
overwhelmingly supported setting up a task force to study potential reparations for slavery in a bipartisan vote Saturday
[8/29/2020]. The panel would study the effects slavery had on California and recommend to the legislature no later than
2023 what type of compensation would be appropriate, how it might be dispersed and who could be eligible to receive it.
The task force could also recommend other forms of redress besides money.
Having a party is a crime now? TikTok
celebrities criminally charged after LA house parties. TikTok celebrities Bryce Hall and Blake Gray are facing
criminal charges after they hosted recent parties in the Hollywood Hills despite the city's ban on large gatherings during
the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said Friday [8/28/2020]. The Los Angeles city attorney's office filed misdemeanor
charges Thursday against Hall and Gray. The internet celebrities with millions of followers on TikTok share a home and
allegedly held two parties less than a week apart.
In California, cops
banned from pro-police speech but pro-BLM speech is mandatory. A California Highway Patrol division in Southern
California prohibited officers this month from displaying Thin Blue Line items, meant to honor law enforcement.
Meanwhile, the San Francisco Police Department is decorating its precincts with materials celebrating Black Lives Matter, an
organization calling for the defunding of the police. The CHP memo, a roll call briefing document with the Border
Division dated Aug. 14, directed officers to "remove all Thin Blue Line paraphernalia, including anything resembling it ...
immediately. This includes any paraphernalia hung anywhere in the office, stickers/patches on State or personal
property that may be seen by the public during the course of duties, and email signature blocks." The Thin Blue Line,
depicted as a black and white U.S. flag with a blue stripe, represents the sacrifices that law enforcement make to protect
the public and prevent civil unrest. Civilians display the symbol to show their support for the nation's authorities.
Progressive activists, however, liken the symbol to white supremacy and police misconduct. A California police officer who
reviewed the document said it amounted to an official order because of the use of the word "shall." "It's all political so
I understand why they sent it out," he said.
California Gov.
Newsom failed to take promised pay cut, newspaper finds. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been drawing his
full monthly salary despite asking state workers in May to take a pay cut to alleviate the state's burden in fighting the
coronavirus pandemic. Though elected state officials are exempt from such pay cuts, Newsom pledged that he would
voluntarily slash his salary when he asked state workers to make that same sacrifice. But a Thursday [8/20/2020] report
from the Sacramento Bee revealed that Newsom has continued drawing his full monthly salary of $17,479. A spokesman for
Newsom's office blamed the matter on an "administrative error."
Killing Los
Angeles. Things are so bad in so many American cities that our mainstream media outlets do not have the space
or the time to cover it all. Even if they wanted to cover it all, which they clearly don't want to do. After all,
the decline and fall of America's great cities does not make Donald Trump look bad. And the only news that is fit to
print these days is news that makes Trump look bad. As Democrat run cities collapse before our eyes, the media assure
us that there's nothing worth watching there. New York, Chicago, Portland, Seattle... down the drink, as they
say. And the news media are trying to cover up the story, or, at the least, blame it on white Trump supporters.
Anyway, today's story of decline and fall concerns Los Angeles.
Broke California
wants to fund youth sterilizations and sex changes. The California Senate will consider legislation soon to use
taxpayer funds to pay for hormone blockers and sex change operations for minors. The bill, after passing the Senate
Health Committee by a 7-1 vote last week, now moves to the Senate Appropriation Committee and then to the floor of the Senate
before the end of the month. As noted by numerous health experts, the use of cross-sex hormones and surgeries for
adolescents would permanently destroy their reproductive systems, a fact which AB2218 backers seem inclined to ignore.
With
Kamala Harris as VP pick, Gavin Newsom's White House hopes have stalled. Maybe you've noticed:
Gov. Gavin Newsom no longer looks like a promising future presidential prospect. He has been leaped over and left
behind by a California ally, Sen. Kamala Harris. Since Newsom was elected governor in 2018, the expectation has
been that he would seize the first opportunity after this year to run for president. Newsom, 52, wasn't ready this
year. But if President Trump won reelection, the Oval Office would be open in 2024. And if a Democrat ousted Trump,
there'd be another opportunity in 2028.
Hollywood
Apocalypse. Gold's Gym has become synonymous with the Hollywood Dream. [...] Yet today Gold's sits amid
post-apocalyptic scenes which have consumed much of LA, turning the City of Dreams into an urban nightmare from which people
are fleeing in droves. A makeshift tent city made up of flapping tarpaulins and cardboard boxes surrounds the gym on
all sides. Junkies and the homeless, many of whom are clearly mentally ill, walk the palm-lined streets like
zombies — all just three blocks from multi-million-dollar homes overlooking the Pacific. Stolen bicycles are
piled high on pavements littered with broken syringes. TV bulletins are filled with horror stories from across the
city; of women being attacked during their morning jog or residents returning home to find strangers defecating in their
front gardens.
Los
Angeles: Why politicians' COVID bullying attacks will work. Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti has learned
how to govern like a third-world dictator. His threat to shut down the water and power to large house parties that
violate the city's coronavirus guidelines is right out of the totalitarian government handbook. [...] Starting on Friday
[8/7/2020], Mayor Garcetti announced that the city would shut off the power and water to houses, businesses, and other venues
that violated the strict corona virus safety guidelines. This is in response to a large house party that police
attempted to shut down. It turns out these parties are cropping up because the bars and nightclubs are closed as the
city institutes greater restrictions as reported cases increase. [...] And it will work. In the Third World, which is
what many of these cities have come to resemble, practical and authoritarian solutions prevail, especially when there is no
one to enforce the rule of law.
Local
Politicians: America's Achilles Heel. Capping a long, impressive streak of dumb proclamations and
declarations, including suggesting that members of the LAPD put down their batons and "walk hand-in-hand" with the same
rioters who were then torching LAPD vehicles, attacking officers, and looting numerous businesses, Garcetti recently declared
that water and power would be shut off to any residence caught hosting a "large house party." What exactly constitutes a
gathering that is too "large?" Can/should a mayor shut off water and power to privately owned residences during the dog days
of summer, two utilities that the State of California and Garcetti's own Housing Authority have explicitly deemed essential
services necessary for habitation?
Crowd
in California blasts Gov. Newsom for not reopening the state. Hundreds of President Trump supporters
descended onto the streets of Beverly Hills to protest property destruction and the 'villainization' of police while two
similar demonstrations were held in Texas. [...] On Saturday [8/8/2020], a crowd of around 200 Americans carried signs
reading 'Trump 2020' as they marched from West Hollywood to Beverly Hills. Footage showed several protesters waving
American flags, signs reading 'United We Stand,' Thin Blue Line American flags celebrating law enforcement and a plethora of
'Make America Great Again' paraphernalia.
L.A.
County Supervisors Vote to Put Defunding Police on November Ballot. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
approved a proposal on Tuesday to amend the city's charter — which will be presented to voters on November 3 via
ballot — to remove $880 million from law enforcement and "reinvest" the money in "direct community investment"
and "alternatives to incarceration."
The Editor says...
Yes, put it on the ballot in November, and in the absence of massive election fraud,
it will fail. While you're at it, put coronavirus lockdowns on the ballot, too.
San
Fran is crawling with drugs. DA shows more concern for dealers. District attorney Chesa Boudin
acknowledges that the Tenderloin District of the city is plagued by drug sellers from Honduras, but frets that arresting them
isn't really worth it. Boudin, a former public defender who vowed as a candidate to prosecute fewer criminals, is not
inclined to address how the surge in drug sales during Covid lockdowns was affecting city residents, and instead focused on
the plight of the drug dealers themselves. Many were trafficked and their families were at risk at home if they
cooperated with authorities, Boudin said in a webinar last week.
California's Woke Hypocrisy.
No state wears its multicultural veneer more ostentatiously than California. The Golden State's leaders believe that
they lead a progressive paradise, ushering in what theorists Laura Tyson and Lenny Mendonca call "a new progressive era."
Others see California as deserving of nationhood; it reflects, as a New York Times columnist put it, "the shared
values of our increasingly tolerant and pluralistic society." In response to the brutal killing of George Floyd in
Minneapolis, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti announced plans to defund the police — a move applauded by Senator
Kamala Harris, a prospective Democratic vice presidential candidate, despite the city's steep rise in homicides. San
Francisco mayor London Breed wants to do the same in her increasingly crime-ridden, disordered city. This follows state
attorney general Xavier Becerra's numerous immigration-related lawsuits against the Trump administration, even as his state
has become a sanctuary for illegal immigrants — complete with driver's licenses for some 1 million and
free health care.
Gavin
Newsom's $3.7 Million Estate Was Gifted to Him in 2019; 3 Months Later He Got a $2.7 Million Tax Free Cash-Out. One thing
that's become extraordinarily clear to Californians in 2020 is that there's one set of rules for Gov. Gavin Newsom, and there's
another set of rules for the rest of us. He preaches that we're all in this together and that we have to sacrifice to "meet this
moment," yet he's not missing a paycheck. As California businesses struggle, he sends a $1 billion contract for masks to a
Chinese company. When he shut down wineries throughout 80 percent of California, he kept his open. While the dream of
owning a home is increasingly out of reach for California's families, it appears that Newsom received a $3.7 million estate from
an LLC owned by his cousin then, a few months later took out a $2.695 million (tax-free) cash-out mortgage on it — and
didn't report the gift on any of his financial disclosure forms.
Gavin
Newsom Rages at Trump Discounting Illegal Aliens for States' Representation. California Gov. Gavin Newsom
(D) on Tuesday [7/21/2020] decried President Donald Trump's executive order which will exclude Illegal aliens from being
counted for purposes of congressional apportioning. "Counting every person in our country through the Census is a
principle so foundational that it is written into our Constitution," Newsom said in a statement. "This latest action by
the administration to exclude undocumented immigrants when determining representation in Congress, rooted in racism and
xenophobia, is a blatant attack on our institutions and our neighbors."
The Editor says...
Well, governor, they may be your neighbors (very distantly, I suspect), but if they are here illegally they are not entitled
to representation in the Congress. Anyone other than a public school student should be expected to know that.
City
removes 'Black Lives Matter' street mural because of 'MAGA 2020' request. Street graffiti for me, but not for
thee. That's what lawmakers in Redwood City, California basically told a Trump supporter who wanted to paint "MAGA
2020" on the same street where left-wing activists had painted a Black Lives Matter mural. Last week, Redwood City
(which is located on the San Francisco peninsula) washed away the "Black Lives Matter" mural after a local
attorney — a Trump supporter — argued that since the street was now a public forum, she should be
allowed to paint "MAGA 2020" on it.
California
City Chooses No Speech over MAGA Speech. When faced with the choice of giving a Donald Trump supporter the
exact same right to free expression as the left-wing terrorist group Black Lives Matter, Redwood City, California, chose to
outlaw everyone's speech. How revealing. As Breitbart News reported Monday, Redwood City was so eager to allow
one of its residents to paint a Black Lives Matter mural on city property, the city — and therefore the
taxpayers — provided him with some of the materials.
Los
Angeles mayor says city is 'on the brink' of declaring another stay-at-home order. Los Angeles Mayor Eric
Garcetti told CNN's Jake Tapper Sunday [7/19/2020] that Los Angeles is "on the brink" of another stay-at-home order.
Los Angeles County has seen a surge of cases recently, with new record high hospitalizations and infections. The city
has more than 150,000 cases. "A lot of things went wrong," Garcetti said. He pointed out that cases haven't
increased as quickly in LA as in some cities, but said there is "no national leadership" in efforts to slow or stop the
pandemic. "It was politicized when it should have been unified."
California
Gov. Newsom Helps Chinese Get $1 Billion in COVID Aid. [...] I've learned my lesson this time: Don't
give Democratic governors the benefit of the doubt. I thought I'd learned it the first time. When New York's
Andrew Cuomo looked like he was showing strong leadership in the opening week or two of the coronavirus crisis, I thought
maybe we could put aside our petty differences and praise a politician from the other side. In fact, I did just
that. And then it all ended in tears. It wasn't the rambling, empurpled news conferences that made the
much-criticized presidential media briefings look like relative models of restraint. No, for me the moment I made a
clean break was when I learned the much-hailed hand sanitizer production program Cuomo was fond of touting consisted of
little more than inmates rebottling an outside product inside the Empire State's prisons in order to make the governor look good.
Berkeley
Bans Police-Conducted Traffic Stops, Will Send in Unarmed Civilians. Berkeley, California has approved a plan
that prohibits police officers from conducting traffics stops. The plan, proposed by the mayor and approved in a
virtual city council meeting early Wednesday morning [7/15/2020], is just one part of a major "defund the police" overhaul
planned by the city, Fox News reported. The move to separate traffic enforcement from police work is believed to be the
first of its kind in the U.S, according to the report. Instead of having trained officers conducting traffic stops, the
new policy will send in unarmed civilian city workers to deal with traffic offenders. Police unions for Los Angeles,
San Jose and San Francisco said in a joint statement that serious violations such as speeding, reckless driving, and driving
under the influence — are dangerous offenses and confronting violators can be dangerous work best handled by sworn officers.
California
to Release 18,000 Prisoners by End of August to 'Slow the Spread of COVID-19'. According to the California
Department of Corrections, the state is set to release up to 18,000 prisoners by the end of August to 'slow the spread of
COVID-19.' Officials in California say releasing prisoners will help protect the "health and safety of the incarcerated
population." "These actions are taken to provide for the health and safety of the incarcerated population and staff,"
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Ralph Diaz said in a news release. "We aim to implement these
decompression measures in a way that aligns both public health and public safety."
Nine politicians can stop
teen sterilizations in California, but will they? The fate of a bill to fund transgender treatments that
permanently destroy the reproductive systems of minors is now in the hands of nine California State Senators.
AB 2218, authored by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D) Los Angeles with principal co-author Senator Scott Wiener (D) San
Francisco, will be heard before the nine members Senate Health Committee when they return to the capitol at the end of the
month. The bill has already made its way through the Democrat-dominated state Assembly with little debate and approved
largely along party lines. It establishes an "LGBT Transgender Wellness Fund," to provide grants to nonprofits,
hospitals, health care clinics (like Planned Parenthood), and other medical providers to pay for puberty blockers, cross-sex
hormones, and mastectomies for minors, as well as cross-sex hormones and "sex-change" operations for adults.
COVID
Madness — Comrade Newsom Shuts Down California Indoor Activities. This is nuts. In an effort
to fundamentally destroy the livelihoods of millions of California small businesses, Comrade Governor Gavin Newsom has
declared that all indoor activities must shut down to top the spread of COVID-19. The overwhelming majority of dictates
around COVID-19 mitigation are not laws. There was no debate; no input from representative government; and no option
for the public to weigh-in on the decisions.
Newsom
shuts bars, indoor dining and most gyms, churches amid rise in virus cases. California Gov. Gavin Newsom
on Monday extended the closure of bars and indoor dining statewide and ordered gyms, churches and hair salons closed in most
places as coronavirus cases keep rising in the nation's most populated state. On July 1, Newsom ordered 19
counties with a surging number of confirmed infections to close bars and indoor operations at restaurants, wineries, zoos and
family entertainment centers like bowling alleys and miniature golf.
Gavin
Newsom gives Californians a glimpse of their future. Once upon a time, California's Governor Gavin Newsom, the
leftist boy wonder of America's largest and most leftist state, was considered to be a top future contender for the White
House. That future is not so clear now that he's made it clear to Californians that every time the Wuhan virus rears
its head, he's again going to shut down their places of work and imprison them in their homes.
California
may release 10% of inmates in pandemic response. California officials will soon release another 2,100 inmates
from state prisons in response to the coronavirus pandemic and in all now plans to release a total of more than 10,000
inmates, or nearly 10 percent of prisoners, as Gov. Gavin Newsom responds to intensifying pressure from advocates,
lawmakers and federal judges.
California
Legislators Violate Our Constitutional Rights. In multiple ways Gov. Newsom has become a
monarch — a benevolent monarch, but a monarch nonetheless. I am amazed at how many aspects of that document
the governor has violated. He would of course argue that his acts are for the public good, but he has tossed the
Constitution out the window. For example, Article 1, Section 8, says that Congress alone has the authority "to regulate
commerce with foreign nations and among the several states." Yet Gov. Newsom has unilaterally shut down varieties of
commerce and restricted travel, even excursions from one's home. Much of this commerce becomes interstate.
State
Lawmakers Urge Newsom to Stop Transferring People in Prison to ICE in Pandemic. Dozens of state lawmakers
called on Gov. Gavin Newsom Monday [7/6/2020] to stop California prison officials from transferring people to federal immigration
detention during the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter signed by 44 members of the state Senate and
Assembly — as well as 18 local elected officials, including Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland and Mayor Michael Tubbs
of Stockton — the political leaders said ending the transfers is urgently needed to help reduce the spread of
COVID-19 between detention systems in California.
After
calling for no fireworks for California's 4th of July, Gavin Newsom was in for a surprise. Amid a new outbreak
of the coronavirus, California's Gavin Newsom was adamant that no firework celebrations be done on the Fourth of July,
because the public simply could not be trusted to socially distance. [...] Illegal fireworks were once the province of
illegal immigrants bringing in the lawless ways of Mexico, but now it appears that everyone is doing them, thumbing their
nose at the law same as is done in Mexico and beyond. It goes to show that when the state overreaches, and puts out an
unreasonable demand, widespread disobedience is going to be the result. It happens in Mexico, now it's happening here.
With
the Wuhan virus, Gavin Newsom discovers the perils of crying 'Wolf'. In March, California Governor Gavin Newsom
put California in lockdown to flatten the Wuhan virus curve. Newsom, like Gov. Cuomo, placed virus patients in
nursing homes, which may have contributed to the 2,531 resident and 93 care worker deaths in those homes. The
government also had a hand in the virus's rampage through San Quentin prison, which killed three death row inmates. In
other words, Democrat policies in California managed to produce 42% of the state's 6,263 virus fatalities. With its
lockdown, which initially was to last for two weeks and that instead continued for months, Newsom weakened the California
economy, drove its citizens to despair, prevented people from getting healthcare for other potentially deadly conditions, and
deprived citizens of their constitutional rights.
California's
Governor Forbids Christians From Singing in Church Houses. Golden State Christians have been ordered by
California's governor to stop singing in church. This is a direct assault on the First Amendment, [...] The new
guidance for places of worship was issued on July 1. "Discontinue singing (in rehearsals, services, etc.), chanting,
and other practices and performances where there is increased likelihood for transmission from contaminated exhaled
droplets. Consider practicing these activities through alternative methods (such as internet streaming) that ensure
individual congregation members perform these activities separately in their own homes," the 14-page order reads. The
previous guidelines only encouraged churches to "strongly consider" ending corporate worship, the Sacramento Bee
reported. The governor's office did not indicate how he intends to enforce the law. Can you imagine the optics of
National Guard troops storming into California church houses and arresting choir members for singing, "A Mighty Fortress is
Our God"?
Newsom
Bans Singing In Houses Of Worship After Downplaying Spread Of Coronavirus At Protests. Gov. Gavin Newsom
(D-CA) has issued new restrictions limiting the reopening of the economy in nearly 20 counties across the Golden State.
One of the more controversial measures introduced Thursday will ban singing and chanting at houses of worships, which are
already restricted to allowing 25% of guests or just 100 worshippers (whichever is lower). The Sacramento Bee reported that
in late May, Newsom simply encouraged houses of worship to "strongly consider discontinuing singing, group recitation, and
other practices and performances."
Recall Gavin 2020. Everywhere you look, the
failures of Governor Newsom are obvious and appalling to everyone. For this reason, the Recall Gavin 2020 campaign is
not conservative or liberal, or right or left, or Republican or Democrat. This is a mass uprising. Our Recall
Gavin campaign is building a grassroots organization with over 80,000 California voters already signed up as volunteers to
sign and circulate recall petitions. That number is growing every week. And this is just the beginning. Are
you tired of being locked up, unable to make a living, at the same time as California's prisons are being emptied? Do
you wonder why Gavin Newsom's cronies are building "supportive housing" for the homeless at a cost of over a half-million
dollars per unit, instead of just getting them help in less expensive facilities? Then join the Recall Gavin 2020 movement.
Gov
Newsom orders closing of Calif restaurants, wineries — but HIS remains open. In what is seen as a
major rollback, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered the closures of numerous businesses across 19 counties in
California to counter a surge in coronavirus cases. The order will be enforced for at least three weeks, and includes
restaurants, wineries and tasting rooms, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos and museums, cardrooms, and bars,
Fox 26 reported. While a number of Central Valley counties are included, Napa County, where Gov. Newsom owns a
winery and tasting room is not among the counties affected and the business remains open as of the July 1, 2020 order,
according to the Fox affiliate.
San Francisco will
end mug shots release, citing racial bias. San Francisco police will stop making public the mug shots of people
who have been arrested unless they pose a threat to the public, as part of an effort to stop perpetuating racial stereotypes,
the city's police chief announced Wednesday [7/1/2020]. San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said the department will
no longer release booking photos of suspects to the media or allow officers to post them online. The policy takes
effect Wednesday.
Los
Angeles school police chief releases powerful resignation statement after board slashes funding. Los Angeles
School Police Chief Todd Chamberlain resigned following a decision by the school board to cut millions in funding and remove
officers from campuses. Chamberlain, who stepped into the job just last year, turned in his resignation on Wednesday
[7/1/2020], according to district spokeswoman Shannon Haber, the Los Angeles Times reported. With over 35 years in law
enforcement, Chamberlain made the decision one day after the school board gave in to what he called a "potentially
life-threatening" choice to cut the school police budget by $25 million.
In
the Name of Tolerance, California Blacklists Idaho. In a bizarre show of authoritarianism — even for
them — California state officials have decided to ban state-funded travel to Idaho because of its transgender
law. In a press release, California's attorney general, Xavier Becerra, said: "Where states legislate
discrimination, California unambiguously speaks out. The state of Idaho has taken drastic steps to undermine the rights
of the transgender community, preventing people from playing sports in school or having documentation that reflects their
identity." In his comments Monday [6/22/2020], Becerra was referring to legislation signed by Idaho Gov. Brad Little
that banned biological males who say they identify as girls or women from participating in female sports at public schools,
colleges, and universities. House Bill 500, the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, passed by a significant margin in
Idaho's House and Senate. It wasn't even controversial among Idaho residents.
A
meaty issue: California tries to override the commerce clause. In late 2018, California voters passed
Proposition 12, banning the in-state sale of any pork or veal (regardless of origin) from an animal that had been "confined
in a cruel manner," defined as that which prevents an animal from lying down or turning around freely. [...] Yet, the issue
here is not just that Proposition 12 is bad policy. It's also likely unconstitutional under the Supreme Court's
commerce clause precedents, including its "extraterritorial doctrine." In Baldwin v. G.A.F Seelig,
Inc., the court ruled that a New York milk distributor could not be forced to pay New York minimum prices for milk
supplied by Vermont farms. "New York has no power to project its legislation into Vermont," the court declared, before
noting that the Founding Fathers gave Congress the power to regulate commerce because of "the mutual jealousies and aggressions
of the States, taking form in customs barriers and other economic retaliation" existing under the Articles of Confederation.
Mailing It In.
Assembly Bill 860, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on June 18, is premised on ensuring safety in the era of the
coronavirus. Yet Wisconsinites voted in person in April, and the predicted spike in coronavirus cases from that public
assembly never materialized. The state's caseload did climb, but no steep increase occurred in the days and weeks after
the primary, just a steady rise that has continued, partly driven by expanded testing. Apparently the same can be said
for the locations where George Floyd marches, encouraged by the media and many public officials, were held. The
pandemic, it appears, was a useful crisis — voting by mail has long been a priority among progressives, and the
coronavirus outbreak provided sufficient cover to institute it.
Oakland
Abolishes School Police Department. The Oakland Unified School District abolished its own police force at a
school board meeting on Wednesday night, bowing to the wishes of radical left-wing activists and the Black Lives Matter
movement. The decision came a day after the Los Angeles Unified School District board could not agree on a similar
proposal. It follows nationwide demands from activists, including many Democrats, to defund or abolish the police.
What Happens
When the Madness Ends? What will California's multimillionaire Governor Gavin Newsom do when his silly press
conferences end, but his 13.3 percent income tax rate and 47-cent gas tax still don't come close to closing his $50 billion
annual deficit? Give more adolescent lectures about how the virus and lockdown are "reimagining a progressive era as it
pertains to capitalism"?
There's
a reason racial tension is rising in America - it's by design. In California, Democrats are moving to repeal
Proposition 209. Proposition 209 explicitly bans racial discrimination in hiring and education. In other words,
Democrats in California are now fighting for discrimination. This is not considered strange in 2020. No one even
mentions it. A couple of weeks ago, Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky announced plans to bring universal health
insurance to his state, but not for all citizens, just for people with the right skin color. Everyone else would pay,
but only certain ethnic groups would benefit. Andy Beshear is still in office. No one has tried to impeach him
for suggesting this because ideas like this are everywhere now. They're totally unchallenged. This is the most
divisive possible way to run a country. If you wanted to make certain that your children would hate each other, you
would hold them to different standards, and they certainly would. There is a reason that racial tension is rising in
this country — it's by design.
Mask-wearing is becoming
increasingly politicized. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, announced Thursday [6/18/2020] that
mask-wearing is compulsory in most public settings, making California the 11th state to mandate that people wear masks.
Public spaces include every workspace, public transit, and any facility in which people receive medical care. President
Trump, meanwhile, has discounted the benefits of wearing a mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Panic
In Beverly Hills: Emergency Order Bans Protests In Residential Areas. The rich and famous are all about
protesting and declaring themselves down with the struggle until protesters forget their place and invade residential areas
of Beverly Hills. Then the masks drop. It's the ultimate Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) — the City of Beverly
Hills issued an emergency order Saturday night [6/13/2020] that bans public gatherings of more than 10 people in residential
areas between 9 PM and 8 AM. What brought this on? Well, it seems a group calling themselves "Occupy" disrupted the
beauty sleep of locals in their posh neighborhood on June 12 between the hours of 10 PM until 1 AM. The group used bullhorns
and "amplified music". The residents want their tranquility back. The emergency order remains in effect until further notice.
California
City Officials Admit to Accepting Bribes. A former Calexico City, California councilman along with a former
commissioner on the city's Economic Development and Financial Advisory Commission, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday
to corruption charges, admitting that they accepted cash bribes in exchange for promises of official action by the
city. David Romero and Bruno Suarez Soto entered their pleas before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernard G. Skomal, who set
sentencing for Sept. 4, 2020, before U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo. Romero and Soto, who were charged in
federal court in May, were allowed to remain free on $10,000 personal appearance bonds secured by their own signatures.
Judge
Smacks Down Gavin Newsom's Election Executive Order: "Impermissible Use of Legislative Powers".
Throughout the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic and shutdowns the nation's Democrat governors have shown us just how dictatorial
their aspirations are by issuing reams of overreaching executive orders they claim are allowable due to the public health
emergency. California's Gavin Newsom has been one of the worst offenders, but an order issued Friday [6/12/2020] by
Sutter County Superior Court Judge Perry Parker could put a stop to a number of items on Newsom's wish list. Two GOP
members of the California State Assembly, Kevin Kiley and James Gallagher, filed suit Thursday seeking to invalidate Newsom's
Executive Order N-67-20 pertaining to the November general election and requesting "interim declaratory relief and a
temporary restraining order." [...] Friday morning Parker issued a temporary restraining order suspending implementation of
the executive order, saying it was "an impermissible use of legislative powers in violation of the California Constitution
and the laws of the State of California."
Some
in LAPD Slam City Council Over Private Security Details Amid Budget Cut. While LA City Council President Nury
Martinez was filing a motion last week seeking to cut $150 million from the LAPD budget, she had an LAPD unit standing watch
outside her home providing her family with a private security detail since April. [...] "It's kind of ironic. Here she
is demanding $150 million be reallocated from the police budget, but yet she has security at her house by the Los Angeles
Police Department," said Det. Jamie McBride, who serves as director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the
LAPD's union.
Kamala
Harris, calling for $150 million LAPD defunding, also used LAPD as her private security detail. A Los Angeles
city councilwoman was exposed as a hypocrite for introducing a bill to cut $150 million from the Los Angeles Police
Department budget, while maintaining an LAPD private detail at her home for herself. Security for me, but not for thee,
see, the leftist political elites always gets their takings first. Guess who else is just as hypocritical? Sure
enough, Kamala Harris, Democratic vice presidential frontrunner, who's loudly endorsed these $150 million police defundings,
supporting the idea, along with her political ally, Mayor Eric Garcetti, who was last seen calling the LAPD 'killers.'
Gavin
Newsom to close 200-person veteran's home after budgeting handouts to illegal aliens. Grandstanding
Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom reportedly wants to close a 200-resident veterans nursing home in a budget-cutting
measure while at the same time enthusiastically handing out about $75 million in direct cash benefits to illegal aliens
living in the state. In an extreme example of questionable priorities to say the least, Newsom, a far-left Democrat who
is enabled by a Democrat-controlled legislature, targeted the Veterans Home of California-Barstow for closure to save $2.6
million (or perhaps less) as the formerly Golden State faces a corona-virus-induced budget crisis. For Democrats,
illegal immigrants are among their primary constituencies, particularlyin California where, as noted above, they essentially
run a one-party dictatorship in state that could be the epicenter of voter fraud.
Wealthy
buyers reportedly in 'mad rush' to leave San Francisco. Amid the depths of a global pandemic and financial
downturn, the demand for real estate is unexpectedly rocketing in wealthy regions outside San Francisco, reports
Bloomberg. Agents say that demand is soaring in affluent areas around the Bay Area such as Napa, Marin and further
afield in Carmel, as people who have the means look to get away from the city.
LA
Mayor Garcetti Calls His Cops 'Killers.' The 'Killers' Just Sent a Reply to the 'Unstable' Mayor. Mayors and
governors across the land have run to the cameras and microphones to be among the first to kneel in supplication to the
riotous mobs in the streets. They eagerly do what the Leftists at Black Lives Matter (BLM) and George Soros call for,
such as defunding police departments. They call for rule changes so that cops are defanged in the face of riotous
antifa and BLM mobs. [...] Just two weeks ago, mayors and governors across the land were lauding their first responders for
keeping the peace during COVID. Those days are over. The mob has spoken.
'Abolish
The Police' Is A Slogan For The Destruction Of America. If you thought "abolish the police" — or
it's more moderate iteration, "defund the police" — was just some asinine slogan blue-check journalists, woke
academics, and pandering public officials post on Twitter to show they support the Black Lives Matter movement, then you're
not keeping up with the revolution. This week Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, announced the city would be slashing the
police department's budget by $100 to $150 million and instead "reinvesting in black communities and communities of color."
The cuts to the LA police will make up the bulk of $250 million in funds to be reallocated to "end racism in our city,"
Garcetti said.
LAPD Rips Into Councilwoman Over
Reactionary Department Cuts: "We'll Take Care Of It At The Ballot Box". America is in a free fall and
none of our state and local leaders seem to have a clue how to fix it. Minneapolis got the brilliant idea to completely
eradicate their police department and replace it with some "citizen patrol" weirdness and what could possibly go wrong with
that? Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti made sure the media got lots of pictures of him kneeling just before he announced
the City of Angels would cut $250 million from its policing budget to give to "communities of color." If you think he meant
that he'd be handing out the cash personally to black business and home owners who just had their livelihoods burned to the
ground by looters and rioters, you are wrong. He will be handing that cash directly over to Black Lives Matter.
Where it goes from there is anyone's guess but hey, at least Garcetti will feel like a good person. Understandably LAPD
is not pleased. Not only were they deliberately prevented from stepping in to protect communities from Antifa during
the first days of the riot, they have been maligned and insulted by their own leadership.
As 'defund
LAPD' becomes a rallying cry, Garcetti will seek cuts up to $150 million. When Los Angeles was plunged into a
budget crisis earlier this year, progressive activists demanded that the City Council slash spending at the Police
Department, saying it's wrong to boost funding for officers while cutting other urgently needed services. The debate
over police spending at City Hall has only intensified after several days of protests against police brutality, the LAPD's
response to those demonstrations and the looting that sometimes followed. Activists with Black Lives Matter, Ground
Game LA and other grassroots groups say incidents in recent days where officers have used aggressive tactics including
projectiles and batons only reinforce the need to defund the LAPD.
Eric
Garcetti bows to rioters, vows to cut police budget. Los Angeles is lost. As a resident of Southern
California, I can tell you with a heavy heart that we lost. Los Angeles, arguably the heart of the west coast of
America, has been demolished by leftist policies for years. But in the face of riots over George Floyd's murder, Mayor
Eric Garcetti has done the exact opposite of what he should be doing. Instead of cracking down on crime, he's pulling
money out of law enforcement. On top of that, he's making ludicrous moves like declaring a moratorium on putting people
in the gang data base. As many leftist mayors and governors across the country are doing, Garcetti is making law
enforcement out to be the bad guys, only the Los Angeles Mayor is doing everything he can to be the most "woke" mayor of them all.
America
in the 21st Century: 20 Long Years of Constant Brainwashing. The campaign to brainwash America about the Wuhan
Virus has basically run its course along with the virus itself, and has now been replaced by a brainwashing campaign to
convince us that we should all run out to the nearest riot and take a knee, just like Joe Biden did in that black church on
Sunday. [...] In Los Angeles yesterday [6/3/2020], the National Guard there took a knee before the rioters, which means the
rioters are now in charge of Los Angeles, which is presumably how Mayor Eric Garcetti wanted it anyway.
Garcetti: LAPD budget to be cut by $150M to fund programs
in black communities. Amid nationwide protests ignited by the police-involved killing of George Floyd early
last week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that up to $150 million will be cut from the L.A. Police Department
as part of relocating some $250 million from the city's budget to fund programs in communities of color.
The Editor says...
Programs? What kind of programs? What does that really mean?
California
Tried to Bail Out Illegal Aliens - and It's a Disaster. California's illegal alien population is its shadow
economy and with many of the industries that employ them shut down, the Democrats who depend on ghost districts populated by
illegals decided that something had to be urgently done to keep the illegal aliens from fleeing back across the border.
The Democrats figured that giving them checks would be cheaper than building a wall to keep them in. But who knew that
a $125 million stimulus program for illegal aliens would become such a disaster? Illegal aliens were eligible to apply
for up to $1,000 with $75 million coming from the California taxpayers bailing out illegals who don't pay taxes. And another
$50 million was supposed to be donated by wealthy lefties. But while the taxpayers of the state were forced to put up
their $75 million, the wealthy politically correct elites who have poured fortunes into electing Democrats didn't pay up.
Newsom
Fiat: No California Protest Can Have More Than 100 People. Regressive Supreme Leader Gavin Newsom is
angry. On Saturday more than 2,000 showed up at the Capitol to protest his dictatorship, issuing 40 Executive Orders
and changing close to 200 State laws, without a vote of the Legislature or even telling them in advance. He signed over
400 NO BID contracts — some for firms owned by the Chinese Communist Party. People are angry — so
they protest. Now, in the name of "safety and health", Newsom has issued another illegal edict — no protest
can have more than 100 people. Watch as that edict is violated in every corner of the State. This is no different
than what the Chinese Communist Party is doing to the people of Hong Kong.
Ballot
harvesting bounty: How Dems apparently used election law change to rout California Republicans. A minor
change in California's election laws may have had a major effect on last month's midterm elections that saw Democrats
steamroll their Republican rivals and claim all but seven of the Golden State's 53 House seats. Despite holding
substantial leads on Election Day, many Republican candidates in California saw their advantage shrink, and then disappear,
as late-arriving Democratic votes were counted in the weeks following the election. While no hard evidence is
available, many observers point to the Democrats use of "ballot harvesting" as a key to their success in the elections.
Hundreds
protest in Sacramento against stay-at-home order. Hundreds of protesters rallied outside the state Capitol on
Saturday [5/23/2020] to protest against California's stay-at-home orders even as residents entered the Memorial Day weekend
with newly expanded options for beachgoing, barbecuing and shopping. The rally to demand that Gov. Gavin Newsom
lift his restrictions on business, religious gatherings and other activities took on the atmosphere of a political rally and
festival on a closed-off street.
California
Democrats Want to Bring Racial Preferences Back. Rather than focus on COVID-19 or the economic recovery,
California liberals insist on pushing their pet issues. The "stimulus" bill rammed through the House this month by
Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco was a liberal wish list of subsidies and spending. Now other California Democrats
are ramming through an effort to repeal the state's ban on racial preferences. Two things often happen when a single
political party dominates a state the way Democrats dominate California. First, an echo chamber of the dominant party
convinces its leaders they can steamroll over any opposition. Second, that conviction leads to political overreach.
Caucasian Americans are now only 19 percent of UC students, down from 38 percent a quarter century ago —
this change reflects the increasing ethnic diversity of Californians.
Gavin
Newsom responds to Justice Department warning over church closures. After receiving a formal warning from the
United States Justice Department over church closures, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said his state is "weeks away" from
allowing in-person religious services to resume. A group of federal attorneys wrote a letter to Newsom warning him that
prolonged church closures likely violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment due to the fact that similar
non-religious businesses are receiving the green light to reopen in Stage 2.
Darrell
Issa, Judicial Watch Sue Gavin Newsom over Vote by Mail. Former Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Judicial Watch sued
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday [5/21/2020] over his May 8 executive order allowing all voters in the state to
vote by mail — whether they had formally requested to do so, or not. Newsom's order cites the threat of
coronavirus: because "it is unknown to what degree COVID-19 will pose a threat to public health in November," mail-in ballots
must be sent to everyone — but in-person voting must also be provided.
California's Budget
Bust-Up. Every state and municipal budget in America will take a big hit because of the coronavirus lockdowns,
but no public purse is in as much trouble as California's. Its Department of Finance recently estimated that the Golden
State could face a $54 billion shortfall in the fiscal year beginning July 1, which surely must be the largest deficit any
state has ever accumulated, surpassing the $40 billion hole that nearly swallowed Sacramento in 2008. Still, though Governor
Gavin Newsome said last weekend that the staggering deficit was "a direct result of Covid-19," that's clearly not true.
Critics have long warned that the state's tax base is volatile, being increasingly reliant on wealthy residents and
vulnerable to sharp contraction in the next recession. Combine that with California's spending spree —
including expenditures to fix problems that the state's own bad policies have worsened — and the swing from
prosperity to penury isn't hard to understand.
Illegal
Aliens Jam Phone Lines as California Offers $500 Each in Coronavirus Relief. The State of California is
offering $500 each to illegal aliens as part of a $75 million coronavirus relief program — even as it asks federal
taxpayers for help paying for its $54 billion deficit. The program, which launched on Monday [5/18/2020], saw phone lines
jammed as "undocumented immigrants," who are ineligible for the federal aid provided thus far, called a state hotline.
Tyranny
as far as the eye can see. California governor Gavin Newsom is now warning of the potential for a third and
fourth wave of the coronavirus, stating that we must remain humble by what we still don't know about it. While there
may be a lot that we don't know about this sickening virus that was thrust upon the world by communist China, we do know that
what is unfolding is unsustainable and unconstitutional. Our society is nearing a state of partial collapse due to
protracted mitigation in blue states as the Constitution is trampled upon and set on fire. Newsom, like Dr. Fauci,
appears to view our lives through the singular lens of this virus. But life is more complex than that (duh), and Newson
is ignoring the larger reality (or at least pretending to) in order to hold onto power. Citing what we still don't know
about the virus leaves the door wide open for him to continue to rule like an evil emperor.
California:
Give Us Money Or We'll Fire Cops and Firefighters. Governor Newsom is behind in the Most Loathsome Governor in
America race, largely because he hasn't managed to kill as many nursing home residents as rivals like Cuomo and Murphy.
But here he is trying to take first responders hostage. [...] Cops and firefighters are the most expendable employees in
California. Not the billion dollar homeless services infrastructure. Not all the social justice and diversity
personnel. Not, for that matter, the vast useless corps of educational administrators. Nope. We're gonna
fire cops and firefighters because we decided to shut down the state and the rest of the country won't send us money.
Judicial
Watch sues to stop Newsom from giving 75 million tax dollars to illegals. Conservative watchdog Judicial Watch is
asking a California Court to appeals to issue a temporary restraining order to stop Governor Newsom from paying out $75 million
tax dollars to people here illegally. The Lower Court found that JW's lawsuit is likely to succeed on the merits since Newsom
has no right to dole out the money, but illegal aliens need the money and that outweighs everything. Today's [5/18/2020] filing
asks the Court of Appeal to command the Superior Court to issue the restraining order against California Governor Gavin Newsom and his
Director of the California Department of Social Services Kim Johnson, enjoining them from making what is now an imminent, May 18,
2020, illegal expenditure of $79.8 million of taxpayers' funds to illegal aliens pending the final determination of the taxpayer
action brought by Judicial Watch in the lower court.
California
is offering $500 cash payments to unauthorized immigrants who don't qualify for stimulus checks or unemployment
benefits. California is rolling out a program on Monday that will give $500 cash payments to unauthorized
immigrants shut out of traditional government aid programs because of their immigration status. The New York Times
reported the $75 million taxpayer-funded program funded will be conducted by phone to reduce in-person contacts. It's
expected to distribute cash to 150,000 people and the maximum amount awarded per household is $1,000. "California is the
most diverse state in the nation. Our diversity makes us stronger and more resilient," Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a
statement last month about the program. "Every Californian, including our undocumented neighbors and friends, should
know that California is here to support them during this crisis. We are all in this together."
The Editor says...
[#1] Yes, they're "shut out" because of their "immigration status," to wit, they are not supposed to be here
at all. [#2] "We're all in this together" is the new Big Brother catch phrase designed and intended to
stifle dissent. You may notice Big Brother repeating this catch phrase over and over in every grocery store.
Gavin
Newsom: First responders 'first ones laid off' unless California gets federal COVID-19 funds. California
Gov. Gavin Newsom says first responders will be the "first ones laid" off unless federal bucks arrive in the Golden
State in the near future. The Democrat appeared to be playing a political game of chicken with Republicans in Congress
over the weekend during a discussion about the coronavirus pandemic with CNN's Jake Tapper. Mr. Newsom specifically
had a message for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans when asked about a $3 trillion relief bill
being "dead on arrival."
There's Something
Happening Here. Thousands of flag-waving Californians descended upon the State Capitol Friday [5/15/2020] for a
protest of Gov. Gavin Newsom's statewide stay-at-home lockdown order, which has caused millions of residents to lose
their jobs and businesses," wrote Katy Grimes in the California Globe. Down in Huntington Beach in Orange
County, as Fox News explained, protesters were backing up traffic for a mile on Pacific Coast Highway, while others staged
rallies in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. What could have prompted these Californians to get out in the
streets? Governor Gavin Newsom had declared them "nonessential" and they showed up with signs reading "All jobs are
essential." So, basically they want their lives back. This is not what their governor wants, however. On
Wednesday, Newsom told reporters, "we believe we are weeks, not months, away from making meaningful modifications to that
indicator," a reference to his shelter-in-place order. The San Francisco Democrat didn't say what the modifications
would be or when he would make them, and he didn't want people expressing their opposition in public.
Dems
discovering that with sanctuary cities, what goes around, comes around. Atwater, California, has declared
itself a sanctuary city — sanctuary from tyrannical government draining the lifeblood from the people. If
leftist tyrants can provide safe haven to illegal invaders, why not have sanctuary cities that protect Americans from our
newly anointed dictators? So this rural city of fewer than 30,000 people located in the center of California has
decided to free itself from the suffocating chokehold of the state. At the end of April, the City Council voted
unanimously to open businesses and churches.
California
town declares itself 'sanctuary city' for businesses, opens up in defiance of stay-at-home order. A central
California city has declared itself a "sanctuary city" for businesses and will open up in defiance of the state's
stay-at-home order. The city council in Atwater passed a resolution Friday allowing businesses to open despite
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's order for businesses to remain closed, according to ABC30's Vanessa Vasconcelos.
California
City To Allow Reopenings, Declares Itself A 'Sanctuary City' For Business. The central California city of
Atwater has declared itself a "sanctuary city" for businesses. The Friday [5/15/2020] resolution passed by the Atwater
City Council allows business owners to open, openly defying Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom's coronavirus-related
stay-at-home order. The resolution affirms "the city's commitment" to "fundamental" human rights. Churches and
other nonprofits are included in the resolution, according to ABC30's Vanessa Vasconcelos.
California
governor: Shrink prisons to help cut budget. Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to significantly shrink
the footprint of California's prison system, partly because of massive budget cuts prompted by the pandemic but also because
of philosophy. The revised budget he sent to state lawmakers this week envisions closing two state prisons in the
coming years; cutting nearly one in five of the 43 inmate firefighter camps; and eventually closing all three state-run
juvenile prisons.
California
Democrats say 10-year rent-relief plan 'not a giveaway'. California Democrats on Tuesday proposed giving
tenants struggling during the coronavirus pandemic 10 years to pay their rent. The state would purchase unpaid rents
and allow renters a decade, starting in 2024, to pay it back without interest, under the proposal by Senate President Pro Tem
Toni Atkins, tthe Sacramento Bee reported. Landlords would receive a tax credit dependent on committing to not evict
tenants. "This is not a giveaway," Democratic state Sen. Steven Bradford said, according to The Associated
Press. "Our goal is to keep tenants houses and keep landlords out of foreclosure."
California
Revives Affirmative Action. On May 5, just a day after the California Legislature reconvened, an assembly
hearing was held for the controversial Assembly Constitutional Amendment NO. 5 (ACA-5) in the Committee of Public Employment
and Retirement. With a long session of contested public comments over the phone, ACA-5 was passed with a 6-to-1 vote
under the moralistic appeal of "hope for all." While purporting to increase diversity and representation, ACA-5 fails to
meaningfully address structural issues behind achievement gaps and racial discrepancies for both political and philosophical
reasons. Instead, the bill proposes a statewide reinstitution of government preferences in public employment,
education, and contracting along rigid racial lines. The utopian and myopic scheme, wrapped around feel-good rhetoric
with a steep price tag, will not only fall short of establishing long-lasting diversity, but can further compromise true
equality and the merit-based principle, both of which are bedrocks of American democracy.
California:
Gavin Newsom Orders Vote-by-Mail for November Election. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Friday signed
an executive order permitting all registered voters in the Golden State to vote by mail in the upcoming presidential
election, citing concerns stemming from the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. "I signed an executive order that will allow
every registered voter in California to receive a mail-in ballot," Newsom said. "That mail-in ballot is important but
it's not an exclusive substitute to physical locations."
The Editor says...
In other words, you're being encouraged to vote in person, in addition to mailing in your ballot, and any other ballots you find in the
trash can at the post office, or in your neighbor's mailbox, or in the dumpster at an apartment complex.
San
Francisco DA Says His Father, Convicted Murderer And Former Member Of Terrorist Group, Should Get Out Of Prison. San
Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin believes his father, convicted murderer and former Weather Underground member David Gilbert,
should be released from prison due to the coronavirus pandemic. Gilbert and Boudin's mother, Kathy Boudin, were convicted of murder
in 1983 for serving as getaway drivers during a bank robbery that left three people dead at the hands of their co-conspirators.
California
Is Ready to Get Rid of Gavin Newsom. Across California on May 1, tens of thousands protested in defiance of
statewide lockdown orders. In Sacramento, the west lawn of the state capitol building was filled with protesters, with
thousands more marching along the sidewalk surrounding the capitol grounds. Additional thousands driving their cars and
honking their horns created three hours of total gridlock on the streets that loop around the capitol. Noteworthy
protests have taken place in San Diego, Encinitas, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Paso Robles, Santa Rosa, and even tiny
Lakeport on the shores of Clear Lake. There is no end in sight. While the media has typecast these growing
protests as populated by right-wing extremists, Trump supporters, and remnants of a geriatric Tea Party movement, the reality
in California is different. In Laguna Beach, the protest was organized by surfers. Overall, these protests
included people who claimed never to have been involved in politics, people who identified themselves as former Democrats,
and young people. Thousands and thousands of youth: children, teenagers, college students, twentysomethings.
A generation is waking up.
Is
California Thinking About Coronavirus Internment Camps? Gavin Newsom, governor of the "nation-state" of
California, is raising what he calls an "army" of 20,000 government employees who will trace the spread of coronavirus across
the state. Those found guilty, or rather, infected, are likely to run into an uncomfortable change in their
lives. In Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, a pilot program was launched this week to trace infections and
exposure, according to County Health Director Dr. Robert Levin. When infected persons are found, he said, they are
"immediately isolated." As more people are tested, Levin continued, "we will find more and more people who have
COVID-19." "We will isolate every one of them, and we will find every one of their contacts, and we will make sure that
they stayed quarantined, and we'll check in with them every day." Seems innocuous, even helpful. But: [...]
Uber,
Lyft Sued by California in Major Gig-Economy Crackdown. Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. were sued by
California for allegedly violating a new state law designed to give gig-economy workers the benefits of employees.
While expected, the lawsuit filed Tuesday [5/5/2020] in state court marks a serious threat to the business model of an array of
companies that save on labor costs by classifying workers as independent contractors. If the companies ultimately lose
the suit, they could be forced to pay for overtime, health care and other benefits.
Free O.C. California
governor Gavin Newsom's executive order closing the beaches of Orange County, Calif., is what you get when you govern by
Twitter: A news photo showing a crowded Orange County beach makes the social-media rounds, provoking the predictable
outrage storm; Governor Newsom, rather than investigate, issues an executive order to placate the social-media circus; that
executive order is based on powers that the governor does not enjoy, and the Democratic governor singles out the historically
Republican cities of Orange County. It is not even clear that there was a real problem for Newsom to solve. One
photograph did indeed show an Orange County beach looking like spring break; other photographs showed a much more dispersed
and socially distanced crowd.
Orange
County DA 'outraged' after commissioner releases 7 dangerous sex offenders due to COVID-19 restrictions. Orange
County, Calif. District Attorney Todd Spitzer stated Saturday [5/2/2020] that he is "outraged" after the state ordered
the release of seven high-risk sex offenders from the county's jails over concerns they could contract coronavirus.
Appearing on "Fox & Friends Weekend" with host Jason Chaffetz, Spitzer said that the issue at hand is not just in Orange
County or California, but "is a ruse that has been pulled on the American public, on jails and custodial facilities all over
the nation."
Gov.
Newsom Puts Politics Over Data in California Shutdown. Los Angeles County, which has implemented the most
draconian beach closures in the country, has in excess of 1,000 coronavirus deaths. Orange County, which has
consistently taken a less restrictive approach, has had 45 deaths going into this weekend. Orange County's population
of 3.3 million is larger than 22 states. If it were a state, Orange County's death rate of 0.0014% would be the
49th lowest in the country. The primary hospital in Newport Beach has a 475-beds capacity and has never treated more than
25 people for coronavirus issues at any given time. The leaders of that hospital system believe that the curve has
flattened, and that Orange County needs to responsibly reopen.
Judicial
Watch Sues California to Stop Governor Newsom's Initiative to Provide $75 Million in Cash Benefits to Illegal
Aliens. Judicial Watch announced it filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles
on behalf of two California taxpayers, Robin Crest and Howard Myers, asking the court to stop the state from expending $75 million
of taxpayer funds to provide direct cash assistance to unlawfully present aliens. The lawsuit alleges California Governor Gavin
Newsom overstepped his authority and violated federal law when, without affirmative state legislative approval, he took executive action
to create the "Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants Project" and provide cash benefits to illegal aliens who otherwise are ineligible
for state or federal insurance or other benefits due to their unlawful presence in the United States.
Thousands
of protesters flock to Huntington Beach following state-ordered OC beach closures. Large crowds opposing the
state's coronavirus stay-at-home mandate took to the streets of downtown Huntington Beach on Friday [5/1/2020], a day after
the governor closed Orange County beaches and drew frustration and criticism from some residents and city leaders.
Protesters gathered near the Huntington Beach pier shortly before noon, with the crowd eventually swelling to some
2,500-3,000 people, according to Huntington Beach police Chief Robert Handy. The tightly packed crowd, with most people
not wearing protective masks, repeatedly chanted "U.S.A." as they waited for the demonstration to begin.
California
Cities Vote To Sue Governor For Closing Their Beaches. The cities of Huntington Beach and Dana Point have voted
to take legal action against the state of California after Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) said he would close all beaches and
state parks inside of their cities and the rest of Orange County. According to The Los Angeles Times, Huntington Beach
voted 5-2 in a last-minute meeting in favor of seeking an injunction against the governor, who announced in Thursday's
coronavirus press conference that the state would close all beaches in Orange County in response to "alarm bells," including
packed crowds and a lack of reportedly improper physical distancing.
Governor
Grundy puts Orange County, but not San Diego County, on restriction. Just a few hours ago, I got back from La
Jolla, a rich and deep-blue enclave of the city of San Diego that's the home of Mitt Romney. The just-after-sunset
beach traipse was to see the bioluminescence event. Beach waves turn glow-in-the-dark at night as a result of the red
tide, and it's a rare and completely yowza thing to see. Of course it drew a crowd. Street parking was
competitive. The cars just kept coming and coming on Coast Boulevard near Wipeout Beach, and visitors bunched up at
stoplights to use crosswalks — no slipping across the streets real quick to get to the shore view from the
cliffs. Here's a bit of the pre-weekend flavor, and this was far from the most crowded scene I saw. You can see
that the groups have masks, look more like friends than families, and aren't socially distancing.
Gavin
Newsom, beach cop taking on all California. California's Gov. Gavin Newsom is shutting down the beaches,
just as the entire population of California goes stir-crazy and the sunniest weekend of the year beckons. [...] Unless city
officials intend to deploy every police officer to politicing the beaches, it's very unlikely to be the sort of order that's
going to work. Already there are signs the order will never be heeded. The opening of the beaches, about a week
ago, was brought on by public pressure to open the public space, and that's just for starters. The surfer enclaves of
Encinitas and Huntington Beach have already seen fierce protests and calls to end the lockdown.
No
California-wide beach shutdown: Gavin Newsom went for narrow closure. State officials pushed to close all
beaches and state parks in California to try to prevent overcrowding they feared could spread the coronavirus, but
Gov. Gavin Newsom decided Thursday only to temporarily close beaches in Orange County, an administration official
said. Newsom said at a news conference he was ordering a "hard close" in Orange County after beaches in Newport Beach
and Huntington Beach drew tens of thousands of visitors during a heat wave last weekend. He said he was particularly
concerned about the beach activity because Orange County has more coronavirus cases and hospitalizations than many other areas.
The Editor says...
What happened to "the virus knows no borders?"
CA
Gov Newsom [is] Only Closing Beaches in (Conservative) Orange County. In a move that makes him look even more
petty and dictatorial than before, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he's announcing state parks and
beach closures only in Orange County this weekend instead of closing state parks and state beaches throughout the entire
state as he'd planned, and which my colleague Kira Davis reported. The reasoning outlined by Newsom in the press
conference was nonsensical and inconsistent. More likely is that Newsom wants to punish Orange County officials, whom
he sees as uncooperative (despite his public claims), particularly Supervisor and former Assemblymember Don Wagner.
Orange County was one of the Republican Party's last strongholds in the state until the 2018 election, in which Democrats
swept all seven House seats in the county.
Newsom
to close all California beaches, state parks over coronavirus: memo. California Gov. Gavin Newsom will be
closing all beaches and state parks across the state starting Friday to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, according to
a memo sent to California police chiefs on Wednesday [4/29/2020]. The decision comes after Newsom called out the
massive crowds that flocked to Newport Beach in Orange County last weekend during a heat wave. Newsom called the beach
crowds an example of "what not to do" to make progress toward easing restrictions in the statewide stay-at-home order.
CA
Gov Newsom Warns Sun-Loving Newport Beachgoers "Aggressive" Measures Coming. In a livestreamed update on the
Golden State's response to COVID-19 this afternoon [4/27/2020], California Governor Gavin Newsom threw down the gauntlet to
sun-worshippers in his state, who he was disappointed appeared to be enjoying life over the weekend. That's something
that just can't stand, man! Newsom began his speech with a smile, by thanking "the 40 million" Californians who "over
the course of the last number of weeks have not only bent the curve... but stabilized it." But the governor's smile only
lasted about 24 seconds, when he said this: [...]
California
to close all beaches after crowds ignore social distancing rules. California will reportedly close all beaches
and state parks beginning Friday [5/1/2020] after swells of beachgoers fled to the shore last weekend in defiance of social
distancing rules. The state's governor, Gavin Newsom, will formally announce the decision Thursday, according to a memo
outlining the move obtained by FOX 11. "After well-publicized media coverage of overcrowded beaches this past weekend,
in violation of Governor Newson's shelter in place order, the governor will be announcing tomorrow that beaches and all state
parks in California will be closed, effective Friday, May 1," said the notification, which was sent out to all California
police chiefs on Wednesday.
San
Francisco Bay Area Extends Lock-Down Order Throughout May. It is being reported the San Francisco Bay area will
remain in a state of forced lock-down with an extension of the stay-at-home orders throughout May. Considering this is
the home of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, this decision highlights an expectation that the federal government will bail out local and
state governments. We anticipated this type of approach where Blue states & Blue regions will keep their economies
closed as long as possible to inflict maximum political damage. Simply, if San Francisco were not confident they will
gain a federal bailout they would not be keeping their economic system closed for another entire month.
To
Help Out with the Pandemic and Unemployment, California Will Now Pay Seniors to Order From Restaurants. If
you're a restaurant-lovin' California senior citizen and lookin' to make a few extra bucks, you're in luck. Assuming
you fit the profile, the state will now pay you to wine and dine yourself — if you order your grub. On
Friday [4/24/2020], Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new program wherein local, state, and federal money (so if you're
local, will you be triple-taxed for this?) will be paid out to eligible seniors who order food from nearby restaurants.
Newsom
Ordered by CA Supreme Court to Defend $75 Million Giveaway to Illegals. Californians struggling to make ends
meet during extended coronavirus shutdowns were not amused when their governor, Gavin Newsom, announced the creation of a
public-private partnership to give away $125 million ($500/person) in pandemic relief grants to illegal immigrants who are
ineligible to receive unemployment benefits or federal stimulus checks (because they are not here legally, duh). Newsom
further explained that of the $125 million in funding, $75 million would come from taxpayer funds (without explaining any
legislative process appropriating such funds) and that "a group of charities" had promised to chip in $50 million.
Democrats'
Fascism Shines Through. On April 14, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he's planning to give
$125 million in public and private funds to 150,000 adults living in the state illegally. Newsom understands that
illegal immigration is the future of the Democratic party. Californians are ordered to stay at home. Illegal
aliens are welcome to come there any time. Everything that Newsom and his party have done for illegals —
sanctuary cities, free health care, driver's licenses, in-state tuition — will encourage more to come here in
violation of our immigration laws. Fascists don't believe in the rule of law, unless it benefits them directly.
Newsom
won't share details on $1B mask deal with China. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing pushback as state
lawmakers have begun demanding details of his nearly $1 billion deal to receive 200 million masks per month from a Chinese
manufacturer. Just two weeks after announcing the deal, Newsom has remained largely mum on the specifics.
Advisers to the California Democrat have declined requests for comment from the Los Angeles Times about the agreement, which
was inked with Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD — which stands for Build Your Dreams — earlier
this month. BYD was formed in 1995 as a battery manufacturer. In 2008, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway
purchased a 24.8% stake in the company.
California's
'Reopening' Economic Task Force Is As Absurd As It Gets. California Governor Gavin Newsom has introduced his
new economic task force to begin plans for reopening the economy. The task force is 80 members and will include:
[#1] Former Governor Gray Davis, who — in a rare event of complete voter unity — was recalled from the
governorship for his utter incompetence. [#2] Former Governor Jerry Brown, who brought us our disastrous pension
liability. [#3] Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who gave us the current Democrat super majority by bringing us the
insane notion of "jungle primaries." [#4] Failed presidential candidate and very rich man Tom Steyer, who proudly
supports a New Green Deal and is very vocal about working to end vital business in the energy sector. Let's not forget
that Newsom said recently he views this crisis as a chance to usher in a "new era" of progressive policies.
How
Much Do The Pelosi's Have Invested In China? Pelosi may present herself as the defender of the little
guy. She is anything but. In 2018 her net worth was roughly $160 million. She is married to Paul Pelosi who
runs a top tier investment and real estate firm in San Francisco. Over the course of decades, as Nancy has risen
through the ranks of the Democratic Party, the Pelosi's have gotten fabulously wealthy. There have been any number of
allegations over the decades that Nancy and her husband have profited in ways that are clearly illegal from the access a
senior politician enjoys. Over a span of years, Nancy Pelosi used her influence to steer more than $1 billion to the
expansion of a light rail line into a San Francisco neighborhood where her husband owned commercial property and in which
business associates of his then purchased additional properties. The value of real estate in the area exploded with the
arrival of light rail, and the Pelosi's made a killing. There has also been an almost unending number of allegations
that Paul Pelosi has benefited from what is known as insider trading. That is, he has made sometimes enormous purchases
of stocks based on information allegedly provided to him by Nancy, who was privy to sensitive, non-public information by way
of her position.
Newsom:
California unemployment center hours extended, $125M fund created for undocumented immigrants. California Gov. Gavin
Newsom on Wednesday [4/15/2020] said he has extended the unemployment call center hours to help the record 2.7 million Californians
who have filed claims and created a fund to help undocumented immigrants, who comprise 10% of the state's workforce. The Employment
Development Department's call center will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, rather than closing at noon Monday
through Friday. Newsom extended the hours through an executive order.
Because the state has a HUGE budget surplus... California
will pay illegal immigrants not included in coronavirus stimulus. California will be the first state to send
money to illegal immigrants who did not qualify for assistance under the $2.2 trillion federal coronavirus stimulus package
passed last month. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced the allocation of $75 million in taxpayer
funds for $500 payments to 150,000 adult immigrants who are reeling from the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Editor says...
Wouldn't it be far less expensive to deport them all? But that would require some concern about wasting the taxpayers' money.
Illegal
Immigrants in Los Angeles Can Apply for Pre-Paid Debit Cards. Los Angeles will be doling out pre-paid debit
cards to residents who have faced economic hardship due to the coronavirus lockdown, and living in the country illegally
won't disqualify you from getting the cash. Los Angeles officials have begun accepting applications for a no-fee debit
card that provides cash to residents who were already living under the poverty line before the coronavirus crisis began and
have since had their incomes dramatically reduced because of the outbreak, KTLA5 reported.
Gavin Newsom Declares California a "Nation-State,"
Suggesting It is Independent of Federal Authority. Look, either formally secede — with my
enthusiastic Bon voyage! — or get ready for invocation of the Insurrection Act and civil war by the usual
means. We're not going to have this [nonsense] where every state has to buckle under leftwing federal diktats
but that liberal states are free to secede-in-part whenever the federal government is not leftwing. If America isn't
working for you anymore — Leave. We can work out the details later. I suggest that all border
counties be permitted to vote to leave or stay on a county-by-county basis. We don't need to keep states intact when
we're dividing the country. Then I suggest we mutually agree that any citizen of one America has the right to move to
the other America as a citizen within five years of division. After five years, you're a foreign immigrant like
any other, and the countries can choose to accept or reject your request for citizenship as they like. The five year
period will permit a lot of self-sorting.
California
governor planning coronavirus aid for illegal immigrants. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state
Legislature are working on a coronavirus aid plan for the state's illegal immigrants and others not covered by the federal
government's $2.2 trillion relief package. Newsom, a Democrat, disclosed the plans Tuesday [4/7/2020], according
to The Associated Press. "Californians care deeply about undocumented residents in this state," the governor, a former
mayor of San Francisco, said.
Newsom
is Giving Emergency Grants to Illegal Alien Small Business Owners. On Friday [4/3/2020], a reporter from
Telemundo asked California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom what emergency relief he would be providing for illegal aliens
amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. "No state in America does more to help residents regardless of their immigration
status," the governor rightly assured the reporter. Newsom first bragged about the state's healthcare coverage for
illegal aliens before explaining how his administration is now helping illegal alien small business owners obtain grants
while a large part of the American economy remains shut down.
California
to release 3,500 inmates early as coronavirus spreads inside prisons. California is granting early release to
3,500 inmates in an effort to reduce crowding as coronavirus infections begin spreading through the state prison system.
Lawyers for Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday told a panel of federal judges the state is taking "extraordinary and unprecedented
protective measures" to slow the spread of the virus and protect those who live and work within California's 35 prisons.
The accelerated parole policy — affecting inmates due to be released over the next 60 days — comes
in the face of pressure to do much more.
LA
County Sheriff Orders Closure of Gun Stores, Releases 1,700 Inmates. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva
has released 1,700 inmates from county facilities and is ordering gun stores in the county closed. Fox 11 reports the
gun store closures are part of the coronavirus stay-at-home order while the release of the inmates is an attempt to slow the
spread of the virus in county facilities.
Gov.
Gavin Newsom says state won't issue guidance on whether gun stores are essential businesses. California
Gov. Gavin Newsom will not offer official guidance on whether gun stores can be classified as essential businesses and
remain open during the state's shelter-in-place order. Newsom was asked about the issue after Los Angeles County
reversed course on a move to close gun stores amid the spread of coronavirus in the region and the county's shelter-in-place
order. L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva initially ordered the closing of gun stores, but legal counsel for the
county determined gun stores are essential businesses and must remain open. Villanueva then rescinded the order.
LA
Sheriff Suspends Efforts To Close Gun Stores. Confusion swirled as the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Tuesday temporarily suspended its efforts to close gun stores during the coronavirus outbreak. The decision was made as
the county counsel's office works to clarify whether gun stores are considered essential businesses under California
Gov. Gavin Newsom's statewide order, a sheriff's spokesperson confirmed to CBS2 Tuesday night [3/24/2020].
California's
Stay-at-Home Order Is a Legal Mess. California Governor Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order may well be necessary
as a matter of public health in the face of the new coronavirus — I will leave that to epidemiologists to
determine. But viewed as a legal declaration, it's a total mess. [...] The order is also drafted so badly that it
creates contradictions with the state's own website explaining it, with the governor's own speech rolling it out, and with
common sense. As written, the order does not say clearly that Californians can leave their homes to buy food or
medicine or other necessities. It doesn't say whether they can go out to help family members or friends who are
themselves vulnerable or otherwise in need. It is silent on going out for exercise. Although context suggests all
these may be permitted, the formal legal implication of the text would be that all are prohibited.
Newsom
executive order allows California to commandeer hotels, motels to house coronavirus patients. Gov. Gavin
Newsom, the California Democrat, released an executive order on Thursday [3/12/2020] that includes the authority for
Sacramento to take over hotels and motels for medical use for coronavirus patients, in a move he said will help the state of
40 million prepare for any widespread outbreak. Some patients in the state have already been moved to hotels. The
Desert Sun reported that a 120-room hotel in San Carlos, which is near San Francisco, has been already tapped to house
passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship. The first-term governor told reporters that besides hotels and motels,
state officials are also scouting for potential lodging in "mothballed" facilities and state parks. The executive
order, according to the report, has been designed to allow the state's Health and Human Services Agency and the Office of
Emergency Services to commandeer private property for coronavirus treatment.
Government
Outlaws Freelance Work. Freelance jobs are "feudalism," says California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez.
She persuaded California's legislature to pass a new law reclassifying freelance workers as employees. That means many
people who hire them must now give them benefits like overtime, unemployment insurance, etc. Politicians said it would
help freelancers a lot. Of course, much of the media agreed. [...] Young reporters just don't understand that stifling
economic freedom always creates nasty side effects.
California
Is a Cruel Medieval State. One way of understanding California is simply to invert traditional morality.
What for centuries would be considered selfish, callous, and greedy is now recalibrated as caring, empathetic, and
generous. The current ethos of evaluating someone by his or her superficial appearance — gender or
race — has returned to the premodern values of 19th-century California when race and gender calibrated
careers. We don't pay medieval priests for indulgences of our past and ongoing sin, but we do tweet out displays of our
goodness as the penance price of acting amoral. A paradox ensues that Californians both have a high, indeed smug, view
of themselves and yet do a lot of damage to their fellow human beings.
California's Gig Law Comes For
the Scooters, Destroys Independent "Juicers". California's "gig economy" law — AB5 —
continues to have disastrous consequences across the state. The list of jobs affected or outright destroyed is huge and
growing every day. The wedding industry is collapsing. Festivals are closing. Theaters and music venues are
closing. A nursing shortage is now upon us because qualified nurses can no longer pick up extra side-jobs in areas like
hospice care. The law has even killed Christmas: mall Santas can no longer contract their services.
Calif.
Bill Would Fine Stores With "Boys" and "Girls" Departments. [Scroll down] But should [Evan] Low's bill
become law, a retailer could actually have some fun with it. I'd comply and combine the sections, for instance, but
then label different displays as "blue" or "pink." Were it questioned by a government bureaucrat, I'd ask how he could be
so closed-minded as to associate a color with a sex. Better still might be to label displays as "Little XY" or
"Little XX." Upon interrogation, I'd expound upon how "experts" maintain that one can be genotypically male but
phenotypically female. "How could you be such a bigot, sir (or is it madam?), as to assume that the girls entering my establishment
don't have an XY chromosome configuration?" As for Low, he justified his bill with the usual lowbrow leftist boilerplate.
New
California Bill Requires Retailers Create 'Gender-Neutral' Aisles For Children. A new bill introduced in the
California Assembly would require retailers to create "gender-neutral" floor-spaces for children's merchandise, with the goal
of banning sex-specific labeling labeling such as "girls aisles" and "boys aisles." The bill proposed by Democratic
Assemblyman Evan Low, requires all retail department stores with 500 employees or more to comply with the newfound gender
standards of the Left.
The Editor says...
In a free country, businesses are allowed to arrange their stores in any manner they choose.
Sorry,
Democrats: Party's Over. It makes me smile to know that fewer people are watching CNN than have fled from
California in the last few years. These days even Jed Clampett wouldn't be convinced that Californy is the place he
ought to be. He would have the sense to take his money to Texas where the taxes are reasonable and you won't be
flash-mobbed by SJWs chanting that you're an eco-criminal for striking it rich in the energy sector. Modest as Jed's
education may have been, I think he would have understood that energy is a good thing and letting junkies poop in the aisle
at Costco is a bad thing. Even cousin Jethro would have winced at the mountain of filth that Pelosi and her party have made.
New
California bill would require gender neutral sections in retail stores. A new California bill would require
some retailers to have gender neutral floor space inside their stores, Politico reports. The bill, called Assembly Bill
2826, was introduced by Assemblymember Evan Low, a Democrat from Campbell. According to Politico, retailers would be
able to sell the same products, as long as they dedicate space where customers can find clothes and toys regardless of
whether the items have been marketed to boys or girls.
Housing crisis:
Berkeley law would put renters first. City officials say the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act would give
tenants more leverage and help them stay housed in one of the country's most expensive real estate markets, which has pushed
rents sky high and contributed to a growing homeless crisis. The median home price in Berkeley was $1.3 million
last year, nearly doubled from $704,000 in 2013, [Berkeley Mayor Jesse] Arreguin said.
Gavin
Newsom Says Doctors Should Write Prescriptions For Housing. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said
that medical doctors should be able to prescribe housing in the same way they prescribe medication to sick people Wednesday
during his 2020 State of the State Address. "Health care and housing can no longer be divorced. After all, what's
more fundamental to a person's well-being than a roof over their head?" Newsom asked during the address. "Doctors should
be able to write prescriptions for housing the same way they do for insulin and antibiotics." The crowd erupted in applause.
AB5 Backfire: California's
poorly designed "gig-work" law is already having unintended consequences. AB5 took effect on January 1, and
it's already causing trouble. A limit on the number of articles that freelance writers could produce for one publication
resulted in layoffs for some California journalists and a First Amendment lawsuit from others. Workers in more than 135
occupations claim that losing contractor status hurts them, while independent theater and arts groups are facing thousands of
dollars in costs they can't afford because they must now treat staff as employees. Lorena Gonzalez, the assemblywoman
who wrote AB5, has introduced another law to remove the article cap for writers and address the status of musicians.
A sign of poor legislation is the need to rewrite it immediately after it takes effect.
A California-style Brexit.
Since AB5 took effect on January 1, hundreds of thousands of Californians are finding their businesses in tatters.
Musicians can't join bands for a one-night gig, chefs can't join forces with caterers, nurses can't work at various hospitals,
and writers must cap their submissions per media outlet to 35 per year. Under the law, these freelancers can no longer
conduct the same business-to-business transactions they have for years or even decades. Clients with whom they fostered
valuable relationships are gone — as are their successful careers and incomes. An overwhelming majority of
professionals in fields affected by AB5 identify as liberals and have generally voted along the blue line. Today,
however, many are so disillusioned with their representatives that they're changing political loyalties.
Congressman
Calls on California to Fire Pension Official Tied to Chinese Spy Program. A Republican lawmaker urged
California to fire a top pension fund official because he participated in a Chinese program that the FBI has called
"non-traditional espionage against the United States." Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.) asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to
investigate Yu Ben Meng, the chief investment officer at California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), for his
"long and cozy relationship" with the Chinese Communist Party. The letter also decried CalPERS's investment in Chinese
companies that built up the regime's military presence in contested waters of the South China Sea and produced surveillance
equipment used for China's brutal crackdown in Xinjiang. "Governor Newsom, if it were up to me, I would fire
Mr. Meng immediately," Banks said in a letter to the governor.
San
Francisco's mayor admits to affair and accepting gifts from the city's disgraced homelessness chief. San
Francisco's mayor has admitted to having a fling with and to accepting thousands of dollars in unreported gifts from the
city's disgraced former homelessness chief who is now at the center of an FBI corruption probe for accepting kickbacks.
Mayor London Breed admitted on Friday to briefly dating Mohammed Nuru, San Francisco's former Director of Public Works,
around 20 years ago, leading to calls for her resignation from the city's top job. Nuru, 58, resigned from his post
earlier this week after he was arrested and charged by the FBI in January for a series of alleged public corruption schemes.
SF
Mayor London Breed says she 'dated' now-indicted poop-patrol chief Mohammed Nuru. Apparently, Kamala Harris
wasn't the only ambitious and comely San Francisco female pol who "dated" a San Francisco political pooh-bah to advance her
career. Harris dated San Francisco mayor Willie Brown. Now San Francisco mayor London Breed says she dated
Mohammed Nuru, San Francisco's entrenched director of public works (famous for its "poop patrols"), taking a $5,600 "gift"
from him and "forgetting" to disclose it. [...] Nuru's now under indictment for kickbacks, pay to play, bribery, wire fraud,
and use of public services for private gain in what's called San Francisco's biggest political scandal in years. [...] The
pair have known each other, apparently intimately, for 20 years. And Nuru is a very powerful, entrenched fixture
on the scene in San Francisco politics.
Texas
Sues California Over Economic Sanctions on Religious States. One of the more bizarre elements of our cold
civil war is California's imposition of economic sanctions on any states that provide any element of religious freedom.
California has currently imposed economic sanctions on eleven states. And then it messed with Texas.
Sorry,
you cannot compel Americans to vote. Democratic California Assemblyman Marc Levine has introduced a clearly
unconstitutional bill which mandates that anyone registered to vote must attend a voting booth and file a response.
Levine says his intended law is justified and necessary because "democracy is not a spectator sport — it requires
the active participation of all its citizens ... Those rights come with a responsibility by registered voters to cast their
ballot and make sure that their voice is heard by their government." While registered voters would not have to select a
candidate in order to conform with Levine's desired law, they would have to file a ballot return, even if unmarked. But
as I say, this bill is patently unconstitutional.
Orange
County Has Released Thousands Of Criminal Illegal Aliens Because Of California's Sanctuary Law. The Orange
County Sheriff's Department has been forced to release thousands of criminal illegal aliens in the past two years, with both
the sheriff's department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement blaming California's statewide sanctuary law.
California's SB 54, legislation that largely restricts cooperation between ICE and law enforcement, went into effect in
January 2018. Since that time, Orange County has released over 2,100 illegal aliens back into the community despite ICE
detainers placed on every single one of them, the agency announced in a Wednesday press release. The sheriff's
department released 1,106 inmates without notifying ICE in 2018 and released another 1,015 again in 2019 without notifying
the agency.
California's
primary vote count could take longer than ever. Californians start voting Monday in a high-profile Democratic
presidential primary that has no clear front-runner and could take longer to count than any previous election in a state
already notorious for slow ballot counting.
Coastal States Are in the Fight
of Their Lives. Is the Rest of America Listening? AB5 — otherwise known as the "Gig Economy"
bill is much more dangerous and not just for us, but everyone in the nation. This bill makes independent contracting
illegal. It is absolutely the most communist legislation I have ever seen passed in my lifetime as an American.
It was aimed to get at Uber and Lyft and instead entrapped anyone who contracts their services. And I do mean
anyone. I spoke to a man who had to close his theater production because how can you hire 42 seasonal actors as W-2
employees every few months and then fire them and then rehire and on and on? You can't. Independent theater will
die. Linguists, courtroom reporters, translators, transcribers, truckers, rideshare drivers, musicians, caterers,
bartenders, writers, freelance journalists... anyone who earns money by contracting their services is now out of work or
about to be. It is the most massive and disturbing overreach I have ever seen, and yet hardly anyone else in the
country is paying attention.
How
the Golden State Embraced Corporate Socialism. Gavin Newsom, the lily white, urbane, coiffed scion of San
Francisco's posh royalty, is California's highest-ranking Democrat. He presides over a party that has taken progressive
ideals beyond absurdity to the brink of tyranny, a socialist party that openly disparages whiteness and wealth. One
would think that the party of Gavin Newsom is bent on destroying everything Gavin Newsom represents. So what's going
on? To understand the rise of Newsom, and every other hyper-privileged Democrat who even today remain in firm control
of the progressive movement, it is necessary to define a 21st-century version of corporate socialism. This goes well
beyond the use of the term merely to describe government subsidies for, say, the oil and gas industry, or, for that matter,
the wind and solar industry.
Oklahoma
governor bans state-funded travel to California after being put on Golden State's blacklist. The governor of
Oklahoma has banned all state-funded travel to California after officials there placed a similar ban on travel to his
state. Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who is in his first term, announced the ban in an executive order
on Thursday, barring all non-essential travel by state employees to the Golden State, with exceptions for business recruiting
trips, college sports games and trips by schools to participate in out-of-state programs.
Oakland
Becomes First California City To Ban Background Checks For Prospective Renters. Following a unanimous vote by
the city council Tuesday night, Oakland has now become the first city in California to ban criminal background checks on
potential renters. "Indescribable emotions and feelings," said John Jones III of Oakland, who got out of prison in 2012
and struggled to find a place to live in Oakland despite his well-paying job as an aviation mechanic. Jones said he's
among the many who left prison only to end up on the streets, contributing to Oakland's homeless crisis. That's why
he's been lobbying hard for the Oakland City Council to pass the Fair Chance Housing Ordinance, which says landlords will no
longer be allowed to turn down potential renters because of criminal convictions.
California
Now Pushing Free Health Care for Illegal Immigrant Seniors. California has waged a war on the concept of
citizenship by essentially sidestepping the will of the American people and intentionally undermining immigration laws.
Worse, by extending social welfare to those illegal immigrants, the state is signaling that the concept of citizenship itself
is meaningless. It's clear that California's craziness doesn't stop, as [Governor] Newsom and the state's Democrats
have doubled down to extend free health care coverage to even greater numbers of illegal immigrants. Newsom's latest
proposed budget now aims to extend free health care coverage to illegal immigrants 65 years old and older as a part of the
state's Medi-Cal program. This would add $80.5 million to the budget this year and $350 million annually once fully
implemented, according to Politico.
Tents,
Homelessness, and Misery: 9 Things I Saw in San Francisco. Home to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's congressional
district, San Francisco is reliably and overwhelmingly blue in every election (with perhaps a few votes going to the Green
Party). In just the past year, the city's Board of Supervisors declared the National Rifle Association to be a
"domestic terrorist organization," and the school board voted first to paint over, and then to hide, a mural of George
Washington in one of the city's high schools — a mural, incidentally, painted by a leftist who strove to show both
Washington's greatness and flaws. Such actions are just par for the course for San Francisco, a city of more than
884,000 that in the past decade also banned fast-food restaurants from including toys with most children's meals; prohibited
city-funded travel by local employees to 22 pro-life states; raised the minimum wage from $9.79 to $15.59 an hour; and, after
banning plastic bags in 2007, first set a 10-cent fee for each nonreusable bag at stores, and then a 25-cent fee per
bag. Yes, leftist insanity has long been the norm for San Francisco.
First,
the purges: Comrade Chesa Boudin fires prosecutors for ... prosecuting. What would it be like if Hugo
Chávez and Bill Ayers ran the city prosecutor's office? San Franciscans are about to find out, now that Ayers's
stepson, Chesa Boudin, son of Weather Underground terrorists and translator to none other than Hugo himself, has made his
first move as San Francisco district attorney. He's kicked off his term with purges for insufficient revolutionary
fervor, taking a page from Andrei Vyshinsky, Stalin's famous show trial prosecutor who enforced ideological purity. [...]
Bottom line: Chesa has no use for such prosecutors who prosecute, and the only thing he wants prosecuted is "the
system," the idea of there being laws against crimes. It goes to show the depth of ideological conformity being
demanded now in what's clearly going to be a highly politicized D.A.'s office. Professionalism is the enemy of the
people now.
San
Francisco, solid blue city of — empty storefronts and missing young people. San Francisco is getting
to be a hellhole and not just because crooks are having a field day, or a vast homeless army has prompted new tech
'innovations' in poop-map apps. It's actually becoming a city with a hollowed out look, redolent of some place like
Steubenville, Ohio or maybe Utica, New York, during the bad years, empty storefronts and missing young people. So much
for the trope that leftwing cities, with their walkable boulevards full of food trucks, handmade crafts, knitting shops,
bookstores, artisan cheese shops, gourmet restaurants, and cafes are more lively and liveable than rightwing places.
For awhile, that did seem to be the story. But it's coming to an end. Sure, there's vast wealth. But
despite California being in an economic boom, the place is starting to look like Venezuela.
Abortions are okay, but stray dogs must be preserved. 'We
want to be a no-kill state.' Newsom calls for end to animal euthanasia in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom
wants California to stop euthanizing animals, and he's ready to put taxpayer money toward the cause. "We want to be a
no-kill state," Newsom said during a press conference where he presented his 2020-21 budget. Specifically, Newsom's
budget calls for a $50 million one-time general fund allocation to the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program to develop a
grant program for animal shelters, with a goal of helping local communities "achieve the state's policy goal that no
adoptable or treatable dog or cat should be euthanized," according to the budget summary.
Does California Want to
Secede? On Friday [1/10/2020], Governor Gavin Newsom will present the state's budget for the next fiscal
year. In it, he will propose that the state of California sell its own brand of prescription drugs in order to
"increase competition in the generic drug marketplace and lower the cost of medications by having Sacramento contract
drugmakers to manufacture certain prescriptions under a state label." [...] Because California is so large, with such a huge
economy and so many people, the state's dominance generally steers industry and other governments in the direction it
wants. No company that does business with state governments can afford to ignore what California is doing.
Bloomberg
sees California as model for U.S. The Democratic presidential candidate and former New York City mayor likes a
lot of what he sees in the Golden State and thinks its efforts on climate change, gun control and criminal justice reform
sets a benchmark for other states to emulate. "I think that California can serve as a great example for the rest of
this country," Bloomberg told supporters at the opening of his Angeles headquarters.
Workers
Resist California's Newest Bad Law. As of Jan. 2, Uber and Lyft drivers, independent truckers, freelance
writers, photographers, artists and musicians and the companies who hire their services have to abide by AB 5. The
law, which was originally concocted to destroy the business models of Uber and Lyft and has exemptions for 50 professions, is
a cynical and transparent gift to unions from the same Democrats who have been wrecking my one-party state for decades.
AB 5's proud mother, leftwing Democrat Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego, claims it's intended to protect
part-timers and freelancers from being "exploited" by their evil, greedy employers. Her law is supposed to provide
independent contractors with the same benefits and workplace protections that full-time employees get and — most
important to the Democrats — therefore make it possible for them to unionize.
New
California Law Prohibits Showering and Doing Laundry on the Same Day. "So all of the sudden I can smoke
marijuana as much as I want but I can't take a shower?," newsman Mark Kriski said. "Unbelievable. That's where
our state has gone." KTLA news anchors and reporters debated on LIVE TV the stupidity of a new California law
that effectively prohibits showering and doing laundry on the same day.
A tale of two states
in decline. Taxpayers in California and New York shoulder some of the heaviest tax burdens in the nation, and
now new data show the two have something else in common: Their growth rates have slowed. It's probably no
coincidence. According to the California Department of Finance, during the year that ended June 30, more people left
the Golden State than moved in — the first time that's happened since 2010. [...] One obvious reason: As the
Los Angeles Times notes, the Golden State has one of the highest tax burdens in America. Here in New York, meanwhile,
taxpayers also bear some of the nation's highest tax burdens. And guess what: This state has long been watching
its share of the national population shrink. No, taxes alone aren't to blame: Both states, for example, are
famous for their progressive policies, hostility to businesses and onerous mandates.
California Preening.
In truth, the Golden State is becoming a semi-feudal kingdom, with the nation's widest gap between middle and upper incomes —
72 percent, compared with the U.S. average of 57 percent — and its highest poverty rate. Roughly half of America's
homeless live in Los Angeles or San Francisco, which now has the highest property crime rate among major cities. California hasn't
yet become a full-scale dystopia, of course, but it's heading in a troubling direction.
New
California law to provide subsidized healthcare for undocumented immigrants. Under the new law SB 104
California will offer government subsidized health benefits for undocumented immigrants under the age of 26. Previously
only undocumented immigrant children could apply. It's part of new funding for MediCal. Gov. Gavin Newsom
says there will be "An additional $450 a month in subsidies reducing premiums by 25%. No state in America does that."
Sarah Dar from the California Immigrant Policy Center says this will make a healthier community.
Least-Educated
State: 2,471,189 California Residents 25 and Older Never Completed 9th Grade; Highest Percentage in Nation.
California once again ranked No. 1 among the 50 states for the percentage of its residents 25 and older who have never
completed ninth grade and 50th for the percentage who have at least graduated from high school, according to new five-year
estimates (2014-2018) released Thursday by the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. California, as CNSNews.com
reported last year, also ranked No. 1 for the percentage who never completed ninth grade and No. 50 for the percentage who
had graduated from high school in the five-year estimates (2013-2017) the Census Bureau released in December 2018. In
California, according to the new five-year estimate, 2,471,189 residents 25 and older had never completed ninth grade.
The Editor says...
So much for the claim that "immigrants make our communities stronger."
Car
burglaries in some California cities are at crisis levels. Prosecutors say their hands are tied. An
epidemic of car burglaries in San Francisco over the last few years has led one Democratic lawmaker to propose plugging a
loophole in state law that allows some break-ins to go unpunished, but the Legislature has balked at prosecutors' requests to
make obtaining convictions easier. The proposal, which would eliminate a requirement that prosecutors prove a car's
doors were locked at the time of a break-in, has been shelved two years in a row in legislative committees. Lawmakers
struggling with prison crowding and public pressure to enact criminal justice reform have been reluctant to do anything to
put more people behind bars.
Why the Law?
The latest and most high-profile district attorney race victory went to none other than the stinking, crime infested city of
San Francisco. Does the name Chesa Boudin ring a bell? No not to me either, at first. Not until it was
revealed he is the son of 1960s radical leftist, American terrorist bomber Bill Ayers. It matters not that Boudin, a
defense attorney, has never prosecuted a single case. I bet he'll make a great district attorney for victims of crimes
(sarc.). Boudin has already stated he will not prosecute public urination, prostitution and "quality of life crimes"
for the homeless. What about quality of life for the hardworking tax payers and business owners? Supporters of
Boudin claim he wasn't financed by George Soros, but this statement is disingenuous.
Thought San Francisco's
Quality Of Life Couldn't Get Worse? Think Again. San Francisco garnered national headlines with the
election of its new district attorney, a progressive, which means there will be zero progress made in the homelessness
crisis, and little if any made toward reducing crime in the city and county. Chesa Boudin, a one-time deputy public
defender who has never tried a case, was elected in a close race, and will assume office in January. Before he had a
chance to decide if the new drapes in his office were going to be socialist red or blue state blue, Boudin announced that he
would not prosecute quality-of-life crimes such as "public camping, offering or soliciting sex, public urination, blocking a
sidewalk, etc." We assume public defecating on streets and sidewalks, today's San Francisco "treat," will also go unprosecuted.
California
DMV Makes 50 Million Dollars a Year Selling Drivers' Info to Private Companies. A California Department of
Motor Vehicles document revealed that the government agency is generating $50 million a year by selling drivers' personal
information to private companies. According to a report from VICE, which received the document through a public records
request, revenue from selling information — which includes names, physical addresses, and car registration
information — has climbed from $41 million in fiscal year 2013-2014 to $51 million in 2018-2019.
In an email explaining the numbers, the California DMV did not specify which private companies have purchased the data, but
said the list may include insurance companies, vehicle manufacturers, and prospective employers.
Most
city workers pay $0 in healthcare premiums. Garcetti said he'd change that. He hasn't. In a major
policy reversal that critics say will cost the city and taxpayers millions of dollars, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has
abandoned his long-stated goal of getting the city's public employee unions to pay a portion of their healthcare costs.
Under contracts signed this year that were supported by the mayor, many of City Hall's largest unions will continue to
contribute nothing toward their healthcare premiums. Garcetti also backed agreements with several smaller unions,
allowing those employees who had been contributing 10% of their premiums to stop paying in January.
Correcting
Voters' Mistakes. Californians must no longer have recourse to the recall election. If Golden Staters
still have the recall, surely they'd be using it to oust their useless mayors who have allowed their once-beautiful cities to
degenerate into filth and ruin. They'd also be mounting a recall of their new governor, Gavin Newsom. Back in
2003, before the mass exodus to Texas, there were still enough decent Californians remaining to recall and oust Gov. Gray
Davis. Davis's replacement, Arnold Schwarzenegger, might have become a terrific governor had he been paired with a decent
legislature. But the Governator didn't have a decent legislature; it was populated with progressives.
What
Happened to California Republicans? [Scroll down] A cynic might argue that once a federal judge allowed
undocumented immigrants to enjoy the full array of state services and entitlements, there were incentives for millions of
other immigrants to enter the U.S. illegally, and California in particular. Statistics suggests they did just
that — often to the chagrin of Democratic politicians, the United Farm Workers and other liberal groups who
worried about the negative effects of illegal immigration on entry-level wages, unionization and poor citizens' access to
overtaxed social services. [...] The final irony? Those most hurt — and growing the most angry —
are the immigrants who once fled to a different California that now no longer exists.
California's Burning. California's
young and bold new progressive governor Gavin Newsom, the former mayor of San Francisco, probably figured he'd be thrust into
the national limelight after signing a host of must-do liberal measures ranging from statewide rent control to a new
union-crafted law that seeks to essentially ban companies from using outside contractors. He also signed a ban on the
sale of animal furs, stopped state agencies from leasing public lands for any oil-and-gas-related infrastructure (to stop the
Trump administration from expanding resource "exploitation" on neighboring federal lands) — and even signed a law
forbidding hotels from handing out those little bottles of shampoo and conditioner.
Son
of Two Unrepentant Terrorists Wins DA San Fran Race. "Chesa Boudin has won the election to become San
Francisco's next district attorney," CBS News reported late Saturday. "The people of San Francisco have sent a powerful
and clear message," Boudin said in a statement. "It's time for radical change to how we envision justice. I'm
humbled to be a part of this movement that is unwavering in its demand for transformation." People in the vast
hinterland to the east might wonder who Chesa is, exactly, and what kind of transformation he has in mind. Bernie
Sanders was first to congratulate the victor, and San Francisco voters knew Chesa served as a translator for the regime of
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. Still, a full understanding must start with Chesa's mother, Kathy Boudin, a Weather
Underground terrorist.
Lucky
San Francisco: With Chesa Boudin as DA, good luck getting a cop when you want one. Well, Chesa Boudin has
finally done it: he's gotten himself into the San Francisco D.A.'s seat, after a lifetime of standing up for crooks and
mastering criminal "justice" from Bill Ayers's stepdad berth and Hugo Chávez's knee. Like the way criminal justice
works in Caracas? In San Francisco, Hugo Chávez's trusted adviser is now there to help. He's there to
"transform," as he says. That's his brand, as the Bay Area tech marketing hipsters say. This won't work out too
well if you've got bums vomiting at your doorstep, gang members shooting with muzzle flashes 'round corners, and junkies
setting up camp on your sidewalk. We've already seen the boulder-warfare some of the homeowners are putting up in a
desperate bid to stop it. Such people can probably now look forward to getting arrested.
San
Francisco Voters Elect Radical District Attorney, Son of Cop-killing Terrorists. Progressive candidate Chesa
Boudin wants to free criminals but prosecute police and ICE agents for doing their jobs. It's no surprise Boudin hates
cops so much. His parents did, too. Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert were terrorists in the Weather Underground who
murdered two police officers and a security guard during a 1981 robbery of a Brinks armored security car outside New York
City. There should be a law that children of terrorists who share their parents' worldview are barred from holding
public office, especially the role of the chief law enforcement officer. Boudin's dad is still in prison so he can't
kill any more cops, but his mother is out. Naturally, she is an assistant professor at Columbia University. After
his parents killed the cops, Boudin was sent to live with two other terrorists, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. Dohrn
declared war on the United States and was on the FBI's Most Wanted list.
California
Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted for skipping funeral of deputy allegedly killed by illegal immigrants. The same
day a federal grand jury indicted two illegal immigrants accused of murdering Deputy Brian Ishmael, El Dorado Sheriff John
D'Agostini took aim at California's drug and sanctuary policies, singling out Gov. Gavin Newsom for skipping his funeral
in favor of a meeting with the state's beleaguered power provider.
Newsom
runs up against US Justice Department rules in pardoning immigrants. Attorney General William Barr is trying to
deport some legal immigrants who were convicted of crimes many years ago. Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to spare
some of the same immigrants from deportation by pardoning them. It's shaping up as another round in the Trump
administration vs. California. The immigrants are legal U.S. residents who, because they have not become
citizens, face potential deportation for past crimes that were punishable by sentences of a year or more. Barr,
overturning long-standing decisions by immigration courts, declared last month that migrants convicted of long-ago crimes
could be deported even when their home states had retroactively reduced or erased their sentences.
San
Francisco Supervisor Chants [in Opposition to] the [Police Officers Association] During DA Candidate's Campaign Rally.
Heading into 2020, it seems we've entered into an age in which anyone, from Twitter troll to elected public official, can say whatever
strikes their fancy no matter how abhorrent, destructive or violent, from any microphone they can manage to find, and with near
impunity. Oh, sorry. I mean, any liberal. Conservatives can't do that. Take, for example, San Francisco
Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer, who, after clunking her way up to the stage to stump for left-wing district attorney candidate Chesa
Boudin, used her moment at the podium to rant against the city's 2,000-member police union by leading the audience in the chant, [...]
English
Is the International Language of Success — Except in California. It's been two decades, but I still
remember the excitement of helping to pass California's Proposition 227, which I thought would rescue Spanish-speaking kids
from an education ghetto of frustration and failure. It was an uphill battle. We fought an education bureaucracy
including California's powerful teachers' unions, book publishers who received lucrative government contracts, and even Jerry
Perenchio, the late Republican billionaire CEO of Univision, who donated $1.5 million to the efforts to maintain California's
"bilingual" education system. We won. Sixty-one percent of Californians were ready for a change. Amid
chants of racism and cultural insensitivity, Latino parents would tell me they knew that education and learning English in
their adopted country were key to their kids' futures. Unfortunately, the victory wouldn't last.
Power
and Gas Cutoffs in Blue States Represent a Failure of Governance. California — a state that by
itself constitutes the world's fifth-largest economy, is endowed with vast stores of human and natural resources, and has one
of the planet's most amenable climates for human habitation — is failing. The Golden State is host to one of
the country's worst homelessness epidemics. It's a state in which 19th century diseases such as typhus and tuberculosis
are making a comeback. More people are moving out of the state than into it. Its rates of violent crime are on
the rise. It has more failing schools than any other state in the Union. And now, true to basket-case form,
California is home to massive, rolling power outages. But unlike in the developing world, these blackouts are not a
result of resource deficiency but the voluntary imposition of darkness on the public.
California's
Prop 47 leads to [a] rise in shoplifting, thefts, [and] criminal activity across [the] state. These brazen acts
of petty theft and shoplifting are a dangerous and all-too-common consequence of Proposition 47, a referendum passed five
years ago that critics say effectively gives shoplifters and addicts the green light to commit crimes as long as the merchandise
they steal or the drugs they take are less than $950 in value. The decision to downgrade theft of property valued below
the arbitrary figure from felony to misdemeanor, together with selective enforcement that focuses on more "serious" crimes,
has resulted in thieves knowing they can brazenly shoplift and merchants knowing the police will not respond to their
complaints, say critics.
Is
California Becoming Premodern? California is now a one-party state. Democrats have supermajorities in
both houses of the legislature. Only seven of the state's 53 congressional seats are held by Republicans. The
result is that there is no credible check on a mostly coastal majority. Huge global wealth in high-tech, finance, trade
and academia poured into the coastal corridor, creating a new nobility with unprecedented riches. Unfortunately, the
new aristocracy adopted mindsets antithetical to the general welfare of Californians living outside their coastal
enclaves. The nobodies have struggled to buy high-priced gas, pay exorbitant power bills and deal with shoddy
infrastructure — all of which resulted from the policies of the distant somebodies.
California
to train poll workers how to interact with transgender voters. All poll workers in California will be trained
on how to properly interact with and assist transgender and gender-nonconforming voters when they cast ballots.
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla (D) announced the new initiative last week, saying his office is partnering with
the Equality California Institute ahead of next year's presidential primary.
Is
California's governor really this clueless about high gas prices and power outages? California Gov. Gavin
Newsom finally noticed that his state has the highest gas prices in the nation, and he's angry. So angry, in fact, he
ordered his Attorney General to investigate the decades-long mystery. "There is no identifiable evidence to justify
these premium prices," Newsom wrote in a letter to state Attorney General Xavier Becerra. "If oil companies are
engaging in false advertising or price fixing, then legal action should be taken to protect the public." Newsom
correctly identified the symptom but remains clueless about the cause. He at least pretends to be.
Why
California's AB-5 is a threat to the American way of life. I am freelancing this article. Doing so means
that I work from home, set my own schedule and have most days of the week free to write books. While books provide the
bulk of my income, freelancing provides substantial extra money that my family and I have come to expect. Barring any
unforeseen change in circumstances, over the next year I'll freelance dozens of articles at a rate of one or occasionally two
a week. If I did that in California, I'd be opening up my employers to legal penalties. Bill AB-5, authored by
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, has just passed, limiting California freelancers to submitting 35 articles to a publication a
year without being hired by that company. Thirty-five may seem like a lot, but that limit makes a weekly column
impossible, let alone working for online companies where you might submit a short article or two daily and reach that limit
within a month.
How
California's new gig economy law could put freelancers out of business. If I lived in California, I'd be
staring down unemployment. A new law governing freelance work was signed into law late last month. It isn't
scheduled to take effect until January, but if panicking freelancers aren't able to force a change before then, many will be
banned from doing their jobs. It's a classic case of well-intended but functionally destructive regulation: In
the name of protecting workers, Assembly Bill 5 will prohibit some them from working. In the resultant chaos, a lucky
few will secure full-time jobs while the rest are "helped" right out of a stable income stream. A.B. 5's primary target
is gig employers like ridesharing apps Uber and Lyft, whose drivers are classified as contract workers, not employees.
That means they aren't entitled to benefits like health insurance or paid time off even if they're working full-time hours,
which A.B. 5 seeks to change.
California's
legal weed profits going up in smoke. Legal marijuana in California as a business was supposed to be a
no-brainer. How could it not be profitable in a liberal state pushing 40 million residents where some of the best weed
in the world has been grown for decades? But nearly three years after Proposition 64, the law legalizing the adult use
of the drug, was passed, California cannabis producers are not seeing the windfalls predicted. [...] The California law gives
local governments the right to regulate the pot shops so towns can prohibit them. A whopping 80% of the state's towns and
cities have turned legal pot shops down.
Rev.
Franklin Graham Condemns San Francisco Ban on Travel to Pro-Life States. Christian evangelist Rev. Franklin Graham
said progressive leaders in San Francisco who have banned travel for city employees to states that have enacted abortion restrictions
"want everyone to swallow the lie that abortion is a woman's right."
The Editor says...
Let the San Francisco bureaucrats stay in California for the rest of their miserable lives. I can't see how this travel ban has
any negative effects. What can't they accomplish over the phone?
California's
War on Citizenship. California — a one-party state dominated by progressives — has become
the model for where progressivism will go when completely unchecked. Now, even the basic concept of citizenship is
under full-blown assault as the state has moved on from being a "sanctuary state" for illegal immigrants to outright
insisting that noncitizens have the same access to the levers of power as citizens. California Gov. Gavin Newsom
recently signed legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to serve on government boards and commissions. He also
signed another bill that would make it illegal to make immigration-related arrests at courthouses.
California
governor pardons three convicted immigrants to help block deportations. California Gov. Gavin Newsom
announced Friday [10/18/2019] he's pardoning three immigrants who've been convicted of crimes as part of an effort to protect
them from deportation to their home countries. The three men — originally from El Salvador, Iran and
Cambodia — broke the law as teens or young adults, served their sentences and have taken steps to rehabilitate
themselves, the governor's office said.
California
legalizes eating roadkill. Awash in feces, blackouts, wildfires, opioids, junkyard highways, homelessness,
illegals, measles, typhus, and leprosy, California's one-party blue Legislature and its far-left governor have nevertheless
gotten around to the important things.
California
opens state boards to undocumented immigrants and other non-citizens. Undocumented immigrants and other
non-citizens will be allowed to serve on state boards and commissions after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills
Saturday [10/12/2019] intended to integrate immigrants further into society. SB225 by Sen. Maria Elena Durazo,
D-Los Angeles, expands eligibility for state appointments to any California resident over the age of 18. In a signing
message, Newsom said applicants deserved to be considered on their merits, rather than their immigration status.
California
Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs Bill Forcing Public Universities to Dispense Abortion Drugs. California
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill into law that requires public colleges and universities in the state to distribute
abortion drugs, effectively turning the schools into first-trimester abortion clinics. On Friday [10/11/2019], Newsom
signed SB 24, which was championed in the State Senate by Sen. Connie Leyva (D) as a reproductive rights issue.
California adopts
nation's broadest gun seizure laws. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 15 gun-related bills
into law Friday, tightening the state's already-stringent Second Amendment restrictions. One of the bills, which
expands a so-called "red flag" law to allow co-workers, employers and educators to seek gun violence restraining orders
against firearms owners they fear are a danger to themselves and others, was vetoed twice by Newsom's predecessor, Jerry
Brown. Newsom also signed a companion bill allowing the gun violence restraining orders to last one and five years,
although the gun owners could petition to end those restrictions earlier. The bill also allows judges to issue search
warrants at the same time as they grant the orders. The warrants can be used immediately if the gun owners are served
with the relinquishment orders but fail to turn over the firearms or ammunition.
Say Goodbye to Charter Schools.
There's no way to reform public schools, in California or elsewhere, given that they are government monopolies that are dominated by
unions. They will put kids first, as one former teachers' union official reportedly said, after the kids start paying dues.
People who think that such schools can be improved through new reforms and more money probably believed that the Soviet economy could
have been fixed with a better-developed five-year plan. The only way to deal with that reality is to escape. In 1992,
California passed one of the nation's most far-reaching school-reform experiments, by making it easy to create publicly funded
alternative schools where kids could flee. The original law authorized the establishment of 100 charters. The state
now has more than 1,300 of them, and they educate 11 percent of the state's students.
Democrats
[are] turning California into a third-world hellhole. While they try to blame climate change and the
infrastructure, the reality is that neither of those has caused any significant changes in the last ten years —
but now, suddenly, due to Democrat policies, Californians have to start living in the 18th century. The Democrats who
run California also refuse to build more water storage capacity even though the state's population has dramatically
increased, ensuring that water has to be rationed during droughts. Democrats are turning California into a third-world
country economically. The income inequality between the über-rich Silicon Valley workers and the rest of
Californians is huge, just like in third-world countries, while the elites live in luxury and the rest live in squalor.
Federal
Judge Halts California Law Requiring Trump to Release Tax Returns in Order to Appear on 2020 Primary Ballot. US
District Judge Morrison England on Tuesday issued a temporary injunction against a California law which required Trump to
release his tax returns in order to appear on the 2020 primary ballot. Last month, the federal judge temporarily
suspended the law and announced he would be releasing a formal written injunction by October 1st. On Tuesday
[10/1/2019], Judge Morrison, a George W. Bush appointee, released a written opinion and argued the law signed by Governor
Gavin Newsom violated the Presidential Qualifications Clause contained in Article II of the US Constitution and violated
the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause as set forth in the 14th Amendment.
California
Shocked To Find Bill Decriminalizing Retail Theft Resulted In... More Retail Theft. A few years ago, California
passed one in a series of bills aimed at emptying the jails and prisons. Proposition 47 carried the disingenuous name
of "the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act and its stated purpose was to keep non-violent offenders out of jail. To
achieve this goal, the state decriminalized a number of lesser offenses, including retail theft. The law raised the
value of the amount of merchandise someone could steal while still only being charged with a misdemeanor to nearly one
thousand dollars. To the great surprise of the government, people noticed this change and began taking advantage of
it. They have now recorded multiple years of steadily increasing, organized robbery. These plots are known as
"mass grab and dash" thefts and they generally involve large numbers of young people all entering a store at the same time,
grabbing armfuls of merchandise and dashing back out to their vehicles and hitting the highway. Not only are robberies
on the rise, but arrests and prosecutions are down. Who could possibly have predicted this?
Gavin
Newsom calls for impeaching Trump, gets slapped with recall petition from California's locals. California's
far-left governor, Gavin Newsom, is out there with the best of them, loudly calling for the impeachment of President
Trump. It's nothing new for him, given that he ran for governor in 2017 on this platform. [...] From his point of view,
it makes sense, because even though he's been on the job for only about a year, he's shown that he's always been more
interested in sounding woke than actually governing. Just tour the poop-strewn, disease-ridden streets of any
California blue city with a high Newsom vote count for a whiff of it.
Federal Judge
Blocks California Law That Would Force Trump To Disclose Tax Returns. A federal judge temporarily blocked
California's law requiring presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns in order to gain a spot on the primary
ballot Thursday [9/19/2019]. The California law would require any candidate running for president or governor to give
the IRS tax forms for the past five years, after which portions of them would be edited for public viewing, the Los Angeles
Times reported. This could be an issue for President Donald Trump as he runs for president again in 2020 because he has
refused to disclose his tax returns, despite efforts by Democrats to force his hand.
California
judge blocks law requiring Trump to submit tax returns to compete in state's 2020 primary. A federal judge in
California Thursday granted the Trump campaign's request to block a new law that requires presidential and gubernatorial
candidates to release five years of tax returns to run in the state's primary elections. The law signed by
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, in July would have left the sitting president off of the ballot in California's March
2020 primary unless he submitted five years' worth of his tax returns by a Nov. 26 deadline, the Los Angeles Times
reported. Under SB 27, Trump would be included on the general election ballot in November 2020. Oppoenents [sic]
of the law argue depressed GOP voter turnout in the primary could discourage voters from showing up to vote for the president
in the main race.
Federal
Judge: This Tax-Return Requirement For California's Presidential Primaries Smells Unconstitutional.
Indeed it does, and the injunction issued by US district court Judge Morrison England Jr represents a victory for Donald
Trump — if a temporary one. California had passed a law requiring all presidential primary candidates in the
state to publicly release the last five years of their income tax returns to qualify for the ballot. A former fringe
candidate joined Donald Trump in challenging the law for its super-constitutional efforts to add state-level qualifiers to
federal office, and Judge England issued an injunction against its enforcement.
California
adds Iowa to 'travel ban' over refusal to fund gender transitions. California announced last week that it has
added Iowa to the list of states on its ever-expanding "travel ban" list because of that state's new prohibition against
funding gender-transition surgeries under Medicaid. The announcement by state Attorney General Xavier Becerra means
that as of Oct. 4, California will no longer offer taxpayer-funded trips to Iowa for any public employee or student at
a state-run university. Becerra's authority came from a 2016 California law signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown that
bars state-funded travel to other states that undercut LGBT rights. The blacklist already included Alabama, Kentucky,
North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma and Mississippi.
The Editor says...
California is attempting interfere with the other states entirely for the purpose of endorsing and legitimizing homosexuality.
Gov.
Newsom Commutes Sentences of 21 Violent Criminals Incarcerated in CA Prisons, Including 4 Murderers with Life Sentences.
Far-left California Governor Gavin Newsom commuted sentences of 21 violent criminals including 4 murderers with life sentences
without possibility of parole. One of the murderers was arrested in 1993 for fatally shooting a man during a carjacking and
another was incarcerated in 1991 for killing an armed guard during a robbery. A man who served 31 years of 2 life
sentences for a double murder in 1988 was also given clemency by Newsom.
California
Introduces Bill to Ban ICE Detention Centers, Private Prisons. The state of California is cracking down on
"private for-profit prisons" after introducing a bill to ban the facilities. Moreover, it means shutting down U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's privately run detention centers. The bill AB-42 passed the state assembly
Wednesday [9/11/2019] with 65 votes in favorable votes. According to Newsweek, it would mean shutting down
four detention centers holding "up to 4,500 inmates."
The
Left's determination to destroy us from within. Governor Newsom of California has reached into the gutter for a
new and obscene low. So dishonorable is this man that he signed into law a bill that "struck down a more than
century-old law that required any able-bodied persons 18 years of age or older to assist a police officer who requested help
during an arrest." [...] Newsom, and the rest of the Democrat governors and mayors that destroyed their own states and cities,
have not only ruined the municipalities that they control, but have destroyed countless lives — namely, of
those who barely subsist on the streets of these cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Seattle, Baltimore,
Chicago. They willingly promulgate the drug use of their homeless (they pass out free syringes) and seem to tolerate
the vast homeless encampments and all they entail: discarded needles, public defecation, crime, disease —
in short, the destruction of the cities they've been allowed to take over and ruin.
Gov
Newsom signs bill, now legal for citizens to refuse police officers' request for help. Gov. Gavin Newsom
just made it legal for anyone in the state of California to refuse to help a police officer requesting assistance. The
California Democrat on Tuesday [9/3/2019] signed into law a bill that struck down a more than century-old law which required any
"able-bodied person 18 years of age or older" to assist a police officer who requested help during an arrest, The Sacramento
Bee reported.
California's
Newsom signs bill allowing citizen to refuse to help a police officer. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a
Democrat, on Tuesday [9/3/2019] signed a bill that no longer requires any "able-bodied person 18 years of age or older" in
the state to help an officer who requests assistance during an arrest. The Sacramento Bee reported that the old law,
the California Posse Comitatus Act of 1872, was common in the country's early days, but Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a Los
Angeles Democrat who sponsored the bill, called the old law a "vestige of a bygone era." The law was employed to help
catch runaway slaves, the report said. The old law made it a misdemeanor that carried a fine of up to $1,000 for
refusing to help a police officer who requested assistance during an arrest.
The Editor says...
If the only purpose for that law was to have citizens assist the police with the capture of runaway slaves, there might be
some reasonable basis for repealing it. Surely the elected officials of California don't believe such a thing.
Governor Newsom's action reeks of race-based political opportunism, and the unintended consequences are not many days away.
San Francisco Board of
Supervisors Declares NRA a Domestic Terrorist Organization. San Francisco's legislative body has challenged
other American cities and states to follow its lead and formally condemn the National Rifle Association (NRA). The
Californian city's board of supervisors passed a resolution on Tuesday officially labeling the gun rights' group a domestic
terrorist organization. [...] It said the NRA "musters its considerable wealth and organizational strength to promote gun
ownership and incite gun owners to acts of violence."
San
Francisco Declares NRA a 'Domestic Terrorist Organization'. San Francisco, the "sanctuary city" for illegal
aliens — now crowded with homeless people camping and defecating on sidewalks — has just declared the
National Rifle Association a "domestic terrorist organization." The resolution, which the Board of Supervisors passed
unanimously Tuesday, urges the rest of the country to "do the same." The resolution accuses the NRA or mustering "its
considerable wealth and organizational strength to promote gun ownership and incite gun owners to acts of violence."
Crony Capitalism on Steroids.
California lawmakers want to bring back central-planning agencies that squander taxpayer dollars on corporate welfare and
abuse eminent domain — in the name of fixing a housing shortage that these agencies helped create.
California's War on Cars.
Traffic has long been horrific throughout California, especially in the Los Angeles basin and the Bay Area. But like
every bad thing in this state, it just keeps getting worse. The 2018 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard tops the ranking of
most congested cities, with drivers spending an annual average of 104 hours stuck in gridlock. Other California cities
made the ranks of 50 most congested cities across the globe. The obvious solution is to, well, build more roads, even
though decades of neglect — and reams of environmental impediments such as the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA) — would make that a daunting task if state officials wanted to do so. But they have no interest
in doing so. Their goal is to coerce us into giving up our cars or at least driving much less. They've caused the
crisis and are not about to let it go to waste.
Armchair quarterbacks: California
Governor Signs Use-of-Deadly Force Bill Aimed at 'Changing the Culture of Policing'. California Gov. Gavin
Newsom (D) announced on Monday [8/19/2019] that California is now a "model for the rest of the nation" when it comes to the
use of deadly force by police officers. Newsom on Monday signed Assembly Bill No. 392, which says police officers may
"use deadly force only when necessary in defense of human life." According to the text of the bill, the "authority to use
physical force...is a serious responsibility that shall be exercised judiciously and with respect for human rights and dignity
and for the sanctity of every human life."
Cosmic Injustice.
In the last years of Arnold Schwarzenegger's governorship, Arnold more or less gave up on the existential crises of illegal
immigration, sanctuary cities, soaring taxes, water shortages, decrepit roads and bridges, homelessness, plummeting public
school performance, and a huge exodus out of state of middle-class Californians. Instead he began to lecture the state,
the nation, and indeed the world on the need for massive wind and solar projects and assorted green fantasies.
California
prefers 'free range rats' over humans. Proposed poison ban. California is prepared to sacrifice human
lives for the sake of wildlife apparently. The wise Progressives have let fester a growing health risk in allowing
their rat population to explode with no interest in controlling their expanding population. The Democrats want to ban
rat poison. You can't call them lazy. Once a female rat reproduces, she could have 15,000 descendants by the end
of just one year! Note: Your rat mileage may vary.
'Flagrantly
illegal.' Trump sues California over new law targeting his tax returns. President Donald Trump, the California
Republican Party, and the national GOP joined together Tuesday [8/6/2019] to sue California over a new tax-return law Gov. Gavin
Newsom signed last week. The law requires Trump and other presidential candidates to release the last five years of their tax
returns to get their names on the state's 2020 primary ballot.
California's
Gavin Newsom torched as red-hot hypocrite for calling Trump's wall wasteful. California's leftist governor,
Gavin Newsom, got it in the teeth on Twitter after he tried to decry President Trump's border wall as, of all things,
government waste. [...] And it didn't end well for him. He drew about 6,000 replies, virtually all of them negative,
with a large number of them clearly from the locals.
Berkeley
becomes first US city to ban natural gas in new buildings. Berkeley became the first city nationwide to ban the
use of natural gas in new low-rise residential buildings in a unanimous vote Tuesday by the City Council. [...] In June 2018,
the council declared a climate emergency and called for a review of Berkeley's greenhouse emission reduction strategies.
The city determined in a report last year that gas-related emissions have increased due to an 18% population growth since 2000.
The Editor says...
I wonder if the Berkeley politicians understand that they share the atmosphere with 7.7 billion other people, most of whom
would love to have cheap and abundant natural gas available, rather than the firewood, coal, or dung they're currently using.
The city council's action is not just symbolic: It affects the construction of already-unaffordable new houses.
In
California, don't call them 'public servants,' call them 'the government gang'. As a Californian of more than
three decades, I have watched the highways deteriorate, with no new construction of freeways (or reservoirs for that matter)
while the population soared. I have watched the schools go from bad to horrendous. Meanwhile, taxes have soared
to levels that are driving out middle class taxpayers in very large numbers. The rest of us who are not members of the
government gang watch as the gang members get rich.
California
Gives Green Light to Health Care for Illegal Aliens. California is the first state to allow taxpayer-funded
health care benefits to go towards people residing in the U.S. illegally. Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill
into law on Tuesday which would allow low-income adults under the age of 25 to receive state Medicaid benefits through its
Medi-Cal program regardless of immigration status.
Democrats
take their next step to destroy the USA. California has approved a new budget expanding Medi-Cal coverage to
illegal aliens up to the age of 26. This will cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars, even without factoring in
the costs created by the obvious incentive the program will create for illegals to move to California. Moreover, the
formerly Golden State is bringing back the individual mandate, in part to fund the Medi-Cal expansion for non-residents of
California. This means that residents of the state who don't want to — or need to — buy health
insurance, as well as those who can't afford it, will have their money confiscated by the government to provide health care
to illegal aliens.
California
Assembly Approves Resolution That Calls for Church Acceptance of LGBTQ. The California State Assembly voted 9-2
to send to the state senate a resolution calling on "religious leaders to counsel on LGBTQ matters from a place of love,
compassion, and knowledge of the psychological and other harms of conversion therapy." While no one would argue with
the aim of being more loving and more compassionate in our counsel of our fellow man, the people's representatives do not
possess any authority in the arena of religious practice.
California
Democrats Propose Bill to Allow Illegal Immigrants to Hold Party Leadership Positions. Democratic lawmakers in
California have introduced a bill that will allow illegal immigrants to hold leadership positions within the Democrat Party
on the state and local level, Breitbart reports. Current state law limits noncitizen participation in party politics,
but the bill, SB 288, would change that, letting noncitizens, including illegal immigrants like Dreamers, serve as state
convention delegates and county committee leaders within the Democratic Party, which will allow them to be involved with
party platform and other issues.
California
Democrats Push Bill Allowing Illegals Party Roles: 'They're Already Leaders'. A bill proposed last week by California lawmakers could
grant illegal aliens the ability to serve in Democrat Party leadership positions locally and statewide. The new bill, SB 288, would allow
them to be part of shaping the party's platform, including serving as state convention delegates and county committee leaders.
The
Plan to "Make America, American Again". California Dems made sure the people of Mexico and other foreign
countries understood the borders were open, no one would ever be sent back, and Democrats would give them every form of
welfare for free. Then they gave illegals drivers licenses. They registered illegals automatically at DMV. They
made sure there was no Voter ID at the polls. Recognize the plan? Gavin Newsom gave it away. This is now the
national plan for Democrats. Make the whole country into California.
California's
Gov. Gavin Newsom puts out a video for illegals on how to obstruct ICE. I thought it was satire, something
cooked up by his political enemies. You couldn't put out a less attractive video than the one Gavin Newsom did for
illegal aliens on Twitter, advising them himself on how to obstruct ICE from any deportation maneuvers. [...] Leave aside the
fact that he's the governor of a U.S. state, supposedly there to represent the interests of that state's citizens rather than
those of the foreigners who come here without papers, quite illegally, and run up the tab using his state's services.
Hillary's
People's Republic of California Jungle Primary Voter Suppression. In the 2018 midterm general election
California voters had the choice for US Senate on the general election ballot between liberal Democrat Senator Diane
Feinstein or even more liberal Democrat opponent. There were no Republicans on the US Senate General Election ballot in
2018. Two years earlier, in 2016, liberal Democrat Kamala Harris was elected US Senator by defeating Liberal Democrat
opponent Loretta Sanchez in the general election. Again, There were no Republican candidates on the general election
ballot for Senator in 2016.
California's
Progressive Betrayal. The recent California Democratic Party convention in San Francisco exposed the divide
between the state's progressive and working-class voters. Progressives, in their militant certitude, support left-wing
policies that often don't affect them; it's the working class that suffers the consequences of these proposals. But the
Green New Deal, widely embraced by party leaders, pushed too far, triggering a backlash at the convention. The state's
private-sector labor unions, notably the building trades, organized a "Blue Collar Revolution" protest against the Democrats'
climate legislation. The Democrats are calling for the elimination of fossil fuels by 2030, which would result in
California's immiseration, especially for workers in the state's energy-production sector, the nation's fourth-largest.
In 2012, the oil and gas industry employed over 400,000 Californians, but these workers — unionized and
well-paid — can expect pink slips with the green package.
California
Says, 'Go West Young Illegals, Go West'. Doctors and hospitals are in the gunsights of many Democrats who want
Medicare-for-all as a draconian price control scheme by government over all medical care in the US. Hospitals are told they
charge too much and doctors are vilified for earning too much. What a relief that a sugar daddy has appeared, a rich
boyfriend, a benefactor with a fat wallet, ready to bestow his financial largess on financially strapped healthcare
providers. This sugar daddy is named Gavin, tall and handsome with good hair. I speak of California Governor
Gavin Newsom, who finalized a deal with the California legislature, "to provide full health benefits to low-income illegal
immigrants under the age of 26."
Can
California Be Saved, or Is It Too Late? How did this state, once the envy of all others, become the pathetic,
indebted loser state it is today? The answer is simple, single-party Democratic rule. [...] State taxes in California
are the highest in the nation, as are our sales taxes. We fall nearly last in education. We have the most
homeless, the most illegal migrants. The state spends $30 [billion] on illegal immigration per year. Like
all cities run by progressives, our entire state is a disaster of Democratic making.
California
lawmakers weigh budget proposals to cover health care for illegal immigrants. California lawmakers are weighing
proposals this week that would offer government-funded health care to adult illegal immigrants but are at odds over how far
to go. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed $98 million a year to cover low-income illegal immigrants between
the ages of 19 and 25, but the state Assembly's bill would cover all illegal immigrants over the age of 19 living in
California — a proposal that would cost an estimated $3.4 billion.
California
to pay full health benefits for illegal immigrants. Democrats in the [California] state Legislature reached an
agreement Sunday afternoon [6/9/2019] as part of a broader plan to spend $213 billion of state and federal tax money over the
next year. The agreement means low-income adults between the ages of 19 and 25 living in California illegally would be
eligible for California's Medicaid program, the joint state and federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled.
The
dystopian nightmare that is California has been brought to you by... Democrats. Steve Lopez of the Los Angeles
Times reported a week ago on the obscene condition of downtown Los Angeles, "A mountain of rotting, oozing, stinking trash
... stretching a good 20 yards along a skid row alley. Rats popped their heads out of the debris like they were in a
game of Whac-A-Mole, then scampered for cover as a tractor with a scoop lurched toward them. ... The trash problem is not
confined to any one street, but this particular location on the 800 block of Ceres Avenue is surrounded by food distribution
companies that sell to shoppers, vendors, stores and restaurants. I counted seven within a block, so you have to
wonder — given the colonies of football-size rats — about the potential contamination of the food
supply chain and the spread of disease." What does the city say when confronted about the slow, or nonexistent, pace
of cleanup?
Berkeley
loves its sanctuary label, but a housing crisis is testing its liberal values. This eccentric Northern
California enclave was a sanctuary long before the designation became a must-have merit badge for any left-leaning
city. Berkeley politicians proclaimed the place a refuge for Navy sailors resisting deployment to the Vietnam War
nearly a half-century ago. It was the birth of a movement to protect the outcast — and, in some cases, the
outlaw — from rules that this beat-of-its-own-drum city and its followers found immoral, most recently the
deportation of undocumented immigrants. But California's housing crisis is testing whether Berkeley can remain that
kind of place.
SF
supes get 12% pay raise while everyone else at City Hall gets a lot less. San Francisco's supervisors will be
getting a 12% raise this year, more than three times the size of those being given to other elected officials and city
employees. The raise was approved by a 3-1 vote of the Civil Service Commission on Monday [5/20/2019] and represents a
$15,016 pay hike, bringing the board members' salaries to $140,148 this year — plus benefits.
Los
Angeles Prohibits Employees From Traveling to Alabama Because It Banned Abortions. Los Angeles County has
imposed a one-year travel ban to Alabama in response to the state's new abortion law, which is the most restrictive in the
country. Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solia, author of the motion, said the state's law is an "attack not only
confined to the residents of those states, but an act of aggression upon all of us." "We must stand in solidarity and in
opposition against extremist and unconstitutional laws that put the health and wellbeing of families at risk," Solis said.
"The constitutional and human right to a safe and legal abortion is part of the very fabric of the United States."
California
lawmakers weigh budget proposals to cover health care for illegal immigrants. California lawmakers are weighing
proposals this week that would offer government-funded health care to adult illegal immigrants but are at odds over how far
to go. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed $98 million a year to cover low-income illegal immigrants between
the ages of 19 and 25, but the state Assembly's bill would cover all illegal immigrants over the age of 19 living in
California — a proposal that would cost an estimated $3.4 billion.
Sacramento's Biggest Gasbags.
Don't be alarmed by soaring California gasoline prices, which have topped $4 a gallon at most gas stations around the state.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic legislative leaders are on the job, as they sniff out the culprit behind rising prices.
They are pretty sure it has something to do with bad corporate behavior, based on their latest public statements. Stay
tuned — but you might not want to buy that giant gas-sucking SUV just yet. The cause of the high prices is
obvious to those of us familiar with the state's gasoline-related policies. In 2017, then-Gov. Jerry Brown pushed
through his signature increase in gas taxes to fund the road-infrastructure improvements that his administration had neglected
as it ramped up social spending. The law adds 12 cents to each gallon of gasoline and 20 cents to each gallon
of diesel and could add far more to the price in coming decades.
Trump,
Pareto, and the Fall of the Elites. Encouraging mass immigration of illegals who compete for lower-level jobs
does not help the underprivileged, rather it creates a new group of voters that will support the Democrats. It also
helps privileged groups by supplying cheap labor. Take, for example, wealthy Marin County, California. Marin is
largely populated by well-to-do and highly educated professional people. An underclass of often illegal immigrants
provides affordable services such as yard work and babysitting. In the 2012 presidential election, Marin voted 74% for
Obama. In the 2016 election, Marin voted 77% for Hillary and only 16% for Trump. Another wealthy California
county, Santa Clara County, is the heart of Silicon Valley. In the 2016 election, Santa Clara County voted only 21% for
Trump. Fresno County, California, a county that is majority Hispanic with a very high poverty rate, voted 43% for
Trump. California as a whole voted 32% for Trump. The nation as a whole voted 46% for Trump. In the borough
of Manhattan, in New York City, one of the wealthiest places in the country, only 10% of the votes went for Trump. Clearly
the privileged class votes Democratic and strongly opposes Trump. In places inhabited by elites, the Democrats dominate.
California
moves to keep Trump off 2020 primary ballot. The California Legislature is trying again to force presidential
candidates to publicly disclose their tax returns, hoping a new Democratic governor known for his clashes with President
Donald Trump won't block them this time.
California
Politicians Hiked Gas Tax, Now Demand Investigation Into State's $4 Per Gallon Gas Prices. As lieutenant
governor, Gavin Newsom supported a 2017 bill increasing the state's gas taxes. When running for governor in 2018, he
opposed a ballot initiative that would have repealed that same increase. It's 2019, and Newson, now the state's
governor, is demanding an investigation into why the state's gas prices are so high. On Tuesday [4/23/2019], the
governor sent a letter to the California Energy Commission (CEC) asking that the state agency investigate the Golden State's
roughly $4.03 per gallon gas prices, currently the highest in the country (and well above the national average of $2.86 per gallon).
What 'Free Money' Means to Me.
Officials in Stockton, Calif., a hard-pressed agricultural and industrial city 75 miles northeast of San Jose, are enjoying
the glow of media attention from their ongoing, first-in-America program to provide residents with a Universal Basic Income, or UBI. [...]
This is about more than helping a few residents in a mid-size city pay medical bills, buy groceries, repair the car, or spend the
weekend in the Sierra foothills gambling at the Jackson Rancheria Indian casino (there are no limits on how the money is spent,
after all). It's about setting the stage for a national political "discussion" that might eventually involve large, direct
taxpayer payments to lower-income residents. The research and storytelling will be used to soften us up for the hard sell, which
will come in various state or federal proposals, and will sometimes be linked to plans for reparations.
California.Gov.Con.
If Gavin Newsom runs for president, [Eleni] Kounalakis may run for governor, or even higher office. In that quest, Eleni will again deploy
daddy's money and promotional support from Markos, who believes that a woman's proper place is in the White House. Eleni gets all this,
plus California's imported electoral college, from places like El Salvador and Mexico. For Clinton cronies, California offers the best
of all possible worlds.
Government 'Oversight'
Is a Very Bad Joke. [Scroll down] The 67-page audit of [the California] DMV found a "reactive culture
that has adversely impacted the field office customer experience," outdated management structures, a third of customer-service
windows closed even as people waited in lines that went around the DMV field offices — and pretty much
everything else that anyone who has visited a California DMV office would know. The audit suggested changes, but
the agency reacted in normal fashion and requested more money. DMV offices, which I've described as a cross between bus
stations and Soviet bread lines, have been like this since time immemorial (although they're better in some states) and will
always be this way. We must deal with the agency if we want to drive. There are no customers that must be
satisfied because we have no other choice.
Money
in the Toilet — The Billion Dollar Cost of Public Bathrooms. The fastest rising item in the country
isn't gold or bitcoin, it's the cost of a public bathroom. In '08, a San Francisco Weekly article fumed that a park
restroom in Golden Gate Park was costing taxpayers $531,219. Fast forward, a decade later the cost of a park restroom in the
Golden Gate Boathouse had ballooned to $2 million or $4,700 per square foot. The modern bathroom had a third All-Gender
option that the '08 bathroom didn't. But adding a non-gender shouldn't have quadrupled the price. Inflation would
have kept the cost well below a million. Why did a 15-foot by 28-foot bathroom cost millions? Part of the answer
may be that San Fran privileges minority businesses and requires that 15% of work hours be carried out by "disadvantaged" workers.
As
Trump vows to shut the border to illegals, Gavin Newsom makes a suspicious trip to El Salvador. [Scroll
down] One can just picture how this trip looks from the Salvadoran side of things. Here come Big Daddy, the
California governor, the gringo who's already laid out a banquet of goodies for Salvadorans in California, from free health
care to free education, to sanctuary state protections to enable illegals to work, coming there supposedly to find out how he
can offer...even more goodies to Salvador's uneducated lower middle classes. The idea is to get even more of them to
come over. Big Daddy comes down with the Santa sack full of goodies.
California
executes a 'moratorium' on the death penalty. During the past eight years, California voters have twice
reiterated their support for the death penalty by defeating propositions seeking to overturn it. If anyone was confused
about Californians' understanding of the death penalty representing an important part of justice, in 2016 they even passed a
proposition calling for the speeding up of executions by shortening the decades-long appeals process. In other words,
Californians want the death penalty, and they want to it happen faster and more often.
Gavin
Newsom Doesn't Care about Crime Victims. On March 13, California governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive
order granting a reprieve to all 737 convicted murderers awaiting execution in the Golden State. [...] All 737 reprieved
death-row inmates had been found guilty of murder by a jury of their peers, beyond any reasonable doubt. The convicted
murderers had also exhausted all the possibilities of the appeal process, which in the California criminal justice system is
quite extensive. Gavin Newsom is not an attorney and not a judge. The governor did not attend the trials and
produced no new exculpatory evidence in any of the cases. Those awaiting execution include Richard Allen Davis, who
kidnapped and killed twelve-year-old Polly Klaas, and "Tool Box Killer" Lawrence Bittaker, who raped and killed five teen
girls in 1979 after torturing them with pliers and screwdrivers.
Killing the Death Penalty via
Edict. To my conservative friends who like when chief executives push the envelope on "national emergencies"
and executive orders, I offer you California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Last week, he grabbed national headlines for his
decision to grant reprieves to all 737 prisoners on California's death row based on his own personal feelings: [...]
Governors have the power to pardon people and give reprieves. But just as advocates for limited government believe that
presidents should let Congress take the lead on spending matters, they too should prefer that governors stick to the spirit
and not just the letter of the law. Such reprieves are meant for particular cases — not as a means to change
public policy.
California
Drug Legalization Leads to Political Corruption. California is going full narcosocialist and there's a price to
pay for that. The price is deeper corruption and criminality. [...] While part of the LA Times story tilt claims that
this is about "black market" drug dealers, most of these examples appear to involve those that were legal or trying to go legal.
But that takes us to the baffling difference between a black market drug dealer and a legal drug dealer is that the latter is paying
off the government. Now we have drug businesses getting in trouble for paying off government officials in the wrong sort of
way. We want drug dealers to legalize by legally paying off the government.
Gov.
Newsom to order halt to California's death penalty. Gov. Gavin Newsom is suspending the death penalty in California,
calling it discriminatory and immoral, and is granting reprieves to the 737 condemned inmates on the nation's largest Death Row.
"I do not believe that a civilized society can claim to be a leader in the world as long as its government continues to sanction the
premeditated and discriminatory execution of its people," Newsom said in a statement accompanying an executive order, to be issued
Wednesday [3/13/2019], declaring a moratorium on capital punishment in the state. "The death penalty is inconsistent with our
bedrock values and strikes at the very heart of what it means to be a Californian."
California's
Rendezvous With Reality. Californians brag that their state is the world's fifth-largest economy. They
talk as reverentially of Silicon Valley companies Apple, Facebook and Google as the ancient Greeks did of their Olympian
gods. Hollywood and universities such as Caltech, Stanford and Berkeley are cited as permanent proof of the
intellectual, aesthetic and technological dominance of West Coast culture. Californians also see their progressive,
one-party state as a neo-socialist model for a nation moving hard to the left.
California's
Gov. Newsom inherits a steaming load of scandal from Jerry Brown. California's Gov. Gavin Newsom has
inherited a steaming load of financial scandals from Jerry Brown regarding high-speed rail and the Oroville Dam. Gavin
Newsom is the first Democrat California governor to follow a sitting Democrat governor in over a century. Newsom
campaigned as an ally of Gov. Jerry Brown by trumpeting how Brown eight years earlier had overcome a crisis projected by
the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office to included a $6.4-billion current budget deficit, a $19-billion deficit for
the following year, and another five years of $20-billion-plus deficits.
North
Carolina vote fraud case shows just why Congress should ban ballot-harvesting nationwide. [Scroll down]
Sure enough, in California, this same ballot-harvesting that was illegally practiced in North Carolina is completely legal
and completely responsible for deep-red Orange County suddenly going blue in the last congressional election. Candidate
after candidate who had been leading in the 2018 midterm count all of a sudden saw those large leads reversed, with all of
them shifting to the Democratic side, with leftists taking all the congressional slots.
Gov.
Gavin Newsom touts proposed $25 million in California aid to asylum seekers. Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials
in San Diego on Thursday [1/31/2019] touted a proposed $25 million in state funding to address a growing humanitarian crisis
involving migrant families seeking asylum in the U.S. and blamed the Trump administration for manufacturing a problem at the border.
With prodding from San Diego lawmakers, Newsom has called for spending $20 million over three years to aid local nonprofits and
community organizations that provide services to asylum-seeking migrant families.
The Editor says...
President Trump did not "manufacture" the problem of uncontrolled illegal immigration across the Mexican border. That problem
has existed for decades, but in recent years has been exacerbated by the Democrats, who offer numerous incentives for immigrants.
California's
Gavin Newsom Proposes Tax on Drinking Water in First Budget. California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed his
first budget for the state on Friday [1/11/2019], and it includes a tax on drinking water. The budget, titled
"California for All," declares drinking water a "fundamental right," and adds: "The Budget includes short-term measures
to bring immediate relief to communities without safe drinking water and also proposes an ongoing sustainable funding source
to address this problem into the future."
The Editor says...
Wait a minute. If drinking water is a "fundamental right," why should it be taxed? Indeed, why does your city
government send you a utility bill and charge you for water, if it's a right? No, in reality, food and water and
housing and medicine are not "fundamental rights," regardless of the number of politicians who say they are.
California
Gov. Gavin Newsom seeks to add more illegal immigrants to state health care plan. Newly sworn-in California
Gov. Gavin Newsom, vowing to provide "sanctuary to all who seek it," has proposed extending state health care coverage to more
illegal immigrants living within the Golden State's borders. Hours after assuming office, Mr. Newsom released sweeping
health care proposals to raise the age limit for illegal aliens covered by Medi-Cal from 19 to 26, which would make California "the
first state in the nation to cover young undocumented adults through a state Medicaid program," according to a Monday [1/7/2019]
release from the governor's office.
Cpl.
Singh Was Laid to Rest. Guess Which Politicians Were Conveniently Absent. Just when we thought
politicians in California couldn't get any more horrible, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom proved us wrong. Apparently the
reason he was absent from Cpl. Singh's funeral yesterday was because he was too busy watching the Sacramento Kings
play basketball.
Jerry
Brown "Legacy": Highest Poverty in Nation, Highest Homelessness/Worst Affordable Housing. We are a few days
away from the end of the Brown Administration. His legacy is clear, if you listen to the Democrats. They claim
California has the most poverty in the nation — true. We have a shortage of homes — true.
We have a massive homelessness problem — true. All of this has become his legacy. Add to this the
$200 billion train boondoggle, his cutting off water for farmers and the worst roads and freeways in the
nation — California is a Third world State.
Fighting
Trump and Freedom, California Creates 1,000 New 2018 Laws. That the Land of Fruits and Nuts is legislating from
soup to nuts is significant because, while often forgotten, a law generally is a removal of a freedom. After all, laws
virtually always state that there's something we must or mustn't do. Thus, the more laws we have, the less free we are
from governmental control. And given that governments continually enact more laws but hardly ever rescind any, this
means that every year we're progressively less free. So what liberties were robbed in California this time around?
The
Grapes of Wrath — in Reverse. [I]n the last decade and a half, about 6 million Californians
over the age of 25 left the state; in the last 30 years, perhaps 10 million fled. There are no accurate
statistics on the political ideologies of the departed or even their actual numbers. But most studies suggest that the
reasons for radical outmigration were quality-of-life complaints, soaring home prices and taxes, poor state services, failing
infrastructure and schools, and rising crime. [...] According to one study, at least 13,000 companies fled the state over the
last decade.
Democrats: A plague
on the nation. Governor Brown has effectively destroyed California, now benighted by rampant homelessness and the crime
that accompanies a population of illiterate, drug-addicted, gang-affiliated, criminally inclined persons adrift on our streets.
And now another young officer has been killed by an illegal alien thanks to the left's obsession with protecting the throngs of migrants
crossing the border into the U.S. It should be obvious to every American by now that our progressive left does not have the
best interest of Americans at heart.
California
Spends $100 Million to Maximize Census Cash Jackpot. California is spending over $100 million preparing for the
2020 Census to maintain its top spot to maximize the federal population spending jackpot. The key for California to
keep growing its top spot in state and local government spending that hit $587.9 billion this year is maximizing its number
of legal and illegal residents who currently justify $107.5 billion in direct federal transfers and about $376 billion
of indirect transfers to pay for federal salaries, income support, student financial aid, U.C. grants, corporate subsidies, and
a slew of other items. California has allocated $100.3 million for "outreach" this year to maximize the number of state
residents to be counted in the 2020 U.S. Census. Only 10 other states have allocated any cash for "outreach."
California's funding is over 27 times the $2.3 million by number-two Georgia and 66 times the $1.5 million
funded by number-three Illinois.
San
Francisco mayor trying to get brother, a convicted killer, out of lockup 20 years early. San Francisco Mayor
London Breed sent a letter to departing Gov. Jerry Brown in late October asking him to "consider leniency" and commute
the sentence of her older brother, who has served nearly two decades of a 44-year sentence on a manslaughter conviction,
according to reports. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday that the mayor has joined other members of her
family in requesting an early release from prison for Napoleon Brown, who struggled with drugs from a young age.
Jerry
Brown's 'Twin Tunnels' Project on Hold. The project, officially called the California Waterfix, aims to divert
water from the Sacramento River underneath the California Delta to storage facilities further south, from which water can be
pumped to southern California. The "twin tunnels" were to be Brown's major infrastructure legacy, in addition to the
California High-Speed Rail system, which faces significant financial and engineering hurdles. But it faced intense
local opposition from the communities in the Delta, who faced considerable disruption to their lives. The project was
also opposed by many environmental groups, and farming groups that were meant to benefit — at a price —
showed lukewarm support.
DA
Gascón carried guns on planes, then whistle-blower was fired, suit says. A former senior investigator says
he was fired for blowing the whistle on his boss, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, who he alleged carried
a gun while flying — in violation of federal law. Gascón reacted with a "pattern of retaliation and
harassment" that culminated in the termination of senior investigator Henry G. McKenzie on Oct. 30, 2017, according
to the suit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
Study:
More than 7-in-10 California Immigrant Households Are on Welfare. More than 7-in-10 households headed by
immigrants in the state of California are on taxpayer-funded welfare, a new study reveals. The latest Census Bureau
data analyzed by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) finds that about 72 percent of households headed by noncitizens and
immigrants use one or more forms of taxpayer-funded welfare programs in California — the number one immigrant-receiving
state in the U.S. Meanwhile, only about 35 percent of households headed by native-born Americans use welfare in California.
After
California's ballot harvest: What is to be done? The ballot-harvesting issue, which gave Democrats an
absolute monopoly of power in even Orange County, signals a sort of the bottom dropping out in California. Now that
Democrats have discovered they can flip any race based on selective collections of mail-in ballots by Democratic
door-knockers from voters who didn't ask for them, their one-party state of the past 20 years in California has gotten even
more entrenched in power. One gets the sense that the landscape has changed and what the voters want no longer
matters. Voting is no longer about you, or what you think or the decisions you make, it's now all about that
unasked-for piece of paper on the kitchen table known as a ballot and how Democrats can get their hands on it. You are
incidental. The creepy Democratic machine, with its 1980s PRI-style politics, rigged this state this way, and in so
doing would make Hugo Chávez or Daniel Ortega envious. PRI Mexico was, after all, once called "the perfect
dictatorship." Now the title has moved on to California. It amounts to stolen democracy, which ultimately
cries out for revolution.
The Cloward-Piven strategy: Overload the system to intentionally break it. California
Democrats plan to extend Medicaid to illegal immigrants. State Assembly member Joaquin Arambula, a Democrat and
a doctor, announced the plans Monday [12/3/2018] as the legislature convened at the state capitol, according to the Los
Angeles Times. Should the bill advance, California would become the first state to extend Medicaid coverage regardless
of immigration status. State projections for last year's bill found that 1.8 million people in California are uninsured
and reside there illegally; roughly 1.2 million would qualify for Medi-Cal, the name of the state's Medicaid program.
Trump: The Last President?
The Governor isn't the Governor of California, especially when he won in a 57% to 43% victory. The Governor is the
Governor of the Left, and will represent the Left, not the electorate in general. The swing vote, which has moderated
elections nationally is absent in California. The swing vote means that the most uninterested people have the levers of
power. That category of people simply does not exist in California. Party leader? Sure. Governor?
Well, in name only. In reality, the recently elected Governor is the Democratic Party leader.
Pelosi
tells audience, 'San Francisco values, that's what we're about'. Has Nancy Pelosi joined the GOP team anxious
to scare voters away from voting for the donkey party? The pejorative use of the expression "San Francisco values," to
indicate a loss of decency, tradition, and sanity, has at least two decades of history, and arguably almost three and a half,
since Jeanne Kirkpatrick denounced "San Francisco Democrats" at the 1984 Republican Convention. Today, San Francisco is
the exemplar of a city that has driven out the middle class and features the worst-looking income gap between rich and
poor. San Francisco's poor languish in its streets in the worst display of the degradation of poverty this side of
Calcutta. San Francisco's homelessness, its open drug use, and the spread of human feces on the sidewalks there have
made being a pedestrian there a health risk.
Gavin
Newsom Helped Mother's Assisted Suicide. A recent article in the New Yorker extolling the (probable)
next Governor of California reveals that Gavin Newsom helped his mother commit assisted suicide. [...] When I first read the
piece, I assumed she didn't die in California because assisted suicide was a felony there in 2002, and Newsom was a member of
the San Francisco Board of Supervisors sworn to uphold the law. Wrong. She died in San Francisco.
California
city council candidate is caught dropping off his wheelchair-bound mom, 86, so she can panhandle. A nonpartisan candidate
for city council in Southern California has been accused of dropping off his elderly, wheelchair-bound mother to panhandle for the last
decade, even though they're not homeless. David Chey has been caught on camera leaving Soon Chey, 86, in her wheelchair in the
downtown district of Laguna Beach with a sign that reads, 'please, help me.' 'They have a brand new car, live in a condo in Irvine,
yet beg for our help,' local business owner Heidi Miller told DailyMail.com.
California
Ranks as Poorest State, One of the Worst for Income Inequality. Despite all the wealth in the state and the
Democrat control of state government, California actually ranks as the poorest state in the country after costs of living are
factored in. A whopping 19 percent of Californians live below the poverty line. While California represents just
12 percent of the nation's population, Californians represent a third of all Americans on welfare. The average monthly
cost of rent in the state is 43 percent higher than the national average. Nearly a third of Californians spend more
than half of their earnings on housing. The situation is made worse by skyrocketing energy costs. "Residents who
can afford rent or a mortgage are on the hook for electricity rates burdened by green initiatives and regulation that grew
500 percent faster than the national average from 2011 to 2017."
San
Francisco to Allow Illegal Aliens to Vote. In July, the Department of Elections issued voter registration forms
to illegal aliens to vote for members of the San Francisco Board of Education in the 2018 election, reported ABC7 News.
Now that the illegals are registered and ready, they will be voting in November.
The
piously politically correct blue state that bankrolls Putin. CalPERS, the $326-billion California state pension
fund for some two million state cops, firefighters, and bureaucrats, has never been shy about its trumpeting its political
correctness. It's positively famous for its pullouts of tobacco investments, Turkey investments, apartheid South Africa
investments, and coal investments, and so famous that you probably would never have heard of the fund were it not for its
pullouts. It's not that they are that awful in themselves — they often try to push back on calls to
divest. But they've always been seen by leftists as a tool to oppose President Trump. So in general, name the
lefty cause, and out they pull. Well, with one little exception: Putin's Russia. On that one, they've
shelled out nearly half a billion dollars to the Russian government (not companies, but the government) through its bond
buys. And hey, they're one of Russia's top foreign investors, top ten among foreigners.
Rich
San Francisco businesses could face homelessness tax. San Francisco has come to be known around the world as a
place for aggressive panhandling, open-air drug use and sprawling tent camps, the dirt and despair all the more remarkable
for the city's immense wealth.
Jerry
Brown's get-out-of-jail-free card in California. Here's a story that's making the news in San Diego as a local
district attorney protests, but it's actually a state problem that goes back to the usual lefty suspects, starting with
Gov. Jerry Brown. Thousands of murder convictions are likely to be vacated due to a change in state law that
effectively says that if you were the guy sitting in the shotgun seat of the car as the other guy pulled the trigger, you get
off scot-free — you're no longer convicted of murder, too. The County of San Diego alone is set to release
about 150 such charmers onto the streets, and the other 57 counties are going to have to do similar. All told, about
800 of them are reportedly going to get let out.
San
Francisco: Land of the Living Dead. Effectively, there's nothing in this news story that you don't know
already. Anyone who has followed the news and who reads this blog knows full well that downtown San Francisco has been
given over to drug addicts and the homeless. In the most liberal blue city in America, Nancy Pelosi's home town, you
cannot walk the streets in many neighborhoods. What's news is the place it appeared: The New York Times.
The paper of record sent a reporter and a photographer out to document the nightmare that is the streets of San
Francisco. They did not pull any punches. They told it like it is.
The
One-Party State. [Scroll down] Dan Walters, a longtime political journalist in Sacramento, will tell you
it was the end of the Cold War that really brought about Democratic dominance. He points to the decline of the defense
and aerospace industries, major employers in Southern California, which prompted an exodus of Republican voters —
middle-class, white, and suburban — to cheaper states. Los Angeles County regularly went for the GOP in
elections. It's simple arithmetic, says Walters. When the GOP lost Los Angeles, it turned California over
completely to the Democrats. Today, the state is a liberal's dream. It's multicultural. It's largely
urbanized. It is socially and environmentally progressive. People here frequently boast, without a trace of
smugness, that if you want to see America in 10 years, look at California.
Weak passwords banned in California from
2020. Default passwords such as "admin" and "password" will be illegal for electronics firms to use in
California from 2020. The state has passed a law that sets higher security standards for net-connected devices
made or sold in the region. It demands that each gadget be given a unique password when it is made.
California's
Socialist Oligarchy: Making the State Unaffordable. Nowhere are the consequences of California's
oligarchical socialism more evident than in the cost of housing. State legislation has made it nearly impossible for
developers to construct new housing outside the so-called "urban growth boundary." Instead, development is redirected into
the footprint of existing urban areas. While there is a natural tendency as population increases to see higher density
redevelopment in urban cores, by restricting outward expansion of urban areas, the value of the limited remaining eligible
land becomes artificially inflated. But established landowners and large development firms benefit from these
restrictions. They are able to withstand years, if not decades, of expensive permitting delays and endless
litigation. They are able to afford millions in permit fees because these costs are offset by their ability to sell
residence units — from high-rise condos to detached single family dwellings — at prices far beyond what
they would cost in a normal market. These billionaire business interests get richer, while ordinary Californians who
want to own or develop land cannot afford to go through the permit process.
The
One-Party State. The state [of California] has the most liberal environmental laws and regulations in the
country, which hamper the development of affordable housing. A San Francisco Chronicle investigation in 2017
showed rising housing costs driving lower-income Californians out of their homes and into the streets. Homelessness has
skyrocketed in both the cities and the rural areas of the state. While 12 percent of the U.S. population is in
California, 25 percent of the country's homeless live there. From Sacramento to San Diego, you can't help but notice
the multitudes of people living on the street. Look at the housing shortage and homelessness, the decline of manufacturing
and other blue-collar jobs, and the growth of a tech economy that rewards disruption over predictability, and you see why some
are suspicious of the California way.
California
will require women on corporate boards under bill signed by Brown. California became the first state in the
country to require that women be included on companies' boards of directors, as Gov. Jerry Brown literally sent a
message to Washington on Sunday [9/30/2018] in signing legislation that corporate associations opposed as unconstitutional.
Brown signed SB826 into law after it passed the Assembly and the Senate last month. The bill mandates that all publicly
traded California companies have at least one woman on their boards by the end of 2019.
The Editor says...
Notice how much of California's official business is transacted on Sundays.
California
Passes Law Allowing 12-Year-Olds To Get Tax-Paid Transgender Treatments. You have to be 16 obtain a driver's
license in California, 18 to buy a rifle, engage in consensual sex, or get married without parental consent, and 21 to buy a
handgun, alcohol, or marijuana. But in the nation's most progressive state, you only need to be 12 years old to
privately seek and consent to treatment for gender transitioning.
America,
don't be like California. Once again, California has the highest poverty rate in America. According to
the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent report, the Golden State's Supplemental Poverty Measure averaged 19 percent between
2015 and 2017. Nationwide, poverty dropped in 2017 from 14.7 percent to 14.1 percent, but California's rate was
proportionately 35 percent higher than the national average. In spite of (or perhaps to divert attention from) its
high poverty rate, California's left-wing political class continues its unrelenting sermonizing to the rest of us.
California
DMV Gives Illegal Voters a Surge. Last week California's Department of Motor Vehicles sent 23,000 "erroneous"
voter registrations to the office of Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who maintains the list of registered voters. The
DMV blamed it technical errors and said none of the erroneous registrations involved undocumented immigrants. Padilla
was "extremely disappointed and deeply frustrated" and the DMV assured him it wouldn't happen again. Legitimate voters
have good reason to believe Padilla was not disappointed but delighted. The odds are strong that illegals make up most
if not all of the newly registered voters. The registrations of illegals will be happening again, in greater numbers,
as the November election approaches. The day after the 23,000 registrations made news, it emerged that from late April
to early August, the DMV registered 182,000 "new voters," with the largest number, 112,000, choosing "no party." Neither
the DMV nor Padilla would explain the numbers but the trend is evident and all by design.
San
Fran Green Lights Illegals To Vote. Our country has twisted itself in knots over the possibility of foreigners
(ie: Russia) having unduly influenced our elections (even though recounts and investigations have confirmed that the
outcome was NOT changed by foreign interference). You'd think that would be reminder enough as to just how precious the
individual value of a lawful voter is, and how it must be safeguarded against anything that would erode the value of that one vote.
California
moves toward corporate gender quotas, ignoring Norway's failure. Supporters of California's move toward the
nation's first-ever corporate gender quotas have insisted the bill will be good for business, but that's not what happened in
Norway. After the Norwegian Parliament required that women make up 40 percent of publicly traded corporate boards in
2006, stock prices plunged and firm values dropped as boards added less experienced female directors, while the numbers of
public firms decreased and private companies increased. "The quota led to younger and less experienced boards,
increases in leverage and acquisitions, and deterioration in operating performance, consistent with less capable boards,"
said the 2012 paper by USC professor Kenneth R. Ahern and University of Michigan professor Amy K. Dittmar.
Trump on the Ground.
For months, I've been driving on different routes through the vast San Joaquin Valley back and forth from the California
coast — and through the usually economically depressed small towns on and near the Highway 99 corridor through the
Central Valley. The poverty rate in many valley counties is higher than in West Virginia. It is a world away from
Hollywood, Silicon Valley, the Stanford or Caltech campus, Malibu, and Pacific Heights. In an overregulated, overtaxed
state of open borders and sanctuary cities, with the nation's near highest electricity and gasoline prices, and facing a
looming state and local pension unfunded liability of well over $300 billion, one might not expect much of an uptick from
the supposed Trump economic revival. California's calcified strategy, after all, is that global lucre pouring into coastal
high-tech and finance will more than balance out the economic damage wrought by state government. Sacramento is a sort
of court jester to Menlo Park.
A
last-ditch effort to pull California back from the brink. I fully understand the hatred and contempt many, if
not most, conservatives feel toward California. A state blessed with so many advantages has surrendered to left-wing
madness and, worst of all, pretends it has something to teach the rest of America. In the thirty-some years I have
lived here, California has gone from Reagan Country to thrusting people on the order of Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom onto
the national stage. Of the two, Gavin Newsom, the former mayor of San Francisco (and former husband of Kimberly
Guilfoyle, late of Fox News and currently rumored to be an intimate friend of Donald Trump, Jr.), is in a position to do more
harm in the immediate future, as he is running for governor of California on a platform of state-paid universal health care,
including for illegal aliens who manage to cross the state border, from Mexico or Nevada or Oregon.
California,
Poverty Capital. According to the Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure — which accounts for
the cost of housing, food, utilities, and clothing, and which includes noncash government assistance as a form of
income — nearly one out of four Californians is poor. Given robust job growth in the state and the
prosperity generated by several industries, especially the supercharged tech sector, the question arises as to why California
has so many poor people, especially when the state's per-capita GDP increased roughly twice as much as the U.S. average over
the five years ending in 2016 (12.5 percent, compared with 6.27 percent). It's not as if California policymakers have
neglected to wage war on poverty. Sacramento and local governments have spent massive amounts in the cause, for decades now.
Why
California's Gavin Newsom campaigns for free health care for illegals. Gavin Newsom, leading candidate for
governor of California, and a Democrat, has a new goodie on offer: free health care for the state's three million illegals.
The former mayor of San Francisco said so in this podcast, explaining that there is no reason not to "wait around" to extend
Medi-Cal coverage to anyone who asks, regardless of immigration status.
California
craziness: Congress may have to stop state from giving 'free' health care to illegal immigrants.
California has escalating crime, cities teaming with homeless people, clogged and crumbling roads, massive unpaid bills, some
of America's highest taxes, and some of its worst public school systems. So what's the plan by Gavin Newsom, the
Democratic Party's candidate for governor, to improve the situation? On Tuesday he suggested giving free health care to
illegal immigrants. Speaking on a left-wing podcast, the former mayor of San Francisco said: "I did universal
health care when I was mayor, fully implemented, regardless of pre-existing condition, ability to pay, and regardless of your
immigration status. I'd like to see that extended to the rest of the state. San Francisco is the only universal
health-care plan for all undocumented residents in America."
Gavin
Newsom: I'm Bringing Single Payer To Everyone In California, Regardless Of Immigration Status. Gavin
Newsom is currently running for Governor in California and, barring something dramatic, he is going to win. So when he
says he plans to bring single payer to California as Governor, there's a very good chance he'll get his shot. Today,
Newsom appeared on the Pod Save America podcast where he was asked about his health care plans. Newsom made clear he
wants a single paper system that is for everyone in the state regardless of immigration status. "I'd like to see if we
can control our own destiny," Newsom said. He continued, "I'm not naive about it. I did universal health care
when I was Mayor [of San Francisco], fully implemented regardless of pre-existing conditions, ability to pay, and regardless
of your immigration status.
Dem
Gubernatorial Candidate: Gov't Should Pay for Universal Health Care for Illegal Immigrants. Gavin Newsom,
Democratic candidate for governor of California, said on liberal podcast "Pod Save America" that the state government should
pay for universal health care for illegal immigrants. In the episode, released Tuesday, the candidate and current
lieutenant governor of California touted his involvement in San Francisco having "the only universal health care plan for all
undocumented residents in America." "I did universal health care when I was mayor — fully implemented,
regardless of pre-existing condition, ability to pay, and regardless of your immigration status. San Francisco is the
only universal health care plan for all undocumented residents in America. Very proud of that," Newsom said. "I'd
like to see that extended to the rest of the state."
Just Another Word
for Nothing Left to Lose. [Scroll down] And, of course, there's virtually no area of our lives — outside
our sexual behavior and reproductive "choices" — that should be free from state interference. It should be no surprise,
then, that the libertarian Cato Institute's latest "Freedom in the 50 States" report finds California nearly at the bottom,
in 48th place. New York and Hawaii were worse, but California has been remarkably consistent in its ranking over the
past 16 years. Whenever there's some think tank report comparing the states for some bad thing, I always start at
the bottom to find my home state. Not surprisingly, we have the highest taxes in the country, even with 1978's
Proposition 13 putting the kibosh on uncontrolled property-tax hikes. We have a high level of public debt, [of]
course. As Cato points out, the state actually has one of the lowest percentages of government employees (11.2 percent
of private employment). But the reason is simple: California pays its employees such astoundingly high pay and benefit
packages that it simply can't afford to hire any more of them.
California
Gov. Jerry Brown Sets Record of 1,018 Pardons in 8 Years. California Gov. Jerry Brown used his
executive powers to issue 36 gubernatorial pardons on Friday, to hit a record of 1,018 pardons in eight years in
office. Although 22 of those were for murder and 13 for attempted murder or manslaughter, Brown said each of the
pardons he provided went to individuals that had had "demonstrated exemplary behavior" and lived "productive and law-abiding
lives" following their convictions and time served in prison, according to the Fresno Bee.
California
Initiative Filed to End Proposition 13 Protections for Commercial Properties. Funded by Silicon Valley deep
pockets — including the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, the personal charity of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his
wife Priscilla Chan; a coalition of teachers unions; the League of Women Voters; affordable housing advocates; and other
"social justice warriors" organized as "Schools and Communities First," — the activists submitted the signatures
to the Secretary of State on August 14 to place an initiative on the 2020 ballot to increase California commercial
property tax revenue by $11 billion.
Milk Or Water: California
Bill Aims To Curb Kids' Soda Drinking At Restaurants. A new state bill would give kids two options with their
meals at restaurants — water or milk. Senate Bill 1192 would make water or milk the default drink for kids
meals in a push to reduce obesity and access to sugary drinks for children. The bill passed the Assembly and is on its
way to Gov. Jerry Brown's desk. If he signs it, California would be the first state in the nation to have such a law.
A Tale
of Three Cities. San Francisco is being overrun with the homeless and illegal aliens due to its sanctuary city
status and virtue-signaling leadership. The streets are littered with human feces, hypodermic needles, and syringes,
turning the once beautiful "City by the Bay" into a cesspool. What's the response of San Francisco leaders?
Banning plastic straws.
California
lawmakers grill DMV official over ballooning wait times. The leader of the state Department of Motor Vehicles
apologized on Tuesday for a recent steep increase in hours-long wait times at the agency's locations across California, as
complaints over excessive delays sparked new scrutiny from legislators. "The wait times you are experiencing are not
what we ever want our customers to go through," said DMV Director Jean Shiomoto, who testified at an Assembly hearing
convened to address the issue following months of public frustration.
Secret
DMV office serves lawmakers, Capitol staffers. In California, long lines are a fact of life at Department of
Motor Vehicles offices across the state, but for California lawmakers and their legislative staffers, there's an alternative.
KCRA has learned of a DMV office that is not open to the public. It's located inside the Legislative Office Building on
N Street, adjacent to the state Capitol.
The
Mask Slips In Santa Barbara. A little noticed detail in Santa Barbara's recent drive to criminalize plastic
straws, which culminated in the Santa Barbara city council taking testimony from a nine-year-old about the planetary menace,
has come to light in recent days. During that council session, councilman Jesse Dominguez said the following in
response to citizens who asked "what's next?": "Unfortunately, common sense is just not common. We have to regulate
every aspect of people's lives." Take that one in for a moment, for it expresses the core impulse of liberalism today.
'We
Have to Regulate Every Aspect of People's Lives'. A Santa Barbara city councilman inadvertently let slip the
primary purpose of progressivism in 21st century America. The city recently criminalized the use of plastic straws.
Speaking to that issue, Councilman Jesse Dominguez said, "Unfortunately, common sense is just not common. We have to
regulate every aspect of people's lives." Got that? "We" are smarter than you and know what's best for you better
than you do. Perhaps realizing that his comment revealed a fundamental truth of progressive thought, Dominguez tried
to walk back his gaffe: [...]
California
Wants to Reinvent the Power Grid. So What Could Go Wrong? Two decades ago, when California deregulated
the delivery of electric power, lawmakers, regulators and even some environmentalists hailed the decision as a way to lower
consumers' bills. The strategy proved disastrous. The plan resulted in an energy crisis that sent power bills
soaring, prompted billions in penalties against utilities and banks for manipulating the new electricity market, and led
Congress to enact laws to help prevent it all from happening again. Now the state's leaders have a new proposal for an
energy makeover, this time to create a single authority to manage the electric grid for most or all of the West. This
plan, too, promises to cut costs for consumers — by as much as $1.5 billion a year — while helping
to bolster use of carbon-free power sources.
California's
Tax War On Business Owners — Part 1. In the early 1990s, the U.S. economy was hit by a triple whammy:
1) the Savings & Loan Crisis, 2) high oil prices as the result of the first Gulf War, and 3) a good-sized recession.
Following that recession, the U.S. economy experienced slow growth. So, recognizing that middle market companies are the primary
source of economic growth, Congress amended the Internal Revenue Code to incentivize the creation of new companies — "mainstreet"
companies and lower middle market companies. Subject to certain restrictions, upon sale of the company, founding owners would be able
to exclude up to a certain amount of gain. With California's tax code "conforming" to the Internal Revenue Code, the same
pro-growth incentive would have been available on a business owner's California income tax return. But, given the title of this
article, it couldn't be that simple — and it's not.
San Francisco: The City of Bans.
Who would have guessed that cafeterias would even be a public-policy issue? I've worked at companies with them and
without them. But I would have found it more likely for lefties to require such things rather than prohibit
them. Many workers, even in well-paid industries where such cafeterias are common, struggle financially given the high
cost of living in the Bay Area. Here's a chance for the city to help assure that they get a healthy meal while they
work those long hours doing whatever IT people do. What did I miss? "The supervisors introduced the legislation
because they say tech companies' employees are hurting local restaurants by taking advantage of the perk and eating in-house,
rather than patronizing neighborhood eating establishments," reported Smart Cities Dive.
'Calexit'
supporters revamp campaign with plan to convert half of California into 'autonomous Native American nation'.
Organizers of a long-running initiative to secure California's secession from the United States now say they want to give
away nearly half of the state, including all of its federal land, to form an "autonomous Native American nation."
"Calexit," as the proposal for California's secession is known, was given the green light by the state government earlier
this year to begin collecting signatures to place the measure on the November ballot. Advocates had until mid-October
to gather 365,880 signatures of registered voters to put it up for a statewide vote.
California
Is Not as Big or Blue As You Think. The National Popular Vote plan is an interstate compact in which the
compacting states agree to award their electoral votes to the person who gets the most votes in all 50 states. It is
based on Art. I, Sec. 2 of the Constitution which grants state legislatures the plenary (and exclusive) power to
award electors, and the founders' expectation that states would use that power to maximize their influence in the selection
of the president. The first thing I hear, when the proposal is presented, is that "California is so big, it will run
the country" (mainly because I am from California) if the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact takes effect. My
conservative friends use California as an example of "what not to do" when it comes to public policy, and so, if California
is going to run the country under the state statutes implementing the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, then, they
say, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is dangerous.
California's
'foreclosure capital' to give away $500 a month to residents in experimental welfare program. A California city
is set to become the first in the nation to embark on an experiment of Universal Basic Income, paying 100 residents $500 a
month without any conditions. The program's purpose is to eventually ensure that no one in Stockton, with a population
of 300,000, lives in poverty. The receivers of the cash will be able to spend the money on anything they want without
any strings attached. It will launch by 2019 and the 100 fortunate residents will receive the cash for a full 18 months
as part of its testing phase before deciding whether to roll it out across Stockton.
Cost
of anti-ICE protests prompts California county to forgo $3M federal contract. Citing the cost of managing
anti-ICE protests outside one of its facilities, authorities in a Northern California county this week severed a $3 million
contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that allowed the federal agency to detain illegal immigrants in one of
its cities. Contra Costa County, across the bay from San Francisco, thus became the second county in the region this
month to cut ties with ICE, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The county's West County Detention Facility, in
Richmond, which averaged 200 immigrant detainees a day, had drawn protesters for months. At a news conference, Sheriff
David Livingston suggested the demonstrations played a large role in the contract's termination.
Is
California's Democratic Party swinging too far left? By Nov. 7, Democrats will learn if their left turn steered
them to victory or took them off a cliff. The state party's endorsement of Kevin de León, a self-proclaimed socialist's
upset of an establishment Democrat in a New York City congressional primary and talk of abolishing Immigration and Customs
Enforcement and enacting single-payer health care show an embrace of progressive politics that heartens liberal activists
enraged by conservative policies pursued by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.
California's Pointless
Net Neutrality Efforts. California is moving ahead with some of the most ambitious — and
pointless — net neutrality laws in the country that will only make the patchwork laws springing up around the U.S
even murkier. California's bill offers stronger language than the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) rules
established under the Obama administration and repealed this spring. The state legislation not only prevents internet
service providers from throttling speeds or blocking websites, but it also bans excessive zero-rating practices of ISPs
exempting its own services from data caps while counting the usage of third-party apps against the limits.
California
governor signs soda tax ban into law. California cities and counties are banned from taxing sodas and other
sugary drinks for the next 12 years under a bill signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. The deal was
rushed through the legislature and to the governor's desk on Thursday. In exchange for the law, the nonalcoholic
beverage industry is withdrawing a ballot measure that had been slated for November. It would have raised the voter
threshold to approve local sales tax increases on any item, not just soda taxes, from a majority vote to a supermajority
vote. Signatures were gathered for the ballot through a campaign funded by the beverage industry.
San Francisco:
Poster-Child For The Failure Of U.S. Cities' Blue Model. By any standard, San Francisco is one of the most
beautiful cities in the world. So why has it suddenly become an unappealing place to visit and to live? [...] San
Francisco proudly calls itself a "progressive" city. It follows what writer and scholar Walter Russell Mead calls the
progressive "Blue Model" of governance. Yet, the policies it follows — high taxes, inane regulations, petty
nanny-state authoritarianism, tolerance for rising lawlessness and disorder on its streets in the name of "compassion" —
are the very ones that have driven middle-class and working-class citizens out. Only the rich and the so-called homeless,
who have been welcomed into the city and are a growing issue, can afford to live in the city.
California's
Oligarchs and Agitators. If one were to distill the essence of California's Democratic party into a one-page
document, it would be hard to beat a recent mail piece showing the SEIU's candidate endorsements for California's top
jobs. According to its website, the Service Employees International Union Local 1000 (SEIU) "is a united front of
96,000 working people employed by the State of California, making Local 1000 the largest public sector union in California
and one of the largest in the country."
Look
What California Thinks is an Emergency Bill. California is a Socialist nightmare with oppressive government
regulations and high taxes killing the middle class. Housing is so costly that it's greatly adding to the number of
homeless. The open borders and sanctuary cities policies have allowed killers, perverts, and drug dealers to get
protection everywhere in the state. With all the problems they have, they rushed through a bill that could make you
laugh. According to the Washington Examiner, the oh-so-urgent bill that had to be rushed through bans California cities
and counties from taxing sodas and other sugary drinks for 12 years. Are you surprised that a nanny state banned
taxes? Don't be. The reason they did it was to keep high taxes on everything else!
The Editor says...
The writers of this law apparently assume that doctors know everything, which they don't, and that
doctors' diagnoses are always right, which they aren't.
Thefts
rise after California reduces criminal penalties. California voters' decision to reduce penalties for drug and
property crimes in 2014 contributed to a jump in car burglaries, shoplifting and other theft, researchers reported.
Ridiculous
Bay Area housing costs may be reflected in a large drop in births. A harbinger of the absurdly high cost of
housing in the San Francisco Bay Area may be visible in the region's maternity wings. San Francisco is a city of few
children. You're more likely to see a French bulldog roaming Alamo Square Park than packs of kids frolicking among the
Victorians. The lack of youngsters is indicative of a larger issue in the city: the absurdly high cost of
housing. According to a new study, when housing prices go up, the birth rate goes down.
Soros
push to elect progressive DAs in California fails to attract voters. New York billionaire George Soros'
multimillion-dollar effort to reshape California's criminal justice system by propping up progressive district attorney candidates
backfired Tuesday [6/5/2018], with most of his candidates suffering major defeats. Soros, together with other wealthy liberal
donors and groups, spent millions on would-be prosecutors who favor lower incarceration rates, crackdowns on police misconduct and
changes in a bail system that they argue discriminates against the poor. But most of the money went to waste as their
candidates lost to more traditional law-and-order prosecutors who didn't share progressive views or have hostile attitudes
toward police.
America's King of Poverty.
I know it is not a pleasant topic but let's take just a moment and think about poverty in this country. Which state do
you think has the highest poverty rate? Must be Mississippi or Alabama or one of those Southern states. No it
ain't. The state with the highest poverty rate is... wait for it, CALIFORNIA!!! Yep, our progressive, income
redistributing state which accounts for 12% of the country's population is home to about 1 in 3 of all U.S. welfare
recipients. Our poverty rate exceeds 20% when the national average is around 15%. It is not as though California policy
makers have neglected to wage their assault on poverty. Since 1992 California has spent nearly $1 trillion on
benefit programs. Clearly it hasn't worked. Then again paying poor people to be poor never does.
The
lawless, porn-respecting, MS-13-loving, humorless American left. [Nancy] Pelosi says the low unemployment is meaningless, the tax cuts
are "crumbs," and that consumer confidence is low despite it being at an 18-year high. They see, hear, think, and propagate what they want
to be true, not what is true. Even California voters made a tiny dent in the left's socialist grasp on the state. No one
expected Republican John Cox to come in second. All Californians should be horrified by what has become of their once golden state.
Thanks to the polices of Gov. Brown, ex-senator Boxer, Feinstein, Kamala Harris, A.G. Becerra, etc. (it is a one-party Marxist
state), California is a disaster of incalculable proportions, drowning in the homeless, the illegal migrants, traffic, and the highest gas prices
in the country.
California
Desperately Needs A State Electoral College. This November a Republican — businessman John
Cox — will be one of two gubernatorial candidates in the state of California. This is significant because of
the Golden State's unique "jungle primary" system in which the top-two vote-getters proceed to a run-off election regardless
of party. The "jungle primary" was championed by former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. His reasoning
was that eliminating party-identification in a race would give Republican candidates a better chance in a deeply blue
state. Of course, the effect was just the opposite. With so many blue voters, the controversial system virtually
guarantees that the top two candidates are Democrats. The result has been that many voters not aligned with the
Democrat platform have been repeatedly forced to choose between candidates that don't in any way represent them.
California
Attorney General adds Oklahoma to growing travel ban list. I am so old that I remember when California Attorney
General Xavier Becerra was fighting against travel bans. Let's get in the Wayback Machine and turn the dial to March,
2017: ["]California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra issued a statement Monday [6/4/2018] saying President Trump's
decision to rescind a travel ban bogged down in court challenges 'confirms what we all knew: the travel ban was unconstitutional
and un-American.'["] Becerra, a social justice warrior and leading general in the War on Trump, relies on one of the
tried-and-tested tools of progressive activism: The Double Standard. This week, he issued his own travel ban on that
red bastion of traditional values and implemented a travel ban on Oklahoma.
Oklahoma
officials unfazed after landing on California's state-travel blacklist. Oklahomans weren't exactly crying in
their sweet tea after learning that their state has been added to California's blacklist on state-sponsored travel.
"There appears to be more and more Californians sharing our values as we are seeing more Californians move to Oklahoma," said
Michael McNutt, spokesman for Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, in a statement. "With our state's economy being as strong
as it is, we won't miss a few Californians traveling on state business showing up in our state."
Prop
68: A Yes Vote is a Reward for Bad Behavior. This adds about $400 of new debt onto your family's tab, that you'll repay in future
taxes plus interest. It promises to be used to prepare for droughts. Remember the $5 billion that was supposed to be used on
new reservoirs a few years ago? It wasn't. The best way to prepare for droughts is to store water from wet years so that we
have it in dry ones.
With
free health care for illegals, California Democrats hand a big campaign contribution to the GOP's Cox. For
Democrats, succoring illegals and doling out nationalized "free" health care are signature issues. What better way to
enact that agenda than to offer California's abundant illegal aliens free state health care? That's the scheme they've
cooked up, in their relentless push to make California a West Coast imitation of socialist Venezuela. It's so bad that
it's likely to draw California voters toward Republicans.
California
rebukes Trump with health care push for immigrants. California is poised to become the first state in the
nation to offer full health coverage to undocumented adults even as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown by
separating families at the border. The proposal — which would build on Gov. Jerry Brown's 2015 decision
to extend health coverage to all children, regardless of immigration status — is one of the most daring examples
yet of blue-state Democrats thumbing their nose at President Donald Trump as they pursue diametrically opposed policies,
whether on immigration, climate change, legalized marijuana or health care.
California
assisted death law overturned in court. A judge in Riverside County on Tuesday overturned California's
controversial assisted death law nearly two years after it took effect, ruling that the Legislature improperly passed the
measure during a special session on health care funding.
Report finds cases of STDs reach all-time
high in California. The number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases in California reached a record high
last year and officials are particularly concerned by a spike in stillbirths due to congenital syphilis, state health
authorities said Monday [5/14/2018].
California
Bill Seeks to Replace Washington or Lincoln's Birthday Holidays with 'May Day'. A Democrat California
assemblyman introduced a bill seeking to make "May Day," or International Workers Day, a state holiday that would replace
President George Washington's or President Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Assemblyman Miguel Santiago's (D-Los Angeles)
legislation calls for consolidating the two presidents' birthdays to be observed on the third Monday in February as a single
"President's Day" holiday, but it also calls for the state to observe May 1 as "International Workers Day."
Leftist
pol in California proposes scrapping Washington's Birthday in favor of Marxist May Day. Leftists are
notoriously touchy whenever anyone questions their patriotism, and the mask seems to be off with a California assemblyman's
proposal to scrap Lincoln's or Washington's birthdays as holidays and replace them with the communist May Day. Surreal
as this sounds, it's true.
California
Bill Wants To Drop Washington/Lincoln's Birthday And Replace It With Communist Holiday. The California Assembly
discussed Thursday [5/10/2018] a bill that would replace Abraham Lincoln or George Washington's birthday with International Socialist
Workers' Day as a paid holiday. California Democrat Assemblyman Miguel Santiago introduced Bill AB-3042, which would allow schools
to replace Washington Day and Lincoln Day with Presidents' Day and install an "International Workers' Day" — conventionally
known as "May Day" — as a second holiday. "I'm aghast that a bill like this would be able to get through committee,"
California Republican Assemblyman Matthew Harper said to the Assembly. "Are we in competition to be the laughing stock of the
United States?"
The Editor says...
Yes, such a competition is apparently underway, and California is far ahead, although New York is catching up.
California
Demands That Christians 'Evolve'. There's a new legislative proposal banning all conversion therapy as a fraudulent business practice — by
not just mental health providers but anyone. Since the "independent fact-checkers" are quick to swarm around conservative "misinformation," FactCheck.org,
PolitiFact and Snopes have all cried "False" at the idea that this bill is a threat to the sale of the Bible. They declared that a threat against Bible
sales is nowhere in the text of California Assembly Bill 2943, offered by gay assembly member Evan Low. That is correct ... on its face.
It doesn't mention the Bible. However, the bill would amend the state Consumer Legal Remedies Act, adding the ability to sue for damages for
"advertising, offering to engage in, or engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with an individual." Any efforts to change someone's
sexual orientation "in a transaction intended to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer are unlawful."
That's more than therapy. It's any kind of an argument.
California
Voters Oppose Arming Teachers to Shoot Back if Under Attack. By a wide margin California voters support more
gun control and oppose arming teachers to shoot back if under attack. The opposition to armed teachers was uncovered
via a Berkeley-IGS Poll and reported by the Sacramento Bee. The poll found 61 percent of voters opposed arming
teachers while only 37 percent supported it. When viewed by political affiliation, 83 percent of Democrats opposed
allowing teachers to be armed to protect themselves and their students, while 75 percent of Republicans supported the idea.
Christians'
Munich Moment in California. Scarcely any moment in American history is as important for America's Christians as the developing crises
over religious freedom now happening in California. The legislature of Sacramento not only is underhandedly banning books opposed to the
doctrines of the transgender religion (including the Bible), but also has threatened Christians' rights to free assembly and freedom of speech.
According to its website, Summit Ministries, an organization devoted to advising Christian youths on how to live out a Christian worldview, has
canceled its scheduled appearances at Biola University in Los Angeles "due to concerns that California will forbid some of what it teaches."
Summit's concern is real.
How
Homeschoolers Defeated California's Push to Take Power From Parents. They came by the hundreds, one newspaper
said — "perhaps thousands." Some traveled hours, others waited hours, all for the opportunity to protest one of
the most outrageous homeschooling bills ever introduced: California's AB 2756. Spilling out into crammed hallways
and overflow rooms, families poured into the Statehouse just for the opportunity to spend a few minutes speaking out on a measure
that would give the government more power over parents who educate at home. Initially, the bill tried to mandate fire
inspections of all homeschooling families (which, not surprisingly, firefighters rejected). Then the proposal was
amended — this time to force homeschooling families to give out private information about the names and address
of homeschooling families.
They Keep Telling Us Who
They Are. The California legislature is processing a bill to ban and criminalize all speech, all writing, that
goes against "LGBTQ priorities". Assembly Bill 2943, which has already sailed through two committees, would criminalize
"efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions." It seems to be aimed at practicing psychologists, psychiatrists,
or counselors whose clients ask them to help them get rid of unwanted sexual attractions; but the bill is so vaguely written
that it could be used against virtually anybody — commentators who dissent from the agenda of Organized Sodomy,
parents who teach their children that there are only two "genders," and Biblically orthodox churches where homosexual
acting-out is presented as a sin.
Yes,
California Is on the Verge of Banning Some Christian Books, Here's How. Late last week, I wrote an article that
caused a bit of a furious reaction in social-justice Twitter. Activists claimed I was lying, arguing in bad faith,
and/or exaggerating the effect of California's AB 2943, a bill that purports to declare "sexual orientation change efforts"
to be an "unlawful business practice." I claimed the bill was so broad that it could even ban books. And I'm
right. It can and would.
California
Bill Would Criminalize Speech, Books Opposing LGBT Agenda. In a direct assault on the freedoms of speech and
religion, the California Assembly on Thursday [4/19/2018] overwhelmingly approved a bill that would, in effect, prohibit the
dissemination of traditional Christian teaching on homosexuality and transgenderism. The Assembly voted 50-14 to
criminalize "a transaction intended to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer" that
consists of "advertising, offering to engage in, or engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with an individual." The
bill defines "sexual orientation change efforts" as "any practices that seek to change an individual's sexual orientation.
This includes efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or
feelings toward individuals of the same sex."
New California Bill
Would Mean Banning the Bible. The bill in question is California Assembly Bill 2943. It would treat as a criminal
violation of the state's consumer fraud act "the sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer" that consists of "advertising,
offering to engage in, or engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with an individual." Don't be misled into thinking that
this bill bans only professional counselors from trying to alter same-sex attractions. It goes well beyond that.
California launches
an attack against churches!? A California State Assembly is gearing up to vote on new bill that could ban the
sale of books and punish churches that encourage children to stick to traditional gender norms. Yes, you read that
right — they want to ban books that say things like, "Girls wear dresses" and shutter churches that encourage boys
to wear slacks. Assembly Bill 2943 would make it "unlawful business practice" to engage in "a transaction intended to
result or that results in the sale or lease of good of services to any consumer" that engages in "sexual orientation change
efforts with an individual."
California's
crazy-intrusive politicians can't keep their hands off anything — Next up? Homeschoolers!
[Scroll down] The recently introduced Assembly Bills 2756 and 2926 are cases in point. This first, AB 2756,
requires fire marshals to perform in-home inspections of home-schoolers every year, implying that somehow home-educators are
less fire-safe than other individuals. This is, of course, egregiously discriminatory on its face. But wait.
The second one is even worse! With AB 2926, Assembly Member Susan Eggman proposes forming an appointed committee to
"investigate" homeschooling. The "instruction" committee would subsequently share its findings so that the California
legislature might consider how best to regulate those families. Because there isn't anything a bureaucrat loves
more than a new regulation! And these particular bureaucrats are already doing such a fine job of regulating
our public schools that roughly half of California public school students surveyed reported experiencing bullying.
California
Has Highest Poverty Rate In America. Democrats in California have consistently rejected forcing work
requirements on the able-bodied individuals who receive welfare. Forcing those who can work to look for a job and/or
maintain employment before receiving benefits is a policy unpalatable for the democrats who control the state.
Americans in California are mostly jobless and the ones who can find work are actually having their money taken through the
highest state income tax in the union to support immigrants, the majority of which are on welfare.
Why
do Democrats love tax hikes so much? California is already seeing residents and businesses flee the state
because of its sky-high taxes. Yet unbelievably, two Democratic state assemblymen have proposed to more than double the
state business tax — hiking it from 8.84 percent to 18.84 percent on businesses with annual net incomes of
more than $1 million. This would be the highest state corporate tax rate in America. The rationale for the giant
tax hike? Denying the companies tax savings from the federal income tax cuts recently signed into law by President
Trump. Soak the rich! Billions in new tax revenue for the state! What could possibly be wrong with that?
California's
latest contradictions — Welcoming criminals but warning about 'dangerous' coffee. Imagine a state
that passes a law welcoming, embracing and protecting criminals, directly endangering citizens. Then imagine that same
state passing laws, and judges issuing orders that make no sense except to micromanage people's lives in the name of keeping
them safe. A contradiction indeed, and especially ripe in California. The same week that a number of cities and
counties in California sued their own state over the dangerous law making the state a "sanctuary" for illegal alien
criminals, a judge issued a ruling to save Californians from themselves and their coffee-drinking habit.
Can America Survive
the Latest Plague? The left survives within a self-made mirage that uses well written speeches containing caring and poetic language
and emotional appeals that appear to be on the side of good, protecting the weak and needy in society. But in fact, the left exploits and
manipulates both weak and poor to continue to remain in power. Consider the infected American cities of Detroit, Baltimore, and Chicago,
where the left has total control and can implement whatever programs it wants, and look at the result: perpetual devastation, crime, and
misery. California, a once wealthy and successful state, is now an insolvent laughingstock of the world.
California
Democrat Introduces Bill to Force Websites to Use 'Fact-Checkers'. California State Senator Dr. Richard
Pan (D-Sacramento) has proposed a bill, the "Online False Information Act," that would require anyone who posts news on the
Internet to verify their information through "fact-checkers." The bill, filed quietly in late February as SB 1424,
requires all California-based websites to develop a plan to fight "fake news," to use "fact-checkers," and to warn
readers — including via social media — of "false information."
The Editor says...
Why stop at social media? Why not require the same of broadcasters and newspapers? Is CNN always
100% accurate? Is MSNBC never misleading? Is The New York Times not biased?
The Justice
Department Sues California. On Monday [4/2/2018], the Department of Justice filed suit against the state of California,
challenging a state law that purports to prevent the federal government from selling federal lands without the permission of a state
agency. Passed by the California legislature in October 2017, Senate Bill 50 declares that, with limited exceptions, "conveyances
of federal public lands in California are void" unless the State Lands Commission is provided a "right of first refusal" or "the right
to arrange for the transfer of the federal public land to another entity." The statute also prohibits purchasers of federal land
from recording the deed to the newly acquired property without an accompanying "certificate of compliance" from the state commission
and provides for a $5,000 civil penalty for buyers who violate this provision.
'Remarkably
stupid': Calif Dems push 'first of its kind' legislation restricting when a cop can use his gun. Talk about
handcuffing police, California Democrats are pushing an unprecedented law to limit when a cop can use his/her weapon.
Following the shooting death of an unarmed black man in Sacramento last month by police, state lawmakers have proposed
legislation that raises the threshold for when an officer may open fire, Huffington Post reported.
Trump
is right — California is out of control. When President Trump recently visited California, he came
away with the sense that it "is totally out of control." If he arrived at that conclusion from just a single visit, imagine
how many who live in the state feel. To be fair, California itself isn't out of control. There are many among the
40 million who honorably and honestly go about their daily business. Outside of Antifa riots and some infantile
behavior on college campuses, there are no mobs in the streets; crime is up but not unrestrained; there are multiple efforts
brewing to break up the state, but none are threatening violent insurgencies (though there is a Calexit movement that calls
for the state to leave the union). What is out of control is California's ruling class. Much of its political
agenda is hostile to basic human liberty and mocks the limits on what government should be allowed to do in an ostensibly
free society.
Is
The Golden State Trying To Secede? There may be hope in California yet. Despite the state's political descent into
madness by illegally declaring itself a "sanctuary state," the resistance it growing. California has a political and legal fight
on its hands, one it can't win.
Is
California Governor Jerry Brown Mentally Ill? The entire country is talking about the collapse of California due to decades of
insane liberal policies. And what is Governor Brown's response? He implemented hundreds more destructive liberal rules, regulations,
and giveaways to illegals. An article listing the top ten stupidest new California laws includes "Single-User Restrooms," "Controlling
Cow Flatulence," "Legalizing Child Prostitution," and "Felons Voting." Governor Brown signed a new law making California a sanctuary state,
doubling down on his bizarre quest to undermine American citizens. [...] Numerous California families have suffered devastating losses of family
members killed by illegals with long felony records who have been deported several times and welcomed back with open arms by Brown. One
mom whose son was killed by an illegal with two DUIs and two felonies said Brown should be arrested for treason.
California
Appoints Illegal Alien to State Office. California has its first illegal alien in state office, after Senate
President pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) appointed Lizbeth Mateo to the California Student Opportunity and Access
Program Project Grant Advisory Committee. Mateo, an attorney, was born in Mexico and came to the U.S. illegally at the
age of 14 with her parents, who are also illegal aliens, according to the Sacramento Bee.
San
Francisco Is Suffering From The Excesses Of Its Own Liberalism. I live in a reasonably decent section of San Francisco, and
from what I gathered in speaking to many others, everyone has had his or her version of San Franciscan traumas. San Francisco, one of
the richest cities in the country and home to a booming center of intellectual capital, has suffered from the excesses of its own liberalism.
Bloated and inefficient spending, combined with a gross shortage of housing only worsened by rent-control antics and a fat city bureaucracy, has
left a city in utter disrepair. [...] The relative "coronation" of Democrats each election on the local and state level has led to a general
erosion of performance from the reigning party, which rarely feels the pressure to perform, given the absence of a legitimately competitive
rival party.
Is California becoming
America's Taiwan? Taiwan is an independent nation — in its ambitions, its economy, its democracy.
But many countries refuse to recognize it as a separate country, deferring to mainland China, which claims Taiwan as a
possession and responds with threats when Taiwan goes its own way. California shares aspects of this conundrum.
Our state has the ambitions, economy, and democracy of a leading nation. But it remains very much a part of the United
States, which responds with threats when California goes its own way.
California
Has Become a Disgraceful State. At one time, California was the envy of America, attracting people from around
the nation to move to a state offering opportunity and the chance to pursue ambitious dreams. With scenic beauty, the
Pacific Ocean coastline, the major cities of San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, California recruited entrepreneurs
looking for economic growth. As the home of Hollywood and multitudes of celebrities, California presented an enticing
potential to enjoy "lifestyles of the rich and famous." Today, California has become an economic and cultural
disaster. The state is home to over 114,000 homeless people, one quarter of the total in the nation. In San
Francisco, a health crisis has developed as the homeless have created a mess in the downtown area, littering it with fecal
matter, spent needles and piles of trash.
I
hope Democrats defend sanctuary cities. It's bad policy, and it'll cost them. The Justice Department is
now challenging several laws in California that not only interfere with the nation's immigration policies but also place
American citizens and law enforcement personnel at risk. The idea that laws can be ignored and that state and local
politicians can affirmatively warn lawbreakers of how to escape apprehension is incredible. It is indefensible.
We either have laws, or we don't. And if our elected leaders don't want to uphold the law, they can either change them
or resign. The law is not optional once you have made a pledge to uphold the duties of your office. Open-border
radicals in California and other liberal strongholds must be held accountable. Of course, liberals would have you
believe that they are only interested in protecting the poor, the oppressed and the hardworking who have nowhere else to go.
But in many cases, their actions allow dangerous and sometimes repeat criminals to be shielded from deportation or prison.
Dear California: Call
Me When the Commies Leave. I don't care what the libs do to the likes of New York, Chicago, or the Pacific
Northwest. Let the progressive loons have cities and states that are already cold, wet and miserable. But, as I
often asked audiences, why should we let them have a place as glorious as California? Apparently, no one was
listening. When the Democrats gained a super-majority stranglehold on the California legislature, they didn't waste any
time letting their far-left freak flag fly. As soon as some bills were floated, then passed, people began asking me in
private and in public interviews about the legislative madness issuing forth from Sacramento. I thought most of it was
boilerplate liberal lunacy that wouldn't stand up to any strict legal scrutiny, which made me shrug it off.
How
a list of 23 crimes now dominates California's debate over prison punishment. California has a long history of
mixing crime and punishment with raw politics. But outrage doesn't always translate into coherent policy, and
unintended consequences can spark even more public anger. With that in mind, consider the last two years of debate over
what should, and should not, be a "violent" crime. That debate begins with the index of crimes in section 667.5 of the
California Penal Code. The list was first enacted in 1976, and has been tinkered with so many times it's hard to say
whether it's a fair representation of the most heinous crimes.
California
has worst 'quality of life' in US, study says. Awards season is in full swing in California, and the Golden
State just took home a booby prize of its own. California ranks dead last among U.S. states in quality of life,
according to a study by U.S. News, ranking behind New Jersey (49th) and Indiana (48th). The ignominious honor reflects
California's low marks in the sub-categories of environmental quality and social engagement. The latter category
measures voting participation and community bonds. Californians scored poorly in part because they're simply
insufferable, U.S. News suggested.
U.S.
News Crowns California Worst State for 'Quality of Life'. The U.S. News & World Report has named
California the worst state for "quality of life," largely due to the high cost of living. U.S. News ranks the 50
U.S. states each year on eight major social and economic categories to determine an overall competitive ranking. California
received an overall score of 32 in 2018, based on sub-category rankings for a Health Care (11); Education (26); Economy (4);
Opportunity (46); Infrastructure (38); Crime and Corrections (28); Fiscal Stability (43); and Quality of Life (50).
U.S. News found California's high cost of living to be its biggest detriment, despite its having the largest economy
in the nation. San Jose and San Francisco both ranked in the 20 top places to live in U.S., but two communities
were also in the most expensive for housing.
Pelosi
the 'most right-wing'? Only in San Francisco. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is regarded by most Republicans as a
far-left liberal. But a recent column identifies the San Francisco Democrat as the "most right-wing" candidate running in her
district this year. Emily Cadei, a correspondent for the Sacramento Bee, wrote Monday [2/26/2018] that Pelosi —
who'll turn 78 on March 26 — will be forced to fight off three opponents, all coming at her from the left,
when she seeks re-election later this year.
Dianne
Feinstein No Longer Left-Wing Enough for California. This is a woman who was once mayor of San Francisco, who has
argued for the confiscation of guns from law-abiding gun owners, and whose lifetime ACU rating is under 10%. (Meaning she
has voted conservatively less than 10% of the time.) But Kevin de Leon is an even bigger anti-gun zealot, a man so far
left he introduced environmental regulation so radical (banning all fossil fuels in California) not even the hard-left Democrat
legislature would go for it. (Probably because existing renewable energy bills have already made California's electric
bills look like Michigan's car insurance premiums. Worse, actually.
Democratic
Lunacy on Full Display in California. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has promised everything she can for
the young illegal aliens and her increasingly restive left-leaning caucus. The House members are grousing privately
about how their leader is ruining their brand across the country. As for the illegal aliens and their activist
enablers, they overwhelmed one of her press conferences in San Francisco. They badgered her US Senate colleagues,
including Chuck Schumer by protesting outside of his home in New York State. Two weeks ago, Pelosi stood for 8 hours to
demand that a clean DREAM Act be attached to the latest budget-spending bill. Nothing happened.
Meanwhile, since 2016 the Democratic Party has moved further left than anyone would have anticipated since 2016. They
will embrace every letter in the LGBTQAI etc. list, they want to repeal the Second Amendment, abolish the First, get rid
of the United States Constitution.
San Francisco Prisons
Implement Reforms Giving Transgenders Special Treatments. San Francisco prisons formally announced they are implementing
a policy for transgenders that will respect their gender preferences, house them in the cells of their chosen identity, and offer other
gender identity services. The San Francisco Sheriff's Department announced Wednesday [2/21/2018] that inmates who identify as
transgender, gender variant or non-binary will be able to choose a name and gender identity upon entering the prison. They will
also get to determine if a man or woman will search them before they're admitted into the prison, according to CBS San Fransisco.
Diseased Streets.
How dirty is San Francisco? An NBC Bay Area Investigation reveals a dangerous mix of drug needles, garbage, and feces
throughout downtown San Francisco.
California's
Paradox: More Immigration, More Poverty. California is a land of untold opulence. Hollywood's
glitter dazzles the gawking masses, while the world's most profitable companies, Google, Apple, and Facebook, funnel cash
into the Golden State from every corner of the earth. And yet California is also desperately poor. One-in-five
Californians live in poverty, the state's income inequality is worse than Mexico's, and untold thousands live on the
streets. California is a dystopia. How can so much wealth and poverty coexist? This is the California
paradox. It was not always this way. California used to be home to America's largest and most affluent middle
class. Now it is a playground for the rich and a prison for the poor. How did the Golden State become America's
poverty capital?
Tucker:
Violent Criminal Illegals Now a 'Protected Class' in California. Illegal aliens — including violent
criminals — have become a protected class in California, Fox News host Tucker Carlson declared Tuesday
[2/13/2018], reacting to the state's new sanctuary policy: "It doesn't matter even if they have a history of crime,
even violent crime. In California, illegal aliens are now a protected class. And even more significant, the state
itself is now in direct opposition to this country's most basic laws." Carlson listed several ways California's laws give
special treatment to illegal aliens: [...]
California
Will Block Oil And Coal Shipments, Risks Constitutional Battle. California officials plan on preventing the
federal government from transporting oil and gas using existing pipelines in the state, according to a report Wednesday [2/7/2018]
from The San Francisco Chronicle. Officials on the California Coastal Commission are urging the federal Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management (BOEM) to rescind plans allowing companies to drill for oil off the coast. They are still hoping for
an exemption from the oil drilling plan, that Florida has received.
Starting
Today, San Francisco Is Erasing Everybody's Misdemeanor Pot Convictions. San Francisco District Attorney George
Gascón announced today [1/31/2018] that his office will proactively expunge and seal the records of misdemeanor
marijuana offenders, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The office will also resentence offenders who received a
felony pot conviction. Proposition 64, the 2016 referendum item that legalized recreational marijuana in California,
allows pot offenders to petition for resentencing if their crime would have received a different penalty, or no penalty at
all, under the new law.
California's
Soft Secession Accelerates. California's progressive government is one part healthy federalism and one part
unhealthy separatism. If (and this is a big if) the state can temper its soft secession, California's progressives may
actually — in all their radicalism — show us a path out of our dangerous national polarization.
But first, let's chronicle what California is doing. Its resistance to the White House is well known. The state
government has filed 26 separate lawsuits against the Trump administration. That's roughly one new complaint every two
weeks, with challenges touching at least 17 different subject areas. Moreover, California is now a "sanctuary state"
and therefore sharply limits the extent to which its citizens or public entities can voluntarily cooperate with federal immigration
authorities. It's even considered imposing penalties on companies that worked to build a Trump border wall.
Eek! A man! In
the case of San Francisco city policy, it isn't so much how many heroin needles should be distributed outside the quinoa
cafes, or what punishment to exact upon sippers of straws. It isn't about what to do with car break-ins, which have
spiked to fever proportions and are growing at 26% annually. Nor is the debate about housing, where vibrantly
successful Democrat policy has caused "inflation adjusted construction costs [to] increase in San Francisco over the last
16 years by 60% not including changes in land values." All of these policies are right on the mark.
The trouble is the skin color and sex of the people in city hall.
New
California law will automatically register illegal immigrants to vote... and it all begins on April Fool's Day! A new
law in California that goes into effect this spring will automatically register people to vote — including immigrants who are
in the country illegally. In 2015, the state passed a law called the California New Motor Voter Act to increase voter rolls by
simplifying the process to register to vote. The legislation, which goes into effect April 1, will automatically register
people who apply for a new driver's license or new state ID at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Why
are so many people poor in the Golden State? It's not as if California policymakers have neglected to wage war
on poverty. Sacramento and local governments have spent massive amounts in the cause, for decades now. Myriad state
and municipal benefit programs overlap with one another; in some cases, individuals with incomes 200 percent above the
poverty line receive benefits, according to the California Policy Center. California state and local governments spent
nearly $958 billion from 1992 through 2015 on public welfare programs, including cash-assistance payments, vendor payments,
and "other public welfare," according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Unfortunately, California, with 12 percent of the
American population, is home today to roughly one in three of the nation's welfare recipients. The generous spending,
then, has not only failed to decrease poverty; it actually seems to have made it worse.
California
AG: 'We will prosecute' employers who violate sanctuary laws. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra warned
employers Thursday of legal repercussions if they assist federal immigration officials in an impending crackdown in the
sanctuary state, The Sacramento Bee reported. Under a new state law — the Immigration Worker Protection
Act — employers and businesses could face fines of up to $10,000 if they provide employee information to U.S.
Immigration Customs, Becerra said. If employers "start giving up information about their employees or access to
their employees in ways that contradict our new California laws, they subject themselves to actions by my office.
We will prosecute those who violate the law," he said at a news conference.
California
Democrats want businesses to give half their tax-cut savings to state. California lawmakers are targeting the
expected windfall that companies in the state would see under the federal tax overhaul with a bill that would require
businesses to turn over half to the state. A proposed Assembly Constitutional Amendment by Assemblymen Kevin McCarty,
D-Sacramento, and Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, would create a tax surcharge on California companies making more than $1 million
so that half of their federal tax cut would instead go to programs that benefit low-income and middle-class families.
Crazed
California AG Threatens Charges Against Employers Aiding ICE Raids On Illegal Aliens. In a shocking admission
Thursday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D-CA) threatened his office will charge employees cooperating with ICE
raids on illegal aliens. [...] The news comes amid Homeland Security head Kirstjen Nielsen telling the Senate Judiciary
Committee Tuesday [1/16/2018] that her Department is preparing to arrest leaders of sanctuary cities.
'We will
prosecute' employers who help immigration sweeps, California AG says. The state's top cop issued a warning to
California employers Thursday [1/18/2018] that businesses face legal repercussions, including fines up to $10,000, if they assist
federal immigration authorities with a potential widespread immigration crackdown. "It's important, given these rumors that
are out there, to let people know — more specifically today, employers — that if they voluntarily start
giving up information about their employees or access to their employees in ways that contradict our new California laws, they
subject themselves to actions by my office," state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said at a news conference. "We will
prosecute those who violate the law."
The Editor says...
The AG is very selective about the laws he will defend. "We will prosecute those who violate the law," he says.
But that doesn't mean he will prosecute those who are not supposed to be in this country.
Does
the California Model Really Work? The alleged success of the California model is one of the more intense
controversies in the nerdier corners of public-policy debate. For many progressives, California's metastasizing
liberalism proves you can have Scandinavian-style social policies and tax rates and still have robust economic growth.
For conservatives, California is like a bumblebee. On paper, [it] shouldn't be able to fly — and yet it
does. Thus the cottage industry on the right of prophesizing California's inevitable demise.
Making
California Mexico Again. After the November 2016 election, California governor Jerry Brown, a three-time
presidential loser, denounced the victorious Donald Trump and pledged that the Golden State would go its own way, perhaps
even launching its own satellites. Brown's attorney general Xavier Becerra, once on Hillary Clinton's short list as a
running mate, also defies the federal government. Senate boss Kevin de León, which is not the name on his birth
certificate and voter rolls, authored the state's sanctuary legislation that has made false-documented illegals, even
criminals, a privileged, protected class. In early January, after the legislation kicked in, California's Assembly
speaker Anthony Rendon took things to a new level. "There is no sensible place for barriers between California and
Mexico," said Rendon, heading south with fellow Democrats on a four-day mission to Mexico.
San
Francisco Requires Poop Maps To Help Pedestrians Avoid Human Waste. For those who have maintained that San
Francisco is full of ... whatever, there is now living proof. How much poop is there on the streets of the City by
the Bay? Would you believe there is an online map to track human feces on the city's streets? There is.
According to Fox News, one area of the city reported a 140% rise in feces. As Jay Caruso of RedState noted, "Public
urination is so widespread it has damaged subway elevators and escalators, building walls and power poles." When did the
gleaming jewel that was San Francisco become a repository for poop? Mayor Willie Brown terminated ordinances; city
district Attorney Terence Hallinan would not prosecute "victimless" crimes involving drugs and prostitution.
What's the Matter with California?
The progressives who control every aspect of the state's government are not necessarily stupid people, but they are
malign. They understand that increasing welfare spending only encourages the arrival of more recipients on whom to
spend it, and the high likelihood that those new constituents will vote Democrat as soon as they are able, legally or
otherwise. Already, some 55 percent of "immigrants" receive means-tested benefits, while only 30 percent of native
Californians do so. California's army of bureaucrats contributes as well, as does the state's highly restrictive land-use
ordinances and environmental restrictions, which drive up the cost of housing in what is already the nation's most expensive
real-estate market.
Why
California is the 'poverty capital of the America'. An excellent op-ed in the L.A. Times today by Kerry Jackson
is on why California — with its liberal politics and generous welfare system — is the "poverty capital
of America." According to the Census Bureau, one out of five California residents is poor. This despite the state's
per capita GDP rising twice as fast in the last five years as the national average. From 1992 to 2015, state and local
governments spent nearly $1 trillion to help the poor. The state, with 12% of the American population, is home today
to about one in three of the nation's welfare recipients. Jackson then reaches the not so astonishing conclusion:
"The generous spending, then, has not only failed to decrease poverty; it actually seems to have made it worse."
Why
is liberal California the poverty capital of America? Guess which state has the highest poverty rate in the
country? Not Mississippi, New Mexico, or West Virginia, but California, where nearly one out of five residents is
poor. That's according to the Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure, which factors in the cost of housing, food,
utilities and clothing, and which includes noncash government assistance as a form of income. Given robust job growth
and the prosperity generated by several industries, it's worth asking why California has fallen behind, especially when the
state's per-capita GDP increased approximately twice as much as the U.S. average over the five years ending in 2016 (12.5%,
compared with 6.27%).
Hate-speech
Laws USA? California Prosecutes Man for Anti-Muslim Posts. California is already flouting federal immigration
law with its "sanctuary" status. Now it's also ignoring the most American of laws — the First
Amendment — prosecuting a man simply for posting five anti-Muslim messages to Facebook. The hapless
defendant is 41-year-old Mark Feigin, who expressed his opinions at the Islamic Center of Southern California's (ICSC)
Facebook page in 2016. Feigin is certainly an acerbic, acid-tongued, foul-mouthed fellow, and he admits to sending the
messages. But while many may not like their substance and/or style, they're clearly an example of constitutionally
protected speech.
Rainbow Textbooks Adopted
in California. Late last year, the California board of education brought to an end a decades-long campaign to
emphasize lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender historical figures in state social-studies/history textbooks, approving
K-8 volumes that make identity politics of all kinds the core of the subject. California has had enormous influence
on the nation's history textbooks in the past, and single-interest groups have long flocked to Sacramento to try to gain
expanded, favorable inclusion. The LGBT lobby has been notably assertive. [...] In 2006, Sen. Sheila Kuehl of Santa
Monica — the state's first openly gay legislator — introduced a bill that would require textbooks
to include LGBT contributions to state and national history.
California
federal court rules high school football player can't be ordered to stand for national anthem. A California
federal court has ruled that a high school football player cannot be ordered to stand for the national anthem before
games. The decision, made by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on Dec. 21, struck down
statutes enforced by the San Pasqual Valley Unified School District, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday [12/30/2017].
The district prohibited students from "kneeling, sitting or similar forms of political protest" at sporting events and "required
students and coaches to "stand and remove hats/helmets during the playing or singing of the national anthem," according to court
documents.
Six
Insane California Laws That Will Be Implemented On Monday. [#3] Employers can't ask applicants abouttheir salary history:
Private employers — yes, private employers — can't ask people who want money from them silly questions like how much money they've made in
the past or are making at their current job. It will be interesting to see the inevitable unintended consequences of AB 168.
It will be at least a little more difficult for a company to gauge what a reasonable offer looks like without knowing what an applicant is
currently making or recently made. Sure, employers will ask questions like, "What would you like to make?" and smart applicants will
clarify their expectations at some point in the interview process. But, really, it's not the government's business how an employer and
an applicant work out any mutually benecial agreement.
Gov.
Jerry Brown Pardons Immigrant Felons Facing Deportation. In California governor Jerry Brown's endless attempts
to drag California to third world nation status, he is now pardoning immigrants convicted of felonies in order to save them
from being deported.
California
becomes 'sanctuary state' as Gov. Brown defies Trump administration. California became a "sanctuary state"
on Thursday [12/21/2017] as Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation protecting illegal immigrants in defiance of
the Trump administration. The bill, approved by the state's legislature last month, bars police from asking people about
their immigration status or participating in federal immigration enforcement activities in most cases starting Jan. 1.
Mileage
Tax Could Drive More Middle-class Residents From California. A proposal to charge California drivers for every
mile they drive threatens to bring an end to a way of life in the Golden State. For decades, the California lifestyle
was almost synonymous with Californians' love affair with the automobile. The Golden State's freeways were legendary,
and Californians' fascination with cars was celebrated in a number of car-themed songs during the 1960s (e.g., "The Little
Old Lady From Pasadena," "Little Deuce Coupe"). The scenes of teenagers cruising in their cars in American Graffiti were
based on the memories of the film's director, George Lucas, during his own teenage years in early 1960s Modesto. But
the combination of impossibly heavy traffic on those beloved freeways, the state's imposition of ultra-strict automobile
emissions requirements, and increasingly higher gasoline taxes have diminished considerably the joy that Californians
experienced driving their cars.
Report: California's
$15 Minimum Wage Will Destroy 400,000 Jobs. California's massive state-wide jump to a $15 minimum wage could
conservatively cost around 400,000 potential jobs, according to a new Employment Policy Institute study. "California
Dreamin' of Higher Wages," strives to evaluate what the state's jump to a $15 minimum wage will mean when it fully kicks in
in 2022 by attempting to contextualize it with the empirical effects of previous minimum wage increases in the state going
back to 1990. The results are pretty dire. They believe that by the time the minimum wage fully kicks in the
state will have lost 400,000 jobs as a consequence. These job losses will not be evenly distributed throughout the state's
workforce. They will hit food service, retail, and agriculture jobs the hardest. Overall, this a four percent loss
of jobs out of workforce estimated at around 10 million.
Some
Real Talk For Conservatives About 2018. We conservatives need to get our heads right about the mid-terms or
liberals will end up guzzling patriot tears and their gloating will be flat-out intolerable. We're not doomed in
2018 — I mean, it's not like tax reform or pulling out of the Paris Climate Scam, which have already killed
millions of people, including me and you. But, if we fail to get on course for victory then we're going to see Nancy
Pelosi and the Gropeocrats back in charge and trying to make America into California. Trust me. You
do not want to live in the United States of California.
California
Sued by Students & Parents for Failing to Teach Literacy. A group of parents and students has filed what it
hopes will be a landmark lawsuit against the State of California for its public schools failing to teach literacy.
Public Counsel and the prestigious Law Firm of Morrison & Foerster sued the State of California, the State Board of
Education, the State Department of Education, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson for their
collective failure to provide every child in the state access to literacy as required under the California Constitution.
Poll:
CA Dems in Trouble Over High Costs, Jobs, Taxes & Illegal Aliens. California Democrats could be in trouble in
2018, with the latest USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll finding registered voters' top concerns are the traditionally
Republican issues of high cost of living, jobs, taxes, and illegal immigrants. The USC poll found that the most
important concerns for voters are the high cost of living, at 21.8 percent; followed by jobs, at 9.9 percent;
taxes and fees, at 8.9 percent; and illegal immigration, at 6.9 percent.
Politico:
Jerry Brown, President of the Independent Republic of California. David Siders writes in Politico that California Governor
Jerry Brown, as he visits Europe en route to the United Nations climate talks, is functioning rather more like the leader of a country
distinct from the United States than merely the governor of one of fifty states within that powerful union.
Average
price per gallon up 17 cents in Los Angeles since gas tax took effect. The average price for a gallon of gas in
Los Angeles County is up 17 cents compared to last week after a new 12-cent gas tax was tacked on at the pump. In
Orange County, the average price-per-gallon is 18 cents more than it was one week ago.
California: Proof That
Everything The Liberals Run Turns [Bad]. [Scroll down] It seems to be a habit of government leadership on
the far Left to make everything they govern worse than they found it. It's not only a habit, it seems to be a
requirement. If you challenge them they double down! Again, why? California Democrats want a free college
education for all, including illegals. Free healthcare for all, including illegals. They want more taxes and,
according to Governor Brown, Californians that don't want to pay more taxes are selfish. Democrats who run this state
don't want to explain what they did with the tens of millions of dollars they took from Californians in the guise of taxes
then redirected away from the projects they collected it for. And now, not only do they want Californian's to pay
again, but they also want the Federal government to bail them out. Yup, it's everyone's fault but theirs! And
we all get to pay for it.
California,
the sanctuary state, will reap the whirlwind. Earlier this month, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 54, a
historic state law that thumbs his state's nose at federal authority. Beginning in January, the law states, California officially
becomes a so-called sanctuary state. The term "sanctuary" is, of course, not univocal. It was once used to describe a
sensible law enforcement strategy, by which otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants who report crimes or cooperate with the police
are not asked about their immigration status, lest they hesitate to help authorities in the future. Unfortunately, that is not
what "sanctuary" means in this case.
California
first state to legally recognize third gender option. California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Sunday [10/15/2017]
signed new legislation that will allow state residents to choose a gender option other than male or female on official documents.
The legislation, a top priority of civil rights groups, also makes it easier for transgender people to change their gender
identification on birth certificates or driver's licenses.
New
California law allows jail time for using wrong gender pronoun, sponsor denies that would happen. California
health care workers who "willfully and repeatedly" decline to use a senior transgender patient's "preferred name or pronouns"
could face punishments ranging from a fine to jail time under a newly signed law. [...] The bill itself is aimed at
protecting transgender and other LGBT individuals in hospitals, retirement homes and assisted living facilities. The
bill would ensure those facilities accommodate transgender people and their needs, including letting them decide which
gender-specific bathroom they prefer to use. "It shall be unlawful for a long-term care facility or facility staff to
take any of the following actions wholly or partially on the basis of a person's actual or perceived sexual orientation,
gender identity, gender expression, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status," the bill reads.
Knowingly
exposing others to HIV will no longer be a felony in California. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday
that lowers from a felony to a misdemeanor the crime of knowingly exposing a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing the
infection. The measure also applies to those who give blood without telling the blood bank that they are
HIV-positive. Modern medicine allows those with HIV to live longer lives and nearly eliminates the possibility of
transmission, according to state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), authors
of the bill.
California
to become a 'sanctuary state' in 2018. Gov. Jerry Brown placed new limitations on state and local law
enforcement's ability to help the federal government enforce immigration violations by signing California's controversial
"sanctuary state" bill into law on Thursday [10/5/2017]. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León introduced Senate
Bill 54 weeks after the 2016 election to stifle President Donald Trump's campaign pledge to ramp up deportations and
prevent the federal government from using California police officers to accomplish his goal.
Leftists Never
Fight. [Scroll down] California passed Prop 8, with Blacks supporting it at the 70%+ level, which
defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Prop 8 passed with 52% of the voters supporting it. Yet the Democrat
governor and the Democrat attorney general refused to defend the law as they were required by their oath of office. That
alone shows that Democrats are fascists; it's not up to the governor to decide which laws are constitutional or not; that's
the job of the courts. However, the state courts supported the legality of Prop 8. Not to be deterred,
Democrats took it to a federal court where a closeted gay judge who stood to benefit from ruling against Prop 8
suppressed the will of the people of California.
Bill
advancing universal free school meals for California's hungriest kids heads to Assembly. A bill approved in
Assembly Appropriations this past week would expand free and reduced breakfast and lunch for hundreds of thousands of
students on Medi-Cal. SB 138 — the "Feed the Kids Act" will address childhood hunger by removing a massive
layer of bureaucratic red tape from the State school meal program enrollment process and by serving all students in very high
poverty schools for free. The legislation would develop a universal enrollment process by ensuring that all school
districts utilize Medi-Cal data to seamlessly enroll income-eligible students in free and reduced-price school meals.
With
220 languages spoken in California, courts face an interpreter shortage. Federal law enforcement began
investigating California's courts seven years ago after receiving complaints that two Korean-speaking women in Los Angeles
had been denied court interpreters. Courts in other states also were examined and faulted. Along with California,
they began working to comply with U.S civil rights law, which bars discrimination based on national origin. Failure to
act meant the possible loss of federal money. But nowhere has the task been so challenging as in California, the most
linguistically diverse state in the nation.
California
Tries to Leverage Hurricane Harvey to Fund $20 Billion Flood Control. California hopes to leverage the attention on Hurricane
Harvey flooding to convince the federal government to fund some of the $20 billion needed to repair the dilapidated Central Valley
flood control infrastructure. Harvey has killed at least 34 and caused over $190 billion in damage thus far. The
1,000-year flood is expected to cost the U.S. economy about 1 percent of GDP, or $190 billion, according AccuWeather.
California
Crime Wave Follows Criminal Justice Reform. In November 2014, California voters approved Proposition 47, which
downgraded drug possession and many property crimes from a felony to a misdemeanor. As Debra Saunders reminds us,
proponents argued that lesser punishment for low-level offenders would enhance public safety. Unfortunately, this
utterly counterintuitive notion has not panned out. In San Francisco, according to a police spokesman, theft from cars
is up 47 percent this year over the same period in 2014. Auto theft is up by 17 percent. Robberies are up
23 percent. And aggravated assaults are up 2 percent. (To be fair, burglaries are down 5 percent).
How about Los Angeles? It has seen a 12.7 percent increase in the overall crime this year, according to the
Los Angeles Times. Violent offenses are up 20.6 percent; property crimes by 11 percent.
California
initiative would legalize psychedelic mushrooms. California would become the first state in the nation to
legalize psychedelic mushrooms if a long-shot ballot initiative passes muster with voters next year. The measure is
backed by a legalization activist who says he kicked his heroin habit with the help of a mushroom trip in Death Valley.
It would exempt Californians over the age of 21 from a state law that criminalizes mushrooms containing psilocybin, the
compound that gives some mushrooms psychedelic properties. "There is a cultural fascination with mushrooms that goes
really deep," said Kevin Saunders, the activist behind the initiative. "The soccer moms are all pretty much, for lack
of a better term, high now, and some of them are taking mushrooms."
California
Set To Be First State To Add "Gender X" Designation To Licenses. Up until now, state issued identification
cards around the country have limited gender designations to 'male' and 'female' because, well, biological science has
historically taught us that those were the only two options. But that hateful and narrowed-minded micro-aggression
perpetrated by our genetic code will no longer be tolerated in the state of California, whether it's a scientifically proven
fact or not. As the San Francisco Chronicle points out today [8/29/2017], California's legislature is currently
considering SB 179 that will add a new "nonbinary" gender designation to the state's identification cards.
ACORN
Sues California to Allow More Illegals to Vote. An ACORN offshoot and other left-wing pressure groups are suing
California in federal court because the state hasn't made it easy enough for Democrats to flood voter rolls with illegal
aliens and foreign nationals who aren't legally eligible to vote. Throughout the years Mickey Mouse, Mary Poppins, and
celebrities living and dead were registered to vote because now-defunct ACORN and its allied groups were allowed to pollute
the voter rolls.
California
Could Start Jailing People Who Don't Use Transgender Pronouns. A bill that passed the California state senate
and is now moving through the Assembly could threaten jail time for anyone who refuses to use a transgender person's
preferred pronoun. The law is currently limited in its effects to nursing homes and intermediate-care facilities, but
if passed, those who "willfully and repeatedly" refuse "to use a transgender resident's preferred name or pronouns" could be
slapped with a $1,000 fine and up to one year in prison, according to the California Heath and Safety code. The state
senate passed the bill 26-12 at the end of May. Since then, the Assembly Judiciary committee recommended the bill
unanimously and the General Assembly held its first hearing on the legislation Wednesday [8/23/2017].
Calexit
III? New ballot measure plots route to California independence. On Thursday, people unhappy with California's
place in the United States filed yet another proposed ballot measure that could lead to the Golden State striking out on its
own. This time, the goal is convening a U.S. constitutional convention to overhaul what proponents call a moldy
national blueprint out of step with life in California. The measure says a reworked Constitution should include a
provision creating a "clear and reasonable path for states to achieve complete independence from the United States should
any state so choose." No state has become independent under the existing U.S. Constitution.
On
Illegal Immigration, California Decides They Really Like The 10th Amendment. If you remember back to the debate
over Arizona's SB1070, a law that allowed law enforcement to enforce federal law as written, California, California law
makers, and California papers took the stance that immigration was the purview of the federal government, and that states
couldn't change that in the least. Today, though, as we discuss illegal aliens, California wants to do its own thing[.]
California Can't Fix
Its Housing Problems. Even California's liberal Democrats are starting to understand that the state's housing
crisis is fundamentally a supply-and-demand problem. Home prices have soared to astronomical levels, with a median
price above $750,000 in the nine-county Bay Area and nearly $700,000 in Orange County. Years of growth controls and
local regulations have restricted housing supply and added as much as 40 percent to the price of every new home
that's built. Housing is the key reason California has a 24 percent poverty rate (using the U.S. Census Bureau's
new cost-of-living-adjusted index), the highest in the nation.
Socialists
create youth shortages in California. Socialism has long been associated with shortages, and nowhere is that
more evident than in California, land of surf, sun, skiing, skateboarding, and other youth-oriented pursuits. The
socialists have managed to chase out the youth.
A
Guide to How Bad the Democratic Party Is Right Now. In the Golden State, the progressive wing of the party is
irate that California Democrats shelved a $400 billion state-based single-payer initiative. Death threats were hurled
at state lawmakers for tabling the measure, which met a legislative death because it had no funding mechanisms within the
bill. Also, the leadership election to lead the state's Democratic Party has led to a contested election, where the
establishment figure won, but the Bernie Sanders supporting insurgent has failed to concede.
Democrats Rigging
Election in Broad Daylight. Here in California, the Democratic leadership is busy rigging rules in an election.
The issue is covered on the front pages. But Democrats control every lever of power, so nothing can derail their efforts to save a
vulnerable Democratic senator from a recall. Now the state's ethics watchdog, the California Fair Political Practices Commission,
is in on the action.
Judicial
Watch threatens to sue California - after finding 11 counties with more registered voters than eligible citizens. Dems will often argue
that such fraud is "not widespread," but they're loathe to define what, exactly, 'widespread' means. How many bogus votes need to be cast before
blue states care? Enter Judicial Watch. They're threatening to sue the state of California because Governor Moonbeam's voter rolls have gone
completely off the rails. In 11 counties, Judicial Watch found that there were more registered voters than citizens of legal age.
Sometimes by as much as 144%[.]
Still
Think Our Elections Are Fair?: 11 California Counties Have More Registered Voters Than Voting Age Adults. Right
now there are plenty of Democrats who think Russia hacked our elections, but they'll laugh at Trump's accusation that illegal
immigrants stole the popular vote from him (which is very likely). The truth is that our elections are seriously
compromised, and not by the Russians. The latest example of this fact comes from California, where it was recently
discovered that there are 11 counties that have more registered voters than eligible voters.
L.A.
County hands $1.3 billion to illegals for welfare. Los Angeles County is a massive draw for illegals, with more
than a million flocking there and setting up home — and now we know why. Not only is it hallowed sanctuary
ground; it's also, apparently, taxpayer-dole-out central. Look at this, from Robert Rector with the Heritage
Foundation: "They get $3 in benefits for every $1 they spend," he said, speaking of the costs of education, police,
fire, medical and housing that illegals get, compared to what they pay back by way of taxes. This isn't conjecture.
It's based on analysis of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services database. Among the findings:
In 2015, more than 58,000 families received $602 million in benefits. In 2016, more than 64,000 families received
$675 million.
California
Risks Billions in Sanctuary City Suit Against Trump Administration. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra
is launching a preemptive legal assault against the Trump Administration's promise to pull tens of billions of dollars of
federal funding from "sanctuary cities" that do not cooperate in enforcement against illegal aliens. Attorney General
Becerra is leading a coalition of 300 cities, 18 counties, and the State of California that intend to sue the Trump
Administration over U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' plan to begin cutting off funding to jurisdictions tagged by the U.S.
Justice Department as "sanctuary cities" that harbor illegal aliens from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents,
according to the Sacramento Bee.
Judicial
Watch Warns California: 11 Counties Have More Voters than Voting-Age Citizens. Judicial Watch, a conservative
watchdog organization, has sent a letter to California Secretary of State Alex Padilla on behalf of the Election Integrity
Project, noting that there are 11 counties in the state with more registered voters, and alleging that the state may
be out of compliance with Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
Feinstein
Says We Can't Increase Immigration Enforcement Because No One Will Pick Our Fruit. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein warned
that President Donald Trump's immigration plan would severely cripple the agriculture industry in a Wednesday evening [8/2/2017] interview.
"We're the largest agricultural producer in America[.] It's a $50 billion industry. We employ tens of thousands of agricultural
workers," The Democratic senator said on CNN. "They are among a class that this would be prohibited. It would cripple agriculture if
they didn't have the people coming in to do this work[.]"
Boss
tells state workers: Kick ICE out of California labor offices. California's top labor law enforcer wants
federal immigration agents to stay away from offices where state investigators weigh claims about underpaid employees and
workplace retaliation. Labor Commissioner Julie Su last month directed her staff to turn away Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents unless the federal officers have warrants. Her directive followed three instances over the past 10
months in which immigration agents sought information about California workers who had filed claims against employers.
In two cases, immigration agents attempted to attend hearings where investigators discuss claims with workers and their
employers, Su said. In all three cases, the agents left when they were asked, she said.
L.A.
County Paid Out $1.3 Billion In Welfare To Illegal Aliens. On the bright side, it's expected that the Los Angeles County will
spend $200 million less in 2017, as fewer illegal aliens arrive and more have left, mostly due to allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) to do their job, to enforce the laws that are on the books, unfettered by politicians and political appointees. We keep being told that
illegal aliens are a boon for our economy. Well, the illegals are getting $3 in benefits for every $1 they spend. It sure seems that
they are more of a drain on taxpayer money that giving more back.
Tucker
Debates 'Calexit' Supporter Who Calls CA 'Not the US'. Tucker Carlson reported that the United States may lose
a star on its flag for the first time ever, if "Calexit" becomes reality. Carlson said the Calexit movement wants
California to become an independent country through a ballot initiative in 2018 that would require 585,000 signatures to get
started. Shankar Singam, a supporter of Calexit and vice president of the California Freedom Coalition, told Carlson
such a split does not have to be "hostile."
California
is working to avoid a shortage of legalized marijuana, state pot czar says. With Nevada suffering a shortage of
legalized marijuana, California's state pot czar said Wednesday [7/19/2017] that efforts are being made in her state to make sure
sufficient licenses go to farmers, testers and distributors to supply retailers. Providing temporary, four-month licenses
to support some businesses including growers is planned "so we don't have a break in the supply chain," Lori Ajax, chief of the
Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation, said in testimony at a legislative hearing. Legal sales began July 1 in Nevada,
but it immediately became clear there was not enough supply to meet demand, in part because unique rules provide alcohol
wholesalers exclusive distributor rights. California does not have the same limits on who can distribute cannabis.
California's
Judicial Council racial sensitivity bureaucrats dress up as black convicts for office party. If anyone needed
proof that California is over-larded with do-nothing, malevolent bureaucrats, maybe the Judicial Council's Halloween party,
which featured racial sensitivity bosses dressed in blackface and turning their cubicles into jail cells, is just that
example. Sure enough, it's an agency that oversees racial sensitivity programs for California's court system.
33
Percent of American Welfare Recipients Live in California. The liberal state of California is a prime example
of why liberal policies must not be adopted anywhere around the country as one-third of America's welfare recipients reside
in the state.
California
Democrats Target Conservative College Students. California state senator Josh Newman, Fullerton Democrat, was
the key vote to approve Jerry Brown's recent $5.2 billion tax hike that jacks up what Californians will pay for gasoline,
diesel fuel, and vehicle fees. At the California State University in Fullerton, College Republicans Amanda McGuire,
Ryan Hoskins and Brooke Paz led efforts to recall Newman. The state Democratic Party responded by changing the rules on
recall elections and targeting the three students with a lawsuit. "This lawsuit intends to stop the petition from
circulating and halt the recall process, falsely citing deceptive messaging as grounds for suing," explains a press release
from the College Republicans. According to the Republicans' secretary Ryan Hoskins. "This lawsuit is the
definition of frivolous and more than an obstruction of the very processes that every Californian should hold dear."
Will
California Ever Thrive Again? The basket of California state taxes — sales, income and
gasoline — rates among the highest in the U.S. Yet California roads and K-12 education rank near the bottom.
After years of drought, California has not built a single new reservoir. Instead, scarce fresh aqueduct water is still
being diverted to sea. Thousands of rural central California homes, in Dust Bowl fashion, have been abandoned due to a
sinking aquifer and dry wells. One in three American welfare recipients resides in California. Almost a quarter
of the state population lives below or near the poverty line. Yet the state's gas and electricity prices are among the
nation's highest. One in four state residents was not born in the U.S.
California
Democratic Party Sues Conservative College Students In Unprecedented Move. Three members of the Cal State Fullerton College Republicans
have been named in a lawsuit backed by the California Democratic Party in retaliation for their work to recall State Senator Josh Newman, who was
the pivotal vote in support of April's $52 billion gas tax increase.
California
Dems panic over their tax hike. Democrats control both houses of the California State Legislature with 2/3 majorities, allowing
them to pass any bills they wish, with no possibility of obstruction from the powerless GOP. As Democrats will when they feel empowered,
they recently passed a major hike in gasoline taxes that will take over $5 billion a year more from the pockets of motorists.
Tucker
on SF's $190K Payout to Illegal Immigrant: 'You Shouldn't Pay a Criminal for Breaking the Law'. An illegal
immigrant is set to be awarded $190,000 from San Francisco after police turned him over to immigration authorities, which is
a violation of the city's sanctuary policy. Pedro Figueroa-Zarceno, who is from El Salvador and was living in the U.S.
illegally, walked into a police station on December 2, 2015, to recover his stolen car. When he left the station, U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immediately took him into custody. Figueroa-Zarceno recently reached the massive
settlement agreement with the city attorney's office. The agreement must be approved by the city's Board of Supervisors.
111
terminally ill end lives under new California law. California health officials reported Tuesday that 111
terminally ill people took drugs to end their lives in the first six months after a 2016 law made the option legal in the
nation's most populous state. The data was part of the California Department of Public Health's first report on the law
since it went into effect June 9, 2016. According to the data generated from forms doctors were required to submit between
June 9 and Dec. 31, 2016, a total of 191 people received life-ending drugs after being diagnosed with having less than
six months to live and 111 people took them and died.
Texas,
three more states on California's banned travel list. California is restricting publicly funded travel to four
more states because of recent laws that leaders here view as discriminatory against gay and transgender people. All
totaled, California now bans most state-funded travel to eight states. The new additions to California's restricted
travel list are Texas, Alabama, Kentucky and South Dakota. They join Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee
as states already subjected to the ban. California Attorney Xavier Becerra announced the new states at a Thursday press
conference, where he was joined by representatives from ACLU Northern California and Equality California. "We will not
spend taxpayer dollars in states that discriminate," Becerra said.
Minimum Wage Madness Begins to Kill Off California's
Restaurant Industry. The restaurant industry is a canary in California's coalmine of moonbattery. Minimum
wage insanity is killing it: [...] It's bad enough in big cities on the coast. Wages, like prices, are lower inland and
in smaller towns. That means that one-size-fits-all central planning is even more unsupportable regarding the minimum
wage. Unemployment is already significantly higher away from the coast in California.
California's
descent to socialism. California is widely celebrated as the fount of technical, cultural and political
innovation. Now we seem primed to outdo even ourselves, creating a new kind of socialism that, in the end, more
resembles feudalism than social democracy. [...] This new progressive synthesis promises not upward mobility and
independence, but rather the prospect of turning most Californians into either tax slaves or dependent serfs.
Half-baked
single-payer health plan amounts to political stunt. On Thursday [6/1/2017], the California state Senate made
the bold move of voting to create a single-payer health system without having any idea of how to pay for it. Ostensibly
spurred by concerns over the future of the Affordable Care Act at the federal level, Senate Bill 562 by Sens. Ricardo
Lara, D-Bell Gardens, and Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, would create a single-payer system which would cover health expenses for
every resident in California. Considering the magnitude of such a proposal, the very least that is owed is a thorough
accounting of how exactly such a program would be paid for. After all, according to estimates from a legislative
analysis provided to the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 22, the proposal is anticipated to cost $400 billion
per year, more than double the state budget.
Hey,
California, Ready To Spend $400 Billion For Your Single-Payer Disaster? California's so-called progressive
Democrats, fresh off their classy "flipping off" of Donald Trump at their state convention, now want to flip off the entire
state by imposing a reckless, economy-destroying single-payer health care system on the state's citizens. If voters
don't stop this madness they'll get what they deserve.
California
Considers Sanctuary State Legislation to Protect Pot Industry. California lawmakers are talking about doing for
their state's new marijuana industry what they are also trying to do for illegal immigrants: create a sanctuary state where
local police are ordered not to cooperate with federal authorities. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is the man who has
the power to unleash enforcement of the federal anti-marijuana law that could shut down the multibillion marijuana industry
in California and every other state where smoking weed for the fun of it is legal.
Democrats Love
Affair With Communism. A bill narrowly passed the house in California, repealing part of the law enacted during
the Cold War era in our country's history when communists were really active and infiltrating our government, attempting to
overthrow it. The bill proposed to eliminate the section which allowed the firing of public employees if they were
members of the Communist Party. The bill now goes to the Senate and its author, Democrat Assemblyman Rob Bonta, hopes
that it will pass. "Assemblyman Randy Voepel, a Southern California Republican who fought in the Vietnam War, said
communists in North Korea and China are still a threat." Assemblyman Travis Allen, also a Republican, said that "this
bill is blatantly offensive to all Californians. Communism stands for everything that the United States stands against."
California
moves to let Communists work in government. The California government may soon employ openly Communist people
in its ranks. The state assembly passed a bill Monday that would repeal a policy that had made being a member of the
Communist Party a fireable offense. The legislation was supported along party lines with most Republicans opposing it
while Democrats mainly favored the policy. It would overturn a bill was signed into law during the Red Scare of the
1940s and 1950s when Americans worried Russian spies were trying to take over the country.
California
State Assembly Votes to Make Communism Great Again. Being a communist would no longer be a fireable offense for California
government employees under a bill passed by the state Assembly. Lawmakers narrowly approved the bill Monday [5/8/2017].
California
Democrats Make Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day Disappear. Monday April 24 was Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day and in Los Angeles
thousands marched in the street outside the Turkish consulate. Up in Sacramento, ruling Democrats ignored the Armenians and instead held
"Muslim Day at the Capitol," hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
California's
Road To Single-Payer Ruin. Never let it be said that California doesn't march to the beat of a different
drummer. While the rest of the country has had second, third and even fourth thoughts about having a single-payer
health care system, the Golden State boldly marches forward into fiscal oblivion.
California
Is Seceding from the Constitution. The entire nation has of course watched as the city of Berkeley and the
University of California, Berkeley ceded control over free speech to violent left-wing mobs. Both the city and the
campus have placed the safety of rioters over the liberty of their conservative citizens, refusing to protect that liberty on
the dubious grounds that someone might get hurt. Thus, city and school leaders have knowingly and intentionally granted
a heckler's veto to the far-left, in effect making the First Amendment a dead letter at one of the nation's (and the world's)
most prominent universities. The rot extends far beyond Berkeley. Just this week, the California assembly's
judiciary committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of AB 569, a bill that would prohibit religious employers from enforcing
entirely normal rules of Christian conduct on their employees. Thus, it would be illegal for Catholic schools to
require that their employees choose life rather than get an abortion.
California's
latest move to "fight the wall" is truly something out of La La Land. There are still budget battles and (probably) blockades
from the 9th Circuit to come, but sooner or later the President is going to get some work started on the border wall. But if and when
he does, California is laying some landmines in advance for any private contractors who dare to bid on the job and pour a single yard of
concrete. In a move being dubbed, "Build it and be banned," California legislators are proposing to impose a permanent ban for
government contracts on any company who takes part in the project.
California
gas tax hike prompts fierce backlash from the right. A 12-cent gas tax hike recently approved by California's
Democratic leaders has prompted a huge backlash on the right, with a grassroots coalition vowing to ensure it never takes
effect. A combination of AM-radio talk show hosts, a consumer advocacy group and a GOP assemblywoman have joined forces
to battle the measure — set to kick in this November — that would give California the dubious honor of
the second-highest gas tax in the nation at 73.2 cents per gallon. Only Pennsylvania residents will pay more, with a
77.7-cent tax.
Berkeley
Mayor Is Member of Militant Leftist Organization's Facebook Group. The mayor of Berkeley, California, is a
Facebook member of a leftist militant organization that has been linked to violent incidents in the city. Mayor Jesse
Arreguin's personal page shows he's a Facebook member of Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By
Any Means Necessary (BAMN). According to a 2001 article in the East Bay Express, BAMN, founded in 1995, is
"allegedly a front group for an obscure Detroit-based Trotskyist political party called the Revolutionary Workers League."
Even by UC Berkeley standards, students considered the group extreme.
Single
Payer Is Fool's Gold For California. While the latest Republican attempt to repeal and replace ObamaCare may
have failed, Democrats in California and in D.C. are just getting started in their effort to eliminate the health law.
Unfortunately, they're angling to replace ObamaCare with something even worse.
Police
arrests are plummeting across California, fueling alarm and questions. In 2013, something changed on the
streets of Los Angeles. Police officers began making fewer arrests. The following year, the Los Angeles Police
Department's arrest numbers dipped even lower and continued to fall, dropping by 25% from 2013 to 2015. The Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Department and the San Diego Police Department also saw significant drops in arrests during that period.
California
has fewer arrests, but not necessarily less crime. The number of arrests by police in California has plunged in
recent years, but that doesn't necessarily represent good news on crime, according to an analysis published Saturday [4/1/2017].
Los
Angeles Middle School Faces Budget Cut For Having Too Many White People. Los Angeles parents are outraged after
their middle school announced budget cuts because there are too many white students, according to Sunday [3/26/2017]
reports. Walter Reed Middle School announced there would be layoffs and larger classes because the school's white
student body is too big, reports ABC 7. The Los Angeles Unified School District gives schools money only if
white students make up no more than thirty percent of the student population.
Nigel
Farage and the 'Bad Boys of Brexit' set their sights on splitting California in two. The 'Bad Boys of Brexit'
who led the campaign to break Britain away from the European Union have taken on a new exit challenge: splitting California
into two states. Former UKip leader Nigel Farage and Leave backer Arron Banks have just returned from the United States,
where they helped raise $1million (£800,000) for a 'Calexit' campaign, which would split California into two eastern and
western regions. There are several 'Calexit' campaigns competing for a referendum in the United States, with one aiming
to remove the state from America entirely as a response to President Donald Trump being elected last year.
CA
Bill Would Make Not Disclosing HIV+ Status to Partner Just a Misdemeanor. People who are HIV positive have long
been required to disclose this status before engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse. Considering the life-threatening
condition caused by HIV, it stands to reason that potential partners have a right to know, since the disease is easily passed
through sexual contact. However, in what is being described as a test of just how much feelings have changed on the disease,
a group of lawmakers in California have presented a bill that will make it no longer a felony to engage in unprotected sex without
disclosing the condition to their partner, instead making it a misdemeanor. Because of "the stigma."
What
does it take to be a librarian in San Francisco? 1) You have to know how to shelve books. 2) You have to know
how to check out books. and 3) You have to know how to inject heroin addicts with anti-narcotics drugs.
San
Francisco's withdrawal from national terror intelligence network hikes risks, officials say. San Francisco has
taken its defiance of the feds to a new level, ending its cooperation with the FBI in an anti-terror initiative begun after
9/11 — a move crtitics say could get innocent people killed. Critics say the sanctuary city by the bay's latest
decision to forego cooperation with Washington, by dropping out of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, could put lives at
risk. The JTTF has been credited with foiling 93 Islamist terrorist attacks and plots against the U.S. since 2001,
including 12 this year, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation. There are another 1,000
investigations into suspected terror activity nationwide.
Five
festering problems the Democrats cynically ignore. [#5] The connection between illegal immigration and California's electoral power:
California declared itself a sanctuary state and now houses a quarter of the nation's illegal immigrants. The elected officials at all levels of
that state government will openly defy any attempts to enforce existing federal law that could reduce the number of illegal immigrants. The
massive presence of illegals distorts our representative system. There are at least 4 million illegals in California. It
requires a special liberal variety of naïvité to believe that none of them votes. Even if none does, they are all counted in the census,
which determines congressional representation and some federal funding allocations. If only citizens were counted, California would have
five fewer congressional seats and electoral votes. Those seats would go to, for example, Ohio (2), Michigan, and Pennsylvania. The
Democrats who've declared California a sanctuary state know exactly what they are doing.
California's
12,209,605 Medicaid/CHIP Enrollees Outnumber Populations of 44 States. In the fall of 2013, the Obamacare
exchanges opened to enroll people in health insurance plans for 2014. The average number of Medicaid/CHIP enrollees in
California in July-September 2013 — the last quarter before the Obamacare exchanges opened — was
7,755,381, according to CMS. By November 2016, the latest month for which CMS numbers are available, the number of
Medicaid/CHIP enrollees in California was 12,209,605. That is a three-year increase of 4,454,224 — or
57.43 percent.
California
Goes One Step Beyond ObamaCare, Proposes Single-Payer Healthcare System to Include Illegal Aliens. California
Democrats made a surprise move late Friday to foil President Trump's promise to repeal ObamaCare — by introducing
a stand-alone, single-payer healthcare system in California. The Mercury News reported that two California lawmakers
Friday introduced legislation to replace private insurance with a government-run health care system covering all 38 million
Californians — including its undocumented residents.
The Oroville
Dam disaster is yet another example of California's decline. A year ago, politicians and experts were predicting
a near-permanent statewide drought, a "new normal" desert climate. The most vivid example of how wrong they were is that
California's majestic Oroville Dam is currently in danger of spillway failure in a season of record snow and rainfall.
That could spell catastrophe for thousands who live below it and for the state of California at large that depends on its stored
water. The poor condition of the dam is almost too good a metaphor for the condition of the state as a whole; its possible
failure is a reflection of California's civic decline.
California
spent on high-speed rail and illegal immigrants, but ignored Oroville Dam. The flood danger from the Oroville
Dam receded Monday, but California was hit by a wave of criticism for failing to heed warnings about risks to the spillway at
a time when the state spent generously on illegal immigrants and high-speed rail. California Gov. Jerry Brown, a
Democrat, came under fire amid reports that federal and state officials for years rebuffed or ignored calls to fortify the
massive 50-year-old dam, which provides water to more than 20 million farmers and residential consumers. "What's
Governor Brown doing?" former state Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a Republican, asked in a Monday [2/13/2017] post on Facebook.
"The same thing he's been doing for decades — obstructing progress."
California
Goes Confederate. "Calexit" supporters brag that they will have enough signatures to qualify for a ballot measure calling for California's secession
from the United States. [...] [California] hosts the largest numbers of impoverished and the greatest number of rich people of any state in the country. Eager
for cheap service labor, California has welcomed in nearly a quarter of the nation's undocumented immigrants. California has more residents living in poverty
than any other state. It is home to one third of all the nation's welfare recipients. The income of California's wealthy seems to make them immune from
the effects of the highest basket of sales, income, and gas taxes in the nation. The poor look to subsidies and social services to get by. Over the last
30 years, California's middle classes have increasingly fled the state.
California
Lawmakers Want 'Third Gender Option' for Drivers' Licenses. Legislation introduced in California would create a
third gender option on drivers' licenses and expedite the process for individuals to change their sex on their birth
certificate without undergoing a sex change. The "Gender Recognition Act," sponsored by state senators Toni Atkins of
San Diego and Scott Weiner of San Francisco, would add "nonbinary" to the list of male and female genders on state
identification documents.
California
Democrats propose adding third, nonbinary gender option for driver's licenses and other official documents.
California driver's licenses and birth certificates could have a third option for gender in addition to male or female under
legislation unveiled Thursday [1/26/2017] by Democratic lawmakers. The bill by state Sens. Toni Atkins (D-San
Diego) and Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) would establish a new nonbinary gender marker for official state documents.
Lawmakers framed the measure as an expansion of rights for transgender, intersex and other people who do not identify as male
or female.
California
Lt. Gov: We'll Stop Trump's Wall with Environmental Suits. President-Elect Donald Trump's plan to
build a border wall along with U.S.-Mexico Border will be challenged through environmental lawsuits, according to California's
second-highest official. California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in an interview with 'The Golden State Podcast' that
he would use specific environmental laws in the state to stop the border wall from being built, at least in southern California.
The Editor says...
In this case, environmental laws are being used as weapons. The matter at hand has nothing to do with the protection of the environment.
One thing politicians and environmentalists do well: they obstruct and impede their enemies' progress.
California's
Picky-Choosey Attitude to Complying with Federal Immigration Laws. California, the would-be renegade state that
has declared itself a statewide sanctuary for illegal aliens, has hired former Attorney General Eric Holder to "defend" it
against expected actions from the incoming Trump administration (such as, presumably, withholding federal funds for its
sanctuary status); and has a referendum petition circulating that would direct it to secede from the Union. Yet the
state finally has found an immigration-related law that it can love.
Janet
Napolitano Triples, Quadruples Down On Supporting Illegal Aliens. University of California President Janet Napolitano has
tripled down on her support for illegal aliens in the United States. She has also openly challenged the incoming Trump
Administration on the policy of deporting illegal aliens. In a recent speech Napolitano stated that the University of
California system supports illegal alien students and will provide them with millions of dollars in financial aid.
The
Great California Earthquake of 2018: First State To Default. I would like to direct your attention to something
boring but infinitely informative regarding the nature of this mismanaged state. Employers who utilize labor pay into
the FUTA, or the federal unemployment tax, at a rate of 6% and are credited back an offset of 5.4% that they previously paid
the state, leaving a small federal liability of only 0.6%. However, if the state-run U.I. trust gets overdrawn, as it did
in California for going on its third year now, it automatically pulls an emergency loan out from the federal government to
service the underfunded account. And if that is not repaid by November 10, and it defaults, then the government forces
employers to pay it. They just defaulted. Our company received a mystery bill in the mail two weeks ago, explaining
our new $15,000 owed. We got a shock, as it was not expected. I presume that many employers won't be able to pay it.
It's
Still a Mad, Mad California. Abstract idealism on behalf of the distant is a powerful psychological narcotic that allows caring progressives
to dull the guilt they feel about their own privilege and riches. Nowhere is this paradox truer than in California, a dysfunctional natural paradise
in which a group of coastal and governing magnificoes virtue-signal from the world's most exclusive and beautiful enclaves. The state is
currently experiencing another perfect storm of increased crime, decreased incarceration, still ongoing illegal immigration, and record poverty.
All that is energized by a strapped middle class that is still fleeing the overregulated and overtaxed state, while the arriving poor take their places
in hopes of generous entitlements, jobs servicing the elite, and government employment.
CalExit! Now that America is on the road to free
government, the Progressives are talking about secession again. The big one is CalExit, a movement to have California break off
from the rest of the country. This has been spurred by the election, where normal Americans broke mostly for Trump, but
Californians voted in heavy numbers for the anti-American candidate. If you look at the bill of particulars on the CalExit
site, the inability to dictate election results to the rest of the country is one reason they want to leave. [...] The major benefit
of losing California is we would lose their trillion in bad debt that threatens to destroy the bond market. California has been
able to kick its problems down the road because of its statehood. It is the stinky pile of sub-prime mortgages in the AAA rated
MBS. Independence would force some responsibility on California. It could also force reform on the Cult of Modern Liberalism,
which has thrived by shifting the costs of its polices onto others. If not, the rest of us would be free of them anyway, which is
what matters.
L.A. city and
county creating $10-million legal defense fund for immigrants facing deportation under Trump. Los Angeles city
and county leaders on Monday [12/19/2016] unveiled a $10-million fund to provide legal assistance for residents facing
deportation, the region's boldest move yet as it prepares for an expected crackdown on illegal immigration by Donald
Trump. If approved by lawmakers, Los Angeles' two top government agencies could find themselves in the position of
using public funds to challenge policies sought by the White House and Republican Congress.
California's
Gift to Its Neighbors: Expanded Cigarette Smuggling Opportunities. For too many years, Arizona has led
the pack — or at least taxed the hell out of it — with among the higher cigarette taxes in the
West. "A cigarette tax higher than in neighboring states and cheaper prices on American Indian reservations have helped
fuel a growing black market for cigarettes in Arizona," the Cronkite News Service reported in 2014. It's true that few of
us actually paid that $2.00 per pack tariff for a pack of smokes; with every single state bordering us stealing less from
smokers and a long, handy border with Mexico, half of all of the cigarettes sold in the state are smuggled from elsewhere,
according to research by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Tax Foundation. Many Arizonans avoid getting
mugged by enjoying life on the receiving end of smuggling routes. But we could be benefiting by running goods in
the other direction.
CA's
Senator Boxer Attempts To Block Her Own Bill. California Tea Party activists have long battled the bureaucrats
and politicians over policies related to water. One of the most well-known of the myriad of issues is the diversion of
water from farms in the Central Valley (a major source of this nation's fruits and nuts... outside of San Francisco, that
is). One goal of this reallocation of a prime agricultural resource is the protection of a bait fish known as the Delta
Smelt. Last week, the House of Representatives easily passed a major water bill that includes emergency aid for Flint,
Mich., and boosts U.S. ports, dams and waterways. This bill, known as the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), was
initially co-authored by the notorious Senator Barbara Boxer, who infamously derided a Brigadier General for referring to her
as "ma'am".
California to release "non-violent" rapists, shooters,
hostage takers. Whenever a proposition comes on the ballot in California to release criminals from jail, it
always passes, since the criminals already outside of jail outnumber the law abiding citizens. That's why it will come
as no surprise when California voters vote for Proposition 57 which will release "non-violent" criminals. The only
problem is that California has a very expansive definition of "non-violent" in its legal code: [...]
Ditching
Electoral College would allow California to impose imperial rule on a colonial America. California has been called the Left Coast for
quite a while. Just about everyone in Silicon Valley except Peter Thiel and in Hollywood except Pat Sajak supported Clinton. White middle
class families have been pretty well priced out of the state by high taxes and housing costs, and the Hispanic and Asian immigrants who have replaced
them vote far more Democratic. Those developments have put California increasingly out of line with the national average. In 2012, six
states and D.C. were more Democratic. In 2008 it was eight states and D.C.; in 2004 it was seven. Now it is only one, and not by much.
The
Anti-Trump Riots Are a Smoke Screen. Many seem bewildered by the anti-Trump riots and demonstrations. [...] They know
full well that they aren't going to overturn the election. These privately funded forces are being used to create pressure to
destroy the Electoral College so they won't have to deal with it next election. This is how the Left operates. Make a big
deal over here to force the hidden agenda over there. The plan is to make enough trouble that Congress will move to abolish the
EC to get some peace. For clues as to who is behind this effort, one only has to watch to see which member of Congress proposes
such action. The answer of course is California Senator Barbara Boxer.
California jumps
the shark. This election confirmed, if it was needed, the death spiral of the state's Republican Party.
Thanks, in part, to Donald Trump — and his magnetic anti-appeal among Latinos, women and the educated —
the GOP did even worse here in the presidential race than in 2012, when it couldn't muster 40 percent support, and has lost
several legislative seats, allowing the Democrats to re-establish their coveted two-thirds supermajority in the Assembly —
and possibly in the Senate as well. The progressives also won most of the major propositions — most critically,
the extension of a high income tax rate on the state's affluent population through 2030. We may have more freedom to smoke
pot, but it won't be so easy to start a business, buy a house or build a personal nest egg, if you are anything other than a
trustifarian or a Silicon Valley mogul, or are related to one.
California
Voters to Decide Whether Schools May Teach Students in Spanish. Voters in California will weigh in Tuesday on a
decades-old debate about bilingual education in the state's public school system. The outcome ultimately could
determine whether California schools will continue to be required to teach in English, or may use Spanish or another
language. Although largely overlooked in a crowded election season, the issue has split Californians into two camps,
those who believe the country benefits from a multilingual society and those who believe such policies hurt students and
serve only to further ethnic and racial divides.
Food
Stamp Craze: U.S. Spends $3.6 Billion to Give $70 Billion in Benefits. Not only does the government spend a breathtaking
$70 billion a year to give a record number of people food stamps, it wastes billions more to administer the bloated welfare program.
Some states spend a lot more than others to distribute the free food vouchers and the discrepancies are downright outrageous. The government
dedicates $3.6 billion annually just to administer food stamps (renamed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to eliminate stigma),
according to a federal audit that includes mind-boggling figures. For instance, California, the state with by far the largest food-stamp
roll, spends a lot more than the national average to execute the federal nutrition program. The Golden State doles out an average of
$34.06 a month for each of its 2 million food stamp cases while other states, like Ohio, spend only $9.55. Some California counties
are off the charts with administration costs.
The
7 Ugliest Propositions on the California Ballot. [For example,] Prop. 57 — Jerry Brown's "Let's Put
Violent Criminals Back On The Street" Act is a terrible measure. Don't be fooled by the false and misleading ballot
title and summary that leftist Attorney General Kamala Harris put on this one — it will reduce prison sentences
for many, many violent criminals and put them back on the streets. Worst of all — the sentencing
"reforms" in it are retroactive — so victims of violent crimes trying to recapture some dignity and meaning in
their lives will be re-victimized because of this cruel and dangerous ballot measure.
LAPD
Officers Ordered To Shoot Only After Non Lethal Options Exhausted. Los Angeles Police officers must now exhaust
all forms of non-lethal means before shooting a suspect. The L.A. Police Commission approved a wide array of law
enforcement reforms Tuesday including training for officers to help in de-escalation and verbal skills when faced with a
violent perpetrator. According to Police One, the academy already teaches recruits to use all non-lethal means prior to
shooting their service weapon, but establishing a policy at the department level means LEO's may be punished for not using
another means instead of their firearm.
Ethnic
cleansing? California town now less than 10 percent white. Ethnic cleansing used to be a bad thing.
But in America, when it happens to white people, it's called progress and the "new face of California." The town of Santa
Ana has been almost 100% purged of white people. They were pushed out not by tanks and machine guns, but by a massive
influx of people speaking a different language and bearing a different culture who expected everyone to adapt to their
norms. Today Santa Ana is nearly 80% Hispanic and less than 10% white. We have a city in America that now
demographically perfectly mirrors many cities in Mexico.
If
Proposition 55 passes, the state budget will rely even more on California's highest earners. If voters approve
Proposition 55, the state will continue depending on [Paul] Taybi and other wealthy Californians to fund a significant
portion of schools, parks, road repairs, police, prisons and many other government services. Those paying the higher
rates, which kick in for single and joint filers making more than $263,000 and $526,000 a year respectively, contributed
almost $34 billion in income taxes in 2014, roughly a third of all state general fund revenue. California's
reliance on the wealthiest taxpayers means the state is especially vulnerable to their bottom lines.
California
petitions to become first state to offer ObamaCare to illegal immigrants. California's health care exchange is
requesting that it be allowed a waiver from ObamaCare regulations in order to allow illegal immigrants to buy insurance on
the exchange — which would make California the first state to extend ObamaCare to illegal immigrants. In a
Sept. 30 letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, Covered California's Executive Director Peter Lee said
that the Affordable Care Act has been "tremendously successful" in the state and has cut the rate of uninsured in half.
What
Could Go Wrong: California Lets Felons In Jail Vote. Forget about the fact that the great majority of felons vote
Democrat; California Governor Jerry Brown had no political motivations at all when he signed AB 2466 on Wednesday [9/28/2016]
allowing thousands of felons in California to vote. Starting January 2017, convicted felons still in jail will be able to cast
their vote.
Liberals
rejoice over legalization of child prostitution in California. Social justice warriors everywhere rejoiced at
the news that California has decriminalized, or effectively legalized, child prostitution. After all, prostitution is
basically a victimless crime, right? And progressives have spoken loudly about emptying jails of "non-violent" offenders.
California
governor signs bill allowing felons to vote from their jail cells. Convicted felons serving jail sentences in
California county jails will now get to participate in an activity besides three meals a day and recreation time: voting in
elections. Governor Jerry Brown signed new legislation into effect as part of a reform backers say will help prisoners
transition back into society while still serving time for their crimes. The bill he signed would let thousands of
felons doing time in county jails to vote in California elections, the LA Times reported.
BART
tax could quadruple original claim. It turns out that the average property tax bill required to support BART's
proposed $3.5 billion bond measure on the November ballot could be as much as four times what the transit agency
claimed. Two months ago, I reported that the taxes needed to pay off that bond borrowing would be about double BART's
public estimate. Well, it could be even twice that. That's because legal language in Measure RR allows BART to
issue bonds at up to the state limit of 12 percent interest, far higher than assumed for the previous estimates.
California
Could Let Felons Behind Bars Vote, Despite What the State Constitution Says. California Gov. Jerry Brown
is considering whether to sign a bill that would allow tens of thousands of incarcerated felons to vote, while continuing to
deny the vote to others. The Legislature sent a bill to Brown's desk that would restore voting rights to an estimated
50,000 convicted felons who are behind bars in county jails, but not to felons who are serving their sentence in prisons.
SF
official suggests taking slaveholders' names off schools. George Washington, the guy on the quarter, could soon
be facing the ax in San Francisco as surely as his fabled cherry tree. The president of the San Francisco school board
thinks it's time to consider renaming schools that bear the names of slave owners — including Washington and his
friends and fellow presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. Board President Matt Haney said Tuesday [9/6/2016] he
will introduce a resolution before the board this month to clarify the rules for renaming San Francisco schools with an eye
to encouraging the communities at Washington High School, along with Jefferson and Monroe elementary schools, to consider
whether they want to make a change.
Left's
California Dream Built on Ignorance. The Democrat-owned legislature — the ones that are not in jail
or under indictment — passed a bill that would gradually raise the minimum wage from $10 to $15 in 2022. The poll
says 64 percent of Californians support that. That is while 66% of them believe that people will be laid off and 65 percent
say that businesses will leave the state. What would have been interesting is if the people who took the poll would have asked
poll participants: Would you support the increase if your son or daughter were laid off? Would you support it if your
spouse's business relocated to Utah, North Carolina or Texas? It is always easy to say that policies are good when they are
affecting the other person or their family.
One
California city is paying people not to commit crimes. A San Francisco suburb is testing a controversial
strategy to combat the gun violence that's plagued the community — paying people not to commit crimes. The
experiment known as "Advance Peace" is being conducted in Richmond, Calif., and works like this: The 18-month
fellowship hires convicted felons to "court" troubled youth — who so far have avoided arrest due to lack of
evidence — with offers of cash and out-of-town vacations if they mend their ways. If, after six months,
a "fellow" in the voluntary program begins to achieve specific goals, they can earn up to $1,000 a month.
A
Victory for Religious Freedom at Christian Universities in California. A California lawmaker who is sponsoring
a bill that would have allowed the use of taxpayer dollars to punish and publicly shame Christian universities for operating
according to their beliefs has removed an offending provision from the legislation. In announcing his legislation in
April, state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D), sponsor of SB 1146, had referred to his action of denying First Amendment rights
to religious schools as closing a "loophole that allows private universities to discriminate against students and staff based
on their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation."
California
bill SB 1146 threatens minorities and the poor. Current California law exempts religious schools from
nondiscrimination laws in cases where applying these laws "would not be consistent with the religious tenets of that
organization." This is sensible and reflects our nation's founding principles of religious freedom. For years now,
this policy has worked well, enabling church-run colleges and universities to hire personnel and establish policies and expectations
regarding religious practice and personal conduct that reflect their beliefs and values. SB 1146 proposes to drastically
narrow that historic exemption so that it would only protect seminaries or other schools that train clergy and ministers.
Muslim Appreciation Month.
The State of California is planning to proclaim August Muslim Appreciation and Awareness Month. Why? Because CAIR
wants them to! Turns out, California isn't Mexifornia after all. It's Caliph-ornia.
Muslim Appreciation and Awareness Month.
Remember the false report that Obama was going to name November to be National Muslim Appreciation Month? The terrorist
facilitators at CAIR apparently do — except for them, the fake story isn't satire; it's an excellent suggestion.
California is run by the sort of people who might agree. [...] Readers may recall that just last year 14 people were killed
and 22 seriously injured in a Muslim terror attack right there in California. But no month will be set aside to honor
victims of Islam, because that would be Islamophobic.
Here's
the US city with the highest pot use. San Francisco has a new claim to fame: The city has the highest
rate of marijuana use in the country, according to a new survey. In the survey, which was conducted from 2012 to 2014
nationwide, 15.5 percent of people in San Francisco said they had used marijuana in the past month. That's much higher
than the national average of 7.7 percent. Perhaps not surprisingly, parts of Colorado (where recreational marijuana use
is legal) also had high rates of marijuana use. About 14.8 percent of people in the northeastern part of the state, the
Denver area, and the northwestern and southwestern parts of the state reported using marijuana in the past month.
Will
California Ever Thrive Again? There was more of the same-old, same-old California news recently. Some 62 percent of
state roads have been rated poor or mediocre. There were more predications of huge cost overruns and yearly losses on high-speed
rail — before the first mile of track has been laid. One-third of Bay Area residents were polled as hoping to leave the
area soon. Such pessimism is daily fare, and for good reason. The basket of California state taxes — sales, income,
and gasoline — rates among the highest in the U.S. Yet California roads and K-12 education rank near the bottom.
After years of drought, California has not built a single new reservoir. Instead, scarce fresh aqueduct water is still being diverted
to sea. Thousands of rural central-California homes, in Dust Bowl fashion, have been abandoned because of a sinking aquifer and dry
wells. One in three American welfare recipients resides in California. Almost a quarter of the state population lives below
or near the poverty line. Yet the state's gas and electricity prices are among the nation's highest.
California
Reps Urge Obama To Stop California From Giving Illegals Obamacare. House Republicans representing California
pressured the Obama administration to stop its plan to expand Obamacare to illegal immigrants in the state Wednesday
[6/30/2016]. Rep. Darrell Issa spearheaded the effort in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services
signed by a number of California representatives slamming the plan's potential to further stagnate the economy and increase
the burden on taxpayers in the state. The California legislation would allow for a waiver permitting illegal immigrants
in the state to buy private health insurance through the Obamacare exchange — allowing an estimated 390,000 more
people the option to purchase plans.
Californians
Will Decide Whether to Legalize Cannabis This Fall. Yesterday [6/28/2016] the Control, Regulate, and Tax Adult
Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) officially qualified for this November's ballot in California. [...] Like the legalization
measures approved by voters in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, the AUMA would let adults 21 or older possess up to
an ounce of marijuana at a time. Like all of those states except Washington, it also allows sharing (up to an ounce)
and home cultivation (up to six plants per household). Unlike the four states that have legalized marijuana so far, the AUMA
explicitly allows deliveries to consumers and on-site consumption at businesses licensed for that purpose. Both of those
options would be subject to approval by local governments, which also could ban marijuana businesses entirely and regulate
(but not ban) home cultivation.
PG&E
to close Diablo Canyon, California's last nuclear power plant. California's last nuclear power plant will be
phased out by 2025, under a joint proposal announced Tuesday morning by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and labor and
environmental groups. Under the proposal, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County would be retired by
PG&E after its current Nuclear Regulatory Commission operating licenses expire in November 2024 and August 2025. The power
produced by Diablo Canyon's two nuclear reactors would be replaced with investment in a greenhouse-gas-free portfolio of
energy efficiency, renewables and energy storage, PG&E said in a statement.
Blackout:
California In Power Grid Emergency: "All Customers Should Expect 14 Days Without Power". The power grid
is under direct threat as a result of the unprecedented, but little reported, massive natural gas leaks at Alisco Canyon that
was ongoing for four months as an intense summer heat wave sets in. California will have its first test of plans to
keep the lights on this summer. With record-setting heat and air conditioning demand expected in Southern California,
the state's power grid operator issued a so-called "flex alert," urging consumers to conserve energy to help prevent rotating
power outages — which could occur regardless.
Blackout California. The shutdown
of the leaking Aliso Canyon underground gas storage facility has caused a loss of about 70bcf of stored gas that Southern
California utilities have historically counted on to see them through the hot, high-demand summer months. The
California Independent Service Operator (CAISO), which manages the California grid, estimates that as a result all customers
should expect to be without power for a total of 14 days this summer. Some 21 million Southern Californians
stand to be directly affected. Are blackouts on such a scale likely? It seems they are.
The Editor says...
Yep, the lights and the air conditioning won't work for a few days — in the hottest part of the year — but they sure got rid of all those
nuclear power plants, didn't they? Yessir, they sure managed to outlaw coal in their state. I'll bet they wish they could
wash their dishes, but they sure saved Mother Earth from certain destruction.
San
Francisco Charter Amendment Would Grant Illegal Immigrants a Vote in Local Schools. A potential San Francisco
ballot proposal could give illegal immigrants a voice in Bay Area schools. A charter amendment by San Francisco
Supervisor Eric Mar is intended to grant illegal immigrants with children in school the right to vote in San Francisco
Unified School District school board elections. Two similar measures were presented in the past, but they were rejected
by voters. "The time is right for San Francisco to make history, to pave the way for immigrant parents to have a say in
the policy decisions that impact their child's education and who gets to sit on the Board of Education," Mar said in a statement.
California
to ask feds to allow undocumented immigrants to use Obamacare. California could become the first state to ask
the federal government to let undocumented immigrants buy insurance under the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, signed legislation Friday that attempts to allow people in the country illegally to
purchase the insurance through Covered California without costing the state or federal government anything.
Federal judge rules
California transgender inmates must get some female items. A federal judge ruled Thursday [6/9/2016] that California prison officials must let
transgender inmates have more female-oriented commissary items including nightgowns, robes, sandals, scarves and necklaces as part of a settlement that will
make the stat the first to pay for an inmate's sex reassignment surgery. California agreed in August to provide some items to transgender inmates who
are housed in male prisons, aside from providing surgery to 56-year-old Shiloh Quine. U.S. Magistrate Judge Nandor Vadas decided that the policy didn't
go far enough. He said transgender inmates housed in men's prisons should have many of the same items provided to female inmates. Shiloh's
attorneys argued that the state was keeping some items from transgender prisoners "based solely upon gender norms" rather than security concerns.
The End of the Free-Speech Consensus.
What happens when the consensus for free speech evaporates and those with political power become willing to use any means necessary to silence
people who hold unpopular views? We'll probably soon receive the answer in California, as the state's dominant Democrats set the stage for
prosecutors to take action against climate-change "deniers." "A landmark California bill... would make it illegal to engage in climate-change
dissent clearing the way for lawsuits against fossil-fuel companies, think tanks and others that have 'deceived or misled the public on the risks of
climate change,'" explains a Washington Times report. The bill, S.B. 1161, passed through two committees but ultimately was shelved.
But like most "landmark" bills, this one will keep coming back until it passes. The bill even comes with an Orwellian name, "The California
Climate Science Truth and Accountability Act."
San
Francisco Moves to Open Voting to Illegals. San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Eric Mar says the political
climate is right to grant illegal immigrants the right to vote. While even notoriously liberal San Francisco voters have
rejected past efforts to grant voting privileges to illegals, Fox News reports that Mar thinks the backlash against Donald Trump
will yield a strong turn-out of Latino and anti-Trump voters to the polls to pass his proposed charter amendment.
LGBT
Bill Threatens California's Religious Schools. A California state bill its sponsors say will prevent discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender identity at private universities is threatening to expose faith-based schools to enormous
legal threats, school officials warn. SB 1146, introduced in February by state Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens,
which passed the state Senate May 26, is designed to close "a little-known loophole" in California law under which private
colleges can make admission, housing, and faculty decisions based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation,
according to a press release from Lara's office. Lara is part of the state Legislature's seven-member California Legislative
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Caucus, which advocates for LGBT rights.
One law
for us, another for you. The California state Senate voted 28-8 Wednesday [6/8/2016] to exempt itself from the pointless
gun-control laws that apply to the rest of the populace. Legislators apparently think they alone are worthy to pack
heat on the streets for personal protection, and the masses ought to wait until the police arrive. This is just one of
many bills Golden State politicians used this legislative session to set themselves apart from the little people, the ones
who pay their inflated salaries. Annual compensation for legislators averages about $140,000, not counting luxurious
perks such as taxpayer-funded cars and free gasoline. By comparison, the average Californian earns $50,000 a year, and
the unemployment rate is 11.9 percent — far above the national average. Exact salaries for state assemblymen and
senators are obscured by the use of a "per diem" payment scheme that shelters a significant chunk of income from taxation.
San
Francisco to try yet again to give illegal immigrants voting rights. After two failed bids to grant voting
rights to illegal immigrants, some San Francisco officials believe they have found the man who can make it happen:
Donald Trump. A proposed charter amendment drafted by Board of Supervisors member Eric Mar would give illegal
immigrants with kids in the public school system the right to vote in school elections. Voters have rejected two
previous ballot proposals, but Mar is betting on anti-Trump sentiment to carry the pro-illegal immigrant proposal if he can
get it on the November ballot.
If
You Share Undercover Exposés of Planned Parenthood, You Could End Up in a California Jail. The
California legislature is considering a bill that would make it impossible to expose Planned Parenthood with recordings
unless they give their permission, but it is even worse than that. Anyone who publishes, shares, emails the recordings
would also be held liable for criminal prosecution. The bill moved to the State Senate last week. This is a
serious effort. Abortion mills are the latest protected class.
California's
Crazy Election Quirks Limit Voter Choices and Create Chaos. New polls show that the Democratic primary in
California is neck and neck between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. If the election is close, and Hillary narrowly
wins, it could be because arcane and suspect rules gave her an artificial advantage. A Hillary win would rob Sanders of
the ability to claim momentum and would blunt his efforts to fight for the nomination up until the Democratic convention.
California has made such a royal mess of its entire primary system that it needs to do a complete overhaul to restore the
credibility of the system.
Trump
is Correct about the California Drought. On Friday, May 27, the prospective Republican candidate for president
Donald Trump went to the city of Fresno, the capital of California's farming community, and declared: "there is no drought!"
This seemingly brash statement was met with ridicule and scorn across the blogosphere — how could anyone make such a
so-called "stupid" statement when everyone knows that California has experienced a historically high dry spell since 2013?
But was Trump right? Arguably yes. Here's why.
Three
Excellent Examples of Investigative Journalism on Migration Topics. There has been all too little investigative reporting
regarding immigration matters, but there were two remarkable exceptions to that last month, and a third late last year. These
three long, well researched articles dealt with scandals in a huge California visa mill, multiple problems in the EB-5 program, and
in the H-2B program for temporary alien non-agricultural workers, perhaps the most ignored of the migration trouble spots.
California
Senate sidelines bill to prosecute climate change skeptics. A landmark bill allowing for the prosecution of
climate change dissent effectively died Thursday [6/2/2016] after the California Senate failed to take it up before the deadline.
Senate Bill 1161, or the California Climate Science Truth and Accountability Act of 2016, would have authorized prosecutors
to sue fossil fuel companies, think tanks and others that have "deceived or misled the public on the risks of climate
change." The measure, which cleared two Senate committees, provided a four-year window in the statute of limitations on
violations of the state's Unfair Competition Law, allowing legal action to be brought until Jan. 1 on charges of climate
change "fraud" extending back indefinitely.
California
moves to criminalize undercover filming at Planned Parenthood. In the wake of an undercover investigation into
Planned Parenthood's alleged fetal trafficking operation, the California state legislature is considering a bill that would
criminalize publishing secretly recorded video footage of "health care providers." AB 1671, which has been backed
by Planned Parenthood, would criminalize the publication of confidential interactions with state-licensed medical personnel,
including abortionists and clinician staff, punishable by up to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine per violation.
The
Dead are Alive and Voting in California. The only question is how many Undead-Americans will vote for Bernie
Sanders over Hillary Clinton. Because the dead are voting. And we must not deny the franchise to undead Democrats.
That would be wrong and un-American. It would put us on the wrong side of history. California can lead the way to the
restoration of voting rights for the dead, right after voting rights for felons.
Feds
to Pay California to Finance FREE MediCaid Health Care for Illegal Aliens. The responsibility of the Fed is to
keep illegal aliens out of this country — instead Obama is importing them and giving them "free" health care —
while cause honest citizens to pay higher taxes, receive lower quality health care and to crowd the system so honest Americans
must wait while the Obama imports get their care.
California's
Political Water Wars Heat Up. Water wars are historic undertakings in California. Countless other
publications have written recently about the proposed ballot measure that would redirect High Speed Rail bond money for
water-related projects and prioritize the use of water, But what makes this story interesting is the coalition of opponents,
their motivations and techniques being employed. The Committee to Stop the Special Interest Water Grab, led by David
Guy, president of the Northern California Water Association, Tim Johnson, president of the California Rice Commission and a
"contract administrator" at California Rice Industry Association, and political operative Steve Maviglio of Forza Communications
and big supporter of High Speed Rail, have launched an all-out assault campaign against the California Water Priorities Initiative.
Lawmakers reject John Wayne Day
over racism concerns. What a California lawmaker intended as a benign resolution honoring a late,
world-renowned movie icon exploded into an emotional debate over decades-old racist comments.
California
Looks to Cover Illegal Immigrants Under Obamacare. In an unprecedented move, California legislators look to
extend Obamacare health coverage to the state's estimated 2.6 million illegal immigrant population. If passed and
signed into law, California would be the first state in the nation to request illegal immigrants be covered through a state
exchange, the Los Angeles Times reported. It is against the law for California to allow illegal immigrants to enroll in
Covered California, the state's Obamacare health insurance exchange, Sally C. Pipes, president and CEO of the pro-free-market
Pacific Research Institute, told The Daily Signal in an emailed response. "The law does not allow illegals to enroll in
the state exchanges or the federal exchange Healthcare.gov," Pipes said.
CalPERS
Could Get Hands on Billions in Private-Sector Retirement Funds. Instead of addressing the estimated $600 billion
in unfunded liabilities in California's beleaguered public-employee pension system, Democrats in Sacramento have instead decided to
"solve" a growing pension crisis in the private sector. In 2012, Governor Jerry Brown signed a measure that created an
investment board and authorized a "feasibility study" of various options for a state-backed private-pension system. That
study came out last month, and the legislature is now vetting bills that would put its recommendations into action. The
plans under consideration would mandate participation in the new state-run retirement system for firms with five or more workers,
though the workers themselves could opt out. Employers that don't comply would face fines and other penalties.
21st Century
California Reverts Back to the Wild West. [Scroll down] Today I generalize that about every old rural
farmhouse in these environs can be characterized by three traits: a) the house is a rental and not connected with the
corporate fields around it; b) there are two to three families, in illegal fashion, living in ramshackle trailers and sheds
on the property; c) the authorities don't dare enforce zoning or health laws, on the grounds that enforcement is a bad
investment of their limited time and budget. If I find a dead dog dumped on the alleyway (as I have three or four times
over the last 12 months), with a rope around his neck and his insides exposed from dog fighting, I bury him and pass on
calling the animal-control people. In fairness to them, what would they do, run an investigation into rural dog
fighting — in a state in which felons are routinely released from prisons and jails, and sanctuary cities offer
amnesties? I suppose a Queensland with his face ripped off is small potatoes. (Does multiculturalism trump the
ASPCA or PETA?) Nor do I ever contact the state EPA or the county when monthly I collect baby carriages, car seats,
tires, used paint cans, old Christmas trees, mattresses, and dirty diapers dumped on the side of the road —
despite occasional junk mail signifying the address of the polluter.
San
Francisco Torn as Some See 'Street Behavior' Worsen. From her apartment at the foot of the celebrated zigzags
of Lombard Street, Judith Calson has twice peered out her window as thieves smashed their way into cars and snatched whatever
they could. She has seen foreign tourists cry after cash and passports were stolen. She shudders when she
recounts the story of the Thai tourist who was shot because he resisted thieves taking his camera. And that is her
tally from the last year alone. [...] Recent data from the F.B.I. show that San Francisco has the highest per-capita property
crime rate of the nation's top 50 cities.
Love Finds a Way in Oakland.
This month, Oakland's City Council voted 5-3 to adopt "Love Life" as the city's motto. [...] "Love Life" is the brainchild of
Donald Lacy, whose daughter LoEshe — the name means "Love Life" in Nigerian — was killed near McClymonds
High School in 1997. The 16-year-old died in the sort of senseless random gang-turf shooting that has taken too many young
black lives in Oakland. [...] Enter racial politics. Because Schaaf and some motto foes are white, while McElhaney and some
other supporters are black, "Love Life" fans suggested that opponents lacked empathy for victims of street violence.
Religious
group sues San Francisco over open-air urinal. A religious organization has filed a lawsuit against the city of
San Francisco to remove an open-air urinal it calls unsanitary and indecent from a popular park. The Chinese Christian
Union of San Francisco filed a civil complaint last week demanding the city remove the concrete circular urinal from the
iconic Dolores Park. The group says the urinal, which is out in the open and screened only with plants for privacy,
"emanates offensive odors," "has no hand-washing facilities" and "it's offensive to manners and morals."
Should
California AG Harris Be Investigated for Tax Code Violations? California attorney general Kamala Harris is the
state's top charity regulator, overseeing California's Registry of Charitable Trusts. Ms. Harris has decided to
bypass federal law expressly requiring her to obtain Schedule B information directly from the IRS on a case-by-case basis if
she has a legitimate need for donor information to enforce her state's charitable solicitation laws. Instead of abiding by
federal law, she's employing a dragnet method, demanding that all charities registering with her office submit their Schedule B
donor lists to the Registry in order to solicit contributions from Californians.
San
Francisco Passes Fully Paid Parental Leave Bill. San Francisco could soon become the first city in the nation
to provide both parents with six weeks of fully-paid parental leave after a birth or adoption. The measure, which was
unanimously passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday [4/5/2016], will now require the signatures of Gov.
Jerry Brown and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. Both have indicated they will sign.
Casualties
of a Living Wage: A California Bookstore Owner's Minimum Wage Story. After more than a decade at the helm of
her bookstore, Ann Kinner faces an uncertain future because of new measures at the city and state level to raise the minimum
wage. On June 7, San Diego residents will vote on a ballot measure to raise the city's minimum wage to $11.50 an hour
in 2017. This proposal, coupled with a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday raising the state minimum wage to
$15 an hour by 2022, has left Kinner in knots.
California
Department Of Justice Raids David Daleiden's Home. The California Department of Justice raided the home of
David Daleiden, the pro-life journalist behind the undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood's harvesting and sale of
human organs from aborted children. Daleiden explained in a Facebook post that authorities with the California
Department of Justice raided his home Tuesday afternoon and seized all video footage of Planned Parenthood employees'
involvement in selling organs from aborted babies — including damning footage which has yet to be released.
Daleiden noted that the California Department of Justice serves under the authority of California Attorney General Kamala
Harris, who has benefited politically from Planned Parenthood: [...]
Planned
Parenthood: David Daleiden Speaks out on Home Raid. Undercover investigator David Daleiden's home in California
was raided Tuesday [4/5/2016] by officials under the office of California Attorney General Kamala Harris. Harris has
been investigating Daleiden for months, after his video exposé of Planned Parenthood's alleged baby-parts scheme.
His videos allegedly showed Planned Parenthood personnel actively negotiating the sale of the livers, lungs, hearts and other
organs of aborted unborn children.
California
to Pay $5400 to Make Poor Sick People Dead. California Medical — its version of Medicaid — will
pay $5400 for the drugs to make the suicidal terminally ill poor, dead. Worse, Medical recipients don't have access to good
cancer treatment and doesn't pay well for palliative care.
California is first state
to approve $15 minimum wage. California has become the first state in the nation to approve a statewide $15
minimum wage. Both the State Assembly and State Senate passed the measure on Thursday afternoon [3/31/2016].
Governor Jerry Brown said he would sign it on Monday. "No one who is working full time in California should
live in poverty due to a low wage," said Democratic State Senator Mark Leno, who cosponsored the bill.
Heaven Help
California's Non-Urban Cities Under a $15 Minimum Wage. If anybody is wondering why so many California
residents outside of the big cities want to break away and make their own states, just take note of the news today that
California legislators have made a deal with the all-powerful unions to jack up the minimum wage for all industries and all
employers across the state to $15 by 2022 and then tie future increases to inflation. Small business in California will
have until 2023 to comply. There are 13 counties in California that still have double-digit unemployment figures,
according to the state's own data. The data isn't seasonally adjusted, so keep in mind that unemployment naturally rises
at the start of a new year. But even taking into account an adjustment there are significant populations in the state
struggling to find work. None of these high unemployment counties are connected to the big cities.
San
Francisco mayor bans city workers from traveling to North Carolina. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said in a
statement Friday [3/25/2016] he doesn't want any city workers to travel to North Carolina unless necessary in wake of its legislation
which blocks anti-discrimination for gay, lesbian and transgender people. "We are standing united as San Franciscans to
condemn North Carolina's new discriminatory law that turns back the clock on protecting the rights of all Americans including
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals," Lee said in the statement.
Palo
Alto residents who earn up to $250,000 a year to qualify for subsized housing. The well-heeled California
neighborhood, where a plot of land recently sold for $2.7 million, is home to some of America's richest entrepreneurs who
work a few miles away in Silicon Valley. With house price averages an eye-watering $3 million, even those earning
$250,000-a-year are spending two-thirds of their monthly salary (around $14,000) paying off their mortgage. It means
workers such as teachers, janitors, firefighters, social workers, police officers and more are not paid enough to afford the
local rent, driving up congestion as they commute in.
California
AG Kamala Harris wants your private information from the IRS. Charity donor information on Schedule B is protected under federal
law as confidential. Charities and their donors worry that imperious, uber-liberal Ms. Harris will leak this confidential information to
their ideological opponents and her allies. Among its various acts of lawlessness and lawbreaking, Lois Lerner's IRS was caught leaking
this type of confidential donor information of the National Organization for Marriage to its opponents.
The
Weirdness of Illegal Immigration. When someone ignores a federal statute, then it is naturally easy to flout
more. In Los Angeles, half the traffic accidents are hit-and-run collisions. I can attest first-hand that running from an
accident or abandoning a wrecked vehicle is certainly a common occurrence in rural California. Last night on a rural road,
a driver behind me (intoxicated? Malicious? Crazy?) apparently tried to rear-end me, then turned off his lights, sped up, and
at the next stop sign pulled over swearing out the window in Spanish. In this age and in these environs, why would one call
a sheriff for a minor everyday occurrence like that? The point is simply that when there is no federal law, no one has any
idea how several million arrive in the U.S., much less what exactly they were doing before their illegal arrival. [...] To read the
local Fresno Bee is to collate a daily tally of stabbings, shootings, gang violence, carjackings, thefts, and chop
shops — without any exegesis why this is so. Cuts in law enforcement? Therapeutic approach to the law?
A complete failure to integrate and assimilate the second generation of illegal immigrants? The inability to offer jobs in
a command state economy?
CA's Knee-Jerk Bill Forbids Travel to Un-PC States.
Hopefully, this Californian lawmaker puts more thought into the other bills he introduces. This week, Evan Low, a Democrat,
introduced a bill that would ban California state employees from traveling to states that passed a version of the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act. "No one wants to send employees into an environment where they would be uncomfortable," Low
reportedly said, as if hurt feelings are enough to hamper the state's ability to cooperate with other members of the union.
But here's the kicker: the lawmaker doesn't know how many states his little bill would affect. Furthermore, the bill would
only apply to government employees. [...] This isn't the first time Low introduced a bill for the gay-rights community. Last May,
Low co-authored a resolution with two other California lawmakers responding to the FDA's blood donor guidelines that forbid sexually
active homosexuals from donating blood.
California's
violation of federal civil rights laws. In August 2014, the California Department of Managed Health Care,
suddenly and without prior notice, issued a mandate to private market healthcare plans in California requiring them to cover
all abortions as a "basic health care service" — including late-term and gender selective abortions. (Prior to
this mandate, California limited coverage to medically necessary abortions.) The new mandate violates a longstanding federal
civil rights law — the Weldon Amendment. Congress first enacted Weldon in 2002 to protect healthcare providers
and insurers from governmental discrimination on the basis that they choose not to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or
refer for abortions. The victims of this type of governmental discrimination have only one recourse: file a complaint
with the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR). This has proven entirely futile.
California
is considering a travel ban on states with anti-gay laws. Like always, lawmakers jammed a mountain of bills
into the legislative queue just ahead of the Feb. 19 deadline to introduce them. Many of them affect state employees.
Some would install new laws and regulations that pile on workload (it happens every year to DMV staff) or by altering some aspect of
how state government itself conducts business. Now, with the 30-day waiting period to start hearing those measures just ahead,
here's one to watch: Assembly Bill 1887 by Assemblyman Evan Low, a Democrat from Campbell. Low wants to prohibit
state employees from government-funded travel to states that have "a law in effect that sanctions or requires discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression," according to his bill's language.
The Editor says...
Is homosexuality really that important to California politicians? No, but control certainly is. The government wants
unlimited power to control the way we act and think, and the ability to make us associate with those whom we would prefer to avoid.
The New California Crime Wave. Something
amazing has happened in California. First, a brief background: Crime rates across the state, after a long period of steady decline, had
reached fifty-year lows in 2014. Then, that November, a 60 percent majority of California voters — presumably incapable of
accepting such good news without a measure of collective guilt — decided that it would be a really enlightened idea to pass Proposition 47,
a ballot initiative bearing the cheery name "The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act." The purpose of this measure was to downgrade many types of
drug possession and property crimes from felonies (punishable by more than a year in prison) to misdemeanors (which often entail no prison time
at all). For the benefit of squeamish skeptics, the self-assured proponents of Prop 47 condescended to explain that these reduced
penalties would not only alleviate prison overcrowding, but would also make California's streets safer by placing drug offenders into warm-and-fuzzy
treatment and counseling programs, rather than into disagreeable prison cells. If you think this sounds like a familiar old tune, you're quite
correct. It was #1 on the left-wing hit parade throughout the 1960s, when it became the theme song of skyrocketing crime rates across the United
States. And now the Golden Oldie is back, in the Golden State. The tangible results of Prop 47 were both immediate and breathtaking.
Within a year, there were some 14,000 fewer inmates in California's state prisons and local jails, just as the Proposition's backers had promised.
But the other half of their promise — improved public safety — somehow failed to materialize.
San
Francisco Public Library hosts drag queen story hour for children. What do drag queens and children have in common?
They both find joy in wrapping themselves in feather boas and all things shiny and glittery. A San Francisco nonprofit recognizes
this shared interest in dressing up and is joining forces with the San Francisco Public Library to bring drag queens and children
together. Radar Productions, a group giving voice to queer writers and artists, will be hosting Honey Mahogany at the Eureka Valley
Harvey Milk Memorial Library, March 12, noon to 2 p.m, in the heart of the Castro District. Dressed in fabulous drag-queen
garb and full makeup, Honey will be reading stories, painting children's faces and passing out cookies.
New
California Law Forces Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers to Advertise Abortions. Did you hear about the new bill that California Gov. Jerry
Brown has signed into law? [...] The bill he signed (AB775), named the Reproductive Fact Act, aims to punish pro-life pregnancy centers, which offer
women and girls compassionate alternatives to abortion. Under penalty of ruinous fines for every "violation," the law orders the pro-life centers
to post notices and tell mothers that they can abort their babies and have California taxpayers foot the bill via the state's expansive Medi-Cal program.
City
workers in San Diego barred from uttering 'biased' term 'Founding Fathers'. The traditional reference to America's patriotic patriarchs is
considered gender biased, and a city manual banning the term was reinforced this week with verbal orders, according to legal watchdog group, Pacific Justice
Institute. "At a time set aside to honor American icons to whom we owe our constitutional freedoms, it is offensive and indefensible that the City of
San Diego is directing employees not to even mention the Founding Fathers," Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, said in a statement
provided to FoxNews.com. The warning against referring to Washington, Jefferson, Adams and company as "Founding Fathers" first appeared in a section
of a city-issued manual titled, "Bias-Free Language."
After
Hiring 1,000 New DMV Bureaucrats, California Issues 605,000 Licenses To Illegals. After spending $141 million
to hire nearly 1,000 new Department of Motor Vehicle employees to process driver's license applications in the wake of AB60 —
the California law to issue driver's licenses to 1.5 million illegal immigrants — the results are in, and it's clear the
bureaucrats have kept busy. Tuesday [2/9/2016], the DMV said it had issued 605,000 shiny new driver's licenses to illegal
immigrants, with the full 1.5 million expected to be in place in the next two years. The total accounted for more than
half of the licenses issued in 2015. But that's not searchable in a database, accounting to True The Vote.
California's
"unprecedented mass forgiveness" of convicts raises more than a few questions. In case you hadn't heard,
California's governor has been on something of a binge in terms of releasing convicts from prison and reforming the
system to be more fair to everyone. Prison reform and rehabilitation vs isolation is all the rage these days it
seems. The Washington Post ran a feature this week on how wonderfully this has been going and it certainly makes
a grade A effort to paint a happy face on these proposals.
You Can Now Urinate in Public in San Francisco. San
Francisco has installed an outdoor urinal in Dolores Park near the Mission District as part of the more than $20 million renovation of the recreation
area in an attempt to combat a "rampant" public urination issue. "The more options we can give them to relieve themselves, the better for the parkgoers,"
San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener told the Associated Press.
San Francisco park
debuts open-air urinal. San Francisco's iconic Dolores Park is now home to the city's first open-air urinal, the latest
move to combat the destructive scourge of public urination in the City by the Bay.
Kamala
Harris crosses lines of both privacy and the law. California Attorney General Kamala Harris must be so ambitious that she is
willing to tempt fate of multiple civil lawsuits and even criminal charges so she can intimidate her ideological opponents — and
even her supporters. Ms. Harris oversees licensing of charities across the country that ask Californians for contributions. She's
also a candidate for the United States Senate. In disregard of the 1958 landmark civil rights decision NAACP v. Alabama and post-Watergate
reforms to the Internal Revenue Code to protect tax information privacy, Ms. Harris is now telling charities and other nonprofit organizations
that in order to get from her a charitable solicitation license they must first provide her office a confidential federal tax schedule listing
their most valuable donors.
Under
Obamacare, Medi-Cal ballooned to cover 1 in 3 Californians. California officials never anticipated how many
people would sign up for state-run health insurance under Obamacare. The state's health plan for the poor, known as
Medi-Cal, now covers 12.7 million people, 1 of every 3 Californians.
Never
Enough Abortions in California. California is such a pro-abortion state that: 1. It allows non-doctor nurse
practitioners to terminate fetal life. 2. Its voters have twice refused to vote in a "parent notification" law, requiring
that parents of underage girls be told — not approve, just notified — that their daughter had an abortion.
And now: 3. Crisis pregnancy centers — that help women choose to give birth by providing counseling and material
support — will be required to post notices of where abortions can be obtained with phone numbers, as well as that they might
be obtained for free.
America's
Can't-Do State: California's Man-Made Drought Continues. The first desalination plant in a state dragging
itself through a drought has finally opened — a welcome event but also instructive in how nearly impossible it is
to build anything useful in California. [...] The Carlsbad desalination plant was proposed in 1998 and took almost 18 years
to build. But only three of those years were actually spent building. The rest were wasted on politics and the usual Golden
State regulatory and bureaucratic tangle. One of the plant's investors told a California writer that the duplicative state
approval process alone delayed the project by at least a decade and added about 10% to total costs.
San Francisco Is Needle City. In
1997, I went to a "needle exchange" in San Francisco to see firsthand how the "harm reduction program" prevented the spread of HIV among addicts.
[...] Under the new order, San Francisco Department of Public Health spokeswoman Rachael Kagan explained, "you don't need a needle to get a needle."
Users who show up at a "syringe access" center can get a "starter kit" of 20 needles. If they want more than 20 needles, they
have to present used needles. I walked into a nearby facility and walked away with my own starter kit in a discreet plain brown bag.
San Francisco now asks users to leave their discarded syringes in drop boxes at public toilets, pharmacies and clinics. I got a "sharps"
disposal box with my 20-needle kit. Alas, there's another oft-used disposal venue — city streets and sidewalks. If you
walk around the city, then you've seen the used needles.
Half of immigrants in state illegally could
be eligible for Medi-Cal expansion, study finds. Half of Californians in the country illegally would be eligible for the state's healthcare
program for the poor if it were expanded under a proposal by legislators, a new report finds. Some California politicians are pushing to open up
the $91-billion Medi-Cal program to people here illegally, since such immigrants are not allowed to sign up for insurance under Obamacare.
California: A state of death. Shortly after
signing a bill allowing assisted suicide in California, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown signed another measure that forces pregnancy crisis
centers to "offer information about affordable contraception, abortion and prenatal care." The information is to be displayed in the
form of a sign tacked to the crisis center's door and must include a phone number to the nearest county services office where family free
or low-cost family planning services can be obtained. Deceptively labeled the Reproductive FACT Act, the measure requires women seeking
help with an unplanned pregnancy to be informed of alternatives, including abortions, which the pregnancy crisis centers do not perform.
Does the government want you to die? Gov. Brown and
his Democratic Party majority in the California state Legislature have benevolently given people the "right to die." Assisted suicide is
now legal in California, but we have to ask ourselves: What is the government's incentive to help people die?[...] The government does not
need give anyone permission to commit suicide. And that leads to the question: What motivates a government to give you permission
to end your life and assist you in the process?
Jerry
Brown Cooks Up A Recipe For California Voter Fraud. Just months after handing out California driver's licenses
to illegals, Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a law to automatically register every driver to vote. Supposedly, it's to raise
turnout. More likely, it's inviting fraud. So how does opening up U.S. presidential elections to the votes of any of the
citizens of El Salvador, Armenia, Mexico or China sound? Foreigners have complained for years about wanting to vote in U.S.
elections and in California. And now they may get their wish — unless California's Gov. Jerry Brown is somehow
kept from enacting AB 1461, a bill to automatically register every recipient of a California driver's license to vote.
Non-Citizens Will Now Vote in At Least
One State. Governor Jerry Brown just sold out the American vote in California. He signed a new version of the Motor Voter
Act that will register every eligible California citizen who acquires a driver's license or renews a license at the Department of Motor Vehicles to
vote. This is after he made all illegal aliens eligible for diver's licenses. Eleven states allow illegal aliens to get driver's licenses.
Gov.
Brown Approves Automatic Voter Registration at DMV for Californians. Targeting California's recent record-low voter
turnout, Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a measure that would eventually allow Californians to be automatically registered to
vote when they go to the DMV to obtain or renew a driver's license. The measure, which would also allow Californians to opt
out of registering, was introduced in response to the dismal 42% turnout in the November 2014 statewide election.
California
opens the door to more voter fraud with new motor voter law. California's Governor had a busy weekend, breaking out his pen and signing
nearly two dozen bills into law. Most of them centered on the voting process in the Golden State, but while liberals are taking a victory lap
there are hints that these maneuvers are going to signal trouble down the line. The big ticket item in the legislative package was the "New Motor
Voter Law." This brainstorm will make voter registration automatic for any person receiving a new driver's license or renewing an existing one.
Cutting
ozone will require radical transformation of California's trucking industry. At a laboratory in downtown Los
Angeles, a big rig spins its wheels on massive rollers as a metal tube funnels its exhaust into an array of air quality
sensors. Engineers track the roaring truck's emissions from a bank of computer screens. The brand-new diesel
truck is among the cleanest on the road, the engineers at the California Air Resources Board testing lab say. Even so,
its 550-horsepower engine spews out more than 20 times the smog-forming nitrogen oxides of a typical gasoline-powered
car — and that won't be good enough for the state to meet stricter federal smog limits adopted this month.
California
mom claims retailer booted her for complaining about man in girls' restroom. A California mom who says she was
recently kicked out of a sporting goods store after alerting a manager that man had frightened her young daughter in the
women's restroom is demanding answers — and a policy change — from the Washington-based chain.
The woman, who spoke to FoxNews.com but asked not to be identified, said she was shopping with her 12-year-old daughter and
the girl's younger friend when her daughter told her what had happened moments earlier at an REI sporting goods store during
a shopping trip in late August.
The 'Affordable
Housing' Fraud. Nowhere has there been so much hand-wringing over a lack of "affordable housing," as among
politicians and others in coastal California. And nobody has done more to make housing unaffordable than those same
politicians and their supporters. A recent survey showed that the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in San
Francisco was just over $3,500. Some people are paying $1,800 a month just to rent a bunk bed in a San Francisco apartment.
It is not just in San Francisco that putting a roof over your head can take a big chunk out of your pay check. The whole Bay
Area is like that.
Everything
Wrong with California in One Photo. Nationwide gasoline prices are below $3 a gallon. But here in California it
is not unusual to see prices still over $4 a gallon. So what do liberals here want to do? Pass a law that mandates
reducing gasoline consumption by 50 percent by the year 2030 — just 15 years from now. This proved
too much even for some Democrats — the ones who represent actual poor and (previously) working people in the Central
Valley, unlike the West LA and Silicon Valley and San Francisco Democrats who represent smug rich people who drive Teslas.
These old-style Democrats said they would not vote for the bill.
California
issuing free diplomas to high school students who flunked out. Plenty of state school systems are struggling
with ways to not only keep up with national mandates and restrictions, but to boost their graduation rates so they can
maintain their funding and reduce criticism from the public. California seems to have come up a rather unique, back door
approach to the problem. You could always take tens of thousands of former high school students who flunked out and simply
give them a diploma anyway.
California
Will Give Free High School Diplomas To Kids Who Flunked Out. The California High School Exit Exam (CASHEE) was
created in 2004, and is intended to make sure that students have a rudimentary grasp of English and mathematics before being
awarded a high school diploma, and to counter the phenomenon of students receiving passing grades while learning almost
nothing. The test is hardly complex. The math test, for instance, only covers 8th grade-level material and
can be passed if students answer 55 percent of questions correctly.
University
of California considering recognizing a "right" to be "free from ... expressions of intolerance". The policy
specifically condemns the expression of particular viewpoints as "intolerant," as having "no place at the University of
California," and a violation of others' rights to be "free from ... expressions of intolerance." For instance, articulating a
view that people with various intellectual disabilities are incapable of various intellectual tasks, or people with various
physical disabilities are incapable of various physical tasks, would be condemned by the authority of the University.
Articulating a view that there are cultural (or even biological) differences between ethnic and racial groups in various
fields — condemned by the authority of the University, without regard to the arguments for or against the particular
assertion. It's just an up-front categorical rule; whatever you want to say along these lines, we don't want to hear it,
we don't care what your arguments are, we'll condemn it, and faculty and students have a right not to hear it.
California Assembly Approves Assisted Suicide
Bill. The ghost of Brittany Maynard came back for yet another haunting Wednesday [9/9/2015] when the California Assembly voted to
allow physician-assisted suicide by a vote of 43-34. After having lost in the California Senate back in June due to efforts largely from
the Roman Catholic Church, the merchants of death simply regrouped and returned to the lower house of the legislature to approve the End of Life
Option Act.
Median
total compensation for Redwood City firefighters — at least $226,365. Back in February 2014 the
California Policy Center publicly announced the Transparent California website, developed in partnership with the Nevada
Policy Research Institute. An article covering this announcement was posted on the Forbes Magazine website, entitled
"Hundreds Of California Government Employees Are Paid Over $400,000 A Year," which a review of 2013 Transparent California
data (2014 data is still being assembled) easily confirms. As a matter of fact, in 2013, total compensation in excess of
$400,000 was paid to 1,292 public servants in California. A staggering 2,818 of California's public employees collected
total compensation in excess of $300,000 in 2013.
Bums Bury San Francisco in Feces. San
Francisco is also a center of leftism. The liberals running the city have laid out a red carpet for dysfunctional street people,
who come from all over the country to collect their freebies and crap on the sidewalk. Combined with the policy of no longer
incarcerating any but the most obviously violent lunatics, this has reduced the city to a cross between a mental institution and a sewer.
Sen.
Dianne Feinstein Wants Obama to Wall-off 1 million Acres in Desert. U.S. Senator Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
asked President Barack Obama on Friday [8/21/2015] to bypass Congress and use the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create three new
national monuments in the California desert. The move would extend federal protection over more than 1 million acres
of mountain ranges, sandy expanses and forests running roughly between Palm Springs and the Nevada border.
No
one showed up for California's green jobs rush. In 2012, California voters were peppered with grandiose promises, such that
they could not resist approving Proposition 39. [...] Naturally, it did not work at all. On Monday, the Associated Press
reported that the program has "created" just 1,700 jobs in three years — just under 600 jobs per year or roughly five
percent of what was promised, at the cost of $175,000 per job. Even that paltry figure fails to account for opportunity
costs — i.e. jobs lost statewide because of the forced diversion of economic resources away from productive industries and
toward green energy. The number of net jobs created is likely zero or less than zero, which is to say that probably a few hundred
or a few thousand jobs have been destroyed so far at a cost of $300 million.
California
moves to provide interpreters in all court cases. Legal advocates say throughout the state, litigants in
divorce, child custody, eviction and other civil cases who have difficulty with English are going into court without
qualified interpreters.
California's
SB3, the Minimum Wage Hike. California has embarked upon a dangerous experiment. The Democrats who secured
total control of the statehouse have been the most productive group of legislators at passing bills in the last 50 years.
Most of these bills were passed stealthily to avoid media scrutiny. The last minimum wage hike was rammed through without
much media attention. The same with the Sick Leave Law that went into effect in July of 2015. These two new costs, when
combined with the federal ACA have increased the cost of labor roughly 35% overnight. None of these assaults on California
businesses were sensibly staggered, nor was the business community even consulted. It's as if the feeling that exists
under the Capital building is a childlike free-for-all to greedily get as much vote-buying, pro-labor legislation in before the
window closes. And now comes SB3, which is to amend the last minimum wage and take it higher, much much higher, for the
entire state.
The Collapse of California.
The place they once called the Golden State is providing a sobering look at America's possible Third World future. [...]
California now has the highest rate of poverty in the country. The drought, which is also not being helped by the rapid
increase in population, is now drying up entire rivers. Not surprisingly, the "watchdog press" is chiefly concerned with
making sure people don't connect the dots between an overcrowded, Third World demographic profile and a Third World way of life.
Without immigration reform,
California citizenship will have to do. It started with in-state tuition. Then came driver's
licenses, new rules designed to limit deportations and state-funded healthcare for children. And on Monday
[8/10/2015], in a gesture heavy with symbolism, came a new law to erase the word "alien" from California's labor
code. Together, these piecemeal measures have taken on a significance greater than their individual
parts — a fundamental shift in the relationship between California and its residents who live in the
country illegally. The various benefits, rights and protections add up to something experts liken to a
kind of California citizenship.
Gov.
Brown doesn't want California to use this word for immigrants. Gov. Jerry Brown signed
a trio of immigration-related measures Monday [8/10/2015], including one removing the word "alien" from
California's labor code because it is seen as a disparaging term for those not born in the United
States. Brown also signed into law legislation allowing noncitizens in high school to serve as
election poll workers and protecting the rights of immigrant minors in civil lawsuits.
Red
Flags Of Corruption Over Huntington Park. In a page-one headline, the Los Angeles Times hailed the
appointment of illegal immigrants to two Huntington Park, Calif., civic commissions as a milestone that "charts a
bold path for immigrants." It was booster journalism at its worst, gushing about illegals gaining participatory
"rights" in U.S. public life that had supposedly been unjustly denied them. It also stood in stark contrast
with the multiple local press reports — KPCC, KTLA, CBS-LA and more — which reported the event
as primarily cause for angry protests.
Thousands
of California convicts to regain voting rights. California restored voting rights Tuesday [8/4/2015]
to tens of thousands of criminals serving sentences under community supervision, reversing a decision by a state
official that they could not participate in elections. Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the
settlement between the state and the American Civil Liberties Union of California, which sued on behalf of
nearly 60,000 convicts who became ineligible to vote when then Secretary of State Debra Bowen determined in
2014 that community supervision was equivalent to parole.
California's
Medi-Cal explosion. California is coming face to face with the reality of one of its biggest Obamacare successes:
the explosion in Medi-Cal enrollment. The numbers — 2.2 million enrollees since January — surprised
healthcare experts and created unforeseen challenges for state officials. Altogether, there are now about 11 million
Medi-Cal beneficiaries, constituting nearly 30% of the state's population.
Audit
Finds Massive Financial Mismanagement In West Covina. It was a bumbling city that
didn't know how much it was collecting or spending. It signed large contracts without proper bidding
and hired administrators without vetting their qualifications. Its city manager spent lavishly on
meals and arrangements for council members with the city credit card. And it lost $1 million by
selling a developer land it wasn't legally allowed to sell. Those were the findings of a state audit
released Thursday [7/9/2015] that blistered the management of West Covina, whose roiling politics usually
make few ripples outside its east San Gabriel Valley boundaries.
California
Is A Microcosm Of American Mediocrity. California keeps reminding us what has gone
astray with America in recent years. The state is in the midst of a crippling four-year-old
drought. Yet it has built almost no major northern or central mountain reservoirs since the New
Melones Dam of 1979. That added nearly 3 million acre-feet to the state's storage
reserves — a critical project that was almost canceled by endless environmental lawsuits
and protests. Although California has almost doubled in population since the dam's construction,
its politicians apparently decided that completing more northern and Sierra Nevada water projects
was passe. So the parched state now prays for rain and snow rather than building reservoirs to
ensure that the next drought won't shut down the state.
California
regulators approve higher electricity rates for most residents. Electric bills are set
to rise over the next few years for most household customers served by California's major
investor-owned utilities, including Southern California Edison. The increases are a result of
sweeping changes approved Friday [7/2/2015] by the California Public Utilities Commission —
the first statewide rate overhaul since the 2000-01 energy crisis. Modest and moderate consumers of
electricity will bear a greater share of costs, while many larger users of electricity will see
their bills shrink or increase less rapidly.
CA
Water Board Prioritizes Fish Over People. As severe drought conditions in California
continue to worsen, state officials have started to roll out with new regulations to prioritize
various water interests. On Wednesday [6/24/2015], the State Water Resources Control Board
adopted new emergency regulations to protect endangered and threatened fish. Low flows in four
tributaries of the Russian River cause "high temperatures, low oxygen levels and isolated pools of
water that can kill fish," such as the coho salmon and steelhead trout.
California
budget deal to make state first in nation to offer health care to undocumented kids. The $115.4 billion agreement
announced Tuesday [6/16/2015] is expected to win easy approval from the [California] Senate and Assembly before the fiscal year begins
July 1, and its immigrant health care provisions were touted by its backers as a necessity in the face of federal inaction.
The Editor says...
Sometimes there's a reason for "federal inaction." In fact, "federal inaction" is often the best we can hope for.
Goodnight, California.
8:00 PM[:] I'm on the upstairs balcony looking out over miles of lush countryside. It's quite
scenic, something in between verdant Tuscany and the aridness of Sicily. I can hear the ag pumps of
the surrounding farms everywhere churning 24/7. In a normal year they would never be turned on, as
river water irrigated the fields and recharged the water table. Then come two sirens. Will the
power go off? Quite often, someone after too much to drink goes airborne and hits a power pole on
these rural roads. I got back inside in case things go dark to review the mail. The local irrigation
district has not delivered water in four years (what do ditch tenders do when canals and ditches are empty?)
and now wants a tax hike to keep up with increased expenses. In fact, half the mail seems to be
drought information from various agencies.
Has
the federal government ever had sex? Law professors Stephen J. Schulhofer and Erin
Murphy are trying to update the criminal code when it comes to sex offenses, believing current
definitions of rape and sexual assault are antiquated. The focus of their draft is on what
constitutes consent. It adopts the "yes means yes," or "affirmative consent" model that was
passed in California last year. The California law applies only to college campuses, however.
The Editor says...
Really, I try to keep this web site "family friendly," but when you keep track of all the things liberals
do, in places like California, and then put it on a web page, it's not easy to avoid topics like promiscuity.
California's
Unsustainable Comeback. Sometime this year, the Federal Reserve is expected to
increase interest rates. When that happens, many experts believe the market will correct as
investors exit equities. Any setback in the stock market will eviscerate California's income taxes.
California's sexual re-education camps
are coming soon. Not content to redefine consent to mean asking permission before
every step of the sexual process, California is now on the path to teaching high school students the
proper way to have sex — because human nature is now wrong. [...] This means that every
time two college students have sex they have to act like they've never met before and ask for
approval for everything from the first kiss and touch through intercourse. I tried multiple
times to ask the sponsor of the California bill, State Sen. Kevin de Leon, how someone could prove they
obtained consent under his law, but only received press releases and quoted paragraphs from the bill.
California
Senate OKs health coverage for many immigrants here illegally. The state Senate on
Tuesday [6/2/2015] approved a hotly debated measure that would allow many immigrants in the state
illegally to sign up for special healthcare programs that would offer the same benefits as Medi-Cal.
The action comes just days after lawmakers significantly scaled back the plan, which originally
would have offered state-subsidized Medi-Cal to people in the country without authorization.
Water
crisis puts California Democrats on defense. Wherever he goes, Tom Del Beccaro asks
California voters which they would prefer: high-speed rail or more water. Invariably,
the answer is the same. "Everybody says water," said Mr. Del Beccaro, a Republican who's
running for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Barbara Boxer in 2016. "I think every dime
that exists should be allocated there. [But] we are spending more than 15 times the amount
on a train than we are on new water. "In my speeches, I also ask people to raise their hand if
they think we have a train crisis," he adds.
Audit
finds millions in overtime pay at L.A. transportation department. Last year, the
average employee who paints stripes on roads and installs street signs for the Los Angeles
Department of Transportation made $48,100 in overtime, almost six times what most other city workers
received. Four supervisors claimed $70,000 in OT, and one manager drew $155,319, effectively
tripling his salary. Those and other findings were in a transportation department audit issued
Tuesday by City Controller Ron Galperin. It revealed in particular that workers in the paint and
sign division collected what Galperin characterized as "staggering" amounts of overtime, costing the
city $3.3 million in a single year and raising concerns that some of the extra pay might have been
claimed improperly.
In
Los Angeles, unions make an offer companies can't refuse. From the truth is stranger
than fiction except if you're in Los Angeles and/or dealing with union personnel file we learn what
happens when reality slaps high-sounding abstract liberal theory in the face. In this instance,
reality wins. Sort of.
Los
Angeles becomes the biggest city yet to approve a $15 minimum wage. The Los Angeles
City Council voted overwhelmingly Tuesday [5/19/2015] to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020,
up from the current $9 an hour, making the city the largest in the country to set a target that has gone from
almost absurdly ambitious to mainstream in the span of a few years. The bill, which will need to clear
a final vote, passed by a margin of 14-1.
Blue state
infrastructure. A month ago, we spent a spring break week in southern California. The
weather was glorious, and we had a wonderful time. But we were appalled by the third-world condition
of California's roads and highways. California's highways are not just decrepit and pocked with
potholes, they are downright dangerous. Billions of dollars would be required to bring California's
roads, bridges, cloverleafs and related infrastructure up to the level that is taken for granted in,
say, South Dakota. But California's Democrats have higher priorities, whether it is doling out
dollars to the party's supporters, funding environmental projects that will never see the light of
day, or finding new ways to attract illegal immigrants.
California
Rings The Mission Bell For Voter Fraud. A bill to automatically register all drivers
is speeding through the California legislature. In a state that already offers driver's licenses to
millions of illegals, this is an invitation to massive fraud. Advanced by Democrats, Secretary
of State Alex Padilla and Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, AB 1461 automatically registers anyone
applying for a California driver's license as a voter in local, state and federal elections. It's
all in the interest of supposedly increasing voter participation. This has the hideous look of a
back-door bill to encourage illegal immigrants to vote in elections they have no right to vote in,
in a country they have no loyalty to.
Starbucks'
Ethos water comes from drought-stricken California. Starbucks' Ethos bottled water,
while promising to help children around the world "get clean water," is quietly helping to drain
drought-ravaged California of its precious H2O, according to a report. The $1.95-a-bottle water
is sourced, in part, from a bottling plant in Merced, Calif., which is ranked in the "exceptional
drought" category by the US Drought Monitor, according to the report.
An ironic drought
in California. The present four-year California drought is not novel — even
if President Barack Obama and California Gov. Jerry Brown have blamed it on man-made climate change.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, California droughts are both age-old
and common. Predictable California dry spells — like those of 1929-34, 1976-77 and
1987-92 — more likely result from poorly understood but temporary changes in atmospheric
pressures and ocean temperatures. What is new is that the state has never had 40 million
residents during a drought — well over 10 million more than during the last dry spell
in the early 1990s. Much of the growth is due to massive and recent immigration.
California's class-based water
woes. If you can put aside for the moment the New York Times' stubborn use of the
"farmers use 80% of the water in California" canard,
this article isn't
too bad. It certainly notes the deep class divisions that are taking place in the state.
To put it simply: the rich buy their way out of the restrictions and everybody else can't.
No,
Farmers Don't Use 80 Percent of California's Water. This is a textbook example of how the media
perpetuates a false narrative based on a phony statistic. Farmers do not use 80 percent of California's
water. In reality, 50 percent of the water that is captured by the state's dams, reservoirs, aqueducts,
and other infrastructure is diverted for environmental causes. Farmers, in fact, use 40 percent of the
water supply. Environmentalists have manufactured the 80 percent statistic by deliberately excluding
environmental diversions from their calculations. Furthermore, in many years there are additional millions
of acre-feet of water that are simply flushed into the ocean due to a lack of storage capacity — a
situation partly explained by environmental groups' opposition to new water-storage projects.
Global-Warming
Guacamole. That California's catastrophic drought is a result of global warming has
become a commonplace of contemporary political rhetoric. That truism isn't true: Most scientific
accounts of California's current dry spell link recent low precipitation to naturally occurring atmospheric
cycles, not to global warming. Indeed, most of the global-warming models relied upon by those advocating
more-invasive environmental policies predict that warming would leave California with wetter winters —
winter precipitation being critical to the snowpack-dependent state — rather than the drier winters
at the root of the state's current water crisis.
Red ink could
kill Covered California. Indeed, there's no more money coming from Washington after
the state exhausts the $1.1 billion it received from the federal government to get the Obamacare
exchange up and running. And state law prohibits Sacramento from spending any money to keep the
exchange afloat. That presents an existential crisis for Covered California, which is facing a
nearly $80 [sic] budget deficit for its 2015-16 fiscal year.
Insiders
Detail Culture of Secrecy at California's Obamacare Exchange. Aiden Hill's introduction to the secretive culture at
Covered California came in his first days on the job. He had just been hired to head up the agency's $120 million call
center effort when he emailed a superior April 18, 2013, and got a text message in reply: ["]Please refrain from writing
a lot of draft contract language in government email ... And don't clarify via email ... No email.["]
Big
Idea: California Is So Over. California has met the future, and it really doesn't work.
As the mounting panic surrounding the drought suggests, the Golden State, once renowned for meeting human
and geographic challenges, is losing its ability to cope with crises. As a result, the great American
land of opportunity is devolving into something that resembles feudalism, a society dominated by rich and
poor, with little opportunity for upward mobility for the state's middle- and working classes.
Critics
say California drought caused by misguided environment policies. In an average year,
California gets enough snow and rain to put 200 million acres under a foot of water, but
environmental opposition to dams over the last several decades has allowed the majority of the
freshwater to flow into the ocean, even as the state's population exploded to nearly 40 million
people. The current drought has left farms parched and residents under strict water consumption
orders, but some say it didn't have to be that way.
Californians
can now be fined for long showers! I reported that California Governor Jerry Brown
unveiled the state's first water restrictions in response to the "mega-drought". As I foresaw, the
rules have turned out to be more about revenue generation than resource protection. What I did not
predict is that my teen son and his lengthy showers would make him the latest environmental villain.
Liberals
blamed for California drought. For California Gov. Jerry Brown to crack down on shower-taking and toilet-flushing
to save precious quarts of water as millions of gallons flow into the Pacific Ocean doesn't make a lot of sense to Travis
Allen. [...] With everyday Californians now on the hook for drastic conservation measures, Republicans say the time has
come to focus on the real culprit: a state and federal regulatory framework, fueled by environmental litigation,
that requires a certain aquatic environment for at-risk fish while making it nearly impossible to build dams and other
water-storage projects.
How
the Environmentalists are Destroying California. In 2007, they mobilized around saving
the Delta Smelt, a three-inch baitfish, as an outgrowth of a policy that for decades put animal life
and vegetation ahead of drinking water and food. The Delta Smelt requires a rare and somewhat
precise mixture of fresh and salt water. It is by any measure a fragile species. In
August 2007, Federal Judge Oliver Wanger ruled that the fresh water pumped into the Central Valley,
the lifeblood of its economic base, threatened the survival of the Delta Smelt. He ordered a
severe reduction in the water directed to Central Valley agriculture. The ruling (subsequently
reversed for sloppy science and then upheld) resulted in a loss of thousands of jobs and acres of
farmland. [...] The fight over the Delta Smelt [...] is a fight between people who value a
baitfish over productive farmland and America's food resources.
A
hot water issue in the California drought discussion. The California governor's recent
proclamation that Californians must cut water usage by 25% certainly caught the attention of
Californians and pundits nationwide. Featuring threats of fines of up to $500 per day, and even
restrictions on personal shower habits, Governor Brown wasted little time getting right to class warfare
over our green lawns. Unfortunately, he and the ruling Democratic Party once again resorted to
draconian rationing measures and heavy-handed fees, while offering no leadership and no real solutions
to California's current water crisis.
The
browning of California's green movement. Indeed, an adequate water supply isn't a
luxury issue for Californians, and no serious attempt has been made by liberals viewing the
environment with alarm to deal with it. In part, this is due to the fact that lack of moisture can't
be immediately linked to climate change. And unlike California's initiatives to reduce so-called
environmental threats through various governmental actions, the options for dealing with droughts are few.
The only real alternative is drastic conservation that would impact significantly on the lives of citizens.
An alternative such as desalination of ocean waters isn't feasible because it's a long-term project, and the
residue supposedly left in the Pacific from implementation would adversely affect marine life.
More on the California
Water Waster Fink Squads. Remember that thing I wrote yesterday about how Long Beach, California
was going Full Metal Snitching on 'water wasters?' Guess what! Yup, it's going statewide.
California
Water Authorities To Use New Tool In Fight Against Water Wasters. Water authorities
are using a new tool in a major effort to crack down on people and businesses wasting water in light
of new water restrictions issued by Gov. Jerry Brown to fight the drought. The Long Beach Water
Department says sprinklers at a McDonald's restaurant on Bellflower Boulevard went on for 45 minutes
at a time, twice a night, for an undefined number of nights. Complaints continued to mount as water
pooled and wasted. The department, however, could do little about the wasting. That was before
the smart meter.
The Editor says...
It's easy enough to wield this weapon against McDonald's without much public outcry, but when
it is used against residential water customers, watch out!
Governor Moonbeam Regulates Bathroom Activities.
Changing behavior is what liberal fascists are all about. For them change — specifically,
coerced change — is an end in itself. Stalin figured it out long ago: control food,
control people. But Democrats are doing him one better. Control water, control food production
and people. How will the authorities know if you took too long in the shower? One way is if your
neighbors rat you out, just as in any other police state. Another is the smart meter: [...]
Should California
Spend 4 Billion Gallons to Save a Few Fish? In the the [sic] heart of California's
drought-parched Central Valley, fruit and vegetable supplier to the nation, a water district is
defying a federal order to give some endangered trout a 3.9 billion gallon water ride out to sea.
And it could be the first skirmish in a much wider conflict. The Endangered Species Act protects
steelhead trout, a small population of which are attempting a recovery in the Stanislaus River,
which flows out of the Sierra Nevada Mountains into Modesto, in the San Joaquin Valley. So
earlier this week a federal fisheries agency — it's unclear which one, and there are
several — told the California branch of the Bureau of Reclamation (another water agency)
that the fish needed more water to get out to the Pacific. The bureau in turn passed the order
to the South San Joaquin Irrigation District, telling them to let a pulse of water through the dam
on the Stanislaus.
Marijuana
Plants Soak Up Billions of Gallons of Water in California. California's terrible
drought has become — like just about everything else in the United States — a
political issue. Many liberals have taken to blaming anthropogenic climate change for the drought,
while some conservatives have placed the blame at the feet of "liberal environmentalists." The
political point-scoring is tiring and just plain silly, given that the drought is almost certainly a
result of natural processes — processes that we humans, conservatives and liberals alike,
have precious little to do with. Another problem is that our partisan pugilists are conflating two
separate issues: the drought, which is the lack of rainfall that California has suffered over the
past four years, and the water shortages, which may indeed have some man-made causes.
California Lawmakers
Present Bills to Protect Undocumented Immigrants. A group of California lawmakers on
Tuesday [4/7/2015] presented a package of measures to strengthen protection of undocumented
immigrants and thus alleviate the "political paralysis" in Congress over approving immigration
reform. "In California, there are about 40 million residents... of Mexican, Central American and
Asian origin. So, today we're presenting a package of 10 measures to protect undocumented immigrants,"
Kevin de Leon, the Democratic president pro tempore of the California Senate, told Efe.
Torrance
Police Settle for Illegally Destroyed Guns. California, especially California cities,
have had a bad reputation for decades, of legally stealing firearms. This was primarily done with
police officers confiscating firearms that they came across, without any crime being committed.
Department policy was then to refuse to return the firearm unless a court ordered them to do so. As
the process of obtaining a court order would ordinarily be much more costly than the price of a firearm, most
people who had their firearms stolen by police simply did not bother in attempting to obtain a court order.
Carly
Fiorina blames liberal environmentalists for Calif. water crisis. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO and potential
Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina is blaming California's water crisis on "liberal environmentalists" who
are "willing to sacrifice other people's lives and livelihoods at the altar of their ideology." "With different
policies over the last 20 years, all of this could be avoided," Ms. Fiorina said in an interview Monday [4/6/2015]
on Glenn Beck's radio show, The Blaze reported. "Despite the fact that California has suffered from droughts
for millennia, liberal environmentalists have prevented the building of a single new reservoir or a single new water
conveyance system over decades during a period in which California's population has doubled."
The Drought:
California Apocalypto. I think that we've come full circle in California: from the
premodern Wild West of the 19th century to a decadent postmodernism that is every bit as feral,
though the roughness of ascension is always preferable to its counterpart in decline. The day before
Easter, Sacramento tried to stage the world's largest public Easter egg hunt. From news reports it
seems quickly to have devolved into a Darwinian free-for-all, where the ochlos swarmed the
few who played by the rules.
An Engineered Drought.
We're suffering the ramifications of the "small is beautiful," "spaceship earth" ideology of our
cocooned elites. Californians have adopted the ancient peasant mentality of a limited good, in which
various interests must fight it out for the always scarce scraps. Long ago we jettisoned the can-do
visions of our agrarian forebears, who knew California far better than we do and trusted nature far less.
Now, like good peasants, we are at one another's throats for the last drops of a finite supply.
California
is in one of its worst-ever droughts because people are growing too much weed. The
current drought in California, one of the most severe on record, could have been exacerbated by
marijuana cultivation, scientists say. Some marijuana farms are sucking more water from the
ground than can be replaced, threatening the state's water entire supply, according to a study
published in the Public Library of Science journal. The amount of water being used to cultivate
marijuana was said to be "unsustainable" in the report.
Rain Dances in California.
On February 14, 2014, President Barack Obama arrived on Air Force One in Fresno, California, with
Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein aboard. [...] The Democratic entourage, ringed by Secret
Service, posed in the fallow field for Associated Press and the television cameras. It had no clue
how to solve California's water problems. It could have been doing rain dances, for all the good it
was doing. The fact is, the four were doing rain dances for MSM — all of them —
Obama, Boxer, Feinstein, and Brown. [...] A White House that has hijacked drought to serve its ideological
ends makes sound water allocation more difficult to achieve.
California
Accredits Nation's First Muslim College ... Founded By Jihadists. The same California
college board that accredited Stanford and Berkeley has certified the nation's first Muslim college
in what the left is cheering as a breakthrough for diversity. In fact, it's a breakthrough for
jihadism. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges last week officially —
and naively — recognized Zaytuna College, making the Islamist school eligible to receive
federal grants and accept foreign Muslim students on visas. But before liberals celebrate too
loudly, they should know that Zaytuna was founded by pro-jihadists who hate America and Jews and
want to turn America into an Islamic state.
The Scorching of California
by the Green Radical Left. In the 1970s, coastal elites squelched California's
near-century-long commitment to building dams, reservoirs, and canals, even as the Golden State's
population ballooned. Court-ordered drainage of man-made lakes, meant to restore fish to the
1,100-square-mile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, partly caused central California's reservoir
water to dry up. Not content with preventing construction of new water infrastructure,
environmentalists reverse-engineered existing projects to divert precious water away from agriculture,
privileging the needs of fish over the needs of people. Then they alleged that global warming,
not their own foolish policies, had caused the current crisis.
Two
Planned Parenthood workers who taught high school sex-ed, revealed to be sex-toy instructor and
'pleasure activist'. Parents with students at one California high school recently
learned that two Planned Parenthood employees who taught their impressionable children sex education
also held down some controversial side jobs. One of the sex-ed instructors at Acalanes Union High
School in Lafayette also taught a class on sex toys at a nearby shop while the other identified herself
as a 'pleasure activist' on her now-deleted Twitter profile. The job history of the two teachers
was revealed after parents learned about the school's partnership with Planned Parenthood and demanded
the curriculum be changed.
Common
Core Follies: California report cards to include grades for 'grit', 'gratitude', 'sensitivity to
others'. The entire state of California pubic education system is to begin grading
students on matters a teacher cannot possibly know or evaluate objectively. In a sign of descent
into full indoctrination camp mode, the Common Cores standards adopted by the state are calling on
teachers to grade students on their "grit, gratitude, and sensitivity to others."
Rapper
Tiny Doo facing long prison sentence over lyrics. Song lyrics that glorify violence
are hardly uncommon. But a prosecutor in California says one rapper's violent lyrics go beyond
creative license to conspiracy. San Diego-based rapper Tiny Doo has already spent eight months in
prison, and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted under a little-known California statute
that makes it illegal to benefit from gang activities.
The Editor says...
Is it not true that every television news show in Los Angeles and Oakland and San Diego features occasional
stories about gang activity? Do those TV stations therefore benefit from gang activities?
California
bars judges from belonging to Boy Scouts. California's Supreme Court voted Friday to
prohibit state judges from belonging to the Boy Scouts on grounds that the group discriminates
against gays. The court said its seven justices unanimously voted to heed a recommendation by its
ethics advisory committee barring judges' affiliation with the organization. In 1996 the state
Supreme Court banned judges from belonging to groups that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation,
but made an exception for nonprofit youth organizations.
California health care
on suicide watch. California, thanks to Obamacare and its exchange, Covered California, has
no one to blame but itself. The state is imposing costly rules and regulations on the health
care system, causing a death spiral in health care delivery.
Gender-neutral
single-stall restrooms now required in West Hollywood. West Hollywood law requiring
all single-stall restrooms in businesses and public places to be gender-neutral will go into effect
this week. The law, which will have no impact on multiple-stall restrooms, mandates that any
facility designed for use by no more than one person not be restricted to a specific sex or gender
identity by signage, design or installation of fixtures.
Police
stop pursuing nearly 79,000 fugitives. Nationwide, police and prosecutors quietly told
the FBI they had abandoned their pursuit of nearly 79,000 accused felons during the past year and a
half, a USA TODAY investigation found. They have given up chasing people charged with armed robbery
and raping children, usually without informing their victims. Police in one county in California
reported they would no longer pursue three of their most-wanted fugitives and a man charged with a
murder for which prosecutors have sought the death penalty.
California
pushes to expand immigrant health care. President Barack Obama's executive order to
spare some immigrants from deportation has galvanized Democrats, immigration groups and health care
advocates in California to push for expanding health coverage to a segment of the population that
remains uninsured.
California
bill would require retailers, restaurants to pay their employees double on holidays. A
California lawmaker said she will introduce a bill that would double the pay of employees who work
over Thanksgiving and Christmas. "I've watched how the retailers and restaurateurs continue to
expand their hours and open up on these holidays that are traditionally family holidays," Assemblywoman
Lorena Gonzalez told the Sacramento Bee. "What people are being called in to do now is a real slap
in the face of family values, frankly."
Opposing viewpoint: Why I Don't
Mind Working Retail Thanksgiving Day. For the last two or three years, people have
been complaining about Black Friday starting earlier and earlier and claim to feel badly for poor
oppressed retail workers who have to work on Thanksgiving Day rather than spend it with their
families. So here's my take, as an actual retail employee who does work on Thanksgiving.
Obama
is not doing enough to wreck the country. I believe that the economy can potentially
absorb five million additional gardeners and nannies. The challenge will be to create a corresponding
number of rich young liberals to hire them. I was relieved to hear that California Governor Edmund
Gerald "Jerry" "Moonbeam" Brown, Jr., who has welcomed all five million amnesty recipients to his state,
has proposed a new Middle Class tax that will subsidize wealthy left-wing yuppies to bridge the gap between
a livable wage for illegal immigrants and that which liberals are willing to pay them. Brown sees this
as a first step in his campaign to become the Democratic Party's candidate for President of Mexico in 2016.
California
Orders Churches To Fund Abortions — Or Else. For the past four years, the
Obama administration and its friends on the Left were careful to claim that they still strongly
support religious liberty while arguing that Hobby Lobby's Green family, Conestoga Wood Specialties'
Hahn family, and others like them must lose. Principally, they contended, religious liberty
protections could not be applied to Hobby Lobby because (1) It is a for-profit corporation,
(2) It isn't a church (and thus not a true "religious employer," and (3) It is wrong on the
science — Plan B, a copper intrauterine device, et cetera, they claimed, do not cause
abortions. They implied, if not claimed outright, that they would surely support religious freedom
in another case, but Hobby Lobby was unworthy to claim its protections. The State of California
is now calling their bluff.
California's
next big political fight: Plastic grocery bags. Go to a grocery store in California
and buy all the milk, eggs and vegetables you want. But there's one thing you won't find at the
checkout line, beginning July 1, 2015: Plastic bags to carry your stuff home. Gov. Jerry Brown
(D) on Tuesday signed into law a ban on single-use plastic bags, making California the first state
to prohibit stores from using the ubiquitous carry-alls. Shoppers will be charged 10 cents
for every paper bag and heavy-duty plastic bag they use.
California's
Plastic Bag Ban And A State's Death Wish. California, as is its wont, enacted another
bunch of silly laws this week, topped by a ban on the plastic bags that we all find so handy. [...]
Nobody likes a "torrent of plastic polluting our beaches, parks and even the vast ocean itself," as
Brown says. Yet plastic bags still end up where they shouldn't be. The answer, however, isn't to
ban the bags, which people use not only for groceries but for everything from toting lunches to
picking up pet droppings. The solution is to penalize those who foul the commons, not just with
plastic bags but with all kinds of other litter. Californians actually may be worse off with the
ban. It could, for example, actually make people sick, since the reusable bags that shoppers are
being urged to switch to can harbor food-borne illnesses.
California
Voters to Decide on Sending Fewer Criminals to Prison. California voters appear poised
to scale back the heavy reliance on incarceration they once embraced, with a measure that would
transform several lower-level, nonviolent felonies into misdemeanors punishable by brief jail stays,
if that, rather than time in a state penitentiary. The referendum on Nov. 4 is part of a
national reappraisal of mass incarceration.
California
becomes first state to ban plastic bags. Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed
legislation imposing the nation's first statewide ban on single-use plastic bags, driven to action
by a buildup of litter and damage to aquatic ecosystems.
California
Gives $3 Million to Groups Providing Free Legal Aid to Illegal Aliens. California Gov.
Jerry Brown is channeling the "progressive spirit" of California in his latest act as governor.
Turns out he just signed a bill that would give $3 million in grants to non-profits that would offer
unaccompanied alien minors legal counsel- which is $1 million more than what the federal government
planned to give in grants nationwide.
Why not $20 an hour? Or $50? Los
Angeles approves $15.37 minimum wage for hotel workers. The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday [9/24/2014]
to raise the minimum wage for hotel workers to $15.37, one of the highest wage requirements in the country. Hotel workers
in yellow shirts packed City Hall as the council voted 12 to 3 to approve the measure, which will go into effect for
hotels with at least 300 rooms beginning in July. Hotels with 150 rooms or more will have to meet the wage
requirement a year later.
Brown signs package of bills to encourage
voting. Months after statewide voter turnout hit a historic low of 25% in this year's primary election, Gov. Jerry Brown on
Friday [9/26/2014] signed eight bills aimed at getting more Californians to participate in the political process. He also signed
dozens of other bills Friday — a hodgepodge that included new rights for gay and transgender Californians, a requirement
that state prisons expand the availability of condoms to inmates and measures that promote the "farm to fork" movement to increase
consumer access to fresh food.
Jerry
Brown at UN Climate Change Summit: 'Carbon Pollution Kills!' Arriving in NYC aboard the People's Climate Train,
which travelled across the country from Emeryville California, Sister Ayya Santussika, a Buddhist nun, said that climate change
is a "moral issue" and affects everyone of us. [...] Gov. Brown signed some bills on Sunday [9/21/2014] that mandates an increase
in the amount of electric cars for California, reduces the time it takes to get rooftop solar panel permits, and establishes new
regulations to restrict atmospheric pollutants.
The Editor says...
Carbon dioxide is not carbon, for the same reason that water is not hydrogen. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
supports life. It is not a threat. It is not pollution.
"What do you call a man who claims voters' choices have no place in government?" Brown's
Final Nail In Prop. 187 Is Really A Blow To California's Voters. [I]n 1994, millions
of California's voters, by a margin of 59% to 41%, voted in favor of denying "free" welfare,
education and other benefits to illegal immigrants on the clear logic that a burglar who breaks into
someone else's home doesn't have the right to eat the owner's food. It was a legitimate decision
for a people to make, given that in any democratic system, the participants have the right to
control the purse. But [Governor] Brown's statements and those of his political allies, including
those in the press, suggest an imperial contempt for the will of California's voters.
Pension
'spiking' to cost CalPERS nearly $800 million, controller says. Taxpayers and local
governments are on the hook to pay nearly $800 million stemming from "legal" pension spiking over
the next two decades, the state controller said Tuesday [9/9/2014]. The price tag came as Controller John
Chiang issued a new audit of the California Public Employees' Retirement System. The audit of 11
state and local government agencies found no illegal pension spiking but concluded that the country's
largest public retirement fund makes itself vulnerable to the practice by not aggressively reviewing
its 3,100 member agencies' payroll records.
Nearly
1 in 10 California workers are here illegally, study finds. A report released Wednesday [9/3/2014] by
researchers at USC found that immigrants who are in California illegally make up nearly 10% of the state's workforce
and contribute $130 billion annually to its gross domestic product. The study, which was conducted in
conjunction with the California Immigrant Policy Center, was based on census data and other statistics, including
data from the Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security. It looked at a variety of ways the
estimated 2.6 million immigrants living in California without permission participate in state life.
California
Rep. On Drought: Democrats Believe 'Fish Are More Important Than People'. Rep. David
Valadao (R-Bakersfield) lashed out at Democrats, including congressional opponent Amanda Renteria,
on California's urgent drought problem, saying Democrat policies will fail to provide relief for
millions of Central Valley residents living with severe water shortages. [...] Valadao is not the
only one in the district blasting the allocation of water resources. Area farmers are angry after
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation began releasing 25,000 acre-feet of water from Northern California's
Trinity Lake to help protect the native salmon population on Saturday [8/30/2014], even as farmers have
repeatedly asked for more water to help grow food.
CA
Lawmakers Aim To Ban English Only Instruction in Public Schools. On Tuesday [8/26/2014], a few
hours after Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto said that Illegal Aliens deserve justice in the USA
and Gov. Jerry Brown welcomed all illegal immigrants to California, lawmakers in Sacramento passed a
proposed ballot measure seeking to dismantle the English-only mandate for public schools and
increase multilingual education programs.
Liberals love freedom of expression — until they disagree with it. CA Looks To Ban
Confederate Flag. A bill sits on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk to ban California from
displaying or selling the Confederate flag or objects with images of it. The state's Legislature
passed the bill nearly unanimously last week. Assemblyman Isadore Hall III, D-Compton, introduced
the legislation after his mother discovered the Capitol gift shop sold a replica of Confederate money
that contained a picture of the flag, according to the L.A. Times. The lone dissenting vote among
the 67 cast was from former California GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly of Twin Peaks.
He argued the bill would infringe on free speech.
Gov.
Jerry Brown To Mexican Illegals: 'You're All Welcome In California. On Monday evening [8/25/2014], California Governor Jerry
Brown said all Mexicans, including illegal immigrants, are welcome in California. According to the Los Angeles Times, while introducing
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who said America is "the other Mexico," Brown "spoke about the interwoven histories of Mexico and
California." He "nodded to the immigrants in the room, saying it didn't matter if they had permission to be in the United States."
"You're all welcome in California," Brown reportedly said.
Another
Dumb Idea From Los Angeles. The city of Los Angeles is considering paying voters to
encourage turnout. Needless to say, it's a ridiculous idea that will reward low-information voting,
foster political demagogues and breed corruption.
California
AG Kamala Harris to appeal ruling against death penalty. A federal judge's "flawed"
decision declaring California's enforcement of the death penalty unconstitutional will be appealed,
state Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris announced Thursday [8/21/2014]. Harris will ask the U.S.
9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn last month's ruling by U.S. District Judge Cormac J.
Carney, who said decades-long delays and uncertainty about whether inmates will be executed violated the
Constitution's ban on cruel or unusual punishment. Harris personally opposes the death penalty but
promised voters she would enforce it.
CA
Supreme Court Rejects Dems' Anti-'Citizens United' Ballot Measure. On Monday
[8/11/2014], the California Supreme Court blocked an "advisory" ballot measure that Democrats had
hoped to include on the November ballot, with a view to increasing turnout among apathetic voters.
The non-binding measure, Proposition 49, asked voters if they felt the Supreme Court's 2010
Citizens United ruling should be reversed.
Jerry
Brown: Affluent Families Not Producing' Children. Giving what was dubbed the
"California Welcome," Gov. Jerry Brown told attendees at the 31st Annual National Association of
Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Conference in June that affluent families seemed to not be
"producing" children in the state. "I don't know what the affluent families are doing," Brown
said. "They're not producing or something, because half the kids in schools are from low-income families."
The Editor says...
Get a clue, Governor. ALL of the kids in public schools are from low-income families. Anybody with any money
sends their kids to private schools. Like Mr. and Mrs. Obama, for example.
California
Releases Thousands of 'Lifers' from Prison. California continues to stretch the
imaginations of non-liberals. One unthinkable policy is Governor Brown's policy by which thousands
of presumably dangerous prisoners originally sentenced by juries to life sentences in the slammer
are being set free. A Friday [8/8/2014] radio segment on the California Report was downright cheery
about cons being released into local communities. [...] In other words, don't be scared, little
citizens — the murderers and rapists have been taught techniques in anger management.
Is
Big Labor Keeping The L.A. Water Dept. From Replacing Old Pipes? Not an outlandish
question. The water main that broke near UCLA last week was ninety years old, which isn't unusual
here in the City of Angels. The only things more common than fault lines running under this city are
ancient water pipes. It's a situation that even the mayor admits isn't going to get better soon.
As is typical with bureaucracies, the problem is blamed on a lack of money. As is also typical with
bureaucracies, it is really more a problem of prioritization and budgeting than available funds.
Diaper
duty for Calif. taxpayers? Bill would create new welfare program. California is
weighing a first-of-its-kind welfare program that would subsidize diapers for needy families, though
some lawmakers say the plan's a stinker. Assembly Bill 1516, written by Assemblywoman Lorena
Gonzalez, a Democrat from San Diego, would create the taxpayer-backed program within the state's
existing welfare network, called CalWORKs (California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to
Kids). Families that qualify for CalWORKS could be eligible for $80 a month to buy diapers
for children under the age of 2.
One of Obama's big ideas for reforming
health care failed a test in California. "We need to bundle payments so you aren't
paid for every single treatment you offer a patient with a chronic condition like diabetes, but
instead paid well for how you treat the overall disease," Obama told the crowd of physicians.
Obama was articulating what would become one of the key payment reforms in his health care
law — a proposal aimed at giving incentives to providers to control costs by rewarding
them for providing less expensive care. But a study published in the journal Health Affairs
looked at an ambitious three-year pilot program of bundled payments in California that was funded by a
$2.9 million grant from Obama's 2009 economic stimulus package — and found that
the program was such a massive failure, it could hardly get off the ground.
Health premiums
soared, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones says. The cost of health insurance for
individuals skyrocketed this year in California, with some paying almost twice what they did last
year, the state's insurance commissioner said. But Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones predicted
that insurers will ease up in the coming year to prevent California voters from approving tough new
rate controls on the November statewide ballot as Proposition 45. Insurers and opponents of
Proposition 45 dismissed Jones' comments as misleading and politically motivated.
The Editor resorts to mocking derision:
That's brilliant! As long as they're at it, why not limit the price of gasoline to a dollar per gallon?
Divided
they stand? Billionaire in push to carve up California into six states. A billionaire
tech investor says he has enough backing to put on the ballot a plan to split California into six
states. Timothy Draper, a venture capitalist founder of a Silicon Valley-based venture capital
firm that has invested in such tech companies as Twitter, HotMail, Skype and Tesla, told Reuters he
has the 808,000 signatures needed on a petition to force the measure onto a public referendum in
November 2016.
Almonds
Are Sucking the Life Out of California. The new California gold rush is a bit, well,
nutty: According to USDA predictions reported Monday [7/14/2014], farmers will harvest a record 2.1 billion
pounds of almonds this year. That's great news for almond-lovers, but not-so-great news for California,
which produces 80 percent of the world's almonds. A single almond requires 1.1 gallons of water
to produce, and seeing as the state is currently in the middle of a devastating drought, that's water farmers have to
drill deep for — 2,500 feet deep, in fact.
California
Removes 'Husband' and 'Wife' from California Marriage Law. One word can make all the
difference when it comes to definitions. Exhibit A: exchange the words "husband and wife" for a more
inclusive term, and you have the phrase "I now pronounce you spouses." In the state of California,
they are paying special attention to keep their vernacular as progressive as possible. Governor
Jerry Brown (D) signed a bill Monday [7/7/2014] to formally make marriage gender-neutral to reflect the state's
allowance of same-sex unions.
California's Hydromania.
We had a wonderful water storage system for 23 million people in 1980. But it proved completely
inadequate for the 40 million plus of 2014, who assumed household and drinking water, irrigation supplies,
and clean hydroelectric power came out of thin air.
Well drilling
boom in the West. Erected on the edge of hundreds of acres of crops in Kern County,
Calif., crews are currently working around the clock on a massive well. At first glance, you may
think they're drilling for oil. But this project is digging for something of a different value.
Third generation farmer Devon Yurosek and his family have invested heavily in the two thousand foot
water well on their farmland. In the midst of the worst drought in California's history, the
Yuroseks need water to help grow pistachios, pomegranates and cherries. Their well is just one of
a number popping up throughout the area.
Californians
Keep Up With Joneses' Water Use. In five months since the drought emergency was
declared, Californians have cut their water consumption only 5 percent compared with recent years,
according to state officials — a far cry from the 20 percent that Gov. Jerry Brown called
for in January. So, faced with apparent indifference to stern warnings from state leaders and
media alarms, cities across California have encouraged residents to tattle on their neighbors for
wasting water — and the residents have responded in droves. Sacramento, for instance,
has received more than 6,000 reports of water waste this year, up twentyfold from last year.
Advocates
of splitting California into six states gathering signatures. Advocates for Six
Californias, a plan to split the Golden State into a half dozen separate states, are holding a
petition drive this weekend to get their plan on the ballot in 2016. The idea is the brainchild
of Timothy Draper, a venture capitalist from Menlo Park — or as he hopes to some day
call it, the state of Silicon Valley. Draper has sunk $2 million into signature
gathering for the proposal.
Vergara
Case Is California's Education Earthquake. [Scroll down] Teachers gain lifetime tenure after
just 18 months, before their training is even done. It's almost impossible to dismiss them, no
matter what their transgressions — perversion, drug dealing, child pornography, sexual
assault, you name it. The regulations are so cumbersome, it's impossible to fire anyone.
There's also a layoff system that ensures that seniority trumps performance, resulting in top-performing
teachers being laid off over under-performing deadwood who've just been on the job longer. It's a
Mafia-like protection racket for the worst of the worst.
CA
Legislators Are Highest Paid in USA. Stateline's data, which indicated California legislators are
averaging a base salary of $90,526 per year, is a few months old, and that base salary will be raised to $95,291 in
December as a result of a decision last year by the California Citizens Compensation Commission. The Commission
is also considering a further raise. In addition, the legislators receive an additional tax-free "per diem"
of $141.86 per day every day the Legislature is in session. The closest average salary to the California legislators
is in Pennsylvania, where the average salary is $84,012.
Environmentalists
Cheer California's Latest Plan to Sink Its Economy. Environmentalists are gleeful at
the news reported last week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration that the amount of
recoverable oil from California's Monterey Shale formation — predicted to be the
nation's largest reserve of oil — is a whopping 96-percent below original production
estimates. In response, more than 100 environmental groups signed a letter to the California
Legislature calling for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and other "stimulation" techniques
that ultimately would be needed to develop this oil field. They say the new estimates are
"undercutting the misguided rationale" for allowing fracking before more studies are done.
Vergara
v. California: The Most Important Court Case You've Never Heard Of. This school year,
parents learned a tough lesson: The only force on behalf of the public interest is an interested
public. And sometimes the students show us the way. Nine public school children have been
courageously taking on the government in California, where their right to a sound education is rooted in
the Constitution. A judge's decision is expected soon, and their lawsuit is being watched closely in
education circles.
California
takes first step toward curtailing water rights. Some farmers and community water districts in drought-hit
California could soon face limits on their ability to use water from strained streams that flow into the Sacramento River.
The California Water Resources Control Board adopted regulations on Wednesday to limit water use during summer months, the driest
season and the time of year when farmers are most likely to need water to irrigate their crops.
Southern
California City May Drop Lawsuit Against Sriracha Sauce Maker. The mayor of Irwindale
said he will ask the City Council to drop the public-nuisance order and lawsuit against the maker
of Sriracha hot sauce, possibly bringing the months-long conflict to an end. The move comes after
members of Gov. Jerry Brown's office visited the sauce factory.
The Editor says...
The factory had been recently visited by elected officials from Texas who were actively trying to lure the
factory away from California. That would be a really good reason to drop the lawsuit.
Sriracha
CEO Compares California to Communist Vietnam. David Tran is the founder and CEO of
Huy Fong Foods, the maker of the famously tasty Sriracha hot sauce. Grappling for months with
regulators and politicians in southern California about the spicy scents that his factory emits,
Tran recently compared meddlesome government to that of a communist country. It might sound
hyperbolic, but he does know a thing or two about living under the nightmarish bureaucracy of a red
utopia. NPR explains that Tran "escaped" Socialist Republic of Vietnam and "its many intrusions"
three decades ago to start a new life in The Land of the Free.
In California we don't trust. It
may come as little surprise that Californians are not very trusting of their state government. After all,
Californians have had to deal with more than our fair share of budget crises, tax increases, corruption, mismanaged
agencies and boondoggle projects. Given that California residents have been conditioned for many years to
accept this as the normal state of affairs, it may astound some of us to learn that most other state governments
have earned far greater levels of trust from their citizens.
Atheists
win prayer battle against California city council. Atheists who complained about pre-meeting
prayers conducted by members of the Pismo Beach City Council in California can now claim a win.
Council members say they're going to stop saying prayers at public meetings and that the volunteer
chaplain will no longer be invited to give the opening invocations, The Blaze reported. They've
also agreed to pay a symbolic settlement of $1 to each of the the two plaintiffs — and
another $47,500 to cover the two plaintiffs' legal fees.
Calif. moves to ban judges affiliated with Boy Scouts.
California is proposing to ban members of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) from serving as judges because the Boy
Scouts do not allow gay troop leaders, The Daily Caller has learned. In a move with major legal implications,
The California Supreme Court Advisory Committee on The Code of Judicial Ethics has proposed to classify the Boy
Scouts as practicing "invidious discrimination" against gays, which would end the group's exemption to
anti-discriminatory ethics rules and would prohibit judges from being affiliated with the group.
Two Dems Accuse Party Leaders in CA-33 of Changing Rules
to Favor Wealthy Insiders. Two Democratic Party candidates in the primary race for
California's 33rd congressional district in West Los Angeles have accused local party officials of
using an arbitrary fundraising minimum to favor established insiders — then raising that
minimum at the last moment to exclude them from a recent candidates' forum.
California
Unemployment Holds Steady at Dismal 8.1%. In March, according to the Los Angeles Times, the rate
was 8.1%. In February, it was exactly the same. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the state
only added 11,800 net new jobs in March, many of them in construction, government, education, and health
services. [...] While California remained miserable, unemployment rates in 17 other states rose.
Drought-stricken
Calif. farmers to get more water. Drought-stricken California farmers and cities are set to get more
water as state and federal officials ease water cutbacks due to recent rain and snow, officials announced on Friday [4/18/2014].
Asians Derail
Affirmative Action In California. The express train hurtling to return racial preference
admissions to California — in the form of State Constitutional Amendment 5, which if
placed on the ballot and approved by voters would have overturned Prop. 209 — has just been
derailed by an outburst of opposition from Asian Americans. The eruption of opposition caught SCA 5's
Democratic sponsors by surprise and caused a crucial three Asian American senators to withdraw their support,
depriving the measure of the two thirds senate majority required to place an initiative on the ballot.
Racial
spoils system starting to fall apart in California. California's ruling Democrats are in danger of splintering
their coalition over an attempt to re-introduce affirmative action, which has been banned ever since the passage of
Proposition 209 in 1996, which banned the use of racial preferences by the state, including in higher education.
California
Democrats Await Fallout After 3 Are Caught Up in Scandals. One state senator was charged with
conspiring to traffic in arms from the Philippines, and taking bribes from undercover F.B.I. agents including
one who posed as a marijuana dealer. Another was accused of taking bribes from federal agents impersonating
Hollywood film executives. And a third was convicted of perjury and voter fraud after lying about where he
lived when he ran for office. All three are Democratic state senators from California, and their recent
legal problems have brought rare bad news to a party that has come to thoroughly dominate politics in this state
but now looks besieged by high-profile corruption cases.
Why
did 287,000-plus Californians vote for Leland Yee? One of the odder stats of Election
Night: As of Wednesday morning, 287,590 Californians had cast ballots for indicted state Sen.
Leland Yee for secretary of state. That's good for nearly 10 percent of the vote. That's also
more votes than five other secretary of state candidates who haven't been indicted received.
The poster boy for liberal hypocrisy ignored by national media, but
outrages San Francisco. The liberal media are trying to ignore his arrest, but California State
Senator Leland Yee is such an amusing piñata of liberal hypocrisy that even his home town liberal newspaper
is joining in the mockery fun. [...] Outlets like CNN which ignore this embarrassment to liberals do so
at their peril.
Corruption
Costs Dems Their Supermajority in California. Two years ago, California Democrats celebrated victory
in a decades-long struggle to win a supermajority in the Legislature, where a two-thirds majority is required for
any tax increase. It was the latest chapter in a long descent into inconsequence by California Republicans,
who hold no statewide offices and party registration of only 29.3 percent of the voters. But corruption
has achieved what the Republicans could not. The supermajority is now down the drain as three of the Golden
State's 27 Democratic state senators have within the past two months been convicted or indicted on charges ranging
from bribery to gun-running.
Gov.
Jerry Brown calls for Democratic senators to resign. Gov. Jerry Brown called on three
scandal-plagued state senators to resign on Friday, speaking out for the first time on a series of
criminal cases that have sapped Democrats' power in the Capitol and tarnished the Legislature's image.
California
Dems Worried Their Corruption Scandals Will Benefit GOP. The unethical and illegal behavior of
Democratic state senators in California, where Democrats have total control of the state legislature, is giving
the state's Democratic Party concerns that the GOP may use the misbehavior to regain power. Since the
beginning of 2014, every month has featured a Democratic state senator either being arrested or convicted.
The latest arrest came Wednesday, as Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco was arrested on federal corruption charges.
California state
senator Leland Yee arrested in FBI sweep. A longtime California politician who was praised for his efforts to
make government more transparent and authored gun control legislation was arrested Wednesday, accused of conspiracy to deal
firearms and wire fraud. The allegations against State Sen. Leland Yee were outlined in an FBI affidavit in support
of a criminal complaint against him and 25 other people. The affidavit was unsealed on Wednesday, as Yee was
scheduled to appear in court.
California state senator
arrested in FBI sweep. A prominent California lawmaker was arrested on Wednesday in an FBI sweep that netted
26 people, a high-profile case that could affect statewide elections and brings to three the number of Democratic
state senators who face criminal charges this year.
California Seeks to Redefine Consensual Campus Sex as Rape.
In endorsing a bill in the California legislature that would require "affirmative consent" before sex can occur on campus,
the editorial boards of the Sacramento and Fresno Bee and the Daily Californian advocated that sex be treated as "sexual
assault" unless the participants discuss it "out loud" before sex, and "demonstrate they obtained verbal 'affirmative consent'
before engaging in sexual activity." [...] Defining sex as rape merely because there was no verbal discussion in advance
trivializes rape and brands innocent people as rapists (including some people who themselves have been sexually victimized
in the past). Disturbingly, it's not just sex they want to regulate, but also "sexual activity" in general.
Gas Prices May Jump From California
Emissions Law. California's greenhouse gas reduction law already has shaken up the state's industrial sector, costing it
more than $1.5 billion in pollution permit fees.
Grieving
California mom takes down cross on road after group's protest, more appear. A grieving California mom who, under pressure
from an atheist group, went to the site where her son was killed to remove a memorial cross was met at the scene by a throng of supporters
who planted crosses of their own. "They said they have to take that one down," Doug Johnson, a Riverside resident who traveled to
the site with his daughter and six home-made crosses, told The Riverside Press-Enterprise. "But they didn't say anything
about putting another one up."
California's Drought Isn't
Due To Global Warming, But Politics. President Obama visited California's drought-hit Central Valley Friday, offering handouts and blaming global
warming. But the state's water shortage is due to the left's refusal to deal with the state's water needs.
California auto buyers favor Toyota Prius; rest of U.S.
prefers trucks. Toyota's Prius was the best-selling vehicle in the state for the second consecutive year in 2013, highlighting California's
radically different taste in automobiles. Nationally, Ford's F-Series truck has been the bestselling vehicle for more than three decades.
The Prius ranked 16th in sales nationally.
Court overturns restrictions on concealed guns in much
of California. In a significant victory for gun owners, a divided federal appeals court Thursday [2/13/2014] struck down California
rules that permit counties to restrict as they see fit the right to carry a concealed weapon in public. The 2-1 ruling by a U.S. 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals panel would overturn restrictions on carrying concealed handguns, primarily affecting California's most populated regions, including
Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and San Francisco.
Parched
California's Worst Water Enemy: Its Governor. California Gov. Jerry Brown has blasted as "unwelcome and divisive" a desperately
needed drought-relief bill in Congress that will likely win in the House soon. That's rich coming from a man who's done nothing.
Kiddie Porn Does Not Count as "Moral
Turpitude" to S.F. Govt. A former high-ranking San Francisco government employee convicted of felony possession of child pornography
will continue to receive his government pension because, according to city regulations, evidence of "moral turpitude" is required to revoke a pension
yet viewing violent kiddie porn does not qualify as moral turpitude.
Caltrans accused of trying to
hide Bay Bridge problems. A Caltrans engineer and an outside expert working on the Bay Bridge eastern span accused agency officials
of discounting warnings about cracked welds on the bridge, and telling them not to put their concerns in writing to keep them from becoming public,
according to a report commissioned for a state Senate committee.
California Agency Plans 'Green' Car Vouchers for the
Poor. One longtime critic of federal transportation spending once concluded that it would be less expensive for the government to buy
every new transit rider a Jaguar XJ8 than it would be to build certain new rail systems. Unfortunately, California officials may not have
realized that the idea of buying people new cars wasn't a serious proposal as much as a way to illustrate a point about excessive spending.
California Adopts Failed
Venezuelan Model Of Energy Management. In California, energy officials warn that the state and others like it face a catastrophic collapse
of its power grid due to the many green energy schemes that have made managing energy flow difficult. "Energy officials worry a lot these days
about the stability of the massive patchwork of wires, substations and algorithms that keep electricity flowing," reported Evan Halpert in Tuesday's
[12/03/2013] Los Angeles Times, citing wind, solar and geothermal energy coming online. At a minimum, higher costs would be a certainty as
officials attempt to mitigate the effects of their own green energy policies, if not a total grid collapse.
Slow Motion Gun Confiscation in California. California
has established gun confiscation squads that move through California confiscating guns that were registered. As predicted in the
essay "Gun Registration is Gun Confiscation" written in 2000, gun confiscation is not being implemented in massive door to door
searches, though such confiscations have happened in recent history, such as in the Philippines in 1972, and even during a flood
in Canada this year (2013).
Do single-family homes
threaten the planet? A plan to squeeze most residents of the San Francisco Bay Area into multifamily housing offers a
test case of whether land-use bureaucracies nationwide, encouraged by the Obama administration, should be allowed to transform
American lifestyles under the pretext of combating climate change. Currently, 56 percent of households in the nine-county
Bay Area live in single-family homes. That number would drop to 48 percent by 2030, under a high-density development blueprint
called Plan Bay Area, recently enacted by the Association of Bay Area Governments and the region's Metropolitan Transportation
Commission.
California's alternative-energy program under scrutiny.
California is spending nearly $15 million to build 10 hydrogen fueling stations, even though just 227 hydrogen-powered vehicles exist in the state
today. It's a hefty bet on the future, given that government officials have been trying for nine years, with little success, to get automakers to
build more hydrogen cars. The project is part of a sprawling but little-known state program that packs a powerful financial punch: It spent
$1.6 billion last year on a myriad of energy-efficiency and alternative-energy projects.
California's Brown Signs Bill Permitting Non-Physician
Abortions. The legislation, which had been pushed vigorously by Planned Parenthood, had been strongly opposed by pro-life groups and some physicians, arguing that it amounted
to legalizing back-alley abortions for profit.
Brown signs bill to allow children more than two legal parents.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday that will allow children in California to have more than two legal parents, a measure opposed by some conservative
groups as an attack on the traditional family. Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) said he authored the measure to address the changes in family structure in
California, including situations in which same-sex couples have a child with an opposite-sex biological parent.
Brown vetoes bill to allow non-citizens on juries.
Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would have made California the first state in the nation to allow non-citizens who are in the country legally to serve on jury duty.
Jerry
Brown: Illegal Immigrant Driver's Licenses [are] 'Only the First Step'. It's been a whirlwind month for Gov. Jerry Brown — four
weeks in which the California chief executive's desk saw an anti-paparazzi bill and a bill to allow non-physicians to perform abortions, and he
himself lofty praise in Rolling Stone. The latest bill to pass his desk, granting illegal immigrants the ability to apply for driver's
licenses in the state, is "only the first step" of a national movement, the governor told a crowd yesterday [10/2/2013].
Gov. Brown signs
another bill easing conditions for immigrants. Law enforcement officials in California who arrest immigrants in the country illegally
will be prohibited from detaining them for transfer to federal authorities unless they committed a serious crime under one of several bills signed
Saturday by Gov. Jerry Brown to ease conditions for immigrants.
California grants driver's licenses to
illegal immigrants. California's governor signed a bill Thursday [10/3/2013] granting illegal immigrants driver's licenses, in a decision
immigrant rights groups hailed as a major step forward for their movement. The country's largest state becomes the latest to reverse course and
grant legal driving privileges to illegal immigrants.
For
California's Illegal Immigrants, a Great Week. On September 4, in a shocking vote to undermine
safety and to erode federal immigration law enforcement, the California Assembly passed AB 4, the
so-called TRUST Act. AB 4 would prohibit state and local police from honoring U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement detainers in all but the most extreme cases. An ICE detainer advises a state
or local law enforcement agency that it seeks custody of a criminal alien for arrest and removal.
However, when ordered by the state to ignore ICE detainers, local jails must release criminals back onto
the street where they can continue their lives of crime.
Don't tell mom the babysitter's unionized.
If Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has his way, your babysitter soon could join a union and cost you a lot more. The San Francisco Democrat has authored
several domestic-worker unionization bills that have been vetoed by California governors. Now he's back with Assembly Bill 241, which just
passed both houses of the Legislature and is awaiting a signature or veto from Gov. Jerry Brown.
California passes 'job killer' increase
in minimum wage to $10. While the Economic Policy Institute estimates that the wage increase will affect more than 2.3 million California
workers, groups like the California Chamber of Commerce opposed the bill, calling it a "job killer" that will drive up business costs "worse than any predicted
rate of inflation increase."
Ice cream parlor permit hassles
chilling. Tuesday is inspection day for building owner John Vicars. He's got a commercial property on College Avenue, right
in the heart of Oakland's busiest shopping district. His quest is simple: to see an ice cream parlor opened on the ground floor of
the building. But his journey has been a regulatory nightmare. It's taken him nine months to prepare 1,700 square feet of retail
space to the city's satisfaction — at least to where they were satisfied enough to actually come out to inspect it.
California Raises Minimum Wage to $10 an
Hour. The California legislature has passed a bill that will raise the state's minimum wage to $10 an hour within three years, giving
California one of the highest state minimum wage rates in America.
California Legislature OKs minimum wage
boost. A bill that would boost California's minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016 won approval by the state Legislature on Thursday [9/12/2013]
and was sent to Gov. Jerry Brown, who said he would sign it. The measure would raise the current $8 minimum wage to $9 an hour next July 1
and to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016.
CA Mulls
Allowing Non-Citizens to Work Polling Stations as Translators. The State of California is seriously considering allowing non-citizens
work at polls throughout the state during elections. The Sacramento Bee reported weeks ago that the California Legislature has passed
a bill that would let non-citizens who are "lawful permanent residents who meet all the other requirements for being eligible to vote except for
citizenship" work at the polls.
California
poised to implement first electronic license plates. The idea is that rather than have a static piece of printed metal adorned with
stickers to display proper registration, the plate would be a screen that could wirelessly (likely over a mobile data network) receive updates from
a central server to display that same information. In an example shown by a South Carolina vendor, messages such as "STOLEN," "EXPIRED," or
something similar could also be displayed on a license plate.
The Editor says...
It sure is comforting to know that such a system could never be hacked by some guy with a laptop and a transmitter to make the
plates display offensive words, or somebody else's license plate number. Why would somebody do that? Because license plate
readers are the only means of toll collection on many highways. Bank robbers would love to be able to change the plate number every
half mile. Once again, the California legislature has come up with a brilliant idea that has been carefully thought out.
America the Trivial. At the end of two years of
near-record drought in California, the fate of hundreds of thousands of acres of irrigated farmlands, which feed millions of Americans and earn billions of
dollars in critical foreign exchange, hinges on a snow-filled winter in the Sierra Nevada. You might never know of that razor's edge from the state
legislature. Rather than discussing new dams and canals, it debated whether transgendered youth in public schools could use the bathrooms of their
choice and whether residents should need a permit to buy ammunition.
California
insurance commissioner: We could "have a real disaster on our hands" with identify theft, fraud, and abuse. California rushed
headlong into the implementation of ObamaCare, eager to be the first model state to show off the many wonderful ways in which the law was
ostensibly meant to work. [...] Besides the very glaring problems of sharply higher insurance premiums and major insurers fleeing the
individual insurance market for via-employer insurance only, their "Covered California" exchange's administrators are realizing that
there's another predicament in the works.
Fraud fear raised in California's health exchange. As California
prepares to launch its health care exchange, consumer groups are worried the uninsured could fall victim to fraud, identity theft or other
crimes at the hands of some of the very people who are supposed to help them enroll.
Delta Project:
California's Latest Environmental Boondoggle. Judges have routinely stopped the water flows out of the Delta toward the dry but
agriculturally rich San Joaquin Valley and toward Southern California's massive metropolises, to help a tiny endangered baitfish known as the
Delta Smelt. The smelt is viewed as the canary in a coal mine, a bellwether for the ecological health of the waterways. Millions
of smelt are killed each year as they get caught in the giant pumps near Tracy, near the south end of the Delta. Environmentalists also express
concerns about the level of saltwater that moves inland from the Pacific Ocean.
California Board Seeks to Ban
Iconic Beach Firepits. California's South Coast Air Quality Management District is proposing to give cities the authority to outlaw fire
pits within their jurisdictions if they find the fires are nuisances. The proposal jeopardizes one of the iconic images of California's surfer
culture, where surfers often end the day around a fire pit on the beach. The government proposal reflects American Lung Association opposition
to beach fires, claiming they release too much air pollution.
Fracturing in California. Few issues divide
Democrats more than energy policy, as we've learned as unions and environmentalists fight over the Keystone XL pipeline. More evidence now comes
from California, where greens have lost an attempt to ban oil and gas hydraulic fracturing. Democratic leaders brought their fracking moratorium
bill to the Assembly floor last week, and their rank and file revolted. The bill lost 37-24, with 12 Democrats joining 25 Republicans
to defeat it.
California bill would fine big firms
whose workers get Medi-Cal. For years, politicians and labor unions have pilloried Wal-Mart and other large employers for
paying workers so little that many qualify for government health insurance at taxpayers' expense. Now critics fear the public will
get stuck with an even bigger tab as California and other states expand Medicaid as part of the federal healthcare law.
Irvine,
Calif., City Workers Average $143,691 in Total Compensation. Employees of the City of Irvine, Calif., received total
compensation averaging $143,691 in 2012, according to a study published by the California Public Policy Center. Median total
compensation, which means half of the Irvine city employees received less than this amount, and half received more, was $133,782
during 2012.
Calif.
bill would let non-citizens serve on juries. The California Assembly passed a bill on Thursday [4/25/2013] that would make
the state the first in the nation to allow non-citizens who are in the country legally to serve on jury duty.
"Three-strike"
lifers get a second chance in Calif. prisons. California prisons are so overcrowded that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
the conditions amount to cruel and unusual punishment. The state is caught between a tight budget and its "three strikes" law,
which imposes a life sentence after convictions. Last Fall, voters approved a plan to release some of those lifers.
Proposition 36 allows three-strikers to ask judges to let them out early.
California Group Mails Condoms to 12-Year-Olds.
The CFHC [California Family Health Council], a non-profit organization, has set up a website advertising its "Condom Access Project," where teens as young
as 12 years old can receive free condoms in the mail.
To cut STD rate, California considers
condoms in prison. California prisoners have unprotected sexual contact, forced or consensual, even if both are illegal, and this
reality often leads to the spread of HIV and other diseases in prisons and in communities where felons are paroled.
The Editor says...
Apparently the State of California is saying that prison rape is inevitable, so you'd better have a condom on hand.
America's
most dishonest neighborhoods revealed. America's top tax dodging hotspots have been revealed with about a third of fraudsters
in California. Neighborhoods including Beverly Hills and Newport Beach in California, New Carrollton, Maryland and College Park,
Georgia, were among the potential tax evasion clusters targeted for auditing, according to confidential IRS data. They were
identified by the National Taxpayer Advocate using the IRS's confidential tax return data. In all, researchers identified areas of
possible tax cheats in more than 350 communities in 24 states.
CA Crime Skyrockets in Wake of Brown's Prison Release Plan.
In 2011, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law California Assembly Bill 109, a piece of legislation designed to relieve overcrowded prisons in
accordance with a Supreme Court decision. AB 109 enshrined "realignment" into law — a plan to place supposedly "non-violent,
non-serious, and non-sex offenders" in county jails rather than state prisons. In other words, local governments were handed the problem of
prisoners the state didn't want to hold.
California
'Lumber Products Assessment' a tax by any other name. The clowns who frequent Sacramento's seedy bars and whorehouses,
otherwise known as the members of the California State Legislature, have pulled off another midnight raid deep into the pocketbooks of all
Californians. At least street thugs and bank robbers are a one-time occurrence; [...]
To the left, California is now
the model for America. California's dominant Democrats can now raise taxes, float debt and expand government at will.
Republican "obstructionism" forced the state's liberal leaders to control themselves, but that control is over. Every hare-brained
idea will have at a high likelihood of passing. Democrats already are pushing a host of new taxes and proposals that will make it
easier for local officials to raise taxes, also. So the taxing and spending has just begun.
State
auditor: California's net worth at negative $127.2 billion. Were California's state government a business, it would be a
candidate for insolvency with a negative net worth of $127.2 billion, according to an annual financial report issued by State
Auditor Elaine Howle and the Bureau of State Audits. The report, which covers the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, says
that the state's negative status — all of its assets minus all of its liabilities — increased that year, largely
because it spent more than it received in revenue.
California tied with Rhode
Island for highest jobless rate. California's jobless rate was unchanged at 9.8% in January, and that lack of improvement
put the Golden State in a tie with Rhode Island for the worst unemployment in the land.
Golden State's green
jobs bust. President Obama, of course, has completely failed to deliver on this promise of 5 million new
green-collar jobs. The entire U.S. economy has created only 1.2 million jobs since Obama was sworn into office,
many of them in the fossil fuel extraction, production and distribution sector. But in Obama's defense, most of his
green jobs agenda was killed. Cap-and-trade and renewable electricity mandates never made it through Congress.
High-speed rail was killed off by governors in Ohio, Florida and Wisconsin. But where the rest of the nation has
rejected all or most of these proposals, California has embraced them all.
Green state chokes off
its middle class. Los Angeles' water-fueled growth permanently altered entire habitats, including, most famously, the
Owens Valley, which once supported a lake and farming community. It is now a desert. Unfortunately, California
environmentalists are trying to turn much of the Central Valley's farmland back into desert too. Thanks to the Endangered
Species Act, federal courts have ordered farmers to divert hundreds of billions of gallons of water away from crops and into the
Sacramento River, where it is supposed to help revive the delta smelt.
California's expensive
education failure. According to RAND Corp., as late as the 1970s California's public schools still had an "excellent"
reputation. Then, in 1975, Brown (in his first stint as California's governor) signed the Rodda Act, giving government unions
the power to take money directly out of government employees' paychecks. The California Teachers Association quickly poured
this new revenue stream into an organizing drive, more than doubling the union's ranks. The Golden State's politics have never
been the same since — nor has the quality of its public schools.
California at Twilight. We keep trying to
understand the enigma of California, mostly why it still breathes for a while longer, given the efforts to destroy the sources of its
success. Let's try to navigate through its sociology and politics to grasp why something that should not survive is surviving
quite well — at least in some places.
California
Dept. of Transportation: 'Be Sure to Black Out the 'United States' and [the] Motto'. For three years, a private citizen
named Steve LeBard has led the effort to build a privately funded memorial in Orcutt, California — a tranquil small town
located on the Golden State's gorgeous Central Coast — to honor military veterans. And for the better part of those
three years, he has run into a toxic blend of political correctness, anti-Americanism, and bureaucratic senselessness. Today, the
memorial, which was to be built with private funds on a small piece of public land, remains unbuilt.
California
testing limits of gun-control rules in wake of Newtown shooting. California already has the most restrictive gun laws
in the nation. Buying a handgun requires registration, a safety certificate, a 10-day waiting period and a rigorous background
check. All direct person-to-person sales are banned and concealed-carry permits are rare. But now, in the wake of the
Newtown tragedy, lawmakers in the Golden State have launched into a new legislative frenzy to restrict firearms further.
California
parks officials deliberately hid money, report says. Fear of embarrassment and budget cuts led California parks officials to
intentionally conceal millions of dollars in a department account, according to an investigation conducted by the state attorney general's
office. The report, released Friday [1/4/2013], is the most detailed official narrative yet regarding the root of the accounting
scandal at the parks department.
For his next
crisis. Saving the planet isn't easy — or cheap — especially in California. The
state's anti-global-warming cap-and-trade program is the latest gimmick to leave it with yet another big hole to fill in its
budget. The Golden State's new carbon-trading program is the world's second largest, after the European Union's.
The stated goal is to cut greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and another 80 percent by 2050. But
California held its very first "carbon credit" auction last month — and it was a big disappointment.
Study: CA Worst-Governed State in
America. According to a new study from 24/7 Wall Street, California is the worst run state in the nation ... for
the second year in a row. The best run state is North Dakota.
The 11 Death Spiral States. Eleven states made Forbes' list
of danger spots for investors including California, New York, Illinois, and Ohio. They warned (and with the cliff it is even more critical), if
you have muni bonds in these states — clean up your portfolio; if your career takes you there — rent, don't buy!
Pulling billions out of thin air.
As home to the entertainment industry and the land of make-believe, California is known for embracing fads. The latest rage among the
Democrats who just won a supermajority sway in the Sacramento Statehouse may prove to be the most costly. California is starting its own
cap-and-trade program, which taxes carbon-dioxide emissions and other "greenhouse" gases through a convoluted permit system. The Golden
State could end up suffocating its golden goose with this scheme.
California's Road to Perdition.
California was once the envy of everyone. But this promised land is now being controlled by a super-majority of leftists, and the
liberal, pro-union Democrats have only one answer to California's woes: to raise taxes.
No Meat on Mondays in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles City
Council is urging all residents to observe "meatless Mondays" from now on. A resolution adopted on Oct. 24 reads: "Be it resolved,
that the Council of the City of Los Angeles hereby declares all Mondays as 'Meatless Mondays' in support of comprehensive sustainability efforts as
well as to further encourage residents to eat a more varied plant-based diet to protect their health and protect animals."
California Grants
Tesla $10 Million To Build The Model X Electric SUV. California regulators on Wednesday [10/10/2012] approved a $10 million grant
to Tesla Motors to help manufacture its next electric car, the Model X sport utility vehicle. Tesla will pony up $50 million to match
the California Energy Commission grant, which will be used to expand manufacturing capacity at its factory in Fremont, Calif., and to purchase
equipment to make components for the Model X.
A Modest Proposal. California was once the land of
opportunity, but it is going down the tubes. Several of California's prominent cities have declared bankruptcy, such as Vallejo, Stockton, Mammoth
Lakes and San Bernardino. Others are on the precipice, and that includes Los Angeles, California's largest city. California's 2012 budget
deficit is expected to top $28 billion, and its state debt is $618 billion. That's more than twice the size of New York's state debt,
which itself is the second-highest in the nation.
The Obama Paradox. The bluest state is polling at a
20 to 24 point lead for Barack Obama. Who cares that it is struggling with nearly 11% unemployment and facing a $16 billion
budget shortfall? What does it matter that its public schools rated variously from 45th to 49th in the nation and that it is home to one-third of
the nation's welfare recipients, forty percent of the nation's illegal aliens, and the largest prison population in the country? If Ohio
supposedly has a million Obama-phones, I shudder to wonder how many are in California.
And
Will a Jesse James or Billy the Kid Elementary School Follow? California public schools for some time in many surveys of national
testing have ranked 48th or 49th in the nation in math and science, and, inter alia, are part of the various impediments to robust
economic growth in California. No matter — California school boards have better things to worry about.
California's chickens have come home to roost.
[Governor] Schwarzenegger's proposals would have increased eligibility for teacher tenure from two years to five years in the classroom, made the use of
union dues for political campaign contributions voluntary, imposed state budgetary spending limits and redrawn the state's school district funding formula,
and reformed the states' redistricting system. The establishment couldn't have that, and so, in short order, the referenda were soundly defeated at
the ballot box. [...] Fast forward to 2012, when California's debt has swollen to more than $117 billion according to data assembled by State Budget
Solutions. Its unfunded union pension liabilities total more than $500 billion.
LAPD Chief Tells Officers to Ignore Federal
Illegal Immigrant Law. In Los Angeles, where the distinctions between the citizen and the non-citizen are often little more than
abstractions, they are one step closer to vanishing altogether. That such a thing should occur in Los Angeles comes as no surprise to anyone
paying even the slightest attention to recent trends in the city's governance. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is famously sympathetic to the
cause of illegal immigrants, and most members of the city council hold similar views.
Millions in SF health fees don't go to
workers. Restaurants and other businesses in this food-loving tourist mecca collected almost $14 million dollars
in extra fees last year from their patrons, as they sought to comply with the progressive city's landmark universal health-care
ordinance.
The not-so Golden State of America. In
the 1850s droves of gold-hunters hoping to make it rich rushed into what would later be established as the Golden State. The pristine
beaches, vast mountains and plenty of opportunity persuaded some to stay in the state. But now, California is facing a different kind of
rush — one that is causing people to pick up and leave. The state boasts a population of more than 37 million.
However, the Orange County Register reports that 870,550 people left the state between 2005 and 2009. "That's like the whole city of
San Francisco just up and left," the article states. What is chasing people away?
California law barring
parents from 'curing' gay children moves through legislature. A first-of-its-kind state law that would restrict parents from trying to
"cure" their minor children's same-sex attractions seems headed to the governor's desk. If both state houses can agree on the final language,
the legislation, which would ban all sexual orientation change effort (SOCE) treatment for minors, will be sent to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown for his
signature sometime in September. But, so far, there has been no indication from his office on whether he will sign the bill into law.
California
to Issue Driver's Licenses to Illegal Immigrants. The California state Assembly on Thursday [8/30/2012] voted in
favor of a bill that would permit the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants who are
eligible for work permits under a new policy handed down from the Obama administration. The bill is on its way to Governor
Jerry Brown's desk to be signed into law. Fox News reports, "Democratic Assemblyman Gil Cedillo of Los Angeles said he wrote
AB 2189 to make roads safer, and allow young immigrants to drive to school and work." The bill passed in California's
Assembly by a vote of 55-15 after it passed in California's Senate on Wednesday by a vote of 25-7. The only other states to
issue driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants are New Mexico, Utah, and Washington.
California poised to grant driver's licenses to young
illegal immigrants. California is on the verge of allowing hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants to receive driver's
licenses for the first time in nearly two decades. The key question is how to do it. The issue of granting driver's licenses to
undocumented immigrants has raged in the Legislature for much of the past decade, without resolution, but fighting is largely moot now due to a
new federal policy.
Bias alert!
The "new federal policy" is the policy of only one man: Barack H. Obama.
There is no California. There is no such state.
Instead there are two radically different cultures and landscapes with little in common, each equally dysfunctional in quite different ways.
Apart they are unworldly, together a disaster.
California:
First in Liberalism, Last in Everything Else. With decades of success earned with seemingly little effort, California seems
to have decided that it can rest on its laurels. But the days when the state could live off of its looks are quickly drawing to a
close, as a bevy of recent statistics show.
Justice Department opposes illegal immigrant's bid to practice
law. An illegal Mexican immigrant who wants to be licensed to practice law in California has received support from the state's top law enforcement
officer, the State Bar of California, civil rights groups, county bar associations and law professors — but not from the Obama administration.
In a brief to the California Supreme Court, the U.S. Department of Justice said federal law prohibits giving a public benefit, such as a bar license, to
an "unlawfully present alien."
California: Blue Twilight on
the Pacific. California is in a hole but can't seem to stop its compulsive digging. Schools, universities, prisons,
pensions, cities and towns: the state has lost the ability to manage even the most basic elements of communal living.
But foie gras is now illegal there, grandiose plans for white elephant fast trains built with borrowed money waft through the air,
and the state continues to boost the self esteem of affluent and cause-oriented gentry liberals by scattering scarce resources to
the four winds, hunting unicorns when the cupboard is bare.
A
Golden State train wreck. State Sen. Joe Simitian's district office near Stanford's campus is nestled among
shops sporting excruciatingly cute names (A Street Bike Named Desire, Mom's the Word maternity wear) intended to make the
progressive gentry comfortable with upscale consumption by presenting it as whimsical. This community surely has its
share of advanced thinkers who think trains are wonderful because they are not cars (rampant individualism; people going
wherever and whenever they want, unsupervised).
San
Bernardino Files Emergency Bankruptcy Petition. San Bernardino on Wednesday became the third California
city to declare insolvency, joining Stockton and Mammoth Lakes after officials say they filed an emergency petition
for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
Gastronomical Prohibitionists. In the Sermon on the
Mount, Jesus tells his listeners that a man with a beam in his eye ought not to criticize another with a mere speck in his.
The message: sort out your own crippling shortcomings before presuming to meddle in someone else's. It's good advice
for an individual; it would be even better advice for the state of California. Good counsel, however, has a way of falling
on deaf ears in the Golden State.
Bottled Water Going the Way of the 20-ounce Soda.
The latest law to encourage use of refillable containers comes out of San Francisco. Their ultimate goal is to ban bottled water. San Francisco is a
hardcore environmentalist city and they do not like plastic water bottles. The first step they are taking is to require new buildings with water fountains
to install special bottle-filling taps. That would be the same water that comes out of your kitchen sink which is what bottled water drinkers don't want
to drink. They also don't want anything to do with public fountains where so many have been before.
San Fran Area
Drivers Could be Forced to Install GPS Devices That Tax Their Travel. On Thursday evening [7/19/2012], a controversial study in the San Francisco
Bay Area will be voted upon that could require drivers to allow GPS devices to be installed inside their car. The ultimate goal? Not to see where
they're going, but to evaluate how much they're driving — and consider taxing them for it. [...] The proposed Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) tax could
cost as much as a dime per mile.
Penniless in Paradise.
On the front door of the San Bernardino city hall is a sign that reads: "Out of Order." Broke city, broken door: There's a
certain pleasing symmetry in the fact that the San Bernardino city council meets behind a door that, like the city government itself, does not
work and is in need of replacement. On this particular evening in late July, the council has met to make public what everybody already
knows: Intellectually bankrupt, morally bankrupt — the city is under criminal investigation for sundry financial
shenanigans — San Bernardino is above all old-fashioned bankrupt bankrupt, a pitiful penniless pauper that cannot even afford a
cup of coffee: Seriously — the coffee guy wants cash up front now and has stopped serving the municipal office building
until the city makes good on its latte liabilities.
Welcome to
California: America without Republicans. [Scroll down] What would America look like if the Republican "fever" did break?
We already know. It would look a lot like the state of California, where no non-cyborg Republican has been governor since 1996.
Democrats have also enjoyed complete control of the state legislature since 1997. And they have governed exactly the way you'd expect
Democrats to govern. Spending has more than doubled, from $45.4 billion in 1996 to more than $92.5 billion today.
Income, sales and car taxes have all been hiked. As a result, California has the most progressive income tax system in the nation,
with seven income tax brackets, and the second-highest top marginal rate.
City of San Francisco Bans Apple
Computers. San Francisco has earned a reputation for being, in certain regards, the nation's most permissive city, but even the
City by the Bay has certain limits. Take, for instance, one's choice of computers: If you work for the city, you will not be allowed
to procure an Apple using city funds. Why? Because the computer industry giant with its headquarters less than an hour away from
San Francisco is not "green" enough.
California
Eyes Multiple Parenting Law. California, the battleground state for the arguments for and against same-sex marriage, is now considering
an unconventional law that would allow children to be legally granted more than two parents.
Hey California: Meet Wisconsin. In
November of 2010 Californians rejected a candidate for Governor who pledged to do much of what Scott Walker has done, and instead elected a
Governor who is bought and paid for by labor unions.
Labor Unions Suffer Defeat on
Taxpayer Revolt. Californians, struggling with an $18 billion budget deficit, stuck with a Sacramento political class owned by
Democrats who in turn are owned by labor unions, are facing a massive tax increase in November that will give California the unenviable distinction of
having the highest per capita tax burden in the Country. Even modest efforts to reign in spending or do serious pension reform are easily thwarted
by big labor lobbyists.
California's
Proposition 32: Ending Union Dominance Of California Politics. Is union money distorting California electoral politics? Many
think so. After all, public sector and trade unions are among the biggest donors in California elections. In the years 2000-2010 the
California Teachers Association (CTA) was the single largest contributor to California politics, giving twice as much as the second-largest
contributor, the California State Council of Service Employees.
California is about to hit the wall.
The demography of California today is the demography of America tomorrow, just as the social and fiscal policies of
California in the last decade mirror those of the U.S. government today. One-third of all U.S. wage-earners
today have been amnestied from paying U.S. income taxes, as the top 1 percent haul fully 40 percent
of that huge load. So, too, in California, the well-to-do and the wealthy are hammered, which is why many
have quietly closed their businesses, packed and gone back over the mountains whence their fathers came.
California Still Dead. [Scroll down] That
"new state law intended to reduce bankruptcy filings" was a transparent ploy by government employee unions to prevent cities from using insolvency
protection to get out of crushing pension contracts. And it may not even have been necessary. As Steven Greenhut wrote after the city
of Vallejo went belly up in 2010, even municipal bankruptcy doesn't seem to get taxpayers out of their solemn obligation to pay former government
employees not to work.
California Digging.
Ignoring the first rule of holes, a bankrupt state passing out IOUs welcomes an EPA waiver allowing it to
further kill its economy. Too bad the state can't stop the air pollution imported from a growing China.
Coffers Empty, California Pays With I.O.U.'s.
An ever-widening budget gap joined with intractable political paralysis to deliver California its biggest fiscal blow in
decades on Thursday [7/2/2009], when the state's controller began printing i.o.u.'s in lieu of cash to pay taxpayers,
vendors and local governments. It was only the second time the state had adopted the emergency payment method
since the Great Depression. The National Conference of State Legislatures had no record of any other state's
ever using them.
School system lays off "Teacher of the Year".
A California woman who was named her school district's "Teacher of the Year" has a new title — "job seeker." The district
laid off Michelle Apperson along with thousands of other educators across the state. California has a budget crisis and this is how
officials are dealing with it.
The Editor says...
You might be saying to yourself, "That doesn't make any sense. Why would they do that? And the answer is ... the teachers' union!
'Teacher of the Year' Fired for Lack of Union
Seniority. It doesn't matter anymore how good you are at your job if you live in the failing state of California; if you're on a lower
rung of the ladder in terms of seniority, you're toast. Michelle Apperson, a teacher at the Sutterville Elementary School in Sacramento who was
named "teacher of the year" by the school district, was fired because she was outranked in seniority.
Another Outrage in California.
As of today [6/1/2012], it is legal in California to give hormone blockers to an 11 year-old boy in order to delay the onset of
puberty, but it could soon be illegal for a 17 year-old with unwanted same-sex attractions to receive professional counseling, even
with parental consent.
California budget proposal would end a
science requirement. A little-noticed proposal by Gov. Jerry Brown to eliminate the second year of science as a high
school graduation requirement is sparking concern among educators who fear it could deepen the academic divide among students and
further erode the state's scientific and technological leadership. The recommendation in Brown's revised May budget is aimed
at freeing the state from reimbursing local school districts for the $250-million annual cost of the second-year science course.
The state has not made any payouts to school districts since the requirement was ruled a mandate in 2005, so California owes public
school systems $2.5 billion in unpaid claims.
California's Train to Nowhere.
Some politicians can't resist throwing good money after bad on these money-losing schemes. The latest example is from the People's Republic of
California, where Governor Jerry Brown is acting as if he wants the state to become a basket case.
Can California Be Fixed? Recently, I was
driving down pot-holed, two-lane, non-freeway 101 near Monterey (unchanged since the 1960s) when the radio blared that on a recent science test administered to
public schools, California scored 47th in the nation. As I looked at the congested traffic on the decrepit highway and digested the idea that our public
schools are competitive only with Mississippi and Alabama, I wondered — is that what we get for a more than 10 percent income tax, 10 percent
state and local sales taxes, and the highest gas taxes in the nation?
California's
Budget Woes: No One Ever Mentions Work Disincentives, Welfare Fraud, or Taxpayer Flight. Governor Jerry Brown is browbeating residents
to pass tax initiatives in November which include "a quarter-cent increase in the state sales tax for four years and a seven-year hike on incomes
of $250,000 or more that will range from 1 to 3 percentage points." The totally predictable problem (and, from all appearances, a
bit contrived; the state's controller saw this coming several months ago, and was largely ignored) is that tax revenues aren't coming in as expected.
Media treatment of the problem acts as if this all some kind of uncontrollable act of God which is a by-product of the recession and weak recovery.
California: America's Welfare
Queen. California is the nation's welfare queen: The state accounts for one-third of America's welfare recipients,
though it only contains one-eighth of the population, and there's no good reason for it. [...] The main reason that California is so
dependent on welfare is its uniquely lax enforcement of the provisions of the 1996 welfare reforms. As part of the creation
of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, the federal government put in place a set of regulations on
welfare payments to help or encourage recipients to return to work, such as the five-year lifetime limit on benefits.
California, however, is one of nine states that don't unconditionally enforce this supposedly nationwide provision.
Golden State turns to lead, now leads poverty
rankings. The Golden State has reached a poverty rate that is now twice as bad as West Virginia's and substantially worse than the rates of
poverty in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas, according to a new measure of poverty developed by the federal Census Bureau. Democrat-run
California earned its last-place rank under the federal government's new measure of poverty, which incorporates more detailed analyses of welfare
payments and the local costs of food, gasoline and housing.
Los Angeles insolvency
predictable and preventable. When the nation's second largest city teeters on the verge of bankruptcy, local elected
officials — and especially taxpayers elsewhere — ought to take it as a wake-up call and ponder the evident
public policy blunders that laid the groundwork for such an unnecessary scenario. Los Angeles' potential bankruptcy and
$238 million budget shortfall were predictable and preventable.
Socialism Won't Fix California's Struggling
Public Utilities. We know of the poor quality of products and services provided by government monopolies. Yet
officials in Stanton and Claremont think otherwise. They have discussed spending tens of millions of tax dollars to "buy" their
water systems from a private water company that doesn't want to sell them. To make matters worse, their efforts would require the
use — some would say the abuse — of the power of eminent domain to acquire the properties by force.
Taxpayers will be on the hook for all of this.
Beware The
Predatory State Of California — Even If You Don't Live There. [Apparently] the state of California, desperate
for revenue, is churning out dubious income tax claims stretching back years and collecting the money without due process.
This is theft, pure and simple, and charging the account owner $100 for transacting the theft is also theft.
Harris distorts democracy to aid unions.
We expect judges, no matter their political stripes, to apply the law as written. We expect election
officials to battle election fraud no matter their personal preference for the outcome. Likewise, we
expect state attorney generals, who are the head of California's "Justice" Department, after all, to provide
fair title and summaries of all initiatives submitted to that office — even ones the AG personally doesn't
like. Without any civic spiritedness, people eventually will lose faith that they can make change by
following the rules. [California Attorney General Kamala] Harris, however, is a close ally of the
public sector unions.
Trying to 'Stop the
Bleeding' from Environmental Overreach. Central California Republicans — and farmers across
the state — won a small victory last night in a House committee in a battle that has seen scores of communities
devastated by environmental regulatory overreach. The Delta smelt is a tiny fish that lives is the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley River Delta. In response to the fish's threatened status, influenced
by its sensitivity to environmental conditions and the large-scale pumping operations necessary to send
water south, a 2007 court order citing the Endangered Species Act severely cut back water deliveries through
the agricultural Central Valley.
Mortgage
Deal Props Up California House of Cards. Why should a taxpayer in Houston or Wichita bail out
irresponsible California homeowners, banks and the state's public employees' retirement fund? Yet that's
exactly what the Obama administration is looking to do in its latest effort to shore up a housing market that
continues to sag as large percentages of Americans remain underwater in their mortgages.
California
counties get mail-order condom program. Teenagers in several counties can get condoms in the
mail for free under a program launched this week and supported by state public health officials.
An example of how government can become an obstacle to economic recovery:
It's hard to get a handle on how many businesses have been discouraged by such a permitting and regulation regime, but
you have to assume they are plenty. It should not take two years for a government to say "okay" to a business.
Nor should there be exorbitant fees associated with it.
San
Francisco Red Tape Nearly Strangles Small Businesses. The leftists in charge of the City by the Bay
have made it next to impossible for anyone to start a small business in that town. Just ask Juliet Pries.
In January Pries opened the Ice Cream Bar, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, in the Cole Valley neighborhood of San
Francisco. But before she could start serving up hot fudge sundaes and banana splits, she was forced to spend
two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars — supplied by family and friends — navigating
the city's labyrinthine planning codes and otherwise satisfying the bureaucrats' whims.
We're in the red ... so let's borrow.
A conservative activist says California intends to continue the borrow-spend-borrow cincreased spending more money
inflationycle despite an announcement that the state is officially out of cash. In a letter to legislative
budget leaders, State Controller John Chiang said California will run out of cash on March 1 unless something
is done quickly. Chiang suggested that the state should delay payments and borrow around $3.3 billion
because tax revenues are $2.6 billion lower than lawmakers assumed.
Electric
Cars: Doubling Down On Dumb. Once again, the regulators in California have decided to lead the
nation in terms of vehicle emission standards, proposing to require that 15.4 percent of all vehicles
sold by 2025 must be electric cars, plug-in hybrid cars, or (currently non-existent) fuel cell cars.
In case you're wondering why this all sounds familiar, it's because California is re-running the same delusional
program that it ran in 1990...
California
Issues Clown Car Mandate. Golden State regulators have passed sweeping emission standards requiring
one in seven new cars sold in the state in 2025 be an electric or other zero-emission vehicle. ... [I]f we've
learned anything in recent years, it's that industrial policy and telling consumers what they need and must
have vs. what they want and find useful doesn't work. Only the marketplace can accurately pick winners and
losers. The government, having no competition, usually picks losers. We have also learned that climate
change is an overhyped fantasy based on ideology rather than science.
America's
worst regulatory agency outdoes itself. California continues its leading role as the national
laughingstock of regulatory absurdity. This week, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), forged
another link in its unbroken chain of disastrous environmental policies.
Every Year Boondoggles Pile Up in California.
The left-wing idea that it's good for government to always wildly increase spending is dying a quick death these
days. But this good sense has not made it to every state in the union yet — two disastrous states in
particular; California and Illinois. These two states have not learned the lesson about the ruinous government
spending that is causing the country to teeter on the brink of bankruptcy. Apparently, Illinois and California
are vying for worst-state status. Moody's Investment service, for instance, has rated Illinois the worst,
but Standard & Poor's says it's California.
What
Conservatives and the GOP Dare Not Say about Immigration. The fact is that upon being naturalized,
our modern-day immigrants generally vote Democrat by wide margins — irrespective of whether upon arrival they
were labeled legal or illegal. Massive legal and illegal immigration has already so changed the California
electorate that no Republican can be elected statewide anymore.
Nation's largest welfare
state makes deep cuts. Advocates of welfare reform in California often cite one, eye-popping
statistic as they have pressed for cuts and changes to the program in recent years: The state has
one-eighth of the nation's population but one-third of all welfare recipients.
Workers give up in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, the
falling unemployment rate is slightly misleading, just as it has been for the country overall. When surveyed by the government, fewer L.A.
residents say they're unemployed compared to a year ago. But it's not because they're finding jobs. It's because they're dropping out
of the labor force altogether.
It's
California business as usual as debt, taxes grow. [Scroll down] This sorry state of affairs is indicative
of business as usual in California and provides a basis from which to examine the state's irresponsible budget practices as a
whole. California's current budget process relies heavily on the use of budget gimmicks, especially number shifting and
projection altering that can create the illusion of a balanced budget.
This Is the Nightmare of an Obama Second Term.
If you were wondering what living in Obama's second term would be like, wonder no longer. We in
California are living there now. California is a one-party state dominated by a virulent Democratic Left
enabled by a complicit media where every agency of local, county, and state government is run by and for the public
employee unions. The unemployment rate is 12%. California has more folks on food stamps than any other
state, has added so many benefits and higher rates to Medicaid that we call it "Medi-Cal." Our K-12 schools
have more administrators than teachers, and smaller classes but lower test scores and higher dropout rates with
twice the per-student budget of 15 years ago.
Govt. Funds Campaign To
Reduce Food Stamp Stigma. The effort to boost the food stamp rolls was announced this month [October,
2010] in California, where more than 3 million residents benefit from the federal program each month.
Evidently, state and federal officials believe the number is way too low for the virtually bankrupt state with a
population of about 37 million.
SF Becomes First
US City to Top $10 Minimum Wage. The city's hourly wage for its lowest-paid workers will hit
$10.24 [on 1/1/2012], more than $2 above the California minimum wage and nearly $3 more than the working
wage set by the federal government.
Choking on
Obamacare. Time was, American businesses could surmount such regulatory officiousness.
But government's metabolic urge to boss people around has grown exponentially and today CKE's California restaurants
are governed by 57 categories of regulations. One compels employees and even managers to take breaks
during the busiest hours, lest one of California's 200,000 lawyers comes trolling for business at the expense
of business.
California
Student Sues Teacher, District Over C+ Grade. Bowen Bethards, 17, was a sophomore in Peggy Carlock's chemistry class at Albany High
School in Albany, Calif., outside of San Francisco, in the 2010-11 school year when she gave him the C+ grade at the center of the suit, according
to court records first reported by the Albany Patch. Bethards, in a lawsuit filed with his mother, Laureen, in Contra Costa County Superior
Court last month, claims that he has suffered severe physical and emotional suffering, damage to his academic reputation, and diminished chances of
getting into his college of choice because of the grade.
California —
toxic for business. Last year, the medical technology firm Numira Biosciences packed its bags and
left Irvine for Salt Lake City. When asked about the firm's departure, its chief executive praised Utah's
quality of life but also blamed California's business environment for the move. "The tipping point was when
someone from the Orange County tax [assessor] wanted to see our facility to tax every piece of equipment I had,"
Michael Beeuwsaert told the Orange County Register.
California's
jobs engine broke down well before the financial crisis. Everybody knows that California's economy
has struggled mightily since the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession. The state's current
unemployment rate, 12.1 percent, is a full 3 percentage points above the national rate. ... But a
study commissioned by City Journal using the National Establishment Time Series database, which has tracked job
creation and migration from 1992 through 2008 (so far) in a way that government statistics can't, reveals
the disturbing truth.
California's Economic
Suicide. The 262 pages of regulations implementing California's 2006 global warming
legislation, Assembly Bill 32, approved by CARB last Thursday [10/20/2011], will probably reduce employment
more than it reduces emissions. The only thing it will cap is economic growth by bleeding a
patient that is already hemorrhaging red ink.
California
Employment at Record Low 55.4 Percent. The percentage of working-age Californians with jobs has
fallen to a record low, and employment may not return to pre-recession levels until the second half of the
decade, according to a research group. Just 55.4 percent of working-age Californians, defined as
those 16 or older, had a job in July...
California unemployment
rises in July to 12%. California's unemployment rate climbs two-tenths of a percentage point in
July, the U.S. Department of Labor says, to 12%. The state has the second-highest jobless rate in the
nation, exceeded only by Nevada at 12.9%.
San
Francisco goldfish ban exposes America's liberal nutjobs. [Scroll down] The proposal will
probably be kicked into the long-grass, as was the commission's proposed ban on the sale of kittens and
puppies last year. Other things the city has considered outlawing are MacDonald's Happy Meals,
supersizing in fast food chains and circumcision. Obviously, smoking in public places was stopped
years ago. The goldfish ban might seem like a silly story, but it does expose several liberal
pathologies.
California's Book Ban. The
California state legislature has passed a book-banning law. Nobody is calling the book ban a book ban
because the books the book ban bans offend homosexuals. If the legislature had extended legislative
protection to the hurt feelings of, say, Mormons or evangelical Christians, then everyone would have agreed
that it's a book ban. But it doesn't, so don't call the book ban a book ban. You just might get
banned, too.
California
becomes first state in nation to ban 'gay cure' therapy for children. California has become the first state in the
nation to ban therapy that tries to turn gay teens straight. Gov. Jerry Brown announced Sunday [9/30/2012] that he has signed
Senate Bill 1172, which prohibits children under age 18 from undergoing "sexual orientation change efforts." The
law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, prohibits state-licensed therapists from engaging in these practices with minors.
The Editor says...
If there is such a therapy, and it works, that proves that homosexuality is a choice, not a genetic condition, as so many
homosexuals claim. If this therapy doesn't work, why is it so vigorously opposed?
One law for us,
another for you. The California state Senate voted 28-8 Wednesday [6/1/2011] to exempt itself
from the pointless gun-control laws that apply to the rest of the populace. Legislators apparently
think they alone are worthy to pack heat on the streets for personal protection, and the masses ought to
wait until the police arrive.
Chief executives say
California worst place in the nation to do business. For the seventh year in a row, a survey of
chief executives has ranked California as the nation's worst state in which to do business. More than 500
U.S. CEOs polled by Greenwich, Conn.-based Chief Executive magazine based their opinions on numerous factors,
including regulations, tax policies, work force quality, education resources, quality of living and infrastructure.
California
Balks at Public Display of American Flag. In the small town of Orcutt, California, a private
association has raised donations to erect a flagpole and monument between a highway exit and a park-and-ride
lot, at the entrance to the community's Old Town section. The pole would hang the American flag,
encircled by five pillars, one each for the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. The
California Department of Transportation (CalTrans), however, has stymied the effort, calling it an impermissible
act of "public expression."
California
Democrats rally around unions. Framing the union battles taking place across the nation as a
fundamental attack on working Americans, Democratic leaders on Saturday accused Republicans of scapegoating
public employees for political gain. "They are intent on dismantling the very economic ladder that
lifted our middle class and made California the richest and greatest state in the greatest nation in the
world," Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris told thousands of delegates and supporters gathered at the Democrats'
annual convention in Sacramento.
The Editor says...
When you look at the state's net worth, California is not the richest state in the country, by any
means. California is broke, and nearly all the blame should be assigned to left-wing
tax-and-spend Democrats.
Second
Amendment Takes Double Shot in California. A double-whammy came down today against gun rights
advocates in California. First, the California Assembly voted to prohibit the open carry of unloaded
handguns. Current law had allowed unloaded weapons to be carried openly in public. "You are
disarming our citizens" while doing little to disarm criminals, said Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber.
"It is not just the right to keep, it is the right to bear arms," said Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks.
Guns for us, not for you.
Some of the most far-out anti-gun laws are found on the left coast, but that could change — for privileged
politicians. A California state Senate committee will consider a bill next week that grants legislators permission
to carry concealed firearms. The measure highlights the growing rift between the bureaucratic class and taxpayers
who don't have the luxury of exempting themselves from bad laws.
America's Most Miserable
Cities. California's troubles helped it land eight of the 20 spots on [Forbes Magazine's] annual
list of America's Most Miserable Cities, with Stockton ranking first for the second time in three years.
California's
Problem Is In Its Head. California Gov. Jerry Brown must rapidly close a $25 billion budgetary
shortfall. But right now it seems almost a hopeless task since the state's disastrous budget is a symptom,
not the cause, of California's much larger nightmare. Take unemployment. It currently runs 12.6%
in California, the nation's second-highest rate. Take livability. A recent Forbes magazine survey
listing the most miserable 20 cities in the nation ranked four California municipalities among the index's
five worst places to live.
Go Bankrupt, California,
Please. We're now 25 billion dollars in the red in California. The governor along
with his Democrat controlled legislature will never do the right thing. They're the same folks who
brought you this mess. When Governor Brown was previously the governor he signed the Dills Act in 1978
that gave civil servants the right to collective bargaining. He did this on his very first day in office
as governor. This revolutionary enactment was the beginning of the end or our state.
Bootleg Lightbulbs
Coming to California. Old reliable, the 100-watt light bulb — safe, cheap, and
bright enough to read, write, cook, shave, and put on your makeup by, will be gone January 1.
The California Energy Commission in September 2010 published its 226-page Appliance Efficiency Regulations,
whereby the 100-watt incandescent light bulb will be outlawed at midnight on December 31, 2010.
Californians with self-imposed rationing, running out of both energy and common sense, have declared that
consuming electrical power is a social vice. Electric power must be curbed, along with banning
Dr. Pepper and Happy Meals. And it's not just light bulbs. These appliance standards will
regulate and ban hundreds of products including...
CARB's Carbon Capers.
In a nearly unanimous vote, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) just approved a statewide cap-and-trade
scheme to limit emissions of CO2 from six hundred major industrial plants, starting in
2012. Proposition 23 on the California ballot, defeated in November, was an attempt to at least
delay the state's Cap-and-Trade law, AB-32, until California's record unemployment eased. However, the
slanted description appearing on both the official Voter Guide and the ballot, written by then-State Attorney
General Jerry Brown and his office, the well-funded "No-on-23" campaign, and some very heavy media bias, had
Californians believing that Prop. 23 would thwart efforts to curb air pollution — i.e., smog.
So Prop 23 went down in flames, threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs, and perhaps a million.
Off-the-Books America.
Last week, Victor Davis Hanson wrote about the hollowed-out society in the Central Valley around his native Fresno,
California. ... The elementary school that he attended as a child is now 94 percent Hispanic and well below
standards in English and math. The rural roads are "fast turning into rubble." The irrigation cutoffs
have idled tens of thousands of acres, and unemployment is 15 to 20 percent. There are many rural
"trailer-house compounds" filled with junked cars, lean-tos, and trash, but for some reason, the regulatory state
does not reach out and regulate them.
Missing the California of My
Youth. In what seems like a lifetime ago, Barack Obama promised to fundamentally transform the
nation. California is what a truly progressive government transformation looks like. Thus, in a
sensible America, the decline of California would be the canary call in a coal mine for the nation.
Mascot Politics.
Dr. Victor Davis Hanson's quietly chilling article, "Two Californias," in National Review Online, ought to be
read by every American who is concerned about where this country is headed. California is leading the
way, but what is happening in California is happening elsewhere — and is a slow poison that is
being largely ignored.
California
sings the Blue State Blues. Over 20 years have passed since a Republican presidential candidate carried
California. Democrats have essentially run the state since the early 1990s. How has that worked out for
Californians? By virtually any measure, not very well. First, though, let's get one thing straight. Much
the way frozen food manufacturers call their processed sludge nuggets "chicken," Schwarzenegger calls himself a "Republican."
His election was an aberration, more, without question, thanks to his fame than his party affiliation.
Time to allow
states to go bankrupt. The idea that taxpayers in more sensible states like Indiana and Texas
should have to bail out wealthy Democratic strongholds unable to operate responsibly is explosive. Mark
Steyn has even warned that secession talk could get serious in the face of such looting of the prudent.
California, the neocolonial
state. California imports more cheap labor from a third world country than any other state. California
exports her prisoners. The state of California essentially outsources a substantial amount of its energy production,
importing more of its electricity than any other state. If California were a country, the liberals in academia would
be outraged at this neocolonial behavior. Ironically it has been liberal policies that have lead to California becoming
a neocolonial state.
More climate idiocy from California. If
the looming spectre of rising electricity prices due to CARB's upcoming "cap and trade" isn't enough, now the Department of Water resources has
opted to be less efficient by giving low cost electricity the boot.
Could
California Sink The Obama Presidency? California — the most populous state in our nation — is
bankrupt. Just as is the case in Washington, D.C., nobody in The Golden State dares to say the word "bankrupt"
to describe the state government right now, but it is still nonetheless true. However, since Californians
collectively defied the national trend of abandoning the bankrupting Obama-styled economic policies in the recent
election, and instead voted for more of the same, the 31st state in our union is now on the fast-track for
economic collapse.
California's Assorted Rocks
and Hard Places. News came out on Thursday [11/11/2010] that the California budget deficit is actually
closer to $25 billion, twice what we are told. This follows from last year's $42 billion shortfall,
which was closed by all sorts of one-time tax increases and gimmicks. Here is our general dilemma in a nutshell.
How
Do California and the Titanic Differ? OK, riddle fans, here's a toughie: What's the
difference between California voters and the passengers on the Titanic? The passengers on the Titanic
didn't vote to hit the iceberg. Most Americans understand that California is sinking. What is
almost incredible is that it has voted to sink.
California Wins Dumbest
State Award in Landslide. In the coming years, the unions, who have been bilking Californians in a
protection-racket type scheme, will be taking to the streets in massive, destructive temper tantrums just like
those out-in-the-cold workers in other failed socialist states across the big pond. It won't be pretty.
All the while Californians have been lining the greedy pockets of union masters, they've also saddled their
economy with the greenest of the green anti-pollution laws, which they've just voted overwhelmingly to keep
in place.
San Francisco Defends Helpless Citizens From The
Scourge of Happy Meals. CNN is reporting the San Francisco board of supervisors will formally
approve a ban on most McDonald's Happy Meals today, thus addressing the most serious issue facing the otherwise
untroubled city. The board isn't just tepidly endorsing this measure — they're expected to produce
enough votes to over-ride a promised veto from Mayor Gavin Newsom. The ordinance is intended to control
the distribution of toys with unhealthy food, which has become known as the "food justice movement."
California: The
Lindsay Lohan of States. Listen up, California. The other 48 states — your
cousin New York excluded — are sick of your bratty arrogance. ... You've racked up nearly $70 billion
in general obligation debt, and that doesn't include your $500 billion unfunded pension liability.
Your own analysts predict you'll face a hole of at least $80 billion over the next four years. Your
government's run by a brothel of environmentalists, lawyers, public-sector unions and legislative bums.
When they're not taxing or spending, they're creating regulations and commissions like the Board of Barbering
and Cosmetology and the California Blueberry Commission. Many businesses would leave if it weren't for
your sunny climate.
Coasting to the Left. If this week's
election returns demonstrate that the vast majority of the country is moving to the right, why do the West Coast
and the Northeast continue to embrace liberalism, especially when it has led to economic disaster? Both
California and New York are on the verge of bankruptcy and, according to Forbes magazine, are hostile to business
by way of high taxation and strict regulation of commerce. California currently owes $158 billion,
and New York is holding $60 billion in debt.
California Dreamin'. In a blast
from the past, California voters bucked the national voting trend and returned Democrat Jerry Brown to the
Governor's office he occupied in the 1970s. While the Attorney General votes are still being counted, all
other statewide offices went to Democrats. Voters also removed the two-thirds vote requirement to pass
the state budget, handing the heavily Democrat state legislature a blank check. California is now a
one-party state. The voters want it that way.
California Dreamin'.
I would like to feel elated about the elections last Tuesday, but alas, I live in California. As the rest
of the nation lurches back toward common sense, California defiantly stands as a testament to the power of
delusion. ... The fact that voters keep returning to failed policies and politicians speaks to the power of
propaganda, disseminated through the schools and the media. However, it is also a dismal lesson in
human nature, epitomized by Jesus' observation about a dog returning to its own vomit.
The
'Golden State' Still Doesn't Get It. The midterm elections turned into a sweeping repudiation of
the Democrats' failed status quo — except, that is, in California. There, not only did the Democrats
not lose, they gained clout.
The Brown Wall. [Scroll
down] But the accomplishments stopped in the 1970s with the election of Governor Jerry Brown.
Mr. Brown expropriated the budget money that had been allocated for infrastructure — much of it
raised by motor fuel taxes — and diverted it to his own leftist causes. Aqueducts and freeways
were canceled, including some that already were under construction. Brown also blocked private construction
of power plants. His anti-American Dream was this: If you don't build it; they won't come.
But they came anyway, and now Californians waste millions of gallons of fuel in traffic jams.
The Inexplicables.
California may still have 1 billion recoverable, but untapped, barrels of oil, over a half-million acres of
productive farmland taken out of production to help the three-inch delta smelt, and a great deal of natural
mineral wealth and timber, but we deem ourselves wealthy enough not to need any of that, so smart are our
professors, politicians, journalists, and community organizers in figuring out ways to redistribute the
ill-gotten gains of agriculture, Silicon Valley, the Napa wine industry, and what manufacturing is left in
California.
California Circles the Drain. The
government of the once Golden State is a lead-pipe cinch to lurch into insolvency any month now. The
California State government is an estimated $19 billion in the hole. No exact figure is possible
since no budget (constitutionally required on July 1) has yet been adopted by the state legislature.
Revenues are down and spending is up. The state continues to hire during a "hiring freeze." To
solve the crisis, the Democratic majority in the legislature demands higher taxes on top of already high
taxes which are driving jobs and businesses out of the state.
California's Green Nightmare.
California is the nation's laboratory in green job initiatives of the type that so many politicians in Washington,
D.C., and the states see as America's economic passport to the future. The Golden State was first in the
nation in renewable energy standards, it is the home of the most stringent cap and trade legislation (called
AB 32) to reduce carbon emissions, and it has poured hundreds of millions of state tax dollars into renewable
energy research. So where are all the green jobs? A new 2010 study by the University of California-Berkeley
comes to the sobering conclusion that "the green economy accounts for just 1 percent of California's
jobs."
Wanted:
Grown-up governance. At some point, the grown-ups are going to have to take over.
We're being governed by a gang of perpetual adolescents from the most liberal enclaves in America. ... The
city [of San Francisco], which has thrown the Boy Scouts out of public facilities, has issued tips on how
to bake "safe" marijuana-laced goodies. It's not clear how this will contribute to the general
welfare, except to create more voters with the functioning brains of 11-year-olds who keep getting
hungry. This should make it easier to recruit for one of the political parties.
Full
speed ahead on health care for all. I thought maybe this was a joke, but I researched it and found it to be
utterly, jaw-droppingly, stupefyingly true: The California Senate voted 22-14 on Jan. 28 to create what one
group is calling a "Medicare for all" health-care system that would cost "about" $200 billion a year. ... Isn't this
the same California that has close to a $20 billion budget deficit and is currently asking for a handout of
$6.9 billion from the federal government to tide them over?
Imagine No God in Our
Nation's Classrooms. All high school math teacher Bradley Johnson wanted to do was honor our nation's
history and religious heritage the same way he always had. For twenty five years, a red, white and blue-striped
banner adorned his classroom walls with national maxims such as "In God We Trust," "One Nation Under God," "God Bless
America," and "God Shed his Grace On Thee." A second banner accompanied it, containing an excerpt from the
Declaration of Independence, "All Men are Created Equal and They Are Endowed by Their Creator." But displaying
a portion of the Declaration of Independence and other national mottos was just too offensive to the Poway Unified
School District in San Diego.
De Facto Shariah Law
in America. In the State of California, 7th-grade students at Excelsior Middle School in
Discovery Bay, California adopted Muslim names, prayed on prayer rugs, and celebrated Ramadan under a
state-mandated curriculum that requires instruction about various religions. In 2006, the U.S. Supreme
Court again declined to hear legal challenges by concerned Excelsior parents, who complained that the instruction
was actually religious indoctrination and that Christianity and Judaism were not given equal time and exposure.
Not one nickel
for California. There isn't a single compelling reason to provide the girly-man of American
gubernatorial fiscal responsibility, Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a nickel from our federal coffers. His
failing California remains the poster-child for liberal fiscal insanity and it's time for the free-range
chickens to come home to roost.
Let
California drown, voters say. Most Americans oppose a bailout for California, according
to a Rasmussen survey. Just 27 percent of voters believe the state should receive federal
bailout money while 55 percent think the state should go bankrupt. (For the record,
states cannot declare bankruptcy.)
The Editor says...
Okay, so states can't declare bankruptcy. So what? You don't have to declare
bankruptcy to be bankrupt.
The
Long March From California to Copenhagen. On the one, are those who believe personal freedom
and liberty trump egalitarianism and fraternity. ... On the other side are those who wish a large government
to ensure an equality of result. Their notion is that personal responsibility, talent, behavior, luck,
fate, etc. do not so much determine why one is well off and another not so.
California:
Running a failed state can sure be expensive. Among the many problems California faces now:
The near-junk rating on its bonds means the state pays more in interest. In 2020, Reuters reports, the
state will pay more than $10 billion on interest alone.
California
is Liberalism's "Canary in the Coal Mine". If residents of the other 49 states haven't focused on
California's plight yet, they should. In a real sense, California has become liberalism's "canary in the coal
mine." It is an instructive — and frightening — warning of the toll exacted
by the kind of leftism now in vogue in Washington, D.C.. Put simply, California is in desperate fiscal
straits because it has become a place where government works for only two constituencies: Those who need
public assistance, and unions. Sacramento is so busy responding to the needs of the one and the demands of
the other that the legitimate expectations of regular, taxpaying citizens have been completely ignored.
Public
Sector Unions Tarnish the Golden State. It's an ugly fact of life in California. Public
sector unions are slowly, painfully and inexorably choking the life out of the (once) Golden State. Fully
54% of state government workers — that's almost 1.8 million people — are unionized.
And the unions' primary reason for existence is maintaining the privileges that state employees enjoy, at any
cost to the rest of the state.
The sad story of how public employee unions have all but ruined California.
City Journal's Steve Malanga offers the most detailed and succinct history yet on how public sector unions grew
from being toothless employee associations to having a virtually lock on all of the key power levers in California
and how they've used that power to enrich themselves while all but ruining a once-goldern state. As
Malanga explains, what has already happened in California is well underway across the rest of the nation and
in Washington, D.C.
The Beholden State: How
public-sector unions broke California. The unions' political triumphs have molded a
California in which government workers thrive at the expense of a struggling private sector. The
state's public school teachers are the highest-paid in the nation. Its prison guards can easily
earn six-figure salaries. State workers routinely retire at 55 with pensions higher than their
base pay for most of their working life. Meanwhile, what was once the most prosperous state now suffers
from an unemployment rate far steeper than the nation's and a flood of firms and jobs escaping high taxes and
stifling regulations. This toxic combination — high public-sector employee costs and sagging
economic fortunes — has produced recurring budget crises in Sacramento and in virtually every
municipality in the state.
Accounting for
California's Suicide. [Scroll down] Californians count on the wealth of farming but would
prefer their rivers to remain wild rather than tapped. They like tasteful redwood decks but demand
someone else fell their trees for the wood. Californians drive imported SUVs but would rather that you
drill for oil off your shores rather than they off theirs. They pride themselves on their liberal
welfare programs, but drive out with confiscatory taxes the few left to pay for them. Californians
expect cheap imported labor to tend their lawns and clean their houses, but are incensed at sky-high welfare
and entitlement costs that accompany illegal immigration. Lock 'em up, they say — but the
state is bankrupted by new prisons, constant inmate lawsuits, and unionized employees. In short, after
Californians sue, restrict, mandate, obstruct, and lecture, they also get angry that there is suddenly not
enough food, fuel, water, and money to act like the gods that they think they have become.
Drill, Arnold, Drill!
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is begging for a bailout to close an $11 billion budget gap. He
should be pressing for an oil revenue-sharing deal instead.
Controlling Pests or Controlling
Competition? The Pacific Legal Foundation challenges a California licensing law that would
require a 30-year business veteran to become an apprentice.
California Makes Cars Less
Affordable: California today became the first state in the nation to restrict automobile
emissions of carbon dioxide, the same gas humans exhale. The auto industry pointed out, to no avail,
that the measure would make cars even more expensive and pressure people to buy death traps they don't
feel safe driving.
California: An
Obituary. Only raw and unrestrained liberalism could have destroyed the world's 8th-largest
economy. Boasting unparalleled assets in agriculture, high technology, entertainment, and tourism,
and blessed with ample energy resources, deep-water ports and ideal weather, California has nonetheless
managed to turn itself into a perfect dystopia.
California Teacher Union Rallies Around Bad Ideas.
The California Teachers Association (CTA), the state's largest teachers union and National Education Association
affiliate, organized a statewide rally of teachers and students on March 4 to protest education spending
cuts. The CTA's "solution" indicates it is out of touch with economic and educational reality.
California
Dems Won't Honor Boy Scouts? Thousands of Boy Scouts across California will be gathering this
weekend to celebrate the 100th anniversary of scouting in the Golden State — but they won't have
the blessing of Democrats in the California Legislature.
Oakland
allows industrial-scale marijuana farms. Oakland's City Council late Tuesday adopted
regulations permitting industrial-scale marijuana farms, a plan that some small farmers argued would
squeeze them out of the industry they helped to build. To address concerns from smaller farmers,
the council pledged to create regulations on regulating small- and medium-size marijuana farms
this year.
Cracking California's
Egg Rules. About 150,000 hens at egg producer J.S. West Inc. appear to have scored an
upgrade. They cluck and cackle in an air-conditioned henhouse that got a $3.2 million renovation
this year. ... California's egg farmers are struggling to comply with Proposition 2, the state's new
guidelines on how egg-laying chickens can be kept.
California:
New Is Not Necessarily Improved. Meg Whitman would like to build a new California.
Not me. If I had to choose, I'd opt not to build a new California, but rather to restore the "old
California." That is, I'd revive the California Republic of Old, when men married women, when murderous
thugs were given the noose rather than probation, and when babies in utero were kept safe from abortion
practitioners. The regenerate California I have in mind is a place where a man's handshake is as
binding as a written contract, where chastity is given a place of honor, and where citizens look to God
and to their neighbors in times of trouble rather than to the Welfare State.
There's No Budget,
but California Is All Over the Foreign-Cow Issue. On the brink of insolvency, California may have
to pay its bills with IOUs soon. A budget was due three months ago, and the legislature hasn't passed
one. The lawmakers can, however, point to a list of other achievements this year. Awaiting Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature, for example, is a bill that would bar the state from filming cows in New
Zealand. It's the fruit of five committee votes and eight legislative analyses. California
lawmakers also voted to form a lobster commission. They created "Motorcycle Awareness Month," not to
mention a "Cuss Free Week."
Red Herring Politics.
[Scroll down] One appointment by Governor Jerry Brown ought to tell us a lot about his ideology.
His most famous — or infamous — appointment was making Rose Bird chief justice of the
California supreme court. She over-ruled 64 consecutive death penalty verdicts and upheld none.
Apparently no judge or jury could ever give a murderer a trial perfect enough to suit Rose Bird. To hear
Rose Bird and her supporters tell it, she was just "upholding the law." But, fortunately, the California
voters saw right through that pretense, and realized that she was doing just the opposite — imposing
her own personal opposition to the death penalty in the guise of interpreting the law.
Sherman's
March. A California congressman wants to eliminate right-to-work laws in 22 states where workers
don't have to join unions. If even-higher unemployment is his goal, he has the right idea.
You can put a tuxedo on a pig, but it's still a pig. Food stamp program
gets a new name: CalFresh. California's food stamp program has a new name, which officials hope
will encourage more people to apply for the nutrition benefit: CalFresh. The new name and logo —
an abstract representation of the diverse produce available in California — was launched Saturday [10/23/2010]
at an event in Long Beach sponsored by first lady Maria Shriver to provide free medical, financial and
educational services to low-income women.
OC
Couple Threatened With $500-Per-Meeting Fines For Home Bible Study. An Orange County couple has
been ordered to stop holding a Bible study in their home on the grounds that the meeting violates a city
ordinance as a "church" and not as a private gathering. Homeowners Chuck and Stephanie Fromm, of San
Juan Capistrano, were fined $300 earlier this month for holding what city officials called "a regular
gathering of more than three people". That type of meeting would require a conditional use permit as
defined by the city, according to Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), the couple's legal representation.
California
bans use of tanning beds by minors. Minors in the state of California will no longer be allowed
to use tanning beds after Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on Sunday prohibiting anyone under the age of 18
from using ultraviolet tanning devices.
California
Bans Tanning Bed Use By Minors... But Abortions Are OK. California Governor Jerry Brown signed
a bill today [10/9/2011] that bans tanning bed use by minors. ... In 1997 a California court overturned a
state law that required girls get the approval of a parent or judge before having an abortion.
California
Law Would Permit Midwives, Other Non-Physicians to Perform Abortions. The California Senate passed a bill September 6
that would make it legal for non-physician medical professionals such as midwives to perform abortions under a statewide training program.
The measure now awaits Democratic Governor Jerry Brown's signature.
Abortionists
don't need a doctor's license: bill rammed through California Senate. Senate Bill 623, introduced by Christine Kehoe,
D-San Diego, extends a program run by the University of California at San Francisco, in which nurse practitioners, midwives, and
doctors' assistants are trained to perform abortions without any further training in medicine. Kehoe argues the bill is
necessary because there aren't enough doctors performing abortions in California.
Criminalizing business:
part II. A recent column in the San Francisco Chronicle vividly illustrates the anti-business mindset of
many Californians. It dealt with the fact that Wal-Mart lost a referendum to allow the retailer to put a store in
Inglewood, California. According to the Chronicle columnist, Wal-Mart was "trying to bully its way into another
targeted community." Putting an issue to a vote is called "bullying" when business does it, and the community
where it wants to locate is called a "target."
California's
New Frisbee Law [is] Just [the] Latest Attempt to Raise Cash. This week, Los Angeles County okayed a new regulation
banning the throwing of Frisbees or footballs on the beaches — which, of course, destroys the purpose of
living in Southern California in the first place. The first offense will earn you a hefty $100 fine; the
second, $200; the third and beyond, $500. You can, of course, apply for a permit. For parents with
industrious children, holes deeper than 18 inches are also banned — so get your kids the
cheap plastic shovels or pay a fine.
LA
County OKs $1,000 Fine For Throwing Football, Frisbee On Beaches. When you head down to the beach
for a little fun this summer, county officials want you to know about some updated rules. The Board of
Supervisors this week agreed to lift an all-out ban on playing with footballs, other balls and Frisbees on the
beach, according to a media statement released by the L.A. County Department of Beaches and Harbors.
Los Angeles County Bans Frisbees on Beaches. The moonbat
micromanagers ruling La-La Land must finally be running out of things to ban. Now they're suppressing fun on the beach.
Hermosa Beach meter maids making
nearly $100K? When contemplating the many reasons cities in California and elsewhere are venturing closer to bankruptcy,
look no further than the relatively lucrative and often-unjustifiable salaries bestowed on municipal employees — and the lofty
pension benefits attached to the high pay. One of the latest examples comes from the California coastal city of Hermosa Beach,
where some community service staffers who collect money from parking meters and manage their operations — positions once
widely known as "meter maids" — are making nearly $100,000 a year in total compensation, according to city documents.
SF to cover uninsured's gender reassignment.
In 2001, San Francisco became the first city in the country to cover the cost of sex change surgeries for transgender city employees. In 2007, it became the
first city in the country to provide health care for all uninsured residents through its Healthy San Francisco program. Now, San Francisco is combining those
firsts into yet another pioneering move by becoming the first city in the country to cover the cost of gender reassignment surgeries for its uninsured residents.
$822,000 Worker Shows California
Leads U.S. Pay Giveaway. Nine years ago, California Democrat Gray Davis became the first U.S. governor in 82 years to be recalled by
voters. The state's 20 million taxpayers still bear the cost of his four years and 10 months on the job. Davis escalated salaries
and benefits for 164,000 state workers, including a 34 percent raise for prison guards, the first of a series of steps in which he and successors
saddled California with a legacy of dysfunction.
Highest-Paid California Trooper Is Chief Banking
$484,000. California Highway Patrol division chief Jeff Talbott retired last year as the best-paid officer in the 12 most-populous U.S. states,
collecting $483,581 in salary, pension and other compensation. Talbott, 53, received $280,259 for accrued leave and vacation time and took a new job running
the public-safety department at a private university in Southern California. He also began collecting an annual pension of $174,888 from the state.
California, where a cop can make $483,581 in one
year. Thanks again to massive pension liabilities, the state has been unable to keep up with the growth of its prison population, resulting in
overcrowding, which in turn resulted in the court-ordered early release of thousands of inmates, many of whom are already on crime sprees.
California
in Chaos. California actually has fewer state government employees per capita than the national average, but its employees
are the best-paid in America. This often has a negative effect on government services. It is hard, for example, to hire enough
cops to keep violent crime down in Oakland if the city can't afford the six-figure compensation packages of the existing officers.
With
billions in the bank, Blue Shield of California loses its state tax-exempt status.
Authorities have revoked the tax-exempt status of nonprofit Blue Shield of California, potentially
putting it on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in state taxes each year. The move by the
California Franchise Tax Board comes as the state's third-largest health insurer faces fresh criticism
over its rate hikes, executive pay and $4.2 billion in financial reserves. The state quietly
stripped the San Francisco insurer of its exemption from California income taxes in August. The
company held that since its founding in 1939.
Israel
Invests in Desalinization; California Builds High-Speed Rail. California is reeling from a drought, rather like
the one suffered by Israel in 1998-2002. California, with an 840-mile coastline on the world's largest ocean, has a water
shortage; Israel, with a mere 170-mile coast line, does not. Israel invests in desalinization; California is building a
high-speed train at a cost of somewhere between $68 billion and $90 billion, the most expensive public works project
in the nation's history with no completion date in sight, but finds the $1 billion price tag on its first desalinization
plant too high to bear, even though its 50 million gallon per day output would meet the daily requirements of something
like 280,000 of the modest-income consumers now the hardest hit by the rationing system in place.
With
new climate legislation, Gov. Brown gets even with the oil industry. Dominant Democrats in Sacramento hang together
more often than not, and that produces victories when only a simple majority vote is required. And that's usually. Republicans
these days are mostly irrelevant in California's Capitol.
Wildfires in Australia seem to share the same set of contributing factors as the fires in California
The Editor says...
The fires in California and in Australia share many traits: In each case, the fires were initially blamed on global warming,
more than anything else. In California, that is still the case. But in each case, the root of the problem is years
of mismanagement, resulting in the accumulation of dry brush.
Terrifying footage of photographer's
journey through heart of wildfire burning in California. Terrifying footage of a photographer's drive through
the heart of the Gamble Fire which has burnt over 1,000 acres in California's Napa County. Craig Philpott managed to
record his journey through the blaze which has destroyed many trees and started to burn parts of the road. This footage
was filmed on August 18. [Video clip]
How
a World Without Borders Became a Ward With No Exit. A New York Times reporter argues that "the fires that have
burned across Australia are not just destroying lives, or turning forests as large as nations into ashen moonscapes [they
mean] the end of Australia as we know it." [...] "We have seen," she added, "the unfolding wings of climate change."
Arson,
mischief and recklessness: 87 percent of fires are man-made. There are, on average, 62,000 fires in Australia
every year. Only a very small number strike far from populated areas and satellite studies tell us that lightning is
responsible for only 13 percent. Not so the current fires threatening to engulf Queensland and NSW. There were no
lightning strikes on most of the days when the fires first started in September. Although there have been since, these
fires — joining up to create a new form of mega-fire — are almost all man-made.
Wildfire
Transcends Continents and Centuries. Australia is currently in its summer season. And, for
non-Australians, that translates to "fire season." This year, these fires have caught international attention and are
being portrayed as much worse than what we've seen in the past. Yet the wildfires happening now in Australia, and those
months earlier in California, are not novel and share much in common.
What
caused the Australian fires? Global warming? Obstruction of fire prevention burns? Arson? The
season's fires have been intense and widespread, but not nearly as much as reported by some media that made it seem as though
virtually the entire continent was ablaze. Eighteen million acres destroyed is a disaster by any measure, but that
acreage represents less than 1 percent of Australia's landmass, and less than 6% of its forests. No one denies the
fires were made worse by dry conditions resulting from a drought and record hot temperatures. But, as measured by the
amount of forestland destroyed, the 18 million acres for this year's fires pale in comparison to the 290 million acres burned
to the ground during the 1974 bushfire season.
Australian
Police Arrest 183 Arsonists for Bushfires. Australian police investigating the bushfires have arrested more
than 180 alleged arsonists since the start of 2019. But apparently they forgot to send the memo to Russell Crowe and Cate
Blanchett, both of whom insisted in their Golden Globes acceptance speeches that the Australian bushfires were in fact caused
by 'climate change.'
The
California drought of 2011-15. Here's an undeniable part of California's drought history the doomsayers try to
hide at all costs. Studies of tree rings, sediment and other natural evidence have documented multiple extreme droughts
in what is now California over the last 1,000+ years, including several that lasted more than 20 years — that's
four times longer than the relatively puny 5-year drought of 2011-15. Twenty years is a long time, but some California
droughts lasted even longer. Much longer. One that began in 850 A.D. is thought by scientists to have
droned on for a mind-numbing 240 years, and that megadrought occurred more than a millennium before the climate crisis
industry invented itself out of whole cloth in the 1980s. The drought of 850 wasn't alone. Fifty years before it
began, another mega-drought, one that lasted 180 years, was just winding down.
Appeasement:
The Root Cause of the Australian Mega-Fires. It's impossible to reduce the number of sociopaths in a society to
absolute zero. And even one sociopath can ignite several fires in proximate locations that can join up into a single
crown fire. How? Because, the fuel — the forest canopy, runs for miles as a single, unbroken
circuit. And it is governments who are, by stealth, opposing the significant breaking of these fire circuits.
The fuel loads pile up waiting for a hot summer ignition. This Australian fire season was preceded by years of drought:
the fuel was plenty, it was dry, it was unbroken — making the disaster inevitable — the arsonist's power
had been multiplied tenfold by those entrusted to protect us. In 2017, Newsweek admitted that ISIS celebrated the
wildfires in California, and that ISIS "supporters suggested laying gasoline-filled bottles in the woods to inflict further
damage" in their newsletter. Why are we making it easier for terrorists to create inextinguishable fires?
Arson,
mischief and recklessness: 87 percent of fires are man-made. There are, on average, 62,000 fires in Australia
every year. Only a very small number strike far from populated areas and satellite studies tell us that lightning is
responsible for only 13 percent. Not so the current fires threatening to engulf Queensland and NSW. There were no
lightning strikes on most of the days when the fires first started in September. Although there have been since, these
fires — joining up to create a new form of mega-fire — are almost all man-made.
The
Australian Wildfires Are About Arsonists — Not Climate Change. In the last couple of months, as many
as 200 wildfires have destroyed Australia all over the continent. Due to the number of fires and location, law
enforcement determined that the blazes were intentionally set, and 183 arsonists have been arrested for the crime so
far. The Left tends to ignore the truth and push lies that work for their political agenda — this time, it
was Climate Change. The Left blames humans, specifically those who do not believe in the political ideology of
human-made Climate Change. Leftists pushed the narrative that we, as humans are not doing enough to stop the earth from
heating up. Climate deniers are blamed. There is one problem: arsonists set the fires. People driving cars,
flying in airplanes, and overeating red meat have nothing to do with the flames.
Fight fire with fire: controlled burning could have protected
Australia. By modern standards, my grandfather would probably be considered an environmental criminal. To
clear land for his farmhouse in north-eastern Victoria — and for his milking sheds, pig pens, chicken sheds,
blacksmith shop and other outbuildings — he cleared hundreds of trees. And he cleared thousands more for his
wheat fields, cattle paddocks and shearing sheds. Old man Hobbs would probably be found guilty of cultural
appropriation, too, because he adopted the Aboriginal method of land-clearing. He burned all of those trees. He
also established fire-delaying dirt paths through surrounding bushland. This was once standard practice throughout
rural Australia, where the pre-settlement indigenous population had long conducted controlled burns of overgrown
flora — known as 'fuel' in current fire-management talk. They knew an absence of controlled burns would
invite uncontrolled burns — such as the gigantic wildfires that have ravaged much of this drought-hit nation
since September.
There's
Only One Way To Make Bushfires Less Powerful: Take Out The Stuff That Burns. As monstrous blazes
overwhelm Australia's south-east, the need for a national bushfire policy has never been more urgent. Active land
management such as hazard-reduction burning and forest thinning must lie at the core of any such policy. Done well,
controlled burning limits a bushfire's spread and makes suppression easier, by reducing the amount of flammable
material. Clearing or thinning vegetation on roadsides and other areas also helps maintain fuel breaks, allowing
firefighters access to forests in an emergency. As former fire chiefs recently pointed out, of all factors driving a
fire's severity — temperature, wind speed, topography, fuel moisture and fuel load — fuel load is the
only one humans can influence.
Are Australia Bushfires Worsening from Human-Caused Climate Change? [#1] Global wildfire activity has decreased in recent decades, making any localized increase (or decrease) in wildfire activity difficult to attribute to 'global climate change'.
[#2] Like California, Australia is prone to bushfires every year during the dry season. Ample fuel and dry weather exists for devastating fires each year, even without excessive heat or drought, as illustrated by the record number of hectares burned (over 100 million) during 1974-75 when above-average precipitation and below-average temperatures existed.
[#3] Australian average temperatures in 2019 were well above what global warming theory can explain, illustrating the importance of natural year-to-year variability in weather patterns (e.g. drought and excessively high temperatures).
[#4] Australia precipitation was at a record low in 2019, but climate models predict no long-term trend in Australia precipitation, while the observed trend has been upward, not downward. This again highlights the importance of natural climate variability to fire weather conditions, as opposed to human-induced climate change.
[#5] While reductions in prescribed burning have probably contributed to the irregular increase in the number of years with large bush fires, a five-fold increase in population in the last 100 years has greatly increased potential ignition sources, both accidental and purposeful.
The
Green Agenda Is Exacerbating Australia's Wildfire Problem. The unfolding tragedy in Australia is being
interpreted as an apocalyptic portent of a "climate emergency": justification for the drastic prescriptions of Extinction
Rebellion to "close down the capitalist system". Heart-rending tweets from the fire zone convey the raw anger of farmers
burnt out of their homes. But their interpretation is strikingly different. Far from begging everybody to embrace the
green agenda, many are blaming the greens for exacerbating the fires by meddling in the time-honoured practice of burning off
excess vegetation to mitigate wildfires. All over the world farmers are being prevented by "experts" in government quangos
from carrying out controlled burning to manage habitats prone to catching fire.
Submission to Mr Tony Pearce, Inspector General for Emergency Management.
There are some irrefutable facts about the drastic state of the bushfire threat to Southern Australia. These are...
[#1] We have a failed fire management policy and practice in Southern Australia especially Victoria. The failed fire management is resulting in an increasing threat to our forest environment (especially tree deaths), water supplies, life and property loss and a severe decrease in our quality of life.
[#2] The thermal scale of wildfire in Victoria exceeds by a factor of 20 our ability to extinguish.
[#3] Disaster scale wildfires occur about once in every 30 years, but will become more frequent as fuel levels continue to rise.
[#4] "Blow up" fire weather causes disaster fires when ignitions and fuel are present.
[#5] Ignitions cannot be prevented.
Report:
Arson Epidemic, Not Climate Change, Behind Australia's Bushfires. Australian law enforcement has arrested over
180 people for arson in connection with the nation's raging bushfires, as alarmists try to pin the blazes on "climate
change." All of the 183 alleged arsonists have been arrested since the start of this year's bushfire season, the
Australian reported Tuesday, adding that 29 fires were deliberately started in the Shoalhaven region of southeast New South
Wales (NSW) in just three months.
The
Insane True Cause Of Australia's Bush Fires. According to Hallam, the Aboriginal peoples spent up to 30% of
their time on fire management, and their efforts were rewarded by a perfect symbiosis between peoples and their
environment. Then the first boats of "globalists" came and with them the growing inability to deal with the Australian
bush. Much of the Australian bush is not a dense forest, but many thin to thick woody shrubs and bushes, usually very
dry, especially during the summer, mostly grassless, often eucalypt trees, that are extremely flammable.
Delingpole:
Environmentalists Made Australia's Bush Fires Worse. [Scroll down] So, to be clear, there is zero
evidence of any change in climatic conditions that might have increased the likelihood or severity of these bush fires.
This is not — repeat NOT — a man-made climate change story, and anyone who claims otherwise is either a
gullible idiot or a lying charlatan. There is, nonetheless, good reason to believe that the stupidity and
irresponsibility of man is at least partly to blame for this disaster — just not quite in the way that the
left-liberal MSM and the green wankerati would have you believe. Man-made culprit #1: all the firebugs who
have been deliberately starting fires in New South Wales, Queensland, and elsewhere. You won't be surprised that their
involvement has had very little coverage in the left-liberal MSM.
Australia Fires,
And Misfires. I kept hearing so much about the Australian bushfires being the result of or driven by "climate
change" or "global warming" that I thought I'd take a look at just what's happened to the rainfall there. Here are a
hundred and nineteen years of Australian rainfall. [Chart] Here's the curious part. The earth has been undergoing
a mild warming pretty steadily since 1970, about the last half-century. But although the last couple years have been
dry, the last half-century in Australia has been wetter than the previous half-century. Not dryer. Wetter.
And a lot wetter. In fact, anyone under about sixty years old has never experienced dry Australia.
Australia's
Epic Fires Caused By Bad Forestry And Arson, Not Climate Change. Like California, Australia limits clearing and
controlled burning of forest fuel build-up, and reports indicate that almost half the bushfires this season were set by
people. [...] In a nutshell, reports indicate that people have been deliberately lighting almost half the bushfires this season.
Hijacking
Australian 2019 Bushfire Tragedies to Fearmonger Climate Change. MSN's climate fearmongers dishonestly claim
"Australia has experienced steadily worse droughts." Climate fearmongers argue warmer temperatures will evaporate surface
moisture more quickly and exacerbate droughts. But they have the tail wagging the dog. Australia's Bureau of
Meteorology's illustration shows the 1920s and 30s had experienced much worse droughts than recent decades. Furthermore,
during periods of low precipitation, drought conditions CAUSE higher temperatures. Without normal soil moisture to
evaporate, solar radiation is no longer consumed as latent heat of evaporation, but instead, rapidly raises land temperatures.
Don't
blame climate change for Australian wildfires. If all you read was the liberal press, you'd think the
Australian bush fires are Mother Earth's punishment for the heresy of allowing global warming. Reality is a little
different — actually, entirely different. The current wave of wildfires running rampant across the
Australian countryside certainly isn't aided by dry weather and heat, but it's actually the result of environmentalists'
naivete, not climate change. The problem is the same one the United States has with forest fires: people simply not
understanding how the environment works. In both cases, the countryside has evolved to deal with and prosper from
frequent and low-level fires. But if these are suppressed, then the large and hot fires, taking out the canopy, for
example, will eventually happen and entirely devastate the flora and the fauna. It's been environmentalists insisting
we suppress all examples and incidences of wildfires. Therefore, blame for the current damage should be laid at their door.
Scientist
David Packham on what's really causing the bushfires. As former State Fire Chiefs call for a summit on
bushfires, expert and scientist David Packham explains that it has nothing to do with climate change and everything to do
with fuel-loads.
Flashback to 2015: Bushfire
scientist David Packham warns of huge blaze threat, urges increase in fuel reduction burns. Forest fuel levels
have worsened over the past 30 years because of "misguided green ideology", vested interests, political failure and
mismanagement, creating a massive bushfire threat, a former CSIRO bushfire scientist has warned. Victoria's "failed
fire management policy" is an increasing threat to human life, water supplies, property and the forest environment, David
Packham said in a submission to the state's Inspector-General for Emergency Management. And he argued that unless the
annual fuel reduction burning target, currently at a minimum of 5 percent of public land, "is doubled or preferably tripled,
a massive bushfire disaster will occur. The forest and alpine environment will decay and be damaged possibly beyond
repair and homes and people [will be] incinerated." He said forest fuel levels had climbed to their most dangerous
level in thousands of years.
Aussie
Fires ARE Caused by Man — It's Called Arson and Green Policy. It turns out that the fires raging in
Australia are climate-related. They're caused by a climate of hate, irresponsibility, and incompetence manifesting
itself in arson, feckless fire handling, and environmentalist policies creating forest tinderboxes. What's more, that
two Muslim teens have just been charged with lighting a fire is a reminder that jihadists have prescribed such action as a
terror method. [...] In fact, one man-caused fire incident is raising eyebrows. "Western Sydney teen Fadi
Zraika — one of the two teens accused of lighting a grass fire at a Guildford park while bushfires ravaged
NSW — laughed outside court today after appearing on multiple charges," reports the Daily Telegraph. "Police
allege Fadi and Abraham Zreika, both 18, set off fireworks that sparked a grass fire at Bright Park, Guildford, on December
22," the paper continues.
In
Australia, fires expose green folly. Australia is [experiencing] some of the worst bushfires in its
history. Greens blame climate change, but it's a cover-up. In reality, they have themselves to blame. From
here in Australia, it can only be called green folly. Green folly locked up 11% of Australia in a tinderbox of bushfire
fuel, much of which is now burnt or burning. Green folly closed forest tracks and gates; expelled foresters and
timber-workers; and prevented property-owners from removing flammable fuel from their own land and adjacent roads, parks, and
forests. Those responsible for these follies should face Class Action. Green folly promotes electric vehicles,
but not one fire truck, dozer, water bomber, helicopter, ambulance, or naval vessel ran on batteries. They all used
hydro-carbon fuels — diesel, petrol, or avgas. And with so many power lines down, these electric toys could
not have recharged their batteries anyway.
The
disastrous fires in Australia are man-caused, but they're not climate change. Leftists around the world are at
it again, blaming "anthropogenic" (i.e., man-caused) climate change for the Australian fires. While it's true that the
fires are "man-caused," they're not anthropogenic in the way the Left thinks they are. At the Golden Globes, the
glitterati focused on the fires raging in Australia. Russell Crowe, the famous climatologist...er, the actor who left
school at 16, confirmed that the fire was all about climate change, so reparative action is urgently needed: [...] Meanwhile,
ABC made a laughingstock out of itself with a map superimposing Australia across the United States, implying that an area
equal to 25% of America was on fire, even as ABC acknowledged that the fire was, in fact, only as big as Maryland.
If
you want to stop wildfires, put qualified people back in charge of forests. There was a time when Australian
foresters kept Australian forests safe and productive. They maintained access tracks bridges and fire breaks, undertook
prescribed burning, cleared flammable litter from the forest floor, cut suckers, manned fire lookouts, and maintained their
own fire-fighting crews in decentralized districts. University-trained professional foresters were supported by tough,
experienced rangers who learned their job in the bush. Almost every advance in bushfire management in Australia, from
the science of fire behavior to aerial burning, was thanks to our foresters. Into the 1980s, they were regarded as
international leaders. To pay for good forest management, sections of the forest were logged, allowing ground space and
sunlight for the swift re-growth of new trees.
The information
war about astonishing arson figures. Rapidly the word about the astonishing rate of arson and man-made
accidents is spreading, but it doesn't help "the cause" (which for left-leaning journo's appears to be getting left-leaning
politicians elected). For example, the awful Binna Burra fire in September was blamed on climate change. Instead
it turned out to be caused by two teenagers with cigarette butts. Who looks silly pushing a carbon tax agenda to stop fires?
Fighting
Fires with Fire [In Australia]. [Scroll down] First, governments created fire hazards called national
parks, where fire sticks, matches, graziers, and foresters were locked out, and access roads were abandoned or
padlocked. Green-loving urbanites built houses right beside them and planted trees in their yards. The open
forests and grasslands were invaded by eucalypt regrowth, woody weeds, tangled undergrowth, dry grass, logs, dead leaves,
twigs, bark, and litter — all perfect fuel for a wildfire holocaust. These tinderboxes of forest fuel became
magnets for arsonists, and occasionally even disgruntled neighbors, or were lit by wind-blown embers or dry lightning.
With high winds, high temperatures, and heavy fuel loads, some fires will race through the tree tops of oil-rich eucalypt
forests. [...] Central management and control of burn-off policy and firefighting across entire states have failed
completely. Too often, the people in charge did not understand bushfire history and science and they were too
influenced by Green ideology.
Yes,
It's True — It Appears Up To 90% Of Australian Brushfires Started By People / Arsonists. Right now
is summer in Australia and every summer that country faces annual bushfires. This year the number of those fires has
suddenly increased. The radical left was quick to blame "climate change" for the increase in fires. Ah, but now
Australian authorities are pointing to something far more likely — people who have been starting these fires on
purpose.
Wildfires and intentional power outages
Introduction by The Editor:
The notion that wildfires are caused by global warming, failure to sign international treaties, or right-wing politics, is absurd.
Left-wing environmentalists pretend to know more about forest management than logging companies, and when they prevent the occasional
clearing and cleanup of the woods, all sorts of combustible fuel accumulates, waiting for the next lightning strike or
uncontrolled campfire to
set it off.
California has occasional power blackouts during wildfire events, in order to stop the spread of the fires. But
California also has barely enough electric power available on a good day. An adequate distribution system appears to be
in place, so the problem is either inadequate supply or excessive demand, or both. California is the home of many radical
left-wing environmentalists who oppose every practical energy source, especially nuclear power. They prefer solar and
wind power, which are intermittent. They have a baseless fear of carbon dioxide, which China doesn't seem to share.
One solution to California's energy shortage would be to increase the supply of electricity, even if it means burning coal
and natural gas. The power has to come from somewhere. The other part of the shortage is excessive demand for
electricity. The population increases constantly, and that either leads to homelessness or increased residential demand
for power. But the leftists in California (who assume the power will always be available) squander a lot of power on
non-essential uses, like marijuana farming, electric cars, and bitcoin mining.
None of these activities were a problem until a few years ago, because almost nobody used electricity that way. But now,
marijuana farming is legal and widespread, and uses a lot of power.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
Electric cars are unpopular, but the Biden administration wants to force them on us
anyway, and the power to recharge all those additional cars is not yet available.
Bitcoin mining uses a lot of power, too.
[1]
[2]
[3]
If these are goals you want to pursue, go ahead, but don't complain when the power grid collapses.
Turbine
fire burns 260+ acres east of Tehachapi. On Monday, August 12th, Kern County
Fire Department, received reports of a wind turbine on fire on Tehachapi Willow Springs Road half a
mile south of Oak Creek Road. When crews arrived on scene, they found a fully involved wind
turbine with 2 acres of brush, with afternoon winds picking up, the fire started moving S/E
towards Tehachapi Willow Springs Road, at approximately 12:30 PM CHP in Kern County Fire Department
closed Tehachapi Willow Springs Road the fire later was stopped at Tehachapi Willow Springs
Road. The current size is 266 acres. [Video clip]
CalFIRE
confirms that illegals are setting wildfires out in San Diego's back country.
[Scroll down] They set up campfires wherever they want. They set wildfires to
attract border agents to pick them up and transport them to their destinations of choice.
They burn down border vehicles because they don't like the Border Patrol. It's shocking what
they will do whenever they want something, given the danger of the fire risk and just how big and
catastrophic these fires can get once they get out of control. Sound like the kind of people
who might rape and murder, too, once they go through catch-and-release? And nobody in the
Biden administration, let alone his border czar, are doing a thing about the border, not on the
sea-side, where illegals ride in through the surf and run through the beachgoers' picnics and beach
ball parties, as we have seen, and not on the badlands side where illegals set wildfires
intentionally and apparently all of them get away with it.
How
to Keep the Lights On. Americans have rightfully come to expect reliable electricity
and the grid has made this possible. Yet some legislators are valuing other goals above
maintaining reliability. Predictably, reliability has begun to suffer. Legislators at
all levels of government should respect the nine principles for electrical grid soundness
identified in this paper. In so doing, they will be helping to ensure the long-term efficacy
of all parts of the American Bulk Power System. This system is comprised of the three
separate interconnections in the US: the Western, Eastern, and Texas interconnections.
Avoiding blackouts and other reliability issues should be the highest priority of lawmakers when it
comes to electricity because the human cost of blackouts is incredibly high.
Thousands
of Californians Lose Power in Cutoffs Due to High Winds. The Pacific Gas & Electric
Company (PG&E) cut power to nearly 2,000 households in northern California on Tuesday due to high
heat and winds that raise the risk of downed power lines, which in turn lead to sparks that can
ignite wildfires. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency Wednesday
[7/3/2024] in Butte County in response to the Thompson fire, a wildfire that has burned over 3,000
acres and threatens to become deadlier if spread by continued high winds.
Over
12,000 Acres Near Los Angeles is on Fire — More Than 1,200 People Evacuated So
Far. A massive wildfire just outside Los Angeles, California, has spread to 12,265
acres and was only two percent contained on Sunday afternoon [6/16/2024]. The Post Fire is
moving towards Hungry Valley Park, where California State Park Services have evacuated
approximately 1,200 people. [Tweet with video clip] Evacuation warnings have
also been issued south of Pyramid Lake between Old Ridge Route and the Los Angeles County line,
which includes Paradise Ranch Estate. [Tweet]
Green
college degrees and phony climate calamities. [Scroll down] Then there are
the wildfires. They are more numerous than ever, but not because of fossil fuels and global
warming. Fires have become frequent because of the predominant "earth first" attitude
embraced by the federal government and most state agencies. No longer are our forests and
wildlands provided with proper care and stewardship. Instead, a preservationist philosophy
has been put in place allowing our natural habitat to grow wildly out of control, providing insane
amounts of fuel when fires do occur.
California
Homeowners: Insured No More Amid Fire Danger. America's largest and, for some
owners, only option for a home insurer is pulling back its operations in the state of California,
leaving many with no more options to secure their property's value amid wildfire danger in the
state reaching new heights. As Statista's Katharina Buchholz reports, after saying in May of
last year that it wasn't giving out any new California contracts, news broke in March that
72,000 State Farm policies in the state would not be renewed. [...] State Farm's move speaks
volumes to homes in wooded areas of California now being considered so likely to be destroyed that
the usual calculations of insurance companies have stopped working out[,] at least for those
high-end properties that are now having their contracts discontinued.
The Editor says...
If the insurance companies are backing out, they know something is coming. It's their job
to know what's just around the corner.
Climate
hysteria tailspin reaches terminal velocity(?) They told us an increase in wildfires
was a harbinger of the "climate crisis" but now, with wildfires down substantially over the last
two years because of a deluge of precipitation, they have to adjust fire, and pivot, claiming all
the rain putting out the wildfires is also bad, because now vegetations will grow, and create a
risk of fire. There's no winning against the "green" agenda. Since all of history,
hasn't rain brought life to flora? Yet, against all odds (thriving plant life), we're still
here! Would the state be better off if it didn't get the vegetation and the record
rain? Maybe, when vegetation dries out, the state should ignore the bureaucrats and
"environmentalists" and clear out the underbrush before it becomes a tinderbox. Maybe,
instead of dumping billions into vote-buying schemes like welcoming endless hordes of illegals, the
state uses the taxes it collects to build the proper infrastructure — if the climate
crisis really is as existential as they claim it to be.
Another
Hugo Chavez-style idea on electricity rates from California's one-party regime.
Cash-strapped California has proposed to set electricity rates based on one's income, not one's
consumption. What could go wrong? [...] So if you've been foolish enough to invest in solar
energy as the state encouraged you to do in the name of saving the planet, hoping that $7,000
investment in the roof plates you shelled out for would eventually pay for itself through lower
electricity rates, well, too bad about you. The danger here is that California is more likely
than ever to see electricity shortages, given that the cost incentive to use less will be gone with
this new proposed policy. People will just leave the power on, given that there is no
difference in the rate for doing so. With that kind of incentive to overconsumption, from the
state with the most green mandates and highest electricity costs in the nation, you can be there
won't be electricity when it's going to be needed. The coming heat waves, wild fires, and
cold waves are going to be something else.
California
is having a tough Time With Electricity. The infrastructure hasn't kept up with the
state's population needs itself, less mind the grandiose plans, mandates, and deadlines imposed on
citizens and utilities alike. They're also hamstrung by regressive progressive policies as
far as proper fire control for the semi-arid desert scrub most of them inhabit. Every year CA
burns. Every year aging powerlines fall into scrub and brush that was never cleared or
control burned off to minimize that very outcome. And instead of using proper fire
suppression techniques? Every year it's lather, rinse, repeat. The aging lines and
poles stay the same, and the power to customers gets turned off "just in case" when the
Santa Anas start to blow. [...] Much like Newsom's botched administration of the state, the grid
itself is in chaos. The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has been forced to
curtail electricity in the lines because CAs build out of wind and solar hasn't been matched with
the new transmission lines needed to carry the extra capacity, particularly when it's produced in
low-usage periods.
California
Has Another Planet-Saving Idea. Making electricity is easy. Figuring out how to
make enough electricity without violating leftist dogma is quite a bit harder. California's
population has grown an astounding 162 percent since 1958. Yet the state hasn't built a new
power plant (other than wind or solar) since the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant came online in 1985.
The state simply does not have the electrical generating capacity to meet its current needs —
making it more dependent on imported power than any other state in the Union. California currently
imports between 20 and 30 percent of its power from other states. The "save the planet" zealots
have become dependent addicts, ensuring continued profitability for the evil pushers of environmentally
destructive energy. That dependence on other states is a simple engineering problem to solve.
If you don't have enough electricity, just build more power plants. [...] The problem is California's
energy policy. The state hasn't built a new power plant in almost 40 years because it has
committed to reaching 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.
LA
Times energy writer: What if we accepted occasional blackouts to solve climate change?
Sammy Roth is an energy & environment reporter for the LA Times. Last week he asked a serious
question on Twitter: Would it really be so bad if we had occasional blackouts as the cost of transitioning
away from fossil fuels sooner? [Tweet] I'm not an energy writer for a major newspaper but
this immediately strikes me as a terrible idea. Yesterday he wrote an entire column about this
starting with this rephrased version of his question: ["]What's more important: Keeping
the lights on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, or solving the climate crisis?["]
The Editor says...
[#1] There is no climate crisis, so the answer to that last question is "keeping the lights on."
[#2] Switching over to windmills and solar panel will only help America's enemies. They want
us to have unreliable power. [#3] China and India don't have intentional outages, and neither
country cares about carbon dioxide emissions. [#4] Cuba has blackouts all the
time,*
and it has made no difference to the climate, locally or globally. [#5] If power outages
are planned, what's the best time of the week to pull the plug? Solar panels don't work at night,
so it will have to be done in daylight. Sunday morning? What about the churches and
weekend sports in the big government-funded stadium? Saturday morning? What about the gas
stations, hospitals, broadcasters, and nursing homes that need continuous power? Obviously
each of them will need to run a big diesel-powered generator to stay in business (and keep patients
alive). Wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of the switch to windmill power?
How many TV stations are in California?
Approximately 106 full
power stations, and 205 low-power stations, not counting the sub-channels. Most of them have a local studio
and all of them have a transmitter. Even if the transmitters for different stations are in the same
building, they don't share the cost of any resources, especially generator power, because they are in ruthless
competition with each other. TV stations make a bunch of money every minute they're on the air,
and I can assure you that none of them will bite the bullet and sit in the dark while the power is
intentionally turned off. Also consider the amount of energy being consumed by marijuana farming.
That crop is grown under artificial light 24 hours a day. Is anyone in that business going
to sacrifice their competitive edge by sitting through a blackout every week? Certainly not.
The same is true of the motion picture industry, and any other competitive enterprise. Time is money.
Are the airport terminals and control towers exempt from this lunacy? Do you want to be in a hospital
when the power goes off? What about the county jail, the police station, or the penitentiary? All of
the places listed above have backup generators already. Some of them are as big and as loud as locomotives.
And you can safely presume that the wealthy liberal elite have generators
for their 10,000 square foot houses. A scheduled weekly (or daily!) blackout would just make people angry.
It wouldn't do much to win Democrat votes. And it wouldn't do any good to have blackouts in California if no other
state follows suit, and especially if no other industrialized country cooperates. All this avoidable inconvenience
will accomplish NOTHING. You may have to live through The Great Energy Transition to Renewable Power,
but a few years later, I predict you will see an uprising called Put Everything Back the Way it Was.
Get
Used to Living With 'Blackouts' to Save the Planet. Naive conservatives point to the
leftist obsession with electric cars even while the grid is being moved away from reliable energy
sources like oil, coal and gas, to fundamentally unreliable ones like wind and solar, and then
point to the blackouts in California. "How is this going to work?" they argue, thinking that
they've made a convincing point, while fundamentally misunderstanding (as conservatives often do)
that they haven't found a logical weakness, they've uncovered the enemy's plan. Shoving
everything into an unreliable power grid, especially personal transportation, isn't a bug, it's a
feature. That's the whole point of electric cars, and the proliferation of always online
vehicles that require a power grid and can be remotely shut down. All of this is
Cloward-Piven for energy. Failure isn't just inevitable, it's the goal. As the
blackouts grow, they will tell you, as I predicted, to shut up and take it for the good of the planet.
Related: Democrats
whine about Con Ed hikes caused by their own dumb policies. Better sit down before
you open your next Con Ed bill: Rates are set to soar, starting next month — and
double over the next two years. If you're a progressive, you can't complain.
What did you think would happen, based on your anti-fossil-fuel, big-spending, anti-business
agenda? On Thursday, the state's Public Service Commission OK'd hikes of 9.1% for electricity
and 8.4% for gas, starting in August, along with additional jumps though 2025. At that point,
typical bills will have doubled, from about $70 a month to $140 — or an extra $840 a year.
The Editor says...
Maybe electric cars aren't such a great idea after all. Maybe it's not a good idea to eliminate
coal-fired power plants. Maybe your windmills will stop on the hottest day of the summer, or
freeze on the coldest day. Maybe your solar panels won't work at night — oh wait,
that's a certainty. Maybe you should just leave things the way they were 30 years ago.
Wildfires and Progressive Climate-Change
Deniers. The reality is that even if U.S. banks stopped financing fossil-fuel
projects today, global CO2 emissions would rise for decades owing to growing coal production in
India and China. Another inconvenient truth is that government policies to reduce CO2
emissions will be swamped by wildfire emissions. University of California researchers last
year calculated that wildfire emissions in 2020 were two times higher than the state's greenhouse
gas reductions from 2003 to 2019. California wildfires in 2020 were the state's second largest
source of CO2 emissions after transportation and generated double the greenhouse gases of all the
state's power plants. Another study this spring in the journal Science estimated that burning
boreal forests in North America and Eurasia in 2021 released 1.76 billion tons of CO2, nearly twice
as much as global aviation that year. That's also more than four times New York State's
annual emissions and about three times as much as the Inflation Reduction Act's projected
reductions in 2030.
California
Can Either Charge Its EV Fleet Or Keep The Lights On. Can California transition to a
portfolio of 100% renewable energy sources and still generate enough electricity to meet the
state's future needs, including the addition of millions of electric cars on the road? Using
the state's historical trends to project forward, the answer to these questions is no.
Californians will face acute electricity shortages soon if policymakers insist on implementing its
current suite of policies. California is already incapable of generating enough electricity,
importing 30% of its current electricity needs from other states. With respect to current
generation sources, nearly 60% of California's in-state electricity generation is produced by
natural gas and nuclear power plants. Including conventional hydroelectric generation, which
does not count as a renewable source for purposes of California's policies, nearly two-thirds of
the state's current electricity comes from disfavored generation sources. It is doubtful that
California will be able to generate sufficient electricity to meet future energy needs using only
the favored generation sources; and it is not even close.
Shocker:
96% of U.S. climate data is corrupted. You probably heard how AOC was quick to blame
the clouds of smoke wafting down from the Canadian wildfires last week on climate change. As
you likely expected without even needing to check, that turns out to be nonsense. But the
underlying facts that prove its nonsensical nature turn out to be well rooted in science. [...] You
should check out the work of veteran meteorologist Anthony Watts of the Heartland Institute.
He's been studying the weather and the climate in general for a very long time. He travels
around the country inspecting meteorological equipment and studies historical weather data from
around the world. One of the first findings he would like the public to be aware of is that
not only are wildfires common in many parts of North America, but the reality is that in the 21st
century, they have actually been less numerous than they were in the past. They're just
getting more attention from the press and on social media.
Let's
talk climate scares and wildfires. The latest panic climate talk is amplified because
of the smoke from Canadian fires that is drifting to the East, as all American weather does, to
produce smoke in East Coast cities and create air quality advisories and pearl-clutching.
California wildfires in the recent past did not produce any measurable uptick in deaths or
illnesses, but no matter: another crisis is currently besetting the lefty havens of the East
Coast. [...] Finally, the authors ignore the major reasons for an increase in wildfires:
arson, more arson, and the tinderbox created by poor forestry practices, and restriction of logging
and harvesting of forests that decreases density. Dense forests cause wildfires to be more
frequent and of greater magnitude. This paper is a part of a pattern — a poorly
formulated claim of factoids is blown up into a basis for a scare. But a reasonable
analysis of the science shows the claims to be inadequately formulated. Fossil fuel use and
increased CO2 in the air are not the cause of any valid prediction of increased wildfire frequency
or severity.
The
Corruption of Climate Science. In California, wildlife biologists and forest
ecologists who spend their lives studying and managing these timberlands unanimously agree that
tree density has increased, thanks to "non-climatic factors such as the prohibition of Indigenous
burning, and legacies of fire suppression." The increase is not
subtle. Without small, naturally occurring fires that clear underbrush and smaller trees,
forests become overgrown. Controlled burns and responsible logging are absolutely necessary
to maintain forest health. According to a study conducted in 2020 by UC Davis and USDA,
California's mid-elevation Ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forests used to average 60 trees per
acre, and now they average 170 trees per acre according to conservative estimates. [...]
California's forests are tinderboxes because environmentalists made it nearly impossible to get
permits to do controlled burns and because environmentalists decimated the timber industry.
In the face of relentless regulatory and litigious harassment, California's timber industry has
shrunk from harvesting 6 billion board feet per year as recently as the 1990s to less than
2 billion board feet in recent years. Meanwhile, California's fire suppression industrial
complex has grown to gargantuan proportions, pouring billions of dollars into putting fires out
before they can spread.
Study:
California Wildfires in One Year Erased 16 Years of Emissions Cuts. The raging
California wildfires of 2020 created enough carbon emissions to offset 16 years of reductions
through the state's green policies — twice over — according to a UCLA study
published by Environmental Pollution. As Breitbart News reported at the time, the
wildfire season in 2020 was so intense that smoke from the fires reached cities on the East Coast
of the United States.
Is
California a Luddite Conspiracy? California politicians continue to pass policies that, by all accounts,
appear to be deliberately aimed at substantially reducing its residents' ability to have reliable, on-demand
electricity. [...] California has, over the years, been a leader in "decarbonizing" their state. In their
enthusiasm, Californians rapidly shut down coal, oil, and gas power plants over the years, at a rate that the
installation of renewable replacements simply could not keep up with. Nuclear is on the chopping block as well,
though the Diablo Canyon nuclear power station has just had its execution deferred for another few years. Diablo
Canyon supplies California with 9 percent of its electricity, and represents 15 percent of its non-fossil fuel
energy. It's worth noting that the only reason Diablo Canyon was slated to close in the first place was because
Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, embarked on a long quest to force Pacific Gas & Electric to close it
prematurely. Electricity prices in California have risen six times faster than the rest of the country since 2011,
and are more than double the cost of neighboring states' rates.
Dodging
Blackouts, California Faces New Questions on Its Power Supply. California finds itself on edge more than
ever with a lingering fear: the threat of rolling blackouts for years to come. Despite adding new power plants,
building huge battery storage systems and restarting some shuttered fossil fuel generators over the past couple of
years, California relies heavily on energy from other states — the cavalry rushing over a distant hill.
Sometimes the support does not show up when expected or at all. That was the case this month, when millions of
residents got cellphone alerts urging them to cut their energy use as the state teetered close to blackouts in blazing
heat. As climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent, the peril has only increased.
The Editor says...
[#1] Climate change has not made "extreme weather events more frequent," and hot weather is nothing new. The problem
is not the weather. The problem is California's bull-headed resistance to every practical source of energy, and the
irrational fear of carbon dioxide. More specifically, the problem is that the politicians all represent the same
socialist party, and that party listens too much to the rabid earth-worshiping environmentalist fruitcakes.
[#2] If the neighboring states cut off their power feeds into California, it will get really interesting.
California
is learning that solar doesn't work without battery storage. California got through the biggest heat wave
of the year without having to order any blackout but only just barely. Gov. Newsom is praising the state's
shift to renewable energy as if avoiding the blackouts is proof that the shift to renewables is working. [...] We
actually did have blackouts in some places on the hottest days but those were ordered by the power companies not the
state. I wonder to what extent those outages helped the state's independent regulator avoid ordering rolling
blackouts. In any case, everyone agrees we came really close. Wednesday the Washington Post published a
story arguing that the real lesson Newsom and others should have learned from barely avoiding blackouts this summer is
that solar without battery storage really doesn't work very well.
California:
NFL Opener, Rock Concerts Continue Despite Energy Crisis. Major concerns and sporting events are
continuing to be held across California despite the ongoing energy crisis, with fans flocking to Oracle Park in San
Francisco Wednesday for a rock concert, and the L.A. Rams due to open the NFL season at home Thursday. As
Breitbart News has reported, California is entering its eighth consecutive day of "Flex Alerts," during which consumers
are asked to save electricity in the afternoon and evening hours. An energy emergency is possible on Thursday,
including possible blackouts.
California
Residents Forced to Prepare for Rolling Blackouts as State Leadership Pushes 'Green' Initiatives. The
operator of California's power grid is advising state residents to prepare for rolling outages because of a
heatwave. Governor Gavin Newsom constantly brags about the state's commitment to green energy, but he can't even
keep the power on. How will they power all the electric cars once they ban gas-powered vehicles if they can't keep
the power on?
Greenie
paradise California goes on rolling blackouts. Just days after signing a greenie law mandating that
Californians buy only electric cars by 2035 — and calling it a model for the nation —
Gov. Gavin Newsom is pleading with Californians to turn off their electricity to prevent the electrical grid from
blowing out. In some Bay Area cities — Alameda, Healdsburg, and Old Palo Alto — the rolling
blackouts have already started. It's a policy failure unlike any other, from a guy who makes no secret of wanting
to run the entire country based on his state's energy model. Those ads he's taken out in Florida, urging those who
fled to come back to California, are looking pathetic right now. Florida, after all, still allows air-conditioning.
You must drive electric cars -- but please do not charge them. California
Extends 'Flex Alert,' Warns Drivers Not to Charge Electric Cars. Authorities in California extended a
"Flex Alert" telling residents to conserve energy, including not charging their electric vehicles, on Sunday afternoon
and evening. The alert has been in effect for several days in the midst of a heat wave that is slated to last
through Labor Day. The California Independent System Operator, the manager of the state's power grid, issued the
statewide Flex Alert from 4 to 9 p.m. Residents are urged to set their thermostats to 78 degrees Fahrenheit or
higher, avoid using major appliances, avoid charging electric vehicles, and turning off unnecessary lights.
"Additional Flex Alerts will likely be called as heat will only intensify through Tuesday, with little relief from
triple-digit temperatures seen over the next several days," the operator wrote. "Daytime high temperatures are forecast
at 10-20 degrees above normal in much of the state through the Labor Day weekend and into next week, and record-breaking
heat is projected in some parts of California."
Officials
Beg Californians to Use Less Electricity as Blackouts Loom. Officials are asking Californians to use less
electricity as the state faces record demand for energy on Tuesday, creating the possibility for rolling blackouts in
the midst of a heat wave. On Tuesday, as the state faces a seventh consecutive "Flex Alert," in which residents
will be asked to conserve electricity between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., officials say that efforts
to save energy must be doubled or tripled to be effective. The California Independent System Operator (ISO)
declared an "Energy Emergency Alert" at level 2 on Monday, one level below the stage at which blackouts would have
been required. It brought four natural gas plants online to help hope with demand, as solar and wind power cannot
meet the state's needs in a crunch.
The Editor says...
Solar and wind are inadequate "in a crunch," and California is headed for a non-stop crunch. It was all
completely avoidable, and the crunch will be entirely the fault of the socialist Democrats.
California power grid declares
Flex Alert for Wednesday, asks for electricity conservation. The manager of California's power
grid has issued a statewide Flex Alert for Wednesday, asking residents and businesses to cut back on power usage to prevent
strain on the system. The California Independent System Operator is calling on Californians to save power between
4 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday.
This article is very much like an infomercial for generators. The Often Overlooked
Costs of an Extended Power Outage. While the inconvenience of a power loss is real enough by itself, the true
monetary costs that are possible when a prolonged outage hits can't be understated. In fact, according to a report put
together by Kohler Generators, American households face approximately $150 billion in power outage-related expenses each
year. So where do these costs come from? In their survey, Briggs & Stratton looked at both how common certain
power outage expenses were and their average cost. The most common expense was spoiled food, which 40 percent of survey
respondents faced at an average cost of $160, during just one power outage. The second most frequent cost was for
emergency supplies such as flashlights, candles and firewood; 29 percent of those surveyed reported such spending at an
average of $76 per household. Facing a prolonged period of time without power, many American homeowners looked for
alternate solutions. For 16 percent of the survey's respondents, this meant picking up a portable generator with an average
price tag of $650. An additional eight percent of those questioned opted to get a hotel room at $108 per night on average.
France
to turn lights off at night. French President Emmanuel Macron [...] is telling French citizens to engage in
energy "sobriety" and to prepare for even higher food prices. Macron added, "From now on, I will ask public bodies, and
all companies that can, to consume less. We will create a program and try to use lighting less in the evenings.
We are launching a load reduction and sobriety program. We have to prepare for a scenario in which we have to give up
Russian gas completely." [...] And France is by no means alone. California, the erstwhile Golden State, the Land of
Milk and Honey — and Hollywood — says it expects periodic blackouts this summer as the power runs
low. In fact, California has struggled to keep the power on the past two summers, due to progressive policies that
range from the nonsensical to the insane. France is not engaged in war with Russia but is using the war as an excuse to
demand energy "sobriety" from her citizens. California is not fighting Russia either.
Fossil
fuels are far better than blackouts. As the world watched, French President Emmanuel Macron explained the
basics of supply and demand in oil markets to President Biden this week. Video of the encounter made it obvious:
Energy experts need to begin loudly restating the basic truth that reliable energy is essential to human health and
well-being. Macron's Energy 101 tutorial with Biden reinforced the reality that the world is grappling with a growing
energy crisis, and the Middle East won't be able to bail out markets. The U.S. would do well to heed this fact.
It should implement protective measures for oil and gas markets, as well as for electricity markets, before it's too
late. And make no mistake, "too late" is bearing down on us. For example, last month a Michigan utility closed an
811-megawatt nuclear plant almost a decade before its operating permit expired. Last week, the Michigan Public Service
Commission took it a step further by approving a request by Consumers Energy, a major utility, to close its last remaining
coal plant by 2025. That's 15 years ahead of schedule. The closure will mean 1,560 megawatts of reliable
capacity lost so the company can meet its wholly voluntary goal of net-zero CO2 emissions by 2040.
Like
a third-world country, California is facing rolling power blackouts. Unless states and countries are willing to
transition almost entirely to nuclear power, so-called "green" energy is a chimera. In the old days, "green" energy was
the norm and life was Hobbesian: "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." It was fossil fuel that brought us into a world
of plenty but the greenies have been having their way with our fossil-fuel-powered grid and, inevitably, the lights are going
off. California, for example, boldly decided to go "green," closing down existing nuclear power plants and refineries,
only to discover that the lights go out when you do that, so now the only option is [...] returning to that much-despised
fossil fuel.
Green
Energy Chickens Coming Home to Roost. In California, the California Political Review reports, demolition
of four dams will soon begin, "with no replacement for the water and energy they provide." Compounding this blunder, in
two years the state's last nuclear power plant, which provides 10% of the state's energy, will be shut down without any plans
to replace that loss. And even worse, the Democrats who run the state are sticking with plans to banish gas-powered
vehicles from the state by 2035, replacing them with 8 million electric vehicles in a state already incapable of keeping the
lights on in hot weather or during wildfires that damage transmission lines. According to one study, achieving this
goal of 30 million EVs would require electric power companies with 2-3 million customers to invest between $1700
and $5800 in grid upgrades per vehicle, costs that will no doubt be passed along to customers.
California's
electrical grid has an EV problem. California energy officials issued a sobering warning this month, telling
residents to brace for potential blackouts as the state's energy grid faces capacity constraints heading into the summer
months. And since the state has committed to phase out all new gas-powered vehicles by 2035 — well ahead of
federal targets — the additional load from electric vehicle (EV) charging could add more strain to the electric
grid. "Let's say we were to have a substantial number of [electric] vehicles charging at home as everybody dreams," Ram
Rajagopal, an associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, who authored a recent study
looking at the strain electric vehicle adoption is expected to place on the power grid, told Yahoo Finance. "Today's
grid may not be able to support it. It all boils down to: Are you charging during the time solar power is on?"
The Editor says...
Here's the bottom line, if you haven't figured it out already: If you rely on solar panels, you can't drive an
electric car in the winter, when the days are short. If you rely on windmills, you can't charge an electric car at
night, when the wind all but ceases. You can't charge your electric car at the same time that you and everybody else in
town wants to use electric appliances; that is, right after you get home from work. At last, when the time is right,
you'll need a few hours to get the car fully charged. Compare this to the time it takes to fill up the gas tank on a
gas engine automobile. "Renewable energy" and electric cars are incompatible.
Newsom's
electric car nirvana collides with reality. Gavin Newsom is bi-polar. He wants to get us into all
electric homes and cars. At the same time he is limiting and destroying energy sources — causing brownouts
and blackouts. If we had 8 million more EV cars and 2 million all electric homes, we would have to ration electricity
to a few hours a days and maybe one charge of your EV each week. Newsom is providing the foundation of the collapse of
the California economy. [...] This year's increase in electric car sales was, no doubt, spurred in part by a steep hike in
gasoline prices, as well as subsidies — which poses an interesting dichotomy. Newsom has decried those fuel
price spikes and wants the state to offset them with payments to motorists, which would reduce some of their motivation to
buy electric cars." Not only would there be a severe limit on the energy you can use, but the cost of available energy
will skyrocket.
Electric
grid operators warn of potential summer blackouts. While some major cities are already seeing their lights go
off due to electricity use overload, grid operators and energy advocates gave a warning to states closing their coal-fired
power plants even quicker than they can build new ones. "Any plans to remove nuclear plants or coal power plants or
natural gas plants that are slated to be closed, that has to be completely suspended," Power the Future executive director
Daniel Turner told FOX Business' Jeff Flock Tuesday [5/10/2022]. Eighty coal-fired power plants are slated to close
across 14 states in the next six years, Flock mentioned in his report, which poses a threat as some blackouts have already begun
and coal and nuclear power still source 41% of the country's electricity, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Electricity
Shortage Warnings Grow Across U.S.. From California to Texas to Indiana, electric-grid operators are warning
that power-generating capacity is struggling to keep up with demand, a gap that could lead to rolling blackouts during heat
waves or other peak periods as soon as this year. California's grid operator said Friday that it anticipates a
shortfall in supplies this summer, especially if extreme heat, wildfires or delays in bringing new power sources online
exacerbate the constraints. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, which oversees a large regional grid
spanning much of the Midwest, said late last month that capacity shortages may force it to take emergency measures to meet
summer demand and flagged the risk of outages. In Texas, where a number of power plants lately went offline for
maintenance, the grid operator warned of tight conditions during a heat wave expected to last into the next week.
California
Warns of Possible Summer Blackouts as Power Runs Low. California energy officials warned the state may be at
risk of blackouts for the next three summers due to power supply shortages and extreme weather. The state could be short
about 1,700 megawatts this summer — enough power for about 1.3 million homes — and that gap may widen to
about 1,800 megawatts by 2025, officials said Friday during a media call. These forecasts don't include other factors
such as extreme regional heat waves or wildfires that can take down power lines, they said.
The Editor says...
If it's safe to assume there will be "extreme weather" months from now, perhaps it isn't extreme at all.
California
says it needs more power to keep the lights on. California energy officials on Friday [5/6/2022] issued a sober
forecast for the state's electrical grid, saying it lacks sufficient capacity to keep the lights on this summer and beyond if
heatwaves, wildfires or other extreme events take their toll. The update from leaders from three state agencies and the
office of Governor Gavin Newsom comes in response to a string of challenges with the ambitious transition away from fossil
fuels, including rolling blackouts during a summer heat wave in 2020.
Gov.
Newsom: Maybe it was a mistake to shut down California's last nuclear plant. You may not remember it,
especially if you don't live here in California, but the state had rolling blackouts back in 2020. The culprit was a heat
wave which meant lots of people were using air conditioners to keep indoor temperatures under control. And as the sun
went down and the state's solar power supplies dried up, there weren't enough back up supplies to replace it. After
that debacle California regulators decided to let some existing natural gas power plants stay open a few extra years.
But the state had already decided several years earlier to shut down the last remaining nuclear plants which would cease to
operate when their current licenses expired rather than try to extend those licenses.
Wind
& Solar 'Transition' Mean End of Reliable & Affordable Power. If you live in California, by now you've probably
seen the ads, either on prime time television or online, exhorting you to "Power Down 4 to 9PM." [...] The misanthropic
cruelty of these laws ought to be obvious. Normal people need more electricity between 4 and 9 PM, and no amount
of public education can overcome that circadian fact. [...] Normal people may also be forgiven if they don't want to jump
through the preposterous hoops required of "programmable" appliances, such as washing machines that will defer ignition until
the spot price of electricity drops below a specified threshold. The fact that every major appliance now requires
internet connectivity and comes with an instruction manual that rivals Lord of the Rings in scope and word-count, is not a
sign of progress. It is fetishistic excess. Future generations will marvel at the absurdity of this maddening,
mandated attention to technology-driven minutia, and attribute it to the hubris of our times.
Which
Country Or U.S. State Will Be The First To Hit The Renewable Energy Wall? [Scroll down] I have written
several posts highly critical of California's pie-in-the-sky green energy plans, which include a 2045 "zero carbon" target.
[...] However, California does have a deep secret to help it stave off the possibility of hitting the renewable energy
wall: it imports a very high percentage of its power from neighboring states. Some of the imports are fossil fuel
based (coal and natural gas from Arizona and Nevada), and some are reliable non-fossil fuel based sources (nuclear from
Arizona and hydro from Oregon and Washington). [...] In 2018 California imported about 32% of its electricity (91,000 GWH out
of 285,000 GWH), and in 2020 about 30% (82,000 GWH out of 273,000 GWH). According to data from the EIA, California
imports far more electricity from other states than does any other state (although there are a few states that import more on
a percentage basis). The ability to import large amounts of electricity from neighboring states means that California
has a high degree of insurance against its own energy folly. As long as Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have
some electricity to sell, blackouts can be staved off even though California's wind and solar generators may be completely
quiet. You may say that this is cheating in the game of "zero emissions" electricity, which it is, but don't count on
California's politicians to level with the voters.
With
Its Power Grid Under Pressure, California Asks Residents to Avoid Charging Electric Vehicles. Amid a West Coast
heat wave that includes triple-digit temperatures, California's power grid operators have called on residents to not use as
much electricity so as to put less strain on the state's beleaguered grid. In the past week, the California Independent
System Operator (ISO) told residents several times to voluntarily conserve energy, including asking them on social media to
stop charging their electric vehicles (EVs) during peak usage times. The operator also warned users to "[avoid] use of
large appliances and turning off extra lights." "This usually happens in the evening hours when solar generation is
going offline and consumers are returning home and switching on air conditioners, lights, and appliances," wrote the ISO.
And on June 18, the California Flex Alert Twitter page wrote that "now is the perfect time to do a load of laundry," and
urged residents to "remember to use major appliances, charge cars and devices before #FlexAlert begins at 6 p.m. today."
The Editor says...
[#1] Relatively few people drive an electric car, even in California. What happens when everybody has an electric
car? [#2] When there is an insufficient supply of electricity, conservation is not a long-term solution. The only
long-term solution is an increase in generating capacity, which means the combustion of coal or natural gas, or the
use of nuclear energy. Please make your selection soon.
University
professor is charged with starting four California wildfires. A former college professor was indicted by a
federal grand jury Thursday for allegedly starting four wildfires in Northern California earlier this year, near the deadly
Dixie Fire. Gary Stephen Maynard, 47, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of arson to
federal property, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California said in a statement. The blazes
threatened to trap firefighters as they battled the massive Dixie blaze — the second-largest wildfire in California
history — nearby, prosecutors said. Maynard's alleged arson spree included blazes he started in July and
August behind crews fighting the Dixie fire, scorching more than 1,500 square miles and destroying more than 1,000
structures, court documents showed.
High
winds prompt PG&E to shut power to 25,000 in California. Pacific Gas & Electric began shutting off power to
about 25,000 customers in central and northern California Monday and Southern California Edison warned it may do the same for
up to 9,000 of its customers as high winds toppled trees, downed power lines and ignited fires that forced people to flee
from their homes. At least a half dozen mostly small fires broke out across the state, challenging firefighters as they
tried to contain the blazes amid the blustering wind.
Forestry
student-turned-shaman, 30, faces nine years in jail for 'starting California's Fawn Fire'. A former forestry
student-turned-shaman and yoga teacher has been charged with starting a huge California wildfire that has destroyed 41 homes — and
was being investigated in connection with other fires — after claiming the blaze was triggered accidentally while she
tried to boil bear urine so she could drink it. Alexandra Souverneva, of Palo Alto, was charged Friday with felony
arson to wildland with an enhancement because of a declared state of emergency in California, Shasta County District Attorney
Stephanie Bridgett said. The 8,500 acre blaze the 30 year-old is accused of starting has wrecked 41 homes, and 90 other
structures. Souverneva pleaded not guilty but could face up to nine years in state prison if convicted. She is
also suspected of starting additional fires in Shasta County and throughout the state, Bridgett said.
What
is it about academics and arson? You've heard of "going postal:? Maybe the next odious term should be "going
academic." We're seeing an awful lot of arson as a cause for California's wildfires and at treasured institutions being
perpetrated by academics. Here's the latest going on near Redding, California from the Washington Post: [...] Nearly
all of the accused have signs of drug abuse in their pictures as do these three, a lot of them are serial setters, and many
have mental health issues. But it's starting to stand out that some of the worst fire-starters are from the cool ivy
halls of academia, as if something in the culture is telling the angry ones among them to go burn something. What is
it? How is it that a profession that set such stake on telling America how to live seems to have so little capacity for
cleaning house?
California's
Top Grid Operator Asks Feds To Burn More Fossil Fuels To Avert Blackouts. California's power grid transition to
renewable energy sources appears to be backfiring. The push into clean energy is not producing enough power to meet
demand during hot summer days, and it's becoming harder for the Golden State to avoid rolling blackouts. A stunning new
revelation in the state's top grid operator, California Independent System Operator, filing to US Department of Energy (DoE),
titled "Request for Emergency Order Pursuant to Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act," requested the federal government to
declare an "electric reliability emergency" so it can use more fossil fuel power generation to prevent blackouts.
The Editor says...
If California has an "electric reliability emergency," it's entirely the fault of the state and federal government,
due to their obsession with carbon dioxide, and it's an emergency with no end in sight. If you haven't noticed, the
state and federal governments thrive on perpetual emergencies, like terrorism, pandemics, immigration, homelessness, and
global warming.
California
wises up and chooses natural gas. The Golden State has been trying for years to get rid of all of its fossil
fuel generation capacity. Spreading a mythological doom-and-gloom narrative about catastrophic, world-ending climate
change, California's government has nonetheless moved toward shuttering all of its carbon-free nuclear power plants in favor
of creating a grid based almost entirely on wind and solar power. There is just one problem with this: It cannot
be done, at least not with existing technology. Not only has this forced upon Californians electricity prices 80%
higher than the national average, but it has also saddled them with a power grid that relies far too heavily on intermittent
(that is, unreliable) sources of electricity. Wind power only works when the wind blows. Solar cannot generate
electricity at night.
Two
Charts Destroy Big Lie About 'Climate Change' And Wildfires. It's that time of year again, the season of
headlines routinely screaming about "record" amounts of acreage burned from out-of-control wildfires caused by, of course,
"climate change." But is it true? Is global warming driving a surge in wildfires? The answer is no. The
media started again this week with the release of the United Nation's latest dire climate change report, based on the same
faulty models and filled with more apocalyptic predictions that won't come true. [...] It's become an annual summer mantra
from the media, this time driven by large wildfires that happen to coincide with the release of the U.N. report. The
truth is, in the U.S. we are not at a "record" for wildfire burning by a longshot. As the charts below show, wildfire
burns were far worse in the early- to mid-20th century, with massive amounts of acreage charred before there was any
significant global warming to speak of.
California
Wildfire Destroys Entire Town; Thousands Forced to Evacuate. Wildfires in Northern California have forced more
than 16,000 evacuations and destroyed the town of Greenville, located in Plumas County. The Dixie Fire as of Aug. 5 is
35 percent contained and has burned more than 322,000 acres, according to federal officials. The blaze ripped through
the small town of Greenville, located about 110 miles northeast of Sacramento, on the evening of Aug. 4. The town, which
dates back to California's Gold Rush era, has a population of about 1,000. "Last night, firefighters, including aerial
resources, aggressively attacked large flame fronts in an effort to defend structures. As fire entered the Greenville
area, firefighting efforts shifted to assist law enforcement in evacuation efforts," according to a bulletin posted on the
federal government's Incident Information System.
California
issues Power Alert amid hot temperatures. The California Independent System Operator (ISO) has issued a
statewide Power Alert for Wednesday, July 28th from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., due to predicted high energy demand amid
hot temperatures. Cal ISO tweeted "Due to heat and tight supply conditions, the California ISO has issued a statewide
#FlexAlert for Wednesday, July 28, from 4-9 p.m. encouraging consumers to conserve energy to help alleviate stress
on the #powergrid."
The Editor says...
If the state has "tight supply conditions," whose fault is that? How many natural
gas-fired power plants have been decommissioned in a feeble attempt to save the earth from global warming? This might
be a good time to build a couple of nuclear power plants. Or, for faster results, coal-fired power plants.
Couple
whose gender reveal sparked deadly wildfire face manslaughter charges. A California couple whose gender reveal
pyrotechnic show started a massive inferno that killed a fireman last year have each been hit with involuntary manslaughter
charges. Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. and Angela Renee Jimenez pleaded not guilty to the felony charge and 29 other
counts related to the September 2020 El Dorado Fire on Monday [7/19/2021], officials said. The wildfire was allegedly started
by the couple's smoke-generating pyrotechnic device that ignited dry grass at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains, 75 miles
east of LA. The Jimenezes tried to put out the blaze with bottled water, but it was quickly stoked by strong winds and
dry conditions, authorities said.
Now
is the Time to Get Serious About Nuclear Energy. [Scroll down] Until the past few years blackouts and
brownouts were almost unheard of. What's changed? The answer is easy to find. According to Robert Bruce,
progressive politicians and their enabling voters have created a disastrous combination of "soaring electricity prices and
ever-worsening reliability." What's bizarre is that it has all been deliberate. The left is obsessed with weaning
humanity off its reliance on fossil fuels. Californians are now the proud possessors of the highest income-tax rates,
highest sales-tax rates, highest gasoline prices, and highest housing costs in the country. California already has laws
on the books that mandate reducing "greenhouse emissions" 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050.
It is irresponsible to mandate an end to fossil fuel use when there is no viable substitute in place, at least not one they're
willing to entertain. If nuclear energy is off the table, blackouts will become a way of life. California will
become a ghost state. Only leftists will be happy.
Devin
Nunes trying to rescue California from insanity. California is, as the old quip goes, "the land of fruits and
nuts." But with Gavin Newsom facing a recall election, the plan to shut down the nuclear power plant that provides almost
10% of the state's electric power is obvious madness. [...] Of course, Nunes's plan will go only as far as Nancy Pelosi
permits, and with her speakership hostage to the left-wing crazies of all stripes in the Democrat caucus, she will deep-six
it. The greenies don't seem to care if people in the Central Valley die of heat exposure with no air-conditioning.
They don't care if businesses shut down when electricity is not available. They are fanatics. They don't even care
that nuclear power emits no CO2. But I do wonder how long Californians will put up with blackouts and staggering
electricity bills.
Nunes
seeks to stop California from shuttering last nuclear plant amidst energy crisis. California's push for clean
energy has already created hardship for consumers, from a 40% decade-long climb in electricity costs to rolling blackouts
that loom as a threat every heat wave. Now the state is poised to exacerbate that crisis with plans to retire its last
remaining, zero-carbon emissions nuclear plant in 2025. The planned closure of Diablo Canyon, approved by the state in
2018, will take offline another 2200 megawatts of electricity production — nearly 10% of the state's
needs — with no ready replacement. As many as 3 million consumers could be impacted. Rep. Devin
Nunes (R-Calif.), one of the senior members of the state's congressional delegation, told Just the News he is moving to stop
the closure.
The Editor says...
If the supply of electricity can't keep up with the demand, California has several options, none of which are likely to be popular
with the political left: On the supply side: [#1] Nuclear energy, [#2] Coal, [#3] Natural gas.
California is learning the hard way that electric power sources should be available 24/7; otherwise, you live in Cuba. On the
demand side, look at all the place where electricity is being squandered: [#1] Electric cars, [#2]
Marijuana
farming, [#3] A glut of 24-hour radio and TV stations, half of which have very few if any listeners.
California
Asks Utility for More Electricity Amid Shift to Green Energy. California state energy officials have asked the
state's top grid operator to contract for additional power capacity in the months of July and August due to concerns it won't
meet the demand during evenings. In a letter, the heads of the California Energy Commission and California Public
Utilities Commission asked the California Independent System Operator (ISO) to provide more power supplies via its
tariff-based authority to obtain more resources during the two months and possibly September if conditions don't
improve. "California is using all available tools to increase electricity reliability this summer," the letter stated,
citing "unprecedented heat events, which are occurring throughout the West in combination with drought conditions that reduce
hydroelectric capacity."
The Editor says...
The state government knows how much electricity will be required (and how much might be required in the event of hot or cold weather),
and it knows how much generating capacity is on line; and yet it still allows (or demands) the shutdown of coal-fired power plants for the
sole purpose of avoiding carbon dioxide emissions. Intentional power outages are entirely the fault of radical environmentalists and
their irrational fear of carbon dioxide.
Joe
Biden's Clueless Plan to Fight Wildfires. "We know this is becoming a regular cycle," the president said, "and
we know it's getting worse. The truth is, we're playing catch-up. This is an area that's been under-resourced,
but that's going to change if we have anything to do with it." There is so much so very ignorant about what Joe Biden
said. First, wildfire is not becoming a regular cycle. It already is. Has been forever since the beginning
of fire and time. Fire is how Nature cleanses itself and launches the next cycle, all on a schedule that ignores
humans. Wildfires are getting worse, not because of global warming or climate change or whatever the green catchphrase
is this summer. Wildfires are getting worse because humans insist on letting fuels build up, then fighting the fires,
snuffing out flames before they can do their job.
The
Real Reason They Blame Heat Deaths, Blackouts, and Forest Fires on Climate Change Is Because They're Causing
Them. It's true that there have been more heat waves in the United States since 1960, and that higher
temperatures dry out the dead wood in forests, contributing to a greater area burned by forest fires. "Climate dries
the [wood] fuels out and extends the fire season from 4-6 months to nearly year-round," US Forest Service scientist Malcolm
North explained to me last summer. But what determines whether people die in heat waves is whether or not they have air
conditioning, not whether temperatures rose to 111° instead of 109°. Proof of that comes from the fact that
heat-related deaths declined in the US by 50% to 75% since 1960 thanks entirely to air conditioning, even as heat waves grew
in frequency, intensity, and length. What determines whether a fire in a forest is high-intensity or low-intensity is
the amount of wood fuel. Climate change is "not the cause of the intensity of the [mountain forest] fires," stressed
North. "The cause of that is fire suppression and the existing debt of wood fuel."
Blackouts
Loom in California as Electricity Prices Are 'Absolutely Exploding'. Two inexorable energy trends are underway
in California: soaring electricity prices and ever-worsening reliability — and both trends bode ill for the
state's low- and middle-income consumers. Last week, the state's grid operator, the California Independent System
Operator, issued a "flex alert" that asked the state's consumers to reduce their power use "to reduce stress on the grid and
avoid power outages." The California Independent System Operator's warning of impending electricity shortages heralds
another blackout-riddled summer at the same time California's electricity prices are skyrocketing. In 2020,
California's electricity prices jumped by 7.5%, making it the biggest price increase of any state in the country last year
and nearly seven times the increase that was seen in the United States as a whole.
California
will spend $500 million this year to thin its 33 million acres of forests to lessen the chance of wildfires.
California is adopting former Donald Trump's plan to thin out the state's 33 million acres of forests with controlled burns
and raking the woodland floor — after state officials essentially laughed off the former president's idea a few years
ago. Trump had suggested in 2018 that the Golden State start sweeping its forest floors of debris that often aids in
the spread of wildfires. But by Aug. 2020, at the peak of the state's wildfire season, his suggestion became an
ultimatum when he withheld wildfire financial aid on the basis of California's failure to clear its forests of dead trees,
branches and leaves, Politico reported at the time.
California
Will Now Fight Wildfires — by Trimming Back Forests. [Scroll down] I will note that the timing is quite
convenient for Newsom. The recall election is likely to occur at the height of the state's wildfire season. No matter how
ardent their eco-activism might be, voters are unlikely to continue supporting Newsom's "green" policies as their homes, businesses,
and neighborhoods are charred. File this item under: "Trump was right. Again."
Climate
Change Drought Fairy Tale Season Is Here. It's that time of year again! Summer, when things get hot and
dry and certain seasonal extreme weather events naturally occur — as do alarming claims about them. When
hurricanes form during "hurricane season," expect climate alarmists to claim human-caused climate change is creating them,
even though hurricanes have always formed at this time of year (thus the existence of the term "hurricane season").
When wildfires break out during "wildfire season," scorching thousands of acres of mismanaged, overgrown forests, expect
climate alarmists to claim human-caused climate change is causing them, even though wildfires have always been sparked at
this time of year (thus the existence of the term "wildfire season"). The third in the trifecta of weather-related
horror stories we can expect to read about every summer is drought. Droughts are normal and natural. At any point
in time, portions of the United States and the world suffer from a drought of some length and severity.
Texas,
California Call for Power Restraint During Heatwave. Texas and California urged consumers to conserve energy
this week to reduce stress on the grid and avoid outages as homes and businesses crank up air conditioners to escape a
scorching heatwave blanketing the U.S. Southwest. High temperatures were expected to top 110 degrees Fahrenheit
through the weekend in parts of several states including California, Arizona, and Nevada. "The public's help is
essential when extreme weather or other factors beyond our control put undue stress on the electric grid," said Elliot
Mainzer, chief executive of the California ISO, which operates the grid in most of California. Over the past year,
Texas and California imposed rotating or controlled outages to prevent more widespread collapses of their power
systems — California during a heatwave in August 2020 and Texas during a brutal freeze in February 2021.
California
Tells Public to Prepare for Heatwave, Power Prices Soar. The California power grid operator told the public to
prepare to conserve energy next week if needed as homes and businesses crank up their air conditioners to escape what is
forecast to be a brutal heatwave. Already, power prices across the U.S. West spiked to their highest since the February
freeze when natural gas pipelines and wind turbines froze in Texas leaving millions without power. The California ISO,
which operates the state's power grid, said in a release that "It is still too early to know the precise impact that next
week's high temperatures will have on the electric grid."
California
May Face Round Two Of Energy Shortages This Summer. Last summer, when a heat wave rolled across the western
United States, California residents experienced energy blackouts as a result of a difficult-to-manage power grid. Even
after that experience, which put residents' health at risk due to excessive heat exposure, California continued its push to
ban fracking, shut down nuclear power plants, and rely solely on renewable energy. Now, anew report from the North
American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) states that "California is at risk of energy emergencies during periods of
normal peak summer demand and high risk when above-normal demand is widespread in the west." The report says that there
is a 400-megawatt shortfall expected at peak demand. This shortfall will come despite an addition of over 3 gigawatts,
the majority of which will come from solar power, and an additional 675 megawatts of new battery storage systems. These
increases are still expected not to be enough when California needs energy most and show that California hasn't learned its lesson.
National
Interagency Fire Center Disappears 'Inconvenient' U.S. Wildfire Data. The National Interagency Fire Center
(NIFC) has been the keeper of U.S. wildfire data for decades, tracking both the number of wildfires and acreage burned all
the way back to 1926. After making the entire dataset public for decades, in a blatant act of cherry-picking, NIFC
"disappeared" a vast portion of it. Now, NIFC only shows wildfire data from 1983. Fortunately, the internet never
forgets, which means the entire dataset is preserved on the world wide web. Data prior to 1983 show U.S. wildfires were
far worse 100 years ago, both in frequency and total acreage burned, than they are today. By disappearing all data
prior to 1983, which just happens to be the lowest point in the dataset for the number of fires, NIFC data now show a
positive slope of worsening wildfire aligning with increased global temperatures. This truncated dataset is convenient
for claiming "climate change is making wildfires worse," but flawed because it lacks the context of the full dataset.
California
power projections underscore difficulty of Biden climate targets. California will have to deploy renewable
power at record-breaking speed over the next few decades to meet its target for carbon-free electricity by 2045, a
transformation that state agencies say in a new report this week is technically achievable but immensely challenging.
The scale of deployment California alone will need to achieve underscores the hurdles facing President Biden and his team as
he calls for eliminating carbon from the power sector by 2035, 10 years earlier than California's target. The effort
would require the biggest transformation of the electricity sector since it was built.
Reality
Check Regarding Utility-Scale Battery Systems During a One-Day Wind/Solar Lull. Hopefully, California learned
an expensive lesson, due to relying on weather-dependent, season-dependent, wind and solar electricity to such an extent, it
decided to close down power plants, that produce reliable, not variable, not intermittent, low-CO2, low-cost electricity,
24/7/365, regardless of weather or season. Typically, California imports electricity from nearby states to cover any
wind/solar electricity short-falls. This was not possible, because the US Southwest had a major, multi-day, heat
wave. As a result, electricity imports to California were curtailed by the exporting states. Prior to the heat
wave, as a part of climate change fighting, California had unwisely closed down 15 of its 19 high-efficiency, low-CO2, gas
power plants, on the Pacific coast. Those plants had not been kept in reserve, i.e., staffed, fueled and kept in good
working order to immediately provide electricity, just in case of a major heat wave. The result was, California had
multiple days with rolling black-outs, i.e., no air-conditioning during periods with temperatures up to 115°F.
Living conditions were made even worse by the smoke of large-scale forest fires.
Today's
California Energy Embarrassment. Yesterday we noted the embarrassment announced in understated fashion by the
U.S. Department of Energy that California imported 25 percent of its electricity in 2019. It seems almost as if someone at
the very excellent Energy Information Administration has a thing about California's silliness, because today's EIA "Today in Energy" brief
has another understated but devastating smackdown for California's energy pretensions. In one sentence, today's brief essentially
says, "Without lots of natural gas-fired power, California is screwed." Of course that's not the actual language —
these are government analysts were talking about. But it's not hard to read between the lines.
California got $1.3
billion in wildfire relief. Victims have received nothing. California has received more than $1.3 billion
in federal aid to rebuild after the 2017 wine country wildfires, the 2018 Camp fire in Butte County and other disasters from
those years. But disaster-affected homeowners and renters have yet to receive a single penny. The cause:
years-long federal and state bureaucratic delays. As a result, renters like [Linda] Adrain are going without permanent
housing while homeowners are unable to cobble together enough money to rebuild their homes. In the Butte County town of
Paradise, which was heavily damaged in the Camp fire, disaster victims are still living in cars and recreational vehicles on
their properties as they await further financial assistance.
California
utility may cut power to 1 million people. Pacific Gas & Electric may cut power to over 1 million people
on Sunday to prevent the chance of sparking wildfires as extreme fire weather returns to the region, the utility announced
Friday. The nation's largest utility said it could black out customers in 38 counties — including most of
the San Francisco Bay Area — as weather forecasts called for a return of bone-dry, gusty weather that carries the
threat of downing or fouling power lines or other equipment that in recent years have been blamed for igniting massive and
deadly blazes in central and Northern California.
NBC:
Say, You Know Who Turned Out To Be Right About Forest Fires? Recall this discussion at the first presidential
debate? This turned into one of Donald Trump's more surprising moments, in which he exhibited preparation on a key
piece of policy before facing off against Joe Biden. Moderator Chris Wallace wanted to introduce climate change into
the debate, and used the forest fires on the West Coast to frame the question. Trump pushed back against the idea that
climate change was responsible, and instead blamed bad forest management for the crisis: [Transcript] Biden actually
avoided the forest-management issue in his answer, as the two of them got caught up in a testy exchange over the Green New Deal
instead. Instead, media outlets and pundits rushed to fill the gap by declaring this a form of climate-change denial.
Neglected
Forest Management, Not Climate Change, Is Why California Is On Fire. [Scroll down] Further examination of
the issue, however, shows that mitigation through prescribed burns and mechanical thinning could prevent the widespread
destruction caused by these western wildfires. In the past, conservationist policies in these states, especially
California, have prevented the proper management needed to keep people and their land safe causing more intense and prolonged
wildfires, not climate change. Even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change acknowledges that mitigation
techniques such as clearing tinder material in these forests through prescribed burns can lower the intensity of these
fires. According to Michael Shellenberger, author, journalist, and environmental activist, claiming that climate change
is the reason for the wildfires is misleading and prevents real, preventative solutions from being implemented.
"Climate change is real, but this monomaniacal focus on whether to use this obsession with it has meant that we've neglected
the health of our forests and really missed an opportunity for conservation as well," Shellenberger recently told The
Federalist.
California wildfires
blamed on something else besides climate change. This year, California's wildfires are being called the worst
in state's history. The governor and others claim climate change is the chief culprit. But Lisa Fletcher has been
tracking the golden state's fires for several years and finds the real problem might be something else.
PG&E
plans to cut power to 89,000 customers in 16 California counties due to weather causing fire risks. Pacific Gas
& Electric plans to cut power to 89,000 customers in parts of 16 counties beginning early Sunday as dry, unseasonably hot
conditions and strong winds continue to increase fire danger across much of Northern California, officials announced Saturday
evening. The shut-off will be in three phases and last until late Monday, officials said.
Largest
California wildfire threatens marijuana growing area. Numerous studies in recent years have linked bigger U.S.
wildfires to global warming from the burning of coal, oil and gas, especially because climate change has made California much
drier. A drier California means plants are more flammable.
The Editor says...
If "climate change has made California much drier," why hasn't it affected every other state? Or at least the entire west coast?
Civilization
Requires Collective Common Sense. Large swaths of the American West are now charred by out-of-control
wildfires. [...] A few veteran forest managers have been proverbial voices in the wilderness in recent years. They
warned that ignoring dead trees, limiting the sort of domestic animal grazing that reduces dead brush and dry foliage,
forbidding timber companies from harvesting decaying timber, and preventing periodic controlled burns were collectively a
prescription for the very disasters that now cloud Western skies with fires, smoke and air pollution. In other words,
pragmatic people once understood that tens of millions of dead trees were not to be left alone as mulch for premodern
ecosystems. In the present, the dried-up vegetation has served as veritable napalm, causing traditional fall wildfires
to blow up into biblical conflagrations that consume homes, property and people.
California:
The Golden State in Utter Decay. The current crisis in California that is getting the most national attention
is the plague of wildfires throughout much of the northern part of the state. Such fires have ravaged the area for
millennia, long before the presence of any European settlers, but that has not stopped California leftists and their media
from pointing fingers at climate change and President Trump. Avoiding responsibility for a crisis by blaming anyone and
anything with even a remote chance of culpability is the California way — which leads to a failure to develop real
solutions. None of California's leaders, least of all Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, have accepted any responsibility
for the government's role in the fires. Evidence clearly shows that the decision by the state to revive "fire suppression"
efforts, a practice that essentially delays the inevitable and results in even larger wildfires (and was mostly discontinued in
the 1960s), has been a major contributor to the magnitude of this year's fires. But has the government of California even
paused to reconsider the strategy? Sadly, no.
Newsom
plays both sides in forest management fight as wildfires rage. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has pointed
out that the state's wildfires are located primarily on federal land — and he's right — but now he and
other Democratic governors are trying to block the Trump administration's effort to speed up the clearing of overgrown,
tinder-dry forests. Twenty-three states, including California, Oregon and Washington, sued last month to stop the
National Environmental Policy Act modernization, which would thin the regulatory thicket and red tape blamed for slowing down
federal projects, including forest management on the government's extensive Western lands. The NEPA lawsuit came as no
surprise, given that California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has sued the Trump administration 100 times, but critics
accused California Democrats of putting their loyalty to the environmental movement and focus on climate change ahead of
proven strategies for forest health.
It's
Not About Climate Change. It's no secret that dryer [or drier] wood burns more readily than wet wood. Nor
is it news that hotter, dryer weather will dry things faster. What seems to be a secret from less self-evident to some
is that parts of the West Coast get really hot and dry, over and over. According to studies on past droughts, the
recent ones in California are not even close to being the longest. Some droughts have lasted more than a century.
It seems the past 100 years have actually been relatively wet. Even if a one-degree-warmer world led to warmer West
Coast forests, the high intensity of the recent wildfires can't be attributed to air temperatures being 109 degrees instead
of 108. The much bigger problem is fuel loading — the amount of dead wood and other organic matter on forest
floors, compounded by a higher density of small trees.
Sorry,
solar panels won't stop California's fires. The massive fires raging in California are being blamed squarely on
climate change. Alongside ominous photographs of orange skies, the front page of the Sunday Los Angeles Times
blared: "California's Climate Apocalypse." Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom says the cause is climate change.
Anyone who thinks differently, he insists, is in denial. The governor is right that climate change is real, man-made
and something we need to deal with smartly. But the claim that the fires are caused by climate change is grossly
misleading. Translated into policy, it would steer the state to the worst way to help future Californians. To
understand why, it helps to know that California wildfires used to be much bigger. This past decade, California has
seen an average burnt area of 775,000 acres. Before 1800, however, California typically saw between 4.4 and
11.9 million acres burn every year.
How environmentalists
destroyed California's forests. Once upon a time, forests in California were logged, grazed, and competently
managed. It wasn't always perfect, but generally it worked. Fires, which are a natural part of that ecosystem,
were generally small — not just benign but beneficial. Land management focused on keeping the forest healthy
for all involved, whether they were loggers, ranchers, fishermen, hunters, homeowners, or backpackers. But then things
started to change. Groups such as the Sierra Club and National Resources Defense Council began to drive a myopic agenda
of protecting environmental interests at all costs. Logging was shut down. Grazing was banned. Controlled
burning and undergrowth clearance were challenged and subjected to draconian regulations. Fires were put out as quickly
as possible. So the trees grew closer and closer together. Undergrowth, unchecked by grazing, cutting, or burning,
grew thick and tall enough to reach the branches of mature trees. The forests became thick and overgrown, but man, they
sure looked nice and green from a scenic overlook.
Don't
fall for simplistic claims about wildfires and global warming. [Scroll down] Every fire is
different. The reasons each fire turns out to be milder or more dangerous than the others can include a wide variety of
causes and effects. Random day-to-day wind patterns can turn a seemingly harmless blaze into a massive
conflagration. The frequency and severity of fire can also be affected by long-term drought patterns that predate
modern mass carbon emissions by centuries. Oceanic weather patterns such as "La Nina" can also change the pattern
and course of Western U.S. wildfires, and man's increasing encroachment on natural habitats tends to make them more damaging
to human life and property. Does that mean global warming doesn't affect wildfires? Of course not. We
assume it has some effect.
The Editor says...
Until the last few sentences, the writer was making sense. But then he [or she] lost me. There is no extraordinary global warming.
Therefore global warming is not a factor in the California wildfires. Until there is about 400 degrees of warming, hot weather won't ignite trees.
Six
accused of starting Oregon blazes amid devastating wildfire season. At least six men in Oregon have been
accused of intentionally setting blazes during the state's devastating wildfire season, according to a report. There is
no evidence that the suspects were motivated by politics, despite conspiracies that such an animus has fueled the fires that
have burned more than a million acres, OregonLive reported. Instead, some of the blazes were attributed to petty beef,
relationship troubles and enjoying the "smell of smoke," officials said. One of the alleged arsonists, Jedediah Ezekiel
Fulton, 39, was discovered setting fires July 28 in the woods outside Glide after he became upset with a member of a
local forest protection organization, the outlet reported.
California's
Disastrous Forest Mismanagement. Fire plays a natural role in regulating the lifecycles of trees and
vegetation. In the pre-industrial era, more than 4 million acres burned in California annually. "Skies were
likely smoky much of the summer and fall in California during the prehistoric period," according to environmental scientists
at the University of California, Berkeley. Fortunately, we now have the knowledge and technology to diminish the
frequency and extent of wildfires. Prescribed burns and proactive clearing of dead vegetation are known to reduce the
speed and intensity of fires by diminishing the stock of combustible material, but federal and state agencies have long put a
monomaniacal emphasis on suppression, rather than prevention, of fires.
Western
Wildfires Are Due to Arson and Stupidity, Not Climate Change. Unfortunately, we are living in a world where
facts don't matter much anymore. For instance, the wildfires that have swept across the western United States over the
past few weeks are being almost universally blamed on climate change, even though the facts tell otherwise. The fires
in California and Oregon are not due to climate change. They are due to arson and sheer stupidity on the part of many,
including those who are responsible for the environmental stewardship that is supposed to prevent them in the first place.
9-in-10
wildfires are set by humans. Dear Facebook, Before you flag this as fake news, my source is the National
Weather Service. NWS reported that 87% of the wildfires were caused by humans this year — 7,072 in
California alone. Not all were arson, of course, because humans are pretty careless. But enough are arson to
cause concern in light of Democrats setting cities aflame this summer. The last thing we want is the Antifa arm of the
Democrat Party expanding into rural areas.
National
Weather Service reveals 87% of all wildfires this year have been caused by humans. The Almeda fire in Oregon
that has so far killed two is now under investigation as a potential arson attack after a body was discovered near the start
of the blaze. Ashland Police Chief Tighe O'Meara announced Thursday a criminal investigation has been opened into the
cause of the fire saying he believes the circumstances around the fire are 'suspicious'. Investigators are looking into
the possible connection between the blaze and the death of an unidentified individual, whose body was found near the origin
of the fire. This comes as the National Weather Service (NWS) revealed a staggering 87 percent of all wildfires that
have ravaged America this year were caused by humans.
It
Turns Out a Number of Fires on the West Coast Aren't Because of 'Climate Change'. The left continually tells us
that "climate change" is the reason behind wildfires. In fact, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee (D) even went so
far as saying we should call them "climate fires." Most of the West Coast — Washington State, Oregon,
California, and Idaho — are on fire. While the left is pushing their climate change theory, police are
arresting arsonists for sparking these dangerous fires. A 41-year-old man was arrested in Oregon for starting one of
the two origins of the Almeda fire, located just outside of Medford. Oregon State Fire Marshal's office spokesman Rich
Tyler said Michael Jarrod Bakkela started one of the fires, which eventually merged to create one giant wildfire. [...]
Bakkela is being held on 15 counts of criminal mischief and 14 counts of reckless endangerment.
Wildfires
Will Become Worse Thanks To Decades-Old Liberal Policies, Says Fire Expert. Former President Bill Clinton made
a significant change to federal land management nearly 30 years ago that created the conditions necessary for massive
wildfires to consume portions of the West Coast, according to one fire expert who predicted the problem years ago.
Shortly before leaving office in 2001, Clinton limited the ability of the United States Forest Service to thin out a dense
thicket of foliage and downed trees on federal land to bring the West into a pristine state, Bob Zybach, an experienced
forester with a PhD in environmental science, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The former president's decision
created a ticking time bomb, Zybach argues. "If you don't start managing these forests, then they are going to start
burning up. Thirty years later, they are still ignoring it," said Zybach, who spent more than 20 years as a
reforestation contractor. He was referring to warnings he made years ago, telling officials that warding off prescribed
burns in Oregon and California creates kindling fuelling fires. Such rules make it more difficult to deploy prescribed
burns, which are controlled burns designed to cull all of the underbrush in forests to lessen the chance of massive fires,
Zybach noted.
Fire Fanaticism.
The real reason for the large fires is the overloading of our western forests over the last several decades, which can be
laid at the feet of excessive and misguided fire suppression starting almost a century ago, and environmentalist opposition
to any pro-active forest management on public lands. Environmentalists without fail run to the courthouse to block
every Forest Service forest thinning plans, delaying and sometime blocking sensible forest management.
Antifa
Claims To Have Ignited The Fires Burning America. It's a terrible thing for the American public to be so stupid
to think that any of this has to do with climate, and to be so cloistered and gullible that you must believe the FedGov when
they tell you this has nothing to do with the communist revolution. When the enemy tells you exactly what he's doing
and why, and when people refuse to believe it, the enemy is winning.
I guess the fires lack Canadian
passports. [It could be that most of the fires in the western U.S. are cases of arson.
If there are no such fires in Canada or Mexico, that would strengthen the argument. But it is also possible
that Canada doesn't have a system to report the locations of such fires.]
Four
people [have been] arrested for arson for deliberately starting blazes along West Coast. Four people have been
arrested for arson for deliberately starting blazes along the West Coast as the death toll from the devastating wildfires
climbed to 29 and Oregon officials warned they are prepare for a 'mass fatality event'. Two men in Washington state,
one man in Oregon and one woman in California are facing arson charges for setting fires in areas that were already grappling
with deadly blazes. At least 20 have been killed in California, eight in Oregon and one in Washington state as
thousands of firefighters struggle to bring the blazes under control and the governors of California and Oregon told
residents to expect more fatalities in the coming days.
The Editor says...
Oh! So it wasn't global warming after all. Shocking.
The Green Road
to Blackouts. California leads the way to electricity blackouts, closely followed by South Australia.
They both created this problem by taxing, banning, delaying or demolishing reliable coal, nuclear, gas or hydro generators
while subsidising and promoting unreliable electricity from the sickly green twins — solar and wind. All supposed to
solve a global warming crisis that exists only in academic computer models. Energy policy should be driven by proven
reliability, efficiency and cost, not by green politics. Wind and solar will always be prone to blackouts for three
reasons. [...]
Wildfires
in California emit more CO2 annually than cars. Since California has lost nearly 1.67 million acres to
wildfires through August 31 this year and based on the assumptions above, about 131.2 million tons of carbon dioxide have
been emitted to the environment in eight months due to wildfires. California had 15.1 million vehicles registered in
2018. Assume all are fuel burning for this exercise. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, fossil
fueled cars emit 4.6 metric tons per year (22 mpg and 11,500 miles driven per year basis). That means California
cars emit 76.4 million tons (not metric) of carbon dioxide annually. California is on a track to double the annual
emissions of vehicles by wildfires in 2020.
Left-Wing
Agitator Arrested for Starting Fire in Washington, Suspected of Starting Two Other Wildfires. A Washington man
with a history of left-wing agitation was arrested Wednesday evening [9/9/2020] after he allegedly started a fire in the
brush along a highway near Tacoma. Jeffrey Acord, 36, was charged for reckless burning in the second degree. He
is now reportedly also a suspect in two other Washington wildfires. [...] The suspected antifa militant has a history of
anti-police protesting and encounters with law enforcement, court records show. According to his Facebook, Acord also
attended a Black Lives Matter march in Seattle on June 5 of this year.
Barack
Obama's Latest Reason to Vote for Joe Biden Is Actually a Reason to Vote Trump. Barack Obama, the Left's
erstwhile patron saint, appears to have taken his deputy Rahm Emanuel's advice to heart: "You never want a serious
crisis to go to waste." On Wednesday [9/9/2020], Obama rushed to blame climate change for the wildfires ravaging the West
Coast, insisting that Californians' "lives" depend on Joe Biden beating Donald Trump in November. As usual, Obama has
the entire situation backward: Climate change isn't the culprit behind the infernos, poor forest management
is — and the climate regulations Obama champions have prevented the controlled burns necessary for keeping the
fires in check.
Environmentalists
Destroyed California's Forests. Millions of acres of California forest have been blackened by wildfires this
summer, leading to the usual angry denunciations from the usual quarters about climate change. But in 1999, the
Associated Press reported that forestry experts had long agreed that "clearing undergrowth would save trees," and that "years
of aggressive firefighting have allowed brush to flourish that would have been cleared away by wildfires." But very little
was done. And now fires of unprecedented size are raging across the Western United States. [...] Year after year,
environmentalists litigated and lobbied to stop efforts to clear the forests through timber harvesting, underbrush removal,
and controlled burns. Meanwhile, natural fires were suppressed and the forests became more and more overgrown.
The excessive biomass competed for the same water, soil, and light a healthier forest would have used, rendering all of the
trees and underbrush unhealthy. It wasn't just excess biomass that accumulated, but dried out and dead
biomass. What happened among California's tall stands of Redwood and Ponderosa Pine also happened in its extensive
chaparral. Fire suppression along with too many environmentalist-inspired bureaucratic barriers to controlled burns and
undergrowth removal turned the hillsides and canyons of Southern California into tinderboxes.
To
stop wildland fires, forestry, not climate policy, is the priority. Smoke from forest fires filled the air in
Western Washington and immediately the finger of blame was pointed at climate change. Prior to the recent fires, the
2020 fire season had been extremely quiet. No matter how the season ends, however, blaming climate change is politics,
not science. Not all the lands burned in the last week are forests, but forestland is a major source of the smoke we
are seeing. The science is quite clear that timber harvests — including commercial timber
harvests — are necessary to reduce the number of fire-prone, unhealthy forests.
Scenes From The Endtimes. Not to get
all biblical on you, but have you checked out these scenes from the West Coast? [Numerous photos]
After
rolling blackouts, California regulators voted to let gas powered plants stay open a few more years. There were
rolling blackouts in California last month on two consecutive days. The reason for the blackouts wasn't a
mystery. There was a heatwave across the region and as the sun went down and California's solar generation started to
fade, the California Independent System Operator (Cal ISO) simply couldn't find enough power from other sources to meet the
demand. The blackouts were ordered to prevent the entire grid from entering a brownout. Several outlets including
NPR and the Wall Street Journal made the point that California's push for green energy was partly responsible for the
situation. In fact, as the LA Times pointed out, the California Public Utilities Commission had been warning about this
exact scenario since last year.
The
Decline and Fall of California in Two Maps. It was known for nearly a week that we were in for record-breaking
heat this weekend, and remember that as it is a holiday weekend, most industry (that is still left in the state) is shut
down, which ought to have made it easier to secure enough power for citizens. [...] You too can have a decrepit grid like
this when you pay twice the national average for electricity that doesn't work when you need it.
Massive
California wildfire sparked by smoke-making machine at gender reveal party [according to] officials. One of the
massive California wildfires that erupted this weekend was sparked by a smoke-making device at a gender-reveal party,
according to authorities. The fire started Saturday morning in San Bernardino County's El Dorado Ranch Park, east of
Los Angeles. A "smoke generating pyrotechnic device" used at the party caused the fire, Cal Fire said in a news release
that also warned residents that a fire can quickly start amid the state's especially hot and dry conditions this time of
year. No charges have been filed in connection with the start of the blaze, which has now spread across roughly 7,050
acres and resulted in more than 500 emergency workers being sent to the area to fight the fire and evacuate residents and
park visitors.
Family
behind party that sparked California wildfire could owe millions. The family behind the gender reveal party
that sparked a California wildfire could be hit with charges — and a massive bill to cover the costs of putting
out the blazes, authorities said. Cal Fire spokesman Bennet Milloy said the group could be on the hook for millions to
cover the hundreds of firefighters, helicopters and planes employed to tackle the El Dorado Fire, the Daily Mail
reported. They also could face a "variety of charges," including arson, which carries a sentence of up to nine years,
Milloy said.
The Editor says...
Yeah, but is it a boy or a girl, or something in between?
California burning. In a remarkably honest
Mother Jones article, Elizabeth Shogren explained that the wildfires that have been terrorizing Northern California in
the late 2010s have been caused by more than a century of fire suppression, resulting in overgrowth which supplied fires with
plenty of fuel to burn through. For thousands of years previously, Native Americans managed the land with controlled
burns, creating secure habitats and preferable hunting conditions — what was necessary for continuation of their
way of life. Traditional practices stand in contrast to our own environmental policies. According to a Reason
Foundation study, the Clinton-era anti-logging policies resulted in runaway growth of tree density. When in the 1990s
the Spotted Owl was placed on the endangered species list, culling plummeted and wildfires became increasingly catastrophic
throughout the West. I think the Spotted Owl is very cute, of course, but it would be nice if we could find a way to
live in harmony with this flock. I doubt the birds like the forest fires either. In the meantime, California
politicians have resorted to their favorite demagogic tropes: blaming climate change and corporations.
Blackouts
and Fires Caused by California's Ineffective Green Policies. In the soft warmth of spring the swallows famously
return to Capistrano, but in recent years they are followed by what seems inevitable summer power outages and fires.
This is not as pleasant an experience for Californians as the return of our favored feathered companions. Every summer,
usually around this time of year, we get our inevitable heat waves. In the past, we used to endure them without fearing
our lights — and computers — would be shut down, and our houses left in ruins. No more.
Almost every year we do not just have a fire season, we have a conflagration. Millions of acres get scorched across
the state, accompanied by mass evacuations. Meanwhile, electricity is cut off to millions more, and the state, already
reeling from an extraordinary economic decline, with the sixth-highest unemployment rate among the states, continues its
pell-mell rush into the 12th Century.
The
Plague of Renewable Portfolio Standards. Wind and solar are feasible only because the operators of the grid
agree to do everything possible to accept whatever amount of wind or solar is coming their way at any time. They assume
this posture toward wind and solar because that is required by various regulations and contracts. All the other sources
of power are ordered to decrease or increase output as needed to balance the amount of wind or solar power flowing at any
moment. If wind and solar are minor players, the burden of accommodating their erratic nature is small. If they
become big players, the burden starts to be a serious problem. In some places, like California, it's starting to get serious.
California Apocalypto.
It is now August in California. So we can expect the following from our postmodern state government. There are
the now-normal raging wildfires in the coastal and Sierra foothills. And they will be greeted as if they are not
characteristic threats of 500 years of settled history, but leveraged as proof of global warming as well as the state's
abject inability to put them out. When the inept state can't extinguish them as it has in the past, it suggests that
it's more "natural" to let them burn. Jerry Brown's team told us that the drought's toll — millions of dead
trees and tens of millions of acres of parched grass and calcified shrubs on hillsides — provided a natural source
of food and shelter for bugs and birds and thus need not be grazed or thinned or harvested. And so the wages of drought
could be in a sense good for an "ecosystem" that otherwise proved to be green napalm for the people of foothill communities.
An old Indian
trick. As wise stewards of the land, North America's Indians routinely started forest fires. They wanted
grazing grounds for the animals they hunted and open spaces to live and hunt on. So before Columbus arrived, there was
a lot less forested land than we have today. The Europeans put an end to the Indian fires, and for centuries, they
harvested the forests for timber. But that has ended in many parts of the country, California in particular.
After the 1906 earthquake, San Francisco was rebuilt using lumber from the Santa Cruz forest, just south of the city.
But I don't believe it's been harvested since. [...] If the Indians managed the land, the fires they started would have
resulted in the firebreaks necessary to stop the spread of a forest fire. Or if this forest had been managed according
to the best practice, limited timber cutting would have been allowed, creating man-made firebreaks. But because the
state of California is governed by lunatics, it just burns.
What
Is The Cause Of The Recent Power Blackouts In California? You may have read in the past few days that residents
of California have been experiencing rolling power blackouts. This has occurred in the middle of a strong heat wave,
meaning that large numbers of people have had their air conditioning, light, refrigeration, and everything else dependent on
electricity, go out just when they are most needed. The blackouts have not been the result of technical failures of the
grid, but rather have been intentionally imposed by the electricity system operator (known as CAISO — California
Independent System Operator) via the various local utilities. So what has caused these blackouts? The official
explanation is that the heat wave is the cause. It has just gotten so unusually hot that demand has risen beyond the
capacity of the system. Many articles in the media reporting on the situation go further to associate the unusual heat
with "climate change." This explanation is complete[ly false]. Yes, there is a strong heat wave going on, at
least in certain areas of the state, but it is not unusual in historical context.
Democrats
Promise to Bring California-Style Blackouts to Everyone. Gotta say, it was bold of Democratic Party convention
organizers to let voters know they plan on passing federal energy policies that would transform the rest of the country into
California. The Golden State is experiencing rolling blackouts even as the Democrats speak. Millions of people
are having their electrical power turned off in the middle of a heat wave — more specifically, their air
conditioners. Blackouts aren't merely an inconvenience, it is an economic drag and dangerous to vulnerable
populations.
Green
California has the nation's worst power grid. More than a million Californians suffered power blackouts last
Friday evening [8/14/2020]. When high temperatures caused customer demand to exceed the power available, California
electrical utilities used rotating outages to force a reduction in demand. The California grid is the worst in the
nation, with green energy policies pursued by the state likely furthering reduced grid reliability. At 6:30 p.m.
on Friday, Pacific Gas and Electric, California's biggest utility, began shutting off power in rolling outages to force a
reduction in demand. Southern California Edison also denied power to homes, beginning just before 7 p.m.
Shutoffs impacted a rotating group of up to 2 million customers until 11 p.m. The California Independent
System Operator declared a Stage Three Electrical Emergency, the first such emergency since 2001. Spot electricity prices
soared to more than $1,000 per megawatt-hour, more than 10 times the usual price.
Why
California's Climate Policies Are Causing Electricity Blackouts. Millions of Californians were denied
electrical power and thus air conditioning during a heatwave, raising the risk of heatstroke and death, particularly among
the elderly and sick. The blackouts come at a time when people, particularly the elderly, are forced to remain indoors
due to Covid-19. At first, the state's electrical grid operator last night asked customers to voluntarily reduce
electricity use. But after power reserves fell to dangerous levels it declared a "Stage 3 emergency" cutting off
power to people across the state at 6:30 pm. The immediate reason for the black-outs was the failure of a
500-megawatt power plant and an out-of-service 750-megawatt unit not being available.
California
forced to defend green goals amid blackouts. Rolling blackouts have forced California to defend its ambitious
renewable energy plans. In recent days, Republican politicians have blamed the blackouts on California's efforts to
limit fossil fuel energy use and phase out nuclear energy. The outages were imposed on a rotating basis over the
weekend amid a severe heat wave made worse by climate change. "This week in California, there were rolling blackouts
because the radical Democrats have mandated impossible restrictions on energy production," President Trump said Thursday
during remarks in Old Forge, Pennsylvania. Trump has also sought to link California's woes with the climate policy
plans of his Democratic rival, Joe Biden. Biden, in his revamped climate plans unveiled in July, sets a target to
eliminate carbon emissions from the power sector by 2035. That's even more ambitious than California's goal, which
targets 100% carbon-free power by 2045.
Wildfires,
Blackouts, High Gas Prices: Californians Fight Familiar Foes Amid Pandemic. Californians are struggling
with raging wildfires, roving blackouts, and sky high gas taxes while simultaneously dealing with government-imposed economic
lockdowns and a pandemic that has so far killed more than 11,000 people in the state. Northern California had roughly
33 active wildfires Wednesday that had burned more than 141,000 acres as they spread, media reports show. The ongoing
fires are accompanied by an intense heatwave, Reuters reported, that has prompted citizens to crank up their air
conditioners, placing pressure on California's already-taxed energy grid and triggering roving blackouts.
Californian
Blackout Fury: "It's Not Just the Heat, It's Also the Anti-Nuclear Power Stupidity". The utter failure of
renewables to deliver during the Californian heatwave appears to be creating a surge of interest in reliable energy. [...]
Renewables have failed to deliver this time, and will do so again. Californian anger at the blackouts will eventually
spill over into action, the scrapping of renewables in favour of reliable energy sources. The only question is, how
many blackouts it will take before Californian voters get the message?
For
Their Own Safety — Amid a Heat Wave — LA Mayor Shuts Off Power to a Party-Hosting Home.
In Los Angeles, it's lights out for those who don't listen to the mayor. In case you've not heard, LA's in the
midst of a heat wave. And if you haven't before felt the West Coast's severe summer simmer, imagine there's an oven
heated to 350 degrees. And your spleen is inside. Nonetheless, on Wednesday [8/19/2020], Mayor Eric Garcetti
shut off some residents' power — and, therefore, their AC. Why? Public health and safety. As
reported by The Daily Wire, a group of TikTok personalities share an abode in the Hollywood Hills. And according to
police, they've recently hosted at least two shameless shindigs. That, of course, goes against the city's COVID
clampdown.
The Editor says...
The Covid crackdowns are all about compliance and submission. They have nothing to do with public health.
Maybe they did for the first few weeks, but they don't now.
Rolling
blackouts, no Uber, businesses flee — California is Democrats' dream for America. After spending the
bulk of his lieutenant governorship waging war against California's last remaining nuclear power plant, Gov. Gavin
Newsom is begging residents to turn up their thermostats as the state battles excruciating heat waves, roaring wildfires, and
now, state-sanctioned blackouts to preserve its worst-in-America power grid. California's power is not as
carbon-efficient as clean nuclear energy, nor is it as cheap as traditional mass fossil fuels. If you're looking to
drink your problems away at your favorite dive bar, too bad; Newsom shut the indoor dining rooms. If you want to sit on
a patio, you have to seek out the establishments that survived the state's shutdown. Soon enough, you might be better
off just binging in your basement, as the California machine has mobilized to abolish the ride-sharing apps that
revolutionized the state.
CAISO
President: California Power Grid teetering close to the edge of collapse. I sent an email to a relative
earlier today predicting that politicians in California would start leaning on system operators to reduce their safety margin
or contingency power in order to avoid rolling blackouts. I had no idea they were teetering this close to the edge
already. In response to rolling blackouts over the weekend, California ISO President Steve Berber warned that
California must maintain its current electricity reserves or risk 'collapse of the entire system of California and perhaps
the entire West.'
California's
Power Failure Is A Frightening Preview Of Democrats' 'Green New Deal'. Among the nightmares ready to descend on
America, should the Democrats win in November, is the so-called Green New Deal. It promises lots of renewable green
energy at a "modest" $2 trillion cost. Just one more scary, extreme policy idea out of the all-digital 2020 Democratic
National Convention. Sound good to you? If so, take a look at California, where some of the worst of these ideas
are already being tried, with disastrous results. The state, once known for its plentiful, cheap and reliable energy
supplies, is now dealing with rolling blackouts as its green energy infrastructure buckles under the strain of summer
heat. This week, as the DNC holds its virtual convention, some 3 million California homes could be periodically without
power as some areas experience 100-degree-plus heat. In addition to major discomfort and inconvenience, such blackouts
if sustained can be dangerous to health — especially for the elderly and kids.
Green
energy push blamed in California's rolling blackouts. California's electricity grid picked an inconvenient moment
to stumble, at least for Democrats seeking to drum up support this week for Joseph R. Biden's $2 trillion green-energy
plan at the Democratic National Convention. The Golden State's ambitious renewable portfolio standard is coming under
fire as the state's energy grid buckles under the strain of an oppressive heatwave, prompting rolling blackouts that have
left millions without power as the state moves to replace nuclear and natural gas as energy sources with solar and
wind. California seeks to generate 60% of electricity via renewables by 2030, but Mr. Biden's Green New Deal is
even more aggressive, calling for a 100% carbon-free grid by 2035 "to meet the existential threat of climate change while
creating millions of jobs with a choice to join a union."
California
is reduced to third-world status. Although I left California some time ago, I'm still connected to alerts from
the emergency services in my former Bay Area home. That's how I first learned that California has been suffering from
rolling blackouts as citizens try to cope with a heat wave. [...] Once upon a time, California had a power grid that was
large enough to serve the state's population. As the population grew, though, the grid did not. Additionally,
California had five nuclear power plants that helped provide stable energy. Two years ago, though, the California
Public Utilities Commission voted to close the last nuclear power plant in California, which PG&E owned, although that plant
will remain online until 2025.
Here's
Why California Can't Keep The Power on During Heat Wave — and Newsom's Deflecting. [Scroll
down] Rolling blackouts affected more than 200,000 customers in the Bay Area Saturday night, but were averted
Sunday. By Monday morning the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO), the entity that oversees the state's
power grid, warned that "millions" of Californians would be affected by rolling blackouts Monday afternoon, and
Gov. Newsom sprung into action. Just kidding. Gov. Newsom leaped into "Blame" mode. Since demand
was less than what was seen in July 2006, and no blackouts were needed then, why do we need them now? Newsom knows the
answer — the stupid energy policies that he and Gov. Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown before him enacted —
but instead promised an "investigation," likely headed by a blue-ribbon panel, since he's fond of such committees.
California
Issues First Rolling Blackouts Since 2001, As Heat Wave Bakes Western U.S.. California electricity providers
instituted rolling blackouts Friday night [8/14/2020] — the first since 2001 — as an intense and
prolonged heat wave settled over much of the Western U.S. Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have
experienced brief power outages through the evening, after the body that manages most of the state's electric utilities
declared a Stage 3 emergency to help reduce stress on the larger grid. Electricity demand surged through the day as
temperatures topped the triple digits in many parts of the state and people cranked up fans and air-conditioning units to try
and stay cool. The emergency order was rescinded before midnight and power was fully restored to all affected
households, the California Independent System Operator said in a tweet.
PG&E
starts rotating power outages impacting up to 250,000 customers at a time. San Francisco-based power provider
PG&E Corp said on Friday it has started rotating power outages at the direction of California's grid operator, impacting
about 200,000 to 250,000 customers at a time, given the strain on the power grid during the statewide heatwave. The
company said in a statement it is not calling a public safety power shut-off, which is conducted during specific high fire
threat conditions. PG&E said its outages, directed by the California Independent System Operator, are expected to
impact up to 250,000 customers at a time in rotations of one hour each.
California
Will Use Diesel This Summer to Help Keep Lights On. Despite environmental concerns, California will allow PG&E
Corp. to use diesel-powered mobile generators to keep some electricity flowing when the utility proactively cuts power to
prevent live wires from sparking fires in high wind. State regulators signed off Thursday [6/11/2020] on PG&E's plan to
use about 450 megawatts of diesel generation to power homes, businesses, hospitals and other critical facilities as part of
the utility's effort to reduce disruptions during the shutoffs. Last fall, regulators criticized PG&E for intentionally
blacking out millions of customers to prevent power lines from sparking fires during dry, windy conditions.
When Silicon Valley Goes Dark This Time, There Will Be No
Refuge. Blackouts that hit millions of Californians in 2019 could be doubly calamitous this year with tech
giants Google, Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. among the many companies keeping offices closed until the fall or later in
response to the global Covid-19 pandemic. If utilities cut power again, home offices set up during the pandemic could
go dark and stay dark for days, and they'll have no corporate offices to flee to for power. In October 2019, more than
3 million people were affected by a series of rolling blackouts over more than a week as PG&E Corp. and Edison International
tried to prevent live wires from sparking wildfires. Call it a collision of crises. Blackouts could limit
California's push to revive an economy largely paralyzed by stay-at-home orders this spring. The state, utilities and
individual companies are all seeking ways to deal with blackouts before a wildfire season forecast to be worse than normal.
California's
governor says he's ready to take over embattled PG&E. One year after filing for bankruptcy, PG&E has worked out
deals to borrow money and guarantee more than $25 billion in payouts to wildfire victims, insurers and local municipalities.
It's even come to terms with bondholders. As a result, its shares have skyrocketed 37 percent so far in January.
Mizuho upgraded the stock this week to a "buy." That optimism may be premature. The company has to exit Chapter 11 by
a crucial June 30 deadline, and there is one huge remaining obstacle: California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has long talked
about a state takeover of the company.
Experts
blame humans starting blazes for 'major shift' in cause of US wildfires. The number of human-caused wildfires
has increased in recent decades, sparking a shift in what is 'normal' for the devastating blazes, research has found.
The new study of wildfires in America between 1984 and 2016 has found that the leading cause is 'shifting away from lightning
and towards human activity'. In the past, the strongest fires were caused by natural ignition types, like lightning
strikes or El Niño winds, which also tended to be seasonal and easier to predict. Human-caused, or anthropogenic,
fires can be caused intentionally, by arson, or accidentally, for example by dropped cigarettes, fireworks or other negligence.
Climate
Experts Suggest Trump Was Right When He Blamed California's Wildfires On Land Management. Climate experts are
apparently backing President Donald Trump's repeated arguments that California's wildfires were a result of poor land
management rather than climate change-driven, E&E reported Thursday [1/9/2020]. Roughly 75% of damage stemming from
California's wildfires was a result of "the way we manage lands and develop our landscape," Scott Stephens, a professor of
fire science at the University of California, Berkeley, said Wednesday at a conference in Washington. Wildfires used to
burn through 4.5 million acres a year in the 18th century, when indigenous communities populated California's countryside,
Stephens noted. "Fire was almost as important as rain to ecosystems," he added. Stephens was not the only
researcher at the National Council for Science and the Environment to made that point.
How power
shutoffs are changing California's way of life. At all levels of government — from state officials
to small-town mayors — California leaders are in uncharted territory, and scrambling to adjust their plans and
operations to the realities of regular disruption. For now, their only answer to calamitous wildfires is shutting off
power to millions of residents in advance, which residents now lament as a man-made disaster. Mike McGuire, the state
senator representing the Santa Rosa area devastated by fires in 2017, said California is "the canary in the coal mine" as
climate change threatens to upend life across the world. Residents in some of California's most bucolic settings are
stuck figuring it out on their own, rich and poor, urban and rural alike.
PG&E
begins new mass power shutoff likely to affect up to 450,000 people. California's largest power utility began
shutting off power Wednesday [11/20/2019] to hundreds of thousands of people in 18 northern and central counties in the state
as the region faces extreme fire weather that has lasted since October. Up to 450,000 people could be affected by the outage,
according to the LA Times. A virtually rainless fall has left brush bone-dry and forecasts called for low humidity and
winds gusting at times to 55 mph.
California
Burns, Gavin Newsom Fiddles. "Forest management" is not an original concept with the current administration. The
clearing of debris from forest floors, the considered culling of trees to create fire-breaks, and the building of better access roads
to and from forested areas make abundant good sense. So does the idea of not locating rural communities too close to the
wilderness, and of making housing closer in to urban areas more affordable. But even as the president emphasizes such cautionary
measures, he is dismissed as an ignorant nuisance. Those who are allowed an opinion on the subject must first pledge allegiance
to "global warming" as Public Enemy Number One. (Next to Trump himself, of course!) On the other hand, those who question
the extent of man's role in climate change are labeled "flat earthers" by a global warming establishment that unscientifically
cherry-picks opinions among scientists and excludes those that contradict the party line.
California's Burning. Public
utility companies are the antithesis of the free market. They combine the worst of both worlds — a profit
motive married to complete government regulation and control. These are government-granted monopolies that operate at
the behest of regulators and often are indeed poorly managed. [...] The other big issue has nothing to do with climate change
and everything to do with climate-change policies. It involves inadequate brush clearance, which has provided fuel for
the fires. To its credit, the Newsom administration is trying to increase some brush-clearance measures, but its
difficulty in doing so speaks to the broader problem. "In March, the governor declared a state of emergency that
exempted the projects from the California Environmental Quality Act, a law mandating an in-depth analysis of a development's
impacts on land, water, species and other elements," Scientific American explained. "Clearances under CEQA can
take months or years, Newsom aides said. State officials argued they're still conducting analyses to ensure projects
don't hurt species or natural or tribal resources."
Was
There Another Reason for Electricity Shutdowns in California? The blades of the wind turbine are airfoils, just
like the wings of an airplane. Adjusting the pitch (angle) of the blades allows the rotor to maintain constant speed,
which, in turn, allows the generator to maintain the constant speed it needs to safely deliver power to the grid.
However, there's a limit to blade pitch adjustment. When the wind is blowing so hard that pitch adjustment is no longer
possible, the turbine shuts down. That's the cut-out speed. Now consider how California's power generation
profile has changed. [...] By 2018, the state's renewable portfolio had jumped to 43.8 percent of total generation, with wind
and solar now accounting for 17.9 percent of total generation. That's a lot of power to depend on from inherently
unreliable sources. Thus, it wouldn't be at all surprising to learn that PG&E didn't stop delivering power out of fear
of starting fires, but because it knew it wouldn't have power to deliver once high winds shut down all those wind turbines.
Is
California Becoming Premodern? More than 2 million Californians were recently left without power after the
state's largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric — which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year —
preemptively shut down transmission lines in fear that they might spark fires during periods of high autumn winds.
Consumers blame the state for not cleaning up dead trees and brush, along with the utility companies for not updating their
ossified equipment. The power companies in turn fault the state for so over-regulating utilities that they had no
resources to modernize their grids.
How
Big-Government Regulation Contributed to California's Wildfires. Fires are nothing new in California, and
there's something of an interesting history to them that used to not be nearly as tragic as we see today. Chuck DeVore,
vice president of national initiatives at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, reminds his readers at Forbes that as "a
citizen soldier in the California National Guard for two decades, I often heard the gallows humor that California's four
seasons were: flood, fire, earthquake, and riot." DeVore takes to task the editorial board at the Sacramento Bee for
their commentary around the Carr Fire of 2018, in which they suggested that the recent fires are the result of "climate change,
for real and in real time. We were warned that the atmospheric buildup of man-made greenhouse gas would eventually be an
existential threat." "The problem with the Bee's editorial is that making a passionate argument is no substitute
for the truth," DeVore writes.
Gavin
Newsome. Your Carbon Offsets Are Burning. Those who leave their energy-guzzling multi-million-dollar
mansions when they fly off on their private jets to save-the-planet climate change conferences like to ease their consciences
and explain their hypocrisy by pointing to their carbon offsets like paying for trees to be planted somewhere that might
mature in a hundred years or so. There are a lot of trees in California and a good number of them are on fire, thanks
to environmental regulations and policies that are supposed to protect the environment but are in fact destroying it.
The irony in California that the very trees that are supposed to be sucking up those nasty carbon emissions are now a major
producer of carbon emissions.
Here's
How State Regulators Played A Role In California's Rolling Blackouts, Wildfires. California Gov. Gavin
Newsom and other critics are blasting the public utility company responsible for rolling blackouts, but some experts argue
regulators' obsession with climate change is partially to blame. Newsom suggested Friday [11/1/2019] taking over
Pacific Gas & Electric, a public utility company that shut off electricity recently to nearly 1 million customers to prevent
potential wildfires. The California Democrat argued that PG&E's greed and corruption are leading to the massive
blackouts. "It's about dog-eat-dog capitalism meeting climate change. It's about corporate greed meeting climate
change. It's about decades of mismanagement," Newsom told reporters on Oct. 25.
California
Is Becoming Unlivable. Right now, wildfires are scorching tens of thousands of acres in California, choking the
air with smoke, spurring widespread prophylactic blackouts, and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of
people. Right now, roughly 130,000 Californians are homeless, and millions more are shelling out far more in rent than
they can afford, commuting into expensive cities from faraway suburbs and towns, or doubling up in houses and
apartments. Wildfires and lack of affordable housing — these are two of the most visible and urgent crises
facing California, raising the question of whether the country's dreamiest, most optimistic state is fast becoming
unlivable. Climate change is turning it into a tinderbox; [...]
The Editor says...
Whoa, there! The state was turned into a tinderbox by tree-hugging left-wing Democrats who mismanaged the state for
decades. The climate has not changed. Does anyone really believe that the climate in California is
hot enough to ignite trees?
California's
Gavin Newsom, now running scared. [Scroll down] PG&E has no money to put its electrical wires under the
ground after all the "green mandates" the socialists in the California state assembly have foisted on them, forcing them to
convert to pricey, unreliable and wire-transmitted solar and wind power instead of efficient, reliable, cheap fossil
fuels. That's a money pit right there. Now PG&E has even less money to make even that happen and still supply
reliable electricity what with all the billions in lawsuit payouts it must make to residents who have lost their homes in
past wildfires based on this lack of investment. Why did that happen? Not just the greenie mandates for wind and
solar power from the state central planners, the company also was forbidden to clear brush from its electrical lines.
Another greenie diktat from the top that didn't end well.
California
Democrats waste billions on useless climate alarmist schemes while the state burns uncontrollably. The Wall
Street Journal published a superb article that exposes the government lunacy in California where its climate alarmist
propaganda driven Democratic politicians have wasted tens of billions of dollars on energy schemes that are totally useless
in having any meaningful impacts on global emissions levels while ignoring the statewide wildfire disaster that is destroying
massive amounts of property, thousands of homes and taking hundreds of lives.
California
blackouts are a self-inflicted mess — Don't just blame PG&E for the new Dark Ages. California, the
richest state in the nation — and one that's often portrayed as the progressive harbinger of the future for the
rest of the country — has been hit with its latest Third World-style disaster. On top of high poverty rates,
skyrocketing homelessness, rising crime, and the return of medieval-sounding diseases, the state has been hit by a series of
rolling, widespread blackouts. Millions of Californians, many in the most densely populated parts of the country have
had their power shut off by the utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric. [...] Though it's easy to criticize PG&E, which
hardly looks good in this whole mess, there is a lot of blame to go around — and no, it doesn't have anything to
do with "climate change."
PG&E
Warns: 10 Years Of Power Shut Offs Coming To Californians. California residents are facing up to a decade of
widespread, precautionary, power shut-offs until Pacific Gas & Electric Corp., the bankrupt utility giant, will be able to
prevent its power transmission lines from sparking fires, the company's top official said. Californians could
experience power shut-offs for the next ten years. Chief Executive William D. Johnson said at an emergency meeting
Friday of the California Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco, that ten years is a probable timeline. "I think
this is probably a 10-year timeline to get to a point where it's really ratcheted down significantly." Of course, that
isn't sitting well with Californians or politicians.
The Editor says...
In other words, the problem will persist for at least ten years, or until politicians with some common sense take over and start managing the forests
more effectively. In the meantime, you should shop for
a generator, or
install a Tesla Powerwall!
California
Faces "Biggest Blackout Ever" As 2.5 Million PG&E Customers May Have No Power For Days. Earlier this week we
joked that with PG&E now scrambling to enforce intentional blackouts every time there are powerful winds for fears the
bankrupt company's aged infrastructure could cause a new fire, "every time the wind blows California will become Venezuela."
Turns out it wasn't a joke.
California's
blackouts are a cautionary tale, warns former CA Republican Party Chairman. California power company PG&E is
coming for residents' tax money and you could be next, former Chairman of the California Republican Party Tom Del Beccaro
warned Saturday [10/26/2019]. [...] Arguing that "Democrats seeking their party's 2020 presidential nomination have already
embraced some of the same Big Government and radical environmental policies that have brought blackouts to California —
and could bring power outages and shortages to our entire nation should one of them become the next president."
California
Is Burning and It's Not Because of 'Climate Change'. California power company PG&E is preparing to pull the
plug on 850,000 of its customers. PG&E has been deliberately cutting power to its customers in an effort to avoid
wildfires. It isn't working. Massive wildfires erupted in areas where PG&E provides service. The Tick Fire
has burned down several homes and caused the evacuation of more than 40,000 people so far, and other wildfires are burning
throughout the state. In Sonoma County, the Kincade Fire has already torched 34 square miles and destroyed
49 homes. That fire was likely caused by a broken transmission line belonging to PG&E. But PG&E's equipment
couldn't start these huge wildfires without a bunch of dead brush fueling the flames. As Chuck Devore writes in Forbes,
"the outrageous cost to remove a few dead trees from private land is a consequence of California's Byzantine environmental
regulatory patchwork." It's not climate change that's responsible for these massive fires, "it's decades of environmental
mismanagement that has created a tinderbox of unharvested timber, dead trees, and thick underbrush."
Wildfires
Caused By Bad Environmental Policy Are Causing California Forests To Be Net CO2 Emitters. This is California's
big secret: it's not climate change that's burning up the forests, killing people, and destroying hundreds of homes; it's
decades of environmental mismanagement that has created a tinderbox of unharvested timber, dead trees, and thick underbrush.
[...] The irony is that forest management is so bad on public lands that a new report, ordered by the California legislature
in 2010, shows that the portion of California's National Forests protected from timber harvesting is now a net contributor to
atmospheric carbon dioxide due to fires and trees killed by insects and disease. Every year about 3.8 billion board
feet of new timber grows in the Golden State, capturing almost one metric ton of CO2 per acre in the productive timberland
areas. Trees grow until they die, burn, or get harvested. If harvesting declines, tree mortality and fires
increase. It's the tyranny of math.
11 Empty Climate Claims.
Claim [#5]: Global Warming has increased U.S. Wildfires. Fact: Wildfires have been decreasing since 1800s.
The increase in damage in recent years is due to population growth in vulnerable areas and poor forest management.
End
of Discussion: MSNBC Declares CA Wildfires Caused by Climate Change, Nothing Else. As wildfires ravage
California again, after last year's deadliest wildfire season on record, the media wants you to remember: This is
climate change's fault. MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi explained this to his liberal audience on Tuesday's [10/29/2019]
MSNBC Live With Velshi and Ruhle, by touting data from a climate alarmist organization, and not offering any other
viewpoints into his explainer segment. Co-host Stephanie Ruhle began by gushing over the sheer number of wildfires the
state has been facing lately, plus the extended burning season. With that prompt, Velshi responded, "It does make you
wonder, right?" adding, "Why are these fires getting worse and worse every year?" Of course, he had the reason ready:
climate change.
Of Electricity and Ideology.
[Scroll down] "For decades," [Kay] Grimes wrote, "traditional forest management was scientific and successful — that is
until ideological, preservationist zealots wormed their way into government and began the overhaul of sound federal forest management through
abuse of the Endangered Species Act and the 're-wilding, no-use movement.'" U.S. Representative Tom McClintock, whose Northern California
district includes the Yosemite Valley and the Tahoe National Forest, told Grimes that the U.S. Forest Service 40 years ago departed from
"well-established and time-tested forest management practices." "We replaced these sound management practices with what can only be
described as a doctrine of benign neglect," McClintock explained. "Ponderous, byzantine laws and regulations administered by a growing
cadre of ideological zealots in our land management agencies promised to 'save the environment.' The advocates of this doctrine have
dominated our law, our policies, our courts, and our federal agencies ever since."
No
Evidence That Climate Change Causes Weather Extremes: [Part 5] Wildfires. Probably the most fearsome of the
weather extremes commonly blamed on human-caused climate change are tornadoes — the previous topic in this
series — and wildfires. Both can arrive with little or no warning, making it difficult or impossible to
flee, are often deadly, and typically destroy hundreds of homes and other structures. But just like tornadoes, there is
no scientific evidence that the frequency or severity of wildfires are on the rise in a warming world. You wouldn't
know that, however, from the mass hysteria generated by the mainstream media and climate activists every time a wildfire
breaks out, especially in naturally dry climates such as those in California, Australia or Spain. While it's true that
the number of acres burned annually in the U.S. has gone up over the last 20 years or so, the present burned
area is still only a small fraction of what it was back in the record 1930s, as seen in [...] data compiled by the U.S.
National Interagency Fire Center.
Green
Policies Turned California A Charred Black. More than half of California's roughly 105 million acres are owned
by the federal and state governments. It is on these sprawling parcels that the wildfires tend to rage before devouring
private land, homes, and businesses. Public lands "have proved far more vulnerable to forest fires than properties
owned by private groups," Hoover Institution scholar Richard Epstein wrote in California's Forest Fire Tragedy. [...]
The loudest voices assign blame for the fires to man-made climate change. But the human activity primarily responsible
for the destructive spread of wildfires is public policy favoring burned timber over harvested timber. While maybe
well-intended, laws inspired by the 1970s environmentalist movement, which is determined to make sure saw blades and trees
never meet, have stoked the furnaces.
Hero
Citizen Tackles Suspected Arsonist Setting Wildfire in Los Angeles. Legal Insurrection readers may recall that
in the autumn of 2017, a series of wildfires broke out in Southern California. One of those blazes threatened the famed
Getty Center Museum. On Easter Sunday this year [4/21/2019], a suspected arsonist, who set off fires in the Sepulveda
Pass near the Getty Center, was taken into custody after a an alert citizen saw the man lighting the fires and tackled him.
[...] The suspect has been identified as Steven William Adkison, a 31-year-old transient.
False
flag environmentalism is dangerous for America and the world. California suffered some of the worst wildfires
in the State's history in mid-2018. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is in bankruptcy over the damages where entire towns went
up in flames over faulty electrical infrastructure and high winds, which led to devastating wildfire. But the real
culprits causing this destruction were environmental regulations, green organizations and high-powered, faux environmentalists like
Tom Steyer stopping excess brush and dead trees from being cleared throughout California cities, towns, forests and wilderness areas.
Did
forced focus on green energy lead to California's devastating wildfires? California's bureaucratic behemoth,
the Air Resource Board, implements its "cap and trade" scheme to control carbon emissions. However, the carbon
emissions from the wildfires dwarfed those from standard anthropogenic sources. The 2018 fires released the rough
equivalent of about 68 million tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, about the same amount of carbon emissions as are
produced in a year to provide electricity to the state.
California's
Wildfire History — in one map. Here is an interesting interactive graphic that depicts perimeters of
more than 100 years of California wildfires recorded by Cal Fire and the U.S. Geological Survey. The map [left] shows
all the cumulative fires from 1878 to 2018. It seems as if there is very little of California that has not been touched by
wildfire. Large areas of desert in the southeast are mostly untouched due to lack of vegetation.
Judge:
California Wildfires Caused By Uninsulated Power Conductors NOT Climate. U.S. District Court Judge William
Alsup ruled that equipment owned by the utility company Pacific Gas and Electric was the cause of some wildfires due to tree
limbs and other debris knocking uninsulated power conductors together, NBC News has reported.
The Editor says...
Only a few power lines are insulated, and most of those are underground, so "uninsulated power lines" is not an unusual situation.
If tree limbs are in contact with the lines, that's because the utility hasn't routinely trimmed the trees. I don't know how things
work in California, but in Texas, the utility companies have tree trimming crews in residential neighborhoods all the time. It could
be that environmental activists in California have made this unpopular or illegal, but that's just a guess.
Climate
Change: The Poetry of Dreams and the Prose of Reality. Recent fires in Southern California demonstrated
that Mother Nature can produce in several days more greenhouse gases than all the cars in the region in a whole year.
California's yearly fires have been known since the Spanish conquistadors first visited it in 1542. If we add volcanoes
spitting into the air millions of tons of CO2 every year for millions of years, then according to the proponents' theory, we
should already be living on small islands surrounded by an ocean of melted Arctic ice.
Big
Government Helped Create the Horrendous Nature of the Cali Fires. A new report revealed that incompetent state
regulators in The California Public Utilities Commission failed to implement plans required by state law that could have
prevented the devastating California wildfires. Senate Bill 1028 required the three big California power companies, San
Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric, to provide detailed strategies for reducing fire
threats, according to The San Diego Tribune. The California Public Utilities Commission was supposed to review the
filings, make comments, and follow up to ensure they followed the plans. They NEVER DID! They did NOT
issue directives to the power companies, and it's been more than two years since the law was passed.
Democrats
use vote fraud to play their last hand: global warming. By reopening the old playbook of making global warming
(the flip side of the 1970s anticipated ice age, also caused by man's meddling with the environment) a crisis is the best
strategy left to the Left. In order to execute their gameplan, using and abusing the natural world is not beyond their
scruples or, rather, lack thereof. Throwing communities into chaos by devastating them with flood and fire — please be
reminded of the near collapse of the Oroville Dam last year and now the all-consuming fires wiping out whole towns — through
mismanagement of resources, states such as California have placed millions of citizens in jeopardy. Yet it goes further
according to some credible reports deriving from survivors of the Camp Fire, Woolsey Fire and the conflagrations that wiped
out the wine country just last year. Following the lead of democrat legislators trying to place all the blame on power
companies, the media conveniently forgot their initial reporting of the illegal immigrant who was caught setting some of the
major burns in Northern California. They also have turned a blind eye to the change of fire patterns and how many blazes
began by simply bursting into flame, no spark or ember witnessed anywhere about.
Watch
the gender-reveal explosion that ignited a 47,000-acre wildfire. A border patrol agent's gender reveal party
took an explosive turn and caused a 47,000 acre wildfire. Dennis Dickey pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor violation of
U.S. Forest Service regulations for starting the Sawmill Fire. He has to pay more than $8 million in restitution
according to the Department of Justice. [Video clip]
Even
California Cannot Defy Nature Forever. [Scroll down] Last year, we saw near-normal levels of precipitation.
If our life-giving reservoirs of the state's vast California Water Project and federal Central Valley Project are currently not full,
it is mostly because millions of acre-feet of stored water were released to flow into the San Francisco Bay estuaries and the
delta — contradicting most of the original mandates of the water projects of providing flood control, power generation,
lake recreation, and irrigation for California residents. [...] Left unsaid is that more than 130 million trees died throughout
the state's foothills and mountain ranges during the drought of 2011-2016 and were not removed from the forest floor, providing an
immensity of natural kindling for fires. To walk in a Sierra Nevada forest during summers requires navigating not just over
fallen limbs and branches, but also rotting trees — all amid dead brush and dead but still-towering brown pines.
Gone are the periodic meadows and open spaces of the 1960s and 1970s, when logging companies harvested trees, thinned out the forests,
replanted what was cut, and cleaned up the forest floor. Yet given California's stringent anti-logging regulations of the last
20 years, there is no real California timber industry left, at least as it once was. And scavenging even dead trees
prompts a great debate, as environmentalists lecture on the advantages of letting the dead wood be. Or, as Sierra Club
organizer Daniel Barad put it in a January 2018 Sacramento Bee op-ed: "Dead trees are vital components of the forest
ecosystem and should be removed only when necessary."
How
Governor Jerry Brown Burned California — And Why President Trump Was 100% Right. Nine years.
That's how long a it took a California agency to create a fire zone map. Seven of those years were under the
governorship of Jerry Brown. The fire map was to be a tool for agencies to monitor and manage areas most prone to fires
started by utility companies/power lines. In short, it would require those utility companies to clear out dangerously
dry vegetation, the very practice President Trump said should he been done to prevent the very kinds of disastrous fires that
swept across California taking lives and property. The media lambasted the president for his remarks. As is often
the case, the media was wrong and President Trump was 100% right.
California
Burning: How the Greens Turned the Golden State Brown. Opinions vary regarding how much of this disaster
could have been avoided, but nobody disputes that more could have been done. Everyone agrees, for example, that
overall, aggressive fire suppression has been a mistake. Most everyone agrees that good prevention measures include
forest thinning (especially around power lines), selective logging, controlled burns, and power line upgrades. And
everyone agrees that residents in fire prone areas need to create defensible space and fire-harden their homes.
Opinions also vary as to whether or not environmentalists stood in the way of these prevention measures. In a
blistering critique published earlier this week on the California-focused Flash Report, investigative journalist
Katy Grimes cataloged the negligence resulting from environmentalist overreach.
Actually,
even California says Trump is right about the wildfires. President Trump's critics are belittling him for not
buying the lefty narrative that global warming is to blame for the California wildfires. Instead, Trump points to
decades of mistakes by government agencies that caused the woodlands to become overly dense and blanketed with highly
flammable dead wood and underbrush. He's exactly right. Just ask California officials. Two months ago, the
state legislature enacted a measure that would expedite the removal of dead trees and use "prescribed burns" to thin
forests. In other words: the very same reforms that Trump is now being mocked for proposing. The September law
followed a Gov. Jerry Brown executive order earlier this year that also called for "controlled fires" to improve forest
health. This scientific approach isn't easily conveyed in Trump's preferred mode of communication, the 280-character
tweet. But University of California forest expert Yana Valachovic conceded in a Washington Post interview that Trump's
"general sentiment is correct — that we need to manage fuels." That is, to get rid of dangerous buildups of
dead and dying trees.
Sec.
Ryan Zinke Backs Trump: Years of Mismanagement Led to California Fires. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke
backed President Donald Trump on the years of forest mismanagement that led to the California fires as Zinke joined Breitbart
News Sunday radio with host Amanda House. He suggested that even photos of the devastation don't do justice to what it
was like to see it in person. Pointing to years of neglect and dead and dying timber, he observed, "It was like a
flamethrower of embers shooting through the forests."
Trump
Was Right: Jerry Brown Eased California Logging Rules Back In August. Months ago, California Gov. Jerry Brown
urged state lawmakers to loosen restrictive logging regulations put in place to appease environmentalists — a move that
appears to have confirmed that President Trump's recent critiques of state logging practices was correct. The Santa Cruz Sentinel
reported back in August that Brown was proposing one of the most significant changes to the state's logging rules in nearly half a century.
Loggers
support Trump's claim that wildfires caused by 'poor forest management'. A national logging organization is
offering support to President Trump following catastrophic wildfires in California and a political debate over the causes of
the destructive blazes. "President Trump blamed poor forest management for wildfires in California and throughout the
West, and there is truth to statements he has made," said Daniel Dructor, executive vice president of the American Loggers
Council, a coalition of state and regional associations that represents independent contract loggers.
How
Misguided Environmentalism Is To Blame For California's Wildfires. Part of the reason it is so difficult to manage
California forests is the bureaucratic milieu. The Forest Service manages 193 million acres of land, has 28,000 employees,
and has an annual outlay of $7 billion a year, according to a 2017 Analytical Perspective from the budget of the U.S.
government. For decades, environmental protection schemes have usurped common sense. For example, most fire ecologists
say that the surest way of preventing massive forest fires is to use prescribed burns. The California Environmental Protection
Agency states that "prescribed burning is the intentional use of fire to reduce wildfire hazards, clear downed trees, control plant
diseases, improve rangeland and wildlife habitats, and restore natural ecosystems." Prescribed burns keep forests healthy by
burning up the underbrush that accumulates on the forest floor and by thinning trees. Yet for decades the Forest Service
has suppressed most fires. According to a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection executive summary: "Land
and fire management have in many cases increased fire hazard.
Apaches
stave off wildfires with timber industry, active forest management. The catastrophic blazes that thrive in
eastern Arizona's thickly forested yet arid landscape have a way of fizzling once they jump from the dense national forests
to the Apache reservations, and that's not by chance. On a scorching summer day with fire danger at the extreme level,
forestry superintendent Michael Gutierrez and his crew spent the morning chain-sawing the overgrown junipers surrounding
Seneca Lake on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. Soil conservationist Paul Buck discussed his experiments in
fighting tough alligator juniper using the terrestrial version of the herbicide Round-Up, and forest manager Dee Randall
explained how the scrubby trees could be converted into slabs and sold for furniture as part the tribal timber business.
California's
Devastating Fires Are Man-Caused — But Not In The Way They Tell Us. California is once again on
fire. Northern California's Carr Fire has killed six people, two of them firefighters, and continues to burn out of
control, claiming more than 700 homes and about 100,000 acres. As a citizen-soldier in the California Army National
Guard for two decades, I often heard the gallows humor quip that California's four seasons were: flood, fire, earthquake
and riot. But, what was once an expected part of living in the Golden State is now blamed on larger forces. A
crisis, we are told, should never go to waste. In that vein, the Sacramento Bee editorial board blamed the Carr
Fire foursquare on a man-caused buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In an editorial headlined, "The Carr Fire
is a terrifying glimpse into California's future," they write, "This is climate change, for real and in real time. We
were warned that the atmospheric buildup of man-made greenhouse gas would eventually be an existential threat."
Interior
Secretary Ryan Zinke says 'environmental terrorist groups' enabled wildfires. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's
claim that "environmental terrorist groups" created the conditions that enabled California's wildfires triggered substantial
blowback from environmental groups, who chastised the Trump administration official for downplaying the role of climate
change in the blazes. Zinke said in a radio interview with Breitbart News that environmental extremists were preventing
the government from properly managing forests — leaving excessive fuel on the ground for the deadly blazes.
The statement is just the latest as the Trump administration moves aggressively to open more public land to natural resource
extraction, including logging.
Ryan
Zinke takes ax to climate change narrative in push to save forests from wildfires. Here in the town dubbed the
"gateway to the Sierras," the haze from the Ferguson Fire is fading as Yosemite National Park prepares to reopen, but the
debate over how to stop wildfires from razing the state again next year continues to smolder. California's catastrophic
wildfire season has illuminated the yearslong stalemate between those who want to cut back the overgrown, beetle-infested national
forests and environmentalists who have axed efforts to fell more trees, blaming the destructive fires on climate change.
Adam
Schiff gets schooled on his California green canards. See, the left has been spreading the flammable rubbish
that as California burns, it's not the green left's fault. It's global warming's fault, see, so let's have more green
regulation. California's Jerry Brown, who runs the place, is the prime propagator of this dreck, but [Adam] Schiff is
happy to be his dutiful parrot. [Kimberley] Strassel presented him with a Deep State document showing that even the Deep
Staters could see that the problem with the fires was too much uncleared fuel for them left lying around, what with 129 million
uncleared dead trees. Those trees are left up to keep the environmental wackos happy. Yet truth never deterred Schiff,
who snottily hectored President Trump in claiming that environmental regulations had nothing to do with the sudden upswing in vast
forest fires, which are threatening California's suburbs. ["]Environmental protections have nothing to do with the
wildfires in CA. Climate change does. We're not going to let you use fires as an excuse to clear-cut our
forests.["] Umm, Adam? The fires are clear-cutting California's forests. No need to get Trump involved,
let alone blame him. Clear-cutting is happening whether you like it or not; all you can do is choose whether you want it
done orderly or you like the current free-for-all system, blaming global warming.
California
Fires: Government Policies, Not Global Warming. As large swaths of California are yet again on fire,
environmentalist groups, the leftist media, and Democratic California Governor Jerry Brown are quick to blame climate
change. But the burning in California has more to do with misguided and short-sighted environmental regulations than
with weather or climate. [...] The Endangered Species Act has made it nearly impossible for private-property owners to clear
dead brush from their own land because it may destroy habitats of protected species. From 1993 until 2003, residents of
Riverside County were prohibited from removing brush from their properties because such brush had become a habitat for the
endangered kangaroo rat. When a wildfire broke out there in 2003, the dry, dead brush served as kindling as the blaze
destroyed 2,700 homes and killed 27 people. The rat's habitat was also destroyed. So, in what can charitably
be described as a misguided attempt to save the environment from the ravages of human activities, government regulations have
made the fires worse.
How
Federal Policies, Not Just Warmer Weather, Have Made Wildfires Worse. [Scroll down] WildfireToday.com
acknowledges that warmer and drier weather make fires more difficult to suppress, but adds that important man-made factors
exist that could be far more influential on wildfires. These include: [#1] 100 years of fire
suppression making forests denser, for fires to burn with greater intensity; [#2] fighting large fires less
aggressively for safety reasons; [#3] environmental demands to let fires burn naturally; and
[#4] initially responding with less equipment and personnel to fires. The biggest man-made change in fighting
wildfires appears to have been the U.S. Forest Service slashing the average number of large air tankers on exclusive use
contracts by over 70 percent — from 44 in 2002 to 13 in 2018, according to the Fire Aviation website.
It's
Not Climate Change that is Fueling Destructive Wildfires. The environmental movement got all excited about
preserving our forests and put enormous pressure on governmental agencies to stop cutting down trees, stop logging, and stop
building logging roads into the beautiful forests. Logging provided lumber for building homes, and the price of lumber
went way up, so nobody is building "starter homes" anymore. Ending logging meant that forests were not thinned as they
were when logs were harvested, which means the trees are too close together, and there's more deadwood and brush, which means
more fire danger. There are always consequences for your actions.
California
burns: The "new normal" thanks to Obama Era Environmental Regulations. This past week, the New York Times
reported on California's wildfires stating that "Since 2012, according to state emergency management officials, there has not
been a month without a wildfire burning — a stark contrast to previous decades, when fire officials saw the fall
and winter as a time to plan and regroup." What's the significance of 2012? It is interesting that the New York Times
mentioned the 2012 date, but only attributed the wildfire increases to "the recent historic drought," and "rising temperatures,"
caused by climate change. Nothing could be further from the truth. As California burns, many Californians have been
asking why the dramatic increase in wildfires in the last five years? Except for Governor Jerry Brown. Governor Brown
claims that devastating fires are the "new normal." Supporting Obama-era regulations have resulted in the new normal:
an endless and devastating fire season.
Democrats
[are] turning California into a third-world hellhole. Democrats are turning California into a third-world
hellhole without electricity, water, and freedom. Due to Democrats' love for trees, at least 800,000 Californians will
be without power for several days. Instead of properly managing California forests to reduce the chances of big fires,
Democrats are saying Californians have to go without lights, refrigerators, and air-conditioning. Democrats could also
avoid this by not making the power company financially liable for all forest fire damages, but since PG&E is a company, not
an illegal alien, the Democrats couldn't care less about doing what's best for California.
California
burns: The "new normal" thanks to Obama Era Environmental Regulations. This past week, the New York Times
reported on California's wildfires stating that "Since 2012, according to state emergency management officials, there has not
been a month without a wildfire burning — a stark contrast to previous decades, when fire officials saw the fall
and winter as a time to plan and regroup." What's the significance of 2012? It is interesting that the New York Times
mentioned the 2012 date, but only attributed the wildfire increases to "the recent historic drought," and "rising temperatures,"
caused by climate change. Nothing could be further from the truth. As California burns, many Californians have been
asking why the dramatic increase in wildfires in the last five years? Except for Governor Jerry Brown. Governor Brown
claims that devastating fires are the "new normal." Supporting Obama-era regulations have resulted in the new normal:
an endless and devastating fire season.
A
New Dark Age: California's Blackouts Are Self-Inflicted. California, the richest state in the
nation — and one that's often portrayed as the progressive harbinger of the future for the rest of the
country — has been hit with its latest Third World-style disaster. On top of high poverty rates,
skyrocketing homelessness, rising crime, and the return of medieval-sounding diseases, the state — specifically,
the San Francisco Bay Area — has been hit with a mass blackout. About 1 million people in one of the most
densely populated parts of the country have had their power shut off by the utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric.
The local utility, PG&E, initiated the blackout in an effort to limit the potential for mass wildfires, which ravaged the
state in 2018 and bankrupted the company.
At Least
We're Not Cuba! I'm so old that I remember when the prime responsibility of your state's Public Service
Commission was ensuring the public utilities under their jurisdiction were physically and financially capable of delivering
the services they were chartered to provide. Accordingly, the PSC role was to balance citizens' need for reliable
services and reasonable rates with the need for utilities to earn a reasonable return on investment. When both sides of
this contract begin to operate outside the parameters of their respective charters, i.e. the utility fails to provide basic
maintenance services to maintain the integrity of transmission lines and the PSC to verify they have done so[,] and instead
begin to pursue and promote a "green energy" agenda, this is what happens[.]
California's
Gavin Newsom calls power outages needed. Socialism, including greenie socialism, is always about blaming Those
Greedy Capitalists for whatever hideous policies the government cooks up, which inevitably prompts an unintended
consequence. California's Gov. Gavin Newsom is right there with the best of them, blaming the wreckers and
hoarders for California's massive power outages, taking northern California back to a state of nature and, in the full
greenie spirit, telling us it's needed, necessary, all for our own good.
The
Lights Are Out in California, And That Was the Plan All Along. The power is out in Northern California.
More than 1 million Californians are now without electricity, one of modern life's essentials that is frequently taken for
granted. The blackout was done on purpose — to prevent sparks from powerlines that could ignite deadly
wildfires. Before planned blackouts are through in two or three days, as many as 3 million Californians may go without
power. On the surface, the blackout and its causes are simple to understand. But the deeper causes are
complicated, span decades of public policy, and dozens of overlapping unintended — and intended —
consequences of decisions, both related and unrelated.
PG&E
Power Outage Shut Off: Agency explains why turning power back on could take 5 days. Pacific Gas and
Electric says it could take as long as five days to turn the power back on for nearly 800,000 customers across
California. It's part of preemptive power shutdown due to fire danger, impacting the Bay Area and surrounding
counties. The utility says re-energizing power lines takes time. Crews will need to inspect every power line by
land and air before restoring power.
California's
Devastating Fires Are Man-Caused — But Not In The Way They Tell Us. In 2005 while a freshman
California Assemblyman, I had the chance to visit Northern California and meet with the forest product industry professionals
who grew, managed, and harvested trees on private and public lands. They told me of a worrisome trend started years
earlier where both federal and state regulators were making it more and more difficult for them to do their jobs. As a
result, timber industry employment gradually collapsed, falling in 2017 to half of what it was 20 years earlier, with imports
from Canada, China, and other nations filling domestic need. As timber harvesting permit fees went up and environmental
challenges multiplied, the people who earned a living felling and planting trees looked for other lines of work. The
combustible fuel load in the forest predictably soared. No longer were forest management professionals clearing brush
and thinning trees. But, fire suppression efforts continued. The result was accurately forecast by my forest
management industry hosts in Siskiyou County in 2005: larger, more devastating fires — fires so hot that they
sterilized the soil, making regrowth difficult and altering the landscape. More importantly, fires that increasingly
threatened lives and homes as they became hotter and more difficult to bring under control.
California
Fires: Government Policies, Not Global Warming. As large swaths of California are yet again on fire,
environmentalist groups, the leftist media, and Democratic California Governor Jerry Brown are quick to blame climate
change. But the burning in California has more to do with misguided and short-sighted environmental regulations than
with weather or climate. [...] The Endangered Species Act has made it nearly impossible for private-property owners to clear
dead brush from their own land because it may destroy habitats of protected species. From 1993 until 2003, residents of
Riverside County were prohibited from removing brush from their properties because such brush had become a habitat for the
endangered kangaroo rat. When a wildfire broke out there in 2003, the dry, dead brush served as kindling as the blaze
destroyed 2,700 homes and killed 27 people. The rat's habitat was also destroyed. So, in what can charitably
be described as a misguided attempt to save the environment from the ravages of human activities, government regulations have
made the fires worse.
Fire and Water in California. Liberals exploit
natural disasters — drought, hurricane, blizzard, you name it — to promote their anti-fossil fuels
agenda. Yet now they're outraged that President Trump is daring to fight fire with fire by making a connection between
California's wildfires and destructive green policies. [...] Governor Jerry Brown keeps lecturing Californians that they need
to adapt to a new "climate normal," yet the state government has done little to prepare for warmer and drier times if that is
the future. Lawmakers instead have subordinated fire prevention to pleasing the green lobby.
Fire
and fury: How government failures make wildfires even worse. While East Coasters are heading off for
their August vacations, many families out West are worried that if they leave their home, it may not be standing when they
return. That's the reality when there have been 4,500 wildfires this year so far. [...] Everyone is quick to blame
global warming for this and all other natural disasters. But changes to local weather in this or that part of the
country are by no means part of the same scientific consensus that climate change is real and caused in large part by human
activity. Western droughts and forest fires have been around a long time, and so has climate change, but the fires have
gotten much worse very recently, and government mismanagement of forests is part of the reason.
Jerry
Brown blames everyone but himself for California wildfires. Jerry Brown is at it again. Blaming
Californians for the devastating series of California wildfires month, he went Full Moonbeam and declared the problem a
function of global warming, calling it a new normal about which nothing is to be done. As if wildfires that sweep
away homes in California's unique Mediteranean microclimates have never happened before this past week.
Why
the California Wildfires Are Not Due to So-called Climate Change. Climate alarmists such as California Governor
Jerry Brown would like us to believe that global warming is causing (and worsening) the recent spate of wildfires in the
Golden State. Unfortunately for Governor Brown, the facts and the science simply don't line up with his opinion.
Wildfires are natural occurrences that have been happening since flora first appeared on the Earth. Scientists and
others involved in land and forest management not only accept that such fires will happen as part of the natural ecosystem,
they also see them as beneficial in certain ways. Wildfires occurring naturally reduce fuel loads such as downed trees,
fallen limbs, brush, leaves and other combustible material. When fires burn naturally, they release nutrients into the
soil which would otherwise be wasted in leaves and undergrowth. Some habitats — such as the California
Chaparral — actually depend on fire to a certain extent. Periodic fires burn off species of plants that are
not native and less fire resistant, which gives the native species a leg up in the competition for space.
California
wildfires are burning down public utilities. California's Democrat-controlled Legislature has mastered the game
of deviously nudging public utility regulators to raise fees and surcharges to pay for its progressive environmental
initiatives rather than suffering the voter backlash from raising taxes. California residents, due to abundant hydro
resources and being the nation's third largest oil-producer, used to have some of America's lowest retail electricity
rates. But residents paid 18.32 cents per kilowatt-hour (/kWh) in 2018, about 47 percent more than the
national average of 12.47 cents/kWh. Much of that staggering $14.8-billion-a-year extra cost was siphoned off
through environmental mandates and crony spending.
Environmentalist
Policies Are Exacerbating Wildfires. It's Time to Rethink Forest Management. [Scroll down] As a
Reason Foundation study noted, the U.S. Forest Service, which is tasked with managing public wildland, once had success in
minimizing widespread fires in the early 20th century. But many of these successful methods were abandoned in large
part because of efforts by environmental activists. The Forest Service became more costly and less effective as it
increasingly "rewarded forest managers for losing money on environmentally questionable practices," wrote Randal O'Toole, a
policy analyst at the Cato Institute. Spending on the Forest Service has risen drastically, but these additional
resources have been misused and haven't solved the underlying issues.
Homeless people supported (or at least tolerated) by California taxpayers
Nearly
Half Of Los Angeles Homeless Budget Wasn't Spent: Report. Nearly half of Los
Angeles, California's $1.3 billion homelessness budget for fiscal year 2023-2024 wasn't spent,
according to the city Controller's report. Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia
discovered that only $599 million had been spent, with an additional $195 million marked
to be spent, and $512,690,810 million not marked for anything, according to the report.
Recently, Los Angeles residents seem poised to approve Measure A, which would add a .5%
county-level sales tax, with revenues going towards homeless programs, according to the unofficial
election results count.
San
Francisco Suddenly Wants to Clear Out the Homeless. The situation out on the streets
in San Francisco has been alarming (to say the least) for long enough now that it's almost become a
footnote in the wreckage that the Biden administration has left in its wake, particularly when
combined with the pro-crime, anti-police impulses of Gavin Newsom's governorship. By this
point, you've all seen the stories and we've covered them here often. Homeless encampments
clog up the streets while addicts overdose on the public sidewalks. Petty crimes combined
with some that are far more serious have plagued formerly prime real estate. But now there
are signs of a rapid transformation taking place. San Francisco Mayor London Breed, taking
advantage of a recent Supreme Court ruling regarding ordinances forbidding public camping, has been
cracking down on the encampments and clearing them out. But what could have brought on this
sudden change of heart after the problem had been festering for years? Could it have
something to do with the upcoming elections?
LA
County Has Decided It Won't Comply with Gov. Newsom's Homeless Order. In the
wake of a Supreme Court case which overturned a 9th Circuit decision on public camping,
Gov. Newsom got aggressive on cleaning up homeless camps. Just over a week ago he signed
an executive order calling on other state officials to clean up their rooms, so to speak. [...]
Some cities, including San Francisco, got right to it. Mayor London Breed ordered aggressive
sweeps of homeless camps with outreach efforts backed by police. This is exactly the sort of
effort that the 9th Circuit had long prevented. [...] Homeless advocates have noted that city
shelters are already near capacity but the reality is that most of the people living in these camps
won't accept an offer of shelter even if it's available. Most of them are outside because
they want to be outside. And sure enough only 10% of the people who were in these camps have
accepted offers of shelter. Mayor Breed is also using another strategy to get people off the
streets, one that has been employed by San Francisco and other cities for years: If you're
homeless, the mayor has a free, one-way bus ticket for you.
Cleaning
Out The Homeless Encampments Just In Time For The Election. Imagine being a homeless
guy in the state of California. For most of the year, you're untouchable. You can sleep
completely naked right outside of an art gallery, and if the gallery owner sprays you with a hose
to get you to move, he's the one who gets arrested — as happened recently. The
district attorney will issue statements about how "unhoused folks" have the right to sleep wherever
they want, wearing — or not wearing — whatever clothes they want. On
top of that, the state provides millions of free syringes to help facilitate your drug
habit — complete with "safe injection sites" that function like open-air drug
markets. Plus the weather's always nice. So generally speaking, as a homeless person in
the Golden State, you have it pretty good. But every once in a while, on a dime, California's
government completely changes its approach. It's quite a role reversal. The politicians
suddenly become the schizophrenic ones. They decide, without any warning, that all homeless
encampments have to be dismantled. They hose down the sidewalks themselves. They clear
the place out like it's Tiananmen Square. And they issue statements about the importance of
orderly streets and ending the scourge of lewd behavior in public libraries.
Newsom
Will Remove Homeless Encampments across California after Supreme Court Decision.
California governor Gavin Newsom directed state officials to remove homeless encampments across the
Golden State on Thursday after the Supreme Court ruled in June that local governments have a right
to ban public camping and impose fines for violators. Newsom announced the guidance in an
executive order, advising cities to crack down on encampments on public property while providing
social services and housing alternatives. The order, first reported by the New York
Times, represents a sharp departure from the accommodative homelessness policies adopted by
progressive state governments over the last decade.
Homeless
Account for 12% of Fire Calls in Los Angeles. In a typical day in the city of Los
Angeles, the fire department will go on about 1,500 calls for service. That's fires, medical
issues, cats in trees and everything else. Also on a typical day, the city's homeless
population of about 75,000 will account for about 180 of those calls. That's 12% of every
fire department call. For perspective, the homeless make up about 2% (a horrible number in
and of itself) of the city's population but are the cause of 12% of the fire calls for service.
Los
Angeles Will Require Photo ID For Homeless Luxury Hotel Living But Not Voting. Los
Angeles just opened a state-of-the-art luxury hotel for the city's homeless and, unlike voting,
will require a photo ID to participate. On Wednesday, city officials opened the brand new
19-story residential high-rise with 278 units that cost as much to build as a five-star
resort. To lease an apartment in the downtown luxury tower, however, homeless residents must
provide their "photo identification, and social security card." Repeat Los Angeles voters,
however, don't need any photo ID to turn in their ballots. [Advertisement] [Tweet]
California is one of 12 states, plus the District of Columbia, with no voter ID law on the
books. Residents must only present their identification for their first-time voting.
According to the California Globe, a conservative statewide paper, "The project cost about
$165 million dollars and the studio apartments are essentially the equivalent of what one
would find at a decent 'extended stay' hotel — large room kitchenette, bed, tables,
chairs, bathroom, TV, etc." "At $594,000 a unit, that works out be a bit over $1,000
per-square-foot to build," the Globe reported.
How
many illegal aliens arrive in San Diego only to become homeless? President Joe Biden
is limiting asylum claims, but a lack of federal aid still risks leaving some on the street.
For the past few years, Catholic Charities has had shelter space for about 1,800 asylum seekers in
San Diego and Imperial counties. That total dropped by half last summer when some
pandemic-era funding through the state wound down, according to Appaswamy "Vino" Pajanor, CEO of
Catholic Charities, Diocese of San Diego. While more vulnerable arrivals are still taken in,
like the elderly, there's often not room for healthy single adults, many of whom may struggle to
navigate a new country's transportation system even when they have housing lined up.
The
Age of Micro. [Scroll down] California assemblyman Matt Haney is a
trifecta for the purposes of this essay. The San Francisco Democrat has a background in
non-profits, education, and law. In more than a decade of public activism, he has
distinguished himself for a failed effort to rename his hometown's George Washington High School
and for a $1.7M Noe Valley public toilet. The latter, a project for which Haney personally
secured funding, was almost derailed when a New York Times exposé questioned the cost of the
project. Feeling the heat, Haney re-positioned himself as one of the toilet's biggest
critics, demanding to know why the project cost so much. A letter from the city's manager of
the Recreation and Parks Department pointed to key guidance passed while Haney was a member of the
Board of Supervisors. A feel-good ordinance, for example, restricting San Francisco's ability
to contract with states that restrict abortion access added time and labor to the cost. What
I want to focus on is that 1) Haney did not know how much a public toilet should cost (about
$200,000) and 2) his preoccupation with national debates wasted taxpayer time and money.
Report:
$165 Million Luxury Apartment Building to Open for Los Angeles Homeless Population.
A taxpayer-funded luxury apartment building is reportedly set to open in Los Angeles's Skid Row
neighborhood to provide hundreds of homeless people with housing and high-end amenities. The
278-unit, 19-story tower is going to open in a matter of weeks, and is meant to be a "self-contained
environment that will insulate its formerly homeless residents from the squalor and hopelessness
around them," the Los Angeles Times reported.
It isn't "free food" if it's "taxpayer-funded." San
Francisco opens city's first $5 million taxpayer-funded free food 'market'. San
Francisco opened its first $5.5 million free food "market", where approved residents can show
a benefits eligibility card, put what they want in their carts, check out to keep track of outgoing
inventory, and leave without paying. The Bayview-Hunters Point facility aims to be a food
pantry alternative that replicates the supermarket experience in an area where many grocery stores
have come but few have remained due to high crime. The 4000-square foot District 10 Market is
the first of San Francisco's food empowerment "markets" funded by the San Francisco's Human
Services Agency. Eligible individuals receive a Costo-like benefits card that allows use of
the facility once per month. Eligibility is limited to individuals who live within one of
three zip codes, are verified social services clients, have dependents under 25 or a qualified
food-related illness, and be referred by one of eleven community organizations in the market's
referral network.
The Editor says...
In other words, whoever is declared the biggest victim gets the "free" food.
Widow
speaks after husband murdered outside California home during fight between homeless men.
This is a tragic, yet all too common, pattern emerging in Newsom's state. Nicolas Gandara, a
father of six children, was killed execution-style outside of his home after trying to stop a fight
between two homeless men. [Tweet with video clip] Why [...] are we allowing these
homeless encampments to exist in California?
Stop
signs replace traffic lights at 'busy' Oakland intersection, reportedly on account of area
homeless. The City of Oakland, California, has replaced traffic lights with stop
signs at one intersection, and some area residents believe criminal behavior on the part of local
homeless persons led to the potentially dangerous change, KPIX reported. Earlier this month,
the intersection of E. 12th Street and 16th Avenue, about two miles east of Downtown Oakland,
went from a traffic light to a four-way stop. A Fox News report described the intersection as
"busy," and KPIX-TV video shows the intersection teeming with businesses and vehicles.
According to the sources who spoke with KPIX, the city made the change to stop signs because people
living in a nearby homeless encampment have been stealing copper wire from electrical boxes
connected to the traffic lights at the intersection. As a result, the lights malfunctioned
for months, often blinking red or blacking out entirely, KPIX reported.
The Editor says...
Instead of rounding up and incarcerating the thieves, whether homeless or otherwise, the city put
another Band-Aid on the problem and made the intersection more dangerous for everyone else.
San
Francisco Will Be Spending 5 Million Per Year On Free Booze for the Homeless.
San Francisco has been spending $5 million a year for four years on a taxpayer-funded program
that hands out bottles of beer, glasses of wine, and shots of vodka to homeless alcoholics.
Under the 'managed alcohol program', nurses distribute shots of vodka and beer multiple times a day
as part of patients' healthcare plans[.] [Video clip]
San
Francisco Exemplifies Leftist Logic Perfectly With Program to Help Alcoholic Bums Get Free Vodka
Shots. The City of San Francisco has decided to take a rather peculiar approach to
address the issue of homeless alcoholics. They've initiated a "Managed Alcohol Program,"
which, in the most cynical sense, can be summed up as providing free beer and vodka shots to
homeless individuals suffering from alcohol addiction. This program, funded by the taxpayer's
hard-earned dollars, is a part of a little-known pilot program. Experts claim that this
program can save lives or at least prolong them. But let's be honest here, it's not like the
city is investing in their recovery or sobriety. Instead, they're simply making sure these
individuals stay off the streets and out of emergency services, which apparently saves the city a
few bucks.
San
Francisco Slammed For Spending Millions Of Dollars For Vodka And Beer For Homeless Alcoholics.
San Francisco is spending around $5 million a year to give vodka shots and glasses of beer to
homeless people with severe alcohol addiction in an effort to cut down on calls to police and
hospital stays, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The city's "managed alcohol program"
started during the COVID pandemic, but came under fire earlier this week after Adam Nathan, the
chair of the Salvation Army San Francisco Advisory Board, posted a thread on X, saying he "stumbled
upon the building where they have this program."
S.F.
program gives homeless people free booze. Here's why the city says it's helpful.
For a small slice of San Francisco's homeless population that struggles with severe alcohol
addiction, nurses offer treatment not in a pill, but in a shot of vodka or a glass of beer.
It may sound counterintuitive, experts say, but it helps keep people off the streets and out of
emergency rooms, jails — or the morgue. San Francisco set up a "managed alcohol
program" four years ago as a way to care for vulnerable homeless people who drank excessive amounts
of alcohol and were among the city's highest users of emergency services.
California
Didn't Track Effects Of $24 Billion Homelessness Spending. A new state audit
found that the California Interagency Council on Homelessness stopped tracking whether its programs
were working in June 2021 and has no consistent way of measuring the outcomes of its
spending. Only two of the five programs analyzed in the audit are "likely cost-effective."
The other three have not collected enough data to prove that their initiatives are useful.
Nonprofit
Tasked With Tackling Homelessness In San Francisco Accused Of Stealing $100k From City.
San Francisco's city attorney on Monday accused a nonprofit that has received tens of millions of public
dollars to provide homeless services of stealing public funds. Providence Foundation, led by
Patricia Doyle, allegedly "took over $100,000 of public money meant to benefit people experiencing
homelessness" by submitting fraudulent invoices to San Francisco, according to a press release from
the city attorney's office. Doyle's foundation has received roughly $100 million in
contracts from the city, though its tax forms don't include information on how much of its revenue
went toward executive compensation, as is standard practice among nonprofits. "There's a
difference between having challenges with financial compliance and intentionally defrauding the
City and its taxpayers," City Attorney David Chiu said. "This nonprofit took over $100,000
of public money meant to benefit people experiencing homelessness. That cannot be tolerated."
Providence Foundation operates the Oasis Hotel in the city as a shelter for homeless families.
The Editor says...
Notice that homeless bums are now called "people experiencing homelessness," to put it in a passive
voice, as if the vagrants are the victims of homelessness, as opposed to deadbeats and addicts
reaping what they have sown.
Long
Beach Hotel Housing "Homeless" Sparks Tuberculosis Outbreak. A health crisis has
emerged for Democrat officials in Long Beach, California, following a tuberculosis outbreak linked
to a hotel housing 'homeless' people, according to Fox News. On Thursday, health officials
declared a public health emergency after an alarming tuberculosis outbreak was reported at an
unnamed hotel housing. The city has so far confirmed 14 cases of tuberculosis in people
"associated with a single room occupancy hotel." Nine of them were hospitalized with one fatal
case. Another 170 people were "likely exposed" to the deadly bacteria.
California
city OK's $1M per unit homeless housing project after audit found state wasted billions on
crisis. Santa Monica city officials last week approved a multimillion-dollar
apartment unit for the homeless just days after the release of an audit which found California
could not account for the $24 billion it spent on the state's burgeoning homeless
crisis. The 122-unit building for the homeless will include a mix of studio, one, two and
three-bedroom apartments, along with ground floor retail and residential and commercial parking
spaces. A design concept available on the city's website shows that the multi-apartment unit
will cost more than $123 million, for a cost of just over $1 million each for the 122
apartments. A second design concept would have cost even more, north of $200 million for
196 units.
How
companies made $100m clearing California homeless camps. [Scroll down] In
total, private firms have been paid at least $100 [million] to clear homeless camps, an investigation
by the Guardian and Type Investigations has found. The 14 municipalities and public agencies from
which spending details could be obtained represent a small slice of such spending in the state.
Astrid Stromberg, who oversees encampment cleanups for Tucker, said its business has expanded dramatically
since 2020. The company had about a dozen laborers working full-time on encampment cleanup.
Now there are 30, and its clients include roughly a dozen municipalities and public agencies across Silicon
Valley. "[Tucker] basically created the industry here," she said. "I could talk about it for hours."
Billions Disappear
Into the Black Hole Of California Homeless Programs. I've covered the homeless
industrial complex here several times, both here in Austin and in California. Now California
itself has done an audit on its homeless programs, only to find billion unaccounted for. [...] I'm
sure the programs are considered a "success" by Democrats because they provide a giant bucket to
dole out graft and fraud to the leftwing activists working in the Homeless Industrial
Complex. But I have a deep suspicion that things are even worse than we think. Remember
the effort to recall Newsom, and how Democrats from across the country sprang immediately to his
aid? At the time, Scott Adams said that protecting Newsom was "the top process in the
system." I suspect that California's homeless programs are not just a channel for graft and fraud
to left-wing activists in California, but a way to rake off money directly to Democratic Party
campaigns and coffers nationwide. (Though certainly not the only source. Remember how
$850 million in the hands of New York City Democratic mayor Bill de Blasio's wife just sort of
magically disappeared?)
No
Wonder Gavin Newsom Didn't Want an Audit to Track $24 Billion in Homeless Spending.
Gavin Newsom's California put billions of tax dollars into a cannon, aimed it in the general direction
of homeless "expert" NGOs, lit the fuse, and walked away. The BOOM came when someone started
asking questions about where the $24 billion went. That day of reckoning is finally here.
And we learn that Gavin Newsom and his Democrat super-majority in this one-party state have no idea
where it went or whether it did any good whatsoever. A new state audit — fought tooth
and nail by Newsom, according to former state legislator turned Congressman Kevin Kiley, who called
for the audit — has revealed that California was not tracking the spending. The state
has a $73 billion deficit for the year under Gavin Newsom.
Environmental
watchdog sues San Francisco for 1.2 billion gallons of raw sewage and trash-filled runoff
entering the bay each year. San Francisco has long been at the forefront of all
things progressive: it was one of the first locales to begin decriminalizing marijuana, which of
course devolved into the druggie free-for-all it now is; home to pederasts like Harvey Milk, the
LGBTQ++ community, no matter how obscene (Folsom Street Fair) is always celebrated; it's home to
social programs like GIFT, which isn't just ordinary welfare, but a handout that can pay out as
much as $21,600 per enrollee and is exclusively for "trans" people; and the city has an official
"Poop Patrol" department to clean up all the human fecal matter plopped around the sidewalks thanks
to the sizable vagrant population. And predictably, all that progressivism only reaps total
destruction, coming back to bite the city in the rear-end in grand fashion; a longstanding
nonprofit committed to the environmental health of the bay filed a lawsuit against the city's
utility commission for 1.2 billion gallons per year of sewage and trash-filled runoff flowing
into the San Francisco Bay. [Tweet]
Fuming
San Diego residents lash out at city officials over vagrants living in their cars and
RVs. Residents of a San Diego suburb known for its seclusion from the busy downtown
and beachfront views is furious as a group of vagrants have started living in their cars and RVs on
the streets of the neighborhood. San Diego County is one of the largest segments of
California's homeless population, with more than 10,000. Locals in Pacific Beach say that the
vagrants have moved from the city's downtown to their neighborhood and are openly defying laws
banning them from camping out in their vehicles.
Los
Angeles City Council Member Pushing for New 'Department of Homelessness'. American
cities across the country are experiencing a massive uptick in homelessness, but perhaps none more
than Los Angeles, California. Skid Row used to be confined to a one block area but now tents
and other makeshift shelters can be seen throughout the city. Billions of dollars have been
spent trying to address this issue but it only seems to get worse, and now one member of the city
council wants to create a new city department to focus on the problem. How many more millions
will be wasted as this new government entity fails to solve the problem?
California
Officials Clear Homeless Encampments for the Wrong Reasons, Again. California
officials are doing it again. Homeless encampments in Downtown Sacramento were cleared to
accommodate the filming of a new movie featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. Homeless camps are common
near Cesar Chavez Park. Sacramento officials gave the homeless 24 hours to leave the
area and take their belongings with them.
Garbage
from homeless population clogs storm drains, floods San Diego County homes. Here in
San Diego, we get very little rain. But when we do get it, it's a torrent. Even it
isn't a torrent by, say, Florida standards, it's a torrent to us, enough to create disruptions.
[...] So they've been tolerating homeless tent encampments for years, despite laws against illegal
camping, and instead of ensure that those messes made are cleaned up, city officials let them clog
the storm drains, which creates flooding conditions for tax-paying residents who paid for the
drains, and whose lives don't revolve around obtaining illegal drugs. That's what the bum
encampments are about. And as far as the City goes, apparently nobody's in charge, nobody
regulates that big chunks of litter and garbage from these homeless encampments might affect the
flood control in place to save homes.
Blue
State Flushes Plans For $1.7 Million Public Toilet. A $1.7 million planned
public restroom in a San Francisco neighborhood is unfinished over a year after it was
announced. The city obtained $1.7 million in taxpayer funds in October 2022 to
build the high-end bathroom in the Noe Valley Town Square, which lacked such a facility. But
taxpayer outrage and bureaucratic red tape have ground its construction to a halt, and now what
remains are patches of dirt and mulch where an alternative modular option has yet to be built, The
New York Times reported on Thursday. "Why isn't there a toilet here?" a Noe Valley resident told
NYT. "I just don't get it. Nobody does. It's yet another example of the
city that can't." [Tweet]
Things
in San Francisco Have Gotten 'Back to Normal' Since All the Dignitaries Left. Joe
Biden has been taking a lot of vacation lately, even more so than usual. He was at Camp David
over Christmas with members of his extended family, including his son Hunter. [Tweet] That
comes after Hunter Biden defied a subpoena from the House and essentially gave them the finger from
the steps of the Capitol, and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre admitted Joe Biden
knew about Hunter's statement ahead of time. As I wrote, this raised the question of possible
obstruction by Joe Biden and raised another possible impeachable offense. Now, the House
Oversight Committee is also looking into that.
Electing a black female mayor doesn't automatically fix anything. Homeless
In Karen Bass' Los Angeles. This week, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass celebrated her
first year in office, and highlighted the "success" of her Inside Safe project. However, as
the Globe and other outlets have pointed out, her program has been far from a success, with LA's
homeless problem growing even worse under her tenure. Homelessness has gone up 10% under her
watch, with only 255 homeless people out of 46,000 getting permanent housing through a
$67 million program. While 21,000 were housed in some way, shape, or form, almost all of
these were temporary slots, with no statistics showing how many stayed in shelter long-term or went
back on the streets.
San
Francisco Cleaned Up For Xi Visit. Now, Things Are Back to Normal. If there's
anything that indicates a politician or group of politicians isn't taking something seriously, it's
when they apply a Band-Aid over a problem when it's noticeable, and then let things go back to the
way they were. That's what happened in San Francisco when the city cleaned up their homeless
encampments and open-air drug bazaars during the visit of the Chinese dictator Xi. Now, according
to one San Francisco business owner, it's once more business as usual in the city by the Bay.
San
Francisco Democrat says homelessness crisis in his district is 'absolutely the result of
capitalism'. San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston claimed the city's homelessness
problems were "absolutely the result of capitalism," and it was "counterproductive" to arrest
people openly doing drugs. Preston's District 5 includes the Tenderloin District, an area
known for its open-air drug market. Nearly half of the city's homeless population lived in
this district in 2022, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The Democratic Socialist
supervisor argued his district was particularly affected by homelessness because of the country's
economic structure. "I think what you're seeing in the Tenderloin is absolutely the result of
capitalism and what happens in capitalism to the people at the bottom rungs," the local leader
reportedly remarked in a new documentary by the UK outlet, UnHerd.
Mayor Karen
Bass's $67 Million Homeless Program Has Only Housed 255 So Far. A year after Los
Angeles Mayor Karen Bass spearheaded her "Inside Safe" program to house the city's homeless,
results look shaky. Bass has shelled out roughly $67 million on the program but only moved
255 of L.A.'s 46,000 unhoused individuals into permanent housing, so far. Naturally, she told
NBC's I-Team that she was "not satisfied with those numbers."
I'm a little surprised they're still alive. We
Found 'Em! Here's Where Gavin Newsom Hid the Homeless From Xi. Ever since Gavin
Newsom moved hundreds of fentanyl-addled homeless squatters so that there would be a pretty
backdrop to kiss the ring of Chinese Dictator for Life Xi Jinping and other "fancy leaders," the
question everyone has been asking is: where did they go? The people who claim that 1) walls
don't work, and, 2) walls are racist erected walls to keep out the homeless addicts while the
meetings continue through Friday are liberal. City Hall, the Governor's Mansion, and the
White House pretended not to notice the irony. [Tweet with video clip] And they
pretended not to notice where the homeless went. So where did they go? The San Jose
Mercury News has at least partially answered the question. It turns out the homeless "people
were just forced to go to the alleys," said Javier Bremond, a human rights organizer with the San
Francisco advocacy group Coalition on Homelessness. "And a lot of people are under the
freeway." An APEC representative from Thailand told the Mercury News he was still shocked at
the number of homeless street addicts that remained after the so-called cleanup.
China
exposes California's moral corruption. California Democrats spent billions over the
past decade on dozens of programs to solve the state's homelessness crisis, only to see more
homeless people on the street than ever. Then, overnight, many of the homeless suddenly
disappeared. Turns out the solution to homelessness, at least in Democratic-controlled San
Francisco, is a simple visit by a genocidal dictator. When China's Xi Jinping meets with
President Joe Biden in the city by the bay, unlike most tourists who visit, he won't see a single
tent. They've all been cleared out. "I know folks are saying, 'Oh, they're just cleaning
up this place because all those fancy leaders are coming to town,'" Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA)
said at a press conference last week. "That's true because it's true." [...] That California
Democrats would be so willing to snap their fingers and clear homeless encampments just to impress
some rich guy would be bad enough. That they are doing it for an authoritarian kleptocrat
like Xi is even worse, especially considering that no one has done more to put more homeless people
on San Francisco's streets than Xi and his fentanyl-exporting minions.
The Editor says...
Where are all the bums now? In a hotel? In a mental hospital? In a FEMA camp?
Homeless people put themselves in jeopardy in several way by living on the street. If they have
cut their ties with all their relatives, and the local government has the sudden need to "relocate" them,
as in the example above, the homeless bums could "disappear" permanently.
We
Now Know What Caused That Devastating LA Freeway Fire. "Bad actors" caused the fire,
according to State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant. Some unknown arsonist is believed to have
started Saturday's blaze, but that's not the "bad actor" to whom Berlant was referring. You
see, the city government leases underpass space to people and companies for storage. In this
case, "bad actors" filled the underpass with wooden pallets and containers of alcohol-based hand
sanitizer. In my report on Monday (and at the top of this story), you can see the pallets
stacked so high under the freeway that they're almost touching the underside of the elevated
road. The photos were courtesy of Google Street View, so it isn't like the towers of literal
kindling were some dark secret. The city is currently in a legal battle with a company called
Airspace that leased the underpass storage area. Let us pause here to consider the
ill-considered wonder of stuffing underpasses full of kindling and flammable goo. Let us
pause again to consider the bone-crushing stupidity of allowing unpoliced homeless encampments
filled with vagrants, addicts, and the mentally ill to cohabitate with pallets and accelerants.
Misguided
environmentalists have made our cities filthy. If you've visited a big city in recent
years, you've probably noticed that the streets are strewn with trash, litter is scattered all over
the sidewalks, the buildings are covered in graffiti, and off-putting smells seem to emanate from
every corner. Take San Francisco for example, which not that long ago was considered one of
the most beautiful cities in America. Today, the Golden City is one of the filthiest, with a
"dirtiness index of 189.03, ranking 9th among the 40 cities included in the report" and a "litter
index of 210.2," which ranks fifth. San Francisco's streets are riddled with garbage,
needles, and human feces. Its sidewalks are overrun with homeless encampments. And its
public spaces, once enjoyed by tourists, have become open-air drug markets in which vagrants can do
as they please.
Bum
encampment fire shuts down major Los Angeles highway artery. [Scroll down]
Ahh, a pallet fire, they said. A storage-area fire, they said. A rent dispute with a
bad tenant... According to the local presses, it was bums camping out under the Santa Monica
freeway with no zoning enforcement whatsoever. Some were said to be stealing
electricity. Others were reportedly using propane tanks for cooking. [Numerous tweets]
But as the press puts it "cause unknown." [...] Sure, there will be an investigation.
California's Gov. Gavin Newsom says it will be quick. But based on what we have seen
elsewhere, if the results are not what they want, it will be an extended investigation, one with no
disclosures owing to the investigation, like the Nashville shooter case. That said, it's
pretty obvious that allowing a bum encampment full of illegal drug users is just a matter of time
before some kind of disaster occurs. And that raises questions about the wisdom of
this. Does a disaster have to occur before they can clear a bum encampment and place drug
addicts either in jail or involuntary rehab until they clean up?
Democrats
Will Clean San Francisco for Dictators but Not Voters. It took a Chinese dictator to
get the city of San Francisco, California, cleaned up after five years of deterioration. The
Democrats who run San Francisco and California finally, Finally, FINALLY cleaned up that city's
filthy streets and removed the dystopian homeless encampments. At long last, San Francisco
has been beautified in a dozen ways. Yes, after some five years of increasingly dangerous
streets littered with dirty needles, feces, trash, and filthy tents, not to mention aggressive
vagrants, drug dealers, the deranged and addicted, the city took action. Why? Because
China's dictator, President Xi Jinping, is coming to town for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) forum. And if anyone still harbors doubts about just how much contempt Democrats hold
for American citizens, watch Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) admit that the arrival of Xi is why they
finally cleaned the city.
Los
Angeles I-10 shut down indefinitely after massive fire. One of the busiest stretches
of interstate in the country is now closed indefinitely in both directions because of a massive
fire in Los Angeles, the city's mayor Karen Bass confirmed Monday. The shuttered section of
I-10 is routinely used by 300,000 daily drivers and its sudden closure has officials raising the
alarm over the impending impact.
The
Great San Fran Cleanup Begins. When we previously learned the details of the 2023
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference (APEC) currently kicking off in San Francisco, I asked
what seemed like an obvious question. San Francisco is a complete mess these days, with
boarded-up buildings and homeless drug addicts littering the sidewalks. Graffiti
abounds. Did anyone plan to clean the downtown area up before thousands of foreign
dignitaries began arriving? It turns out that they did have some plans in place. They
started clearing the paths that the visitors would travel, bringing in additional law enforcement,
and "sweeping" the homeless camps away. This has some of the locals upset, particularly the
aforementioned homeless people.
Los
Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Announces Plan to 'Master Lease' Hotels for Consolidating Homeless
Encampments. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass recently issued an order allowing the use
of residential hotel rooms, typically reserved for low-income, disabled, and elderly residents, as
temporary shelters for the homeless. This move, part of the Inside Safe initiative, aims to
address the city's homelessness crisis by providing immediate shelter, despite potentially
conflicting with a 2008 city law designed to protect these residential units. [...] Legal experts
and housing advocates have expressed concerns about the plan's long-term implications for permanent
housing availability. Despite clearing numerous street encampments and housing over 1,600
people in temporary shelters, the challenge of finding permanent solutions remains significant.
Potemkin
San Francisco sweeps its bums out of sight ahead of China potentate Xi Jinping's APEC
visit. So the City of San Francisco can clean up its act ... when it wants to.
And now that it's going to be hosting luminaries such as China's Xi Jinping, suddenly, the place
isn't a homeless, drug-addicted, shoplifting-plagued, assault-and-robbery dump any more.
Funny how that happens. So they could have cleaned it up all along, but they
didn't — because the only people who were affected by the disaster were mere taxpayers
who lived there, major retailers and restaurants, and ordinary tourists who just wanted to give the
city their money so they could see the place. That was too much to ask. But let China's
Chairman of the Community Party of China, Xi Jinping, with all his communist-regime police-state
security apparat drop by, and all of a sudden, the place has become Potemkin Village II.
Drug
addicts, homeless plaguing San Francisco's downtown miraculously disappear ahead of Biden, Xi
Jinping summit. Drug addicts, dealers and homeless who have plagued San Francisco's
downtown have miraculously disappeared this week as the city cleans up for a huge international
event. Sources tell The Post the homeless have been pushed to other parts of the city in
preparation for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which starts tomorrow and runs
through Nov. 17. However, residents and business owners said city officials' attempts to
"herd" transients and drug addicts is only a "Band-Aid" to a severe problem as drug overdoses
continue to plague the city.
Teachers'
union in California threatens to strike if homeless people can't camp in parking
lots. The Fresno Teachers Association, a union with around 4,000 members, is headed
towards a strike, largely because the superintendent of the Fresno Unified School District, Robert
Nelson, hasn't budged on allowing school parking lots to become homeless camps; as Nelson says, the
proposal isn't within the district's "area of expertise." But according to the president of
the union, Manuel Bonilla, it is; from a new report at The Washington Free Beacon: The Fresno
Teachers Association laid out the policy in a contract proposal, which calls to 'open high school
parking lots to homeless families to park their car.' The union acknowledges the move would require
'paid security' at a cost of at least $500,000, one of many expensive proposals union president
Manuel Bonilla is pursuing in an attempt to address what he calls 'societal things.'
"Families" huh? Are these the same people who called the thousands of military-aged men
pouring across our border "families" too?
San
Francisco Prepares to Clear Homeless Camps after Court Clarifies Definition of 'Involuntarily
Homeless'. San Francisco leaders are preparing to ramp up efforts to clean up and
clear out homeless camps in the city after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals clarified that people
who decline shelter should not be classified as "involuntarily homeless." The clarification
could also be critical for other western cities, which have struggled with the proliferation of
homeless encampments on sidewalks and in public parks in the wake of two Ninth Circuit
rulings — Martin v. City of Boise and Johnson v. City of Grants
Pass — that limited the enforcement of camping bans on people who have nowhere to
go. San Francisco mayor London Breed announced Monday that the clarification provides the
city with a "path forward" to enforce laws against "voluntarily homeless individuals." The
clarification by the Ninth Circuit comes nearly a year after the city was sued by a coalition of
advocates for the homeless who claimed that the city violated state and federal laws, as well as
its own policies on clearing homeless camps and trashing people's belongings.
Sacramento's
homeless problem is one of the nation's worst. Sacramento's homeless problem has
grown worse than ever before. Walk around PRI's offices in Midtown and you'll be greeted by
frustrated individuals with varying degrees of illness or addiction while trying to pass down
grime-filled sidewalks and get around tent encampments. You may not realize it, but
Sacramento's homeless problem is one of the nation's worst. Homeless grew to about 9,300 in
the 2022 Sacramento County point in time homeless count measurement, which was a 67 percent
increase over the 2019 figures. Last year, the number of homeless in Sacramento was found to
be even higher than San Francisco's count. Frustrated residents are expecting action and
strong leadership from city officials to address the problem, but all there seems to be are press
conferences and soundbites. Though the city has enacted ordinances prohibiting camping on
sidewalks, the city isn't really enforcing its own laws.
Historic
LA hotel devolves into housing projects, repairs cost taxpayers more than $11.5
million. Built in 1926, The Mayfair Hotel in downtown Los Angeles was a historical
treasure, a unique marriage between the glamor of Old Hollywood and the elan of the Roaring
Twenties, and then California Democrats got ahold of it. The Mayfair once hosted the first
ever Academy Awards after-party, but now it houses Skid Row. [...] (How could anyone think inviting
drug-addled derelicts into a luxury hotel wouldn't end up this way?) Like
stereotypical crazy bums, the transients housed at the Mayfair "punched through walls," trashed
appliances and bathrooms, smashed windows to throw objects onto the street below, and left
fentanyl-covered tinfoil sheets strewn about. And, in predictable fashion, the idiotic decisions
of the left aren't limited to only affecting leftists, and the havoc spilled out onto the street.
Free
parking for the homeless in CA. Did you know that homeless people enjoy a constitutional
right to free parking? That's the main takeaway from a California Court of Appeals opinion
issued Friday that ruled cities that tow cars with five or more unpaid parking tickets violate the
4th Amendment's prohibition of search and seizure without a warrant. The Coalition on
Homelessness sued the City and County of San Francisco seeking an injunction against towing
scofflaw cars that piled up parking tickets, and the trial court had denied the petition. But
the Court of Appeals reversed, because "appellant [Coalition on Homelessness] presented
declarations regarding the severe impacts of vehicle tows on unhoused San Francisco residents."
Why Homelessness in
California is Worse Than In Other States. If you've wondered why homelessness in
California seems so much worse than in other states, Siyamak Khorrami's interview with El Dorado
County District Attorney Vern Pierson for California Insider provides some answers: [Video clip]
Homeless
continue to take over LA's iconic Venice Beach boardwalk. Homeless encampments are
back in Venice Beach, after nearly 200 people were cleared from the iconic boardwalk last summer.
Almost a year later, footage from the Los Angeles town show dozens of tents back up, and some 120 vagrants
overtaking the beach once again. Residents are now complaining about a renewed stream of garbage
littering the promenade, as well as elaborate processions erected by individuals camping outside.
San
Diego opens first 'safe sleeping site' tents for homeless people after council voted to ban
homeless encampments. San Diego opened its first of two 'safe-sleeping' areas in the
border-city just weeks after the San Diego City Council voted to ban homeless encampments.
Democrat Mayor Todd Gloria announced the plan to open the areas in June as a way to combat the
city's homeless crisis, which has been exacerbated by opioids. San Diego has more than 2,000
individuals living on the streets and in 2019, the Department of Housing and Urban Development
reported that the county had the fourth-highest homeless population in the country.
Homelessness
up 10% in LA despite a flood of money for programs. If LA County's homeless
population were its own city, it would be the 124th largest city in the entire state. Every
year the city does a homeless count designed to help keep track of whether the problem is getting
better or worse. This year, despite a flood of money directly at programs, the news was
pretty bad. ["]Unsheltered homelessness — which refers to people living
outdoors in vehicles, tents and makeshift shelters like propped-up tarps — is up 40%
over the past five years, rising to 55,155 people countywide...["] [...] It's pretty hard to
argue that LA hasn't focused on the problem enough or devoted enough money to dealing with
it. And yet the numbers get worse every year.
Number
of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count. The number
of homeless residents counted in Los Angeles County has spiked again, increasing by 9% since last
year in the latest marker of how deep the crisis is of people sleeping in cars, encampments or
shelters in California. Results released Thursday from a federally required tally conducted
in January found 75,518 people were homeless on any given night across LA County, compared with
69,144 in 2022. About 46,260 were within the city of Los Angeles, where public frustration has
grown as tents have proliferated on sidewalks and in parks.
San
Francisco struggles with spiking crime, rampant homelessness and brazen drug use.
News of Park Hotels & Resorts' plan to surrender ownership of two of San Francisco's largest hotels
is the beginning of what could potentially become a mass exodus of hotels from the city as 30
additional properties are facing massive loans due over the next two years. The company
behind the hotels announced Monday it had stopped making payments on its $725million loan that is
due in November for the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55 hotels. Though Park
Hotels owns the largest and fourth largest hotels in San Francisco, they are by no means the only
hotels suffering and going under as loan repayment date close in.
San
Francisco's doom loop accelerates. The owner of 2 major San Francisco Hotels,
including the city's largest hostelry, has announced that it is walking away from its mortgage on
the two properties, surrendering them to the lender. [...] "Concerns over street conditions" is a
delicate way of describing the takeover of much of downtown SF by drug addicts, currently termed
"the unhoused" as if the main problem were high rents, when in fact the thousands of vagrants
ruining the city are attracted from all over the country by the tolerance and active financial and
social services support they receive. They leave feces and urine on the streets, shooting up
in front of the dwindling crowds of passers-by who have learned to avoid what was not very long ago
one of the most attractive and vibrant cities in the world. The high office vacancy rates,
the lower return of workers to offices, and the reduced convention schedule that trouble Park's
management are all closely related to the takeover of downtown (and other neighborhoods) by bums
and junkies.
Just
how gross was it at that San Francisco Whole Foods? Whole Foods on Monday shut down
its ritzy new flagship store in San Francisco, after just a year in operation, citing crime and
safety concerns. [...]Obviously, the bums were taking over, or, as another commentator noted, Whole
Foods had become "a food bank for the druggies and homeless." Another said it was "never a
good sign to see your grocery store filled with cops and security." Fox News commentator
Geraldo Rivera noted that what went on in that store and throughout the crumbling city amounted to
an utter rejection of civilization. Every now and then, Geraldo gets one right. Who
would want to shop at such a place, particularly for food? When the bums are allowed in
repeatedly, bringing in sanitation issues with them, and can make drug-addled spectacles of
themselves, customers go other places. That's why Whole Foods just shut the place down.
SF
Mayor announced a crack-down on open-air drug markets, but was shouted down and had a brick thrown
at her. The city of San Francisco was having a normal one yesterday. One
observer called it a "circus" and that seems entirely fair given what happened. So the story
here is that San Francisco's rate of violent crime is relatively low for a big city but it's rate
of robberies, shoplifting, car break-ins and drug overdoses (268 people have died so far in 2023)
have all skyrocketed in recent years. Visitors to the city aren't likely to be murdered but
they are likely to trip over a zombified fentanyl addict while someone else is breaking out their
car windows. A lot of people are sick of it.
London
Breed holds presser in SF junkie nest to denounce fentanyl, gets chased out by violent, screaming
mob. Breed's city has been turned into a crime-and-homeless-infested hellhole on her
watch — a feces-strewn open-air drug market in many quarters where junkies, addicts,
criminals, vagrants, and bums all gather together for their drug deals, panhandling, and
shoplifting projects. This particular hellhole, at United Nations Plaza, has always been a
center of mayhem — I remember it as a trash-strewn, urine-soaked, junkie redoubt when I
lived in the city 30 years ago. It hasn't changed any, except that an infusion of city money
to NGOs to "help" the homeless has made it a lot nastier. Anyone who's ever lived in that
city would know that that's not the place you go for a well-heeled press conference announcing all
the new government money you are going to be spending to end crime in the city. You don't go
into a tiger's lair to talk about how you'll be taming the tigers.
Massive
2-Mile Long Homeless Encampment Plagues Posh Marin County, CA. In April, I wrote
about the many dilapidated RVs with homeless people living inside them that plague neighborhoods in
Los Angeles and bring crime and filth to the surrounding streets. I told the story of how one
RV exploded in a fiery ball (powered by propane tanks that were presumably used to make meth)
barely two blocks from my residence. As bad as that situation is, it's nothing compared to
what residents in Marin County, California wake up to each morning — both the NY Post
and the Daily Mail reported Friday on the massive, two-mile-long homeless camp with dozens of RVs
parked alongside Binford Road in the pricey neighborhood of Novato: [...]
San
Francisco's homeless hotels beset by health violations, violence and overdose deaths.
The San Francisco Chronicle investigated the city's efforts to give homeless people housing
in former hotel rooms and found that many of the rooms are often vacant. In some hotels up to
half the rooms are vacant. The Chronicle blames the problem primarily on the mayor's
referral process, but the story itself suggests significant problems with the tenants and with the
nonprofits the city pays to keep the buildings maintained.
San
Fran drops charges against crowbar attacker. Earlier this month, former San Francisco
Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani was attacked by a homeless person with a crowbar. The
attacker, Garrett Doty, was one of a group of vagrants who had been blocking Carmignani's mother's
driveway and acting in a threatening fashion. The attack sent the former fire chief to the
hospital for emergency surgery with a hole in the back of his skull. He also had a broken jaw
and required fifty stitches. This looked like a fairly open-and-shut case, but last night the
San Fran District Attorney's office suddenly dropped the charges against Doty and dismissed the
case. How is this happening in a major American city?
How
bad has it gotten in San Fran? This bad. San Francisco is only one of many
once-beautiful cities that have gone to hell in a handbasket after years of supermajority
Democratic rule and soft-on-crime policies. This largely explains the number of people
fleeing the Bay area, leading to the lowest population seen there in more than a decade. But
while homelessness and crime in general are making the city unlivable for many, one area where they
are really being hit revolves around the ongoing fentanyl crisis. It seems like the drug is
everywhere at this point and people are literally dropping dead in the streets. In response,
Governor Gavin Newsom has resorted to something he previously refused to do. He's sending in
the National Guard to help shut down the flow of the deadly drug.
Just
how gross was it at that San Francisco Whole Foods? Whole Foods on Monday shut down
its ritzy new flagship store in San Francisco, after just a year in operation, citing crime and
safety concerns. I wrote about that astonishing event yesterday, brought on by the city's
failure to enforce its own laws, noting that the company had a good customer base and had shelled
out big to make the place attractive, but that was no match for the chaos the one-party government
had allowed the area to fall into. [...] Obviously, the bums were taking over, or, as another
commentator noted, Whole Foods had become "a food bank for the druggies and homeless."
Another said it was "never a good sign to see your grocery store filled with cops and
security.["] Fox News commentator Gerald[o] Rivera noted that what went on in that store and
throughout the crumbling city amounted to an utter rejection of civilization.
Downtown
S.F. on the brink: It's worse than it looks. The downtown area, the city's primary
economic driver, is teetering on the edge, facing challenges greater than previously known, new
data shows. The wounds suffered by the economic core are deep, and city officials have yet to
come up with a plan to make the fundamental changes that some economists and business leaders argue
could make the area thrive again. "A general economic decline is what we're trying to avoid,"
said Wade Rose, president of Advance SF, a business group that advocates on behalf of several major
employers in San Francisco. The group is working with the city on short-term ideas to bring
more people back downtown, but Rose agrees that the problem needs a rethink in the long run.
San
Francisco, RIP? [S]omething like three-quarters of San Franciscans who deserted the
city during covid have not returned. The same phenomenon has been observed in cities like
Portland and Minneapolis, while other cities, like Salt Lake City, have rapidly bounced back.
But Salt Lake City is not run by liberal goofballs. [...] When you go downtown and you don't feel
safe and you see people "using the street as a toilet," you stop going downtown. There is
nothing mysterious about this.
Downtown
San Diego condo owners grow weary as homeless incidents escalate. As he pushed the
stroller with his two young children up Ninth Avenue during his mid-day walk in downtown San Diego,
Jarvis Leverson stopped at the intersection of F Street. "This is where I have to divert my
route," he said. "I can go that way," gesturing his head in one direction, "or that way."
Across the street, the sidewalk was crammed with tents and makeshift canvas shelters erected by the
homeless people who have lived there for weeks, even months. Discarded cartons of food and
piles of trash were scattered outside the tents, in the gutter and on the street. Leverson
opted to avoid Ninth Avenue and turned left on F Street, then took a right on Eighth Avenue.
Once again, he found the sidewalk impassable, and he rolled the stroller onto the street to avoid
tents and people. It's a daily occurrence for Leverson, who lives in the Parkloft
condominiums on Island Avenue.
Have
you heard about the proposed $1.7 million toilet in San Francisco? We know that San
Francisco has been the open defecation capital of the U.S. for more than a decade. This
once-fine city has been ruined by the misgovernance of the Democrats. In other words, all
progress has been ruined by 'progressive' politics. One of the solutions to this crisis which
causes the surroundings to be unhygienic and unsafe for walking is to build public toilets that are
freely accessible. This is exactly what the powers that be in San Francisco set forth to do.
Have
you heard about the proposed $1.7 million toilet in San Francisco? We know that San Francisco has been the
open defecation capital of the U.S. for more than a decade. This once-fine city has been ruined by the
misgovernance of the Democrats. In other words, all progress has been ruined by 'progressive' politics. One
of the solutions to this crisis which causes the surroundings to be unhygienic and unsafe for walking is to build public
toilets that are freely accessible. This is exactly what the powers that be in San Francisco set forth to do.
Biden
installed: What could possibly go wrong? Crime is up all over the nation because the left is
pro-criminal. Criminals are coddled, and turned loose to prey on citizens again. Los Angeles district
attorney is a case in point: George Gascón never met a violent criminal he didn't want to set free.
Downtown LA is no longer safe to enjoy, nor is it the thriving hub of culture it once was; it has been taken over by the
homeless population (as has San Francisco). The homeless, a population almost entirely mentally ill and/or drug
addicted, are often a danger to those who cross their paths. They need psychiatric care, but in California they
get syringes. They're left to taunt the public, to defecate on the streets, and ruin the cities they inhabit.
Like so many other Democrat-run hellscapes, LA and SF are unlikely to recover without a political shift.
Tensions
flare as crews dismantle several homeless encampments on Skid Row. Tensions flared Monday morning as crews
dismantled several homeless encampments on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles while police officers stood guard.
Video from AIR7 HD showed a dump truck's crane grabbing one encampment's canopy tent, which had apparently been
constructed with a raised floor and walls. All of the debris was then hoisted into the truck and hauled
away. That sparked an angry reaction from some bystanders, who stood behind yellow police tape at the intersection
of Fifth and San Pedro streets.
EV
skid row! How LA's 'Electric Avenue' has become overrun with homeless. A conservative commentator
has warned electric vehicle drivers in Los Angeles that charging stations for their $60,000 cars are littered with
homeless encampments. Alexandra Datig shared a video of her driving in downtown LA on Wednesday, with one of the
local Blink EV charging stations surrounded by trash and tents. 'When you live in Los Angeles, it's better to have a
charging station at home for that $60,000 EV,' Datig wrote on Twitter.
Santa
Monica becomes unliveable. Seems the bums, who are normally always present in the city, have gotten a
strengthened entitlement mentality and are now aggressively going after shops, customers, foot traffic, and anyone in
their vicinity. Pay them money for drugs, or they'll cut you. [...] Apparently, no one can go out at
night. Daytime is probably O.K., provided you avoid the panhandlers and passed-out bums, but at night, the city
turns into an obstacle course to avoid assaults and killings. It's got a crime rate now like Compton's.
Federal
judge blocks San Francisco from clearing homeless camps. I've written about the Boise decision before but
it has been a while. Back in 2018 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in a case called Martin v
Boise. The judges concluded that laws punishing homeless behavior, such as sleeping on sidewalks, was a violation
of the 8th Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment unless the city could provide an alternative.
[...] San Francisco has been trying to clean up its streets after years complaints from residents and businesses but the
city was sued by the ACLU over the sweeps back in September.
24 Hours in Nancy Pelosi's District Will
Kill You - This is NOT America. Democrat rule has destroyed California. We travelled to the district
of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, to see what life is like for her constituents. What we found not only
shocked us, but put our own lives in danger. [Video clip]
America's
Growing Political Impotence. [Scroll down] Then there are the homeless encampments that now
plague urban landscapes. Especially in California, they are virtually small cities filled with the mentally ill
who exhibit little respect for public decency or elementary hygiene. Rat-attracting garbage is everywhere and
streets are used as public toilets. These homeless destroy local businesses and turn neighborhoods into "no-go"
zones. In San Francisco, luxury downtown hotels have removed all lobby furniture for fear of being overrun by
squatters. LA recently counted some 42,000 homeless residents. Of the utmost importance, cities blithely
ignore residents' demands calling for their removal. Instead cities try to cure the problem by even greater
spending on everything from substance abuse programs to job training, which, unsurprisingly, only seems to exacerbate
the problem.
California
could end homelessness by 2035 with $8.1B per year, report says. Over the past two weeks, officials in the
city and county of Los Angeles have taken actions to address the region's homelessness crisis, from L.A. Mayor Karen
Bass declaring a state of emergency on homelessness to the county Board of Supervisors voting Tuesday, Dec. 20, to
partner with the city in its efforts. Now, a report out this week is drawing attention to the role the state can
play in getting people off the streets. The state could end homelessness in California by 2035 if it invested
$8.1 billion annually in each of the next 12 years — $6.9 billion more than its current average
annual investment — to pay for housing and support services for those facing homelessness, according to the report.
The Editor says...
Ri-i-i-ight. And for only a few billion more per year, California could eliminate all poverty, hunger,
ignorance, disease, prejudice, confusion, addiction, crime, obesity, poor TV reception, laziness, and bad weather.
A
year after opening in Los Angeles, a 600-room hotel for the homeless is still mostly empty: Report. Amajor
homeless housing project in Los Angeles is reportedly struggling to attract tenants a year after it opened, according to
media reports. The Cecil Hotel, built in 1924 and long known for its proximity to Los Angeles's notorious Skid Row
district, was debuted in December of 2021 as a re-imagined housing complex for homeless city residents. Yet
"two-thirds of the Cecil remains unoccupied" after a year, according to the Los Angeles Times, with roughly 400 rooms
sitting vacant there. The Times claimed the project was beset with "a slow-moving bureaucracy and multiple failure
points." The Cecil is "one of the few affordable housing projects in Los Angeles of [its] size that is fully
privately financed."
The Wasteland
of Leftist Compassion. Compassion is one of the greatest of human virtues. But effective compassion
comes with an obligation to do more than what merely feels and sounds good. [...] In many cases, the consequences of
unbalanced compassion are obvious, as anyone can see if they visit the coastal cities of California. It was
compassion that motivated state legislators to decriminalize hard drug addiction, now dubbed "substance use
disorder." Compassion was the moral justification to empty California's prisons and downgrade property and drug
crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. Compassion compelled politicians and judges to rewrite laws that kept
mentally ill people safely off the streets. Compassion was the bludgeon that beat down objections to the
disastrous "housing first" rule, which denies funding for drug treatment or job training until free housing —
with no conditions for entry — are provided to homeless people. And "compassion" pressured local and
state authorities to forego inexpensive shelters in favor of more "equitable" apartment complexes, brand new and located
in expensive neighborhoods, at a cost of over $500,000 per unit. None of this is compassionate, of course.
This
is what it takes for Los Angeles to clear a homeless encampment. For a while during the runup to the
elections last month, it looked as if former Republican real estate developer Rick Caruso might pull off a miracle and
defeat Democratic Congresswoman Karen Bass to become the next Mayor of Los Angeles. In the end, Bass squeaked out
a six-point victory and will be inaugurated as the first female Mayor in the city's history. Out on the campaign
trail, Bass made a point of repeatedly promising to tackle the city's endemic homelessness crisis. Not
coincidentally, a large group of homeless people have been living in an encampment that activists set up right next to
City Hall earlier this year, trying to draw the attention of the Mayor and the City Council to the problem. That
wouldn't make for very good visuals for the new Mayor's inauguration, however, so the city leaped into action by packing
them all up in buses on Thursday and shipping them elsewhere.
San
Francisco's Tenderloin Center closes - did it do any good? Earlier this year San Francisco declared a
state of emergency in the Tenderloin district. Part of that effort involved the creation of a new "linkage center"
so named because it was intended to link the homeless and drug addicts on the streets to needed services: [...] Shortly
after it was set up, Michael Shellenberger wrote that the Linkage Center had become the city's leading open-air drug
market: [...] The center's last day was Sunday. So did it accomplish anything? The San Francisco Chronicle
reports the answer is that it was a mixed bag at best. It may have helped a few hundred homeless people get
through the day but there's not much evidence it had an impact on homelessness overall.
San
Francisco Hotels Demand City Compensate for Damage by Homeless. San Francisco hotels are demanding
millions of dollars from the city to compensate them for damage incurred while housing the homeless under a municipal
government program launched during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the program, known as "Shelter-in-Place" (SIP),
hotels were used to move homeless people off the streets for fear of spreading the coronavirus in tent cities.
Ironically, as COVID became better understood, officials began recommending against clearing homeless encampments,
because the virus spread less easily outdoors. However, the practice of housing the homeless in hotels was
embraced by Democratic officials in state and local government, though it was expensive, as a temporary way of tackling
an ongoing homeless crisis.
San
Francisco Flushing $1.7M to Construct One Public Toilet. The City by the Bay is not known for being
well-run or fiscally responsible. Homelessness, a drug overdose crisis, spiking crime, and ample sidewalk fecal
matter have made it a punchline of what leftist "utopias" actually end up becoming in practice when radical Democrat
policies are implemented. Now, San Francisco is working on trying to address one issue by constructing a public
toilet — that will apparently cost $1.7 million and won't be finished until 2025. Even more comically,
California state Assemblyman Matt Haney was set to celebrate the boondoggle with a press conference, but he was forced
to cancel his potty party after public backlash. The million-plus dollar price tag is being covered by state funds
secured by Haney collected from Golden State taxpayers in order to build, unbelievably, "just one toilet in 150 square
feet of space," according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
Bill
Walton calls out Mayor Todd Gloria for allowing the homeless to destroy San Diego. As we all know, San
Diego's homeless crisis is only getting worse under the leadership of Mayor Todd Gloria, who continues to pretend like
he is working to fix the issue. But all his efforts have failed. In downtown San Diego alone, there is a
record high 1,609 homeless residents. Back in July 2022, KUSI reported that there was a record number of deaths in
our homeless population, and literally nothing has been done.
The Sovietization
of American Life. Everyone knows that the status of our homeless population in Los Angeles or San Francisco is
medieval, dangerous, and unhealthy. And everyone knows that any serious attempt to remedy the situation would cause one
to be labeled an apostate, counterrevolutionary, and enemy of the people.
You
Pay Super-High Taxes. You Deserve Nice Things. Why Don't You Demand Them? We Californians pay more
for taxes than anyone else in America. We have a nearly $100 billion surplus. And yet we have the worst public
services. Just take crime and homelessness. You can't walk safely through many neighborhoods in our largest
cities. Street addicts feel entitled to sleep, smoke meth, and terrorize passengers on mass transit and public
parks. And despite spending more on homelessness and mental health, per capita, than any other state, homelessness
increased 31% in California and declined 18% in the rest of the U.S., over the last ten years.
The
number of homeless people dying on the streets of LA is going up. The NY Times published a story today
[4/18/2022] about the rising number of homeless people who are dying on the streets. In a county as large and populous
as Los Angeles, there was an average of five deaths per day last year. Some of this death toll is connected to the
surge of fentanyl as a cheap street drug. [...] The death toll is particularly high in California where an estimated 4,800
homeless people died on the street last year. Almost every conceivable cause of death is much more likely for people on
the street.
California's
big cities are shrinking. Last year the state of California announced its first population decline in state
history. Yesterday, newly published census data showed there have been significant population declines in major US
cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco. [...] There was some additional data last December which showed it's not
just that people are leaving California. It's also that fewer people are moving here. The timing of all of this,
July 2020 to July 2021, is clearly timed to the pandemic.
People
In California Libraries Aren't Safe From the Homeless. Police in Anaheim are looking for a man they say
attacked a library employee unprovoked. The incident happened at the Anaheim Central Library back on March 3. According
to police, around 6:15 p.m. a male employee was approached by another man, and shoved to the ground. Police say the
employee fell back and hit his head on the tile floor, causing him to cut his head and even lose consciousness. He was
transported to a local hospital. [Video clip]
Free
stuff for the homeless doesn't work out the way Oakland's 'tiny houses' advocates thought it would. Seems the
idea of "free homes" for the homeless, touted as a panacea to end the problem, isn't quite working out the way its advocates
said it would. In Oakland, at a concentrated community of "tiny homes," given out by the city to the homeless, the
result was this, according to The Oaklandside: ["]A fire Monday morning incinerated three tiny-home shelters at a
city-run transitional-housing site at E. 12th Street and 2nd Avenue, across from Lake Merritt. Nobody was injured,
according to authorities, but five people who were living in the scorched shelters were displaced. A fourth tiny-home
was damaged as well.["] [...] The press accounts state that the buildings, which were built cheaply as a sort of
transitional housing for the homeless, were in themselves a fire hazard, flaming up fast when someone inside one does
something dangerous enough to start a house fire. And it didn't take too long for this to happen, given that the
encampment was just opened last December. Some activists blamed the proximity of the homes to one another. Others
blamed the fact that the buildings were not sufficiently fireproof.
Los
Angeles is Spending Up To $837,000 for [Each] Housing Unit for the Homeless. In 2016, voters in California
approved a $1.2 billion program to build housing for the homeless. [...] Californians should be applauded for their
compassion and generosity. But six years later, only 1,200 units have been built out of the 10,300 that have been paid
for. One project under development would cost $837,000 for each housing unit, according to a report published by Los
Angeles city controller Ron Galperin. Another 14% of units exceeded $700,000 in cost.
Among the homeless in San
Francisco, the "vast majority" are homeless due to addiction. [Thread reader] People say high rent causes
homelessness but Ben, who has been homeless in San Francisco for 7 years, says the "vast majority" are homeless due to
addiction. Just 6-7% are from SF. Ben says he "boosts" (shoplifts) and breaks into cars to pay for his $60/day heroin
habit. [...] Ben's is a common story from honest homeless. Not everybody on the street is as honest. Many naive
liberal journalists are hoodwinked by people who tell them what they want to hear, ie, that they're just down on their luck,
can't afford the rent, that it's not about the drugs etc[.] We should do what they do in Netherlands and Portugal, where
homeless are required to stay in shelters and arrested for using drugs publicly, as the head of Portugal's program explains:
[...]
San
Francisco residents are being asked to house a homeless person in their own homes. Homelessness in the Bay Area
has become such a problem people are being urged to give their spare rooms over to the homeless. Some charities have
urged local families — who are sick of seeing the homeless crisis on their doorsteps — to do something
about it personally by taking unhoused people into their own homes and spare rooms — and some schemes have little
to no compensation. Christi Carpenter, executive director of East Bay nonprofit Safe Time, which places homeless
families and college students in spare bedrooms, for one-six months, told Mercury News: "This is something that someone
can do when they just feel that despair of '[...], I just can't stand seeing these poor people on the streets near my home.'"
Since 2017, the group has made more than 60 placements.
The Editor says...
[#1] The group has made 60 "placements" in the last five years. That's one per month. With hundreds of homeless
people in the streets, that's not a solution. [#2] Bleeding heart liberals apparently don't know the adage, "Give them
an inch and they'll take a mile." It's far better to leave the homeless bum out on the sidewalk, rather than invite him to
live in the spare bedroom, because (aside from the mess he makes in the first 30 minutes) sooner or later he will either steal
everything in the house to pay for drugs, or he will burn down the house while smoking crack, or he will someday claim partial
ownership of the house. The homeless guy is probably homeless because of his history of faulty decisions. He will
almost certainly refuse to listen to constructive criticism or sound advice. Use your head. [#3] If enough people
sign up for this program, it will result in a condition in which the rest of the citizens won't be able to refuse to participate.
Much like the way cell phones, when they became ubiquitous, led to the extinction of coin-operated telephones.
Or the way debit cards are displacing cash. Eventually, the overwhelming majority rules, and everyone else must play along.
San
Francisco's open air drug market proves [the] city's woke effort to connect homeless addicts to rehab is not
working. A new 'linkage center' aimed at connecting homeless street addicts with drug rehab facilities opened
in San Francisco last week — but distressing images show an open air illicit drug consumption site that is now littered with
needles and crowded with addicts shooting up in broad daylight. Images taken by DailyMail.com show a woman slumped over
in a wheelchair, her pants down around her ankles, preparing to inject a needle into her thigh. The woman sitting on
the ground next to her has a needle to her neck. Many others are sitting on the ground among trash, empty food
containers and dirty blankets, as they fumble in with drug paraphernalia in the cold weather.
L.A.
City Council Okays 'Affordable Housing' Project on Edge of Pricey Venice Beach Neighborhood. Homeless and
people with low incomes will soon be housed next to the iconic and expensive Venice Beach neighborhood after the Los Angeles
City Council approved last week a 136-unit apartment building. The project, which will be built on city property that
is now a parking lot, will cover 2.7 acres and the Venice Dell Community project will cost $75 million.
LA
residents say homelessness crisis is city's biggest problem. Los Angeles residents say the city's homelessness
crisis is the biggest problem it currently faces, with many saying they feel unsafe as a result — and that they're now
considering moving. A whopping 94 percent of people living in the City of Angels say homelessness is a serious or very
serious problem. It was the biggest concern among residents polled, ahead of housing affordability, or traffic, air
quality and climate change.
Residents
in Los Angeles have to deal with violent Homeless Daily, Here's an Example. Lifelong residents of California
are fleeing for red states in droves because of what you see in this video. The homeless epidemic has reached levels
unseen in this country since the great depression. While the media continues to claim inflation isn't hurting people
and is actually a good thing (New York Times article) the truth is millions are losing their jobs and ending up homeless
since Biden took over. This video shows just a single example of how bad the homeless are to live around. Once
prosperous areas now look like third world nations. Los Angeles could be considered the capitol of the desperate.
[Video clip]
Terrified
residents of luxury San Fran condo building see an adjoining alleyway become city's biggest homeless encampment.
Residents of a San Francisco condo building where units sell for $1 million say they're living in fear after an adjoining
alleyway became the city's biggest homeless encampment. The massive tent city — occupied by a feces-hurling man
and an assortment of other untoward characters — is paces away from The Artani, an eight-story Van Ness Avenue complex
where residents say they're being spooked by a growing number of vagrant neighbors. Condo resident Amber Lusko said the
encampment, exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, has drawn rats, thieves, and mentally unstable adults who are turning their
neighborhood into a state of bedlam.
Los
Angeles railroad lined with homeless encampments sees rash of cargo container burglaries. The backlog of cargo
containers making their way from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach saw widespread burglaries as they were carried on
trains through an area of tracks lined by homeless encampments. Thousands of boxes were seen laying near the train
tracks "as far as the eye could see" in Los Angeles' Lincoln Park, NBC4 reported. A FedEx container and several others
had their doors wide open and boxes tipping over. The area is lined by homeless encampments on either side of the
tracks. The outlet also spotted two men jumping off of a moving train and carrying what appeared to be bolt cutters.
Los
Angeles bans homeless encampments in 54 spots across city. The city of Los Angeles outlawed homeless encampments
Wednesday at 54 locations across the city. The Los Angeles City Council voted 12-2 to ban the actions of sleeping, sitting,
or lying at the specified spots throughout three city districts. The measure also outlaws homeless camps within 500 feet
of schools, parks, libraries, and daycare facilities. The homeless in the restricted areas will be given notice at least
14 days prior to their removal with signs, and "outreach teams will continue to engage anyone remaining on the site," the
Los Angeles Times reported. Placing the signs at the 54 approved locations will cost the city roughly $2 million.
Homelessness has risen to a severe problem in Los Angeles throughout the pandemic, analysis shows. Some officials in the
city say the ordinance is akin to violence against the homeless.
The
Democrats War on Blacks Keeps Growing in the Pandemic. Readers will — excuse the
redundancy — recall that one made two votes in that election, the first deciding whether to recall
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the second for whom to replace him if recalled. [Larry] Elder won the latter in a
landslide. But just who were the people (along with the predictable corruption) who blocked his way from the governor's
office by voting to preserve Newsom? I submit that many of them were what we used to call "limousine liberals" and
might today be called "Tesla-crats." They are the rich, often mega-rich, almost always white, people who drive by the
myriad horrific homeless encampments of California, trying not to look, as they head for the next trendy restaurant or their
magnificent home. And what is the largest group on a percentage basis in those homeless encampments? Well, I'm
sure I don't have to tell you that it's blacks.
Family
of 5 allegedly attacked by two homeless people with machete in Malibu; dad loses eye. An argument between a dad
and two homeless people on a beach in Malibu took an extremely violent turn over the weekend, ending with the father losing
an eye. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department responded to a call on Dan Blocker Beach on Sunday. Deputies
were told a man was with four family members when they were approached by two suspects, both believed to be homeless.
The two homeless people confronted the dad, saying they were not allowed in the area, sparking an argument between the three
people. One of the suspects, later identified as Richard Franck, whipped out a machete and began slashing the dad
multiple times.
The Reason
They're Letting Fentanyl Kill Kids Is Because They Think Drug Dealers Are The Real Victims. Tomorrow at 2 pm, I
will join a Livermore, California mother named Jacqui Berlinn in a protest against dangerous drug dealers who may end up
killing her son. They could kill him indirectly, by selling him fentanyl, or directly, as a consequence of his failing
to pay them. Twice already he has been stabbed, and nearly died. Our first two protests were in San Francisco and
Venice Beach and this time we will protest in Sacramento. Parents whose kids were killed by fentanyl will join
her. One of them, Jaime Puerta, lost his 16 year-old son, Daniel, to fentanyl poisoning in April last year.
Daniel took a pill he thought was a prescription opioid. When the parents come together, it is powerful. Our
Venice Beach protest helped motivate the L.A. City Council voting to shut down the open drug scene and homeless
encampments. Just putting homeless people in hotel rooms is only a temporary fix that won't last. But our protest
proved that we can force the politicians to act.
Woman
sues LA after she was hit by car and suffered brain injury when she was forced to step into busy Hollywood street because of
homeless encampment on sidewalk. A Los Angeles woman struck by a car after being forced to step into a busy
street because a homeless encampment blocked the sidewalk has slapped the city, county and state with a lawsuit. Debra
Todd, 64, was hit by a Nissan at the 101 Freeway overpass on Gower Street in Hollywood on Oct. 4, 2020, while attempting to
deliver food and water to individuals living at the freeway encampment. She sustained injuries to her head, hip, back,
arm and leg, according to the lawsuit filed Monday at the Los Angeles Superior Court.
After
Years Of Mad Max Violence On Venice Beach, Police With AR-15s Clear Out The Homeless. Venice Beach has gone
viral again amid its surge in homelessness. A TikTok video shared widely across social media on Tuesday shows Los
Angeles Police Department officers with assault rifles detaining a group of homeless people after responding to reports of a
man with a gun at Venice Beach. [Video clip]
Venice
Beach Has Devloved To The Point It Resembles A Scene Out Of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Watch as this
group of mentally deranged homeless men go at each other while sane people try to pretend nothing is out of the ordinary on
Venice Beach. Venice Beach has been occupied and destroyed by massive homeless encampments for years now and no one
seems to really tackle the issue. [Video clip]
Venice Beach Doesn't Have
a Homelessness Crisis. Last weekend, the New York Times Magazine ran an article on homelessness in Los
Angeles. [...] The article zeroes in on Venice Beach, part of the Venice area of Los Angeles. Venice Beach is a
once-gritty area that's now "gentrified." Except: it wasn't that gritty. Twenty-five years ago, Lowe reports, the going
rate for a house was $300,000. In 1996, the median home price in the U.S. was $112,000. If Venice Beach was ever the
itinerant artist's paradise that nostalgists depict it as, that was a long time ago. Today, the same house in Venice
Beach goes for $2 million — a sign that its residents ought to consider some well-planned construction so that
theirs doesn't become a stagnant community. In any case, though, such new housing won't fix the homeless crisis.
Nowhere in her 6,000-word article does Lowe find an example of the archetypal homeless person of casual understanding: a
down-on-his luck, working-class man or woman who had a house in Venice Beach — whether rented or owned —
and lost it after getting fired, having a spouse die, or suffering a disability or illness. That's not to say that such
cases don't exist, but they're certainly not the norm for the hundreds of people who have pitched tents and cardboard boxes or
built plywood shanties along the beach, boardwalk, and sidewalks.
Gavin
Newsom invites world's homeless to California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged to house and feed the
world's homeless population this week during a whirlwind "Comeback California" tour that is designed to stave off a September
recall by angry voters. The Golden State is already cracking under the weight of the nation's largest homeless
population and one of the worst economic climates post-COVID-19. With millions of middle-class residents and business owners
fleeing to red states, those left behind have seen a burgeoning lower class emerge. Gasoline is pushing $5 a gallon,
18 million homeless pack into all the blue cities, and dilapidated freeways are strewn with trash.
$20,000
trash cans? S.F. looks to roll out costly prototypes for pilot on street corners. San Francisco elected
officials struggling to deal with complaints about garbage piling up on the city's sidewalks and streets have been waiting
three years for a solution — only to get sticker shock when they heard the details this week. Addressing the
problem requires a good trash can, but on Wednesday, a committee of the Board of Supervisors wrestled with how to replace
many substandard bins when it learned that a batch of new, custom-made design prototypes will cost $12,000 to $20,000
apiece. When mass-produced, the cost per can will drop to an estimated $2,000 to $3,000. Still, supervisors balked
at the price to get there. Supervisor Matt Haney said: "$20,000 a can is ridiculous." Yet San Francisco's garbage
wars are serious business.
Priorities:
San Francisco Prepares to Blow $300,000 on Designer Trash Cans, as Homeless Crisis Worsens. Not surprisingly,
homelessness and crime are up big time in Democrat-run cities across the country, including in San Francisco, where criminals
have been caught on video brazenly stealing from drugstores in the middle of the day in plain view of other customers and
even security guards in some instances. In some cases, violent crimes that were reported to police were found to have
been committed by a homeless person. It's gotten so bad in the city that a recent poll showed close to 40% of San
Franciscans were making plans to relocate in the near future out of frustration. With all of that in mind, you'd think
the city would make good use of its resources by coming up with creative ways to combat the two issues that have become the
most concerning to its residents. Unfortunately, that's not what's happening. According to the San Francisco
Chronicle, the city is prepared to blow $300,000 on fancy prototype trash cans (up to $20k each for 15 of them) because
people weren't crazy about the existing green ones.
Furious
Venice Beach residents say enough is enough as the homeless continue to swarm the boardwalk. Less than a week
after a massive clean-up of homeless encampments on the Venice Beach Boardwalk, new arrivals continue to swarm the area,
DailyMail.com can reveal. City officials promised they would return at the end of July to finish the job, but residents
and shop owners say enough is enough, and tell DailyMail.com that last week's sweep was 'all for show'. Last week, a
concerned resident who asked not to be identified captured a couple on video taking up camp near the popular boardwalk. 'You
can clearly see a man and a woman unloading their car at about 7 pm,' they said. 'The car had an Arkansas license plate,
and they just went about their business, lugging their belongings and setting up a tent on the sand like it was no big deal.'
Does this mean other states can ship their vagrants to California? Newsom:
Out-of-state homeless welcome to 'new beginnings' in California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he's not worried about
a bill meant to combat homelessness exacerbating the problem because the state embraces everyone looking for "new beginnings." The
Democrat made the comment when asked about the possible unintended consequences of signing the $12 billion AB-140 housing bill.
Officials are required to "develop a framework for the California Dream For All Program, the goals of which would ... [make] home[ ]ownership
more affordable." "To the extent that people want to come here for new beginnings and all income levels, that's part of the California
dream and we have a responsibility to accommodate and enliven and inspire, and the California dream is still alive and well," Mr. Newsom
said Monday [7/19/2021] when asked if the Golden State — mired in a homeless crisis — might become a magnet for
similar out-of-state populations.
Amid
homeless crisis, California cities shell out huge sums for municipal tent encampments. Numerous U.S. cities
facing crisis levels of homelessness are shelling out millions of dollars to house local homeless populations in tent
encampments, with per-tent costs in some cases rivaling the average monthly rent of the cities in question. In a
targeted response to homeless issues confronting the Los Angeles neighborhood of East Hollywood, city officials set aside a
large parking lot with room for dozens of tents, which the city dubbed a "Safe Sleep Village." Residents there are reportedly
given access to food, restrooms and showers, and services such as counseling. That project has raised eyebrows for its
reported price tag: A little over $2,100 per person per month, or very nearly the average cost to rent an apartment in
Los Angeles.
San
Francisco is paying $60,000 Per Tent for a homeless encampment and now city officials want an additional $20
million. San Francisco's homelessness department is seeking $20 million in additional funding to extend an
encampment program that already funds tents that cost over $60,000 a year. This week, officials from San Francisco's
Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing went before the the Board of Supervisors' Budget and Appropriations
Committee and requested $20 million over the next two years to keep six 'Safe Sleeping Village' tent encampments
running. The city's six encampment sites provide tents for the homeless as well as three meals a day, around-the-clock
security and bathrooms and showers, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The Editor says...
The most obvious difference between a mental hospital and a homeless camp with "three meals a day, around-the-clock security and bathrooms and
showers," is that the homeless camp is outdoors. Wouldn't everybody be better off if the homeless were put inside a nice big building?
Permanently?
Los
Angeles Sheriff Urges State of Emergency on Homelessness. In an unusual move, Los Angeles Sheriff Alex
Villanueva has sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors urging them to declare a local state of emergency to address the
spiraling homelessness crisis in the county, citing an increase in crime, lack of sanitation, and struggling
businesses. "We've been inundated with calls, with concerns, with images from the news, from people picking up the
phone, emailing, sending us letters, about what's going on in Venice," Villanueva told reporters during a press conference inside
the Justice Hall on June 23. "And that is a microcosm of what's going on throughout the entire county of Los Angeles."
"Enough is enough, we need to kick this into high gear," he said. There's an estimated 200 homeless people on the Venice Beach
Boardwalk and 2,000 throughout the neighborhood, making it the second largest concentration of homeless people after Skid Row in
downtown Los Angeles.
Bug infestations,
tent-lined streets: California's homelessness crisis is at a tipping point. Tent-lined streets with
belongings scattered everywhere. Infected wounds with bugs living inside. A man who hasn't showered in over a
decade. An 80-year-old woman who can't feed herself. People who ride the metro rail lines because the trains are
a safer place to sleep. California's homeless problem has been out of control for decades. Then came COVID-19.
The result has been a deadly combination of medical crisis, human hopelessness and bureaucratic red tape as the state,
reeling from the effects of the virus, tries to rebound with a plan for the 160,000 homeless people. That number
eclipses any other state — and accounts for half of the country's entire unsheltered population.
The Editor says...
California's homeless population was already out of control before anybody heard of Covid-19.
The
Tragic Demise of Venice Beach. [Scroll down] During a recent trip to Venice, [LA County Sheriff Alex]
Villanueva said the tents need to be cleared by Independence Day, after reports of crime, arson, and filth went unaddressed
for months. He blames elected leaders for not handling the issue. "When I was out there in Venice, I talked to a
shop owner, and he was fit to be tied," Villanueva told The Epoch Times. "He's tired of politicians, tired of people in
the city doing nothing. And it's impacting his ability for customers to come in, [with] the cost of people trying to
break into his business and people causing scenes, fights, [and] outside fires. It's like a third-world country."
But not all locals approve of the sweep. Some activists quickly criticized the move on social media. "Why is this
@LASDHQ dressed like this to do outreach? Why do they have guns?" the People's City Council asked on Twitter. For some
residents, the uptick in recent violent attacks by the homeless on workers, residents, and the elderly are justification enough.
San
Francisco Shows Leftist Policies Can't Solve Homelessness. San Francisco is coming undone. In recent
years, the city has manifested a series of visible and persistent inequalities, with a spoils-to-the-victor world for its
technological elite and a chaotic, brutalized world for its dispossessed. In the city's Tenderloin district, men openly
hawk drugs on the street corners, desperate addicts are crumpled across the sidewalks, and first responders dart through the
chaos to revive overdose victims. The city has become a web of contradictions. There are thousands of new
millionaires and, by the latest estimates, 18,000 people in and out of homelessness. The headquarters of Uber, Twitter,
and Square are blocks away from the open-air drug markets of the Tenderloin, Mid-Market, and SoMa. Wealthy families
attending an art opening at the Civic Center have to cross through the tent encampments that line the sidewalks.
Recall
Builds Against Mike Bonin as L.A. Residents Reject Plan to House Homeless Near Beach. Los Angeles residents are
signing petitions for the recall of city council member Mike Bonin, as public outrage against his efforts to house the city's
homeless at the beach continues to grow. The Los Angeles Times reported this weekend on the deteriorating
conditions near Venice Beach, which has always attracted eccentric people but has become so unlivable that residents are
afraid to walk there or even to look at what is happening in tent cities on their doorstep.
Why
is Hunter Biden moving from his $25,000 a month Venice digs? In a pretty intriguing development, Joe Biden's
son, Hunter, is moving from his tony Venice, California, digs. [...] And the neighbors had welcomed him, not because they
like his politics and celebrity status, but because of the Secret Service agents he brings in tow. Supposedly, the
agents' presence helps keep the crime and squalor and panhandling associated with the homeless down.
Moving
truck is seen at Hunter Biden's $5.4 million rental home in Venice Beach. [Scroll down] Secret Service
officers sitting outside of Hunter's home have had to contend with the stench from a small encampment on the other side of a
parking lot. The tent city itself has its dramas just like any other human settlement. Last month a 30-year-old
woman from Virginia gave birth in one of the oceanfront camps, the Venice Current reported. A homeless man was shot and
injured on April 28. The gunman calmly walked away. The victim is not cooperating with police. Earlier
the same week a tent was deliberately set on fire. One local woman talks of how she was chased by a man with a sword.
Venice
Beach Now Looks Like Mad Max During A Zombie Apocolypse Thanks To The Homeless Epidemic. Residents in Los
Angeles' coastal Venice neighborhood are calling for action over homeless encampments in the area that have been connected to
a string of crimes, including shootings, fights, fires and drug use. The city as a whole is grappling with a homeless
crisis that has only gotten worse in recent years. Over five years, the homeless population has increased by half,
according to a January report released by the Luskin Center for History and Policy at the University of California in Los
Angeles. In Venice, some of the more violent incidents alarming residents and business owners include an April 28
shooting in which a man was shot but survived. No suspects have been identified, the Los Angeles Police Department told
Fox News. Another includes a Monday [5/31/2021] explosion inside an encampment that caused a fire. [Video clip]
Does
'Housing First' Help Homeless? Here's What Happened in Los Angeles. In 2016, influential political
leaders, activists, and media outlets in Los Angeles said they had a simple solution to homelessness: Build more
housing. Echoing an argument heard across the country, they claimed that rising rents have thrown people onto the
streets and that by directly providing free "permanent supportive housing," cities can reduce the number of people on the
streets and save costs on emergency services. In response, 77% of Los Angeles voters approved a $1.2 billion bond
for the construction of 10,000 units for the city's homeless. That commitment made Los Angeles the most significant
testing ground for the "Housing First" approach that has become the dominant policy idea on homelessness for West Coast cities.
The Editor says...
Spending $1.2 billion to build 10,000 "housing units" — which are probably just apartments or refurbished shipping
containers — comes out to $120,000 each. The homeless, many of whom are out on the streets for very good reasons,
will inevitably ruin all 10,000 units in the normal course of being irresponsible bums. The only reason this billion-dollar
boondoggle was approved — or even proposed — is that left-wing do-gooders have no foresight. They
think all their benevolent plans, no matter how implausible, will work perfectly.
LA is Burning.
It's surprising, but letting crazy junkies camp out on your street doesn't lead to good things. Beyond drug overdoses,
typhus, and a high rate of violent assaults... there are fires. A whole lot of fires. ["]As the homeless
crisis continues to grow in the city of Los Angeles, the fire department is responding to an increasing number of fires at
encampments. In 2018, there was an average of seven fires a day at encampments and in 2021, that number has more than
tripled to 25. Fires involving the few hundred homeless who live at the Venice Beach boardwalk has been such a problem, the
L.A. Fire Department has added a fast-response vehicle on patrol to put fires out before they spread.["] A few
hundred homeless. A whole lot of fires. On a constant basis. But that's what happens when you subsidize
crazy junkies and shut down the criminal justice system.
LA
residents revolt over shanty town plans. Thousands of Los Angeles residents are in revolt over plans to house
the homeless in tents and temporary cabins near popular beaches and parks throughout the city. Councilmember Mike Bonin
summitted a motion to add more shelters in areas such as the Los Angeles International Airport, Marina del Rey and Pacific
Palisades. Bonin, who represents affluent communities including Venice, Westchester and Brentwood, argues that the
'temporary solutions' will 'get people off the streets and into homes'. But more than 19,000 people have signed a
petition to stop the plans. The petition asserts that the proposed camps are not a solution to homelessness and would
bring the problems of drugs, mental illness, crime and danger into the communities where the tent cities would rise.
Homeless
camps may soon come to LA celebrity neighborhoods. Los Angeles's ever-expanding homeless problem is now likely
landing on the doorstep of celebrity-filled beachfront neighborhoods as the beleaguered City Council looks for ways to
alleviate some of the stress on world-famous Venice Beach. The 2-mile strip of Venice, where actor Arnold
Schwarzenegger and many others have pumped iron on an outdoor makeshift seaside gym, has now been claimed by thousands of
homeless living in a tent city. Venice is only 3 square miles, and an estimated 4,000 homeless live there, said Soledad
Ursua, a member of the Venice Neighborhood Council's Board of Directors.
Homeless
Camps Are Taking Over the West Coast. Democrat cities have allowed hundreds of homeless encampments to pop up
along the West Coast. Homelessness isn't new to places like San Francisco, L.A., Seattle, Sacramento, and so on.
I was in Portland 12 years ago for a comedy gig. The park in front of the club looked like a scene from Michael
Jackson's Thriller video. Today it looks like the Walking Dead. [...] A local barbershop owner was attacked by a homeless
man and his pit bull. The victim, Kevin Buttress, was knocked unconscious by a skateboard. Before you know it we will
see a swarm of recalcitrant, shaggy-bearded homeless dudes riding Segues through crowds on the boardwalk. The
skateboard-swinging attacker was arrested but was returned to the Venice Beach boardwalk within days because of jailhouse
Covid restrictions. Buttress said shootings, stabbings, and violent crime are now common on the boardwalk of one
of Los Angele's most famous beaches.
Venice's
world-famous beach and boardwalk have [had a] huge increase in robberies. Residents of Venice Beach in Los
Angeles say soaring crime rates and the exploding homeless population have made life in the elite beachside community
unbearable. A 'catastrophic' increase in homelessness in Los Angeles has seen hundreds of tents line the beach's famous
boardwalk. Business owners say they are being forced to close their doors and longterm residents are afraid to leave
their homes after dark after being subjected to violent attacks and intimidation.
San Diego pulls
migrant tent city plan after media coverage and calls it a mistake. Immediately after the Washington Examiner
reported that San Diego County was soliciting farmers for land for a migrant tent city, red-faced officials called the offer
a mistake and told recipients to "please disregard" it. The county officials blamed the state of California and said
the term "tent city" was mistakenly used to describe "a soft structure build out" to house a COVID testing center.
Local activist Carl DeMaio said he suspects the county backpedaled after realizing that the news coverage would be a public
relations nightmare.
The
Shaky Foundations of L.A.'s Housing 'Entitlement' for the Homeless. In 2016 influential political leaders,
activists, and media outlets in Los Angeles said they had a simple solution to homelessness: build more housing.
Echoing an argument heard across the country, they claimed that rising rents have thrown people onto the streets and that by
directly providing free "permanent supportive housing," cities can reduce the number of people on the streets and save costs
on emergency services. In response, 77 percent of Los Angeles voters approved a $1.2 billion bond for the construction
of 10,000 units for the city's homeless. That commitment made Los Angeles the most significant testing ground for the
"Housing First" approach that has become the dominant policy idea on homelessness for West Coast cities. Even before
the passage of the bond, the concept's creator, Sam Tsemberis, was lavished with praise by the national media. In 2015,
the Washington Post wrote that Tsemberis had "all but solved chronic homelessness" and that his research "commands the
support of most scholars." In the years since, "Housing First" has taken even greater hold in California and the across
the West.
San Diego
County wants to build migrant tent city on private farmlands. The county of San Diego is seeking to build a
migrant tent city on individually owned farmland to house "immigrants coming across the border," according to an email
reviewed by the Washington Examiner. This is in addition to a mini-city constructed within the San Diego Convention
Center last month, which welcomed 1,450 migrant children who came through the Texas border. On Tuesday, the county
created a $5 million fund to provide free legal services for migrants to fight deportation. It's not clear
where the population would come from because the Biden administration has said the California border is closed.
The
Bay Area has descended into a post-apocalyptic hell-scape. [Scroll down] Even though I'd heard about the
poop maps, San Francisco's decay didn't really strike me under three years ago, when a friend and I were in theater district
one evening, walking back to our car. We were on the edge of the Tenderloin but heading to a street that used to be
safe enough. In the 1990s, it might have a handful of homeless people, so we didn't weren't worried. However, as
we started down the street, my friend and I realized that it was wall-to-wall humanity: No tents; just dozens of people
on both sides of the street, sitting and lying there in their vomit and excrement, with needles scattered about. When
I'm near the homeless, I don't look at them because the paranoid ones get set off if you make eye contact. My friend,
however, grew up in a small town and believes that you must recognize the homeless as human beings (which is very decent for
the ones who aren't paranoid).
Pediatrician's
dog dies in suspected arson that destroyed her home in 'lawless' Venice Beach. A California doctor has spoken
out after losing her eight-month-old puppy in a Venice Beach house fire that is now being investigated as arson amid a
growing homeless crisis plaguing the area. Dr. Courtney Gillenwater, a pediatrician and US Navy veteran, was not
at her one-story bungalow last Wednesday, when it suddenly went up in flames, trapping and killing her Husky-mix, Togo. [...]
One week on, the cause of the fire is still unknown and remains under investigation by the The LA Fire Department's Arson
Division and the LAPD's Major Crimes Division. Residents, however, are now pointing to a nearby homeless encampment in
the now 'lawless' beachside community.
Clinton
Judge Declares Himself Supreme Ruler of Los Angeles. It's inevitable that as conservative judges minimize their
authority lefty judges maximize it. As the Left tosses aside the Constitution and checks and balances, not to mention
the minor matter of the rule of law, we end up with the rule of officials asserting their absolute power because of the moral
authority of their politics. The moral arc of the universe bends towards tyranny, after all. And social
justice. Two ways of saying the same thing. California is the capital of the new judicial ruling class where
lefty judges assert absolute power over everything. One of the more disgusting examples is Clinton federal judge, David
Carter, who has been issuing decrees about the crazed junkie vagrant population that lefties call the homeless or more
recently, the unhoused.
Federal
Judge: L.A. Must House Every Homeless Person on Skid Row by Oct. 18. U.S. District Court Judge David O.
Carter issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday [4/20/2021] ordering the city and county of Los Angeles to ensure that every
homeless person living in the notorious Skid Row district has housing by October 18 this year. [...] Elsewhere in the
decision, the Judge Carter — a Bill Clinton appointee — cited claims of "systemic racism," and argued
that homelessness is partly a result of historical racial discrimination. In an unusually complex set of instructions,
Judge Carter also ordered $1 billion earmarked by the city for spending on the homeless, announced Monday evening as part
of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti's "Justice Budget," to be placed in an escrow account. He also ordered a 90-day audit
of city and county spending on the homeless, and a 30-day "audit of any funds committed to mental health (MH) and substance
use disorder (SUD) treatment."
Somewhat related: Oakland to
offer guaranteed income, but only for minority families. Officials in Oakland, California, announced the launch
of a guaranteed income pilot program this week that will provide direct monthly payments to low-income minority families in
the city. The initiative, which is one of the largest guaranteed income experiments to be conducted in the United
States to date, aims to find out if providing regular payments low-income families will lift them from their economic
plight. The program, called Oakland Resilient Families, will send 600 families in the city $500-a-month payments over
the next 18 months as part of an effort to eliminate racial wealth inequalities in the city, which the program argues is the
result of "ongoing systemic racism."
The Editor says...
[#1] Yes, widespread poverty could be the result of systemic racism. But it's more likely the result of
drug use, illegitimate children, incompetent education, and a lifetime of bad decisions. [#2] Notice
the misuse of the word family: It apparently means unmarried women and their illegitimate children,
with no men in the picture. [#3] If white people are excluded from this program, that's "ongoing systemic
racism" right there!
Oakland
launches one of the largest guaranteed income programs in the country. Oakland plans to start a guaranteed
income program this spring for 600 residents — one of the largest such programs in the country, city officials
said — as Bay Area leaders search for solutions to rising poverty and inequality in the wake of the
pandemic. Through the pilot program, residents will receive $500 a month for at least 18 months with no strings
attached, Mayor Libby Schaaf said at a Tuesday news conference. Checks could be in residents' hands by this spring or
summer. Low-income families — with at least one child under 18 — who are Black, indigenous or
people of color will be randomly selected through an application process to vet eligibility, Schaaf said. Officials
said those groups suffer from the greatest wealth disparity, according to data on Oakland's population. More than
70,000 people — or 16.7% of Oakland's population — live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census.
125
low-income mothers of color in Marin County can receive $1K a month in guaranteed income. Mirroring similar
efforts in cities such as Stockton and Oakland, Marin County supervisors this week approved participating in a universal
basic income experiment to give 125 low-income mothers of color $1,000 a month for two years. The county will spend
$400,000 and the remaining $3 million will come from the Marin Community Foundation, the Marin Independent Journal
reported. To qualify, the women must have a child under the age of 18. Participants will be selected at random
from among 4,600 people who have already received direct cash aid from the foundation with the help of the Family
Independence Initiative.
Crackdown
at Echo Park homeless encampment begins as LAPD moves in, clashes with protesters. Authorities on Wednesday
night [3/24/2021] moved to close down a homeless encampment in Echo Park that has become a highly charged test of city
leaders' struggle to balance constituents' demands for clean streets and public spaces with the ever-growing tragedy of
people who have no homes. Scores of police moved into the area, where they were met by more than 200 protesters who
oppose the sweep. The Los Angeles Police Department repeatedly told protesters to leave, and by early Thursday morning,
the crowd had dwindled and the protest had mostly wound down.
San Francisco
set up homeless tent villages during the pandemic. Now, the city is paying more than $5,000 per month for each
tent. The City by the Bay has been dealing with serious homelessness for years, and during the pandemic things
have gotten markedly worse. San Francisco has gone beyond having its everyday poop-in-the-streets problem and rampant
drug and alcohol abuse among its homeless population — which, by the way, was enabled when the city's health
department announced it would provide free drugs and alcohol to homeless people staying at city-leased hotels in order to
keep them from breaking pandemic quarantine requirements. Now the city is realizing the financial hit it is taking with
the longstanding homeless camps it authorized last May with its "safe-sleeping villages" as the state shuttered indoor
homeless facilities. The villages are a network of tent encampments spread across the city that were OK'd at the same
time that it began placing hundreds of homeless in hotel rooms and RVs, MarketWatch reported last spring. Now the
financial chickens are coming home to roost.
San
Francisco is paying $5,000 per month for each homeless tent. Homelessness is really expensive for the people
who are paying for it. Last year, San Francisco set up six "safe sleeping villages" during the pandemic, including one
right outside City Hall. Basically these sites are sanctioned tent camps where the homeless live on city property with
bathrooms and free meals. It turns out the city is paying $5,000 per month for each tent.
Activists
say 'Barney & Friends' theme song playing on repeat at vacant San Pedro property for weeks is anti-homeless harassment.
The theme song from "Barney & Friends" has been blaring 24 hours a day for weeks on Palos Verdes Street in San Pedro. There
are about two dozen homeless individuals who have pitched tents on the sidewalk there, and they say the blaring kids' music is a
not-so-subtle way to get them to move. "It's psychological," said Danielle Nunez of Street Watch LA, a mutual aid organization
that helps the homeless. "It is to keep people up. They can't have a quiet space and it's playing at nighttime so that
people literally cannot sleep." The vacant property is run by Jerico Development, Inc., and is used for filming.
San
Francisco's "Progressive" Drug Policies Kill Hundreds Annually. Last year, 621 people died of drug overdoses in
San Francisco. To put this in perspective, 173 people died from COVID-19, which is identified as the primary public
health crisis in the Bay Area. For years, San Francisco has tacitly encouraged drug abuse with remarkably lenient
policies, and those policies are now inadvertently killing hundreds of people annually. San Francisco uses a policy
approach called "harm reduction," which stresses "culturally competent, non-judgmental treatment that demonstrates respect
and dignity for the individual." But this approach, as it is practiced within San Francisco, is inhumane and
cruel. It is destroying the dignity of the lives that some could have with more sensible policies. In addition to
overdose deaths skyrocketing, drug abuse has increased in San Francisco, and it is becoming more difficult for addicts to
affect positive change.
Proposed
corporate tax hike in California would aid homeless. A California coalition is proposing legislation to boost taxes on
wealthy multinational corporations to raise more than $2 billion a year to house tens of thousands of homeless people, addressing
what has become a worsening problem in the country's most populous state. Supporters say Assembly Bill 71 would reinvent
California's approach to solving homelessness — providing for the first time an ongoing, sufficient state funding source
to get people off the streets. Opponents say it would contribute to the perception that California is hostile to business.
San
Francisco To Hire Social Workers Instead Of Cops To Handle Homelessness, Drug Addiction, And Mental Illness On Public
Transit. San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system has six vacancies for police officers but plans
instead to fill those positions with social workers to handle issues involving the homeless and those with mental illness or
drug addiction. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the public transit system has $2 million in its budget
to fill the vacancies (for an average salary and benefits package worth about $333,000) but will instead hire a supervisor
and "20 crisis intervention specialists," the outlet reported. Last year, the board approved a plan that only added 10
specialists to BART's bureau of progressive policing.
Overdose
Deaths Far Exceed COVID-19 Deaths In San Francisco. The number of San Francisco residents who have died from
drug overdoses during the past year far exceeds the number who have died from COVID-19. A record high number of 621
people died from overdoses in 2020 compared to the 173 who have died from COVID-19, according to statistics reported by The
Associated Press. In 2019, 441 people died from drug overdoses in the city, which gives 2020 the grim distinction of
having experienced a staggering increase of more than 40%. The overdose statistics of 2019 were a 70% increase from those
in 2018.
San
Francisco Dems Threaten Paper for Reporting on Homeless Mess. When you can't fix the problem, you can always
shoot the messenger. Whether it's election fraud, my topic yesterday, or eliminating crime reporting, also my topic
yesterday, or the homeless mess, Democrats are increasingly trying to shoot the messengers and impose a broad spectrum
censorship locally and nationally. And San Francisco, as usual, points the way.
California, There It Goes.
[Scroll down] Patrick's Roadhouse is still there, but Santa Monica, like the rest of the city, is a shell. As I
wrote a few months ago, 120 stores were smashed and looted in the business district during the May/June Floyd riots. To
this day, it's a ghost town with plywood on nearly every window. You know what else is everywhere? Homeless
people. Not just glassy-eyed gutter punks lounging in decrepit tents. I mean ranting, fully naked zombies
defecating and peeing on every corner. It's been called Skid Row by the Sea for years, but today Skid Marks by the Sea
is more accurate. It looks like someone opened the prison in Aliens 3 and let the inmates out at Wilshire
and Ocean Avenue. (Side note: the median price of a home in Santa Monica is $3,750,000, making it the third most
expensive ZIP code in America.)
San Francisco, Homeless
Encampment. San Francisco's hotels and motels are slowly emptying of the homeless people that the city placed
there during the Covid-19 pandemic. The city simply can't afford the $260 per night, per person, price tag of housing
approximately 2,000 people — just a portion of the estimated 8,000 people who live on the street. Where will
they go? Elected officials have come up with a new plan: turn the whole city into a network of homeless
encampments. In June, city officials and departments developed a list of 42 potential sites that could be equipped with
spaces for tents and mobile bathrooms. The urban campers, most with addiction and mental health issues, would be
provided with free delivered meals and other services. Several sites were erected, including one outside City Hall and
one in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood. Among the other proposed locations: 25 public elementary, middle, and
high schools, as well as a Boys and Girls Club, city parks, and recreation areas.
The
Real Cost of Homelessness. In 2016, Los Angeles Mayor Gil Garcetti proclaimed, as might an emperor or king, he
would empower citizens to "transform their streets and urban corridors into vibrant, walkable spaces that reflect the unique
characteristics of their communities." As of September 2020, Los Angeles has solved its homeless problem. The
approximate 60,000 homeless encamped on Los Angeles' streets, urban corridors, parks, and freeway underpasses vanished to be
replaced by approximately 60,000 unhoused residents. Empowered by Garcetti's hands-off the homeless order of
protection issued for "public health and safety reasons," these unhoused are reimagining their lives free of health and
safety regulations and taxation applicable to the housed.
San
Francisco Residents On Edge Over Rising Number Of Home Burglaries. "Our next-door neighbor got broken into and
they had already experienced another break-in a month prior to that," said Ginny Fang, who lives in San Francisco's North
Beach neighborhood. A spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department said they're getting more reports of
break-ins recently through the garage. "We're doing all we can to step up patrols and to ultimately arrest those who are
committing these crimes," said SFPD Officer Robert Rueca. Fang said thieves several weeks ago stole four of her
family's bicycles by breaking and entering.
California:
The Golden State in Utter Decay. Wildfires, unfortunately, are among the least of California's woes.
Homelessness in the state has become a major problem, and one that is having a significant impact on the quality of life for
taxpayers. According to a San Francisco Chronicle article published last December, "[w]hile the latest counts compiled
by the federal government show that America's homeless population is growing again after more than a decade of declines, the
entire national increase and more can be attributed to California alone." In other words, homelessness continues to be on
the decline in the U.S. if we exclude California. So how does California plan on addressing the problem? A bill
passed by the state's Legislature earlier this month will empower Governor Newsom to appoint a "Homelessness Czar."
Government actions, including regulations which aggressively target landlords and programs that provide handouts enticing the
homeless to settle in the state, have perpetuated the homeless situation, but more taxpayer dollars and government interference
is always the solution for California. Got a problem? Throw money at it, and let the government make it worse.
Video:
San Fran man smokes meth while skateboarding with mattress as a sail. Just another day in San Francisco, with
mentally challenged drug addicts being among the few using the streets and parks of the Paris of the Pacific. Jaded
city residents have become so accustomed to strange human sights they hardly shrug, but it's become so bad that the mostly
liberal inhabitants are starting to turn on their progressive leaders. @SFGotham, an independent researcher who exposes
the city's crime, corruption and policy failures on Twitter, saw something this week that made the crusader look twice.
[Video clip]
San
Francisco's Deathly Compassion. San Francisco has a serious drug problem, particularly among its homeless
population. Roughly 8,000 people live on the city's sidewalks or in its alleyways, public parks, and playgrounds.
People with needles in their arms and legs, holding glass pipes and lighters, are a regular sight. Users go limp in
doorways and tents, or they career about, dazed and distraught, or angry and violent. Dealers selling heroin, Fentanyl,
methamphetamine, and crack are ubiquitous. So, too, are the advocates for "harm reduction," which holds that widespread
drug use should be accepted but its worst effects mitigated. Organizations such as the San Francisco AIDS Foundation,
the Harm Reduction Coalition, the Drug Users Union, and even the Department of Public Health, in partnership with The DOPE
Project, focus almost exclusively on "safe drug use." In fact, the Drug Users Union's goal is "to create a safe
environment where people can use & enjoy drugs as well as receive services." This attitude led to today's humanitarian
crisis: thousands of people living on San Francisco's streets, languishing in an endless cycle of homelessness and addiction.
Insufferable San Francisco.
Where I live, in the San Francisco Bay Area, the American city hardly exists at all. [...] I had figured I could stick around
forever. Then I took my daughter to see The Nutcracker. The two blocks we had to walk from the train
station to War Memorial Opera House made a greater impression on my nine-year-old than any magical offering from the SF
Ballet. The city greeted her with the army of cracked nuts, the ubiquitous 'zombies' who aimlessly roam our
streets. The need to be hyperaware of their presence while pirouetting to avoid discarded syringes and human excrement
left her depressed and terrified for days. My daughter refuses to go to the ballet at the War Zone Opera House ever again.
Hazmat crew cleans up homeless
mess at luxury San Fran hotel. One of the premier West Coast hotels required a hazardous materials cleanup
crew, the result of the city's policy of housing the homeless on the taxpayer's dime during the Covid crisis. The
Intercontinental Mark Hopkins, a luxury hotel atop swanky Nob Hill, dispatched unruly guests to another undisclosed
property. Afterwards, a hazmat team showed up to tidy up the premises, according to ace KRON reporter Erica
Sandberg. "The guests wouldn't abide by the rules. The city paid Ubers and cabs moved them to a different luxury
hotel," she said.
The Editor says...
Homeless bums never "abide by the rules." That's why they're homeless!
Meth
lab found at San Francisco hotel room used as city COVID-19 shelter. Police arrested two adults accused of
operating a low level meth lab at a San Francisco hotel designated as a safe shelter for people on quarantine, at risk for
COVID19, or without housing. The call came in about a strong chemical odor coming from a hotel room and officers
responded to the Civic Center Motor Inn about 2:30 p.m. on Saturday [8/1/2020]. Police and residents had to wait
for a hazmat team to determine the safety of the site.
Police
shut down alleged meth lab in SF hotel reportedly being used as COVID-19 shelter. The San Francisco Police
Department arrested two individuals Saturday [8/1/2020] for allegedly operating a meth lab in the guest room of a hotel in
the 300 block of Ninth Street in the city's Civic Center neighborhood, officials said. Multiple news outlets reported
the incident occurred at the Civic Center Motor Inn, which is being used to offer temporary shelter for people without
housing and at risk for COVID-19.
San
Francisco drafts museum staff as drug gophers for homeless. An interesting development since the Covid
lockdowns in the City on the Bay has been the clandestine placement of homeless people in luxury hotels, such as the
Intercontinental Mark Hopkins on Nob Hill. As it turns out, the government is using unlikely public employees who
otherwise would have been furloughed to serve as vice couriers for them. One such city staffer, for example, was a
curator with the San Francisco city museums before the shut down, said an informed city source who requested anonymity.
San
Francisco reporter details 'disaster' of city's 'hotels for homeless' program: 'It is pandemonium'. Thousands
of homeless people have been housed in San Francisco's empty hotels in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.
However, City Journal contributor Erica Sandberg told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Wednesday [7/15/2020] the policy has been
an "absolute disaster," "It's solving exactly nothing and as a matter of fact, it's making all the problems worse,"
said Sandberg, who described the scene inside the hotels as "about as bad as you can imagine, only exponentially
worse." "You are talking drug-fueled parties, overdoses, deaths, people are being assaulted. You have sexual
assaults going on, it is pandemonium," she said. "It is extremely bad and it needs to stop."
San
Francisco sends guests to luxury Nob Hill hotel ... in a jail bus. San Francisco is housing 'emergency workers'
at the Mark Hopkins on Nob Hill, one of the finest and most storied luxury hotels on the West Coast. It seems some
arrive in jail buses with metal screens and bars on them, as this exclusive PressCalifornia.com photo suggests. And
after they check in, the city pays for their alcohol and marijuana deliveries. Who are these guests and why are they
there? The municipal government, under the guise of housing essential COVID medical teams and responders, is covertly
placing the homeless in city hotels.
After
a lawsuit by residents, San Francisco finally cleans homeless camps out of the Tenderloin district. The
coronavirus pandemic was (and still is) a potential disaster for the homeless. In San Francisco, the city was forced to
reduce the number of homeless people in each of the city's shelters to prevent them from becoming hotspots for the
virus. But doing that meant a lot more people living on the streets. In the Tenderloin district, the number of tents
went from 158 on March 3 to 391 by May 1. Even the police officers who normally handle drug-dealing in the area were
pulled out creating a defacto lawless zone, a homeless version of Seattle's CHOP. And just as happened with CHOP, local
residents quickly got fed up and filed a lawsuit against the city.
Sanctioned
SF tent camp riles Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. The cascade of tents hitting San Francisco's liberal
Haight-Ashbury has stunned merchants and residents alike, and led to an outcry over the city's decision to set up a "safe
sleeping site" at one of the neighborhood's busiest intersections. "We have had a problem with homelessness for some
time, but this is the first time we are seeing tents in the neighborhood," said resident Michelle Leighton, spokeswoman for
Safe Healthy Haight, a neighborhood group formed this month to respond to the city's plan to put a sanctioned tent camp on
the site of the old McDonald's restaurant at Haight and Stanyan streets just across from Golden Gate Park.
San
Fransisco socially distances its homeless encampments amid coronavirus pandemic. San Fransisco is giving
homeless encampments the social distance treatment. The city is joining others around the world in begrudgingly
authorizing its homeless encampments by marking safely distanced spaces for tents and other makeshift shelters. In San
Fransisco's Civic Center, about 80 tents are now lined in tidy rows on a wide street near San Francisco City Hall, part
of a "safe sleeping village" opened last week. The village is one of two Mayor London Breed has planned to open, with
another coming to the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.
Free
Booze, Pot, and Smokes for San Francisco's Homeless. San Francisco officials deny direct involvement in a
controversial program, funded by private sources, that provides free alcohol, cannabis, and cigarettes to homeless people
living in the city's hotels during the Covid-19 outbreak. After news about the special deliveries was leaked and caused
embarrassment on social media, the city's Department of Public Health issued a statement claiming that "rumors that guests of
San Francisco's alternative housing program are receiving taxpayer-funded deliveries of alcohol, cannabis and tobacco are
false." Except they're not false. DPH, which administers and oversees the program, is staffed by city workers,
including doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, and security personnel. The department manages, stores,
and distributes the substances. Employee time is involved. Thus, the program is financed by taxpayers,
even if an outside group provides some of the funding. According to DPH spokesperson Jenna Lane, the philanthropists
who helped purchase the substances wish to remain anonymous.
San
Francisco neighborhood sues over 300 percent jump of homeless sidewalk tents during coronavirus outbreak. San
Francisco is being sued by a law school and residents and businesses in the inner-city Tenderloin District who argue
sidewalks are "unsanitary, unsafe, and often impassable" as homeless people crowd streets amid the coronavirus
pandemic. The number of tents and makeshift structures in the Tenderloin has tripled since January, as homeless
shelters are forced to operate at low capacity in order to enforce stringent social distancing requirements, reports
say. The federal lawsuit, filed last week in part by the University of California Hastings College of Law, does not
seek financial damages but instead demands the city clean up streets littered with drug needles and human waste. The
litigants are also seeking help for people living in sidewalk tents, saying they are at increased risk of COVID-19.
Homeless
People In San Francisco Hotel Rooms Are Being Given Free Alcohol And Drugs. The San Francisco Department of
Public Health (SFDPH) confirmed in a tweet Tuesday that homeless people put up in hotels are being given free alcohol and
drugs. A Twitter user named "T Wolf" who calls himself a "formerly homeless addict," sent a tweet this week saying he's
heard reports of homeless people getting free alcohol, marijuana and methadone. "I just found out that homeless placed
in hotels in SF are being delivered Alcohol, Weed and Methadone because they identified as an addict/alcoholic for FREE.
You're supposed to be offering treatment. This is enabling and is wrong on many levels," he said.
Coronavirus
Isn't Slowing the Destruction of San Francisco. In almost any situation, learning through direct personal
experience is preferable to learning from photos, videos, or a verbal description of another person's experience. [...]
Knowing this, San Francisco-based writer Erica Sandberg has been organizing what she calls "see for yourself/think for
yourself" walks through her city so regular residents can take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the homeless crisis for
themselves and not rely upon the curated experiences of activists, politicians, and the mainstream media. Even more
importantly, her tours are not narrated, allowing participants to draw their own conclusions about what they're
viewing. What they're all seeing is terrifying and a city "spiraling out of control." San Francisco residents have been
subject to a "shelter in place" order since March 17, but most of the restrictions in the order don't apply to people
"experiencing homelessness." From what Sandberg has witnessed, drug dealing and abuse hasn't been affected in any way.
Supes
vote to acquire more hotel rooms to shelter homeless. San Francisco must quickly secure thousands of more hotel
rooms to shelter the homeless amid the spread of coronavirus under legislation approved Tuesday by the Board of
Supervisors. The board's vote comes just days after 92 unhoused people tested positive for the disease after an
outbreak at one city shelter. Board members have clashed with Mayor London Breed and her administration for weeks over
the best strategy for how to thin out the shelter populations. They have called for those living on the street to be
moved into hotel rooms so that they can shelter-in-place, as those who are housed have done under a public health order since
March 17.
Because money is plentiful, and most vagrants are clean, sober, responsible citizens: SF
plans to lease 7,000 hotel rooms to isolate homeless people from the coronavirus. San Francisco now plans to
lease 7,000 hotel rooms to provide shelter for homeless people as well as first responders and health care workers battling
the spread of the coronovirus, city officials said Wednesday [4/8/2020]. This would more than triple the rooms now
under contract. The city already has committed $35 million for the next three months to lease the first batch of
units. The overall effort would cost San Francisco roughly $105 million — some but not all of which
would be reimbursed by the federal and state governments.
SF
Ditches Plan To House Homeless At Moscone Center During Pandemic In Favor Of Hotel Rooms. San Francisco
officials have reversed a plan to shelter homeless people at the Moscone West Convention Center. Instead, the city will
continue with a plan to place homeless people at hotels in an effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, said Trent
Rohrer, director of the city's Human Services Agency.
Bet
Your Life — Vote for Democrats. I can only imagine what the [Wuhan virus] death toll will be in
California. San Francisco has immune-suppressed HIV-AIDs affected citizens (about 12,985 people living with HIV in San
Francisco) and thousands of homeless people living on the streets. So far, the homeless do not seem particularly
affected, but if (or once) it makes an appearance there, I suspect it will take a substantial toll. I suppose many of
these people are already quite unhealthy, live cheek by jowl outdoors on feces-heaped streets, and lack access to means to
practice proper hygiene.
The New Favelas.
Progressives routinely denounce economic inequality, yet the nation's most liberal cities offer the most dramatic
illustrations of it, with tech-driven wealth at the top and addiction-driven homelessness at the bottom. In the past
five years, some streets in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and Seattle have started to resemble Latin American
favelas, or shantytowns, with thousands sleeping in tents, shacks, and packing crates. One United Nations
official recently compared West Coast encampments to the slums of New Delhi. California governor Gavin Newsom has
declared homelessness a "state of emergency." And yet, as the coronavirus pandemic persists, West Coast cities have
legalized and provided services to these encampments, rather than enacting emergency shelter and moving people off the
streets. This reckless decision follows a disturbing trend. Last year, Oakland began supplying 22 officially
sanctioned homeless encampments with services, sanitation, and supplies.
Coronavirus:
L.A. to Move Homeless into Neighborhood Recreation Centers. Mayor Eric Garcetti is going ahead with a plan to
move thousands of homeless people in Los Angeles into recreation centers in residential neighborhoods as part of the city's
response to the coronavirus pandemic. Rumors have been circulating among residents, and were confirmed on Saturday by
the L.A. Times.
The Editor says...
During the current lockdown, you and I can't go to church, or to a wedding or a funeral, but the homeless bums are being moved
into "recreation centers" where they will presumably all live in one room.
Few
homeless off California's streets as virus spreads. Homeless people in California congregated in parks, popped
into each other's tents on sidewalks and packed closely together to get food Friday, routine scenes that took on different
and dangerous significance as state officials try to contain spread of the coronavirus.
A
Real-Life Story of How Coronavirus Hysteria Oppresses People. Commentators have noted the dishonest reporting
of statistics to buttress the false claim that deaths from the coronavirus (hereafter, COVID-19) are far in excess of
mortality from the common flu when in fact the opposite is likely the case. [...] I was indeed shocked when Nathan called me
on March 17 to report that the wedding and reception, for which all the invitations had gone out and for which they had
planned for over a year, were being canceled on the "Order of the Health Officer of the County of Riverside." I obtained a
copy of the so-called "order" that "prohibits" gatherings of ten or more individuals in the County of Riverside.
According to the text of the decree, "Violation of ... this Order is a crime punishable by fine, imprisonment or both." The
edict exempts gatherings of government officials, including those at the Health Department and their colleagues who drafted
the order. Another curious exemption from the order is those involved in "congregate living settings." I suppose
that's to cover Riverside County, California's resident population of homeless bums, who are stuck living in "congregate
living settings" in their feces- and needle-infested encampments.
Because there's so much extra cash on hand... California
plans to house homeless in hotels during coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Gavin Newsom estimates 60,000 homeless
people will be infected with COVID-19 in the coming months and those people will need a place to recover in isolation.
On Wednesday [3/18/2020] Newsom allocated $150 million in emergency funding to deal with the crisis and announced a plan to
house the homeless in hotels and motels across the state. The state would lease the property and local counties would
control the operations. According to the governor's office, 950 sites have been identified across 53 counties.
Citing
coronavirus, homeless families seize 12 vacant homes in Los Angeles. A group of homeless and housing-insecure
Angelenos seized more vacant, publicly owned homes in El Sereno on Wednesday [3/18/2020], arguing that government officials have
failed to provide the shelter that's necessary for them to remain healthy during the coronavirus pandemic. The occupation
followed a similar takeover Saturday, when two families and a man moved into one of the neighborhood's dozens of empty
homes — all owned by Caltrans. The state agency bought them years ago as part of a now-failed plan to extend
the 710 Freeway.
Watch
Why People Are 'Fleeing California' — It Ain't Pretty. Yes, those lumps of clothes really are
people sleeping on the streets. Cable car rides are often ruined by the unmistakable whiff of sun-soaked urine.
Small business owners — which employ 40% of the workforce — are held down by masochistic
regulators. And people are getting [...] out of California. They're fleeing. A new Prager University video
called "Fleeing California" — which will probably be censored by one of the tech giants [soon] —
highlights the lowlights of California and explains why so many are heading for Texas.
As
Trump wins praise for effective coronavirus response, blue cities do opposite, threatening its spread it through homelessness. The
left's blue cities do all they can to encourage and reward homelessness, amounting to the country's great enabler of homelessness as a
lifestyle. Blue cities employ and are expanding gargantuan bureaucracies dedicated to "servicing" the homelessness, which encourages
a hunt for more "clients." San Francisco alone spends $77,000 per homeless "client." They also refuse to enforce quality of life
laws, such as those against vagrancy, public camping, drug use, public alcohol consumption, prostitution, and public urination and defecation,
promoting homelessness even more. Some are encouraging squatting on private property. Others are permitting the homeless to take over
public parks and spaces. Some, such as Bill de Blasio's New York, are secretly busing the homeless to other cities to keep them from creating
problems in their own cities. It's a massive tax on those who own the overpriced homes in those cities, but taxes are the left's bread and
butter. It's a money merry-go-round, all done in the name of "compassion."
The
Tired and Poor Are Already Here. Twelve thousand children are homeless here in California, and our homeless
population has risen to 151,000. Last year, California was single-handedly responsible for the national increase in
homelessness. [...] What does it say about our leaders, and our nation, that a closed fist for struggling Americans and an
open hand for those who break our immigration laws is a winning political strategy?
GOP
challenger says Schiff has done nothing to fight homeless crisis in California district. ep. Adam
Schiff's Republican challenger accused the Democrat on Friday of ignoring the homelessness crisis in his California
district. "He's done nothing, or virtually nothing, for our district," Eric Early, who announced his candidacy to
represent California's 28th Congressional District in July, told Fox News. "Certainly not a darn thing for
homelessness." "It's a mess out here, it's terrible," he added. Early, a Los Angeles attorney, made his comments
about Schiff while walking through parts of Echo Park and Hollywood, meeting with homeless people and listening to their
stories about their situations.
Mike
Slater: Newsom's call for 'housing prescriptions' to solve homelessness 'fundamentally misses' problem.
California radio host Mike Slater responded Sunday [2/23/2020] to Gov. Gavin Newsom's suggestion that doctors "should be able"
to prescribe housing like they do medicine, calling it "so off the charts that you don't even know where to begin." Newsom, a
Democrat, initially expressed the idea during his State of the State address last Wednesday, arguing that housing and health care
were intertwined. "The Democrats have been really good at coming up with proposals that are so ridiculous, so off the charts,
that you don't even know where to begin... like, deconstructing what they're talking about," Slater told "Fox & Friends" Sunday.
On Leaving
the Golden State. The fabled Ventura Highway is all that separates my artist loft from the beach where surfing
first came to the United States. [...] Once my coffee is brewed, my cat and I go hang out on the patio where I may or may not
have to chase someone away that is stealing electricity as for some crazy reason all the homeless have smart phones and other
electric gadgets but few means to charge them. From my patio on the 2nd floor landing, I can look down into the central
courtyard and, if early enough in the day, sometimes see people crawling out of the bushes so as to relieve themselves
against a wall. Making this problem worse is the fact that I live around a bunch of retired hippies and there is no one
on Earth less capable of doing anything than a hippie. One thing that many of them have not figured out is that they
should lock down their WiFi. Frankly, the quickest way to attract the kind of person that would steal a cat toy, potted
plant, bicycle or everything out of your car is to have a neighbor or two broadcasting free WiFi.
Homeless
People Are Without Toilets and Going in the Streets. We Asked the Mayor of LA Why. Statistics estimate
36,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles, but the city isn't providing bathrooms to most of them. As the NBCLA I-Team
has found, the tons of human waste landing on city streets are creating an urgent public health threat. In one act
caught on camera, a homeless man is seen waking up on South Hope Street. He unbuckles his belt, walks over to the front
door of a business, pulls down his pants, and defecates right on the door mat in broad daylight.
Taking Property for Fun and
Profit. After a group of homeless moms simply moved into a vacant three-bedroom house in Oakland owned by a
company that invests in local real estate, local progressives turned them into folk heroes. These women weren't
squatters who took something that wasn't theirs, but valiant protesters who were standing up for their communities
against — all together now — corporate speculators. As one of these Oakland moms said,
"Housing is a human right. I pay bills there. I pay water, PG&E, internet. We live there. We want to
purchase the home; it needs to belong back in the hands of the community. It was stolen through the foreclosure
crisis." That certainly puts a new spin on the term "property ownership."
The
Democrat Left is cruel and sadistic. Anyone who has driven the streets of downtown Los Angeles or walked the
streets of San Francisco should vote out every single person currently in office, for they have allowed the crisis to grow
without doing a thing but surrender their constituents to the terrible impact on their quality of life. Adam Schiff and
Nancy Pelosi are among the worst offenders. Neither of them cares about his own district; they care only about keeping
the power they have in D.C.
Decriminalization
of drugs fueling meth and homelessness in California. The same people who demand that Congress and state
governments spend even more money to "combat" the twin drug and homelessness crises never seem to connect the dots back to
their decriminalization policies or admit that they are causing a rise in crime. One journalist in California is not
scared to pin the tail on the donkey — in the case of the Golden State, the infamous Prop 47. Right around
2014-2015 is when the drug crisis exploded nationwide, including in California, roughly around the same time homelessness
soared, particularly in the Golden State, along with the rise in theft and other crimes. What else happened around the
same time? California passed Prop 47, which downgraded drug and theft crimes. The result was a logical
consequence to an illogical policy. Bill Lamb, VP and general manager of Fox 11 in Los Angeles, delivered a TV
commentary last week pinning the blame for the homeless and drug problems squarely on Prop 47.
Dr.
Drew Pinsky hits Adam Schiff on homeless crisis in his own district: 'He's asleep at the wheel'. Senate
impeachment trial manager Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is "asleep at the wheel" when it comes to his own district and is
ignoring issues that matter, like the state's homeless crisis, Dr. Drew. Pinsky said Thursday [1/30/2020].
Appearing on "Fox & Friends" with hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade, Pinsky said he started thinking
that maybe he should run against Schiff because, every day he doesn't do something, three more homeless people die in the
county of Los Angeles. While Pinsky said he is "categorically not running" for Schiff's seat, he couldn't ignore the
crisis unfolding in front of him.
Why
Are Liberal Cities Such a Mess? Many major U.S. cities run by liberal Democrats are in rough shape. They
are afflicted by the problems of homelessness, violent crime, gangs, and unemployment to a far greater degree than the
country as a whole. [...] San Francisco actually has maps so people can track where the worst incidences of human waste are
on the sidewalks. The homeless population now approaches 7000 and there is no law prohibiting sleeping on the streets,
sidewalks, or other public places. Discarded syringes are everywhere. San Francisco's property crime rate is the
highest in the nation and "smash and grab" thefts involving broken car windows are so commonplace that repair shops have
waiting lists. The DA's office no longer prosecutes "victimless" crimes like prostitution or drug possession, resulting
in a massive influx of drug dealers into the city.
As
California's homeless people camp out on railroad tracks, train-related deaths are rising. California's
railroad tracks are now lined with men and women sleeping in tents or under cardboard boxes, from the underpasses of Oakland
and L.A. to the farmlands of the Central Valley. As a result, train deaths have become the latest side effect of the
state's vast unmet need for affordable shelter, according to experts who have linked the homeless crisis to the steady uptick
in train deaths in California. The state annually leads the nation in pedestrian railroad fatalities, even when
accounting for its larger population.
San
Francisco homeless crisis worries some attendees at JPMorgan summit: 'The Bill Clinton of cities'. JPMorgan is
holding its annual health care conference in San Francisco this week. But some attendees — when gazing out
the windows of their $2,000-a-night hotel rooms or past the doors of another champagne-infused party — have
reportedly noticed the city has lost ground in its fight against homelessness. "I feel unsafe walking around at night,
especially as a young woman," Selin Kurnaz, a co-founder of Massive Bio, told Bloomberg. Other executives at the
JPMorgan Healthcare Conference have gone on social media to voice their concerns about the city's decline and have posted
about watching city officials clean human excrement off the streets.
Homeless
Mom Calls Offer To Help Squatters Occupying Oakland House 'An Insult'. One of the homeless mothers who has been
living in a vacant West Oakland house since Nov. 18 scoffed Saturday night [1/11/2020] at an offer by the house's owner to
pay to move them out and shelter them for the next two months, calling the offer "an insult." Earlier Saturday, the
property owner planning to have two homeless mothers evicted next week from a West Oakland home offered on Saturday to pay to
shelter them for the next two months. Real estate investment firm Wedgewood Properties is offering to foot the bill for
their move and to pay a nonprofit to house the women for the next two months, a spokesman said.
California
waterways [are] polluted with alarming levels of dangerous fecal bacteria due to homelessness. California's
beaches, rivers, and streams have become contaminated with alarming levels of dangerous fecal bacteria thanks to the liberal
state's escalating homelessness crisis. President Trump recently spotlighted the terrifying epidemic on Twitter, [...]
Predictably, the Left mocked Trump, saying he was wrong. A San Francisco official even disputed his allegations.
However, experts say Trump is correct: California's waterways are becoming increasingly polluted with disease-promoting
bacteria because homeless people defecate and bathe in public rivers and streams. This is dangerous not only for them,
but for the public at large because the bacteria can cause an infectious disease epidemic.
Here's
a Look Inside LA's New $600,000 to $700,000 Condos for the Homeless. Sure, most of us can't afford a $600,000
condo in a trendy neighborhood, in one of the most expensive places to live in the country. But if you're homeless in
Los Angeles, a condo can be yours! The new condo development is the first of 118 projects to be built over the next six
years to house the homeless and other needy people in Los Angeles, California, according to the mayor's office.
A media that fails to
report the biggest stories is no fit custodian. In a year in which the homelessness crisis has been front and
center of media attention, it seems that not everyone is pulling heir weight. While there was a national improvement,
the Golden State dragged down the numbers. [...] And this from the state represented by two of the Democratic Party's top
dogs. Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi both represent California, and in many ways, represent their party on the national
stage. These are the folks that are determined to shape the country if their team wins in 2020.
Homelessness
Crisis in the Not So Golden State. The nation of hope, hard work, wealth, and unlimited potential is reeling
from a new Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report that claims our priorities do not include the care of
the most vulnerable of our society. During the season when charitable giving is on the minds of the people, the homeless
population rates low on the humanitarian programs list. The ironic and incredibly inconvenient truth is California
leads the way, adding an implausible 16.4% of unsheltered families, veterans, and elder Americans attempting to survive on
the streets. The report also highlights a boost of 21,306 homeless people in the Golden State compared to last year,
which essentially renders the progress other states have worked diligently to achieve null and void. The unsheltered
population decreased dramatically in 29 states — including Washington, D.C. It should've been a banner
year to celebrate, but California skewed the curve.
Ben Carson:
I hoped to find more 'urgency in the leadership' in California on homelessness. Housing and Urban Development
Secretary Ben Carson said Thursday that California's government is not showing "urgency" in finding constructive solutions to
the state's homelessness epidemic. Carson told Ed Henry exclusively on "The Story" that the U.S. has made great strides
over the last 10 years to reduce homelessness — if the figures omitted the Golden State. "It's truly
amazing. We've actually been making very good progress over the course of the last decade, in terms of homelessness,
except in California," he said.
Homelessness
crisis: From houseboats to boulders, unconventional methods used to tackle problem in 2019. [Scroll
down] The homeless situation in Oakland, Calif., is pretty grim. The city has seen a 47 percent increase in
homelessness in the past two years and elected leaders like Councilman Noel Gallo say the situation is only getting worse.
Currently, city council members are considering a proposal that would house 1,000 homeless people living in the Bay Area on a
cruise ship. The idea was introduced by City Council President Rebecca Kaplan who said her plan "could be a great way to
house a lot of people quickly" and added that "cruise ships have been used for emergency housing after natural disasters
and for extra housing for things like the Olympics." Kaplan is expected to present her full proposal to the council in
January and claims her plan will be at "no or low" cost to the city because the people on aboard would pay for their rooms
based on their income.
The Editor says...
[#1] Most of the homeless have an income of zero, or near-zero. Many have an income based largely or entirely
on theft. This idea will not pay for itself. [#2] This is not "emergency housing." It will not be
temporary. The bums will come aboard and stay for the rest of their miserable lives if no pressure is applied.
[#3] This 1,000-passenger ship will fill up immediately, and another one will be demanded. [#4] Subsequent
ships will fill up quickly with illegal aliens. That might not be a bad thing. Maybe they could all go on a
nice cruise: A one-way voyage to Yucatán!.
'Really
bad job': Trump rips California governor over state's homeless population. President Trump and California
Gov. Gavin Newsom traded barbs over the growing homeless population in the state. Following the Democratic debate
last week, Newsom blamed the president's Department of Housing and Urban Development, led by Secretary Ben Carson, for the
rise in homelessness in his state. [...] Trump didn't take Newsom's remarks lying down. He fired back on Christmas Day,
tweeting, "Governor Gavin N has done a really bad job on taking care of the homeless population in California. If he
can't fix the problem, the Federal Govt. will get involved!"
California
Governor Gavin Newsom Blames Homelessness On President Trump. California Governor Gavin Newsom says that
California's failure to curb rising homelessness in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco is the fault of President
Donald Trump and the Trump Administration, not a stalemate in the California legislature or failed progressive efforts to
curb the rise of tent cities and transient populations. Speaking in Sacramento, California, last week, Newsom claimed
that Trump is deliberately withholding "key information" that California needs in order to properly address the homelessness
problem, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "California is making historic investments now to help our communities
fight homelessness," Newsom said. "But we have work to do and we need the federal government to do its part."
Dorm
Housing, Communal TVs, Underground Tunnels Envisioned For 'All-Inclusive' $3 Billion, 300-Acre City For The
Homeless. [Scroll down] Residents would be provided RFID-enabled wristbands to gain access to their dorm
rooms as well as perform tasks such as job check-in, purchasing items with credits, medicine consumption, and more.
Each of the four neighborhoods will have their own cafeteria and kitchen and multiple scheduled eating times to accommodate a
150,000-person population, according to [Daune] Nason. The neighborhoods will also be fitted with tiered seating for
residents to watch TV in a community setting within their neighborhood.
The Editor says...
That's great, except for a few details:
[#1] The taxpayers will pay for it all, as soon as the "crowdfunding" crowd tires of paying, or taxpayers will finish the work
when private contributions dry up during construction. [#2] This place is really going to need a lot of
employees — mostly cops and janitors — because homeless bums have a reputation for defecating wherever they please.
[#3] The only thing this project will accomplish is that the residents will no longer be technically homeless. Nothing
about this project will encourage anyone to grow out of it. [#4] If U.S. citizenship is not required for residency, the
whole place will soon be overrun by illegal aliens. [#6] Everyone will be provided with RFID-enabled wristbands.
But homeless bums are not exactly the most responsible adults in town; and before long, one of them will lose his wristband or
barter it for drugs. Then many more will do the same. Then the government will make this announcement: To keep
you from losing yourRFIDchip, we will just inject it under your skin, just like we do for pets and
livestock. Then you won't be able to lose it. If this scenario doesn't sound familiar, you haven't read the book of Revelation,
Chapter 13. [#7] The proposed Homeless Mall can be built in the middle of nowhere. It doesn't have to be
in the middle of a city. It doesn't have to be interconnected with tunnels. It doesn't have to be a work of architechtural
beauty. The people who would be living there are currently living (and defecating) in the streets. They don't have to live
near their places of employment because they have none. [#8] Many homeless people are mentally ill and should
be locked up. Many of them are criminals and sociopaths.
Many of them don't want to be told where to live, and can't be forced to move into the Homeless Mall. How are any of these
people going to peacefully co-exist with indigent but otherwise normal families? [#9] If there are people living in
the streets because apartment rent is too high, or the price of a house is too high, that's probably because of decades of
Democratic Party union-pandering tree-hugging big-government regulations. These conditions were created by the same people who now want
to solve the problem by pouring more money on it. [#10] Watching TV doesn't help anything, especially if the
TV is tuned to CNN.
California
Governor Blames Trump, Republican Party for State's Homeless Problems. Like every other problem facing
California, the governor takes zero responsibility and calls on others to take action. Democrats have been at the helm
in California as the homeless problem has spiraled completely out of control. But somehow it's the Republican Party and
Trump's fault.
California's
Approach To Homelessness: That's Not How This Works. California's festering experience with homelessness
is a similar story. Despite all the spending, and the pleas and plans for additional money, homelessness has spiked 30%
since 2017 in San Francisco, grew 16% in the city of Los Angeles and 12% in the county over 2018, and swelled 42% in San Jose
over two years. In Alameda County, the number of homeless has jumped 43% since 2017. The homeless population has been
climbing sharply in Sacramento, and Santa Clara and Kern counties, as well. Even Sonoma County, known for its wines,
not urban problems, has a mile-long tent city. The misery has reached the point that nearly half of the nation's
homeless who sleep on the streets and in other public places are in California. None can doubt homelessness in
California is a genuine crisis. Human urine and feces litter San Francisco streets (and at least one Safeway aisle),
and diseases that plagued man during the Medieval period, as well running-wild rats and accumulating trash, are exhausting
Los Angeles. Violence has reached a point that even veterans of the street haven't seen before.
Dr.
Marc Siegel: San Francisco 'awash in human waste'. Fox News medical correspondent Dr. Marc Siegel
says San Francisco residents should be worried about the homeless crisis' effect on their health after video surfaced of a
homeless man defecating in the middle of an aisle at a local grocery store. "Isn't it ironic that a city of germaphobes,
of exercise-conscious, environmentally conscious [people] ... are now in a city that's awash in human waste, which is spreading
hepatitis A outbreaks every year," Siegel said on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Tuesday [12/17/2019]. "Big outbreaks of
hepatitis A, rats in the streets feeding off of the garbage in sewage, typhus, typhoid fever, rotten bacterial infections
and even the plague may be coming."
California
struggles under the weight of 130,000 people living on the streets. Officials in Santa Rosa are set to unveil
emergency proposals to shelter people in fairgrounds as the city - and the state - struggles with a homeless emergency where
more than 130,000 people are living on the streets across California. In Santa Rosa, around 185 people have set up a
mile-long camp along the Joe Rodota Trail, next to Highway 12. The proposed plan, set to be unveiled on Tuesday, will
allow some of those living in the camp and the rest of the 3,000 homeless people in Sonoma County to move into the fairgrounds,
The Press Democrat reports. Leaders in the city, struggling with the biggest homeless camp in its history, are said to
have been inspired by how the fairgrounds were used during wildfires and flooding.
Citing
crappy streets, Oracle moves annual conference from San Francisco to Las Vegas. I guess needle-strewn streets
and Greta Thunberg murals are not the tourist draws that one would expect! Citing dirty streets and high hotel costs,
Oracle has decided to move its important annual conference from San Francisco. [...] The SFTA estimates the total loss of
$64,000,000 a year to the local economy due to this decision. Oracle's event is the second major conference that has
relocated due to public health concerns.
Oakland
official wants to house 1,000 homeless people on a cruise ship. A San Francisco Bay Area city official wants to
explore the possibility of using a cruise ship to house up to 1,000 homeless people as the state continues to struggle with
the homelessness crisis. Oakland City Council President Rebecca Kaplan told a council meeting on Tuesday that the ship
would be brought to the Port of Oakland, but port officials said Wednesday [12/11/2019] the move would be 'untenable'. 'We
respect President Kaplan's desire to address homelessness but Port of Oakland docks are designed to work cargo ships, there isn't
the infrastructure to berth a cruise ship,' port spokesman Mike Zampa said.
The Editor says...
[#1] Who owns this ship?
[#2] Is this a ship that will never be used for paying passengers again, after this experiment concludes?
[#3] Who qualifies for admission to this program?
[#4] Who will feed the thousand people?
[#5] Are these the same people who are currently defecating in the streets and leaving used needles everywhere?
[#6] Couldn't the same thing be accomplished with a barge instead of a cruise ship?
San
Francisco's 'poor street conditions' a factor in city's loss of $64M Oracle tech conference: reports. Oracle, a
major Silicon Valley tech company, will move its annual OpenWorld conference to Las Vegas next year due to San Francisco's
expensive hotel rates and the city's "poor street conditions," according to reports. The loss of OpenWorld, which has
been held in San Francisco for about 20 years, is raising new concerns about whether the city's struggles with homelessness,
open drug use and street violence may be scaring off tourism and other business, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
"For the industry, for the city, to have a major conference leave us impacts all of us," Kevin Carroll, chief executive of
the Hotel Council of San Francisco, which represents hotel owners, told the newspaper.
Immigrant
doctor launches recall petition against California Gov. Newsom. A San Diego doctor who emigrated from
South America is pushing to oust California Gov. Gavin Newsom, arguing the state's left-wing leadership has allowed
cities to become "overrun by homelessness." "I came here legally at age 11. Having grown up in extreme
poverty and being homeless to now being one of San Diego's most prominent physicians, that's the American Dream, that's the
California dream. And that's what Gov. Newsom and left-wingers in the legislature are progressively destroying,"
James Veltmeyer said on "Fox & Friends" Monday [12/2/2019]. Homelessness is a growing problem in California. For
example, the homeless population in San Francisco has grown to more than 17,000, a 30 percent jump from last year,
according to a city database.
A
bill would make it harder to control California's thriving rats. What is behind the rat boom? Thanks to
the end of California's long drought, more fruit has fallen from trees or is tossed into the compost piles that rats
love. Lengthening warm seasons have increased rodent breeding. Also to blame are policies that have restricted
homebuilding in California and thereby driven up rents. Homelessness is soaring as a result — California is
home to 12% of Americans but nearly half the country's "unsheltered", according to federal statistics. The resulting
outdoor defecation feeds roaches for rats to eat. Clutter and food in homeless encampments offer rats hiding places and
additional grub.
San Francisco's
Poop Problem. The City of San Francisco's Department of Public Works responded to tens of thousands of "human
or animal waste" reports in the first 10 months of 2019, according to the city data. The department responded to 25,084
such cases from January through October of this year, according to the city's 311 data portal. The city is averaging
more than 80 waste cases reported to the department every day in 2019 and is on pace to surpass last year's number of
excrement reports, the publicly available records show.
Taking
off the woke glasses. Now, we are living in a time in which those committing crimes will not likely face up to
consequences befitting their transgressions. In California, it appears that homelessness and petty crime go
together. All kinds of offenses are occurring with little or no accountability for those involved. New York is
suspending bond and bail for criminality, including assault, arson, bribery, resisting arrest and so much more. Radical
mobs are outright intimidating and assaulting those who don't agree with their philosophy and are mostly getting away with
their heinous behavior and actions. The tiniest bit of common sense would indicate that bad behavior and disregard for
law cannot be corrected with inaction. In other words, bad behavior without consequences begets more bad
behavior. This is elementary stuff, right?
Homeless
man hurls bucket of diarrhea at woman near Hollywood Walk of Fame. A homeless man dumped a bucket of "hot"
diarrhea on a Los Angeles woman near the Hollywood Walk of Fame — an unprovoked attack that's left her with PTSD,
she said this week. Heidi Van Tassel said she was about to drive home from a Thai restaurant near the famed tourist
area in April when the alleged assailant, Jere Blessings, dragged her out of her vehicle, news station NBC4 reported.
He pulled her into the middle of the street, where he dumped a bucket of feces over her head, she said.
Homeless
crimes in L.A. skyrocket [and] devolve into feces attacks. Crimes committed by homeless persons in Los
Angeles — along with the depravity of the attacks — are skyrocketing. A local NBC affiliate's
"Streets of Shame" series tallied the numbers over the past two years while interviewing a victim who was recently covered in
human waste. "It was diarrhea. Hot liquid. I was soaked, and it was coming off my eyelashes and into my
eyes," victim Heidi Van Tassel said during an interview that aired Monday. "Paramedics who came to treat me said there
was so much of it on me, that it looked like the man was saving it up for a month." The station said there were 6,528
homeless attacks in 2017, along with another 9,846 crimes reported in 2018.
Oakland's homeless
stats soar as pressure grows from residents, businesses for a solution. Oakland has seen a 47 percent jump in
homelessness — one of the largest surges of any California city, according to a one-night street count released in
July. The count, which used federal guidelines, showed Oakland had 4,071 homeless people in 2019, up from 2,761 in
2017. The increase puts the city's per capita homeless rate higher than neighboring San Francisco and Berkeley and comes
at a time when several West Coast cities are struggling with a homeless crisis that's being driven by rising rents, drug
addiction, mental illness and pushback from progressives. The Point-In-Time Count also found that the number of people
living in their vehicles had more than doubled, skyrocketing 131 percent. At the beginning of the year, there were
1,430 people living in their vehicles, up from 618 in 2017. Roughly half called their cars and vans home while
the others sought shelter in recreational vehicles.
Welcome to 'Hotel California'.
After more than 20 years here, the landscape has changed. Rarely does a day pass when I do not encounter the genderless
homeless and their dogs encamped at a traffic signal or in the littered brush at the edge of a parking lot. Errant
shopping carts routinely make their way from local markets to freeway underpasses, where they function as the support columns
for an endless tract of tent homes. Sleeping bags, plastic bags, poly tarps, and cardboard are the cooperative building
materials of the street. With a burgeoning homeless population of some 50,000, Los Angeles now boasts one of the
largest unsheltered communities in the United States. It is a rough group of heroin addicts, prostitutes, the mentally
ill, and folks who are simply down and out in Tinseltown.
Is
California Becoming Premodern? Californians know that having tens of thousands of homeless in their major
cities is untenable. In some places, municipal sidewalks have become open sewers of garbage, used needles, rodents and
infectious diseases. Yet no one dares question progressive orthodoxy by enforcing drug and vagrancy laws, moving the
homeless out of cities to suburban or rural facilities, or increasing the number of mental hospitals.
The Derangement
Syndromes of Our Time. Who doesn't feel compassion? Who wouldn't do whatever they can to help someone in
need? But there are intractable problems with compassion gone wild. In practice, misguided compassion breeds
debauchery and dependence. Anyone wishing to see the former is invited to drive the streets of San Francisco, where
they may smell human excrement, tons of which are deposited each week on the sidewalks and gutters by the city's nearly
10,000 homeless. They may witness thousands of intravenous drug addicts buying and injecting this poison in
state-sanctioned acts of slow-motion suicide. Anyone wishing to see the latter is invited to tour pretty much any
legacy housing project in America, where welfare checks and free rent made the presence of a father not merely unnecessary
but economically disadvantageous.
Former
San Francisco mayoral candidate: Years of liberal policies have caused homelessness 'tragedy'. Liberal
policies in San Francisco are inflating California's homeless crisis and driving longtime residents out of the city, former
mayoral candidate Richie Greenberg said Thursday [10/17/2019]. Appearing on "Fox & Friends" with co-hosts Brian Kilmeade
and Ainsley Earhardt, Greenberg said that as the state government has moved farther and farther to the left over the
years — adapting socialist ideals — the homeless population has only grown.
This
city in Idaho is why L.A. can't legally clear its streets of homeless encampments. The homeless men and women
who live in Idaho's largest city are well-nigh invisible. You might see a line waiting for the main library doors to
open. Or a solitary shape, wrapped in a blanket, sleeping at the base of a bridge along the Boise River. Or maybe
a grizzled veteran holding a cardboard sign at a busy corner. But just one. The difference between homelessness
in Los Angeles and homelessness in Boise is stark — as in orders of magnitude stark. There is no skid row
here, no Tenderloin like San Francisco's, no American River Parkway as in Sacramento. Yet, it is this midsize city with
its relatively manageable homeless population that is setting the enforcement standards for its much bigger counterparts in
the West.
The Homeless
Myth: It's not about the real estate, it's about the drug use and mental illness. Los Angeles used to be
known as the epicenter of the entertainment industry, nutty health fads, and compulsive narcissism. These days, it's
ground zero for the homeless crisis and its myths. Every underpass harbors grimy tent cities with their own colonies of
rats and roaches. Schizophrenics wander the most fashionable streets shouting at the sky. Human waste and needles
litter downtown streets. Typhus and Hepatitis A spread out from these oases of misery into the general
population. It's not that the city doesn't care. If anything, Los Angeles cares too much. Voters have
passed multiple propositions spending over $4.6 billion on the homeless. They raised their own sales tax. They
built homeless housing at as much as $500,000 per unit. That's enough to buy a mansion in some parts of America.
Did that solve the problem? Try walking through one of those tent cities and you'll find out.
Crazy
and Woke on the Western Front of Progressive Insanity. Thanks to progressive ideology as expressed in laws and court rulings,
in California today you cannot arrest and hold vagrants for petty theft or possession of hard drugs; you cannot move them out of public
spaces unless you can provide them with free and "permanent supportive housing;" you cannot commit demonstrably insane people to asylums;
and publicly funded shelters must offer food and urgent care without any preconditions whatsoever. Testimonials from residents of
Venice Beach provide ample evidence of what happens when you impose these progressive policies on an urban area bordered on the west by
some of the most inviting beaches and agreeable weather in the world. An estimated 1,200 homeless people have set up permanent
encampments in this three square mile beach town. They almost never use actual toilets.
Audit
Finds Cost of Building Supportive Housing in L.A. Exceeds Median Price of a Market-Rate Condo. High fees,
excessive regulation, and NIMBY ("not in my backyard") opposition to new housing have contributed to Los Angeles' worsening
homelessness crisis. Those same things are now frustrating the city's efforts to construct thousands of units of
affordable and supportive housing, where social services can be offered on-site. On Tuesday [10/8/2019], Los Angeles
Controller Ron Galperin released a damning audit of the performance of Prop. HHH, a $1.2 billion bond issue passed
overwhelmingly in 2016 to help finance the construction of 10,000 units of housing for homeless and low-income residents.
Some
of Los Angeles' homeless could get apartments that cost more than private homes, study finds. Having made a
deep financial commitment to create housing for some of its 27,000 unsheltered homeless people, Los Angeles is falling short
in building new apartments to take thousands of people off the streets, a new study finds. Nearly three years after
city voters approved a $1.2 billion construction program over 10 years, the city has yet to see the first building
completed. Average per-apartment costs have zoomed more than $100,000 past prior predictions, the study by city
Controller Ron Galperin finds.
San Francisco, Hostage to the
Homeless. Everyone's on drugs here ... and stealing," an ex-felon named Shaku explains as he rips open a blue
Popsicle wrapper with his teeth. Shaku is standing in an encampment of tents, trash, and bicycles, across from San
Francisco's Glide Memorial Church. Another encampment-dweller lights a green crack pipe and passes it around. A
few paces down the street, a gaunt man swipes a credit card through a series of parking meters to see if it has been reported
stolen yet. For the last three decades, San Francisco has conducted a real-life experiment in what happens when a
society stops enforcing bourgeois norms of behavior. The city has done so in the name of compassion toward the
homeless. The results have been the opposite: street squalor and misery have increased, even as government
expenditures have ballooned.
Homelessness
Isn't Just a Humanitarian Problem. California has a homelessness crisis, but Californians don't agree about
what it is. To homeless advocates, social service providers, many politicians and most journalists, it's a humanitarian
problem — a social tragedy of rapidly increasing numbers of men, women and families living without shelter,
vulnerable to crime, disease and degradation. This state of affairs, they believe, is a "moral disaster." For
pedestrians pushed into the street by blocked sidewalks, women afraid of unruly men screaming obscenities, patio diners beset
by panhandlers and homeowners discovering human feces in their yards, it's an environmental catastrophe — the
neighborhood equivalent of an oil spill. They want someone to clean it up and prevent it from happening again.
San
Francisco removes boulders meant to deter homeless campers because they were 'not big enough'. The city of San Francisco
on Monday [9/30/2019] removed about two dozen small boulders from a residential side street after a group of neighbors had them
installed last week in an effort to deter homeless people from camping out on along the sidewalk amid the city's ongoing crisis.
San Francisco's Public Works removed the rocks set up along Clinton Park in the city's Mission Dolores neighborhood. Residents
last week said they pooled their funds to keep drug users from having a space to shoot up as they camp out overnight.
San
Francisco residents use rocks to block homeless camping. Fed up with what they see as the city's failure to
combat homelessness and rampant drug use, the neighbors had boulders delivered to their sidewalk to block people from
pitching tents on their street. That started a fight that shows the frustration with an unprecedented homelessness
crisis in California.
San
Francisco residents line sidewalk with boulders to block homeless camps. California has returned to its "Wild
West" roots, as individuals strive to civilize the coast using their wits and initiative. Case-in-point:
Residents of a San Francisco side street have trucked in boulders to discourage homeless camping near their homes.
Dems
Will Make Homelessness Worse. If Democrats capture the White House in 2020, your own neighborhood is likely to
look like the disease-ridden tent slums taking over Los Angeles and San Francisco. Presidential hopeful Elizabeth
Warren insists it's wrong to ban living on the streets and in public parks. Bernie Sanders is calling for a 3% cap on
annual rent hikes, the kind of poisonous rent control law that deters new housing construction and worsens homelessness.
Scott
Pressler's Group Cleaned Up L.A. Homeless Camp In 9 Hours; Removed 50 Tons Of Garbage. Conservative activist
Scott Presler continued to deliver on his pledge to clean up Democrat-led cities across the country. He tackled his biggest
project yet on Saturday [9/21/2019]. Wearing hazmat suits, he and a group of 200 volunteers spent nine hours removing
50 tons of garbage from an L.A. homeless camp. The photographs show a remarkable transformation.
Carson
outrages HUD staffers with comments about transgender homeless. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben
Carson made comments about transgender people that outraged some staffers at the HUD office in San Francisco, causing at
least one of them to walk out of the room. During a HUD meeting, Carson warned about "big, hairy men" posing as women
to get into battered women's shelters, according to several sources who spoke to the Washington Post. The
remarks made several of the 50 present HUD staffers visibly upset and led one woman to walk out of the meeting, though an
official who spoke to the Post clarified that Carson was not trying to single out transgender women with his comments.
Ben
Carson Defends Putting Homeless Women Before Transgender Dogma. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) Ben Carson issued an agency-wide email Friday [9/20/2019] attacking a "blatant mischaracterization" of his comments
about transgenderism during his visit to California this week, which reportedly offended bureaucrats in San Francisco. [...]
Carson's concern — that women could be at risk from being housed together with those who are biologically male but
who say that their gender identity is female — is not unique.
Trump
admin's scathing letter rejecting Newsom's request for funds: Clean up your act first! Housing and Urban
Development Secretary Ben Carson toured Los Angeles to get a first-hand view of the city's homeless epidemic. His visit
came after the state asked for federal money to help clean its disease-infested streets. Trump has been vocal about
California's disastrous situation, vowing something must be done to stop it. California Gov. Newsom seized the
moment and fired off a letter to President Trump demanding more money — so the local government can fix what it created.
California's
Request for Federal Funding to Combat Homelessness Rejected by Trump Administration. As the homelessness crisis
in California escalates, state officials requested increased federal funding to combat the issue, only to be rejected by
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, as reported by ABC. The request letter was signed by Governor Gavin
Newsom (D-Calif.) and "mayors of the state's 13 largest cities." The letter points out California's recent increase in
spending on welfare programs, and claims that the "[Trump] Administration has proposed significant cuts to public housing and
programs like the Community Development Block Grant."
Trump,
Carson reject California's request for federal help on homelessness. At the same time that President Donald
Trump and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson are promising federal action to intervene in homelessness in
California, they're rejecting requests from local officials for help and escalating the blame game between the federal
government and the state. California Gov. Newsom and local leaders[,] including mayors of the state's 13 largest
cities[,] wrote to Trump this week to ask for more federal funds to expand programs like housing vouchers that help people
get off the street into stable living situations.
Trump
says EPA will cite San Francisco for pollution stemming from homelessness issues. President Trump on Wednesday
[9/18/2019] said he expects the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to slap San Francisco with a violation notice in the
coming days related to pollution associated with the city's homeless people. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force
One, Trump again took aim at Los Angeles and San Francisco over the volume of homeless people in each city. But he
escalated his rhetoric, saying an announcement citing San Francisco for environmental violations would come in the next week.
The
Broken Promise of American Cities. Hope for a better future in California is rapidly becoming a stillborn
dream, as the connection between decay and the politics of progressivism becomes painfully clear. The proponents of
this secular theology may be getting a wakeup call soon, as the Golden State's cities teeter on the edge of bubonic oblivion,
with rats teeming through the streets of Los Angeles, even forcing temporary, partial closures of City Hall. Skid Row
has unfurled its filthy tendrils into the halls of the Los Angeles Police Department's Central Division station, with
officers falling ill as vermin lay siege to their precinct. But the explosion of the rat population, catalyzed by the
feculence of homeless encampments across the state, has not deterred lawmakers from advancing a bill to ban rat poison in the
name of human health and environmental concerns. In the progressive mind, even mentioning the risk of disease caused by
these policies is somehow tantamount to racist dog-whistling. San Francisco, the rainbow flagship of our brave new
world, even has a "no-kill, catch-and-release" policy for rodents.
Why
California Keeps Making Homelessness Worse. On Tuesday, fifteen officials from the White House toured Skid Row
in Los Angeles with the head of a local homeless shelter. "Four or five of them were from the Environmental Protection
Agency," Rev. Andy Bales of Union Mission church told me. "That's because human waste flows into storm sewers."
California is home to some of the world's toughest environmental and public health laws, but skyrocketing homelessness has
created an environmental and public health disaster. The 44,000 people living, eating, and defecating on the streets of
L.A. have brought rats and medieval diseases including typhus. Garbage is everywhere. Experts fear the return of
cholera and leprosy.
Report:
Trump Wants To Shut Down California Homeless Camps. President Donald Trump is reportedly fed up with the
homeless camps that dot the California landscape and wants to move the residents into some form of transitional
housing. The camps are not only an eyesore but contribute to lawlessness. The problem has intensified over the
summer and Trump is apparently ready to move beyond criticizing the state's lack of response to proving solutions, sources
told the Washington Post Tuesday [9/10/2019].
San
Francisco shopkeeper considers closing his store after being bitten by a homeless person for the second time in four
months. A San Francisco shop owner who was been bitten by a homeless man for the second in time in months says
he will close his store rather than put up with the 'nuisance'. Gilles DeSaulniers, 67, said he was trying to subdue a
homeless man who had pushed his sister after she tried to eject him for the second time that day from their South of Market
store. But while holding onto him, the man 'twisted his head' and bit the shopkeeper's arm in an attempt to escape.
With
more homeless riding San Francisco trains, crime is up and ridership is down. Not surprisingly, the numbers are
highest in the winter when the number of homeless people is nearly 300 per every hundred train cars. The increase in
the number of homeless riding the trains coincides with an increase in reported crimes, including violent crimes. In
June, the Chronicle reported robberies were up 128 percent over five years while aggravated assaults were up 83 percent.
Those figures appeared in a Grand Jury report which specifically cited homelessness as a major contributor to declining ridership.
And that's the big problem for BART. The train system was never intended to be a living space for the homeless but that's
what it is becoming.
Los
Angeles homeless dying in droves. We've covered a number of stories here dealing with the homelessness crisis
in Los Angeles which has been out of control and growing for several years now. Most of these tales have to do with
drug addiction, mental illness, crimes committed both by and against the homeless and people using the streets as their
bathrooms. But there's another, even darker element to this story featured in the LA Times this week. As
it turns out, the homeless are not just living on the streets. They're dying on them and in large numbers.
Sacramento's
business owners tell how they confront naked junkies and streets covered in feces, urine and syringes. Cali
Carlisle admits she is a heroin addict — 'but in a healthy way,' she insists, even if the visual evidence belies
that claim. Her nose is the brightest shade of red imaginable. She constantly picks at scabs all over her
body. Her home is a makeshift bed beneath Interstate 80 in Sacramento. And Monday was her 26th birthday.
Not that you would ever guess. Anyone looking at her would think she is at least 15 years older.
Former
Los Angeles city administrative officer: homeless problem 'going to get worse before it gets better'. A former
Los Angeles city administrative officer stepping down from a committee overseeing a homelessness program said this week the
citywide problem is going to get worse before it gets better, according to a report. [...] Between 50,000 and 60,000 people
sleep on the streets in Los Angeles County every night, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority —
a number second only to New York City.
California
salon owner claims the homelessness crisis is forcing her to relocate after 15 years. A hair salon owner in
California says she will be forced to move her business due to the problems of homeless people sleeping outside her
shop. Elizabeth Novak, who owns a hair salon in downtown Sacramento, posted a video on Twitter on Friday describing how
she often finds people camping in tents across her front door. She told how the vagrancy crisis gripping the state is
affecting long-standing business owners and that her shop has been broken into and she has even been attacked. Novak,
who has run her salon for 15 years, said in her social media message that she often has to clean-up urine, feces and
needles left by rough sleepers on her doorstep.
Gov. Gavin Newsom's claim about the homeless was so absurd
even Politifact couldn't spin it. Back in June, California Gov. Gavin Newsom made an incredible claim
about homeless people in his state. Asked why the homeless population hadn't declined when he was Mayor of San
Francisco, Newsom said, "The vast majority (of San Francisco's homeless people) also come in from — and we know
this — from Texas. Just (an) interesting fact." Newsom's claim was discounted by the LA Times last
month but Politifact decided to investigate independently. This week the least reliable fact-checker in the business
agreed that Newsom's statement was absurd, giving it a "Pants on Fire" rating.
Bubonic
Plague May Join Homelessness, Rats on List of Crises in Los Angeles. Los Angeles's homelessness problems could
soon turn into a much larger health crisis as the state is failing to address its growing rodent problem, Dr. Drew
Pinsky, celebrity doctor and media personality, told Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams. During an interview on Periscope,
Dr. Drew, as he's commonly known, told Adams that just after Los Angeles had to deal with with a typhus outbreak, the
city should brace for an imminent outbreak of the bubonic plague — the same disease that killed 60% of the
European human population in the late Middle Ages.
Socialist
utopia of Berkeley. Already a bastion of the Left, in 2016 Berkeley, CA, a "sanctuary" city, tilted further to
the left when residents voted as mayor 32-year-old Jesse Arregu'n, who had no prior government or administrative experience
and had never held a private-sector job. Although Arreguin is a homeless advocate "passionately committed to social
justice," Berkeley's homeless marked his election as mayor by smearing feces on and around city hall. Under Arreguin's
far-left city government, Berkeley's homeless population increased 13% in just two years.
Homeless
Surge Hits Oakland, Silicon Valley, San Francisco Suburbs. San Francisco saw its homeless population rise by
17% in the last two years, but the rise in many surrounding counties has been worse. A report Monday [7/22/2019] by
Curbed San Francisco summarizing the figures noted: "Five out of nine Bay Area Counties — i.e., all of those
not located in the North Bay — saw their homeless counts spike during the same period, with each other county
showing worse homelessness surges than SF."
Video
Captures Shocking Extent Of L.A. Homeless Crisis In 4 Minutes. The latest video by popular man-on-the-street
interviewer Austen Fletcher efficiently captures the alarming homeless situation in the city of Los Angeles, particularly the
infamous "Skid Row," wherein reside thousands of homeless people — most of whom are either suffering severe
psychological problems or substance addiction, and among whom hundreds of sexual predators roam.
Amid
Homelessness Crisis, SF Residents Sue To Block New Shelter. Remember when we talked about the 30% increase in
homelessness in San Francisco? At the time I suggested that some combination of public and private investment might be
needed to combat the problem. As it turns out, just such a proposal is moving forward, with construction getting
underway on a 200-bed temporary shelter located near the Giants baseball stadium. Great news, right? You might
think so, but a large group of local residents doesn't agree. Called "Safe Embarcadero for All," the group raised more
than $100K, not to help the homeless, but to bring a lawsuit aimed at stopping construction of the shelter. They're
claiming everything from improper permit approval to a failure to study environmental impacts caused by the project.
But to listen to their spokespeople, what they really mean is they don't want a bunch of homeless people hanging around.
San
Francisco: wealthy opponents of new shelter claim homeless are bad for environment. The wealthy San Francisco
residents who launched a crowdfunding campaign to block construction of a new homeless shelter in their waterfront
neighborhood are employing a new tactic: arguing that homeless people are bad for the environment. In a lawsuit filed
against the city of San Francisco and the California State Lands Commission, the residents called for the project to undergo
an environmental review before breaking ground. "This project will have a significant effect on the environment due to
these unusual circumstances, including by attracting additional homeless persons, open drug and alcohol use, crime, daily
emergency calls, public urination and defecation, and other nuisances," the lawsuit states.
Desperate
to get rid of homeless people, some are using prickly plants, fences, barriers. L.A. has struggled to stymie
the growing number of obstructions that residents and business owners are creating to target homeless people. There are
now about 59,000 people without homes in L.A. County. Within the city of Los Angeles, the population soared 16% this
year to more than 36,000 — the majority of whom are living outdoors on city streets. In parts of South L.A.,
business owners have built chain link fences around their buildings. Venice has seen a proliferation of sidewalk
planters. In Koreatown, orange mesh fences are so common that a Twitter account documenting their existence has
sprouted up. Still other Angelenos have taken to planting rosebushes and pointy cactuses in the "furniture zone," the
city's designation for the sometimes paved and sometimes grassy area between the sidewalk and street. That's where
obstacles are being placed the most, usually without permission from the city.
The Editor says...
If you hose down the bums with a firehose, you'll probably have to do that "without permission from the city" also.
It is obvious that the city is not inclined to take any meaningful action against even the most presumptuous homeless squatters.
It will probably be necessary for someone to force the issue: Some property owner is going to apply pressure to remove a homeless bum,
inflicting discomfort to such a degree that the property owner will get arrested. Then we will all find out what property rights
really mean in California.
63-year-old
woman in critical condition after random attack by homeless man in California. A 63-year-old woman taking a
break at work was beaten in an alley so badly that she was unrecognizable. She was admitted to a hospital in critical
condition. The attacker was identified by witnesses and arrested. He is 51-year-old Hector Manuel Ulloa, a
homeless man who had recently been released from jail and who has many prior convictions. NBC 4 reports he has
now been charged with attempted murder.
LA
allocates millions for trash clean up as NBC affiliate uncovers another rat-infested garbage pile. The recent
spate of negative press attention on LA's trash and rat infestation problem has apparently lit a fire under Los Angeles Mayor
Eric Garcetti. Last week, LA committed an additional $6.5 million for homeless clean-up efforts. The additional
money will fund 10 new crews with nearly 50 new sanitation workers.
The Editor says...
That's $130,000 per worker. Yes, I understand it's in California, and the crews are cleaning up rat-infested trash piles, but
that still seems like a lot of money.
Democrat
homeless disaster killing San Francisco, Los Angeles, & Seattle. A rising wave of homelessness is growing and
spreading in the major Democrat controlled cities on the Left Coast. Spreading disease, drug addiction, and social
disorder in its wake. From Seattle to San Francisco to Los Angeles the quality of life is plummeting. Democrat
municipal and state authorities seem oblivious, placing the rights of the homeless above their duty to their citizens,
taxpayers, and public safety.
Violent
Crime Up Sharply In San Francisco BART Stations. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that crime has more than
doubled in San Francisco's BART stations since 2014. The report highlighting the rise in violent crime also suggested
that as many as 15% of people riding the trains are not paying fares. [...] That grand jury report identified four factors
causing a decline in BART ridership (down 8% since 2016), first and foremost among them was homelessness. [...] If the
homeless are living on the trains and sleeping on the trains, it's a good bet they are stealing to support their habits on
the trains as well.
Bubonic
Plague In Los Angeles? Is California On The Verge Of Becoming A Third-World State? A lot has
happened. We're still dealing with the border crisis, the Democratic debates are about to begin, and Iran is rattling
the war sabers. The city of Los Angeles should be thankful there are so many distractions. The Democrat-run urban
center has become a total disgrace. And that's very common among the Left coast. Tucker Carlson had historian
Victor Davis Hanson on last week, where the latter said that California is on the verge of becoming the nation's first Third
World state. From trash being illegally dumped to city hall becoming a rat-infested den in the city of LA, it all
points to the decay suffered when Democrats run things.
California: Here
Be Monsters. California has endured its share of Old Testament calamities in the modern world. Yet at
times it seems that it will surely succumb to disasters created by its own hand. There are real monsters loose in the
streets. Rats, "an army" of them "millions strong," reports KOMO News, have "overthrown" Los Angeles. Not long
ago, "officials briefly closed part of City Hall after reporting that rodents had invaded the building," said California
Healthline. "And where there are rats," says KOMO reporter Eric Johnson, "there is disease." [...] Maybe the rats were
attracted to the "garbage mountain" that has bloomed in the city and produced quite a few unflattering, but deserving,
comments. Hepatitis A, which is spread through feces, and can be prevented through healthy hygiene and modern
sanitation, is also enjoying an afterlife, sickening more than 1,000 in Southern California, which includes San Diego, in the
last two years. It's been suggested by one physician that the bubonic plague is lurking somewhere in all this.
With
the Left in charge, Seattle and Los Angeles are dying. It's no secret to anyone paying attention that the liberalism of the
left and all its virtues control America's West Coast. However, the warm and fuzzy "progressive" aura that seems so attractive to
unschooled is a sham. Sadly, to such voters, the phrase "somebody said so" is often the only proof they need to justify their ballot
choices. But, as has is far too evident here in Seattle and in Los Angeles, such myopia has a price. The price of the Left
in Charge.
Why Are
There So Many Homeless in Los Angeles? Now everybody knows about the 36,000 homeless on the streets of LA, over
60,000 in the county, replete with human feces and syringes littering the sidewalks, along with rats, typhus and even rumors
of bubonic plague. And those figures are what we're told. No one, if you can trust the comments sections in the
LA Times or the Next Door app for my old Hollywood neighborhood, remotely believes them. They could be three or
four times the number. And how do you take a census of the homeless anyway? They are inherently nomadic. [...]
Shelters, some of them well built, have been constructed all over the city but the homeless don't want to stay in them.
The reason is these shelters are drug-free zones and the homeless of LA (and San Francisco and Seattle) are anything but
drug-free. Most are addicts.
Los
Angeles shows the state how not to address homelessness. It was a mistake to settle two lawsuits brought on
behalf of homeless people by agreeing to create a right to sleep on the sidewalks (Jones v. Los Angeles) and to store
mounds of personal property on the public right-of-way (Mitchell v. Los Angeles). But Garcetti is the particular
target of public rage. He pushed for the approval of two tax increases for homeless housing and services in 2016 and
2017, and the problem has only gotten worse. The recent Point in Time Count found that 36,300 people are homeless in
the city of Los Angeles, an increase of 16 percent from 2018. In 2017, the count was about 34,000, and that was a
20 percent jump from the previous year, when the problem was already disturbing enough that voters approved Measure HHH,
a tax increase to build homeless housing.
Scenes
from the collapse of a city that's lost control. What century is this? Is it the 21st century in the
largest city of a state that ranks among the world's most robust economies, or did someone turn back the calendar a few
hundred years? We've got thousands of people huddled on the streets, many of them withering away with physical and
mental disease. Sidewalks have disappeared, hidden by tents and the kinds of makeshift shanties you see in Third World
places. Typhoid and typhus are in the news, and an army of rodents is on the move.
What's
the matter with California? California wants to look after its people, so it keeps expanding its social safety
net. It also wants to welcome all comers and so embraces illegal immigrants and protects them in sanctuary cities.
To see how this is working out, visit Skid Row in L.A. or neighborhoods in San Francisco or elsewhere where homeless camps are
spreading. Caring for all Californians is made harder by the state importing as many non-Americans as possible.
Medieval
diseases spreading in Los Angeles prove twisted Democrat priorities endanger public health. Americans don't
have to look as far as Venezuela to see the massive failure of a government incapable of delivering the basics of what people
need from their government. A brief look at California shows how the twisted priorities of Democrat political
leadership are creating a dangerous environment for the residents of the Golden State. While combatting climate change
remains a top priority for Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrat Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the streets of
California's cities are filled with homeless camps, garbage, and disease-spreading rats. In a throwback to medieval
times, Los Angeles is facing an infectious disease epidemic caused by flea-borne disease linked to rat-infested streets.
Welcome
to Garcetti's L.A.: heaps of trash, hordes of rats and very little leadership. Los Angeles looks as if it's
digging out from a hurricane, with hordes on the streets, tents everywhere and armies of rodents on the march, inciting fears
of disease. We learned from Dakota Smith and David Zahniser in last week's avalanche of Mad Max news that the rat
circus at City Hall was tied to homeless people using the grates around the building as bathrooms. [...] And why do public
officials seem so timid about pointing out that a lot of the trash is from the ever-growing numbers of homeless people they
haven't been able to help, whether they're physically or mentally disabled, addicted, bomb-rattled from combat or evicted
from the shrinking number of available rentals?
Mohammed,
the Dirty Democrat in Charge of 'Cleaning Up' San Francisco. San Francisco has the highest rents in the
country. At an average of $3,690 for a one bedroom, it's more expensive than New York City, Hong Kong, Paris and
London. [...] Despite that, the City by the Bay is drowning in its own filth. San Fran is covered in human waste.
There have been 118,352 cases of human waste on the streets of San Francisco since 2011. That's also when Mohammed
Nuru took over as the head of the city's Department of Public Works. The Nigerian immigrant who calls himself
Mr. Clean has been promising to clean up San Francisco back to the Willie Brown days. Brown, the notoriously
corrupt city boss, had picked Nuru as his point man, after some assistance on political campaigns, appointing him DPW deputy
director in 2000. [...] But Mr. Clean was a protégé of Mayor Brown and complaints quickly rose from DPW
employees about corruption, discrimination and intimidation.
Staggering
homeless count stuns LA officials. The stunning increase in homelessness announced in Los Angeles this
week — up 16% over last year citywide — was an almost incomprehensible conundrum given the nation's
booming economy and the hundreds of millions of dollars that city, county and state officials have directed toward the
problem. [...] The new homeless count released Tuesday by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority showed nearly 59,000
people living in the streets across Los Angeles County, a 12% increase over the prior year; and 36,300 homeless people within
the city limits of LA, a 16% increase over last year's count.
How
do we deal with America's mental illness crisis? California is no longer the paradise it was under Governor
Reagan. Radical leftism has taken root. It is all but a separate country in many ways. It has its own
immigration policy, illegal under federal law. At one point, its governor even floated the idea that the state should
produce its own virtual currency in the form of accounting tricks, an action uncomfortably close to secession. Radical
leftist policies in California have put on public display the embarrassing appearance of a third-world hell-hole.
Swathes of the state, mostly in big cities, are heavily populated by semi-conscious (or even unconscious) drug addicts, and
entire city blocks seem to be covered in garbage and human feces. The problem is getting worse. A harsh comedian
suggested that conditions are so bad that illegal aliens might return to their native countries as refugees from America.
Filth
from homeless camps is luring rats to L.A. City Hall, report says. When faced with complaints earlier this year
from city workers about rats infesting L.A. City Hall, most city officials said little about whether the problem was
connected to several homeless camps right outside. But a newly uncovered report from a pest control company hired by
the city has raised fresh questions about whether officials wrongly downplayed that possibility during discussions at City
Council meetings. CatsUSA Pest Control, brought in to assess areas outside City Hall and nearby buildings, warned that
homeless people create "harborage for rodents," according to the report issued Dec. 28 and obtained last month through a
public records request by a frequent critic of City Hall.
Inside
the squalor on 'Skid Row' as typhoid scare grips Los Angeles. With rats running everywhere among piles of
decaying garbage, these shocking images of a tent city look like a sordid third world shanty — but are actually
downtown Los Angeles. The horrifying photos show what the Los Angeles Times calls "collapse of a city that's lost
control" — and what is believed to have left at least one LAPD cop with typhoid.
Ten
Plagues of California Are Turning The Golden State into a Third-World Hell Hole. In your typical Third-World
megalopolis, basic city functions fall into disrepair, while once-eradicated diseases run rampant — and the local
bigwig boasts about saving the world. Los Angeles is quickly becoming a typical Third-World megalopolis, and the rest
of the state isn't far behind. Yesterday [6/2/2019] the New York Post reported "rats running everywhere among
piles of decaying garbage," in a "sprawling 50-block area that is believed to be the base for around 4,200 homeless people."
Shocking
new pictures from downtown LA capture the huge problem it faces with trash and rats amid fear of typhoid fever outbreak among
LAPD. These shocking pictures from downtown Los Angeles capture the growing problem it faces with trash and
rodents in a desperate city also trying to contain a typhoid fever outbreak linked to worsening sanitary conditions. A
decision to not cap the total amount of property that homeless people can keep on Skid Row was announced last Wednesday and
it sparked fury among some officials who say it will 'only perpetuate the public health crisis that already exists' there.
Dr.
Drew says LA public health in 'complete breakdown': 'No city on Earth tolerates this'. The public health
situation in the nation's second-largest city is in "a complete breakdown," Dr. Drew Pinsky said Thursday night on "The
Ingraham Angle." "We have a complete breakdown of the basic needs of civilization in Los Angeles right now," Pinsky
told host Laura Ingraham. "We have the three prongs of airborne disease, tuberculosis is exploding, (and)
rodent-borne. We are one of the only cities in the country that doesn't have a rodent control program, and sanitation
has broken down."
'Sky-High'
Trash Piles Found In Los Angeles, Raising Concerns About Typhus. Apparently, problems with waste are not
limited to San Francisco. NBC4 reported Monday [5/20/2019] that "sky-high" piles of rotting trash were found around Los
Angeles, leading some to worry about a new typhus outbreak. "Even the city's most notorious trash pile, located between
downtown LA's busy Fashion and Produce districts, continues to be a magnet for rats after it was cleaned up months ago.
The rodents can carry typhus-infected fleas, which can spread the disease to humans through bacteria rubbed into the eyes or
cuts and scrapes on the skin, resulting in severe flu-like symptoms," the outlet reported. [Video clip]
San Francisco's Quality-of-Life Toll.
San Francisco is the nation's leader in property crime. Burglary, larceny, shoplifting, and vandalism are included
under this ugly umbrella. The rate of car break-ins is particularly striking: in 2017 over 30,000 reports were filed,
and the current average is 51 per day. Other low-level offenses, including drug dealing, street harassment,
encampments, indecent exposure, public intoxication, simple assault, and disorderly conduct are also rampant. Many in
law enforcement blame the crime wave on Proposition 47, which in 2014 downgraded possession of illegal narcotics for personal
use and theft of anything under $950 in value from felonies to misdemeanors. Anti-incarceration advocates disagree with
that argument, but theft is indisputably booming, and narcotics activity is exploding on sidewalks, parks, and playgrounds.
When compounded with other troubles for which the city is now infamous (human feces, filth, and homelessness, which is up
17 percent since 2017), San Franciscans find themselves surrounded by squalor and disorder.
California's
Housing Bubble's So Bad, 100s Forced To Live On Boats. California's housing affordability crisis is getting
worse. Affordability in San Francisco is now at 10-year lows, and only one in five households can afford to purchase a
median-priced single-family home in the Bay Area. The crisis has driven many people onto the water, living on makeshift
boats, outside marinas, and wealthy communities. The floating homeless population in wealthy Marin County, just across
the Golden Gate Strait from San Francisco, has doubled in the last five years to over 100. The community of 200 barges,
sailboats, and other vessels comprise of people who are employed but can't afford to live on land, jobless folks, the
homeless, and some people who are mentally ill.
California
homelessness is so out of control, people are turning to boats — Dems are clueless. California is
the country's wealthiest and most highly taxed state, but its politicians have utterly failed to tackle the state's most
basic problem: homelessness. Estimates place California's homeless population at close to 130,000. To grasp the
magnitude of that figure, imagine the entire population of New Haven, Connecticut or Charleston, South Carolina living on the
streets. Much has been written about the problems of feces on San Francisco's streets and needles on the streets in
downtown Los Angeles. But the problem has expanded far beyond those cities. It has now reached virtually all
parts of the state, including, according to reports, the state's water. In Sausalito just north of San Francisco,
neighbors are sparring with local politicians over a homeless population floating off its shores in makeshift boats!
Gov.
Gavin Newsom wants to double spending on homelessness — to $1 billion. Insisting that a fiscally
responsible state government can also aid those in need, Gov. Gavin Newsom sent California lawmakers a revised budget
Thursday that builds on his efforts to address poverty and homelessness while forecasting the largest tax revenue windfall in
state history. That windfall, Newsom said, will trigger the first-ever payment into a special cash reserve fund for
schools and community colleges — a $389-million deposit stashed away specifically for education needs during a
future recession. He also proposed an increase in spending on helping the homeless, raising the total state investment
in the upcoming budget year to $1 billion.
Do Most
Homeless People In Seattle Have A Substance Abuse Problem? In the wake of the "Seattle is Dying" news special
which aired on KOMO last month, there was some coordinated pushback from Seattle elites. A PR firm was hired to help
coordinate talking points in opposition to the conclusions of the special and in favor of some of the programs already
operating in the city. Those talking points were then rolled out in a series of seemingly unconnected articles at news
outlets like the Seattle Times and Crosscut. One of the arguments made repeatedly in these pieces is that drug use (and
also mental illness) are just one part of the problem.
In
poop-covered San Francisco, the super-rich prey on the left's merely wealthy. San Francisco is a city covered
in excrement, and now even the wealthy inhabitants of its Embarcadero are going to experience more of it, up close to home
and quite personal. [...] Maybe they should have thought of that before they elected an incompetent weakling like Mayor
London Breed based on color considerations, or passed Proposition C in that same election, taxing big businesses to pay for
More Homeless programs. The residents aren't the most sympathetic people out there, given their voting patterns.
All the same, this could be some kind of watershed, widening a new fault line on the left, given that tech billionaires were
the ones behind this, making a sort of warfare on the merely wealthy. After all, in San Francisco, there's no one
else left.
Squatting
takes on a new meaning in San Francisco. If you're not a resident of the area and are planning to visit the
famous City by the Bay but don't have the locals' notorious open-mindedness, where logic falls out and anything else crawls
in attitude and want to avoid the excrement, [Adam] Andrzejewski has helpfully included the ZIP codes with the most of it,
along with an interactive map of its locations. Other than this, enjoy your visit!
San
Francisco sees 'brownout' amid spike in public pooping, reports say. San Francisco's streets have long had a
problem with human waste, but new reports show that the Bay Area's public bowel movements are worse than ever. The
poop-data was released by Open the Books, a nonprofit government watchdog, which includes all cases closed by the San
Francisco Department of Public Works since 2011, Business Insider reported. There were over 5,000 documented cases in
2011, according to the data. In 2018, that number rose more than fivefold to over 28,000 reported cases.
Plan
for homeless center in Pelosi's district leads to raucous public meeting; SF mayor jeered. San Francisco Mayor
London Breed was heckled and jeered during a raucous community meeting Wednesday to discuss a controversial homeless center
proposal along the city's waterfront that has attracted dueling online fundraisers from critics and supporters.
"Homelessness is the number one problem that we face in our city. You cannot be upset about homelessness and then when
I propose a real solution, then you're upset about it," Breed said while trying to discuss plans to build a 200-bed Homeless
Navigation Center in the city's Embarcadero section. The area is part of California's 12th Congressional District,
represented by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat.
San
Franciscans raise $46,000 to stop homeless shelter in wealthy area. When residents from one of San Francisco's
most desirable neighborhoods launched a crowdfunding appeal to block a new homeless shelter, the controversial tactic drew an
angry response from the city's mayor. Their campaign on GoFundMe, best known as a site that hosts fundraisers for
medical expenses or victims of natural disasters, has raised around $70,000 from hedge fund managers, executives and authors,
which will be used to pay for an attorney. But it also spurred supporters of the shelter to try to beat them at their
own game. Since launching on Thursday, a rival GoFundMe has amassed over $73,000. And it had drawn hefty contributions
of $10,000 each from the Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, the Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson and from the company GoFundMe itself.
Wealthy
'NIMBY' libs in Pelosi's SF district raise $60G to fight center for city's homeless. Rich San Francisco
residents in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's congressional district have collected more than $60,000 after starting an online
crowdsourcing campaign to wage a legal challenge against a proposed center for the city's homeless. The campaign,
called "Safe Embarcadero for All," was launched March 20 after San Francisco Mayor London Breed proposed a 200-bed homeless
Navigation Center in the city's most desirable location, the Embarcadero along the coast of San Francisco Bay, earlier this
month. "The planned location for Mayor Breed's #megashelter is home to thousands of families, visited by millions of
tourists and at the center of some of San Francisco's most iconic events, including the San Francisco Marathon, San Francisco
Giants stadium and on one of the busiest bicyclist paths in the city," reads the site posted by the group opposing the construction.
Leftists
Have Turned San Francisco Into A Nightmare Of Drugs And Homelessness. There's no denying that San Francisco is
one of America's most beautiful and recognizable cities, but it has been racked with problems thanks to leftist policies that
have driven drug addiction and homelessness through the roof. The Daily Wire's Kassy Dillon and Colton Haas traveled to
the city by the bay and spoke to experts and homeless people about the conditions that have encouraged the spread of drugs,
disease, and more. During their trip, they could see the awful condition the city is currently in.
I
Went To San Francisco. What Happened To One Of America's Most Beautiful Cities? Erica Sandberg, a
community advocate and journalist, broke it down for us: "Right now the major issue — people always call it
homelessness — but the major issue is drugs." While San Francisco has always battled homelessness and
currently has about 7,000 homeless people, the drug issue is exacerbating the problem. The city currently hands out
more than 400,000 syringes each month but only 246,000 are returned, leaving 154,000 syringes left on the streets. We
spent our first day walking around the Tenderloin District, only to see our fellow Americans defecating on the sidewalk,
shooting up in broad daylight, and overall living in third-world conditions. In one children's playground we
visited, there were wrappers that once held drugs and caps of syringes.
The Crying of Lot 330.
The prospect of a 225-bed homeless shelter on the Embarcadero, one of San Francisco's most scenic and economically vital
areas, took residents by surprise. Only eight days earlier, the proposal had been unveiled to turn what is now a
parking lot — Seawall Lot 330 — into the largest homeless shelter of its type in the city.
Neighbors arrived en masse at the Port Commission hearing to express their views. It was standing-room only, with
people crowded on floors and in aisles, and spilling out the door. [...] All spoke passionately about their ties to the
neighborhood and how the shelter would erode safety and quality of life. They worried that it would intensify drug use
and other illegal activity and draw additional homeless people onto their property, leaving more needles and feces behind.
L.A.
settles homeless rights case, likely limiting ability to clear skid row streets. The Los Angeles City Council
on Wednesday [3/6/2019] agreed to settle a pivotal and contentious case on the property rights of homeless people — a
decision that is likely to limit the seizure and destruction of encampments on skid row. The 10-2 vote authorizes City
Attorney Mike Feuer to settle a 2016 lawsuit, Carl Mitchell v. Los Angeles, brought by civil rights lawyers on behalf
of homeless people and two skid row anti-poverty groups. Downtown business groups had opposed such a deal, arguing that
settling the case would deter redevelopment, and leave skid row and the people who live on its sidewalks mired in squalor.
Rats,
Fleas, And Garbage Caused A Typhus Outbreak In Los Angeles. Typhus is a bacterial infection which is spread by
lice, chiggers, and fleas. Usually, those pests find a home on rats. The rats in most cases have a population
boom because of excessive garbage. And the disease infects people who come in contact with the rats. That's what
is driving the disease in Los Angeles where an outbreak has been traced to homeless encampments.
Slum
by the Bay. [Scroll down] San Francisco authorities mostly leave the mentally ill to fend for themselves
on the street. Other vagrants complain about them. "They make it bad for people like us that hang out with a
sign," one beggar told us. San Francisco is a pretty good place to "hang out with a sign." People are rarely arrested
for vagrancy, aggressive panhandling or going to the bathroom in front of people's homes. In 2015, there were 60,491
complaints to police, but only 125 people were arrested. Public drug use is generally ignored. One woman told us,
"It's nasty seeing people shoot up — right in front of you. Police don't do anything about it! They'll
get somebody for drinking a beer but walk right past people using needles."
Typhus
Is Spreading in Liberal, Rat-Infested LA County. There are a lot of rats in LA, and, NO, for once we don't mean the
politicians although many qualify. We mean the little furry creatures who live in squalor and spread diseases. Last
September, a documentary called 'Rats' was screened as a Landmark Theatres Exclusive Midnight Event. It was frightening
because it's real. Infestations of rats are seen in major cities and elsewhere, and when garbage is left to rot in homeless
areas, they become a more serious threat to life.
The
Destruction of Venice Beach Epitomizes California's Idiocracy. Venice Beach, California, used to be one of
California's great places. [...] Today, Venice Beach is off limits to families who used to spend their Saturdays on the
sand. It's too dangerous. On the sand, beached seaweed now mingles with syringes, feces, broken glass, and other
trash, and the ocean has become the biggest outdoor toilet in the city. More than 1,000 vagrants now consider Venice
Beach their permanent home. At the same time as real estate values exploded all along the California coast, the
homeless population soared. In Venice, where the median price of a home is $2.1 million, makeshift shelters
line the streets and alleys, as the affluent and the indigent fitfully coexist.
The
high price of refusing to face facts about the homeless. Along with homeless encampments come deadly outbreaks
of hepatitis A, typhus and other communicable diseases, driven by attending drug addiction. Some parts of the city [of
San Diego] are littered with syringes. A desperate San Diego now steam cleans its streets and sidewalks. Even in
expensive neighborhoods, unguarded greenery is often strewn with trash and toilet paper, revealing where homeless people have
spent the night. The city tries to keep the squalor at bay with improved shelter programs. It even plans to
provide 500 bins where the homeless can stash their belongings, but that effort alone will cost the city about
$2 million a year in overtime for the cops who guard the lockers.
Homeless
Surge Puts Hollywood's Progressive Ideals to the Test. With swelling transient encampments abutting
seven-figure homes, the beachside enclave has emerged as a flashpoint for the inequality shaping Los Angeles — and
a real-world test case for the liberal ideology of the area's showbiz residents.
Los
Angeles Vice Office Protected By Fence to Keep Out Homeless. A new report detailing the growing scourge of
homelessness in Los Angeles indicates that while many in the media and coastal liberals mock the idea of a border wall for
America, they are fine with using fences to maintain their bubbles and keep homeless people out. According to The
Hollywood Reporter, the Los Angeles office of Vice News is protected by a fence to keep out the homeless from building
tent cities.
Wealth,
Poverty, and Flight: The Same Old State of California. [B]oth legal and illegal immigration have also
radically changed the demography of the state. It is not just that about 40 percent of the nation's 11 [to]
20 million immigrants live in California, a state in which now one in four residents was not born in the United
States. Rather, it is the result of two or three generations of mass influxes of impoverished residents who on average
arrive without a high-school diploma, English proficiency, capital, or often legality. California now hosts one of
three Americans who are on some sort of federal, state, or local welfare supplement. About a fifth of the state lives
below the poverty level. Half of all births in California were paid for by the state-run Medi-Cal program, and
30 percent of Medi-Cal births were to mothers of undocumented immigration status. The San Ysidro border crossing
between Tijuana and San Diego is the world's busiest, where some 70 million people cross on foot and in cars into and
out of California each year.
Residents
of San Francisco are now documenting squalor of city's homelessness epidemic. San Francisco has been battling
an ongoing homelessness epidemic for years, but mounting piles of human feces in its streets have become intolerable for many
residents — causing citizens to launch their own campaigns exposing the stinky (and dangerous) troubles of the
Golden City. Disgusted business owners and residents are using social media to show the magnitude of the tech-town's
indigent encampments in hopes that officials will do more to end rampant public drug use and defecation on the sidewalks.
Including
police OT, storage for homeless people's belongings costs more than an SRO hotel room. San Diego police expect
to pay $2 million in overtime to officers patrolling the neighborhood around the storage center for homeless people that
opened in Sherman Heights earlier this year. The budget projection, which was included in a quarterly monitoring report
released last month, pushes the total program expense past $3.7 million this year. Including the patrols, it means
costs associated with the 500 storage bins amount to $600 per bin per month — more than a studio apartment in many
single-room occupancy hotels.
One percent of the population commits one eighth of the aggravated assaults in a city of four million. Los
Angeles Doubled its Homeless Budget, Doubled Homeless Crime. It wasn't all that long ago that the nation watched
transfixed in horror as fires tore apart California, destroying homes and claiming lives. In all the debates about global
warming and forestry management, one singular cause of the fire was left unaddressed. Global warming wasn't starting the
fires. People were. [...] This November, the Los Angeles Zoo had to evacuate its animals over a fire in yet another homeless
encampment. That fire not only endangered lives, but diverted resources from fighting the much more serious fires in Ventura
County. But instead of shutting down the encampments, Mayor Garcetti, who has done more to legalize and subsidize homelessness
in Los Angeles than any of his predecessors, sent "outreach workers" from the expanding behemoth of the LA Homeless Services Agency
to ask them to please move. That worked about as well as expected.
Homeless
Crime in LA is Up 50%. You get more of what you subsidize. When you subsidize homelessness as Los
Angeles, New York and a number of other cities driving a boom in homelessness have been doing, you get more of it. And
you also get more of the crime that comes with it.
Homeless
Crime Jumps Nearly 50 Percent in Los Angeles, LAPD Says. The number of crimes in which homeless individuals
were listed as suspects increased by nearly 50 percent in the city of Los Angeles in 2018. Crime data provided by the
Los Angeles Police Department showed there were 8,906 crime reports between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1 this year in which a homeless
person was listed as the suspect, compared with 5,976 for the same time period in 2017. LAPD officials said most concerning
were the disproportionate number of homeless individuals listed as suspects in physical attacks that cause serious injuries,
described as, "aggravated assaults," in police records.
Los
Angeles Mayor Shouted Down by Protesters During Speech. Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti was forced to end a
speech at the University of Southern California on Monday prematurely after protesters began shouting over him about his
administration's treatment of the city's homeless population. The speech, which was intended to be a celebration of the
70th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, was interrupted after just a few minutes by a man who accused Garcetti
of preventing the homeless population from organizing a local government.
Why
won't liberals admit their homeless policies don't work? It's appropriate that the UN special rapporteur
devoted to adequate housing has visited encampments in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Mumbai — and San Francisco,
Oakland and Berkeley. The homeless situation in those cities and others around the country is positively Third World, a
blight that shows the persistence of human folly, and misery, despite what we take to be our steady progress to greater
enlightenment and prosperity. San Francisco is a crown jewel of the new economy, and a sink of vagrancy.
Typhus
cases hit 100 in Los Angeles as feral cats and rats spread disease among the homeless. The number of flea-born
Typhus cases in Los Angeles has hit 107. So far this year 72 patients have been recorded by Los Angeles County
Department of Public Health with a further 15 in Long Beach and 20 in Pasadena. In the 2000s there were around 20 cases
recorded per year and analysts are putting the dramatic rise down to a 47 percent increase in homelessness since 2012.
One official in Long Beach told NBC News that almost half a million potential cases are 'under investigation.'
San
Jose to pay homeless $15 an hour to pick up trash. San Jose, Calif., is combating its litter problem by paying
25 homeless residents to pick up trash around the city's "hotspots." Downtown Streets Team and Goodwill, which initiated
the program, said the idea was to ultimately help participants get back on their feet, the Mercury News reported.
San
Francisco: Now so bad, it'll make you cry. Twentieth-century San Francisco, Herb Caen's beloved Baghdad by the
Bay, has ceased to exist. It has been replaced by a city where the sidewalks around Market Street are, in places, caked in
feces, urine, and vomit. The stink as you emerge from the BART batters you like frozen sleet, shocking and overwhelming.
The hordes of homeless, sprawled in doorways and sleeping on the sidewalks, are a bitterly eclectic mixture of the mentally deranged;
burnt out druggies; dead-eyed hippies; con artists; pickpockets; and hundreds of simply lost, forgotten souls. [...] As I walked
the three blocks back to the BART, I was panhandled four times, plus two clumsy pickpocket attempts. I didn't see a single
cop in a car or on foot. What could they do? What finally broke my heart were the kids and women, also lying in the
streets, drugged, shell-shocked, begging for food.
SF
judge throws out charges against homeless people camping on sidewalk. A San Francisco judge dismissed criminal
charges Thursday against three homeless people who were arrested for camping or sleeping on the streets, a decision that
follows a federal appeals court ruling barring cities from prosecuting such cases when no shelters are available.
District Attorney George Gascón, who has announced a new policy of charging people with illegal camping only when they
reject an offer of an available shelter, did not challenge the dismissals. But Gascón and Public Defender Jeff
Adachi's office appear to be at odds on what a city has to do to make shelters "available."
SF
police impound homeless man's car for unpaid parking tickets. Judge says give it back. A federal judge
has ordered San Francisco police to return a homeless man's car that they towed and impounded because of thousands of dollars
in unpaid parking tickets that the owner couldn't afford to pay. Police cited a state law that allows them to tow
vehicles with more than five overdue parking tickets. But U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of Oakland said Wednesday
that, unless officers have a judicial warrant, no known legal precedent "can justify the seizure and retention of a vehicle
if its owner cannot afford to pay the parking tickets." The ruling has prompted homeless advocates to call on police to
change their towing practices.
True
Blue Liberal California Now Leads The Nation In Poverty. It was recently revealed that the home of Jerry Brown,
Hollywood, Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris is now the most poverty stricken state in the country. Anyone who has seen
the sprawling homeless encampments of greater Los Angeles and San Francisco probably knew this would be the outcome.
I
Left My Shoes In San Francisco. Enter the search term "San Francisco feces map" into Google and it comes back
with 1,040,000 results. Yeah, it's a thing. San Francisco was always grungy — back in the 1980s, I
believe it was comic Bobby Slayton who called it "the city that makes its own gravy" — but it has gone from merely
unwashed to actively unflushed. Sure, it's funny to the rest of us, in a horrifying and disgusting kind of way, just
like the fact that the socialist geniuses in Venezuela are forcing the famished locals to gnaw on its zoo's zebras and gnus
for sustenance. You look at these examples of leftism in action and you have to laugh, but what's not funny is that
this is not some sort of aberration. This is the future our liberal elite wants for us, and it's doing everything it
can to make it a reeking reality.
Just Another Word
for Nothing Left to Lose. [Scroll down] At a time when San Franciscans are dealing with mounds of human
feces that foul that once-lovely city, lawmakers spent their summer stopping restaurants and convenience stores from
giving out or selling plastic straws. They also limited the use of packaged condiments. Not long ago,
officials banned the sale of flavored tobacco products, which means that smokers who are trying to quit the habit are
out of luck. The city's decision to hand out needles to addicts actually is a decent idea, but it's bizarre to
simultaneously subsidize heroin needles and ban far-more mundane products such as ketchup packages. It's easy to
roll one's eyes at San Francisco, but a bill that would forbid restaurants from handing out plastic straws unless
requested by the customer has just landed on the governor's desk. Furthermore, a second bill that just landed
on his desk requires fast-food restaurants to offer water or milk as the default option on any children's meals.
Advocates for the latter see it as a strike against childhood obesity, but it's really just a means to meddle in parents'
minor life decisions. Parents can still order soda for their kids, but restaurants could face $500 fines for
providing a soda with the meal. This is an almost literal example of the "nanny state."
A
Perfect Storm Threatens America's Survival. Except for the rich, American cities are becoming increasingly unlivable as
illegal and homeless populations threaten to overwhelm city budgets. It's so bad in San Francisco that the city has funded poop
patrols as that once lovely City by the Bay has become a nightmare to citizens and visitors alike. Large groups are canceling
conventions. Los Angeles has doubled its homeless budget to $450 million. Los Angeles County plans to spend $374 million.
That's 1 percent of a budget meant to service a population of over 10 million going to just 53,193 people.
San
Francisco creates 'Poop Patrol' to clean up city's feces-ridden sidewalks. San Francisco's decrepit,
feces-ridden sidewalks are the residents' No. 1 complaint — so the city's newly elected mayor is creating a new
clean up patrol to deal with "No. 2." The California city, which has been battling increasing homelessness over the
last couple of years, launched a new pilot program called the "Poop Patrol," which is set to scour targeted neighborhoods looking
for human waste. The city's 311 service has received nearly 14,600 calls about piles of poop, other human waste and dog
feces since the beginning of the year.
San
Fran Averages 78 Poop in the Street Calls a Day, Others in the Transit System. San Francisco has been working
on their homeless problem and have succeeded in cutting the tent encampments in half by offering shelter to the drug addicts,
mentally ill, and others lining the streets. The behavior of the homeless hasn't improved, however. The San
Francisco Chronicle reports that they are averaging about 78 poop in the street calls a day. There are about 45
syringes in the street calls a day. There are more on the trains. The transit system is littered with syringes,
poop, blood, urine, and so on. Since April janitors have cleaned up more than 13,000 dirty needles left behind at the
Civic Center and Powell Street stations.
If
You're Going To San Francisco... Think Again. San Francisco has about 7,500 homeless individuals and is
spending $280 million on homeless services for them. Some simple math reveals that the city could give each homeless
resident just over $37,000 per year, a figure well above the minimum wage in most other places, and call it a day. If
you take out the salaries of all the bureaucrats administering these "homeless services," there would likely be more than
$100,000 available for each homeless person. But you know that won't happen in a Democrat-run city, an administrative
state, like San Francisco. How can the city discourage the homeless from using the sidewalks as their toilets? In
their minds, spend more money.
Video
appears to show homeless man using drugs on BART train in San Francisco. A video of a homeless man apparently
using drugs on a BART train in San Francisco last month has become another footnote in the city's struggles with
quality-of-life issues. Local news anchor Reggie Aqui posted footage of the man smoking an illegal substance on the
BART train right before Powell Street station. [...] The video underscores a dangerous trend occurring in the city. In
April, commuter Shannon Gafford filmed dozens of drug users slumped over and others shooting up at the Civic Center BART and
Muni stations.
San
Francisco continues to spend big in fight against homelessness — but is it working? It's a problem
that's costing the city of San Francisco hundreds of millions of dollars annually to try to solve — and for its
new mayor, something that's starting to become increasingly smelly too. London Breed says the amount of feces scattered
on the streets of the wealthy city in recent months is among the worst she has ever seen, and San Francisco reportedly is set
to spend nearly $280 million in its next budget fighting homelessness — an average of $37,300 for each of the
city's estimated 7,499 homeless residents.
New
SF mayor will try asking homeless to be nice, instead of penalizing them for pooping on the streets. San
Francisco has a brand new mayor, Ms. London Breed, the result of the untimely death of Mayor Ed Lee, and it does not
look good for the city coming to grips with a crisis on its streets. The accumulation of human waste and contaminated
drug needles posing a severe threat to the health of its residents and visitors is also a challenge to the survival if the
city's biggest industry in terms of employment: tourism. A huge medical convention has announced that it will
no longer visit San Francisco owing to the health and safety hazards the streets now pose.
The
Left-wing Paradise of San Francisco. Represented in Congress by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and run for
years by almost all Democrats, San Francisco should be a mecca for the left. But the city is fast becoming one of the
worst places in the U.S. to live. The homeless problem is out of control. Experts say it "could exceed some of
the dirtiest slums in the world." There are around 7,500 homeless people in the city. Human feces is strewn across
public areas. The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit examined over 150 blocks of downtown San Francisco and found
96 blocks littered with feces. San Francisco's new mayor, London Breed, observed, "there are more feces on the sidewalks
than I've ever seen growing up here." She says that a cleaning crew will clean up an area, but "right after they leave, maybe
an hour or two later, the place is filled with trash again."
SF Mayor Says Her City
is Drowning in Poop: 'There's More Feces - Than I've Ever Seen'. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the
streets of her city are flooded with the excrement of the homeless in an interview Friday [7/13/2018]. Breed, a Democrat
who was inaugurated as San Francisco's mayor Wednesday [7/11/2018], urged homeless advocacy groups that receive money from the
city to teach homeless people to "clean up after themselves." "There is more feces on the sidewalks than I've ever seen
growing up here," Breed told KNTV. "That is a huge problem and we are not just talking about from dogs —
we're talking about from humans."
San
Francisco Is Absolutely Covered in Fecal Matter. Recently elected San Francisco Mayor London Breed says that
the city she loves is absolutely covered in fecal matter and "we are not just talking about from dogs — we're
talking about from humans." Talking about human feces, folks! Particularly, feces from humans experiencing
homelessness right now. Apparently, the city is so overrun by poverty that people are using virtually all public spaces
as their toilet because they cannot afford proper lavatories. To this extent, Mayor Breed is asking that homelessness
advocacy groups and non-profit encourage those they are helping to clean up after themselves.
San
Francisco's crisis looks like New York's future. What happened in San Francisco is obvious. It stopped
prosecuting quality-of-life offenses and, unsurprisingly, the quality of life for the city's residents and visitors decreased
sharply. In 2015, San Francisco courts stopped enforcing bench warrants for such offenses. Police continued
writing up tickets for public drunkenness or sleeping in parks, but when the accused failed to show up to their court
appearance a judge simply dismissed the outstanding warrant. New York started following San Francisco's lead in 2016
when Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. announced his office would no longer be prosecuting offenses such as public urination.
Both cities have accepted that they'll continue to have a large number of people living on their streets and inevitably using
their sidewalks as a toilet.
Increasingly Putrid City by the
Bay. [Scroll down] I love the city [of San Francisco] and find its decrepit situation depressing.
At least everyone is noticing its tawdriness. "Trash bags full of approximately 20 pounds of human poop were
left on the sidewalk over the weekend in downtown San Francisco," the Fresno Bee reported on Wednesday [7/4/2018].
"It's the latest — and perhaps most alarming — sign of the increased filthiness of one of the most popular
cities in the United States." Those smelly, possibly leaking bags were left in the downscale Tenderloin, but large swaths
of upscale areas now resemble an outdoor sewer with human feces, open-air drug use, and other signs of the breakdown of civic
order. The problem of homelessness and drug abuse isn't confined to San Francisco, of course. [...] In fairness, I've seen
similar situations throughout the country. But in San Francisco the disorder isn't confined to alleys and bushes. The
encampments are in plain view and spreading. The panhandlers can be frighteningly aggressive.
20
Pounds Of Human Feces Left On San Francisco Sidewalk. According to the Fresno Bee, a trash bag filled with
roughly 20 pounds of human feces was left sitting on the sidewalk over the weekend in downtown San Francisco. "It's the
latest — and perhaps most alarming — sign of the increased filthiness of one of the most popular cities
in the United States," reports FB. "The bags of human poop were said to be left in San Francisco's Tenderloin district."
San
Francisco Logs Over 16,000 Feces Complaints in One Week. A website and related app that allows local residents
to request maintenance or non-emergency services from the city has received 16,015 complaints with the keyword 'feces' in the
last week at the time of this writing, and many pertain to human waste in public places. Additionally, words and
phrases synonymous with 'feces' are found in thousands more grievances. Many of the complaints also connect the fecal
matter to vagrants and homeless encampments — a sight all too common now across California.
SF's
appalling street life repels residents — now it's driven away a convention. In a move that is
alarming San Francisco's biggest industry, a major medical association is pulling its annual convention out of the
city — saying its members no longer feel safe. "It's the first time that we have had an out-and-out
cancellation over the issue, and this is a group that has been coming here every three or four years since the 1980s," said
Joe D'Alessandro, president and CEO of S.F. Travel, the city's convention bureau. D'Alessandro declined to name
the medical association, saying the bureau still hopes to bring the group back in the future.
The Editor says...
The Editor and Mrs. Editor went to San Antonio in mid-June for the Republican state convention, and it was surprisingly enjoyable.
It was rather hot outside, and there were some Austin-style eccentrics on the streets, but the area around the convention center is
constantly patrolled by the police as well as a bunch of street-cleaning custodians like you'd see in an amusement park.
Forget California, people. Bring your convention to Texas.
Left Coast Lawlessness.
Seattle's predicament is emblematic of the broader crises faced by many progressive West Coast cities, where local leaders
have forced law enforcement to take a hands-off approach to policing unsanctioned tent cities and vagrancy at the expense of
public safety and health. San Francisco, long considered a model of progressive urban policy, is plagued by filth,
chaos, and public-safety hazards. Local leaders plan to spend an incredible $305 million on combatting homelessness
for the current fiscal year alone, but disorder spreads as the city fails to enforce the rule of law and basic sanitary
measures. Block-by-block surveillance reveals the deterioration of downtown San Francisco. Of 153 city blocks
surveyed, 41 contained used drug needles and 96 had human feces present. Tourists are dismayed to leave their downtown
hotels, to be confronted by mentally ill and aggressive homeless people who are taking control of the streets.
University of California Berkeley professor Lee Riley, an expert on infectious disease, observes that some of San Francisco's
streets are dirtier than Third World slums.
San
Francisco Is, Quite Literally, a Toilet. [Scroll down] The "breaking point" for the main source for the
story, a 46-year-old computer programmer named Ernst Schoen-Rene, was the discovery in April of "a black suitcase with wheels
on the corner that had clearly been used as a toilet by homeless people." "I actually started crying, I got so frustrated,"
Schoen-Rene tells the Chronicle reporter. "I flipped out. I started writing to everybody." The trouble for
these good San Francisco progressives is reconciling their ideology with reality.
Poop.
Needles. Rats. Homeless camp pushes SF neighborhood to the edge. "I don't mind a reasonable amount
of urban grit," explained [Ernst] Schoen-Rene, a native of Chico who's lived in San Francisco since 1994, always opting for
edgy neighborhoods. He and his wife bought their Isis Street condo in 2010 for $748,000, and by the time he sent the
email, he had come to regret it. He felt stuck, unable to afford anything else in today's nutty housing market or the
far higher property taxes that would come with a new purchase.
Tourists
visiting San Francisco question if they're in 'bad side of town'. Recent social media posts by tourists
visiting San Francisco casts a troubling light on the City by the Bay over its homeless issue, open drug use and filthy
streets. Since the beginning of the year, reports have surfaced of hypodermic needles dotting the streets, piles of
human feces and expanding shanty towns for the increasing homeless population — and now tourists are noticing,
SFGate reported. "Is this normal or am I in a 'bad part of town?'" an Australian Reddit user asked the San Francisco
Reddit community Wednesday. "Why is this city so terrifying?" a Canadian visitor asked on Reddit Sunday [6/10/2018].
Used
Needles Littering San Francisco Streets As Heroin Crisis Grips NorCal. San Francisco residents are complaining
about a record number of used and discarded syringes littering the streets, as a growing heroin epidemic grips Northern
California. The city distributes nearly 5 million needles each year through various programs aimed at reducing HIV and
other health risks for drug users who might otherwise share needles.
About
those needles littering the streets of San Francisco... The city gave them out. For all of City Hall's tough
talk of late about getting needles off the streets, the city itself is responsible for helping fuel the problem —
handing out millions of syringes a year with little or no controls over their return. And while the easy access to
clean syringes is intended to protect public health, the city's residents are not happy with the situation.
Asian
immigrants put their foot down at liberals dumping homeless at their door in the O.C. Liberals were in for a
surprise when legal Asian immigrant families fought back at their efforts to dump the homeless of Orange County into their
ICity of Irvine community, thinking that since they were Asians, they wouldn't complain. [...] The people they didn't want
dumped into their community to mix it up with their school children and tiger moms were these: [Photo at left] According
to MyNewsLA.com, the cleanup of this Santa Ana River camp has left 404 tons of garbage, 13,950 needles, and 5,279 pounds of
human waste. You kind of wonder who had to count those needles and weigh all the vomit and excrement. Sound like great
neighbors for property values and schoolchildren safety. Which of course is why they protested.
Homeless
'mansion' pops up near Space Needle. A group of homeless people built a tent "mansion" in a small patch of
grass between Third Avenue and Broad Street. It's a half a block from Seattle's most famous tourist attraction and
surrounded by multi-million dollar high-rise condos.
San
Francisco Is Suffering From The Excesses Of Its Own Liberalism. In November of 2017 alone, 6,211 needles were collected while via
the 311 App, 1,498 requests were made to clean up human feces. The public defecation problem has become so intolerable in San Francisco
that private citizens have built an online map to track the concentrations of poop in the city, so that pedestrians may know to avoid certain areas.
And it's not just poop. The overwhelming smell of urine on parts of Mission Street and Market Street would make your nose bleed. I
recall the first time I rode BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit, San Francisco's subway system) and was nearly knocked over by the sheer stench of the
station. I was surprised to learn that exiting the station supplied little to no relief — the urine smell hangs heavy in the more
populated areas of the city and is nearly inescapable. In a dark twist of humor, the city has had to replace numerous different street poles
due to urine eroding the foundation. What drives a large part of the human waste issue is San Francisco's homeless population. The
homeless epidemic in San Francisco is tragic and frightening — in a 47-square mile city, we have around 7,500 homeless people, meaning
there are approximately 160 homeless people per square mile.
Homeless
encampment relocation plan has California residents outraged. A plan to house hundreds of homeless people in a
tent city near a popular Southern California park was met with fierce public resistance, forcing an upcoming vote to rescind
the scheme. The Orange County Board of Supervisors is set to meet Tuesday to figure out where to relocate people, after
a federal judge forced the county to come up with a plan to house the homeless population located along the Santa Ana
River. One proposal would place about 400 people near the county-owned Orange County Great Park in Irvine, located
40 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The park, which is home to a farmers market and a hot air balloon ride, is popular
with families on weekends.
California
Has Become a Disgraceful State. At one time, California was the envy of America, attracting people from around
the nation to move to a state offering opportunity and the chance to pursue ambitious dreams. With scenic beauty, the
Pacific Ocean coastline, the major cities of San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, California recruited entrepreneurs
looking for economic growth. As the home of Hollywood and multitudes of celebrities, California presented an enticing
potential to enjoy "lifestyles of the rich and famous." Today, California has become an economic and cultural
disaster. The state is home to over 114,000 homeless people, one quarter of the total in the nation. In San
Francisco, a health crisis has developed as the homeless have created a mess in the downtown area, littering it with fecal
matter, spent needles and piles of trash.
How
can a place with 58,000 homeless people continue to function? Homelessness affects the lives of all Angelenos,
not just those forced to live on the streets. And it does so almost daily, in ways large and small. Consider the
pairs of thick gloves that George Abou-Daoud has stashed inside the nine restaurants he owns on the east side of Hollywood.
When a homeless person accosts his customers, Abou-Daoud says, he can no longer count on the police for help; unless there's an
imminent threat to safety, he contends, they don't respond quickly and can't just haul the person away. So he's had to take
matters into his own hands, literally, by physically ejecting problematic homeless people himself. That's why he has the
gloves — to keep his hands clean.
The
Politics of San Francisco's Homelessness Problem. About a year ago, in January 2017, Leilani Farha visited the
city of San Francisco and was appalled at the extent of the substandard housing conditions suffered by San Francisco's
homeless population. [...] This is particularly disturbing when one considers that California is the most populous and the
wealthiest state in the wealthiest country in the world. San Francisco has made some effort to deal with
homelessness. The city spent $275 million on homelessness in the fiscal year that ended in June 2017 and is expanding
that to $305 million for the year that ends in June 2018. But that is not enough, since there is a long waiting list
for nighttime shelters. Visitors to San Francisco are appalled to see persons on sidewalks committing drug crimes such as
injecting themselves with needles. And the city has areas now fouled by the smell of human waste.
Orange
County's Largest Homeless Camp Cleared Out. Last September I wrote about a homeless camp which had grown up
along the bike path which stretches along the Santa Ana River in Orange County, California. Residents in the area
complained about trash, human waste, and crime. People living in the camps were constantly in fear of violence from
those nearby, many of whom have substance abuse or mental health problems. Last week, after a lengthy legal battle
involving the ACLU, a judge ruled that Orange County could begin to clear out the camps so long as people were given a place
to go.
'National
disgrace': Community fights back as California overrun by homelessness, human waste, needles. The specter of
homeless encampments steadily expanding across the downtown streets of San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco —
bringing with them a public health crisis — has one southern California community taking tough action to dismantle
a two-mile-long camp just a short drive from Disneyland. In a departure from the approach taken by other local
governments in the state, officials in Orange County, Calif., have started to clear out the camp — by moving
occupants and hauling away literally tons of trash and hazardous waste.
6 Points to
Consider in the Debate About Homelessness. Homelessness isn't just an Orange County problem, of course. It's
a growing mess throughout California and the nation. I've seen communities of all sizes and political dispositions wrestle
unsuccessfully with it for decades. Cities such as San Francisco that throw money at the problem become magnets for
homelessness, with sections of the city resembling an outdoor sewer. Other communities, including Los Angeles, have
tried to more aggressively roust the people sleeping under freeways, along riverbeds and in public parks.
L.A.
County's homeless problem is worsening despite billions from tax measures. Los Angeles County's homeless
population is increasing faster than the supply of new housing, even with the addition of thousands of beds in the last two
years and millions of dollars beginning to flow in from two ballot measures targeting the crisis, according to a long-awaited
report by the region's homelessness agency. [...] As a result, a $73-million annual shortfall in funding for the county's
comprehensive homelessness program could more than triple, a [Los Angeles] Times analysis of the report found.
Los
Angeles votes to tax itself to raise billions to support the homeless. Homelessness advocates in America's
second largest city were savoring a seeming double victory after Los Angeles voters appeared to choose to tax themselves to
raise more than $3.5 [billion] for homeless services over the next decade, and comprehensively knocked down a second measure that
would have slammed the brakes on many housing developments. Tuesday's [3/7/2017] election was the second in a row in which
voters aligned with LA's political leadership in calling for a massive funding effort to move tens of thousands of homeless people
into permanent housing and provide the "wraparound" services they need to overcome addiction, mental health and other challenges.
Seattle
Underbelly Exposed as Homeless Camp Violence Flares. So dangerous is this city's biggest homeless camp, called the Jungle —
three ragged miles stitched along the underbelly of Interstate 5 — that if a fire broke out there today, firefighters would not be
allowed in without an armed police escort. State lawmakers are considering a razor-wire fence around the camp, separating it from the
city at a cost of $1 million.
San
Francisco homeless remain in 'unhealthy' tent city despite order to vacate. About 30 tents remained in place
Friday [2/26/2016] as the deadline for homeless people to vacate a San Francisco tent city came and went without any action.
The homeless living in the encampment had until 5 p.m. Friday to clear out, Sam Dodge, the mayor's point person on homelessness,
said. City officials and the San Francisco Police have not said what they intend to do with the tent residents.
San
Francisco homeless crisis sparks bitter debate over the tents lining its streets. "A city of tents" — that is how a local government
official chose to describe San Francisco, fuelling a bitter divide in a city that is dealing with a mounting number of homeless people. Scott
Wiener, who is on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, is determined to close down the tents for homeless people on the city pavements.
Homeless charities, however, say these inhabitants have nowhere else to go. In a Medium blog, Mr Wiener said: "Permitting these
encampments is neither humane nor progressive."
L.A.
lawmakers to declare 'state of emergency,' commit more than $100 million to fight homelessness. Los Angeles
elected leaders announced Tuesday [9/22/2015] that they will declare a "state of emergency" on the growing homelessness
problem in the city and commit $100 million toward housing and other services for homeless people. The proposal,
which was presented at a City Hall press conference attended by City Council members and Mayor Eric Garcetti, coincides with
a Garcetti administration proposal, issued late Monday, that aims to free up nearly $13 million in newly anticipated excess
tax revenue for short-term housing initiatives.
The Editor says...
Homeless people in the streets is a chronic problem, but it's not an emergency.
It is a condition that has developed over several decades, as a
result of left-wing nanny-state policy, driven by emotion rather than reason.
Big Apple Versus Big Toilet. Not long ago,
I asked [San Francisco] Mayor Ed Lee what he sees as contributing factors to San Francisco's high P.U. quotient. His answer:
The drought means less rain to wash away human waste. Other cities have winters that prompt street people to move to better
climates. Development has claimed space that used to house homeless encampments. He also credited "historic levels of
drug use" from "people who don't get held responsible for their behavior." Lee has a solid point on each of those factors.
I would add another: pride. San Franciscans are proud of the city's vaunted tolerance. Lest they seem intolerant, many
locals have been reluctant to complain about the pervasive smell of urine and occasional glimpses of public defecation until conditions
become impossible to ignore.
San
Francisco uses paint to fight public urination. Public urination has gotten so bad in San Francisco that the
city has painted nine walls with a repellant paint that makes pee spray back on the offender.
L.A. councilman takes aim at tiny homes on
wheels. Tiny wooden homes on wheels, roughly the size of garden sheds, have popped up on San Pedro streets as a temporary way to
house the homeless. [...] But after a handful of similar structures appeared in San Pedro, Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino said he wants
them removed immediately, calling them "a threat in many ways to our public safety."
Avert Your Eyes
and Hold Your Nose. Downtown San Francisco feels like a large public toilet without
enough janitors. More than once this year, I've seen men drop their pants in public
places — including at Fifth and Market — to leave a smelly mess on the
sidewalk. You can walk for blocks and never escape the stench of stale urine. At
lunchtime, I see street people passed out on high-traffic sidewalks, and I am afraid to walk around
them. The homeless have been a problem in San Francisco for as far back as anyone remembers,
but to me it seems this year is the worst.
$213 million earmarked to
track L.A. homeless by computer, house 1,400. A coalition of public and private agencies announced Tuesday that it is
funneling $213 million to house 1,400 homeless people and to expand a tracking and placement system it hopes will end chronic
and veteran homelessness in Los Angeles County over the next two years. The placement tool, called the coordinated entry system,
is designed to replace a confusing patchwork of entry points to homeless housing and services with a single computerized portal that
reaches every corner of the county.
The Editor says...
That's $152,000 per homeless person — enough to buy a house for each of them.
Rise
in gay homeless people threatens San Francisco's name as gay-friendly mecca. Thanks to the equality rights work of pioneers
such as the politician and activist Harvey Milk, San Francisco has a reputation as the gay capital of the world. But as the city
recovers from its 43rd gay Pride festival at the weekend, attended by more than 1.5 million people, it must confront an uncomfortable
issue.
Paradise Lost: CA to Provide Free Cell
Phones for Homeless. In California, the unemployment rate may be above 10.2%, and the state debt may be above $16 billion, the
state's GDP may be in serious trouble and businesses may be leaving in droves due to ever-increasing tax rates, but that isn't going to stop the
gravy train for the state's poor and dispossessed. The California Public Utilities Commission is all set to greenlight a new program that
would give homeless and low-income people free cell phones — call them Obamaphones — with free service.
Homeless
People Shower on New Bus in San Francisco. In May, San Francisco introduced the "Hook-up Truck," providing intimate space
for couples on the go. Now, the city is welcoming the "Lava Mae," a public shower on a bus, aimed at the city's large homeless
population. San Francisco has been fighting a losing battle with homelessness for decades. City officials concede that they
have made little progress over the years despite massive spending, amounting to $34 per homeless person per day.
Oh, good! Now they have the right to urinate in the street. California lawmaker proposes 'homeless
bill of rights'. California law protects its residents from discrimination based on sex, race, religion and sexual orientation.
Now a state lawmaker is pushing to add another category to the list: homelessness. New legislation titled the "Homeless Bill of
Rights" by Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco is meant to keep communities from rousting people who have nowhere to turn.
The Editor says...
Somehow the writer failed to include words like vagrant and vagabond, and only the
commenters used words like drifter and bum and panhandling. Homeless people generally are
homeless for a reason — usually a lifetime of bad decisions. This makes them poor candidates for long-term
employment, which is apparently the motivation for the proposed legislation discussed in the article above. Please
keep in mind that many of the chronically homeless who need protection are really in need of incarceration for their own
good. Street-corner beggars pay no taxes, so if they bring in $20 an hour, they're probably better off than you.
Even the ones who claim to be hungry will throw away food if someone gives it to them. Give a couple of bananas to
a "hungry" roadside beggar and see what he or she does with them.
The Road to Hell. [The San Francisco Chronicle] was practically
drooling over a bizarre, new program being launched in San Francisco. The city will be giving a homeless person a four-legged friend to foster:
a homeless pup from the pound. But the transient won't get the pick of the litter, but a "problematic" dog. And since California is
overflowing with money (LOL), the city will generously throw in a stipend to care for the pet. What could possibly go wrong here? First off,
raise your hands if you think that many of these street people will actually use the added income for the benefit of their new best friends? When
the call of booze and cocaine beckons, what will happen to Rover's Purina?
California Deficit Soars to $16 Billion — Governor Wants Tax Hikes.
Democrat Governor Jerry Brown announced the devastating news today [5/12/2012] on a web video. Brown says there will be even deeper cuts, mostly
to education, if voters do not approve tax hikes in November.
Your Money or Your Schools. As a child, I was
fond of adventure stories about the exploits of pirates, highwaymen, and miscreants of all sorts. In every such tale there was the moment
when the dashing if disreputable protagonist confronts a gaggle of respectable folk and proclaims, "Stand and deliver. Your money or your life!"
At the age of eight, armed with capguns and sporting a red bandana, I thought those were words to live by. Today, they are just words for
politicians to live by. [...] That seems to be what Gov. Jerry Brown is up to in the Golden State. On May 12, Brown posted his own "money
or your life" extortion video online.
The Editor says...
Oh dear. If only California's politicians could think of something to cut from the budget. Like this:
High speed rail:
California's
$11 Billion Rail Bridge That Doesn't Go Anywhere. California is taking heat for
celebrating the completion of a high-speed rail bridge that has cost taxpayers $11 billion and
took nine years to build — and goes nowhere[.] Critics — including
Tesla founder Elon Musk and Dogecoin creator Billy Markus — are ripping the California
High-Speed Rail Authority after it boasted about last year's completion of a "Fresno River
Viaduct," a mere sliver of the state's long-delayed, bullet-train project attempting to link San
Francisco to Los Angeles. "This is the most remarkable human achievement ever," joked Markus,
the creator of the jokey cryptocurrency, on X Friday. [Tweet]
"People
Will Be Teleporting Between Planets" Before California Finishes High-Speed Rail
Project. X users mocked the California High-Speed Rail Authority's post on the social
media platform, which celebrated building a bridge that goes nowhere. "The Fresno River
Viaduct in Madera County is one of the first completed high-speed rail structures. At nearly
1,600 feet long, high-speed trains will travel over the riverbed and will run parallel with
the BNSF Railroad," CAHSR wrote on X. [Tweet] Billy Markus, the co-founder of Dogecoin,
joked, "This is the most remarkable human achievement ever, 1600 feet of high-speed rail after
9 years and 11 billion dollars." [Tweet] Venture capitalist David Sacks said,
"Building products on time and on budget requires a monomaniacal leader who kicks asses to make
things run right. Government, which is based on lobbying, backscratching and committee-based
decision-making, is uniquely unsuited for this." [Tweet] "People will be teleporting between
planets by the time California achieves high speed rail service from Merced to Bakersfield," one X
user quipped. [Tweet] Another user said the partially built Los Angeles-to-San Francisco
high-speed rail project could accommodate the homeless and migrants. [Tweet]
Private
Company Building $12B High-Speed Rail from L.A. to Vegas. Work is set to begin Monday
on a $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area,
with officials projecting millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028.
Brightline West, whose sister company already operates a fast train between Miami and Orlando in
Florida, aims to lay 218 miles of new track between a terminal to be built just south of the
Las Vegas Strip and another new facility in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Almost the full
distance is to be built in the median of Interstate 15, with a station stop in San Bernardino
County's Victorville area. In a statement, Brightline Holdings founder and Chairperson Wes
Edens called the moment "the foundation for a new industry."
The Editor says...
The train goes 186 mph, so your gambling begins before you get to Las Vegas.
High-speed
rail from Nevada to California breaks ground for planned 2028 opening. The
Transportation Secretary on Monday was on hand to break ground with other officials on what will be
America's next high-speed railway. "I'm convinced that the first time Americans actually
experience American high-speed rail on U.S. soil, there's going to be no going back and people are
going to expect and demand it all across the country," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told
CNBC Monday.
The Editor says...
"Breaking ground" is very cheap, and is often the last phase of construction that is mentioned
until the project is completed, years later, if at all.
California's
high speed rail to nowhere. California, one of the brokest states, is facing a
$68 billion dollar budget deficit for 2024. [...] California's high speed rail to nowhere is
darkly hilarious. Back in 2008, voters approved a mere $33 billion for a "high speed
rail" (HSR) system, supposedly from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The project was always an
obscene boondoggle and has become no less in 16 years. Traveling that route, which will
almost certainly never be completed, was to take no less than three hours. Even in 2008, one
could cheaply fly between those cities in less than half the time. HSR would be no cheaper,
but take much longer. A reasonable person would ask why anyone would think high speed rail a
good idea. It was never necessary. Because ego, paying off Democrat constituencies,
lining Democrat pockets, and green of course. Circa 2024, the LA to SF section is all but
abandoned, there is no HSR service anywhere, and the unfinished and disconnected HSR infrastructure
between Merced and Bakersfield resembles the wasted ruins of a long-dead society, mysteriously lost
to time. Who needs or wants any train at any speed between those two places?
Biden
Puts Us On A Fast Train To Nowhere. "At long last, we're building the first
high-speed rail project in our nation's history. And it's starting here." That was
President Joe Biden announcing last week that us taxpayers will be ponying up $3 billion to help a
private company build a bullet train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas so gambleholics can start losing
money more quickly. The L.A. to Vegas train will supposedly be finished in time for the Los
Angeles Summer Olympics in 2028 — just four and half years from now. Well,
anything is possible. A private company is planning to build the thing and claims to have the
route and rights-of-way all figured out. But when you consider that Biden put up $7.5 billion
to get private companies to put EV chargers all over the country and two years later not a single
one has been built, constructing more than four miles of complex high-speed electrified rail each
and every month seems a bit optimistic. (It took eight years to build an 11-mile extension
to the Washington, D.C., Metro Silver Line.)
Off
The Rails! Scam-Trak Joe's EPA Punches Newsom's 'Electric' Ticket. Fact:
California's government-imposed electric system is so bad, the main supplier, Pacific Gas and
Electric (PG&E), cannot handle the demand, already asked electric car owners to cut back on their
charges, has acknowledged that its use of government land for power lines increases the risk of
wildfires, and sees the state desperately trying to get other inputs of electric power from places
like Arizona, and a power project running into conflicts with American Indian tribal rights.
Fact: Gavin Newsom's pet "high-speed rail" project, designed to connect "northern California"
with "southern California," is nowhere near completion, is titanically over-budget, and represents
one of the biggest state boondoggles in US history. Fact: The federal Environmental
Protection Agency, started under Richard "I-Am-Not-A-Crook" Nixon has no real constitutionally
enumerated justification, is a big, authoritarian bully, prevents innumerable peaceful activities
by imposing prohibitions on our use of private property, and punishes citizens and business owners
for engaging in peaceful activity that has not harmed anyone. And with those facts
established, we see more idiocy from the feds and California.
California,
the Great Destroyer. In 1996, the California legislature created the high speed rail
authority. In 2008, voters passed a $33 billion bond to build an envisioned 800 mile
project eventually to link Sacramento with San Diego. Fifteen years later, a scaled-down plan
from Bakersfield to Merced remains not even half finished. Yet the envisioned costs will
exceed that of the original estimate for the entire project. The rail authority now
estimates that just the modest 178 mile route — only about a fifth of the authorized
distance — will not be completed at least until 2030. Past high speed estimates of both
time and cost targets have been widely wrong and perhaps deliberately misleading. Total costs
for the entire project are now estimated at nearly $130 billion. Many expect that figure to
double in the next quarter-century. Planners also concede there will likely not be much high
speed rider demand from San Joaquin Valley residents willing to pay $86 to travel at a supposed
200 mph from Bakersfield to Merced.
On the other hand... What
if they complete California High Speed Rail? What happens if the only part of
California High Speed Rail ever built is between Merced and Bakersfield... and it's
successful? And I mean landscape-changing, growth-driving successful? Stranger things
have happened — Las Vegas comes to mind. If you had told someone in the 1920's
that Las Vegas was going to be a city of two million people and one of the most visited places on
earth, you'd have been laughed at and dismissed as crazy. Same thing with Vail in the
1960's. Most folks had doubts that people would make the journey along U.S. 6, from Denver,
and doubted I-70 could even be built. And Vail utterly failed at planning for success, and
now they have a perpetual housing crisis for workers as a result. What happens if HSR paves
the way for Merced to explode to a city with a high density urban core of 400,000 people? [...]
Does California have a plan for this possible outcome? It would be the perfect test bed for
building their carbon free utopia. Problem is, they will need to completely destroy
everything that exists in those towns to do it. It won't really work if all those people are
car dependent when they get off the electric train. The other thing is water. [...]
California's
HSR scar. Although the California High Speed Rail "project" hasn't been officially
declared dead, it's pretty obvious that it will only be a matter of time before this happens.
Officially the project has been "scaled back" to running only between Merced and Bakersfield,
possibly the least desirable city pair to link with bullet trains on the planet. YouTuber
"the Four Foot" flew a drone over the entire 119-mile route last year and posted a two-hour
video. The images are very telling. The site looks more like an abandoned movie set of
a high-speed rail construction site, than an actual construction site. There is a lot of
rusting rebar, both in piles and sticking out of half-done concrete. There's not a whole lot
of porta potties, only two locations had a high density of toilets. This is an indication of
how many workers are (or aren't) involved. The other thing:
There was no actual work happening in the video.
More
than $600 million [has been] spent on environmental reviews for [a] high-speed train that isn't
built yet. The state of California has spent more than $600 million on environmental
reviews for a high-speed rail project that has not yet been completed, according to documents
obtained and reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The state shelled out a total of
$618,038,924.01 for numerous companies involved in construction to conduct environmental reviews
for the state's high-speed railway project, the records show. California voters approved the
funding of the undertaking to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco and the Central Valley with
high-speed rail in 2008, but it has encountered delays and budget overruns in the 15 years since
California voters initially approved issuing bonds to finance the project.
California
high speed rail is a slow motion fail. In just "7-10" more years high speed rail
"will debut" in California's Central Valley! And you'd better plan on spending all your time
riding back and forth to Bakersfield, because it cost a fortune to bring this level of climate
change virtue-signaling to you! Some $22.8 billion so far, on the easiest section to
build. How long exactly will it take for the line to break even? California estimated
the ticket price between Merced and Bakersfield to be between $48 and $78. We'll go with the
higher number. In this little mental exercise, we will assume a few things; that California
will run four trains on the route, those trains will be provided free of charge to California High
Speed Rail (CHSR), each train carries 360 people, every train is full, trains run 24/7 every 15 minutes
without ever stopping for maintenance, that there are absolutely no operating costs, 100% of ticket
sales go to service the debt, which has 0% interest, that each one way takes an hour, and electricity
is free.
California's
high-speed rail is running out of money. In 2008, California voted yes on a $9
billion bond authorization to build the nation's first high-speed railway. The plan is to
construct an electric train that will connect Los Angeles with the Central Valley and then San
Francisco in two hours and 40 minutes. But 15 years later, there is not a single mile
of track laid, and executives involved say there isn't enough money to finish the project.
The latest estimates from the California High-Speed Rail Authority suggest it will cost between
$88 billion and $128 billion to complete the entire system from LA to San Francisco.
Inflation and higher construction costs have contributed to the high price tag. The project
has spent $9.8 billion so far, according to Brian Kelly, CEO of the California High-Speed
Rail Authority.
The
Bullet Train Epitomizes Golden State Corruption. This is one of history's greatness
thefts. If completed, $200 billion would have been taken from taxpayers and transferred
to unions and greedy corporations. In exchange for that money the train to nowhere will leave
behind slums, deficits, a train with no money operate, no passengers and by 2040, the possible
completion date, outmoded technology. [...] These are staggering numbers, a testament to a
staggering waste of financial and material resources. For this first segment of track,
Californians are going to pay $206 million per mile, and that's if there aren't any more overruns.
The
end of BART? California's bullet train isn't the only rail system in deep trouble.
Earlier this month we learned that California's ruinously expensive bullet train system had gone up
in price once again. The full system is now expected to cost $128 billion and that's if it's
completed sometime in 2040. The other bad news about the bullet train was just as worrisome.
A new estimate of anticipated ridership for the finished system showed a drop of about 25%.
Declining ridership isn't just a problem for the rail system of the distant future. It's also
a huge problem for systems that already exist and none has been hit quite as bad as BART, the Bay
Area Rapid Transit system which connects the Bay Area.
The passengers want to get off this train, even before it is built. California
high-speed rail costs [are] going up and projected ridership [is] going down. Last
February the California High-Speed Rail Authority announced that the price for the state's planned
bullet train had gone up from $100 billion to $105 billion. A few months later they clarified
it was actually going to be $113 billion. Yesterday there were more reports about delays and
price increases. [...] In case you've forgotten, this entire project was originally pitched to
voters 15 years ago at a cost of $33 billion. The fact that the estimated cost has gone up
$28 billion in the last 13 months gives you an idea where we are at this point. As mentioned
above, the first section is still 7-10 years away from being opened but completion of the line from
LA to San Francisco doesn't even have a projected deadline anymore.
BART
Seeks Another $2.3B in Federal Funds for CA Train. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is now
asking for another $2.3 billion from the federal government to see high-speed trains running from San Francisco to
San Jose as part of the already years-delayed, over budget Bay Area Rapid Transit project, according to The Mercury
News. The total cost of this section of California's high-speed rail project has exploded to $9.3 billion,
35 percent higher than the last estimate of $6.9 billion and almost twice what it was estimated to cost in
2014, the Mercury News reported. And it's unclear whether that $9.3 billion figure will go up again.
California's
$113 Billion Bullet Train to Nowhere. [Scroll down] The fastest train in America is an Amtrak which tops out
at around 100 MPH. In a 14-year span, Amtrak had 222 deaths. The Sunday New York Times contained an
article on California's boondoggle of a bullet train. Californians passed a bond initiative in 2008 to build a
bullet train. The track was to run from Los Angeles to San Francisco at a projected cost of $33 billion. It
was anticipated to complete in 2020. How fast is California's bullet train? It travels at zero miles per
hour. It hasn't been built. The projected cost went from $33 billion to $113 billion, and only the most
Pollyannaish politicians claim that California will have a bullet train anytime soon if ever[.] Why hasn't it been
built? Dysfunctional California politics. [...] There is too much waste and indecision in California. The
California project is so dysfunctional that California was issuing and accepting bid contracts before they had acquired
the land to build on. Farmers in the central valley were not that keen on having their land split by an elevated
rail line. They sued and that added to the delay and layered on more billions.
NY
Times: How California's high speed rail project became a 'loser'. The very short answer, as revealed in
this story published yesterday by the NY Times, is politics. The attempt to build the first bullet train in the US
between San Francisco and Los Angeles almost immediately turned into a boondoggle thanks to decisions that made no sense
in terms of efficiency or ridership but only in terms of satisfying powerful politicians. [...] The cost increases are
something we've been writing about here at Hot Air for more than a decade. The initial budget for the project
(back in 2008) was $33 billion with a completion date of 2020. But earlier this year the California High Speed Rail
Authority announced the budget had gone up to $105 billion and then a few months later raised it again to $113 billion.
When will it be finished? Well... ["]The rail authority said it has accelerated the pace of construction
on the starter system, but at the current spending rate of $1.8 million a day, according to projections widely used by
engineers and project managers, the train could not be completed in this century.["]
Slow
Minds Run Over at High Speed. Well, well, look at what we have here: the New York Times has finally
caught up with what every sensible person knew at least ten years ago — California's high-speed rail
project is a joke. "America's first experiment with high-speed rail has become a multi-billion-dollar nightmare,"
the Times says in a long feature today.
How California's
Bullet Train Went Off the Rails. The state was warned repeatedly that its plans were too complex.
SNCF, the French national railroad, was among bullet train operators from Europe and Japan that came to California in
the early 2000s with hopes of getting a contract to help develop the system. The company's recommendations for a
direct route out of Los Angeles and a focus on moving people between Los Angeles and San Francisco were cast aside, said
Dan McNamara, a career project manager for SNCF. The company pulled out in 2011. "There were so many things that
went wrong," Mr. McNamara said. "SNCF was very angry. They told the state they were leaving for North
Africa, which was less politically dysfunctional. They went to Morocco and helped them build a rail system."
Morocco's bullet train started service in 2018. The goal in California in 2008 was to carry passengers between Los
Angeles and San Francisco in 2 hours 40 minutes, putting it among the fastest trains in the world in average speed.
California
has weaponized transportation against its own population. In 2008, California voters
approved what was supposed to be a $33 billion high-speed rail project to connect Los Angeles,
Sacramento, and San Francisco. What they are actually getting is a project that may still
never connect those cities but will cost at least $113 billion and won't be completed until at
least 2030. In the meantime, California's legislature is as determined as ever to make
affordable transportation illegal, going so far as to ban gasoline-powered automobiles. The
high-speed rail project is a predictable rat's nest of rent-seeking by politically connected
contractors. Assuming it is actually ever finished, it will require constant operating
subsidies and maintenance costs. This California crazy train was back in the news last week
because it received one of many environmental green lights required for its completion, which will
come no sooner than 2033. However, be prepared for disappointment — this project has
consistently blown through every cost estimate and time projection that has been applied to it so far.
Give it up, already! Costs
of California's troubled bullet train rise again, by an estimated $5 billion. California bullet train officials
on Tuesday [2/8/2022] released a new draft project blueprint that acknowledges that costs have risen roughly $5 billion but
seeks to address several issues that have generated blowback. The 2022 business plan estimates that the full, 500-mile,
high-speed system between Los Angeles and San Francisco will cost as much as $105 billion, up from $100 billion two years
ago. In 2008, when voters approved a bond to help build the railroad, the authority estimated that the system would
cost $33 billion. In its latest blueprint, the California High Speed Rail Authority abandoned a plan to save money by
building only a single track for an initial 171-mile operating system between Bakersfield and Merced; instead, it plans to
build a two-track system.
Feds
Restore $929 Million in Funds for California's Billion-Dollar Bullet Train Boondoggle. California's wasteful
high-speed rail project is getting a predictable boost under train-loving President Joe Biden. On Thursday, the Biden
administration announced it was restoring $929 million in grants that had been revoked by the U.S. Department of
Transportation under President Donald Trump. Trump used the terrible state of the rail project — years
behind schedule, billions over budget, and without a realistic plan for actually connecting Los Angeles and San
Francisco — as a reason to shut the funding down. His feud with California political leadership certainly
played a role in the decision, but the reality is that the entire train project has been an expensive disaster that has lined
a bunch of contractors' and consultants' pockets. California sued the Trump administration to try to get the money
back. Yesterday's [6/10/2021] announcement is the result of a settlement agreement between California and the Biden
administration to restore the grant.
Feds
agree to restore $1B to California for bullet train. The federal government has agreed to restore roughly $1
billion in funding for a bullet train project in California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Thursday
night that the Transportation Department would provide nearly $929 million for the state's high-speed rail project.
Newsom said the money would help workers complete the initial operating segment of the project, which would be the nation's
first high-speed rail system. "Tonight's action by the federal government is further proof that California and the
Biden-Harris Administration share a common vision — clean, electrified transportation that will serve generations
to come. Restoring nearly $929 million in grant funding back to California's High-Speed Rail project will continue to
spur job creation, advance the project and move the state one step closer to getting trains running in California as soon as
possible," said Newsom.
The Editor says...
Remember, "clean, electrified transportation" is only as clean as the power plant making the electricity.
Introduction by The Editor:
California has now given up on its intra-state high-speed rail line. The taxpayers are stuck with the tab, but nobody else cares, because
this was a service for which there was no demand. The lesson is simple: If there is a demand for high-speed rail service, and a sufficient
number of passengers are willing to pay the high ticket price, a private company will build the system. It's called capitalism. The
California method is an abject failure, which should be a harsh lesson about socialism, but the politicians don't get it.
California
bullet train project to seek additional $4.1B amid delays and rising costs. The California bullet train project
will seek $4.1 billion in additional funding in order to finish construction in the state's Central Valley. The
additional money would be sourced from a bond fund that voters approved in 2008, according to a Monday report from the Los
Angeles Times, citing newly released documents from the bullet train authority. The report said an Assembly
Transportation Committee hearing is expected to take place in the coming weeks. The new disclosures reveal not only an
increase in the cost of the project but also a delay in its projected timeline. The Central Valley system, which will
cover 171 miles and reach from Merced to Bakersfield, was supposed to be completed by 2028. Its new opening date
has been pushed to 2030.
California
again delays bullet train first stage, begs feds for more time to avoid funding cutoff. The fiasco of
California's pathetic attempt to build a high-speed rail (HSR) line between Los Angeles and San Francisco continues to
generate far more embarrassment than actual completed track. Once again, for what seems like the umpteenth time,
California is unable to meet the deadlines imposed by the federal government as a condition of receiving federal
aid — in other words, subsidies from other states for building what should be commonly known as "Brown's Folly,"
after Jerry Brown, who go the itch to build it after riding bullet trains in Japan and Europe.
'Horrible
sequence of mistakes': How bullet train contractors botched a bridge project. A series of errors by contractors
and consultants on the California bullet train venture caused support cables to fail on a massive bridge, triggering an order
to stop work that further delayed a project already years behind schedule, the Los Angeles Times has learned. The
bridge is longer than two football fields and is needed to shuttle vehicles over the future bullet train right of way and
existing BNSF freight tracks in Madera County. Authorities have yet to finalize a plan to repair the bridge. Late
last year, crews installed temporary steel supports to prevent it from collapsing. Hundreds of pages of documents
obtained by The Times under a public records request show the steel supports snapped as a result of neglect, work damage,
miscommunications and possible design problems.
How
We Pale to Previous Generations. We of the 21st century are beginning to look back at our own lost epic times
and wonder about these now-nameless giants who left behind monuments that we cannot replicate, but instead merely use or even
mock. Does anyone believe that contemporary Americans could build another transcontinental railroad in six years?
Californians tried to build a high-speed rail line. But after more than a decade of government incompetence, lawsuits,
cost overruns, and constant bureaucratic squabbling, they have all but given up. The result is a half-built overpass
over the skyline of Fresno — and not yet a foot of track laid.
Bullet
Train Workers Reportedly Told To Suppress Bad News, Lawmaker Reacts. People working on California's high speed
rail have reportedly been told to keep their mouths shut and not openly talk about about any bad news related to the
project. Several high-profile members of the construction management team in Fresno said the company overseeing the
project told them not to say anything about why the project has repeatedly fallen behind schedule and why the cost has
exploded, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. However, that supervising company claims the article is
wrong. California Assemblymember Jim Patterson, a longtime opponent of the project, believes this is further evidence
of wrongdoing within the High-Speed Rail Authority. "This is something that I think is so serious that it calls into
question criminal behavior," said Patterson.
California
bullet train adds another $1.3 billion to projected price tag. The California High-Speed Rail Authority on
Wednesday bumped its overall cost estimate for completing the rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco to $80.3 billion,
blaming inflationary increases and better cost projections for a $1.3-billion boost that still is smaller than in previous years.
After years of embarrassing cost overruns and delays, managers of California's ambitious bullet-train project insisted that they are
on pace to meet a preliminary 2022 federal deadline for laying track along the first segment in the Central Valley. But
that will use up virtually all the money the project has available.
California
Off the Rails, State a Disaster Zone. When former California Gov. Jerry Brown announced his ill-conceived,
ill-fated high-speed train that no one wanted, and no one ever thought would be completed, he unwittingly sent the message
that the once Golden State would soon be spiraling into disaster. Before current Gov. Gavin Newsom killed the
train, California had squandered $5 billion on the boondoggle, and cost projections soared billions more from the original
estimate. New York Times' analysts pegged the train's final total at a staggering $100 billion. Brown envisioned
himself as a forward-thinking leader who would secure California's self-proclaimed position as the nation's preeminent cutting-edge
state. Brown put California on the cutting-edge, all right, but of catastrophe.
High-speed
rail route took land from farmers. The money they're owed hasn't arrived. John Diepersloot squinted under
a bright Central Valley sun, pointing to the damage to his fruit orchard that came with the California bullet train. He
lost 70 acres of prime land. Rail contractors left mounds of rubble along his neat rows. Irrigation hoses are
askew. A sophisticated canopy system for a kiwi field, supported by massive steel cables, was torn down. But what
really irritates Diepersloot is the $250,000 that he paid out of his own pocket for relocating wells, removing trees,
building a road and other expenses.
Can
California Be Saved, or Is It Too Late? Jerry Brown's imaginary high-speed rail that was to initially run from
Bakersfield to Merced in Central California is a bust. The cost was projected to be $77 [billion] but has forecast
to be $98 [billion]! It most likely will never be completed. Billions have been wasted.
California
'hi speed rail' plan now pondering old fashioned diesel trains to salvage something from the failed project.
Nobody with any authority over it can admit that Jerry Brown's pet project, a high-speed rail line between San Francisco and
Los Angeles, is a multi-billion dollar fiasco and pull the plug to avoid squandering additional billions of dollars from
taxpayers. Governor Gavin Newsom has "temporarily" downsized the project, promising to build only the 165 mile segment
from Merced to Bakersfield in the flat Central Valley, a trip that few people would ever make at the sort of fares necessary
to sustain high speed rail service, a premium-priced commodity everywhere in the world with high speed rail. (The barely
high-speed Acela trains between DC and Boston charge fares comparable to airlines.) Very few executives need to travel from
Merced to Bakersfield quickly.
Trump
Cancels California Rail Boondoggle Funding. In a move that is certain to enrage the perpetually-enraged
political left and our fake news media, the Trump Administration today moved to rescind a portion of the $3.5 billion
in federal funds previously dedicated to California's disastrous high-speed rail boondoggle.
Taxpayers Can't Dodge Bullet
Train. [Scroll down] Eleven years later, the critics have been mostly right. A [Los Angeles]
Times news story this week, based on an internal draft of the High Speed Rail Authority's forthcoming report to the
Legislature, found, "The cost of building a 119-mile section of the California bullet train in the Central Valley is
projected to increase by $1.8 billion." Note that the cost overruns are in the simplest place to build, along a flat
agricultural plain. And just how many people are itching to ride this downsized rail line from Bakersfield to Merced?
[...] The project is not going to do anything about climate change, but is more likely to be an underused monument to
government waste.
Ballooning
Costs, Missed Deadlines Derail California High-Speed Rail Project. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced
he is pulling the plug on the state's massive high-speed rail project after it incurred enormous cost overruns that pushed
the potential price tag to more than $77 billion and put the project more than a decade behind schedule. The
controversial project championed by Newsom's predecessor, Jerry Brown, was intended to link Los Angeles to San
Francisco. Voters approved a ballot measure in 2008 to finance and build the approximately 520-mile rail line. At
the time, it was estimated the project would cost $33 billion and be completed by 2020. Officials said they hoped
to connect the line to San Diego and Sacramento eventually.
Canceled!
California's billion-dollar boondoggle train. The train never made practical sense in a state where automobiles,
though vilified, are by far the principal mode of transportation. After purchasing an expensive (though subsidized) train
ticket, what were the few who chose to ride the train to do once they reached their destination — rent a car?
California already spent over $5 billion on the train, but estimates to finish the project have now exploded to a staggering
$77 billion! The completion date has been pushed back all the way to 2033.
US
DOT cancels $929 million in grants for California's aborted high-speed rail project. California's top officials
spear-headed a lawsuit to end the implementation of President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration. Now, the
US Department of Transportation (DOT) has cancelled millions in grants for the high speed rail project that has been
substantially scaled back by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Trump's
plan to take back $2.5 billion in California's high-speed rail funding 'unprecedented'. The Trump
administration's decision to cancel a $929-million grant to California's troubled high-speed rail project and claw back
$2.5 billion in funds already spent has thrust the federal government into uncharted legal territory and poses an
existential threat to the state's largest investment ever. Never before, experts say, has the federal government
attempted to take back such a large sum of money from California, particularly after it was spent under federal
supervision.
Trump
Takes Back $1 Billion from California; Gavin Newsom Complains: 'Political Retribution'. The Trump
administration announced Tuesday [2/19/2019] that it was canceling a federal grant to California worth nearly $1 billion after
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the cancelation of the state's high-speed rail project last week. Newsom used his "State of
the State" address Feb. 12 to cancel the San Francisco-to-Los Angeles project, saying it "would cost too much and, respectfully,
would take too long" to complete. However, he told legislators he wanted to complete the portion of the bullet train under
construction in the rural Central Valley, lest the state lose federal dollars granted to California by President Barack Obama as
part of the 2009 stimulus: "I am not interested in sending $3.5 billion in federal funding that was allocated to this
project back to Donald Trump," Newsom said.
Trump
administration to cancel $929 million in California high-speed rail funding. The fate of California's
high-speed rail project was cast into further doubt Tuesday when the federal government announced plans to cancel
$929 million in grant funds, a move U.S. officials linked to violations of the grant agreement but some view as political
payback. The action marks an escalation in the battle between President Trump and the state of California since Gov. Gavin
Newsom said last week that the project lacked a path to complete a statewide system and vowed to scale back the $77-billion
mega-project. The Transportation Department also said it was "actively exploring every legal option" to get back an
additional $2.5-billion grant that is being used to finance the construction of 119 miles of rail line in the Central Valley.
Trump
Admin To Newsom: We're Coming For The High-Speed Rail Money, Pal. Gavin Newsom may want to keep the
federal subsidies for California's stunted high-speed rail project, but the Trump administration wants the cash back.
After Newsom reset the project from a connection between the state's two largest metropolises to a ten-figure project to
connect two cities with a combined population of under 600,000, the new governor also declared that he'd hang onto
$3.5 billion from Washington. It didn't take long for collectors to come knocking.
CA
Gov. Newsom Just Delivered a Huge Blow to AOC's 'Green New Deal'. During his State of the State address,
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday said his administration is putting a halt to the highly anticipated
high-speed rail that would travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles. "Let's be real. The current project, as
planned, would cost too much and respectfully take too long. There's been too little oversight and not enough
transparency," Newsom said during his first address. The cost of building the train, at last estimate, was put at
$77 billion and wouldn't be completed until 2033, the Associated Press reported.
Gavin
Newsom calls SF-to-LA high-speed rail unrealistic, pushes for route from Bakersfield to Merced. During
Gov. Gavin Newsom's first State of the State speech Tuesday, he surprised listeners by announcing he would put the quest
for high-speed rail connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles championed by his predecessor far on the back burner.
Instead, Newsom offered a consolation prize: high-speed rail between Bakersfield and Merced.
California's High Speed Rail Finally Stops
Pining for the Fjords. By the time [Governor] Newsom pulled the plug on the boondoggle, it had already swelled
to $77 to $98 billion in projected costs for the unlikely goal of reducing automotive travel between Los Angeles and San
Francisco. The original cost was estimated to be $25 billion. The good news is that the most incredibly expensive
part of this colossal waste of taxpayer money is now cancelled. No more worrying about paying for extremely expensive
land or 13.5 mile tunnels or how to span active earthquake faults. This is progress!
Could
California's Doomed Bullet Train Fund Trump's Border Wall? California Gov. Gavin Newsom just pulled the
plug on the state's bullet train boondoggle. President Trump should demand the $3.5 billion the federal government
dumped into this black hole back, so he can put it to better use building the border wall.
Trump
Demands Gavin Newsom Return $3.5 Billion for Canceled Bullet Train; Newsom: It's 'California's Money'
Now. President Donald Trump demanded Wednesday evening that the State of California return $3.5 billion in
federal funds after Gov. Gavin Newsom canceled most of the state's high-speed rail project, saying it was too expensive.
"California has been forced to cancel the massive bullet train project after having spent and wasted many billions of dollars,"
the president tweeted. "They owe the Federal Government three and a half billion dollars. We want that money back
now. Whole project is a 'green' disaster!"
California
Further Proves that Public High-Speed Rail Projects Are Stupid. California governor Gavin Newsom has now abandoned the high-speed
railway that would have linked Los Angeles and San Francisco. The ballot measure was proposed in 2008, then estimated to cost $33 billion,
with an expected completion date of 2020. Before being scrapped, the expected cost to complete the railway was $77 billion, and the
timeline for completion stretched to 2033. [...] This particular project involved one high-speed railway connecting two cities less than
400 miles apart. Construction of this railway began in 2013, and we have to imagine that, given what we've seen, a completion date of
2033 and a price tag of $77 billion is a wildly generous expectation.
Colorless
Green Ideas Sleep Furiously. The bullet train is dead. Mostly. California's new governor, the prim
and grim Gavin Newsom, announced that the project would be taken off its $650-million-a-month life-support apparatus and
euthanized. The end of the project leaves Californians with no way to travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco
except a 90-minute, $149 flight. (Or driving.) [...] This is the "problem" that California has tried to solve with a
$77 billion boondoggle. At the time of its demise, the bullet train was years behind schedule, had spent more than
seven times its originally allocated budget, and, of course, carried no passengers.
California
scrapping plan for $77B high-speed rail from LA to San Francisco. California is scrapping current plans to build a
$77 billion high-speed rail line from Los Angeles to California due to high costs. The state's governor, Gavin Newsom,
said during his State of the State address on Tuesday that the proposal would "cost too much" and "take too long."
By
Law, California High Speed Rail May Be Doomed To Fail. For $100 billion Jerry Brown, Arnold and Gavin in are
going to give you a train from Bakersfield to Madera!! Of course they do not have the $100 billion and no idea
where they money to build or operate the system — so very few riders will come from Bakersfield to go to Madera (a great
community). The 99 freeway will continue to have lots of cars using it — the train to nowhere will not operate
due to lack of operating cash.
The Boondoggle Continues. Well, a few
remaining Republicans in Sacramento managed to get an audit done. The price tag is up to 77 billion dollars.
Rushed
construction cost high-speed rail $600 million and delays mount. California's High Speed Rail Authority is
still paying for a costly decision five years ago to begin construction in the Central Valley without securing land and
before it had completed key plans, according to a report published on Thursday [11/15/2018] by State Auditor Elaine Howle.
Howle's office estimated that the rushed construction contributed to $600 million in cost overruns just for segments in
the Central Valley. They may require as much as $1.6 billion more.
California's
$77 billion bullet train will be one of the state's great embarrassments: Larry Ellison. Oracle
co-founder Larry Ellison and Tesla CEO Elon Musk are on the same page when it comes to California's $77 billion high-speed
rail project. "Trains leave when you don't want to leave, from a place you don't want to leave from, and take you to a
place you don't want to go to, at a time you don't want to get there, and then you have to get into a car and go wherever
you're going. It is a crazy system," said Ellison during an exclusive interview with Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings with
Maria" on Thursday [10/25/2018]. Ellison, who said he hasn't spoken to Musk about the train, noted that their views
are in-line.
Gavin
Newsom's Bullet Train To Nowhere. Gavin Newsom is the Democratic candidate for Governor of California who is
widely expected to win next month thanks to the state's overwhelming blue tilt. This week Newsom was asked about his
plans for California's bullet train project and he said he would settle for building half of it as a way to rescue the
project that is already way over budget.
Californians
To Try To Kill High-Speed Rail Project By Referendum. Remember that high-speed rail project that was going to
bring California's infrastructure into the 21st century? The last we really heard about it was back in April when an
audit was scheduled to take stock of just how far in the hole they were and if it could ever be finished. Of course,
that's been the story of this project from the beginning. One delay after another compounded by flawed budget estimates
and construction schedules. Mix in a bit of political incompetence and malfeasance and you've got a recipe for
disaster. This running boondoggle has been dragging on for ages, creating a black pit of despair where Californians'
tax dollars go to die. But now that may be about to change. Fresh off their advances in attempting to recall the
recent gas tax package, one group is now working on a referendum plan to stop the entire mess and redirect the money to
fixing their roads.
Inflation
and delays could add billions more to bullet train project costs. The California bullet train project has cost
state taxpayers an average $3.1 million a day over the last year — a construction spending rate higher than that
for the Bay Bridge, Boston's Big Dig or any U.S. transportation project in recent history. But still it's not enough,
planners say. In order to hit its 2033 deadline and $77-billion budget, the California High Speed Rail Authority will
have to increase daily spending by up to nine times over the next four years or risk putting the already-delayed system
further behind.
The
Bullet Train No California Candidate Wants To Talk About. The open primary for the California governor's race
is coming up in a couple of weeks and there's a packed field of no less than 27 candidates on the ballot. [...] These folks
are all out on the campaign trail and the Democrats are all competing to demonstrate which one of them hates President Trump
the most and will be the best leader of the #RESIST movement. On top of that, they all have to figure out how to deal
with a housing crisis, disastrous roads in need of repair, an ongoing drought, wildfires, mudslides and a state economy which
is somehow still in the black for the moment but is predicted to hit a wall by 2020. But there's one thing you aren't
hearing about from any of them. Nobody is talking about the long-delayed and massively over budget bullet train.
Why do you suppose that is?
The
Fatally Flawed Centerpiece of California's Transportation Future. California's transportation future is
bright. In every area of transportation innovation, California-based companies are leading the way. Consortiums
of major global companies have offices throughout the San Francisco Bay area, pioneering self-driving cars that consolidate
technologies from not just automakers, but cell phone manufacturers, chip designers, PC makers, telecoms, and software
companies. In Southern California from the aerospace hub surrounding LAX to the Mojave desert, heavily funded
consortiums experiment with everything from passenger drones to hyperloop technologies to hypersonic transports. It's
all happening here. It's wondrous. Meanwhile, instead of preparing the roads for smart cars, or designing hubs
that integrate buses and cars-on-demand with aerial drones and hyperloop systems, the centerpiece of California's transportation
future is a train that isn't very fast, being built at what is probably the highest cost-per-mile in the history of transportation,
which hardly anyone will ever ride.
Hyperloop
Is Running Circles Around California's 'High Speed' Rail. Just five years ago, Elon Musk proposed his
breakthrough "hyperloop" transportation idea, and there is already talk of building it in major urban areas. Over those
same five years, California's government-funded high-speed rail project has seen nothing but cost overruns and delays.
Feds
To Audit CA High-Speed Rail Project As Funding Flounders. With a new study out showing that California doesn't
have the funding to complete even the first phase of their high-speed rail project, the Inspector General for the Department
of Transportation will open the books to see how federal monies have been spent: [...] That's bad news for a project that has
already had plenty of bad news over the last several years. The IG will apparently focus mainly on how the FRA has
performed in reporting on California's progress rather than the performance of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
The
great California train wreck. Let me just say from the outset that I still miss California. [...] Somehow, we
got along fine without a bullet train from Los Angeles to San Francisco. A maniacal pipe dream of Gov. Jerry
Brown, its price tag was increased last week to $77.3 billion. The train's projected opening date has been pushed back
another four years, to 2033. When this thing is done, they claim, you will be able to zip between Southern California and
Baghdad by the Bay in only three hours. Minus any time spent restoring track after a particularly bad earthquake.
California's
Bullet Train To Fiscal Oblivion. California's bullet train project, also known as Jerry Brown's Folly, has
turned into a fiscal nightmare for the Golden State. Not only are the cost estimates soaring, but the time table has
once more been shifted back. Based on current estimates, it may turn out to be the biggest fraud in the history of
public works.
Cost
for California bullet train system rises to $77.3 billion. The price of the California bullet train project
jumped sharply Friday when the state rail authority announced that the cost of connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco would
be $77.3 billion and could rise as high as $98.1 billion — an uptick of at least $13 billion from estimates
two years ago. The rail authority also said the earliest trains could operate on a partial system between San Francisco
and Bakersfield would be 2029 — four years later than the previous projection. The full system would not begin
operating until 2033. The disclosures are contained in a 114-page business plan that was issued in draft form Friday
[3/9/2018] by the rail authority before public hearings and formal submission to the Legislature in about 60 days.
California
bullet train costs soar to $77B; opening delayed. The projected cost of California's bullet train between San
Francisco and Los Angeles has jumped to $77 billion and the completion date has been pushed back four years to 2033,
according to a business plan released Friday [3/9/2018]. The plan by the California High-Speed Rail Authority presents
the latest setbacks for a project that's been beleaguered by delays and cost overruns since voters first gave it the
green[ ]light in 2008.
Vacant
lots, empty homes and dying orchards on bullet train route attract squatters, vandals and thieves. Charlene
Hook cherished her home of 30 years north of Corcoran, where pomegranate and pistachio orchards stretched for miles.
So choosing to burn it down last year was a difficult decision. She and her husband had no plans to leave their 2½ acres
until the day the state bullet train authority said its rails would go through their bedroom. Not long after the couple moved out,
thieves broke into the house and stripped almost everything of value — even taking the doors off her husband's shop where he
restored classic cars. Soon her former longtime neighbor's homes were being burglarized and vandalized.
Electricity
Cost: CA vs U.S. — and TX. California has high income taxes. Texas has none. The
workers in Texas do not have to pay bribes to work — in many places in California they have to pay extortion.
California is building a high speed rail from L.A. to San Fran, for $200 billion of taxpayers money. Texas is
building a high speed rail from Houston to Dallas, approximately 300 miles for NO tax dollars — all private
funds. Local cities will build the stations in exchange for development around the stations.
Will
Unfinished Train Overpasses Become California's Stonehenge? Californians thought high-speed rail was a great
idea when they voted for it in 2008. The state is overwhelmingly progressive. Silicon Valley reflects California's
confidence in new-age technology. Californians are among the highest-taxed citizens in the nation. They apparently
are not opposed to borrowing and spending for ambitious government projects — especially to alleviate crowded
freeways. Planners assured voters that the cost for the first 520 miles was going to be an "affordable" $33 billion.
[...] But projected costs have soared even before one foot of track has been laid. The entire project's estimated costs,
according to various projections, may have nearly doubled.
California's
bullet train (and biggest boondoggle) is over budget by billions. It's billions of dollars over budget and
seven years behind schedule, and appears to have no plausible way of living up to its goal of getting riders across the state
in three hours or less. Welcome to what's arguably the nation's largest infrastructure project and California's biggest
boondoggle. The highly hyped bullet train has been a challenge from the start. No one thought it would be
technically, financially and politically easy, but the way the project has been mishandled has some Californians fed up and
demanding answers.
CA
High-Speed Rail Contractor Gets 18% Raise After Missing Completion Date. California High-Speed Rail agreed to
increase payments to its construction manager by 18 percent after failing to complete its first 32-mile section within the
seven-year deadline. President Obama and his Democrat congressional majority voted in 2010 to fund the California High
Speed Rail (Cal HSR) with $2.5 billion under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as the centerpiece of a national
network of 10 intercity corridors in California, the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, the Southeast, The Gulf Coast, Pennsylvania,
Florida, New York, and New England. Cal HSR contractually agreed to provide bullet train service with top speeds of
150 miles-per-hour over the 118-mile section between Madera and Bakersfield by September 30, 2017, or give the money
back to the U.S. Treasury.
McCarthy:
Time to Send California's Sputtering High-Speed Rail Project to the Scrap Yard. After billions of dollars in cost overruns
and missed deadlines, California's top Republican in Congress is again training his fire on his state's high-speed rail project, arguing
that the mammoth $2.5 billion Obama-era stimulus boondoggle is still struggling to get off the ground and should be scrapped
altogether. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) has long opposed the state's plans for a bullet train linking
San Francisco and Los Angeles even though the backbone of the rail system was supposed to run through his hometown of Bakersfield.
With construction of the main line of the project, straight through the state's Central Valley, set to miss a Sept. 30 deadline,
McCarthy says it's past time to end the "colossal waste of precious taxpayer dollars."
How the Trump administration can stop
the bullet train. The only kind of news the troubled $64 billion California bullet train project seems to generate is bad news.
In January, a Federal Railroad Administration analysis was leaked that projected the initial 118-mile, $6.4 billion segment of the project would run
50 percent over budget. Then last week, a Los Angeles Times report revealed that the project's price tag may continue to be pushed higher and
higher by "the complex engineering needed for passenger safety."
Why
High-Speed Rail Should Be Audited Before Caltrain Receives Federal Funds. The California HSR project started in November 2008, when voters
approved Proposition 1A establishing a $9 billion bond measure which included rigid restrictions on project administration and protections for taxpayers
funding it. Today, nine years later, not one inch of track has been laid. Initially, the voters were told that the project would cost $33 billion;
it was anticipated that about 1/3 would come from the bond; $10 billion from the feds; and the remaining money from enthusiastic private investors eager
to invest in a winner.
The
price of safety on California's bullet train is only now becoming apparent. Engineers on California's high-speed
rail project have worried for nine years about the sort of train wreck that occurred in New York last October. Six
hundred rail passengers were rolling across Long Island at 50 mph on a Saturday night when a maintenance train on a
parallel track derailed and sideswiped their commuter train, injuring 33 and leaving others wandering in the dark through
twisted wreckage. Although construction on California's high-speed rail is already underway, designers are still
sorting out safety's place in a delicate balance that also requires staying on budget and getting passengers from Los Angeles
to San Francisco on time. One safety concern playing out at the moment stems from the fact that the bullet trains will
run in some places at 220 mph, alongside lines carrying everything from toxic chemicals to military tanks.
California's
Boondoggle Bullet Train Goes Off The (Fiscal) Rails. The Golden State's vaunted bullet train project, planned
to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles, may be in its financial death throes. If so, it's probably the best fiscal
news for the Golden State in years.
Two
construction firms seek an extra $300 million for bullet train work. Two huge construction firms that are
helping to build about 54 miles of bullet train structures in the Central Valley are seeking an additional $300 million on
their fixed-price contracts, the Los Angeles Times has learned. The increases, if the state ultimately agrees to cover
them, would further bloat the bill for what has been touted as the easiest and most predictable section of the Los
Angeles-to-San Francisco system. The potential increases lend credence to the findings of a December risk assessment by
the Federal Railroad Administration that costs for building the full 118 miles of work in the Central Valley could jump by
50%, or $3.6 billion, above current estimates.
High-Speed
Train Going Nowhere Fast. Six years have chugged by since the federal government awarded billions of dollars for California's high-speed passenger
train but not a single track has been laid. The "bullet train" promised to make the 520 mile trip from San Francisco to the Los Angeles area in
less than three hours by traveling over 200 miles per hour. [...] With a price tag of nearly $100 billion, this rail system is the single largest public
works project currently underway in the U.S. Already billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule, the only ones being taken for a ride by the
train are taxpayers.
Obama
Has Little To Show For His Lavish Spending On Roads, Green Energy And E-Cars. Early in his administration, Obama fantasized about
creating a network of high-speed rail lines across the country. He poured $8 billion worth of stimulus money into the project, hoping
to get rail lines started in 10 regions. Only one has seriously pursued Obama's dream — California — which got
$3.5 billion in federal grants. But its effort is foundering amid skyrocketing costs and endless construction delays.
California's
bullet train is hurtling toward a multibillion-dollar overrun, a confidential federal report warns. California's bullet
train could cost taxpayers 50% more than estimated — as much as $3.6 billion more. And that's just for the first
118 miles through the Central Valley, which was supposed to be the easiest part of the route between Los Angeles and San
Francisco. A confidential Federal Railroad Administration risk analysis, obtained by The [Los Angeles] Times, projects that
building bridges, viaducts, trenches and track from Merced to Shafter, just north of Bakersfield, could cost $9.5 billion to
$10 billion, compared with the original budget of $6.4 billion.
Jerry
Brown's bullet train fiasco and Trump. California governor Jerry Brown has staked out the turf as
President-Elect Trump's opponent, hiring Eric Holder to gin up a legal strategy and appointing Congressman Xavier Bacera as
his A.G. to oppose anticipated Trump policies in sanctuary cities, the environment, and what some call California's "values."
But I have to wonder if Brown doesn't have a vulnerable flank in this battle: the looming financial collapse of his most
cherished project, the so-called "bullet train" between the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Yesterday [1/13/2017], the Los Angeles Times
published information from a "confidential" Federal Railroad Administration report that was leaked to it revealing absolute
incompetence and out-of-control overspending on the first segment under construction. The report by Ralph Vartabedian
should be read in its entirety to grasp the level of chaos in the project.
California's
bullet train on the track to extinction. The windswept deserts east of California's Sierra Nevada are
crisscrossed with thousands of miles of abandoned railroad beds, a legacy of the region's gold and silver boom town
days. Hundreds of now defunct railroad companies, with picturesque names like Tonopah and Tidewater, Va., and Truckee
and Carson, Colo., operated until the gold played out or truck transport grew more common and less expensive. Over the
jagged spine of California's granite backbone, 100 miles to the west, a new railroad track is being laid. But, unlike
its narrow gauge cousins that sprang up 150 years ago, this railroad relies entirely on government funding and will likely
never be completed.
California's
$64 Billion Bullet Train To Nowhere Gets Delayed — Again. In the late 1800s, it took railroad
companies six years to lay 1,907 miles of track for what was to become the Transcontinental Railroad (or as Barack Obama
calls it, the Intercontinental Railroad). Building that railroad line required tunneling through mountains —
at one foot a day — building bridges — including one that spanned 700 feet — and doing all
the work almost entirely by hand. As best, it will now take seven years for California to lay 119 miles of
track — on relatively flat ground in the middle of nowhere. That news came from a contract revision
that the Obama administration approved late last week.
California's
Ongoing Suicide Watch. [Scroll down] Such geniuses we have running California. Thank goodness we're
building high-speed rail. It'll only take three times as long at twice the price of Southwest Air Lines to get up and
down the state.
California Voters Want More
Water and Less Bullet Train. Less than a year ago, climate scientists were heralding the "Godzilla El Niño," which would generate historic
rainfalls that could help alleviate California's mega-drought. Climate reality has failed to confirm climate theory, as the term "dud" is now being used
to describe the weather pattern.[...] At this point, it looks as if California is going to have to continue implementing a wide array of water-saving measures,
which include "cash-for-grass" and drought-shaming neighbors. However, courtesy of our proposition system, Californians may get a chance to divert funds
from a loser project into sensible infrastructure construction that may actually alleviate some our state's water crisis.
California's
Bullet Train Will Take Even Longer To Go Nowhere. California's high-speed rail project will never make its current 2022 arrival
time, according to the Los Angeles Times. Doesn't this strike anyone in charge of this costly boondoggle as ironic? The Los Angeles
Times does a commendable job of providing a reality check to the increasingly out-of-touch project. After reviewing project documents and
talking to various experts, the paper concluded, "The deadline and budget targets will almost certainly be missed," and state officials have
"underestimated the challenges ahead."
Funding
and subsidies worry potential partners in California's bullet train project. Major construction, equipment and
engineering firms around the world, responding to a solicitation to form a partnership with the California high-speed rail
project, have raised serious concerns about the state's shortage of funding, the potential need for long-term operating
subsidies and whether the project can meet the current construction schedule. The comments were included in 36 responses
sent by the international firms to the California High-Speed Rail Authority after it requested suggestions on how to complete
the $68-billion project.
$68-billion California bullet train project
likely to overshoot budget and deadline targets. The monumental task of building California's bullet train will require punching 36 miles
of tunnels through the geologically complex mountains north of Los Angeles. Crews will have to cross the tectonic boundary that separates the North
American and Pacific plates, boring through a jumble of fractured rock formations and a maze of earthquake faults, some of which are not mapped.
It will be the most ambitious tunneling project in the nation's history.
Dianne
Feinstein's Husband Awarded Massive Fortune in Rail Boondoggle. What a remarkable
coincidence. A guy who was just handed $1 billion of other people's money in the latest rail
boondoggle happens to be married to someone we know: [...] The purpose of government spending in a
socialistic corruptocracy like ours is to "spread the wealth around" — i.e., confiscate
it from those who create it for redistribution to our rulers and those in their favor. For this
reason, it is totally unnecessary for rail and green energy projects to make any economic sense
whatsoever. All by itself this explains why capitalism works and socialism does not work.
Dianne
Feinstein's husband wins near-billion dollar California 'high speed rail' contract. To
the surprise of absolutely no one familiar with the ways of Corruptifornia, the one-party state
completely in the hands of the Democrats, a consortium whose lead firm is controlled by Richard
Blum, husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, was awarded a nearly billion-dollar contract for the
construction of the first phase of the so-called high-speed rail line to link San Francisco and Los
Angeles. Those paying attention to the project call it the "half-fast" rail line because it will
share trackage with conventional commuter rail trains in the sprawling Los Angeles and San Francisco
areas, lowering its average speed to levels achieved by American railways a century ago.
The closest
high-speed rail will come to Sacramento? The contractor for California's high-speed
rail system is having an event on the Capitol grounds, featuring a model car that is "Connectin
Cities at 220 miles per hour." For $68 billion, they ought to be able to afford
a "g" (in connecting). Furthermore, this train will never go 220 mph — not
with a blended route that goes slowly through populated areas on Caltrain lines.
California's
High-Speed Rail Kicks Off Without Money To Finish It. It finally happened last week:
California officially broke ground on its "high-speed" rail line, the wasteful $68 billion (and
counting) project that promises to become the biggest public works boondoggle in the history of the
U.S. And that's saying a lot.
Construction
Begins On California's $68 Billion High-Speed Rail Line. One of the biggest transportation
projects the country has ever seen broke ground Monday in Fresno, Calif. In theory, building the
much-delayed high speed rail line would allow a trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than three
hours, with speeds of over 200 miles an hour. The milestone comes six years after voters
first approved an almost $10 billion bond act to fund the project. But that bond, plus about
$3 billion in federal funds, still leaves the project about $55 billion short of the cost to
get the line up and running by 2030.
California
leaders set for high-speed rail groundbreaking Tuesday. California on Tuesday
[1/6/2015] will break ground in Fresno on its ambitious but controversial high-speed rail project,
marking another milestone for Governor Jerry Brown and for foreign manufacturers waiting to bid on
lucrative train contracts.
Washington
Governor Imposes Cap-and-Trade Through Executive Order. Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee is not
waiting for the state legislature to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, but instead has issued an executive order
to implement a cap-and-trade program, eliminate coal power and fund green energy projects. [...] Inlsee argues that
more action is needed if the state is to meet climate goals passed by the legislature in 2008. Those goals
call for the state to lower its carbon dioxide emissions by certain amounts by 2020.
California
eyes plan to speed bullet train using cap-and-trade program proceeds. As envisioned, California's
$68 billion bullet-train system, the nation's first, would take passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco
at speeds of more than 200 miles an hour. The project, though, has been beset by planning delays,
fluctuating cost estimates and court challenges that have threatened to kill or delay it indefinitely. Gov.
Jerry Brown has proposed using one-third of funds raised annually through cap-and-trade auctions to help pay for
high-speed rail.
High-Speed Rail Decision Is [a] Victory
for [the] Rule of Law. California Judge Michael Kenny has barred state bond funding for the California high-speed rail system, finding "the
state's High-Speed Rail Authority failed to follow voter-approved requirements designed to prevent reckless spending." These protections had been
important in securing voter approval of a $10 billion bond issue in 2008. Judge Kenny's decision means California government officials cannot
ignore the state's laws, even when its leadership finds them politically inexpedient. The ruling forbids the state from arbitrarily casting aside
legally binding promises.
52% want bullet train stopped, poll finds.
A majority of voters want the California bullet train project stopped and consider it a waste of money, even as state political leaders have struggled to
bolster public support and make key compromises to satisfy critics, a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll found. Statewide, 52% of the respondents
said the $68-billion project to link Los Angeles and San Francisco by trains traveling up to 220 mph should be halted. Just 43% said it should
go forward.
U.S.
Taxpayers to Bailout Rail Project with $42 Billion. After getting slammed with higher taxes, Americans
throughout the U.S. will be on the hook for the multi-billion-dollar infusion necessary to complete a grossly mismanaged
high-speed rail system in California. Even those who have never been to the state and have no association with it will
contribute because federal lawmakers have essentially agreed to fund the project, which will end up costing a
monstrous $68.4 billion to finish and hundreds of millions of dollars annually to operate and maintain. The
high-speed rail system will run 520 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles and is scheduled to be completed by 2028.
Why fast trains are a waste of
money. California wants about $19 billion for an 800-mile track from Anaheim to San Francisco. Constructing all
13 corridors could easily approach $200 billion. Most (or all) of that would have to come from government. What would
we get for this huge investment? Not much. Here's what we wouldn't get: any meaningful reduction in traffic congestion,
greenhouse-gas emissions, air travel, or oil consumption and imports. Nada, zip. If you can do fourth-grade math, you can understand
why.
A Golden State train wreck.
At one point, an estimate of 44 million riders a year — subsequently revised downward, substantially — assumed
gasoline costing $40 a gallon. [...] In 2008, Californians passed an initiative authorizing $9.95 billion in bonds to build
what they were told would be a $33 billion high-speed rail system. California, constantly lurching from one budget crisis to
a worse one, could not nearly afford even that, and soon the price was re-estimated at around $100 billion.
California Goes Off the Rails with
High Speed Train. The State of California was already facing a $19 billion budget deficit, shorted public schools
$8 billion, and was set to release imprisoned rapists into "community probation" when the Legislature approved selling $4.6 billion
in new state bonds to build 130 miles of railroad track through some of the most uninhabited farm country in Central California.
How Insider Politics Saved California's Train to
Nowhere. The rail authority promised voters that the train wouldn't require a subsidy and that the feds and private sector would
pick up most of the $33 billion tab. Expecting a free ride, voters leapt on board and approved the initiative in November 2008.
Not long afterward, the authority raised the price to $43 billion. Investors refused to plunk down money without a revenue
guarantee — that is, a subsidy — from the state, which wasn't forthcoming. California's attorney general,
whom we now call Gov. Jerry Brown, declined to investigate the bait-and-switch.
Getting
Nowhere, Very Fast. California has a huge state debt and Washington has a huge national debt.
But that does not discourage either Governor Jerry Brown or President Barack Obama from wanting to launch a very
costly high-speed rail system. Most of us might be a little skittish about spending money if we were teetering
on the brink of bankruptcy. But the beauty of politics is that it is all other people's money, including
among those other people generations yet unborn.
The governor can strong-arm companies with the
state's new Thermageddon Law. California
To Pay For High Speed Rail With Extortion. The governor told ABC 7's "Eyewitness Newsmakers"
program that environmental impact fees paid by industries that emit large amounts of greenhouse gas will
help fund the big train project.
California Struggling to Find
High-Speed Rail Funds. California's plans for high-speed rail, which envision tracks connecting
Southern California to the Bay Area with riders traveling at speeds of 220 miles per hour, suffered
a setback in mid-September as Congress cut billions of dollars from the Federal Railroad Administration's budget.
President Barack Obama, who is pushing high-speed rail projects in select states, sought $8 billion in funding
for fiscal 2012. House Appropriations subcommittee members, however, cut nearly $7 billion from that
request. The bulk of the remaining $1 billion is already allocated for Amtrak operations.
Dubious Claims for High-Speed
Rail: No high-speed rail line has been built from scratch in the United States. But historically,
urban passenger rail projects have, on average, gone 40 percent over their projected costs. At the same
time, U.S. passenger rail planners typically overestimate ridership by an average of about 100 percent.
California's high-speed rail authority is projecting that the San Francisco to Los Angeles line will be carrying
two to three times more passengers by 2020 than Amtrak's entire Boston to Washington corridor currently carries.
A Reason Foundation review of the state rail authority's plan called the ridership projections "the most
unrealistic projections produced for a major transport project anywhere in the world."
Congressional panel launches probe of California's high-speed rail
project. A congressional committee has launched a wide-ranging examination of the California high-speed rail project, including possible
conflicts of interest and how the agency overseeing it plans to spend billions of dollars in federal assistance.
It's 'Next Stop
1970' For California High-Speed Rail. Gov. Jerry Brown is doing all he can to save his state's ill-conceived
high-speed rail project, but he's no magician. He's finding that there's no way to cut the project's cost other than
to make it smaller and less speedy — in short, even less like the scheme that voters approved in 2008. He
has just endorsed a new business plan that lowers the system's projected price tag from $98 billion to $68 billion.
This is still well above the $40 billion estimate of 2008, and the project is scaled back.
California
high-speed rail takes a new hit. The latest blow to California's plan to connect north and south with an ambitious
network of high-speed rail lines came Monday [4/9/2012] in Washington. Rep. Darrell Issa (R) of California announced that
the oversight committee he chairs will investigate crucial federal funding of the project. That followed two
studies — one by and independent panel, one by the state auditor — that called the plan risky.
Polls show faltering support among California voters because of rising costs.
High-speed spending: Bullet train may need $3.5 million
a day. If California starts building a 130-mile segment of high-speed rail late this year as planned, it will enter into a risky race
against a deadline set up under federal law. The bullet train track through the Central Valley would cost $6 billion and have to be completed
by September 2017, or else potentially lose some of its federal funding. It would mean spending as much as $3.5 million every calendar day,
holidays and weekends included — the fastest rate of transportation construction known in U.S. history, according to industry and academic
experts.
Jerry Brown vs. Chris Christie. In his
January 2011 inaugural address, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared it a "time to honestly assess our financial condition and make the tough
choices." Plainly the choices weren't tough enough: Mr. Brown has just announced that he faces a state budget deficit of
$16 billion — nearly twice the $9.2 billion he predicted in January.
California high speed rail project going pretty much
as expected. The proposed service hopes to whisk commuters from San Francisco to Los Angeles in a matter of hours without all that bother of using the
existing regional air service to do the same thing faster. Earlier this year, Ed noted that some observers felt that the financing for this effort was looking
"increasingly risky." This weekend the Wall Street Journal reports that our earlier estimation was in error. The financing isn't "risky" at all... it's an
unmitigated disaster.
Poll: Voters turn against
California bullet train. A new poll finds California voters are experiencing buyers' remorse over a proposed $68 billion
bullet train project, as the number of lawsuits against the rail system grows.
Environmental objections in path of bullet train.
The California bullet train is promoted as an important environmental investment for the future, but over the next decade the heavy construction project would
potentially harm air quality, aquatic life and endangered species across the Central Valley. Eleven endangered species, including the San Joaquin kit fox,
would be affected, according to federal biologists. Massive emissions from diesel-powered heavy equipment could foul the already filthy air. Dozens
of rivers, canals and wetlands fed from the rugged peaks of the Sierra Nevada would be crossed, creating other knotty issues.
Assembly approves high-speed rail
funding. The [California] Assembly passed $8 billion in funding for high-speed rail and other projects on Thursday [7/5/2012], sending the
bill back to the state Senate for final approval.
Cash-Strapped
California OKs Funding for High-Speed Rail. California lawmakers approved billions of dollars Friday in
construction financing for the initial segment of the nation's first dedicated high-speed rail line connecting Los
Angeles and San Francisco.
Environmental objections in path of bullet train.
The California bullet train is promoted as an important environmental investment for the future, but over the next decade the heavy construction project
would potentially harm air quality, aquatic life and endangered species across the Central Valley. Eleven endangered species, including the San
Joaquin kit fox, would be affected, according to federal biologists. Massive emissions from diesel-powered heavy equipment could foul the already
filthy air.
Bias alert!
Alarmists always paint the worst possible picture to describe events that haven't happened yet: The project would potentially pollute the
air. It could foul the already filthy air. Really? The air in California is filthy, after years and years of the
strictest air pollution laws in the world? And if already filthy air is "fouled", who would notice? The primary obstacle to the bullet
train is economics, not air quality. Bullet trains are luxury items for the benefit of the upper class, paid for by everyone.
California High-Speed Rail: Unsafe at Any Speed.
Democratic California state Sen. Joe Simitian probably is best-known as the author of California's bill to ban the use of hand-held cellphones while driving.
After Friday's vote, Simitian may be best-known as the Democrat who warned his colleagues not to issue $4.6 billion in bonds for big-ticket high-speed
rail. "Any of us who talk to our folks know that they're asking the same questions," Simitian reasoned. "They're saying, 'Really? You made
these cuts. We're threatened with more. And you want to build a high-speed train?'" The state Senate, nonetheless, passed the bill with
21 votes. Gov. Jerry Brown praised lawmakers for their "bold action." Bold or foolhardy?
California's Railroad Job.
California's state legislature on Friday green-lighted funding for its $68 billion (or more) bullet train, which in 30 years
may connect San Francisco and Anaheim. Since the state has only enough cash in hand to build about 100 miles of track, the
train will more likely dead end in Bakersfield, about 130 miles south of Fresno, where the first segment is supposed to begin.
Coincidence?
How Insider Politics Saved California's
Train to Nowhere. Environmentalism may be religion to some on the left, but its high priests aren't all pure and
righteous. Consider the not-so-immaculate conception of California's bullet train. Last week, the state's legislature
authorized $4.7 billion in bonds to start construction on high-speed rail, which had been stalled in Sacramento for more than
a decade due to logistical and political malfunctions. This train is now out of the station — though it's almost
certain to break down soon.
Bay Area faces new high-speed rail
costs. Now that Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation to allow the state to spend billions on high-speed rail, Bay Area residents
had better brace for the real ride — a push for $650 million in toll hikes and new San Francisco taxes.
Obama's
$107 billion transportation plan: Trains and roads to nowhere. [Scroll down] Then there is the $47 billion that
Obama wants to spend on brand new high-speed rail projects across the country. One need only look at how his signature rail project
in California is progressing to get a sense of how well this money will be spent. More than three years after Obama's stimulus funded
California's high-speed rail dream, the project's first phase hasn't even broken ground. Even if the first section of track is ever
completed, all it would do is it would connect the Central Valley town of Madera (population 60,000) with Charles Manson's prison home in
Corcoran (population 24,000).
All Aboard California's high-speed train to
nowhere. [Scroll down] Legally, California's high-speed rail project should be dead in its tracks, because it's en route
to operating subsidies, too — another no-no. "California's Democrat supermajority are pulling all the levers and changing the rules,
as a payoff to the public unions that elected them," Katy Grimes, investigator at the free-market Pacific Research Institute, tells The Daily Caller.
The GAO report doubts private investment will come without such "revenue guarantees." There's no model for public-private partnerships in
the U.S. They've failed before in Texas and Florida.
Diane
Feinstein's husband's company lands big high-speed rail contract. The group lead by Tutor Perini bid $985,000,000 to build the initial 29-mile
stretch, roughly from Fresno to Madera, which doesn't include the costs for electrification and land purchase. And, as Laer points out at Crazifornia,
they started with this section because it's the cheapest. (I can't wait to see what the bids are to lay track through the mountain passes...)
Dianne
Feinstein's Husband Bags High-Speed Rail Construction Contract. Sen. Diane Feinstein's husband Richard Blum won a
construction contract for California's high-speed rail project, reports the California Political Review. Author Laer Pearce says
Perini-Zachary-Parsons, a construction group partially owned by Blum's investment firm, Blum Capital, and their investors, bagged the
nearly billion dollar contract.
California High Speed Rail Falls Short of Expectations. Various
proposals have envisioned a high speed rail system that spans the United States. In California, the California High-Speed Rail Authority has
already begun implementing its decades-old plan to connect Northern California with Southern California. However, the rail system would lose
more than $100 million per year, say Joseph Vranich, Wendell Cox and Adrian Moore in a new study for the Reason Foundation.
California High-Speed Rail: An Updated Due Diligence Report.
Reason Foundation's 2008 report, The California High Speed Rail Proposal: A Due Diligence Report, warned that plans by the California High Speed Rail
Authority (CHSRA or Authority) issued prior to and during 2008 were inaccurate, misleading and not in compliance with California statutes. As well, it
found that the Authority's financing plan overstated projected revenues and private financing, and understated capital requirements and operating subsidies
needed from taxpayers.
The California High-Speed Rail Proposal: A Due Diligence Report.
With the high costs of building in California and the history of cost overruns on rail projects, the final price tag for the complete high-speed rail
system will actually be $65 to $81 billion, according to the Reason Foundation report. And while the Rail Authority forecasts between
65 and 96 million intercity riders by 2030, the due diligence report finds these projections are dramatically inflated.
High-Speed Train in California
Is Caught in a Political Storm. Gov. Jerry Brown of California is riding into an election year on a wave of popularity and an upturn in
the state's fortunes. But a project that has become a personal crusade for him over the past two years — a 520-mile high-speed train line from
Los Angeles to San Francisco — is in trouble, reeling from a court ruling that undermined its financing, and from slipping public support and
opponents' rising calls to shut it down.
CA
High-Speed Rail Lowers Revenue Projections. In a new business plan submitted to state legislators last week,
the California High-Speed Rail Authority offered lower revenue projections than it had two years before, predicting that
revenue will be "5 percent lower than originally projected by 2025 and 10 percent lower by 2040," according to
a report by Sacramento's KCRA.com.
Gun control:
Calicrats
fixing to require insurers to obtain information about personal firearms, then turn the information
over to the Daddy Gov. The Second Amendment doesn't grant a person the right to bear
arms — the Second Amendment recognizes an individual's God-given right to self-defense,
and prohibits the American government from infringing upon that right. Well in other news
that isn't news, Commiefornia is ignoring all that law and precedent; on Friday, Democrat
Assemblyman Mike Gipson put forth a bill that would require insurance companies to ask a litany of
very specific questions regarding personal firearms an applicant may or may not have. Then,
these insurers would need to hand this information over to state agencies and lawmakers. [...] Mind
you, these are the same Democrats who think law enforcement asking about a person's citizenship
status, or an employer asking a job candidate if he/she has a criminal history, are unacceptable
lines of inquiry. The state just wants to know if you have guns or gun safes and how many,
and how you store said firearms — for your safety of course!
Federal Judges Strikes
Down California Background Checks For Ammo. When a circuit court as notoriously liberal
feels compelled to send cases back to lower court in light of Bruen, the the Second Amendment is
winning. On the downside, the Democratic Party in general, and California Democrats in
particular, have proven that no amount of rulings will prevent them from pursuing the goal of complete
disarmament of law-abiding citizens. Expect California Democrats to respond by passing a whole
slew of gun-grabbing legislation that continues to ignore the clear guidelines of Bruen.
Federal
judge blocks California law that would have banned carrying firearms in most public
places. A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a California law that would have banned
carrying firearms in most public places, ruling that it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution and deprives people of their ability to defend themselves and their loved ones.
The law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September was set to take effect Jan. 1. It would
have prohibited people from carrying concealed guns in 26 places including public parks and
playgrounds, churches, banks and zoos. The ban would apply whether the person has a permit to
carry a concealed weapon or not. One exception would be for privately owned businesses that
put up signs saying people are allowed to bring guns on their premises.
California
Imposing Restrictions on Carrying Guns Despite SCOTUS Ruling. In New York State
Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Supreme Court upheld the Second Amendment right
to carry guns for self-defense outside of the home. But California is looking to circumvent
that right by imposing dubious restrictions on where citizens can carry guns. Other states
have tried this route and each has been struck down by various courts. But that didn't stop
Governor Gavin Newsom and Democrats in the state legislature from trying. S.B. 2, signed
into law by Newsom in September and effective January 1, 2024, recognizes the right of
individuals to carry firearms for self-protection. But it limits the discretion of licensing
authorities to a ludicrous degree. In fact, S.B. 2 notes that the changes made legal in
Bruen would allow "individuals to carry firearms in most public areas," according to
Reason.com's Jacob Sullum. Very true, so what's the problem? Too much freedom.
They will let you carry a gun, until the first time you use it. LA
Homeowner Who Opened Fire on Armed Robbers at His House Has Carry Permit Revoked. The
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department notified Vince Ricci, the Los Angeles Mid-City homeowner
who opened fire on armed suspects who tried to get into his house, that his carry permit had been
revoked. Last Sunday, Ricci was returning to his home when he turned the tide on two
would-be-armed robbers when he drew his own licensed concealed firearm and opened fire on
them. Ricci had just returned to his home after going to the gym when the two armed robbers
ran into his front yard and confronted him at his front door. They tried to force their way
into the home as Ricci was unlocking the front door. The two suspects had already produced
handguns and had pointed them at him when Ricci, who said that he "thought he was going to die,"
produced his own handgun and opened fire on both suspects. Although no suspects were hit by
his rounds, his actions immediately caused the two suspects to flee the area.
Newsom
Signs Extreme Gun Control Measures Into Law. On Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin
Newsom (D) signed several gun control measures into law, one of which restricts where gun owners
can carry their firearms. According to the Los Angeles Times, one of the laws Newsom signed,
S.B. 2, came in response to the Supreme Court's New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. vs. Bruen
ruling last year, which struck down a gun control law in New York. The new law "seriously limits
who can obtain a license to carry a concealed firearm" and details more than two dozen "sensitive"
locations where guns cannot be carried. This includes child care centers, public transit,
museums, zoos, medical facilities, among many others.
Federal
court strikes down California ban on gun magazines for second time. A federal judge
yet again declared California's ban on gun magazines unconstitutional Friday. The ban was
first instituted in a 2000 measure signed into law by then-Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, and
prohibited state residents from buying or selling magazines that hold 10 or more rounds. U.S.
District Judge Roger T. Benitez struck it down after previously striking it in 2019. The
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Benitez's ruling in 2021, arguing that the ban fell in
line with the state's efforts to reduce gun violence and is compatible with the Second
Amendment. Then, the Supreme Court vacated the appeals court ruling and ordered new
proceedings consistent with the decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
v. Bruen. Benitez cited the case in his decision because it clarified that gun
control laws must be "consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation."
The judge claimed this magazine ban was not.
San
Diego judge blocks key parts of California's strict handgun law. A San Diego federal
judge has issued a ruling that blocks four provisions of California's strict handgun law, becoming
the second U.S. district judge within two weeks to rule that parts of the state's Unsafe Handgun
Act likely violate the Second Amendment. Judge Dana Sabraw's ruling in the San Diego case
could potentially open the door for Californians to purchase hundreds of types of semiautomatic
pistols that state officials currently deem "unsafe" and thus do not include on a roster of
approved handguns. But the judge issued a stay on his decision, giving Attorney General Rob
Bonta time to appeal the ruling.
Federal
Judge Strikes Down Controversial California Handgun Roster Law on 2nd Amendment Grounds. On
Monday, March 20, District Judge Cormac Carney in Santa Anna, California struck down the state's Handgun
Roster gun control law finding it violated the right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution. This is the latest blow to gun control advocates striking down state gun laws
following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2022 expanding gun rights. The repeal will take effect
fourteen days following the ruling. California's Unsafe Handgun Act required all new semiautomatic
handguns sold to Californians to have unique safety features not required in other states effectively
freezing the technology available and preventing handgun modern safer handguns designs from being available
to Californians. The law was later amended to include a requirement for microstamping ammunition,
which has never been implemented.
Federal
Judge Blocks Enforcement of California Handgun Regulation. A federal judge on Monday
[3/20/2023] blocked enforcement of a decades-old California law that requires newly developed
handguns to have particular safety features, ruling the regulation overly stringent and a violation
of the Second Amendment. California's Unsafe Handgun Act, enacted in 2001, aims to prevent
accidental discharges through various safety standards. The legislation mandates that certain
handguns have a chamber-load indicator and a magazine-disconnect mechanism that prevents a handgun
from being fired if the magazine is not fully inserted. To assist with gun-crime
investigations, the firearms also must have a microstamping mechanism, which allows the transfer of
microscopic imprints of the handgun's make, model, and serial number onto shell casings when the
gun is fired.
Poll:
Two-Thirds of CA Adults Say Gun Control [is] More Important than Gun Rights. A survey released Wednesday
by the Public Policy Institute of California shows two-thirds of California adults believe gun control is more important
than gun rights. The survey was conducted January 13-20, 2023, and 1,539 California adults were surveyed. [...]
The responses: 65 percent of respondents said it is more important "to control gun ownership" while 34 percent
said it is more important "to protect the right of Americans to own guns."
How
Do You Ban Something That Is Already Illegal? Many gun-control advocates are insisting that the proper
response to the Monterey Park mass shooting is to put a nationwide ban on the gun the shooter used, even though that
firearm is already illegal in California, and there is no way he could have legally acquired it.
California
Now Allows Private Residents to Sue Gunmakers. California's SB 1327 went into effect on January 1,
2023, allowing private residents in the state to file suits against gun manufacturers who violate the state's "assault
weapons" ban or ban on gun sales to anyone under 21. The Los Angeles Times reported that supporters of
the new law view the lawsuit option as a way of "enlisting an army of grass-roots enforcers" to safeguard the state's
"assault weapons" ban and minimum age requirement.
District
Attorney Gascon won't charge gun crimes but promotes California gun control laws. District Attorney George
Gascon has backed recent gun control legislation in California in order to keep Los Angeles residents safe — yet
has a policy against prosecuting defendants on gun charges. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed several bills Friday that
place restrictions on sales and ownership of weapons, including those that are fake, commonly called ghost guns. Gascon
praised Newsom in a tweet. "Thank you, @cagovernor Newsom, for signing several important bills to protect Californians
from #gunviolence, including four bills supported by my office," he tweeted.
New
California law allows civil litigation against gun manufacturers. A California bill signed into law Tuesday
will allow residents to sue the manufacturers of guns that are used in crimes. A 2005 federal law prevents gun
manufacturers from civil litigation when their products are used in crimes. The office of Gov. Gavin Newsom said
the new state law uses an exemption to the federal law that allows firearms makers or sellers to be sued for violating state
laws on the sale or marketing of guns.
Woke
California AG Tells Gun-Permitting Officials to Deny Applicants Based on Politics. After the Supreme Court's
landmark Second Amendment ruling in June, California's attorney general encouraged law enforcement officials in the state to
deny firearm carry permits to individuals with a history of "hatred and racism" — whether expressed in social
media posts or elsewhere. The problem, critics say, is that in these politically polarized times defining hatred and
racism is problematic, leading to definitions that disfavor the beliefs of conservatives and others who don't toe the woke or
politically correct line. Allowing these concepts to be used in the gun-permitting process is a recipe for abuse, they
say, and could lead to violations of gun-permit applicants' Second and First Amendment rights.
California
Agencies Told to End 'Good Cause' Requirement for Concealed Weapons Permit. Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has
advised California law enforcement agencies that the "good cause" requirement for issuing a concealed weapons permit is
likely unconstitutional and should no longer be used. The advice came in a legal alert on Friday to "all California
district attorneys, police chiefs, sheriffs, county counsels and city attorneys" and follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision on
Thursday overturning New York State's "proper cause" requirement.
State
looking to force gun owners to buy liability insurance, and lawmakers are saying it's because... cars.
California is seeking to become the first state in the US to require liability insurance for gun owners. "Guns kill
more people than cars," Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, said in a statement. "Yet gun owners are not required to
carry liability insurance like car owners must. Why should taxpayers, survivors, families, employers, and communities
bear the $280 billion annual cost of gun violence? It's time for gun owners to shoulder their fair share."
The Editor says...
Not even a Democrat politician from Berkeley believes that a hoodlum in an L.A. gang is going to buy liability insurance for his
stolen gun. This is just a tax that will affect only those who obey the law.
Appeals
court invokes the Founding Fathers in striking down California's ban on semi-automatic gun sales to people under 21.
A U.S. appeals court ruled Wednesday that California's ban on the sale of semi-automatic weapons to adults under 21 is
unconstitutional. In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law
violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms, and that a San Diego judge should have blocked what it called 'an almost
total ban on semi-automatic centerfire rifles for young adults.' 'America would not exist without the heroism of the
young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army,' Judge Ryan Nelson wrote, 'Today we reaffirm that our Constitution
still protects the right that enabled their sacrifice — the right of young adults to keep and bear arms.'
Unconstitutional?
CA bill would permit citizens to enforce weapons ban, sue gunmakers. In an attempt to skirt the U.S.
Constitution and challenge the Supreme Court, a new bill in California would allow private citizens to go after gun makers in
the same way Texas lets them target abortion providers. [Tweet] California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposed Friday
letting private citizens in his state sue gun makers to stop them from selling assault weapons, comparing the bill to one in
Texas that lets its residents sue abortion providers to stop the procedures. At a news conference in Del Mar, Newsom
said he thought the Texas law was wrong and that the Supreme Court's decision in December to let it stay in effect while it
goes through appeal was "absurd" and "outrageous".
San Jose To Tax Law-Abiding Gun Owners For
The Actions Of Criminals. The Democratic Party's war against the second amendment opens a new front thanks to
the San Jose City Council's decision to tax law-abiding gun owners for the actions of criminals: [...] Chief Justice John
Marshall said that the power to tax is the power to destroy, and here the attempt is to destroy lawful gun ownership by
imposing collective guilt on the law-abiding for the actions of the criminal and turning law-abiding gun owners into
criminals for refusing to comply with an unconstitutional, punitive tax. The endgame, as always, complete civilian gun
confiscation.
San
Jose plans to be first U.S. city requiring firearms owners to pay back taxpayers for gun violence. A month
after a gunman killed nine workers at a rail yard in San Jose, the city is taking steps to become the first in the nation to
require firearms owners to buy insurance and pay fees to relieve taxpayers of the costs of responding to gun violence.
The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night [6/29/2021] to draft an ordinance that would order gun owners in
the city to obtain insurance and pay an annual fee to subsidize police responses, ambulances, medical treatment and other
municipal expenses related to shootings, injuries and deaths. The amount of the fee hasn't been determined, but Mayor
Sam Liccardo said Wednesday it would probably be "a couple dozen dollars" and would not be charged to those who could not
afford it. He said insurers have advised the city that including gun coverage on their policies would add little or
nothing to typical premium costs.
Judge
Overturns California's 32 year ban on assault rifles after ruling it violates Second Amendment right to bear
arms. A federal judge has overturned California's three-decade-old ban on assault weapons, ruling that it
violates the constitutional right to bear arms. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego ruled Friday that the
state's definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed
in most other states. He handed down the two page ruling in response to a lawsuit filed against the State of California
by James Miller, Patrick Russ, Ryan Peterson and the the San Diego County Gun Owners Political Action Committee.
California's
Assault Weapons Ban Violates Second Amendment: Judge. California's ban on so-called assault weapons
violates the Second Amendment, a federal judge ruled Friday [6/4/2021]. The government through the law "bans an entire
class of very popular hardware — firearms that are lawful under federal law and under the laws of most states and
that are commonly held by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes," U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez, a George W. Bush
nominee, wrote in his 94-page ruling in Miller et al. v Bonta et al. "Under no level of heightened scrutiny
can the law survive," he added. California laws prohibit the manufacture, use, or sale of an "assault weapon," defined as a
semiautomatic rifle with certain characteristics such as a fixed magazine that has the capacity to hold more than 10 rounds.
People who violate the laws face a felony or a misdemeanor and could land prison sentences of up to eight years.
California
judge overturns "assault weapons" ban. California has had a ban on so-called "assault rifles" such as the AR-15
for more than thirty years. The law has been challenged multiple times but has always seemed to hold up in the
end. That changed last night when U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez ruled that the law was unconstitutional.
He issued a permanent injunction against enforcement of the law. The judge's choice of words in his ruling clearly
triggered both Governor Gavin Newsom and State Attorney General Rob Bonta, both of whom vowed to appeal the ruling.
Judge
rules California's ban on assault weapons unconstitutional. A federal judge on Friday struck down California's
ban on assault weapons as unconstitutional but left plenty of time for the state to file an appeal. Judge Roger T.
Benitez, who has favored pro-gun groups in past rulings, described the AR-15 rifle, used in many of the nation's deadliest
mass shootings, as an ideal weapon. "Like the Swiss Army Knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of
home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment," he wrote in Friday's [6/4/2021] decision. "Yet, the State of
California makes it a crime to have an AR15 type rifle," Benitez continued. "Therefore, this Court declares the
California statutes to be unconstitutional." He praised the AR-15 as a rifle that should be formally protected by the law
for its "militia readiness."
California:
Legislature Adjourns, Anti-Gun Bills Headed to the Governor!. Late last night, the California Legislature
adjourned the 2020 Legislative Session. Three anti-gun bills, AB 2362, AB 2847, and SB 914, passed
the Legislature and will now be enrolled to Governor Newsom for his consideration.
Huge
Gun Victory in 9th Circuit Court. Send Thank You Notes to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. California's
high-capacity magazine limitations for guns "infringes on [the] fundamental right to self defense" and is therefore
unconstitutional, according to a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals. Yes, the court previously
known as the "9th Circus" for being the most Leftist, most overturned, and most wrong court in the land, ruled in favor of
the rights of gun owners on Friday afternoon [8/14/2020]. California deemed that the use or sale of magazines
with a higher capacity than ten bullets (LCMs) are illegal. Voters passed the measure. The three-judge panel in
the 9th Circuit Court ruled that the limitation is unconstitutional.
Federal
Appeals Court Rules California's Ban on High-Capacity Magazines Unconstitutional. A federal appeals court on
Friday overturned California's ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, ruling that the prohibition violates the Second
Amendment. "Even well-intentioned laws must pass constitutional muster," Appellate Judge Kenneth Lee wrote for the
majority on the three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, adding that California's ban "strikes at the core
of the Second Amendment — the right to armed self-defense." California's ban on magazines holding more than 10
bullets is "so sweeping that half of all magazines in America are now unlawful to own in California," Lee wrote.
Backdoor
handgun ban up for a vote in California. A proposed amendment to California's Handguns Certified for Sale law
seems like a minor change at first, but Second Amendment advocates warn that it would amount to a de facto ban on handgun
sales in the state. AB 2847, would relax the state's difficult microstamping requirements, but at the same time,
it would remove three older handgun models for every new handgun it adds to the official roster of those safe for sale.
"In theory it makes the California microstamping or handgun roster easier for manufacturers to comply with," said gun rights
activist Reno May. "What it really is is a backdoor handgun ban that would slowly remove guns and make it so that guns
could not be added in the future. This is a bad bill," he cautioned on Thursday.
California's
Ammo Background Checks Misfire. California's attempts to discourage gun ownership hit a bump Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez granted a preliminary injunction that stopped the state from enforcing its background
checks on ammunition purchases. The initiative, which was spearheaded by Gavin Newsom when he was the lieutenant
governor, passed in 2016 with 63 percent of the vote. The background checks have failed miserably, succeeding only in
preventing law-abiding citizens from buying ammunition. Between July 2019 and January 2020, 101,047 non-prohibited
Californians were prevented from buying bullets. By contrast, just 188 prohibited people were denied. That means
that for every prohibited person whose purchase was rejected, 537 law-abiding citizens were denied.
NRA,
other gun rights groups sue four Bay Area counties over gun store closures. A group of local residents, gun
stores and gun rights organizations including the NRA have filed a federal lawsuit against four Bay Area counties for
mandating that gun stores close as "non-essential businesses" during the region's coronavirus outbreak. The lawsuit,
filed with the U.S. District Court for Northern California Tuesday, alleges that local officials from Alameda, Contra Costa,
Santa Clara and San Mateo counties violated the United State Constitution's Second and Fourteenth Amendments by ordering that
gun stores be closed. "California's local governments cannot simply suspend the Constitution," the lawsuit
states. "Authorities may not, by decree or otherwise, enact and/or enforce a suspension or deprivation of
constitutional liberties. And they certainly may not use a public health crisis as political cover to impose bans and
restrictions on rights they do not like."
L.A.
County Sheriff Alex Villanueva Says Gun Dealers Are 'Nonessential.' The Department of Homeland Security Disagrees. The
National Rifle Association (NRA) has joined other gun rights groups in challenging COVID-19 control measures that ban the sale of
firearms. In a federal lawsuit filed on Friday [3/27/2020], the NRA argues that California Gov. Gavin Newsom's March 19
business closure order, which Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has interpreted as covering gun dealers, violates the Second
Amendment and the right to due process. Villanueva's interpretation is not only constitutionally questionable but seemingly
untenable in light of new guidance from the federal Department of Homeland Security. In an advisory issued on Saturday, the
department added firearm retailers to its definition of the "essential critical infrastructure workforce." The order by
Newsom (D) specifically exempted "federal critical infrastructure sectors."
NRA
Sues California Officials for Closing Gun Stores Amid Virus. The National Rifle Association accused
California's governor and the sheriff of Los Angeles County in a lawsuit of taking away constitutional rights to firearms by
shutting gun stores during the coronavirus outbreak. "The circumstances posed by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19)
outbreak are noteworthy, but do not excuse unlawful government infringements upon freedom," the NRA said in a complaint it
filed Friday in Los Angeles federal court along with two individuals, a retail shop and three other firearms advocacy
groups. Guns have been flying off store shelves in recent weeks in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic even as states are
divided over whether gun stores should stay open like pharmacies and gas stations, according to a recent New York Times
report. Ohio, Illinois and Michigan have deemed firearms retailers "essential," while New York, New Jersey and
Massachusetts have not, the Times reported. New Jersey was sued this week for closing stores.
Gavin
Newsom Signs Bill Restricting Rifle Purchases by Californians. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed
legislation Friday to limit rifle purchases by Californians. The Sacramento Bee reports the legislation limiting
rifle purchases was sponsored by Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge). The Bee also reports similar
legislation was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on three different occasions. But Newsom signed it, thereby
expanding California's one-handgun-a-month rule to include semiautomatic centerfire long guns as well.
California
Governor Approves Broadest Gun Seizure Laws In US. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved some
of the strictest gun laws and gun seizure powers in the U.S. Friday [10/11/2019], signing into law 15 different pieces of gun
legislation. Newsom has reinforced a "red flag" law that enables educators, employers and co-workers to inform on gun
owners and request that a restraining order be placed on them — if they are believed to be a danger to themselves
or society, according to the Associated Press.
California adopts
nation's broadest gun seizure laws. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 15 gun-related bills
into law Friday, tightening the state's already-stringent Second Amendment restrictions. One of the bills, which
expands a so-called "red flag" law to allow co-workers, employers and educators to seek gun violence restraining orders
against firearms owners they fear are a danger to themselves and others, was vetoed twice by Newsom's predecessor, Jerry
Brown. Newsom also signed a companion bill allowing the gun violence restraining orders to last one and five years,
although the gun owners could petition to end those restrictions earlier. The bill also allows judges to issue search
warrants at the same time as they grant the orders. The warrants can be used immediately if the gun owners are served
with the relinquishment orders but fail to turn over the firearms or ammunition.
NRA 1,
San Francisco Board of Supervisors 0. Remember last month when San Francisco's Board of Supervisors passed a
resolution declaring the National Rifle Association a domestic terrorist organization and ordered city employees to "take
every reasonable step to limit" business interactions with the NRA and its supporters? The one that our David French
labeled "a retaliatory public attack on constitutionally protected speech"? The NRA sued, and lo and behold, San
Francisco is backing down, before the suit even went to court.
San
Francisco backs down after NRA challenges its designation as 'terrorist organization'. Derangement is in the
air as progressives, driven to distraction by not just Trump's election and successes but their own failures, act out their
rage with no consideration of the downsides. An excellent example of Non-Trump Progressive Derangement Syndrome (NTPDS)
is offered by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, embarrassed by their city's descent into filth and squalor, lashed out
of the National Rifle Association instead of doing anything about the homeless population that is making sidewalks dangerous
to traverse and spreading disease and crime.
Dear San Francisco.
The City of San Francisco recently adopted a resolution labeling the National Rifle Association a "domestic terrorist
organization" and threatening to boycott anyone who does business with the NRA. In response to this despicable act, the NRA,
the nation's largest and most effective civil rights organization, has produced this video. [Video clip]
Here we
go. NRA sues San Francisco. Last week we discussed the embarrassing decision by the San Francisco City
Council to label the National Rifle Association a "domestic terrorist organization." While that was bad enough to start with,
they went several steps further, declaring that they would "limit business interactions with the NRA and its
supporters." This was clearly a bridge too far for the NRA. They initially released a statement calling this
action "a reckless assault on a law-abiding organization, it's members, and the freedoms they all stand for." But
they aren't stopping there. Now the case may be heading to court.
NRA
Sues San Francisco for Declaring It a "Domestic Terrorist Organization". The National Rifle Association filed
suit against the city of San Francisco Monday after the city declared the gun rights group a "domestic terrorist organization."
The city's board of supervisors unanimously approved the resolution that was introduced six weeks ago after three people were
shot and killed at a garlic festival in Gilroy, Calif. After its passage last week, the board acknowledged the non[-]binding
resolution had little practical effect beyond its portrayal of the NRA, which the board hopes will spur the city to curtail
relationships with companies that do business with the NRA.
NRA
sues San Francisco over city declaring it a domestic terrorist organization. The National Rifle Association on
Monday sued the city of San Francisco over a declaration deeming the lobbying group a "domestic terrorist organization,"
according to The Associated Press. The city Board of Supervisors passed the resolution last week, with Supervisor
Catherine Stefani saying she was moved to draft it following August's shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival. In the
lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California, the NRA accused the city of maintaining a blacklist, asking the court
to "instruct elected officials that freedom of speech means you cannot silence or punish those with whom you disagree."
What
San Francisco's Declaration Of The NRA As A Terrorist Group Says About America Today. On Tuesday [9/3/2019],
San Francisco's Board of Supervisors unanimously declared the National Rifle Association to be a "domestic terrorist
organization" and urged the city to re-evaluate its financial commitments to organizations that conduct business with the
interest group. City leaders labeled the gun rights group that represents nearly five million members a "terrorist"
group in response to several mass shootings that took place this summer, including one that took place at a food festival in
Gilroy, California killing three people just south of San Francisco.
How
'Secret Obsession' Exposes California's Dumb Gun Laws. Unfortunately, California's current gun laws prevent any
sort of meaningful self-defense for the state's most vulnerable populations. Pursuant to California penal codes, it is
illegal for citizens to open carry firearms in any instance and concealed carry laws are extremely restrictive.
Currently, a county sheriff or municipal police chief may issue a concealed weapons permit (CCW), provided a citizen can
prove he is of "good moral character," is a resident in the county or city, has completed an eight-hour training course, and
has a "good cause to justify the permit." As a matter of precedent, California law enforcement, such as the Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Department, have maintained that carrying a concealed weapon is a privilege rather than a constitutional
right guaranteed by the Second Amendment.
Here Is
Why a Federal Judge Nixed California's Ban on 'Large Capacity Magazines'. On Friday evening [3/29/2019], a
federal judge in San Diego blocked enforcement of California's ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, deeming it
inconsistent with the Second Amendment right to keep arms for self-defense. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez concluded
that "California's law prohibiting acquisition and possession of magazines able to hold any more than 10 rounds places a
severe restriction on the core right of self-defense of the home such that it amounts to a destruction of the right and is
unconstitutional under any level of scrutiny." Benitez, who in 2017 issued a stay that prevented the law from taking effect,
also agreed with the plaintiffs that the ban amounts to an unconstitutional taking of property without compensation.
NRA
seeks to topple 2 strict California gun laws. More than two years after California voters made it illegal to
possess high-capacity gun magazines commonly used in mass shootings, the National Rifle Association has tied the measure up
in court. Now the gun lobby has set its sights on a nearly 2-decade-old law that banned the sale of those devices in
the state. That law, which took effect in 2000, has made it illegal to buy or sell magazines that can hold more than 10
cartridges. Proposition 63, sponsored by then-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and approved by the voters in 2016,
would require anyone who owns the magazines to turn them in, send them out of state or remake them to comply with the law.
Gun
Control Fail: California Firearm Homicides Up 18 Percent. California, a state with every gun control
imaginable, witnessed an 18 percent rise in firearm homicides from 2014 to 2016. This rise in firearm homicides comes
despite the fact that Democrats, gun control groups, and the establishment media constantly claim that states with the strictest
gun controls see lower rates of violence and death. California has universal background checks, gun registration requirements,
red flag laws (i.e., Gun Violence Restraining Orders), a ten-day waiting period for gun purchases, an "assault weapons" ban, a
one-gun-per-month limit on handgun purchases, a minimum firearm purchase age of 21, a ban on campus carry, a "good cause"
restriction for concealed carry permit issuance, and controls on the purchase of ammunition.
Los
Angeles Considers Ordinance That Will Force City Contractors To Disclose Any NRA Ties. It's California.
It's a garbage deep-blue state, but it's alarming nonetheless. Los Angeles city hall is moving forward with an
ordinance that would force contractors to disclose any ties to the National Rifle Association. They also have a similar
regulation concerning contractors that are involved in the construction of President Trump's much-anticipated border
wall. It doesn't bar these contractors from working within the city limits.
California
law prompts spike in assault weapon registrations: report. A recently-enacted California gun law that broadened
what firearms must be registered with the state prompted a 43 percent spike in assault weapons registration and a lawsuit by
gun rights advocates, The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday [7/18/2018]. The 2016 law banned the sale of semi-automatic
assault rifles with so-called "bullet buttons" — a feature on some rifles that enables faster replacement of ammunition.
"Bullet button" rifles purchased before the law were required to be registered with the state by June 2018.
CA
Lawmakers Seek to Expand Gun Confiscation, Limit Number of Firearms Residents Can Buy. California lawmakers are
pushing numerous gun control measures including an expansion of confiscatory orders and limits on the number of firearms
residents can buy each month. Many of the lawmakers are claiming school shootings in Florida and Texas as the impetus
for more gun control on law-abiding Californians. The Mercury News reports that Assemblyman Rob Bonita (D-18) is
pushing controls to bar 18-20-year olds from buying firearms.
2 New Court Decisions
are Quietly Eliminating Californians' Second Amendment Rights. Two new federal court decisions highlight a harsh new
reality: California has effectively repealed the Second Amendment inside its borders. In the first case, decided yesterday [5/9/23018],
a district judge ruled against the National Rifle Association's state affiliate in a challenge to onerous new California rules targeting
popular semi-automatic rifles. That 2016 law, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D), is called the Assault Weapons Control Act.
"Even an outright ban on certain types of semiautomatic weapons does not substantially burden the Second Amendment right," wrote Judge
Josephine Staton, a Barack Obama appointee in Santa Ana, California.
Dem Rep.
Swalwell: We Need To Ban & Buy Back Assault Weapons. A California Democrat writes in USA Today —
it's not enough to ban so-called assault weapons. He says the U.S. must reinstate the assault weapons ban of 1994 and
institute a forced buyback. One America's Jonathan Blaisdell has the latest liberal agenda to take America's fire arms.
2nd
Amendment Foundation Issues Travel Advisory: Your Gun Rights Are No Good in California. On August 7, the
Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) issued its first ever travel advisory warning American gun owners not to go to California unless
they are willing to enter the state disarmed or risk going to jail. The gun rights group is "warning law-abiding armed
citizens that their civil rights could be in jeopardy due to that state's restrictive gun control laws."
Losing Their Gun Rights With Barely a
Whimper. Gun-rights activists often express the view that Americans will not easily give up their rights to gun ownership
even if the laws eventually outlaw — or at least greatly restrict — the freedom of individuals to own firearms. The scenario they
depict is bleak but simple: When armed agents come to their doors to confiscate people's arsenals, some of those people can be expected
to fight back. [...] The experience in California, in particular, suggests an entirely different scenario. From what I've seen, the
public often will support aggressive new restrictions. Gun owners will meekly hand over their weapons to agents. Gun-rights groups
will quietly protest, but have little sway. Republican legislators will make things worse as they try to prove their commitment to taking
guns out of the hands of "criminals." The erosion of our fundamental gun rights will take place so slowly that few will protest too much.
Federal
Judge Blocks California Gun Magazine Confiscation Scheme. A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on
Thursday that blocks California from enforcing their gun magazine confiscation law. U.S. District Judge Roger T.
Benitez said in his ruling that the law, which would make it illegal to possess any gun magazine capable of holding more than
10 rounds of ammunition, likely violates the Second Amendment rights of the plaintiffs in the case. He ordered that
California immediately stop enforcing the law pending further legal action.
Federal judge blocks California ban on high-capacity
magazines. A federal judge has temporarily blocked a voter-approved California law that would have forced gun owners to get rid
of high-capacity ammunition magazines by this Saturday [7/1/2017]. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez, who is based in San Diego, issued
a preliminary injunction Thursday that found the law was likely unconstitutional because it prevented people from using firearms that employed
"whatever common magazine size he or she judges best suits the situation." The law would have barred people from possessing magazines
containing more than 10 bullets.
Clovis
Family Wins Lawsuit, Forcing California DOJ to Return 500 Guns. A Clovis family won a court case against the California
Department of Justice that forces the state agency to return 500 guns it had confiscated from Albert Sheakalee. The CA DOJ raided
Sheakalee's house in 2015, alleging he was listed in the state's Armed Prohibited Persons (APPS) database. Sheakalee's attorney
won the case by arguing that the CA DOJ had not notified Sheakalee that he was on the APPS. Moreover, his attorney, Mark Coleman,
stated that "the justice department broke a promise to Sheakalee to keep the raid confidential until a court hearing determined whether
he was mentally fit to own guns." According to the Fresno Bee, Sheakalee was arrested, but he "had no prior criminal
history." [...] No charges were ever brought against Sheakelee; nonetheless, the CA DOJ held onto the guns.
DOJ
Seized 541 Guns From This Man With No Charges Filed, but He Fought and Got Them All Back!. A California Federal
Firearms License holder who had his entire firearms collection of 541 guns seized with no charges filed against him, has had
his guns returned. Albert Sheakalee, who lives in the Clovis area, went through mental health treatment in 2014. He
has had a clean criminal record all of his life and owns a retirement home. He is a retired budget director of Fresno
Community Hospital, and has held a FFL for more than two decades. However, under the Obama administration, the Justice
Department went after his guns without any charges or guilt of any crime being obtained, a clear violation of the Fifth
Amendments protections that he not be deprived of his rights (specifically the right to keep and bear arms). A press
release at the time by then-state Attorney General, now Senator Kamala Harris barred him from owning guns and brought about a
12-hour raid on his home by the Bureau of Firearms Special Agents on November 12, 2015. He was subsequently arrested
for allegedly possessing illegal firearms.
California's
'Assault Rifle' Law Goes Into Effect Jan. 1. California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law last July
that will redefine what is and isn't an assault rifle. It goes into effect Jan. 1 and will affect many thousands of
California gun owners. The most common example of what California defines as an assault rifle is the standard AR15.
Starting in 2017, no one will be able to legally buy or sell one in that state. "People have been kind of holding off,"
Terry Fong, of Rocklin Armory, told FOX40. "The last 30 days have been absolutely crazy. Phone calls, probably
50-60 phone calls a day, just looking for specific brands of AR's. Now, they're looking for any AR's."
Calif.
Proposition Requires Permit to Buy Bullets. California residents will be voting tomorrow on a measure that
would require individuals to purchase a permit to but bullets and for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to regulate the
purchases. The measure, Proposition 63, would require individuals to pay up to $50 for an ammunition purchase
authorization permit in order to buy ammunition.
CA Lawmakers
Quietly Exempt Themselves From Gun Laws. Even by California standards this is stunning. The lawmakers of
the state love to write gun control laws. They love to give speeches about the need for strict gun laws. They
love to enforce gun laws that restrict the average Californian from enjoying the Second Amendment rights they deserve.
Gun rights activists say they
won't comply with California's new laws. Fifty or so gun activists gathered Saturday morning at Sacramento's
Cesar Chavez Plaza to protest Gov. Jerry Brown's signing of six gun control measures they said would turn "law-abiding
citizens into criminals." One bill Brown signed will expand the state's assault weapons ban to include "bullet-button"
rifles, which allow users to quickly dislodge a magazine of ammunition by pressing a button. Others prohibit citizens
from possessing magazines that hold more than 10 rounds and require background checks on people purchasing ammunition.
California governor signs stringent
gun bills, vetoes others. Gov. Jerry Brown signed six stringent gun-control measures Friday [7/1/2016] that will require people to turn in
high-capacity magazines and mandate background checks for ammunition sales, as California Democrats seek to strengthen gun laws that are already among the
strictest in the nation.
Gov.
Jerry Brown signs six gun-control bills, vetoes five. Californians wishing to buy ammunition will have to
undergo a background check beginning in 2019 similar to those already required for gun purchases, under one of six
gun-control bills signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday [7/1/2016]. The governor vetoed five gun bills, including
the only bill Republicans supported, AB 1176, which would have made it a felony to steal a gun or buy a stolen gun,
regardless of its value.
California
Targets Second Amendment-protected Rights. California leglslators are hearing extremist bills to severely
restrict gun rights, some so radical that even liberal Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed them in the past. For example,
Senate Bill 880 would outright ban millions of constitutionally protected firearms that have no connection to
crime. Brown vetoed a similar measure in 2013. The bill would turn all "semiautomatic centerfire rifles that do
not have a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept no more than 10 rounds" into "assault weapons." The anti-gun
rights fanatics love the designation "assault weapon," because it is such an inflammatory term. By applying the
description to semiautomatic rifles, they can attempt to ban perfectly legal weapons.
Police
May Confiscate Guns without Notice to Owner Starting January 1. Beginning January 1, police in California may
confiscate firearms from gun owners thought to be a danger to themselves or others without giving the owner any notice.
This is the result of the implementation of "gun violence restraining orders" (GVROs), which go into effect New Year's Day.
According to KPCC, GVROs "could be issued without prior knowledge of the person. In other words, a judge could issue the
order without ever hearing from the person in question, if there are reasonable grounds to believe the person is a threat based
on accounts from the family and police." And since the order can be issued without the gun owner even being present to defend
him or herself, confiscation can commence without any notice to the gun owner once the order is issued.
Here
Are All The Gun Laws That Didn't Stop The San Bernardino Shooters. As the left continues to move in lockstep in their calls
for more gun control in the wake of the San Bernardino attack, it's important to note that there were already multiple gun laws in place
in the state that failed to stop the shooters. Here's the list. [...]
California's
strict gun laws failed to stop mass shooting. The deadly shooting in San Bernardino happened in a state with
some of the nation's toughest gun laws: California bars assault weapons, blocks the sale of large-capacity magazines and
requires universal background checks for all gun purchases.
California
Already Has Obama's Fantasy Gun Control Utopia. For months and repeatedly after national atrocities involving
the use of a firearm to kill innocent people, President Obama has called for "common-sense" gun control measures. His White
House has repeatedly put out the talking point that universal background checks are necessary to prevent future violence.
The terror attack in San Bernardino is no different. Hours before we even knew who the suspects were, President Obama called
for new gun control measures.
CA
Lt. Governor Will Introduce Ballot Initiative for Background Checks to Purchase Ammunition. The lieutenant governor of
California, Gavin Newsom, is proposing a ballot initiative that would create some sensible gun laws. Just kidding, they're not
sensible. Newsom's initiative will ask voters to "strengthen the state's gun laws by restricting ammunition sales, requiring owners
to turn in assault-style magazines that have a large capacity and requiring gun owners to report lost or stolen guns to law enforcement."
If the initiative is passed, California will be the first state to require background checks to purchase ammunition. The proposal is
sponsored by the anti-gun crew at the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Gov.
Brown Signs Bill Allowing 'Temporary' Firearm Confiscation. California Governor Jerry Brown has signed 'AB 1014,
the legislation allowing "temporary" confiscation of firearms via "Gun Violence Restraining Orders" from persons "determined
by the courts to be a threat to themselves or others." [...] The new law allows families to petition a court for the seizure
of guns from a family member, and then empowers police to confiscate firearms from that family member.
Report: California Lead Ban to Triple Ammo Prices.
California's upcoming ban on the use of traditional lead ammunition could triple the price of all ammunition in the state, forcing many gun owners to
give up shooting, according to a report by a firearm trade association.
Calif. state senator arrested for alleged gun-running was gun-control
advocate. California state Sen. Leland Yee (D) was arrested Wednesday at his home in San Francisco
and accused of — among many, many other things — offering to procure some seriously illegal
weapons. The irony: Yee was one of the driving forces behind some of the toughest gun-control
legislation in the country during his tenure in the state Senate.
Dem
gun control advocate charged with gun-running. The irony police are going to need reinforcements to
handle the tsunami being generated in San Francisco. State Senator Leland Yee appeared in federal court
yesterday in shackles, and faced a lengthy indictment for a series of corruption charges, including shocking
allegations of gun-running — including shoulder-fired rocket launchers. An undercover FBI agent
met repeatedly with Lee, a prominent gun control advocate who had authored legislation to expand the definition
of "assault weapons."
Gun Control Groups Fear Sen. Yee's Indictment Will Make Gun Control
More Difficult to Pass. Gun control groups working to push further gun control in California
worry that state senator Leland Yee's indictment on arms trafficking "may slow the legislature's consideration
of gun restrictions this year." According to AP California News, on March 27 organizers of more
legislation said "the charges filed against... Yee, a Democrat from San Francisco, could cloud the future
of two of his gun control bills."
Gun
Rights Advocates Pretty Impressed with the Mindblowing Scale of Leland Yee's Hypocrisy. By day,
California Democrat Leland Yee was an outspoken gun control advocate. But by night, he is alleged to have been
a broker for Russian arms dealers to arm Islamic militants, for piles of cold, hard cash. That dual life
hasn't been lost on Yee's enemies on gun control. [...] Isn't Leland Yee an excellent argument for keeping and
strengthening the Second Amendment? The Second Amendment is not and never was about hunting. It's
about an armed populace being a check on out-of-control, tyrannical government and also about national defense.
This is a man who used his political power to disarm Americans, while he was allegedly arming America's enemies.
It's treasonous.
AB
1014: California Democrats Wage War on the Constitution. Two California Democrats in
the State Assembly, Nancy Skinner and Das Williams, have authored what may well be the most
draconian and flagrantly unconstitutional bill in the state's, and maybe even the nation's,
history. AB 1014 provides for the addition to the California Penal Code of provisions involving
"gun violence restraining orders" and associated "firearm seizure warrants."
Stop
SB53, the Ammo Registration and Eventual Gun Confiscation Bill. The war over SB 53 is
heating up in Sacramento and now anti-gun advocates are attempting to split gun owners by trying to buy the
support of hunters. The newest amended version of SB 53 will continue to BAN the mail and internet
sales of ammunition to firearms owners in California, unless you have a hunting license. Supporters of
SB 53 think that they can pretend to be "pro-hunting" while they are still violating the rights of
firearms owners statewide.
Gun flight: Smith & Wesson
quits California over stamping requirement. A new gun law proponents say helps law enforcement has driven Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger
out of California, and affirmed the suspicions of firearms rights advocates that the measure is really about making handguns obsolete. The two
companies have announced they will stop selling their wares in the nation's most populous state rather than try to comply with a law that requires
some handguns to have technology that imprints a tiny stamp on the bullet so it can be traced back to the gun.
Smith & Wesson to stop
selling guns in California due to microstamping law. Smith & Wesson announced it will stop selling its handguns in California
rather than manufacture them to comply with the new microstamping law. The other publicly traded firearms manufacturer in the U.S., Sturm,
Ruger, also said this month that it will stop new sales to California. The announcement late Wednesday [1/22/2014] came a week after the
National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for firearms manufacturers, filed suit against California for requiring that
all new semi-automatic pistols that are not already on the state's approved gun roster have the microstamping technology.
California — Living Proof of the Slippery Slope of Rational Apathy. The
California slippery slope of anti-freedom legislation — whatever the political agenda — has been a model for the rest of the nation.
This is the ceaseless, incremental strategy of the California gun control movement that continues to this day. On gun control, thankfully, the rest of
the nation has mostly failed to follow. But here in the Golden State, the Golden Rule of gun control has always been to swipe freedoms one small step
at a time. Over, and over, and over again.
Jerry Brown
signs lead ammo ban, vetoes bill to ban semi-automatic rifles. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday banning the use of lead ammunition in
hunting, but he vetoed the most controversial gun control bill the Legislature sent to him this year, a proposal to ban the sale of certain semi-automatic
rifles. The bills were among the highest profile in a package of gun control bills Brown acted on Friday. He signed legislation requiring long gun
purchasers to take a firearm safety class and adding criminal liability for firearm storage that endangers a child, but he vetoed bills that would have limited
the transfer of unsafe handguns and let Oakland enact its own, stricter gun control laws.
California's great gun grab: State's sweeping
gun control bills target firearms, ammo — and hunting. Breaking new ground in the state-level battle over firearms, the Democratic-dominated
California state legislature has taken gun control into uncharted territory with a flurry of new bills that target not just firearms and ammunition, but also
recreational hunting. Among the dozen gun-control bills sitting on California Gov. Jerry Brown's desk are measures that would outlaw lead ammunition for
hunting as well as common types of hunting rifles under the umbrella of an assault-weapons ban.
What politicians can't
take from you — your right to carry a gun. Homicides in Oakland are up 27 percent so far
this year. In preparation for a mayoral run, a state senator and FBI suspect is resurrecting his worn
arguments favoring gun control. California and the Bay Area have tinkered with gun control for decades,
and yet Oakland falls further into chaos. Despite politicians' efforts to eliminate private firearm
ownership, homicide is nearly a daily event in Oaktown.
Are
California Democrats creating ground zero for the next revolutionary war? In effect, California Democrats are looking
to ban every common semi-automatic rifle, outlaw the ownership of standard magazines entirely, ban the popular Taurus Judge revolver,
prevent individuals from allowing friends and relatives to fire legal guns, force handgun owners through bureaucratic hoops every
year to merely maintain legal possession of their guns (the obvious intent is to make handgun ownership prohibitive), would eliminate
the Second Amendment rights of anyone living with someone who is a banned person, and hire more CA DOJ employees to confiscate an
ever-growing list of prohibited persons.
CA Dems Show They Just Want To Grab
Guns. Along with making sure that it is really, really difficult for law abiding citizens to have the means to protect themselves and their families
with any sort of gun.
California
Seizes Guns as Owners Lose Right to Keep Arms. Wearing bulletproof vests and carrying 40-caliber Glock pistols, nine
California Justice Department agents assembled outside a ranch-style house in a suburb east of Los Angeles. They were looking for
a gun owner who'd recently spent two days in a mental hospital.
California governor
signs bill to speed up gun seizures. Gov. Jerry Brown announced Wednesday that he has signed legislation expanding the
ability of state agents to seize firearms from nearly 20,000 Californians who are not allowed to have them.
Individuals and companies are leaving California.
Newsom's
office says people are flocking to California; data says it's #1 for exits. While
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office says the state has seen a "surge" in people moving to
the state, data from the same source shows California has the highest net out-migration of any
state in the nation. Newsom's office recently sent The Center Square an email regarding the
publication's "close, detailed coverage of California's population movements," encouraging
reporters to examine a Newsweek piece titled, "California Sees Surge in People Moving to the
State," noting the National Association of Realtors said California was among the most popular
states for Americans to move to in 2024. [...] Another NAR report from October found that
California had the highest net out-migration of jobs — 18,485 — in the third
quarter of 2023, and had 29% net out-migration per capita than Illinois, which had the
second-most. The Newsweek piece has since been updated to note that the increase in
Californians moving to the state was from a 2022 report, and that for 2024 "California did not see
high net migration numbers."
Fleeing
Florida! To begin, the idea that Florida is losing residents is simply not
true. Of course, some residents are always leaving, and others are migrating into the state,
but the net result is that Florida gained 2.7 million residents (14.7%) from 2010 to
2020 — more in numeric terms than any other state except Texas. [...] If there is a mass
exodus taking place, it is from California, New York, and Illinois. These states have become
less attractive because of the high cost of living, crime, high taxes, regulation, and government
intrusion into the lives of their citizens. The numbers do not lie: since 2020,
California has lost population (200,000 from 2020 to 2022), New York has lost 1.4 million over
the past decade (more than any other state), and Illinois lost 853,000 residents from 2010 to 2019
and continues to lose them. The contrast between Florida and California is especially
revealing. San Francisco and Los Angeles have become plagued with homelessness, violent
crime, shoplifting, a lack of affordable housing, failing public education, a high cost of living,
and intrusive governance — and these conditions are not being addressed. Rules in
place to eliminate the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035 will only make life in California more
expensive and less free. Gov. Newsom's talk of defying Trump's reforms on immigration
and crime won't make things better.
56%
Of Californians Have Considered A Move Away From California According To A New Poll.
A new poll of California residents released this week found that 56% of Californians have
considered moving away from the state, with the main reason being cost of living.
California's state population nearly reached 40 million in the 2010's, but began losing people
at the end of the decade because of high taxes, a decline in conditions, lost job opportunities,
business regulations, safety concerns, the cost of living, and other reasons. COVID quickened
the process, giving many the excuse needed to move away because of remote work. According to
the 2020 U.S. Census, California's population that year was at roughly 39.5 million. But
California's population decreased dramatically in the next several years. Hundreds of
thousands of people left the state. At the same time, immigration was largely curbed by the
pandemic, with fewer families choosing to start families during the same time. As a result,
even with inter-state immigration, California continued to lose people.
The Editor says...
If you're a Democrat, please move to New Mexico, not Texas. Thanks.
Phillips
66 is closing Wilmington-area refineries after more than a century, marking the end of an
era. Over more than 100 years, the Wilmington and Carson oil refineries have
pumped out millions of barrels of gasoline, filling the thirsty cars of Southern California's
freeway-driving motorists. Now, in an abrupt move that reflects the tectonic industry shifts
driven by climate change, the transition to electric vehicles and demands for cleaner air, Phillips
66 announced Wednesday that late next year it is closing the twin refinery complex that produces
about 8% of the state's gasoline. The Houston company, which has operated the refineries
since its 2012 spin off from ConocoPhillips, said it would replace their output with sources
"inside and outside its refining network" and with renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuels
from its San Francisco Bay Area refinery.
The
Failure of Black Leadership in Government. [Scroll down] Rampant crime,
and excessive taxation at both the state and local levels, combined with "Californication" style
regulation have caused businesses to close and citizens to flee. It's very expensive to rent
a U-Haul out of California and very cheap to rent one going back. A study released by the San
Francisco Standard (2019-mid 2023) indicates a sharp decline in retail operations. In Union
Square, once a tourist mecca, open stores declined from 207 to 107. There are more than
31 million square feet of empty office space in the city, a staggering number equating to an
approximate vacancy factor of 36%. It is almost unbelievable. However, the good news is that
since 2018, San Francisco has a black mayor — London Breed. This is a sampling of
the major companies that have left San Francisco:
[#1] Meta
[#2] X
[#3] Snap
[#4] PayPal
[#5] Airbnb
[#6] Slack
[#7] Salesforce
[#8] Block
[#9] Autodesk
[#10] Chime
In mid-2023, Carl DeMaio, chairman of Reform California, shared why large and small companies were
leaving the City by the Bay: ["]The overwhelming facts prove business and residents are
fleeing San Francisco due to the crime wave and a spike in homelessness. And you can blame liberal
politicians in San Francisco for enacting fatally flawed laws that enable crime and promote homelessness.["]
California
says it lost $2 billion in state income taxes from earners leaving. California's
Legislative Analyst's Office says the state lost approximately $2.3 billion in state personal
income taxes due to outmigration in the 2022-2023 fiscal year. With Newsom claiming the
state's population grew in 2023, the net decrease in taxpayers and taxpayer dependents for fiscal
year 2022-2023 suggests California could be losing productive individuals and their families as it
gains non-tax-filers. "Recently released figures from the IRS show that California continues to
lose taxpayers to other states at a heightened rate that began during the pandemic," wrote the LAO.
"Foregone income tax collections due to outmigration reflected 1.6% of income tax revenue in 2022-23,
up from about 0.5% in the years prior to the pandemic. Should this elevated trend continue,
outmigration could drag annual income tax growth below its long-term average."
Oil
giant Chevron relocating headquarters from California to Texas. Energy giant Chevron
announced it is relocating its headquarters from San Ramon in California to Houston, Texas.
Chevron said it has approximately 2,000 employees in California and will be relocating all
corporate staff not supporting its continuing California operations to Houston in the next five
years. While Chevron did not say anything about California in its announcement, it did say it
is moving to Houston, the home of America's energy sector, to "to co-locate with other senior leaders
and enable better collaboration and engagement with executives, employees, and business partners."
Elon
Musk Torches CA Policies As He Moves X and SpaceX HQ Out of California. On Tuesday,
billionaire Elon Musk announced on X that he is fed up, and the final California straw was drawn
for him following the latest delusional legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). Musk
announced that he is moving the headquarters of his social media company, X, and aerospace
manufacturer and space transportation company, SpaceX, from California to Texas. [Tweets] The
final straw that Musk is referring to is AB1955, which would ban schools from requiring parental
notification if a child identifies as transgender. That is a massive overstep. The
California bureaucrats think they have control over children now. Newsom and his cronies
believe it is okay for things to be kept a secret from the children's parents or guardians.
That's the message they are sending by passing this ludicrous bill.
Outmigration
cost California $24B in departed incomes as poorer people move in. Outmigration to
other states cost California $24 billion in outgoing personal incomes across 2021 and 2022,
according to new IRS data. Departing Californians were significantly wealthier and more
likely to have children or spouses than incoming Americans, suggesting wealthy families are leaving
the state as poorer individuals come to seek their California dream. California lost a net
144,203 tax filers in the two years, representing $24 billion in lost personal adjusted gross
income for the state. Those leaving the state had 38% more dependents or joint filers on
their tax returns and an average AGI of $130,946, while those coming in had an average AGI of
$111,689, or about 15% less income than those leaving.
The Editor says...
Apparently it's only called "emigration" if you leave the country as well as the state.
Comedian
Adam Carolla Is Ditching His Native California, Calls Out 'Narcissistic. Comedian
Adam Carolla says he will be leaving California just has soon as his twin teenagers graduate from
high school. Further, the former "Man Show" star said a large part of the problem with his
native state is its current governor, "narcissistic" Democrat Gavin Newsom. "I have twins, and
they're in their senior year of high school and I couldn't — I didn't want to pick up
and, you know, tear up their roots, you know? So people always go, 'When are you leaving?'
And I go, 'I will be attending their high school graduation in a U-Haul,'" Carolla told conservative
podcast host Sage Steele during an interview published last week. He added that he doesn't even
know where he'll move to, suggesting maybe Texas, Florida, one of the Carolinas, or Tennessee.
The Editor says...
Texas has plenty of comedians. Try Oklahoma — they could use a few.
The
California Exodus May Be Just Beginning. Relocation firm moveBuddha looked at
searches for 100,000 moves just this year, and five of the top ten were people looking to get out
of the Golden State for almost anywhere else. "5 of the top 10 exit metros are in California, the
firm reported on Monday. "Los Angeles has the highest interest in outbound moves, with 42% more
outbound inquiries than runner-up San Francisco. Per capita, the prize goes to San Francisco."
The Mercury News reported way back in 2012, "California was supposed to have about 40 million people
by now, according to population projections made before the Great Recession, but a slowdown in births and
immigration has forced the state's demographers to push back that expected milestone by at least six
years." Instead, Sacramento's Department of Finance estimated that "Forty million people will
live in California by the end of 2018 and 50 million by 2048."
'Are
You Moving Out Of California?'. Today, leaving California is part of the
conversation. Almost every Californian knows someone who has left the state and others
(including themselves) who are thinking about relocating. How fast can you say Texas,
Florida, Idaho, Tennessee, South Carolina ... It's ABC as people want to live Anywhere But
California due to lurid high taxes, escalating crime, the nation's highest poverty rate, the influx
of illegal migrants who are given freebies, plus an exploding homeless population, to name a few
reasons to leave. Gavin Newsom is U-Haul's salesman of the year — every year!
California
somehow manages to keep getting worse. California continues to reap the consequences
of disastrous left-wing policy decisions, but it's hard to feel bad for voters who keep affirming
Democratic control. In April, the minimum wage for employees of fast food chains with more
than 60 locations increased to $20 per hour. Of course, this has resulted in job losses,
reduced hours, and food becoming more expensive. Blaze Pizza announced it is moving its
headquarters from California to Georgia, Pizza Hut has laid off 1,200 delivery drivers, and
In-N-Out was forced to raise its prices. One chain, Rubio's Coastal Grill, said that it was
closing 48 California locations because of the "rising cost of doing business" in the state.
Rubio's
Coastal Grill, a popular taco chain, closes 48 California locations because it's unaffordable to do
business in the state. Rubio's Coastal Grill, a California chain is shutting down
nearly fifty locations because they are "overtaxed, overburdened, and gasoline [prices are] higher."
[Tweet with video clip] Rubio's Coastal Grill filed for Chapter 11 back in 2020 because
of Gavin Newsom's restrictive lockdowns. Then the state raised the minimum wage and effectively
finished them off. High taxes, extreme regulations, and the increased cost of living in San Diego
led to the business's failures.
Reports:
California exodus continues, southeastern states as primary destinations. As the
California exodus continues, a new migration trend is occurring, with southeastern and Appalachian
states taking the top spots as inbound migration destinations, according to new reports.
According to a new Consumer Affairs 2024 Migration Trends report, "California's mass exodus
continues to ensue," with the South and Southeast region of the country being the "hottest regions
for people moving." The states where the most residents said they were planning to leave are
California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Washington. The most popular states with
growth for inbound migration are North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and Texas.
Blue
line getting thinner in West Coast states as police take refuge in Idaho. The Gem
State has become a popular moving destination for both retired and active-duty police officers, a
trend Horst and Idaho Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovell broadly attribute to a more
positive climate. "They come to Idaho where they can enjoy their career and make a difference,"
Lovell told Fox News Digital. "They see that, in large part, our communities are supportive of law
enforcement and public safety." Cities large and small across the country suffered severe
staffing shortages on the heels of anti-police protests in 2020. Four years later, some departments
still can't stop the bleeding. Seattle's police staffing is at its lowest level since the
1990s, according to a March KING 5 report. Earlier this year in California, the Alameda
Police Department offered a $75,000 signing bonus — the highest in the
nation — on top of a six-figure starting salary to try to entice new officers.
California
hemorrhages its law enforcement officers to a red state. Men and women whose job may
require them to lay their lives on the line, who handle some of the scummiest and darkest realities
in the history of humanity, want to be respected and supported by their employers and
community? No kidding. And it's not just a few cops here and there — deep
blue pro-crime cities are hemorrhaging law enforcement officers: [...] But, what I find doubly
obnoxious is that instead of implementing policies that work, like the tough-on-crime policies
of red states, the government uses taxpayer dollars — like the $75,000 bonus in
Alameda, California — to woo new officers. The people responsible for this don't
pay, in the slightest, and it's enraging.
New
report: California ranks 'dead last' in 'opportunity'. According to Kenneth
Schrupp at The Center Square, a new analysis from the U.S. News and World Report agency found that
California ranked "dead last" among the 50 states when it comes time to "opportunity." In
other news water is still wet. What could have possibly indicated that California wasn't the
friendliest location for anyone wanting to build a life of prosperity and freedom? Was it the
state's nearly seventy-billion-dollar deficit? Was it the mass exodus that has seen hundreds
of thousands of people flee the state for friendlier locales, a trend which has resulted in a net
negative for legal population and hit the tax-happy state where it hurts, i.e. fleeing revenues?
Was it the flight of more than 350 big businesses, a handful of which were Fortune 1,000 companies
like Tesla, HP Enterprise, and Oracle?
Does
Anyone In California Have An Ounce Of Brilliance. California is a mismanaged mess, so
more people are leaving the state than migrating to it. For the first time in our history,
California lost members of its congressional legislation as people left for Texas, Tennessee, and
Florida. With some of the highest tax rates for individuals and businesses, the exodus has
been happening for years, and the backfill has not. California is hemorrhaging tax-paying
residents and filling the gap with illegal migrants. It's not a good economic trade-off, but
California's problems are far more rooted than a shrinking population. California's elected
officials are the worst enemy of a struggling state, which is a waste for a state with such
incredible promise. The Golden State is tarnished, and the folks in charge are exasperating
the situation instead of taking stock and corrective actions. They have redefined the
neighborhood with massive tent cities popping up on the main streets of big cities.
Hundreds
of cops flee California to Texas blaming Golden State's 'soft-on-crime' policies.
Hundreds of California cops are fleeing to Texas to escape 'soft-on-crime' policies they say have
made their jobs 'pointless', DailyMail.com can reveal. Rank-and-file officers up to
department chiefs have hit out at state legislators, claiming a succession of 'anti-law
enforcement' policies have made their work impossible. Overworked and unsupported, they have
instead taken up jobs in Texas and other states that are seen as tough on crime.
Google
Ends Lease on Massive Office Complex in Heart of San Francisco. Tech giant Google is
reportedly preparing to exit its 300,000-square-foot office at One Market Plaza in San Francisco
when its lease expires in April 2025. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that One Market
Plaza, a prominent downtown office complex boasting stunning views of San Francisco Bay, is bracing
for the departure of its second major tenant in just a year. Google, which has occupied the
expansive office space since 2018, will be moving out once its lease expires next April, as
confirmed by a company spokesperson on Tuesday. This move follows the recent exit of Visa,
which relocated its employees to Mission Rock.
Rap
Legend Richie Rich Has Had It, Announces He's Moving. One of Tupac Shakur's closest
homeboys isn't feeling much "California Love" these days — Richie Rich, a seasoned veteran
of the rap game, is deflecting from the entire Golden State! [...] The Oakland-born rapper says living
in Cali has become too expensive for his blood ... the cost of living has gone up while the chances of
survival have slimmed — no reason to stick around any longer. [Video clip]
Biden
Is Driving Heavy Domestic Migration. The Census Bureau recently released its latest
report on "domestic" migration and the results demonstrate that Americans are on the move.
And we're talking about a lot of them. This particular study is interesting because it
doesn't just measure the flow of population between states. It breaks the numbers down to the
county level, capturing those who relocate but remain in their home state. At Issues and
Insights, the editorial board breaks down the figures and discovers that a significant percentage
of these domestic migrants had one thing in common. The majority were moving out of counties
that voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and into counties that voted for Donald Trump. This is
clearly not a coincidence. [...] You probably won't be surprised to learn that eight of the ten
counties seeing the greatest population gains are located in Texas and Florida, with Polk County,
Florida seeing the largest increase in 2023.
Americans
[are] Still Fleeing Blue States, Moving to Texas and Florida. Americans are still
fleeing Democratic run states in their droves and moving to more conservative parts of the country,
the latest census data shows. Over the year 2022 to 2023, Los Angeles County in California,
Cooky County in Illinois and Kings County in New York all experienced population declines of
119,000, 58,000 and 55,000 respectively. Miami-Dade County in Florida came fifth in the list,
potentially because of the high prices caused by Florida's skyrocketing popularity. The main
beneficiaries of domestic migration were Polk County in Florida, Montgomery County in Texas and
Pasco County in Florida with gains of 26,000, 25,000 and 24,000 respectively.
Get
Out of California While You Can or You Will Never Leave. California's predictively
significant budget deficit is a whopping $68 billion. Legislatures spend money on things
that do nothing to improve the well-being of their residents — quite the opposite.
The lawmakers who caused the problem think that the way to solve it is to tax the productive people
in the state to death, even if they try to leave or allegedly underreport their assets.
Individuals and businesses that try to leave will be subject to a one-time tax based on the value
of their assets, including property and investments. They think they can fill the budget hole
dug by these non-stop big-spending socialists with a wealth tax that involves annual taxation based
on all of their assets. If they have a valuable painting, it will be taxed every year.
If they have a house, they will be taxed on its increased value even though they are not selling.
[A]
San Francisco investor landlord [is] ditching [property] due to plunging occupancy blamed on
crime. San Francisco's residential property market has hit troubled waters as a major
investor landlord announced the sell-off of a large section of its rental empire this week.
Landlord Mosser Companies defaulted on a 2018 loan for $88 million that was underwritten by
its 459 rental units across 12 buildings in San Francisco. The company's creditor has now
hired real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield to sell the multifamily home properties, The San
Francisco Chronicle reported. Mosser Companies took on the debt pre-pandemic with low
occupancy rates, but as the city by the bay grapples with a post-Covid doom loop occupancies have
risen as families move out to escape rising crime.
Moving
to Red America. It's instructive to observe where Americans are moving, and where
they are leaving. Such comparisons are particularly revealing when made during, or
immediately following, a crisis, such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic. States dealt with that
crisis quite differently. Movement statistics from recent years help to establish which of
the 50 "laboratories of democracy" responded best to the pandemic. [...] Among large states (those
with a population above the 50-state average), the net-domestic-migration winner over the
13-quarter period after Covid-19's arrival was Florida. The Sunshine State added a net tally
of 819,000 Americans over that span. [...] The large-state runner-up: Texas. It added
80 percent as many people as Florida (656,000). The state that lost the most was
California, which shed 1.2 million people through net domestic outmigration — the
rough equivalent of San Francisco and Oakland's combined populations.
Denny's
closes Oakland restaurant that's been open for 54 years because California city is now so
dangerous. A 54-year-old branch of Denny's has closed its doors in Oakland amid
threats to 'the safety and wellbeing' of staff and customers, as the Bay Area city struggles to
contain soaring crime. With robbery up by 37 percent year-on-year, burglary up
24 percent and motor vehicle theft rising 45 percent to reach an all-time record, those
who live and work in the city do not feel safe. Violent crimes have also spiked by
21 percent in 12 months. And on Tuesday, Clorox[,] which has its global headquarters
in Oakland[,] began providing security escorts for people walking to and from the train station.
The
A's are not the only ones leaving Oakland. As you may know, the Oakland A's are
moving to Las Vegas. I was hoping that they'd move to San Antonio, but that's for another
conversation. The A's are moving because Oakland is a failed city and another exhibit in the
museum of Democrat urban failures. So who is leaving Oakland now? Let's find out:
["]In-N-Out is permanently closing one of its restaurants for the first time ever,
announcing that its Oakland location will soon shutter because of rampant crime in the California
city.[... "] Talk about decline. We know that a city or society is in trouble when
a fast-food restaurant is closing because of theft or an unsafe place to work in. It begs the
question: How did this happen? Who allowed this to happen? We can start with the
culture that produces young people who steal for fun. Yes, for fun. Have you seen the
videos? They are young people lacking any values or morality.
Wealthy
Californians are ditching their LA mansions in droves. Californians are packing up
their LA mansions and flocking to states where you can get more bang for your buck and avoid
extortionate taxes, rampant crime and the Golden State's homelessness crisis. Celebrities,
families and CEOs are all among California's richest residents who are skipping town to avoid the
recently enforced 'mansion tax'. The policy, which taxes an extra four per cent on homes sold
for more that $5 million and a 5.5 percent tax on homes above $10 million, went into
effect on April 1, 2023, and many Californians took it as their sign to leave.
California
Once Again Leads the Country in Outgoing U-Hauls. California used to be one of the
country's top incoming destinations. People from around the country flocked to the
spectacular weather, natural beauty, recreational opportunities and thriving industries. But
that was before it became a one party state, with that one party dead set on driving as many people
away as possible. For several years now, California has near the top of the leaderboard in
population loss, thanks in large part to Gavin Newsom and his authoritarian overreach during the
COVID pandemic.
Blue states
don't build. Blue states are losing seats because they are losing people relative to
the U.S. average, while red states are gaining people relative to the average. [...] Blue states
like California and New York have high housing costs in part because these states tend to house
"superstar" industry clusters like Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and Wall Street. These clusters
draw in high-earning knowledge workers and price out lower-income and middle-income people.
But California is losing population at all income levels, with high earners actually more likely to
leave. And more importantly, if they wanted, blue states could just build more houses
for the lower-income and middle-income people, canceling out the effect of increased demand.
They don't.
California
Unexpectedly Hit by Bad Luck As Top Wealth Producers Flee the State. After nearly two
centuries of uninterrupted economic and population growth, California has hit a pothole in the
road. There had been a lot of warning signs that the Democrats' hostility to success and
achievement was coming home to roost but the first finite, undeniable warning was when California
lost a House seat in the 2020 reapportionment. This was the first time in history that
California had lost a House seat and marked the end of a run of gains that started with a one-seat
gain in the 1860 Census and culminated in a series of 5-7 seat gains between 1910 and 1980. [...]
According to the LA Times, the pain is beginning to be felt as the outflow of high-earners (and
maximum tax rate payers) is replaced by an inflow of people dependent upon public services.
Census
Data: California Population Drops Again; Below 39 Million. The population
of the State of California has fallen again — below 39 million people, according to
new data from the U.S. Census. [...] California's population losses through domestic migration were
partially offset by international immigration and in-state births.
California
Forced To Cut Spending After Wealthy Taxpayers Flee State. California directed state
agencies Tuesday to reduce their spending levels in the wake of a projected massive budget
shortfall and wealthy taxpayers leaving the state. "It is vitally important that state
government is efficient, effective, and only expends funds that are necessary to the critical
operation and security of the state," wrote California Department of Finance director Joe
Stephenshaw in a budget letter. "As such, all state entities must take immediate action to reduce
expenditures and identify all operational savings achieved." Stephenshaw directed state
entities to cut expenses by taking such actions as not entering into any new non-critical goods and
services contracts, halting non-essential information technology purchases, and only purchasing
fleet vehicles that are mission-critical or emergency-related. "All areas of department
operations shall be evaluated and scrutinized to decrease costs including, but not limited to,
subscription renewals, training costs, or furniture purchases," Stephenshaw wrote.
California,
the Great Destroyer. The state's public unions and bloated bureaucracies guaranteed
Soviet-style overhead, incompetence, and unaccountability. The more California raised its
income taxes — currently the nation's highest topping out at 13.3 percent —
the more it borrowed, spent, and ran up huge annual budget deficits. The nation's highest
gasoline taxes along with steep sales and property taxes — coupled with unaffordable
fuel and housing, a homeless epidemic, dismal public schools, out-of-control crime, and mass,
illegal immigration — soon all led to a bifurcated state of rich and poor. The
middle class either became poor or fled. Indeed, businesses and millions of the middle class
hightailed it out of California over the last three decades in one of the greatest state population
exoduses in our nation's history. But they also took with them the very prior experience,
expertise, and capital that had once made California the nation's envy.
Democrat-Run
California Predicted to Lose Five House Seats by 2030. Democrat-run California could
lose five congressional districts in 2030 due to population loss. Tee hee. This news
comes from Decision Desk HQ, which looked at the data and concluded, "If current trends continue,
the state could lose as many as five congressional districts in the 2030 reapportionment cycle."
Now you know one of the many reasons Democrats are flooding America with illegals and want to
make them citizens.
Sheryl
Crow Says Move From California to Tennessee 'Saved My Life'. Californians are
increasingly fleeing the state for places like Florida, Texas and Tennessee. Better housing
markets, lower crime rates and lower cost of living are all reasons for The Golden State's
shrinking population. But according to Sheryl Crow, the move actually saved her life.
Performing at the Sea.Hear.Now Music Festival in New Jersey this weekend, the Grammy-winning artist
extended empathy for those in the crowd experiencing difficult times. "I know how hard it is
for especially young people — and I don't know if anybody was pained by struggles like I
did when I was young — but these are some tricky waters to navigate now," Crow told her
fans. "I'll just tell you that, for me, getting out in nature really saved my life."
Related: A
Third of Seattle Residents Are Considering Leaving, Citing Crime and Costs. One-third
of Seattle residents are considering packing up and moving elsewhere, largely citing home prices
and crime, according to a Seattle Times/Suffolk University poll conducted in June.
Roughly 33 percent of Seattle residents surveyed say they are seriously considering moving out
of the city, while 67 percent say they are not.
California's
exodus picks up steam as data shows 111,000 residents [have] ditched the West Coast.
About 300 Californians moved to Texas each day in 2021 — a staggering 111,000 people, newly
released data shows. That is double the 63,000 that made the same move in 2012, according to
a new report from Storage Café, which examined California-Texas migration patterns over
nearly a decade. Of those that moved in 2021, nearly half were millennials, born between 1981
and 1996, and headed to counties around major cities such as Austin, Houston and Dallas.
Two-Thirds
of Californians Say They Are Considering Leaving the State. A new poll revealed that
almost two-thirds of California residents have considered moving out of the state recently.
The survey highlights mounting frustrations that Californians are feeling over their state's
policies related to escalating living costs, rising crime, increased political polarization, and
parental rights concerns. The survey found that 40% of state residents say "they are somewhat
or very serious about leaving," with another 24% "saying they are thinking about it, but not too
seriously." The top reason respondents gave for wanting to leave the Golden State was
affordability, with 61% saying living costs are too high.
Golden
State Turns Bronze: 4 in 10 Californians Considering Running for the Exits. A new
poll by Strategies 360, a consortium of the Los Angeles Times and several non-profits, should
concern Gov. Gavin Newsom and the leftist politicians running the Golden State into the
ground: four in 10 residents are actively considering leaving California for greener
pastures. That's hardly a surprise considering that homelessness, crime, an anti-business
environment, insane woke laws, and sky-high taxes — which create an unattainable cost of
living — have all made life in paradise not quite so idyllic as it once was.
Dean
Cain is the latest to flee California selling his $7.25M home to move to Nevada.
Superman actor Dean Cain has become the latest Hollywood star to flee California for states that
are friendlier to the film industry, such as Nevada, Texas and Louisiana. Cain appeared on
Fox and Friends on Wednesday [6/7/2023] to say he had been driven from his $7.25 million home in
Malibu to Las Vegas, where he said there is less traffic and lower taxes, and added that his peers
are leaving 'in droves'. 'I love California. It's the most beautiful state.
Everything's wonderful about it except for the policies,' Cain told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade. 'The
policies are just terrible. The fiscal policies, the soft-on-crime policies, the homelessness policies.'
Dying
San Francisco Sustains Another Massive Blow. Not too long ago, San Francisco was
still a remarkably beautiful city, although even then it could change on a dime. One could be
in the midst of a leisurely stroll down a gorgeous street filled with chic cafes, turn a corner,
and find oneself without warning in the middle of a large crowd of menacing homeless drug
addicts. Now, after decades of far-Left misrule that has picked up speed in the wake of the
COVID hysteria, the city's dirty, degrading, and dangerous areas are growing rapidly and taking the
whole place over, and the city's remaining sane people are fleeing. The end is near for the
Golden Gate City: the day is approaching when its ruins will bear silent witness to the ways in
which Leftism destroys human societies. In anticipation of that day, a luxury hotel chain is
leaving town.
State
Farm to stop insuring new homes in California, citing catastrophic wildfires and inflation.
America's biggest home insurance company has announced it will no longer insure houses in California,
saying that the risk from wildfires was too great and the cost of rebuilding too high. State Farm,
the nation's biggest car and home insurer by premium volume, said existing customers would not be
affected. But [beginning] Saturday [5/26/2023], no new home insurance policies will be
issued. The company will continue offering auto insurance.
No Exit: Trapped
in California's labyrinthine bureaucracy. I have spent the past 18 months writing,
calling, filing, submitting, signing, notarizing, petitioning, and mailing information to the
California Secretary of State, the California Attorney General, and others — all in the
hope of closing down a single corporation. Filings are accepted, rejected, or forwarded to
another department. Letters assure me that the process is almost finished, but then other
letters come with new regulations and requirements. A recorded message instructs me to leave
a voice mail; nobody calls back. The message from California is unmistakable:
no exit. What could the reasons for this be? First, garden-variety bureaucratic
incompetence. California is a vast state with a sprawling, insulated public sector. My
mother spent her career working as an attorney for the state and concluded, after decades of
service, that the agencies actively undermined their stated missions and harmed the quality of life
for residents. A second reason is greed. As many upwardly mobile residents flee the
state because of exorbitant costs, high taxes, and urban dysfunction, California has sought to
entrap them in a bureaucratic net.
'Leaving
California: The Untold Story' Explores Reasons Behind the State's Mass Exodus.
"People are leaving [California] to go to places that once were known as 'hell hot Texas' or
'desert Nevada' that have become paradises in their mind — and we took paradise and
turned it into hell," said one researcher in EpochTV's new documentary "Leaving California: The
Untold Story," which premiered on April 21. More than 700,000 people left California from
April 2020 to July 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The fact that hundreds of
thousands left, "in light of California being such a wonderful place is ... unbelievable!" another
researcher said in the film. The remarks by Victor Davis Hanson, a historian at the Hoover
Institute, and Jim Doti, president emeritus and professor of economics at Chapman University,
encapsulate the biggest, unprecedented question facing Californians: why are people leaving the paradise?
It
Sure Looks Like the Oakland A's Are Joining the Great California Exodus. Although the
final agreements are still to come, it is now all but certain that the MLB's Oakland A's will
shortly join the NFL's Raiders in relocating to Las Vegas. The team has entered into an
agreement to purchase land near the Strip for a new ballpark, which, if all goes to plan, will open
in 2027. [...] Let the finger-pointing begin. We start with A's owner John Fisher, a
billionaire who cried poor once too often for all parties concerned. It is difficult to
remember the A's were in the postseason as recently as 2020, even with the team's penchant for
trading away any talent on the roster for prospects rather than paying players the current market
rate. The team is now easily the worst in baseball. Fisher is willing to foot most of
the bill for a new stadium, but his demand that local government pay for most or all of the
infrastructure has derailed any hopes for the team to remain in Oakland.
2.6
Million Fled Counties That Voted For Biden. Last week, we commented on recent
population data showing that people have been fleeing urban areas, noting that these are mostly
Democratically controlled, and we pointed out that people have also been moving from blue states to
red. But we wanted to go deeper and get more precise numbers. So, we matched Census net
migration data from mid-2020 through mid-2022 for all the nation's 3,000-plus counties (or their
equivalents) and compared that with how these counties voted in 2020. Our working assumption is
that the results of the incredibly divisive 2020 election would be a good barometer of the devoutly
held political views in those counties. What we found was striking: There has been a vast
migration out of counties that voted for Joe Biden into those counties that voted to reelect Donald Trump.
The Editor says...
Yes, move to Texas if you like, but leave California thinking behind.
A
note from inside Gulag California. California was once the Golden State. That
was more than forty years ago, when Ronald Reagan was governor. In the 1980s, under Governor
Jerry Brown, Sr., the state shifted slightly left. During the 1990s, under Jerry Brown, Jr.,
things began to come apart, but it was still livable. With Gray Davis, the slide continued,
and he was recalled. Since Gavin Newsom took office, California has achieved terminal
decline. It has become unlivable. Since 2020, 500,000 people have moved out of the
state. More are leaving every day. Because of that mass exodus, California lost a
congressional seat based on the 2020 Census. Getting a U-Haul is hard to impossible because
none is to be found. They were rented by the lucky ones who can afford to leave for one-way
journeys to anywhere else. Drug use is rampant. It's out in the open, and no one does a
single thing about it. In fact, there are laws that prohibit law enforcement from stopping
it — assuming, of course, that the city in which it's taking place hasn't defunded its
police force.
Half
a Million People Left California Between 2020 and 2022. California lost roughly half
a million people between the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic and mid-2022. KTLA reported
that between April 2020 and July 2022, California's population dropped by roughly 500,000,
amounting to about one percent of the state's total population. The outlet noted this decline
in population has been most acute in the counties of San Francisco and Los Angeles. A
February report by the large real estate brokerage Redfin found more homebuyers looked to leave San
Francisco and Los Angeles than any other U.S. metro the previous month.
California
lost over 500,000 residents in the last two years. California's population has dropped by more than
500,000 since the COVID-19 pandemic began two years ago, and the exodus doesn't show any signs of ending. The Los
Angeles Times reported that between April 2020 and July 2022, the number of residents leaving exceeded the number of
people moving in... by over 700,000. [Tweet] Paul Ong, director at a research institution known as the
Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, argued that one major reason for the state's population decline is high housing
prices. [...] Between July 2021 and July 2022, California lost more than 200,000 people, according to data from
California's Department of Finance. About half of the people were from Los Angeles County. Many Californians
have settled in neighboring states like Nevada and Utah. However, Utah is dissuading them from moving to the
Beehive State. Utah's Republican governor Spencer Cox said that he would love for Californians to remain in their
self-created hellscape.
Here
are the states Americans are moving to — and the states they are ditching. The pandemic sparked a
restlessness in American life, with many families opting to move in search of more space or a lower cost of living.
That trend continued in 2022, with hundreds of thousands of people uprooting their lives and moving to new states. [...] The
states that attracted the most new residents in 2022 are Florida, Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina, followed by other
states in the South and West. [...] There could be another reason why Southern and Western states drew more residents last
year: Low taxes, according to the Tax Foundation. Some high-tax states, like California and New York, lost
residents in 2022. Florida was the biggest net gainer last year, with about 319,000 people migrating into the state,
the NAR analysis found. California lost the most residents, with 343,000 leaving the state for other regions.
The Editor says...
A rebuttal to the article above can be found here:
"CBS News brushes off the idea that higher taxes in blue states are contributing to this mass exodus, and it fails to mention
at all crime, COVID-lockdown policies, and the like as reasons for the growing number of 'leftugees.'"
As
Millions Flee Blue States, Red States Need To Remind Them Why. New Census data show that roughly half of
the states had net gains in population in 2022, and the other half net losses, thanks to what's called internal
migration. The winners were almost entirely red states, the losers blue. There's a huge opportunity for
conservatives, if they seize it. [...] This isn't a new trend. People have been fleeing leftist strongholds such
as California, New York, and Illinois for many years. What's interesting about the new data is that they come in
the wake of COVID, when the different approaches taken by states could not have been starker. California, New
York, Illinois, Michigan, and the like used COVID to exercise maximum control over their residents — with
mandates, curfews, lockdowns, and school closures.
Jerry
Garcia marijuana brand pulls out of California amid thriving black market, high taxes. The legal cannabis
brand launched by the family of late Grateful Dead star Jerry Garcia has stopped operations in California amid a
thriving black market for marijuana and a challenging environment for legitimate businesses. A spokesperson for
Garcia Hand Picked, which the deceased guitarist's family launched in 2020, confirmed to SFGATE that the business has
left the Golden State and didn't specify a return date.
More
U-Haul Trucks Left California Than Any Other State In 2022, Texas Top Destination: Study. More moving
trucks left from California than any other state in 2022 for the third year in a row, while more Americans are flocking
to Republican-led states like Texas and Florida, a new study published on Jan. 3 has found. The study was
conducted by the moving truck rental company, U-Haul, and found that Texas, Florida, and the Carolinas were the
preferred destinations for one-way moving trucks in 2022, with those states ranking as the top growth states on the
annual U-Haul Growth Index.
DeSantis Goes to War.
People do not uproot themselves and leave the rhythms of home "for light and transient causes." These people are not
coming to Florida just for the weather. They are fleeing the woke regime of blue America — an abusive,
lawless, totalitarian regime which is waging war against American principles and the American way of life. [...] In
evoking Churchill's speech, DeSantis lets us know that the woke regime is bearing down on America. In the urgent
cadences of war, DeSantis tells us that America will not survive unless she defeats the woke regime. He believes
this regime is so evil and powerful that he can, without bathos, compare it to the Nazi regime.
300,000
People Moved Out of California from 2021 to 2022, Most of Any State. The U.S. Census Bureau reported
Thursday that 300,000 people left California in 2022, more than left any other state, amid a general slow increase in
the U.S. population as the country recovered from COVID-19. The estimates cover the period from July 2021 to
July 2022. It was the third consecutive annual decline for California, the Sacramento Bee noted,
though births outnumbered deaths.
American
Airlines is closing its San Francisco crew base and asking 400 flight attendants to leave California or leave the
airline. In closing its San Francisco base, citing economic factors and shifting customer demand, American
presented 400 flight attendants with a choice that many said felt impossible to make: leave the airline or leave the
state. The base is home to some of the carrier's most senior flight attendants, two-thirds of whom have been at the
airline for 13 years or more, according to the union representing American Airlines flight attendants. By
January 31, they must select an airport from a list of the airline's hubs outside of California to work out of.
For those who can't or won't, the only options are to retire early (if eligible) or resign, the union told Insider.
As Usual,
I Was Wrong. [Scroll down] More than that, though, America is balkanizing. They're moving with
their feet. Conservative people in New York and California are moving to Florida and Texas. They're getting
out of Dodge and that's making the places they leave behind more Democrat, not less. The people of New York and
Illinois and California will continue to drive out the middle class. There will be rich and poor. The poor
will be drugged out, homeless wretches and crime will continue to increase. These places should be left to their
own devices. Conservatives should take note and they should move to safer havens.
Florida
[is] bracing for [a] new influx of residents fleeing blue states after [the] Dems' election success.
Continuing years of scorching population growth, Florida is bracing for a fresh batch of disgruntled citizens fed up
with spiraling crime and high taxes to move in from Democratic strongholds. Figures obtained by The [New York]
Post show that through August, a record 41,885 New Yorkers already swapped their licenses for the Florida version, a
commonly used indicator of demographic trends. That figure was 21,277 for California, 16,970 for Pennsylvania and
16,846 for Illinois. Sunshine State observers said after Tuesday saw Democratic leaders re-elected or voted
in — coupled with Gov. Ron DeSantis's landslide entrenchment — they expect the exodus to
Florida will continue.
Yet
Another Industry Ditching Greasy Gavin's California for a Free State. The Athletics' drawn-out battle with
the city of Oakland may be coming to a conclusion sooner than many fans imagined as California continues to be a hot
topic in sports. As many stars and businesses are leaving the state, others are considering doing the same.
For a few years now, Athletics ownership has not been clear whether they intend to stay in Oakland or move to one of the
many big markets which do not currently have a baseball team. In 2024, the Athletics will no longer be
contractually obligated to play games in RingCentral Coliseum. Even so, talks between ownership and the city of
Oakland with regard to contracting a new stadium have stalled.
Mark
Wahlberg Joins California's Mass Exodus. Actor and film producer Mark Wahlberg joined the growing list of
A-list Hollywood celebrities fleeing California. During an interview Tuesday on the CBS talk show "The Talk," the
movie star said he moved out of the Golden State and into Nevada to give his children "a better life." "I moved to
California many years ago to pursue acting and I've only made a couple of movies in the entire time that I was there,"
Wahlberg said. "So, to be able to give my kids a better life and follow and pursue their dreams, whether it be my
daughter as an equestrian, my son as a basketball player, my younger son as a golfer, this made a lot more sense for us."
Oil Giant Sells
California Office As It Ditches State For Texas. Chevron is selling its global headquarters in California
as it continues to move its operations and employees to Texas, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The oil
giant sold 92 acres of offices in San Ramon as its workers continue to relocate to its Houston campus, where it has
three times the number of employees that California has, according to the WSJ. Chevron will follow in the footsteps
of other large companies like Tesla and American Airlines that have left California in recent years for various reasons.
Democrat
Governor Gavin Newsom Says People Are Fleeing California Because of Trump's Policies. Hundreds of
thousands of people have left California since the Covid pandemic began in what many are calling "The California
Exodus." In 2021, California lost a congressional seat for the first time due to the decreasing population.
However, according to California's Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom:
• It's not because of high taxes.
• It's not because of unconstitutional Covid mask and vaccine mandates.
• It's not because of record homelessness.
• It's not because millions of illegal aliens receive better healthcare and perks than taxpaying citizens.
• It's not because of rolling blackouts during heatwaves.
• It's not because the sale of gas-powered cars was banned by 2035 when CA can't even keep the lights on.
Gavin Newsom said people are fleeing his state for red states like Idaho, Texas, Arizona and Florida, because of Trump's policies.
The American way needs defending
against a corrupt ruling class. Over the last few years, the statistics are startling. Since COVID,
more adjusted gross income has moved into the state of Florida than has ever moved into any one state over a similar
time period in American history. In fact, since COVID, the next closest state to Florida in terms of receiving
adjusted gross income was the state of Texas, which is not too shabby. But Florida has seen almost four
times as much adjusted gross income moving to Florida as has moved into Texas. What are the states that are
hemorrhaging wealth? California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey — you know the list. Florida has
also led the nation in net in-migration since COVID. Who has lost people? Same cast of characters.
California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois. California had never lost people in the history of its statehood, up
until the last couple of years, and yet you've seen hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people flee.
Poll:
Over one-third of San Franciscans plan to leave crime-ridden 'sanctuary city'. The San Francisco Chronicle
conducted a comprehensive survey between June and July of over 1,650 people to "measure attitudes on what's working,
what isn't, performance of city government, the future of the city and more." Respondents overwhelming indicated that a
great deal isn't working, the city is performing poorly, the future looks bleak, and it may not be worth hanging around
much longer. 65% of respondents said the city, run by Democrat Mayor London Breed, was worse than when they first
moved there. Only 10% said it was better. Women reportedly found the city to be worse than did their male
counterparts, with 69% reporting a significant deterioration (representing a seven-point gendered change) and only 7%
noting there being signs of improvement. 35% of respondents believe things will only be worse two years from now.
California
has weaponized transportation against its own population. California is already
seeing a population exodus, mostly middle-income or wealthy people in their peak earning years (age
25 to 64), to states where there are better opportunities and lower living costs, such as Texas,
Idaho, and Utah. In absolute terms, the Golden State lost the population of Springfield,
Missouri, in 2021 (173,000). But it lost even more — the rough population equivalent
of Buffalo (277,000) — to net domestic migration in that same year. Based on the
policies its legislature keeps passing, California seems determined to become a state where the
only remaining residents are the unemployed homeless and the filthy rich. When they aren't
trying to push residents out of the state, they seem most interested in discouraging new residents
from moving there.
Californians
are moving to Mexico City and not everyone is thrilled about it. You've probably heard something by now about
the horde of Californians who've been leaving the state and moving to states like Idaho, Oregon and especially Texas.
Because of the high property values in California, these people often move into the nicest neighborhoods in their new city or
town of choice. And because there are so many of these transplants they often drive up the local property values.
That's not always appreciated by the locals. Today the LA Times reports there's a similar problem in Mexico City
where Americans, many of them from California, are fleeing not just their state but their country in order to take advantage
of the much lower property values in Mexico City.
California
cities are bleeding residents. How long will the trend last? During the COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed like
everyone knew a co-worker fleeing the Bay Area. Now, a new report out of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago shows just
how much the exodus is gaining steam. Only Illinois ranked worse off than the Golden State when it came to moving vans
heading for the border during the pandemic, according to the report, which focused on data from the moving company United Van
Lines. In 2018-19, 56% of moves in California were families fleeing the state. In 2020-21, that figure jumped to
nearly 60%.
Get
Me Out Of Here! Data Shows California Exodus Isn't Subsiding, It's Accelerating. [Scroll down] The
reasons for the California exodus couldn't be clearer. As crime and homelessness are turning the state into a hellhole
for residents, Newsom is focused on social equity. As state spending and taxation skyrocket, Newsom wants to spend more
money to become the nation's leader in abortions. And as the rest of the country has finally recognized the reality of
COVID's politicization, Newsom wants to keep hammering away at vaccine mandates and scaring his citizens.
71
US Cities Are Now Paying Tech Workers to Abandon Silicon Valley. And It's Working. "A growing number of
cities and towns all over the U.S. are handing out cash grants and other perks aimed at drawing skilled employees of faraway
companies to live there and work remotely," reports the Wall Street Journal: ["]A handful of such programs have
existed for years, but they have started gaining traction during the pandemic — and have really taken off in just
the past year or so. Back in October there were at least 24 such programs in the U.S. Today there are 71, according to
the Indianapolis-based company MakeMyMove, which is contracted by cities and towns to set up such programs.["]
The Façade
Of California's Economy Is About To Crumble. The economic and political news coming out of California is
consistently dismal these days, and yet state politicians and bureaucrats continuously insist that things have never been
better. Furthermore, they really know how to spin their data. For example, CA has been losing more people to
relocation in the past few years than at any time in the past century. Try to research this subject matter and you will
be buried in an avalanche of pro-Cal fluff pieces from the local media designed to obscure the problem. State numbers
indicate a loss of 117,000 people in 2021 alone (on top of huge losses in 2019 and 2020), but this number does not mention
context. Over 280,000 people LEFT the state in 2021 for a number of reasons, though covid lockdowns and vax mandates
seem to be high on the list.
Remain
At Your Own Risk! Another Major Business Operator Pulls Out Of Chicago. The phenomenon known as The Blue
State Exodus has been well-documented, with citizens in states like California, New York, and Illinois loading up their
U-Hauls and heading south at record rates to Florida, Texas, and the Carolinas. In the aftermath of the COVID pandemic,
and with skyrocketing inflation amplifying the impact of excessive tax rates, personal freedom and financial considerations
are the primary motivators for suburbanites. But for the city dwellers, it's more than just tyrannical vaccine policies
and high property taxes driving their decisions to bail out. It's the decay of the rule of law and its absurd
acceptance of it by elected officials. Blue cities are becoming reminiscent of Gotham City, pre-Batman, only
Commissioner Gordon thinks things are going just swimmingly.
Chevron
selling Bay Area headquarters, paying for employees relocate to Houston. Plenty of tech companies have moved
their headquarters out of the Bay Area in recent years, from startups like Coinbase to industry pioneers like Hewlett Packard
and Oracle. Elon Musk has been one particularly outspoken voice decrying California's business conditions. Now,
one of the East Bay's legacy companies is joining the trend. Chevron announced it is shuttering its San Ramon global
headquarters and even encouraging some employees to move to Houston, the Wall Street Journal reported. The oil company
will cover relocation costs for those voluntarily leaving for the Texas office, which has been growing and employs nearly
6,000 people. Meanwhile, the San Ramon office buildings have experienced dwindling numbers in recent years.
A
mass exodus from the Democrats' America. As the Washington Examiner reported this week, the end of the COVID-19
pandemic has done nothing to arrest the trend of people fleeing large cities in liberal coastal states for more pleasant and
orderly locales, particularly in the Mountain West and the Sun Belt. A mixture of unreasonable pandemic restrictions,
rising crime, lawlessness, and hostility toward employers has forced this continued urban exodus. [...] It is hardly a
coincidence that all 15 of the 15 fastest-growing cities and towns between July 2020 and July 2021 are in states that
Republicans govern: Arizona, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Idaho. And 14 out of the 15 fastest-declining cities
during the same period were in states that Democrats governed at the time. What towns and cities gaining population
generally have in common both before and during COVID-19 is that they live under laws made by Republicans. What towns
and cities losing population have in common is that they live under laws made by Democrats. Not all Democratic states
and cities are equally anti-business, but COVID-19 helped bring out the totalitarian side of many state and city governments,
driving away and keeping away many former and prospective residents.
Tens
of Thousands Flee San Francisco As Liberal Leaders Struggle With Crime and Homelessness. More than 50,000
residents left San Francisco last year, the highest population decrease of any major U.S. city. Between July 2020 and
July 2021, 54,813 people exited the Bay Area — a 6.3 percent decline resulting in San Francisco's smallest
population in a decade. High housing costs, rising crime, and rampant public vagrancy likely fueled the exodus, as
residents have soured on the Golden City's liberal leadership. Voters in a June recall election ousted radical
prosecutor Chesa Boudin for his soft-on-crime approach. Two-thirds of Asian Americans opposed Boudin, spurred on by his
failure to quell attacks against seniors in their communities. Driven by worries over public safety, a majority of Bay
Area voters disapprove of Democratic mayor London Breed, according to a June San Francisco Examiner poll. Breed
slashed the city's police budget by $120 million in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd's death but reversed course 18 months
later, making an emergency request to beef up law enforcement funding as crime soared.
Report:
Thousands of Californians Flee to Mexico in Search of More Affordable Living. Housing prices and rampant
inflation under the leadership of President Joe Biden and Gov. Gavin Newson (D-CA) are driving thousands of Californians
to search for a more affordable life in Mexico. "I would say at least half are coming down from California," Darrell
Graham of Baja123 Real Estate Group told CNBC. "Suddenly the cost of taxes, the crime rates, the politics, all the things
that people are unhappy with in California are coming down to Mexico."
The Editor says...
Self-deportation is always really good news, especially if the émigrés are supposed to be in Mexico anyway.
Notice that the illegal aliens are escaping from California, because living in California is worse than living in Mexico!
Smithfield
Foods to shutter California meat-packing plant. Meat-packing giant Smithfield Foods said Friday it will close
its only California plant next year, citing the escalating cost of doing business in the state. The Farmer John
meat-packing plant in Vernon, an industrial suburb south of Los Angeles, will shut down in February, with its 1,800 employees
receiving severance and job placement support along with bonuses for those who choose to stay on the job until the closure,
said Jim Monroe, vice president of corporate affairs. Some workers, who on average earn about $21 per hour, also will
have opportunities to relocate to other facilities owned by the Virginia-based Smithfield Foods Inc.
Fleeing
dysfunctional America. America is sorting itself out by class and kind, back to blood and political
pedigree. The demographic trend favors the so-called red states and the metro nodes inside these dominions.
Austin, Reno, and Nashville beckon. Meanwhile, academic towns like Eugene, Chapel Hill, and Burlington draw gentry
blues trying to escape crazy and crime but who are not in tune with Tulsa or Fargo. For big-city emigrants, fatigue
with misgovernment, ill-spent government largesse, and racial disorder are part of the picture. As much as they are
seeking uncrowded real estate, runaways are searching for courts, authorities, teachers, and stable neighbors whom they can
trust. Lockdowns and masks, power-juiced officials and public unions, looting and street violence, vagrants and junkies
in ragged tents, and crime — lots of crime — have contributed to the flight, white and non-white.
[Paywall]
Why
Americans Are Fleeing Liberal States. According to a new survey that studies the migration patterns of
Americans within the United States, liberal-run New Jersey led the nation with 70 percent of all people involved in moves
fleeing the Garden State (compared to just 30 percent who migrated in). Illinois, home of the crime-ridden liberal haven
of Chicago, came in second with 67 percent of moves resulting in residents leaving the state and just 27 percent involving
inbound moves. New York, another liberal hotbed, came in third on the list. In total 63 percent of movers kissed
the Empire State goodbye, while just 37 percent decided to move in. Connecticut wasn't much better. More than
60 percent of all moves were outbound, while just 39.9 percent were inbound. Rounding out the top five is California,
with 60 percent of moves involving people leaving the state and just 40 percent involving inbound moves.
The Editor says...
Use caution when reading an article like the one immediately above, which discusses percentages without talking about raw quantities.
California has more (people) to lose (in a mass exodus) than other states, so it could well be true that California has seen the
greatest number of people departing.
Don't
bring your blues to our red states. Moving to a red state is a relief for blue staters, but if they cannot
connect their blue state pathologies to voting for Democrats, they are again going to vote for the same party that gave them
their blue state blues. It is imperative that blue-staters recognize that escaping to a red state to avoid blue state
problems will do them no good if they persist in voting for Democrats, who, at first opportunity, will vote for the same blue
policies they left their blue states to avoid. It is imperative that every blue-stater who is not Republican not vote
Democrat if they enjoy red state living. Don't bring your blue state liberal policies to your new red state.
Texas
Population Boom Fuels Growing Backlash in Lone Star State. About 40% of Texans say the surge in newcomers in
recent years has been a net negative, versus 34% who view it as good, according to a poll released Wednesday [5/4/2022] by the
University of Texas and Texas Politics Project. Among Texans who said they're aware of the surge in population, it's
the highest share who view it negatively since polling began in 2019. The survey suggests a disconnect between the
politicians who frequently tout the hordes of people moving to the state as evidence of successful policies and the residents
who feel the effects of more congested roads, higher property prices and overcrowded schools. Texas' population grew
more than any other U.S. state in the decade through 2020, and the boom has continued since then as companies like Tesla Inc.
and Oracle Corp. have moved their headquarters to the Lone Star State.
California's
population falls by more than 100,000 for [the] second year in a row. The population of California continues to
shrink, as residents flee the state's high cost of living and rising crime. California's population declined again in
2021 for the second consecutive year, state officials said Monday, the result of a slowdown in births and immigration coupled
with an increase in deaths and people leaving the state. Critics point to the steady stream of people leaving
California as an indictment on the state's policies, which are set by Governor Gavin Newsom and his fellow Democrats in the
state legislature.
Texas
lawmaker says state will 'roll out the red carpet' if Elon Musk moves Twitter to Lone Star State. One Texas
lawmaker says the state will "roll out the red carpet" for Tesla CEO Elon Musk in its attempts to lure the world's richest
man to move Twitter's headquarters from California to the Lone Star State. Texas State Representative Tan Parker told
FOX Business that Musk should "absolutely" consider moving Twitter from California to Texas, just like he did with
Tesla. Musk recently entered an agreement with Twitter to buy the social media outlet for $44 billion. "Elon made
a tremendous decision, the right choice, when he brought Tesla to Texas, when he brought SpaceX to Texas. I think it's
no different in his decision making here for Twitter, he realizes that Texas is the most business friendly state in America,
that we are open for business," Parker said.
Great idea, but only if the current staff stays in California. Red
states vying to entice Elon Musk to relocate Twitter HQ. Now that Twitter is under new management, there are
increasing calls for billionaire owner Elon Musk to move the company's headquarters to a red state. That idea probably
won't sit well with many of its San Francisco-based, progressive-posturing employees who reportedly are melting down over the
visionary and often eccentric entrepreneur's stunning $44 billion purchase of the influential social media platform in the
name of free expression. Parenthetically, the pro-censorship political/media establishment, as well as the blue-check
brigade generally, are also experiencing a collective panic attack over the acquisition. This same cohort had no
problem, however, with the purchase of The Washington Post by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos.
DeSantis
Comments About People From 'Dumpster Fire' San Francisco Moving to Florida. One of the reasons many Republican
and independent voters alike are so attracted to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is his propensity to go bottom-line and say
exactly what he thinks when he thinks it, in common-sense, everyday language, with zero sugar-coating tossed in to
soften his message. Desantis's recent comments about San Francisco provide a perfect example. During a discussion
with supporters on Monday, the popular governor addressed concerns about whether new Florida residents from Democratic states
could change the political demographics of the Sunshine State. As reported by The Washington Examiner, DeSantis assured
the gathering that Florida has actually seen a greater surge in Republican voters than Democrat voters.
DeSantis
Warns That Democrats Fleeing California "Dumpster Fire" Will Move to Florida. As the mass exodus of citizens
and businesses fleeing Blue areas continues, Red states across the nation are bracing for a massive influx of new people who
are seeking to escape the leftist policies that democrats have used to make big cities across the United States practically
unlivable. Thanks to the jaw-dropping spike in crime and authoritarian public health measures, among other arbitrary
nonsense and 'big government' interference, millions have fled leftist-controlled areas in favor of the freer, red
areas. And the mass migration is only intensifying. Californians above all others, however, are packing their
bags en masse and fleeing the state for redder pastures.
California
public school enrollment spirals, dropping by 110,000 students this year. California public school enrollment
has dropped for the fifth year in a row — a decline of more than 110,000 students — as K-12 campuses
struggle against pandemic disruptions and a shrinking population of school-age kids amid wide concerns that the decrease is
so large that educators can't account for the missing children. California enrollment stood at 5,892,240 when measured
in the fall of 2021, a 1.8% decline, according to state data released Monday. It is the first time since 2000 that the
state's K-12 population has dipped below 6 million, with large urban districts accounting for one-third of the drop.
Escape
From NY & LA: The Exodus From Blue Cities And States Is Simply Staggering. California is a place where gas is
expensive, and human life is cheap. It's a state where you can make money by betting your car will be broken in if you
leave it outside. It's a state where harming an animal carries heavier penalty than killing a child. It's a state
that wants to dictate its values to the rest of the world, while its own house stinks to high heaven. Newsom's
corruption would put to shame anything Zelensky can dream of — and just like Russian state media can't find a
fault with Putin, the US media finds "no evidence" of Gavin ever doing anything wrong. California under Newsom's rule
is practically Russia without nuclear weapons.
The
pandemic city exodus revealed: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago lost the most residents.
New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and other large cities lost the most residents during the pandemic city exodus
last year as about 75 percent of U.S. counties experienced a loss in population, according to a new report from the U.S.
Census Bureau. The agency revealed on Thursday [3/24/2022] that American's fled metropolitan areas between April 2020
to July 2021 in favor of the South West, with Dallas, Houston, Austin and Phoenix among those to see the largest growth last
year. The Census Bureau said: 'In 2021, fewer births, an aging population and increased mortality — intensified
by the COVID-19 pandemic — contributed to a rise in natural [population] decrease' across the country,' but particular
hitting big cities the hardest.'
In
1st full year of pandemic, biggest metros lost residents. After returning to metro San Francisco following a
college football career, Anthony Giusti felt like his hometown was passing him by. The high cost of living, driven by a
constantly transforming tech industry, ensured that even with two jobs he would never save enough money to buy a house.
So he started looking elsewhere, settling on Houston just last year. "In Houston, I can be a blue-collar
entrepreneur. With the Houston housing market, it made sense to come here," said Giusti, who started a house-painting
business. Giusti was one of tens of thousands of residents who vacated some of the nation's biggest, most
densely-populated and costly metropolitan areas in favor of Sunbelt destinations during the first full year of the pandemic,
from mid-2020 to mid-2021, according to new data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Why
are so many Californians moving to Utah? It's no secret that Utah is growing, and many say that Californians
are to blame. According to data from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah, our state saw a
population growth rate of 1.8% between 2020 and 2021, which is the highest since 2017. This averages out to about 160
residents per day, Emily Harris, the Gardner Institute's senior demographer, said in a press statement. According to a
June 2021 report published by Harris, California is bringing the most domestic in-migrants to Utah, accounting for a whopping 16.6%.
Report:
More Than 600K People [are] Leaving New York And California For Lower-Taxed States. A new report released on
Monday [1/10/2022] revealed more than 600,000 people have left New York and California during the pandemic for lower-taxed
states as the two Democrat-led states continue to extend strong COVID-19 restrictions. CNBC shared the information
during its "Squawk Box" program on Monday that noted the correlation between population and tax rates.
America's U-Haul Revolution.
Not everyone in Blue State America is moving to a far healthier Red State. It only seems that way. But enough are
doing so to say, without a doubt, it is one of the most significant trends in America today. A revolution of
sorts. It's long been known in demography and population economics that people leave areas known for authoritarian
tyranny, stagnation, stultification, crime and excessive regulation in order to find the opposite somewhere else: economic
freedom, dynamism, social diversity and good government. It's a big reason why literally hundreds of millions of people
around the world have expressed their desire to emigrate to the U.S. But it's also true within countries, too.
Amid a backdrop of slow overall population growth, a problem in itself, comes the mass exodus of more than a million
Americans moving largely from Blue States to Red States, expressing dissatisfaction with high taxes, rampant crime,
lockdowns, vaccine mandates, excessive state government regulations, a politically stifling "woke" culture, and lack of
economic opportunity and freedom.
The
States With The Highest Percentage of Outbound Moves Have Something In Common. [Scroll down] New Jersey,
Illinois, New York, Connecticut, and California all have more people moving OUT than moving in. The CNBC reporter notes
that all these states are "expensive" and have "high taxes," and people want "a less hectic lifestyle." But, as we
discussed in yesterday's article, there are plenty of additional reasons to flee these states. Unreasonable Covid
restrictions and surging crime are two other major factors. Another thing that these states definitely have in common
is leadership. Every single state listed in the top 5 where people are leaving en masse is led by the Democrat Party.
Not
enough U-Haul trucks for fleeing Californians in 2021 amid ongoing blue-to-red flight: report. A new report
released Monday revealed California saw the greatest net loss in U-Haul migration in 2021, the second consecutive year the
Golden State ranked 50th in the nation for U-Haul one-way migration. The U-Haul Growth Index, an annual report that
determines growth by calculating the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks entering a state versus leaving in a calendar year,
found that California had the largest net losses in one-way U-Haul trucks in 2021, followed by Illinois in 49th place.
According to the report, California remained the top state for out-migration in 2021, but its net loss of U-Haul trucks
"wasn't as severe as 2020." Analysts believe this is partly because U-Haul "ran out of inventory to meet customer demand
for outbound equipment."
The
Texas vs. California Challenge. [Scroll down] In Texas, you can get a palace for $800,000. In
California, you can get a shack for $800,000. If you can find one for sale. And it would be in Bakersfield.
Advantage: Texas. In California you have to wear masks in most places and, in some, show your vaxx papers.
In Texas, no. They have no truck with that fascist nonsense. Maybe 20% of people mask up in regular stores,
though it's 50% in Whole Foods. Stereotypes are true! Advantage: Texas. Beers. Texas has Shiner
Bock. California has undrinkable bespoke IPAs brewed by hipster doofuses who no one will ever love. Advantage:
Texas. [...] Since I am a blue state lawyer and California is run for my benefit, I'll hang there for a while. But
everyone else ought to flee.
Census:
Americans Flee Left-Wing Lockdown States for Open, Red States. Blue states that have repeatedly imposed mask
mandates, vaccine requirements, and lockdowns over the last year have lost population to red states that have done away with
such policies. Newly released data from the United States Census Bureau reveals that while blue states like California
and New York have increasingly lost population from July 2020 to July 2021, red states such as Texas and Florida have seen
population increases.
Escape
From LA: More Container Business Flees To East Coast. If so many container ships are stuck in the Pacific
Ocean, waiting for weeks for a berth in Los Angeles or Long Beach, why not reschedule calls to another port? [...] It's not
that simple, given how much warehousing and transloading capacity is built around the Southern California
gateway — and congestion is affecting every port in America. Even so, shippers and carriers are indeed
moving to sidestep Los Angeles/Long Beach. In the ongoing battle for Asian imports between the West Coast and East
Coast, the momentum is once again swinging back to the east.
The
rate at which people stopped moving to California surprised researchers. The number of people moving to
California has significantly dropped since the pandemic started last year, while the number of people fleeing the state
continues to rise, according to a new study. "I guess I was a little bit surprised to see that entrances had fallen so
much. It wasn't so much that we saw it in a particular area. For me, the surprise was that this was a statewide
phenomenon," co-author of the study from California Police Lab, Evan White, told KCRA. The study found a 38% decrease in
people moving to California at the end of September 2021 compared to the end of March 2020. The study found a 12% increase
in residents moving out of state.
Leaving California.
I ran into an old California buddy online Sunday. He asked me why I moved to Texas. We didn't have a lot of time,
so I gave him the shortest explanation I could: "It's not California." For the 10 or so friends, all former
Californians, who have moved near us in Texas in the last year or so, no further explanation is needed. In Texas 80
looters don't pull their cars up to swankiest department stores and loot the place in broad daylight with impunity. San
Francisco is different, and has been for a long time, nearly as long as it has allowed urinating and defecating and sleeping
and shooting up heroin on public sidewalks. That town's mayor said this week they are finally going to "crack down."
Will police arrest the thieves? Well, we will have to see about that. It's still a misdemeanor in California to
steal anything under $950 in value.
NY
Times: It's not hard to see why people are moving to Texas. There's an opinion piece in today's NY
Times titled "Everyone's Moving to Texas. Here's Why." [...] I've mentioned before that two of my friends moved out
of state in the past two years. One friend who struggled to buy a house in California moved to upstate New York and
bought a house on five acres. Another friend sold his townhouse across the street from the beach and bought a brand new house
in a beautiful planned development on the east coast. He also had enough money left over to buy a brand new Model S.
I've also had two neighbors on my street leave the state. One moved to Ohio and the other to Nevada. Both are living in
much larger homes an paying less in taxes now. If you live in California this exodus east is something you probably here
people talk about pretty often.
Tesla's
Elon Musk suggests Texas HQ move inspired by tweet from California Democrat. Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Friday
suggested that his decision to move the automaker's headquarters from Fremont, California, to Austin, Texas, was inspired by
a Democratic assemblywoman [...] in 2020. Musk made the announcement Thursday during a shareholder meeting, citing
affordability, space and convenience as some of the reasons behind the move, adding that Tesla will also continue to expand
in California. On Friday, the billionaire engineer responded to an article from Tesla news website Tesmanian.com
titled, "Tesla Moved its HQ to Texas Following Explicit Offer from California Assemblywoman," saying, "Exactly." Musk
has been hinting at the move since May of 2020, when COVID-19 restrictions temporarily shut down Tesla's operations in
Fremont. He called the restrictions "fascist," prompting harsh words from a Democratic state assemblywoman.
Elon
Musk announces Tesla is moving its headquarters to Texas. Today was Tesla's annual shareholder meeting.
In past years the meeting has been held at the company's factory in Fremont, California. This year it was held at the
gigafactory in Austin, Texas. It turns out there was a reason for that. After the business portion of the
meeting, Elon Musk got up and talked about all of the company's good numbers. Car production is up, revenue is up, the
Model 3 is a best-seller in its segment and they expect the Model Y to be the best selling car in the world soon.
Elon
Musk says Tesla will move HQ from California to Texas. Tesla will relocate its headquarters from Palo Alto,
California, to Austin, Texas, though the electric car maker will keep expanding its manufacturing capacity in the Golden
State, CEO Elon Musk said Thursday [10/7/2021]. Musk, who last year said he was moving to Texas from California, gave no
timeline for the move when he addressed shareholders at Tesla's annual meeting. In the early days of the coronavirus
pandemic, Musk clashed with San Francisco Bay Area health authorities trying to enforce shelter-in-place orders. At the
time, he threatened to relocate Tesla's operations to Texas or Nevada.
Tesla
moves headquarters from California to Texas. Tesla is moving its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to
Austin, Texas, CEO Elon Musk announced at the company's shareholder meeting on Thursday [10/7/2021]. The meeting took
place at Tesla's vehicle assembly plant under construction outside of Austin on a property that borders the Colorado River,
near the city's airport. However, the company plans to increase production in its California plant regardless of the
headquarters move. "To be clear we will be continuing to expand our activities in California," Musk said. "Our
intention is to increase output from Fremont and Giga Nevada by 50%. If you go to our Fremont factory it's jammed."
Idle
hands do the devilish Dems' work. The hardest working states, as measured by WalletHub, are predominantly
Republican. The lowest 10 in the rankings are mostly run by Democrats. Probably not a surprise since they were
lavish with unemployment benefits and other work disincentives. Democrat-run states and cities rarely score well in
various quality of life ratings. Notably, the U-Haul ranking of states by migration growth shows that people are
fleeing blue states for red states, usually for economic reasons. They intend to work hard and benefit from the fruits
of their labor. The dignity and sense of purpose that accompany hard work can be tied to long-lasting happiness —
which conservatives enjoy more than liberals — versus the fleeting, instant gratification the ingordigious lefties pursue.
The
Real Story of the California Recall. Forget what you hear most pundits saying about last week's recall election
that failed to unseat California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The real story is the slow — but
gaining-in-speed — exodus from California to states with lower or no state taxes. This mass exit likely
reduced the number of people who might have voted to oust Newsom. Then there's the rising cost of just about
everything, including gasoline. At nearly $6 a gallon at some stations in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Los
Angeles, California has the highest average price for gas in the nation. There are also other forces at work. [...] A
Hoover Institution/Stanford University report found that people are leaving the state at an even faster pace than in recent
years. Most critically, it said, California has lost 74 business headquarters in only the first six months of this
year. This compares to 62 companies that had relocated in all of 2020. Where are they going? Mostly to
Texas, where there is no state [income] tax, gas prices are much lower, and you can buy a house (depending on where you
choose to live) at prices far below many areas of California. In case you think this can be blamed on the pandemic,
researchers used data starting in 2018 to show the three-year exodus. The San Francisco Bay Area accounted for five of
the 10 state counties that had the most company departures. A total of 47 companies left.
Gone
Is the Romance of California. Perhaps if all the disgruntled voters who left California in recent years were
still there to favor the recall of Gavin Newsom, his political career would have ended last Tuesday. During the 2010s, about
6.1 million people moved from California to other states, while 4.9 million came from other places to California.
The demographics of the leave-takers is unclear, but the new arrivals include many from foreign countries, along with wealthy
corporate types who could afford the move. Declining birth rates among young people in California and more deaths due
to the increasing numbers of elderly also played a part in lowering California's population[.] Such "exchange of
prisoners," as it were, perfectly suits the goals of the Democrat party, which is to keep California a deep blue political
stronghold and to strengthen its national clout by cosseting the minority and white liberal vote.
Stanford
Study: More Businesses Have Already Fled California This Year Than in All of 2020. California is in
decline. The Golden State lost population in 2020 for the first time in decades, and the exodus included celebrity
entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Joe Rogan. A long list of businesses, some as well known as Disney, Hewlett-Packard,
Nestle, and Toyota, have either relocated or sent some jobs outside of the state in recent years. [... A new] study also
reports that the rate at which businesses are leaving the state is rapidly accelerating. For the first six months of
2021, the rate is nearly twice as high as it was last year. That means more businesses have already left California
this year than in all of 2020.
Report:
9 Of The 10 Worst Cities For First-Time Home Buyers Are In California. A new report reveals that cities in
California are among the worst for first-time home buyers. Using twenty-two metrics related to affordability, real
estate market conditions, and quality of life, personal finance company WalletHub revealed that all of the ten worst cities
are in Democrat-run states. Nine are in California.
A
Collapsing San Francisco Is About to Lose Nearly Half Its Residents and Democrats Are Only Fueling the Fire. To
say that San Francisco is in decline would be an understatement. The city that once captured the hearts and minds of
everyone who saw it is a shadow of what it once was thanks to skyrocketing crime, rampant drug addiction, and Democrat
policies that continue to worsen every problem it has. Now, San Francisco residents are so tired of drowning in the
issues that nearly half of them are planning to pack up and leave. According to CBS San Francisco, the city's Chamber
of Commerce conducted a poll with more than five hundred registered voters and found that over 40 percent of the
residents said they planned to move out of the city in the next few years.
Move to Texas if you like, but don't bring California with you. Families
Fleeing California Bay Area Causing Housing Frenzy in Austin, Texas. Californians are fleeing the state to live
where they can find more affordable housing, better schools, and a more rural lifestyle. A large percentage of them are
choosing Austin, Texas. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on the phenomenon of more people opting for
permanent telework in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the trend of people choosing to live in GOP-led states that
didn't impose draconian lockdowns.
Native
Californian Who Is Leaving California: 'My Heart Is Broken'. Some Californians are packing up boxes, loading
them into their vans, and moving away from their state. Data suggests that 167,000 Americans are leaving California,
which puts California at the top of the list of states with this mass migration. Several native Californians told The
Epoch Times that what has driven them to move to other states is mainly the political climate and declining quality of life
and education. Peter Kam, president of Coldwell Banker George Realty, said some Californians choose to sell their
properties partially because they are moving to another state with cheaper house prices and lower state income taxes.
Francine Verbarg was born and raised in Northern California. Before retiring, she worked for the Irvine City Council in
Orange County, California, with former state legislators on border issues. She will be moving to Idaho with her
family. "We're leaving next week. We will still own property here, but it breaks my heart to leave."
Golden
Exodus: California shrank by 165,000 taxpayers, $8.8 billion in gross income. California residents of all
ages and incomes are leaving for more tax friendly climates, and they're taking billions of dollars in annual income with
them. The Internal Revenue Service recently released its latest taxpayer migration figures from tax years 2018 and
2019. They reflect migratory taxpayers who had filed in a different state or county between 2017 and 2018, of which 8 million
did in that timespan. California, the nation's most-populous state, lost more tax filers and dependents on net than any
other state. Minus incoming filers, California shed a net 165,355 tax filers and dependents between the two tax years,
representing a loss of $8.8 billion in net adjusted gross income.
The
Great Conservative Migration. The results of the 2020 census are in, and the Democrats are looking very
nervous. It turns out that red states are growing and blue states are shrinking. [...] My home state of Idaho is a
perfect example of the migration. It has experienced a 17% growth in its population over the past 10 years —
the second highest in the nation (Utah was first). For most of the decade, the growth rate hovered around 1.5%
annually. However, in 2020 the rate spiked to 2.9% — almost twice the normal rate. Does it have
anything to do with California being nearby? Maybe rampant homelessness, spiking crime rates, and oppressive COVID
restrictions weren't that popular with Californians after all. It seems locking the state down didn't work any better
for California than it did for Cuba — though an escape from Newsomstan is a bit safer than giving the one-finger
goodbye to the Castros. A look at Idaho's growth data reveals that California was indeed the big culprit —
but not alone.
Gov.
Ron DeSantis: 'Overwhelming' Number of People Moving to Florida Registering As Republican. Many people moving to Florida
are registering as Republicans because lockdowns in blue states caused them to reevaluate being a Democrat, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)
said Wednesday [5/26/2021]. "So it's interesting with Florida, like, the media at the beginning of this said, 'Florida is bad,'
and I think it's because they wanted to damage Trump in Florida, wanted to damage me, so they just kept saying it was bad, even though
the facts didn't say it," he said during a town hall event on Fox News Channel's Hannity.
Democrat Policies Have
Created a Blue-State Exodus. Americans can't escape from blue states fast enough. Even before the COVID
pandemic, they were fleeing Democrat-led states for red ones in droves. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between
2010 and 2019, California, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Illinois lost a combined four million residents.
Meanwhile, the top five states that saw the greatest influx of new residents were the Republican-led states of Florida,
Texas, Tennessee, Ohio, and Arizona. It does not hurt that Florida, Texas, and Tennessee also have no income tax.
But the pandemic, in conjunction with disastrous Democrat policies, has only accelerated the blue-state exodus. It
turns out that draconian lockdowns in the form of school, restaurant, and business closures; massive spikes in violent crime;
few entertainment options; higher taxes; and scarce job opportunities do not make for a desirable living environment or a
suitable place to raise a family.
Thousands
of families flee [from California] to Republican Texas and Florida. Scott Thatcher and his wife Angela were
born in California and love the sun-kissed Golden State. But two months ago they sold their home, packed up their
belongings and travelled 1,700 miles with their three sons to start a new life in Texas. Despite earning good salaries
with secure jobs as a driver and a nurse, the family's combined income of about $140,000 a year was not enough to prosper in
their town of Modesto, about 90 minutes east of San Francisco. 'We were surviving but not thriving,' said Scott, 35.
'We were getting by but it felt like we would never really get ahead.'
Tarnished
California: The Golden State is bleeding people for the first time, including me. For the first time in
its 171-year history, the state of California lost population last year. In fact, it lost so many people in recent
years that after 17 decades of growth, the most populous state will lose one of its 53 congressional seats in this upcoming
redistricting and one of its 55 Electoral Votes. I'm one of the newer exiles, an economic/political refugee among the
more than 182,000 who've abandoned the no-longer-so-Golden State in the last 16 months.
If
red states don't reform Electoral College, it's mob rule in America. We all witnessed the shocking moment on
Election Day when Arizona instantly turned blue, for the second time in 76 years. The way Arizona voted in the
presidential election was determined solely by Phoenix. Phoenix voted blue, so the Electoral College went blue.
In other words, every red county in Arizona had zero say in who was to become president, simply because the urban population
officially overcame the rural population. Once this happens, it's blue forever. Take California as an example, or
the state of Oregon. Both are ruled by their cities, while both have enormous swaths of unrepresented conservative
regions. This is the fate of every red state in the nation, most alarmingly in deep red states adjacent to deep blue
states. Idaho will be the next flipped election. Just like Phoenix once was, Boise is now the fastest growing
city in the nation. Where are Boise's immigrants coming from? California.
People
Want Out of California, and the Numbers Show It. California has been a state since 1850. That means that in
early September, it will have been 171 years since that move to statehood. Officials haven't been counting population
figures that long, but they've been keeping up with it for quite a while. On Friday, California's Finance Department
revealed something interesting. For the first time since at least 1900, the state's population actually
decreased. Almost 200,000 people — 182,000, to be exact — left, leaving the population at just
below 39.5 million, according to Yahoo News. Like with most things, excuses are being made for the decline.
California
Fleeing: Democrats delude themselves about why their state is losing people. The 2020 Census results are
a complete embarrassment to California's ruling Democrats. Despite opening the floodgates to millions of illegal
aliens, making the state the home to one out of four foreigners who break into the country without authorization, the state
has made substandard gains in population over the last decade. The population that the state did gain over the last
decade was well below the 7.4% national average, according to the New York Times, and really bad compared to places like
number-one Texas. As a result, the state is losing a congressional seat, for the first time in its 170-year history.
It's happening despite the 6.1% gain because the number of congressional seats is capped at 435. Any state that gains a
seat does so at the expense of another.
Red
States Are Fighting Back Against The Reset — What Does This Mean For The Future? The past year I
have been writing extensively about what I call the "great conservative migration": a shift in US demographics
not seen since the Great Depression. Approximately 8.9 million Americans have relocated since the beginning of the
covid lockdowns according to the US Postal service, and a large portion of these people are leaving left-leaning blue states
for conservative red states in the west and the south. States like California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey were
at the top of the list of states people wanted to escape. The response from leftist states has been amusing.
California, for instance, has tried to obscure the data on population loss and has dismissed the existence of the
migration. They claim that the state population is actually rising, but fail to mention that most of California's
population "gains" have been from babies born along with an increase in illegal immigration. This has not offset the
267,000 individuals and families that left the state in the last three months 2020 alone. That's an entire city of
people, gone in 90 days. And where are these people going? Places like Idaho, Texas, Tennessee, Florida,
etc. ALL red states that are fighting back against draconian covid mandates and other unconstitutional measures.
Biden's
California Dream. I was surprised to read (in The Los Angeles Times) that the Biden administration's "role
model for America" is... California! He wants to "Make America California." That is a terrible idea.
Californians now rush to move out of California. Some hopeful folks still move there, but so many more leave
that California now loses more than 10,000 citizens every month. In fact, the state will soon lose a congressional
seat. Why do Californians leave? "Exorbitant tax rates, high crime rates, the failing public school systems, the
exorbitant cost of living," says reporter Kristen Tate in my new video. So many Californians move away that there's now
even a shortage of U-Hauls. Renting one to go from Los Angeles to Houston costs four times as much as it does to go
from Houston to LA. "People are just emptying out!" says Tate.
San
Francisco Hemorrhaging Residents To Texas And Florida: Study. The liberal city of San Francisco,
California, is losing residents at a record pace, many of whom are migrating to states such as Texas and Florida, according
to a recent study. San Francisco has lost more residents between 2019 and 2020 than any other major U.S. city,
according to data compiled by the commercial realty firm CBRE Group and reported by Business Insider. The study
discovered that the number of those fleeing San Francisco to Texas spiked 32.1%, and those making the trek to Florida
skyrocketed by 46.2%.
Sayonara
California: Corporate Relocation Experts Expect Best Year Ever! Tesla joins a formidable list of
high-tech companies fleeing bad government and relocating to Texas, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., Oracle
Corp. McKesson Corp., and expansions of Apple, Google and Facebook. There is a new name for the trend:
"Techsodus." Musk will be the first to admit that insults are hardly the tipping point for a CEO deciding to relocate to
another state. The best reason is summed up by a relocation specialist cashing in on the trend: "California's
regulatory environment is the most costly, complex and uncertain in the nation," Joseph Vranich recently said. And it's
gotten worse. The laws have become so confusing and so complex that California has earned the dubious distinction as
rated among the top "judicial hellholes" in the nation, according to CEOs polled by Chief Executive magazine. It has
reached a point to where the lawmakers fail to understand what's in the laws — all 10,000s of new pages.
The Trouble with
Open Borders. The usual maxim here in Texas is that people pulling U-Hauls from California are welcome to bring
their worldly goods as far as they like as long as they leave their Californian politics in New Mexico, which already has
them. There are more than a few Texans who believe that we are building a wall along the wrong river — that
it's the Red River that needs fortifying, and that our westernmost city should have its name changed to: "Prohibido
El Paso." In reality, there is some reason to believe that the median Californian relocating to Texas is more
conservative (or at least more likely to be registered as a Republican) than the median Texan. But we have seen this
kind of thing before: Powered in no small part by moneyed coastal refugees, the clout of the Denver-Boulder-Aspen axis
eventually came to dominate all of Colorado politics. A similar story has played out in Arizona.
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. California
Lawmakers Want Wealth Tax That Will Follow Taxpayers When They Inevitably Move to Cheaper States. As people
leave the State of California in record numbers, Progressive lawmakers in that state are moving ahead with plans to enact a
wealth tax that will tax a person's net worth and even follow them out of state should they move. Many businesses and
wealthy executives are leaving the State of California because of an overreaching tax code that is bleeding the states
population of their ability to accrue wealth. But that's not stopping some state lawmakers from supporting a wealth tax
proposal, even as a growing number of Californians are calling for Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), to be recalled. The
California legislature left the door open last session to enact a wealth tax proposal that would apply up to a 0.4 percent
tax on the amount of a state resident's net worth over $30 million dollars.
So
Many People Fled California It Could Lose a Congressional Seat in Census. Eureka! We found that gold you
hear about in California. And it just left. California lost so many people in the last decade that when the
census numbers are all tabulated, it could lose a congressional seat. Even the state's Rose Bowl game just left for
Texas. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports the California Department of Finance says the state grew by only
21,200 residents in the past year, the lowest since 1900.
Everybody In California Is Moving to Texas.
Regular BattleSwarm readers already know about Tesla, Elon Musk and Joe Rogan moving from California to Texas. It looks
like those were just the first pebbles of the avalanches of companies and people looking to get [...] out of the formerly
golden state. Eager to enjoy such rarefied amenities as low taxes, sane government, a sane regulatory environment, open
restaurants and regular access to electricity, other companies that have recently announced they're moving their headquarters
[...] include: [...]
Relocation
by Tesla's Musk and Oracle Corp. follows 687,000 other Californians who've moved to Texas in last decade. If
you spend enough time in Texas, you'll quickly become comfortable with phrases like "y'all," "bless your heart" and "howdy."
But in recent years, there's a saying that's been almost as prevalent: "Don't California My Texas." The phrase,
borne of the massive migration of Californians to Texas over the last decade, captures conservative Texans' political and
economic concerns about a very real migration pattern — a trek that several high profile celebrities and business
leaders joined in this year. Joe Rogan's decision to leave California for Texas became a point of conversation and
speculation for months until the UFC host and comedian finally confirmed the move.
From
Elon Musk to Oracle — the coronavirus accelerates California exodus. The coronavirus is accelerating
a significant tech exodus out of California, with Oracle announcing Friday [12/11/2020] that it has moved its headquarters
from Redwood City to Austin, Texas. The move came just days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced he'd be moving from Los
Angeles to Austin. Other tech giants that have recently left California include Silicon Valley pioneer Hewlett-Packard
Enterprise and newly public software giant Palantir.
Oracle
moves headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin. Oracle Corp. said it has moved its headquarters to Texas,
from its home state of California to give employees more flexibility on where they do their jobs. The move to Austin
from Redwood City "means that many of our employees can choose their office location as well as continue to work from home
part time or all of the time," Oracle said Friday in a regulatory filing. The company will continue "to support" its
other U.S. office locations in Santa Monica, California, Seattle, Denver, Orlando and Burlington, Massachusetts, according to
the filing.
Elon
Musk Is GTT. When people left their homes and headed west to the Texas frontier, they'd often leave a simple
carving in a prominent tree or another spot on their property that consisted of three letters: GTT. Gone to
Texas. [...] About 1,000 people move to Texas per day, as has been the case for a decade or more, making it 29 million
strong — and counting. Elon Musk, the inventor, corporate titan, and space-farer confirmed Tuesday [12/8/2020]
that he, like so many before him, has gone to Texas because California, where he still has "massive" SpaceX and Tesla
operations, is intolerant of freedom and just about played out.
Tesla
CEO Elon Musk has told friends and associates he plans to move to Texas. Tesla CEO Elon Musk put his California
houses on the market this year while he was sparring with state lawmakers over Covid-19 restrictions. He's
simultaneously been expanding operations in Texas and cozying up to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Now, several of
his close friends and associates say that Musk has told them he's planning to move to the Lone Star State. The people
with knowledge of his plans asked not to be named because their conversations were private. Musk, the world's
second-wealthiest person behind Amazon's Jeff Bezos, is in Texas frequently already. He spends most of his time between
Austin, where Tesla and his tunnel start-up Boring Company have operations, and a coastal village called Boca Chica, home to
a SpaceX facility. SpaceX started operating in Texas in 2003.
Elon Musk Is Reportedly
Moving To Texas. While there is no official change of residency yet, Musk will be the latest in a line of
celebrities (that includes people like Joe Rogan) in the process of defecting from California in favor of Texas. "Several
close friends" of Musk have reportedly said that Musk intends on moving to Texas, CNBC reported on Friday [12/4/2020].
California's
Economic Refugees Ruined Arizona in the 2020 Election. Who can blame Californians and Washingtonians for
wanting to breathe free, sun-saturated and dusty air in Arizona? We can, actually. People fleeing those states as
well a handful of others appear to be responsible for Arizona's turn to Leftism in the 2020 General Election. The
Seattle Times reports that the refugees from California, Washington, Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, Minnesota,
Nevada, Florida, and Utah, in that order, fled to the state with Cactus League baseball, more conservative politics, the
Grand Canyon, and the Red Rocks of Sedona. And then they approved legal pot, the state's highest tax increase ever, and
put Democrats in the highest offices — the Senate and White House — to ensure their new home will be
every bit as expensive and over-regulated as the one from which they fled.
California, There It Goes.
Another wonderful family we know is leaving for good this week. Except the U-Haul they reserved months ago is suddenly
unavailable. They were told there is not a single U-Haul in California right now, but they are welcome to fly to Dallas
to pick one up. So they can drive it to Los Angeles, pack it, and drive it to Nashville. No prob! The PODS
and the moving trucks are all sold out, too. Current tally of families I know who either have left, or are about to
leave southern California: six. And I don't know that many people. Today at the hair salon, my non-political
stylist told me that at least 10 of her clients recently told her they're moving to places like Texas and Idaho. This
is at a tiny salon with one chair! One of her clients said they're leaving with the entire extended family, and they
plan to get houses in the same neighborhood. My hairstylist just bought her first house here last year but said, "if
they shut me down again, I'm out of here."
Tech
icon criticizes San Francisco, announces move to Florida: 'Impossible to stay here'. Bay Area tech icon Keith
Rabois announced he's leaving San Francisco permanently — and he is criticizing the city on his way out.
Rabois, an early executive at PayPal, Square, LinkedIn and more, told Fortune he is "moving imminently" because he's finding
it "impossible to stay" in San Francisco. After living in the Bay Area for 20 years, he said he plans on moving to
Florida.
'Customers
are calling us crying': scams and soaring prices as Californians move out. Record numbers of residents have
been leaving California in recent years, but in 2020 the growth of remote work, the lure of cheaper housing and a summer of
unprecedented wildfires has accelerated the trend. As a result, the moving business in San Francisco's Bay Area is
booming, but the surge has come with its own set of problems. Moving trucks are hard to find, prices to get out of the
Bay are being pushed sky-high, and the supply side of the market — with high starting costs and because movers are
required to obtain state licenses — has been slow to respond. The shortage has created openings for an
underground moving economy complete with scammers who take advantage of desperate California escapees, left without easy options.
When
Democrats Hate What They Vote For. Californians are fleeing in record numbers for red states like Texas,
Arizona, and Nevada. New York City is emptying out as people with means relocate; many are going to Florida. For
reasons only the Heavens know, there are normal people still living in Portland. It is not hard to see what is
happening: People are fed up with the overreach of Democrat-monopolized government. Their policies are inhibiting
the possibility of retaining personal independence and achieving any sense of self-fulfillment. This is on top of not
being able to provide basic safety to citizens. Once these blue state refugees resettle, will they reflect on what
drove them out and change their own beliefs and value systems? Based on my interactions with them, I am not optimistic.
Gene
Simmons puts his longtime Beverly Hills mansion up for sale. Gene Simmons is leaving the Southern California
life after nearly four decades. The legendary KISS singer and bassist has decided to pick up and move his family to
Washington State, citing high property taxes in California as a motivating factor. As a result, he's put his
16,000-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion, which includes seven bedrooms, up for sale for $22 million.
The Editor says...
Why not keep going and move to British Columbia?
How
California expats are helping turn Texas into a battleground state. Pushed by the soaring cost of living, more
than 700,000 Californians have moved to the Lone Star state since 2008. It's part of the reason historically bright
red Texas has turned surprisingly purple in 2020.
San
Francisco tax revenue plunge points to resident exodus. San Francisco experienced a 43% year-over-year decline
in sales tax revenues during the pandemic, which has been credited to an exodus from the expensive city. San
Francisco's chief economist Ted Egan attributed the drop in revenue that occurred between April and June to a flight of
individuals from the city, rather than a decline in activity due to the pandemic. Egan told Fox News that while areas
throughout California experienced a decline in sales tax revenues, other cities saw an uptick in online sales —
but San Francisco did not.
Why I'm Leaving California.
My family and my company are leaving California. [...] We're leaving because all the benefits of California have steadily
eroded — and then suddenly collapsed. Meanwhile, all the costs of California have steadily
increased — and then suddenly skyrocketed. It can be difficult to spot the incremental encroachment of a
terrible disease, but once the final ravages set in, it becomes obvious that the illness is fatal. So, too, with
California, where bad governance has turned a would-be paradise into a burgeoning dystopia. When my family moved to
North Hollywood, I was 11. We lived in a safe, clean suburb. Yes, Los Angeles had serious crime and homelessness
problems, but those were problems relegated to pockets of the city — problems that, with good governance, we
thought could eventually be healed. Instead, the government allowed those problems to metastasize.
California:
The Golden State in Utter Decay. California industries have recognized the signals and are taking action.
High-profile companies and leaders have announced their plans to leave the state or have openly proclaimed their
considerations for the idea. Media outlet The Daily Wire, with co-owner Ben Shapiro, recently announced its plan to
move to Nashville; podcast giant Joe Rogan is taking his ball and moving to Texas; and Elon Musk is moving Tesla's
headquarters out-of-state, and possibly manufacturing operations as well. Other businesses will surely follow, as the
hostility toward industry through taxes and oppressive regulations continues unimpeded. State lawmakers are not
intimidated by the idea of losing millions of dollars in revenue and have recently taken the bold step of adding a layer of
government regulations to existing and would-be businesses.
Ben
Shapiro's Daily Wire [is] leaving California: 'Terrible governance has consequences'. The Daily Wire is moving
its headquarters from Los Angeles to Nashville, Tenn., later this year, the conservative media company, which was co-founded
by Ben Shapiro, announced on Tuesday [9/15/2020]. "We've been asked over and over and over again when we would leave
California. The answer: now. See you in Nashville, gang!" Shapiro wrote to his more than 3.1 million
followers on Twitter. "I've lived my entire life in California. Within weeks, we'll be taking our 75 jobs
and leaving. We're not the first. And we certainly won't be the last. Terrible governance has
consequences," he added in a subsequent post.
More
people are leaving California than ever before, driven out by worsening wildfires, politics and the skyrocketing cost of
living. More people are leaving California than arriving as the state reels from devastating wildfires that
only worsen by the year, power outages, poor air quality, and a burgeoning cost of living. The California dream may be
fading as the idyllic oceanfront state sees warming temperatures, burning blazes, challenges in controlling the coronavirus
pandemic, and sky-high real estate prices. Monica Gupta Mehta and her husband said that this year's furious fires that
darkened the skies over their Palo Alto home made them consider moving their family elsewhere.
California
is a failed state. How do we know? They're moving to Arizona in droves. Driving across Arizona,
it's hard not to notice a surge in California license plates. The reason for this is becoming more apparent every
day. California is a failed state. After nearly a decade of one-party rule, the once-Golden State is tarnished,
possibly beyond repair. Listing all the problems facing our neighbors across the Colorado River would require several
books, so I'll only highlight a few. The fifth-largest economy in the world and home to many of the greatest technology
companies on Earth can't keep the lights on. The state's three largest utilities turned off power to more than 410,000
homes and businesses last Friday, then again to half as many Saturday [8/22/2020]. Gov. Gavin Newsom sprung to
action on Monday by announcing more blackouts. "We failed to predict and plan these shortages," the governor
said. "And that's simply unacceptable." But accept it he did, noting that the state's near-religious promotion of
solar and wind power left a gap in the reliability of its power grid. You don't say.
The
2020 San Francisco exodus is real, and historic, report shows. A new report confirms what many have been
talking about for weeks: There is an exodus out of San Francisco, and the numbers are staggering. Online real
estate company Zillow released new statistics shining a stark light on the issue this week. Their "2020 Urban-Suburban
Market Report" reveals that inventory has risen a whopping 96% year-on-year, as empty homes in the city flood the market like
nowhere else in America.
Tesla Austin Factory Now Official.
The long rumored and threatened (if you're California) Austin-area Telsa Gigafactory is now official: [...] The site is
evidently going to be out at SH-130 and Harold Green Road northeast of the airport, at the site previously owned by Martin
Marietta.
Tesla
picks Texas for its largest auto assembly plant. Tesla has picked Texas as the site for its largest auto
assembly plant where it has vowed to employ at least 5,000 workers and will get more than $60million in tax breaks from
Travis County and a local school district over the next decade. Work on the plant, which will be over 4 million square
feet, is already underway, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during the company's second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday evening [7/22/2020].
Greenie
king Elon Musk holds California's petty tyrants' feet to the fire. Elon Musk, CEO and founder of greenie auto
manufacturer Tesla Motors, has stuck a thumb in the eye of California's petty tyrants. Same as the beauty parlor owner
in Dallas, Musk announced Monday [5/11/2020] that he's restarting operations at his Fremont-based Tesla plant, whether the
Alameda County shutdown satraps like it or not.
Elon
Musk Threatens To Flee Virus Infecting California — And, No, It Isn't COVID-19. California has gone
through waves of corporate out-migration as local regulatory burdens, high tax rates and a generally unfriendly business
environment spur disgusted owners and CEOs to head for more-business-friendly states, including Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Colorado
and Texas. [Tesla founder Elon] Musk is a good example of this thinking. He's angered, as are many business owners,
by the high-handed local mandarins who have decreed his factory must remain shut indefinitely due to the coronavirus
pandemic. This has become a serious problem as states struggle to reopen and get their economies moving again.
With 33 million people now jobless nationwide, it's an open question whether the economic damage done by the outbreak will
exceed the human toll of the virus.
Elon
Musk says Tesla will sue 'irrational' Alameda County, relocate headquarters. Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to
Twitter Saturday morning [5/9/2020]to announce his company will file a lawsuit against Alameda County over its shelter-in-place order
that does not allow for the return of manufacturing along with the rest of the state. "Tesla is filing a lawsuit
against Alameda County immediately," he tweeted. "The unelected & ignorant 'Interim Health Officer' of Alameda is
acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!"
Elon
Musk Melts Down, Says He's Suing Alameda County & Moving Tesla Out Of California. Recall just days ago we
reported that Tesla was sending people back to work at its Fremont factory in Alameda County before the area's lockdown
expired. Then, late last week, Alameda County responded by telling Musk that he could not re-open his factory.
"We have not given the green light. We have been working with them looking at some of their safety plans. But no,
we have not said that it is appropriate to move forward," Erica Pan, interim health officer for the Alameda County Public
Health Department, said on an online town hall meeting on Friday [5/8/2020]. That was enough to trigger a total Elon
Musk meltdown.
The Editor says...
Please come to Texas, but only if you are willing to renounce everything that makes California
different from Texas. Also you must promise never to vote for a Democrat again. Otherwise,
you'll turn Texas into California, and you'll be right back where you started.
Elon
Musk says Tesla HQ 'will move to Texas or Nevada immediately' after California county health official says factory can't
reopen. Elon Musk has announced that he plans to move the Tesla HQ to Texas and Nevada 'immediately' after a
California county health official said that the plant could not reopen. The disgruntled CEO took to a comment thread on
Twitter to share that he was also planning to file a lawsuit against Alameda County. Musk's fury was directed towards
Alameda County Health Officer Erica Pan, who on Friday announced that the Fremont company would not be able to reopen,
despite California Governor Gavin Newsom lifting some coronavirus restrictions.
Elon
Musk says Tesla to move headquarters to Texas 'immediately' amid COVID-19 shutdown in California. Tesla CEO Elon Musk
on Saturday [5/9/2020] said the electric car manufacturer will move its headquarters and future programs to Texas and Nevada
"immediately," in response to Alameda County — where the company's Fremont, Calif., plant is based —
advising Tesla to remain closed until June 1 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
California's
political divisions widen as Republicans, businesses want out. Half of the state's registered voters said they
have either given serious or some thought to leaving the state, according to a recent survey from the University of
California Berkeley's Institute of Government Studies. And it's Republicans and conservatives who are three times as
likely to be considering leaving than their liberal and Democratic counterparts. The top reasons for their discontent
were high housing costs — a complaint felt across the political divide — followed by high taxes and the
state's political culture, which were largely cited by Republicans. [...] According to IRS data, California lost about
$8 billion in 2018 thanks to the outflow of residents.
Why
Texans Don't Want Any More Californians. Talk of a "California Exodus" is sweeping the country — and
so are anxieties about its effects on the rest of the West. In October, the Boise mayoral candidate Wayne Richey
proposed at an election forum to build a $26 billion wall to keep out people moving from the Golden State. A viral
Wall Street Journal article recounted the plight of a small Idaho town buckling under the stress of thousands of
inbound Californians. And this month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a warning on Twitter to Californians moving to
his state: "Remember those high taxes, burdensome regulations, & socialistic agenda advanced in CA? We don't believe in
that." [...] But is the California Exodus real? From one perspective, the answer is very clearly yes. In
2012, California gained 113,000 people on net through domestic and international migration.
How
More Conservative Cities Are Benefitting From California's Demise. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, California's
population grew by 141,300 people between July 1, 2018, and July 1, 2019. Despite a positive "net international
migration," there was "negative domestic net migration," resulting in a loss of 39,500 residents. California now has
"more people leaving the state than moving in [legally] from abroad or from other states." The main beneficiaries of
this outmigration are Arizona, Colorado, Nevada — roughly 50,000 Californians moved to Nevada in just one
year: July 2017 to July 2018 — Oregon, Texas, and Washington state. [...] The Lone Star State seems to be
benefitting from California businesses, large and small, relocating to the booming cities of Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston,
Austin, and others. For example, the Charles Schwab Corporation is moving its headquarters from San Francisco to
Westlake, a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, in the next 18 to 36 months.
The
blue-state exodus gains momentum. Seven states are projected to gain one or more congressional seats after the
2020 election; 10 states are projected lose one seat. The red-state leader is Texas, with a projected pickup of three
congressional seats following the 2020 census — and that after gaining four congressional seats after the 2010
election. Florida will pick up two seats, and Arizona, Colorado, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon will each gain one,
according to the analysis. All 10 losing states — Alabama, California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New
York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia — lose only one seat. Of the seven states gaining
seats, five voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
So
Many People Have Fled California The State May Lose Multiple Seats In Congress. California is poised to lose
multiple congressional seats after the 2020 census for the first time in the state's history, thanks to an exodus of more
than 200,000 people between 2018 and 2019, according to the Los Angeles Times. Top destinations include Texas,
Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Colorado.
California
lost more than 200,000 people to other states in 2019. More than 200,000 people left California, on net,
between 2018 and 2019 to move elsewhere in the country, the Census Bureau reported Monday, making it the nation's leader in
out-migration. California was one of only three states to have population losses greater than 100,000. The others
were New York at 181,000 and Illinois at 105,000. The net out-migration was not enough to reduce California's total
population, which stands at about 39 million, but it contributed to an overall slowdown.
California
Sees Slowest Population Growth Since 1900. California's population inched toward 40 million last year, but the
state experienced the slowest rate of population growth since 1900. Why is that? What's not to like about
California? The weather is awesome, the scenery is breathtaking, the people are beautiful, and there's abundance
everywhere. Except in housing. California is a fabulous place to live — if you're a millionaire. [...]
Jobs are plentiful, the economy is OK, but homelessness went up a staggering 16.7 percent and even if you have
a job, good luck finding a place you can afford to live.
California is a wondrous place.
I'm leaving. [Scroll down] Shortsighted Californian voters get what they elect — a loopy
super-majority that lets billions in approved water bonds for reservoirs sit idle during an historic drought, so trillions of
gallons of welcome rains flow to the ocean later. But, [...] they're on top of the tiny shampoo bottle crisis.
And forge ahead on the multi-billion dollar high-speed railroad for the countless thousands who want to get from Bakersfield
to Merced quickly. And thanks to new legislation, Californians are finally free to legally reject any police officer's
plea for help. L.A. County paid homeowners millions to tear out lawns to conserve water, apparently oblivious that
every day every 600 square feet of grass produces oxygen for one person, fighting the smog the county must spend billions to
ameliorate. Then, there are taxes. California has the second highest gas tax at 61 cents, but the governor is
working hard to catch up with Pennsylvania. Texas somehow survives with a 20-cent gas tax, Arizona with 19.
"It's
Cozy" - LA Imports Are Paying $800/Month To 'Live In A Coffin'. Kay Wilson [...] packed up her life in a hurry
and moved to Los Angeles, only to find that what she paid in Pennsylvania for a nice studio apartment would only get her a
2.9-square-meter box in California.
35
Reasons Why You Should Move Away From California. [I]f an entire state ever needed to completely start over it
is the state of California. At this point it has become the epicenter for just about everything that is wrong with
America, and each year it just keeps coming up with new ways to become an even worse cesspool of social decay and
depravity. Millions of people have already left the state, and millions more are thinking of leaving. One recent
survey found that 47 percent of all Californians are thinking about moving out of the state in the next five years, and a
different survey discovered that 53 percent of those currently living in the state would like to leave. If about half
the people in your state are seriously considering leaving, it is safe to say that things have gone horribly wrong.
LA
buyers top the list of out-of-towners shopping for Dallas-area homes. If you're trying to sell a house in
Dallas, chances are someone in Los Angeles is looking at it. The largest number of out-of-town internet page views of
Dallas-area homes are coming from Los Angeles property shoppers, according to a new study by Zillow. While more than
71% of the eyes on Dallas home listings are by local folks, LA residents are most often web surfing for homes here compared
with other out-of-towners, Zillow found in a look at its web traffic.
The Editor says...
Of course you want to move to Texas, because you would be better represented by Ted Cruz than by Diane Feinstein. I can
see how you might get tired of sanctuary cities, sluggish freeways, expensive gasoline, and mentally ill people defecating in the
streets. (I filled up my car the other day for just under $2.11 per gallon.) But when you get here, leave your
California thinking behind. You're probably moving to Texas because California is a dysfunctional mess, and that mess is
entirely the fault of the lying, baby-killing, tax-and-spend, socialist tyrants who have mismanaged California for decades.
Updated 2/3/2020:
Apparently there is a gas war going on in Midlothian, Texas. A couple of days ago, I filled up my car (the one with the
Ted Cruz bumper sticker) for only $1.889 per gallon. So y'all come to Texas, but only if you are willing to renounce
California and every loony idea that put California in the condition it's in.
Conservative
Californians Leaving In Droves For "America First, Law And Order" Red States. California conservatives are
leaving the state in droves over what the LA Times describes as their "disenchantment with deep-blue California's liberal
political culture," not to mention "high taxes, lukewarm support for local law enforcement, and policies they believe have
thrown open the doors to illegal immigration."
Rising
California gasoline prices highlight growing divide in US. The price at the pump was more than $4 a gallon in
Vista, Calif., when Scott Hissem recently embarked on a trip to Texas celebrate his 40th birthday. When the delivery
associate for Amazon.com Inc. arrived in the Lone Star state, he got an unexpected present: Gasoline cost just $2 and
change. The gap has Mr. Hissem considering a move to escape California's high cost of living. "It makes life
hard," Mr. Hissem said of California, which is the most populous U.S. state and the one with the highest gasoline prices.
What
made me leave California for Texas — and why I have no regrets. In 2011, along with my family, I was
one of about 562,000 people who moved out of California (468,000 moved in). A little more than 1-in-10 Californians who left
that year made their way to Texas. We were among them. [...] As with most of the tens of thousands of Californians who
have moved to the Lone Star State annually in recent years, we did so for opportunity borne of greater freedom: lower taxes,
greater private property rights and less government to tell you what to do.
San
Francisco is losing residents because it's too expensive for nearly everyone. Social media influencer Sarah
Tripp and her husband, Robbie Tripp, moved to San Francisco in 2016 brimming with optimism. [...] But after a year-long hunt
for suitable housing in San Francisco only turned up "places for $1 million that looked like rundown shacks and needed
a remodel," the couple packed up and moved to Phoenix. They went from paying San Francisco rents of $2,500 for a
one-bedroom, one-bath apartment that was far from shopping and other amenities, to purchasing a newly constructed 3,000-square-foot,
four-bedroom, four-bathroom home where they'll raise their newly arrived baby boy.
Escape
from CA: Why Workers, Taxpayers, and Businesses Should Leave. California's inability to prevent wildfires has
led to a massive power shutdown that has left hundreds of thousands of people without power, refrigeration and, if they are
dependent on wells, running water. This, along with the state's high taxes and cost of living, $4 or more a gallon
gasoline, and the fact that its major cities are turning into open sewers where sidewalks serve as gender-neutral toilets, is
a strong argument for workers, taxpayers, and businesses to go elsewhere. [...] The city mascot [of San Francisco] is now the
hepatitis virus (all three versions, A, B, and C) noting that the disease is transmitted by excrement and also discarded
hypodermic needles, while the equally appropriate plague-carrying rat has already been taken by Baltimore. San
Francisco is indeed an "outhouse city" [...] in terms of more than sanitation. The cost of living is more than three
times than the average in the United States.
California
is actively working to drive middle class voters out of the state. Someday, in some fantasy world, legislators
and governors will be required to understand basic economics. In California, that day is nowhere in sight. With
the passage of a bill designed to force untold thousands of independent contractors to reclassify as employees, California
moves closer to the brink economic. Many parts of California are really quite beautiful. As a longtime resident,
the blue skies, great weather and unbeatable landscape, from the coast to the mountains, make it hard to contemplate ever
leaving. The California Legislature, on the other hand, is compelling all but the rich and members of unions to leave.
74
Percent Of Conservative Californians Are Looking Into Leaving The State. More than half of California voters
have thought about moving out of state, according to a new poll from the Institute of Governmental Studies at U.C.
Berkeley. A full 74 percent of the state's very conservative voters say they're looking into moving, and
84 percent of those cite California's political culture as their rationale for leaving. Unsurprisingly, the high
cost of housing is mentioned by 71 percent of California voters who have considered moving out-of-state. More than
half of voters ages 18 to 39 have thought about moving out of state, with more than 80 percent of that group
citing high housing costs as the reason.
Who
wants to leave California? Young voters can't afford housing, and conservatives feel alienated. Just over
half of California's registered voters have considered leaving the state, with soaring housing costs cited as the most common
reason for wanting to move, according to a new poll. Young voters were especially likely to cite unaffordable housing
as a reason for leaving, according to the latest latest UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll conducted for the
Los Angeles Times. But a different group, conservatives, also frequently suggested they wanted to leave —
and for a very different reason: They feel alienated from the state's political culture. Republicans and
conservative voters were nearly three times as likely to have seriously considered moving as their Democratic or liberal
counterparts — 40% compared with 14%, the poll found. The conservative voters mentioned taxes and
California's political climate as a reason for leaving more frequently than they cited housing.
California
Is The Future The Liberal Elite Wants For You. California has morphed from paradise into a garbage state run by
garbage people for their own garbage benefit and amusement. The "garbage" part is literal — once the Sierra
Nevada mountains symbolized the state; now, towering heaps of trash and human waste do. [...] Where once people flocked to
make their dreams come true, you now pay multiples more for a U-Haul heading out than heading in. The great California
middle class, made up of the Normal people whose hard work and ingenuity made it the Golden State (even though Hollywood
types got the publicity), is fleeing to places where they can afford to live, and where the government doesn't hate them.
Ten Minutes in California.
Until he decamped for Oregon shortly before his 70th birthday, my father had spent his entire life (minus a stint in the
army) in California. The prospect of trying to live on a retiree's fixed income in his native Orange County, however,
proved the breaking point. I'd taken my leave of the state shortly before he did, heading to Tennessee once I realized
that I could never afford to buy a home where I grew up. We thus became California-diaspora stereotypes.
California's
population growth is the slowest in recorded history. California's 2018 population growth was the slowest in
state history, new demographic data show — underscoring shifting immigration patterns, declining birthrates and
economic strains that are making it harder for some to afford living here. The state added 186,807 residents last year,
bringing the estimated total population to 39,927,315 as of Jan. 1, according to estimates released by the state Department
of Finance on Wednesday. The overall growth rate slipped to 0.47% last year from 0.78% in 2017, the slowest since data
collection started in 1900, department spokesman H.D. Palmer said. Births in the state were down by more than 18,000
compared with the previous year.
Going to (Leave) California.
You can't go a week without another report of businesses and people leaving California because of the high cost of housing. Today
it's the Wall Street Journal's turn, in a story headlined, "California Has the Jobs but Not Enough Homes." The
problem — a self-inflicted problem if there ever was one — is that the hot economy is creating jobs, but
developers can't build enough affordable living space. The WSJ reports that "companies are expanding outside the state or
moving outright as an affordable-housing crisis casts a shadow on the booming economy."
Three
Cheers for the Labor Market. If your prospects are tapped out in the place you are, then move. Go where
the action is. That isn't always easy. Neither is being disabled or a convicted felon trying to make a new life
for himself. Nobody's asking you to take a Conestoga wagon through Indian country to homestead a farm in the western
territories. Just get on with it.
Texas
business leaders travel to West Coast to poach more California companies. A group of Texas business leaders is
traveling this week to the state's favorite place to lure away companies: California. The three-day trip to San
Francisco is the latest effort by Texas to snag corporate offices, company headquarters and jobs from its West Coast
rival. For years, California has been a favorite punching bag of Texas politicians who describe the Lone Star State as
a refuge from California's burdensome regulations, hefty taxes and higher cost of living.
The Editor says...
To poach is to illegally hunt or catch (game or fish) on land that is not one's own, or in contravention of official protection.
What the Texas business leaders are doing in California is presumably legal.
Majority
of California Residents Want to Leave: Poll. A new poll reveals that 53% of California residents are
considering leaving the Golden State because of the high cost of living. The "Trust Barometer" poll, by Edelman
Intelligence, was conducted January 4-20 among 1,500 California residents, with a margin of error of 2.5%. A special
oversample of 400 tech workers in the San Francisco Bay Area was also conducted, with a margin of error of 4.8%. The
results are sobering. Nearly two-thirds, 62%, of respondents said they believed the best days of California were in
the past.
California
Companies Flee Business-Hostile State In Droves. California's business environment has gone from bad to worse,
with thousands of businesses pulling up stakes and moving elsewhere. But don't take our word for it. Just ask the
1,800 companies that either relocated or "disinvested" in the formerly Golden State in 2016.
1,800
companies left California in a year — with most bound for Texas. A record number of companies are
leaving California for states with a better business climate, and a new report shows that Texas remains their No. 1
destination. See why they are being urged to leave the state (it's not just because of taxes).
More
People Are Leaving California. But Still Not Enough. Despite their best efforts, California's governing
Democrats have been unable to spur a sufficient exodus of its over-populated areas. Last year, new figures show, only
130,000 more people fled the state than entered it. And 142,000 the year before that. This has been going on for
more than 15 years now. But it still hasn't made a dent in the over-crowded conditions of the most populous state's
metropolitan areas or in its population of 39.6 million people.
The Great Migration.
[The writer] Was reading some data from the Cato Institute. It has to do with Tax Reform and Interstate Migration.
The problem is the data is a little too fresh. Tax reform was only passed in 2017, so 2018 is really the first year that
people are feeling the effects of it. One of the major effects is SALT. That's the ability of citizens to deduct
state and local taxes from their federal taxes. In the past, it's always been allowable. Now, it is not and high
tax states are trying to find an end run around it. They have even resorted to the courts, trying to characterize taxes
we pay for public schools as charities. Of course, the other tact might be to act responsibly and reduce the tax burden
on citizens but who knows a politician that would want to do that? There is no clear relationship between the level of
taxation and the quality of government services or the quality of public schools.
A generation plans an exodus from California.
California is the great role model for America, particularly if you read the Eastern press. Yet few boosters have yet
to confront the fact that the state is continuing to hemorrhage people at a higher rate, with particular losses among the
family-formation age demographic critical to California's future. Since the recovery began in 2010, California's net
domestic out-migration, according to the American community survey, has almost tripled to 140,000 annually. Over that
time, the state has lost half a million net migrants with the bulk of that coming from the Los Angeles-Orange County area.
Millionaires
Flee California After Tax Hike. According to new research released by Charles Varner, associate director of the
Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, California lost an estimated 138 high-income individuals following passage of the
Proposition 30 income tax increase championed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) and approved by Golden State voters in 2012.
This new research by Varner updates a previous paper released six years ago that looked at domestic migration to and from California
following a 2004 income tax hike. "One reason we wanted to update our previous paper is that this tax change in 2012 is the
largest state tax change that we have seen in the U.S. for the last three decades," Varner said.
See
how many Californians moved to Dallas in just 3 months last year. Dallas-Fort Worth was one of the top destinations
for domestic migrants from California in 2017, according to a recent study. There were 1,051 moves from coastal California,
the home of some of the country's toughest housing markets, to Dallas in the first quarter of 2017, according to Alexandra Lee, a
housing analyst with the real estate listing and research site Trulia, which did the study. Out of 19,132 moves out of the
region during that time period, 5.5 percent went to D-FW. The largest destination was the similarly affordable —
in relative terms — Las Vegas, which took on 8.1 percent of those interstate migrants during the first three months
of last year.
Why
nearly half of San Francisco Bay Area residents plan to leave. Nearly half of San Francisco Bay Area voters
plan to leave the region in the next few years, fed up with exorbitant housing costs and the long commutes caused by the lack
of available homes near their workplaces. Less than 48 hours before polls open for the California election, the
business-sponsored Bay Area Council advocacy group released its annual survey of registered voters in the nine-county Bay
Area showing that 46 percent are likely to move away, the highest percentage in three years.
New
Yorkers and Californians can't stop moving to Texas. According to a new U.S. Census Bureau report, of the 15
fastest-growing cities larger than 50,000 people, seven are in Texas including the top three: Frisco, New Braunfels,
and Pflugerville. Frisco's growth rate was 8.2 percent, some 11 times faster than the national rate of
0.7 percent. Of the cities with the greatest population gain from July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2017,
San Antonio, Texas, took the prize, adding some 66 people every day. Texas had the most cities in the top 15
of this category as well with five making the list and three of the top five overall in addition to San Antonio:
Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco, and Austin.
California:
Who's Leaving? Who's Coming? A new report on migration from a left-of-center outfit, Next 10, is very
revealing: middle class and low income people are moving out of California in droves, while upper income people and fancy
professionals are moving in.
California
[is] not the model for America it thinks it is. Today, domestic net out-migration, even after declining in the
early years of the recession, has more than doubled between 2013 and 2016. Even worse, according to a recent UC Berkeley
study, over a quarter of Californians are considering a move, half of them out of the state, with the strongest proclivity
found among people under the age of 50. And contrary to some progressive commentary, those leaving are not necessarily old
or losers; according to IRS data, out-migrant households had a higher average income than those households that stayed, or of
households that moved in to the state.
GOP's
SALT cap may speed exodus from high-tax states, report says. Over the past decade, about 3.5 million Americans
have relocated from high-tax blue states like California and those in the Northeast, to low-tax red states like Texas and
Arizona — and the change is likely to accelerate. So say Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore, co-authors of a
report from the American Legislative Exchange Council, in a Wall Street Journal essay. They say that the Republican
Party tax bill's cap on the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) could ramp up the pace by which Americans relocate
in their own economic interest. Laffer and Moore estimate that both California and New York will lose on net about 800,000
over the next three years, roughly double from the previous three years, while Connecticut, New Jersey and Minnesota combined
with lose around 500,000 people in the same period.
'Not
Being Viewed as an Enemy' Propels California Company's Move to Texas, says CEO. The top executive of a Southern
California private charter airline says the Golden State's hostile business environment propelled his company's decision to
relocate to Texas. "Not being viewed as an enemy, but being viewed as an asset is so refreshing," said Alex Wilcox,
Chief Executive Officer of JetSuite Inc., who, on Thursday, spoke to the Dallas Business Journal. He described
the air carrier's decision to move to North Texas this summer as a "welcome change."
Californication
blues. [Scroll down] Although 80,000 people were added to the population, more people moved out of
California, particularly to Texas and Florida, than moved in from other states, particularly the cold-weather
Northeast. Worse, those leaving further drained the state's middle class, taking with them the long-admired
entrepreneurial pulse of the state.
Californians
Leaving For Greener Pastures In Droves. Based on the latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics from July 2016 to
July 2017, Californians are leaving the state in droves. As Jed Kolko, chief economist with employment website
Indeed.com, pointed out regarding the data, "The rate at which California has been losing people to other states has
accelerated in the past couple of years, in part because of rising housing costs ... more people moved out of California to
other states than moved in from other states. In other words, California lost people due to domestic migration."
There are apparently three prime destinations for the migrating Californians: Texas, Arizona, and Nevada. The
census showed that during the period it covered, 79,000 people moved to Texas, 63,000 moved to Arizona, and 38,000 migrated
to Nevada. Interestingly, as Christopher Thornberg, founding partner of research and consulting firm Beacon Economics
in Los Angeles, noted when looking at the data, "lower income Californians are the ones who are leaving, not higher income."
WSJ: Tech Workers
Plan On Leaving Silicon Valley In Droves. A number of workers in Silicon Valley are planning to leave the tech
hub due to a discomfort stemming from a uniform way of thinking in the industry and region, according to The Wall Street
Journal. The workers already are or plan on indirectly following the lead of Peter Thiel, a President Donald
Trump-supporting venture capitalist. The billionaire entrepreneur recently announced he is leaving Silicon Valley for
the slightly less liberal Los Angeles area to escape an allegedly pervasive discrimination against conservatives and some
libertarians. Citing a number of influential investors, and a couple of tech workers and startup entrepreneurs, the WSJ
reports Thiel's geographic "defection" is emblematic of an apparently larger trend.
Wondering
Which States Americans Hate to Live In? Ask U-Haul. Renting a truck from San Francisco to Dallas costs $3,206 and back $1,128 (the
difference is $2,078, a 184% surcharge.) For comparison, renting the same truck from New York to San Francisco costs $3,409, and back $3,058 (the
difference is $351, a surcharge of 11%).
Wealthy
exodus to escape new tax rules worries California Democrats. The Republican-backed federal tax bill flipped the
tables on a never-ending question for California politicians: Will high taxes lead the state's wealthiest residents to
flee the Golden State for the comparable tax havens of Florida, Nevada and Texas? Republicans reliably raise that alarm
when Democrats advocate for tax increases, like the 2012 and 2016 ballot initiatives that levied a new income tax on very
high-earning residents. But now, with the federal tax bill cutting off deductions that benefited well-off Californians,
the state's Democrats suddenly are singing the GOP song about a potential millionaire exodus.
New
Company Helps Americans Flee Blue States to Largest Red State. Former Congressional candidate and Iraq veteran
Paul Chabot can help you move from a blue state to the biggest red one. On May 23, Chabot announced on Twitter that he
had started a company called Conservative Move to help those looking to leave liberal land for conservative country. According
to Chabot, the new company's website received over 3,700 visitors within four hours of launching, and 500 families have signed up
so far. [...] So far, Texas and Arizona have been the most popular locations that conservatives have wanted to move to, he said.
Twitter
employee making $160,000 in San Francisco says he's scraping by. It's expensive to live in San Francisco —
even if you make six figures. In an article published earlier this year, The Guardian reported on an anonymous Twitter
employee in his 40s who says that, even on a $160,000 annual salary, he's barely scraping by in Silicon Valley.
California exports
its poor to Texas, other states, while wealthier people move in. California exports more than commodities such
as movies, new technologies and produce. It also exports truck drivers, cooks and cashiers. Every year from 2000
through 2015, more people left California than moved in from other states. This migration was not spread evenly across
all income groups, a Sacramento Bee review of U.S. Census Bureau data found. The people leaving tend to be relatively
poor, and many lack college degrees. Move higher up the income spectrum, and slightly more people are coming than going.
California
Is Exporting Its Poor To Texas. California exports more than commodities such as movies, new technologies and
produce. As The Sacramento Bee reports, it also exports truck drivers, cooks and cashiers.
Nestle
Leaves California Over Liberal Policies. California is known as a haven for liberal policies, being a very
anti-business, anti-capitalist place. This week, conglomerate Nestle, will be moving its headquarters from Glendale,
California to Rosslyn, Virginia. As the company moved thousands of jobs away from Californians, this will no doubt
affect their local economy. While Nestle cites other reasons on their website, it is no secret that California
over-taxes and over-regulates, making it difficult for many businesses to stay there.
Leaving
for Las Vegas: California's minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice. Los Angeles County used to have
more than 5,000 apparel factories; today, my company is one of roughly 2,000 — and many (e.g. American
Apparel) are looking for a way out. One Los Angeles Times headline, quoting a California State University economist,
warned that "the exodus has begun."
Why a lot of people
are moving out of California. A lot of people are moving out of California because they can't afford to live
there anymore. For every home buyer coming into the state, there are three Californians selling and moving elsewhere,
according to data analysis firm CoreLogic. "There is clearly a relationship between the migration patterns and home
prices," said Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic. "The middle and lower middle can no longer afford to
live in California." California's housing market is one of the most expensive in the nation, wigth a median home price of
$428,000 across the state. Prices have shot up 71% since 2011. And a number of its local markets are prohibitively
expensive. Of the five priciest housing markets in the country, four are in California, according to the latest data
from the National Association of Realtors. San Jose tops the list with a median home price of $1 million.
When
You Come Here, Please Don't Vote for the Same [Things] That Ruined the Place You Are Leaving. I can't tell you
now many people I know here in Arizona that tell horror stories about California and how they had to get out, and then,
almost in the same breath, complain that the only problem with Arizona is that it does not have all the laws in place that
made California unlivable in the first place. The will say, for example, they left California for Arizona because homes
here are so much more affordable, and then complain that Phoenix doesn't have tight enough zoning, or has no open space
requirements, or has no affordability set-asides, or whatever.
American
Apparel said to be considering moving manufacturing out of California. The Los Angeles clothing maker, which
emerged from bankruptcy in February, is contemplating a move to a state such as Tennessee, North Carolina or South Carolina,
where the minimum wage is $7.25, said one source, who requested anonymity due to pending litigation. That would be a
significant savings once California's minimum wage climbs to $15 an hour in 2020.
Cisco Systems
will lay off 5,500 workers. Cisco Systems Inc. said Wednesday [7/17/2016] that it would cut about 5,500 jobs as
part of a restructuring plan that the networking company said was necessary to help it focus more on high-growth areas such
at security and cloud technologies. Cisco said the cuts, which will begin in the company's current, fiscal first
quarter, would amount to about 7% of its total workforce. Reports earlier in the day said Cisco was likely to cut as
many as 14,000 jobs. No details were immediately given as to how many jobs the San Jose-based company plans on shedding
in the Bay Area.
American
Apparel struggles to afford to keep calling LA home. American Apparel's days as a Los Angeles-based manufacturer are
numbered, sources close to the company told The [New York] Post on Monday [8/15/2016]. The 27-year-old teen retailer, which
boasts on its Web site that its togs are "Designed, Cut and Sewn in Los Angeles," is making plans to pull up stakes and move
east — possibly to North Carolina or Tennessee, where the minimum wage is $7.25. In California, the minimum wage
is set to rise to $15 by 2020.
As
More High-Paying Jobs Leave California, State's Press Is Unconcerned. Another major employer has decided to
join the long list of companies moving jobs from California to more business-friendly states. This time, it's $12 billion
titan Jacobs Engineering, which is moving its "corporate operations," almost definitely meaning its headquarters, from Pasadena to
Dallas, Texas. Press reaction, especially outside of business-oriented outlets, has ranged from nonexistent to muted to, in
the case of the Los Angeles Times, a bit snarky. One key point here is that the move appears to have taken California's
governments completely by surprise, given that a number of corporate administrative employees are already working in Dallas.
Jamba Juice
will move headquarters from Bay Area to Texas. More than 25 years after the first Jamba Juice shop opened in
San Luis Obispo, the owner of the smoothie company announced plans to move its headquarters from California to Texas within
eight months. Jamba Inc. will close its Emeryville, Calif., office and establish a new corporate home in Frisco, Texas,
about 30 miles north of Dallas. In a statement, Chief Executive David Pace said Jamba was looking for places that had
"competitive operating costs," access to "skilled restaurant talent" and an "attractive cost of living," along with a central
location for further expansion.
Number
of Californians Moving to Texas Hits Highest Level in Nearly a Decade. The number of Californians leaving the state and
moving to Texas is at its highest level in nearly a decade, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service. According to IRS
migration data, which uses individual income tax returns to record year-to-year address changes, over 250,000 California residents moved
out of the state between 2013 and 2014, the latest period for which data was available. The tax returns reported more than
$21 billion in adjusted gross income to the IRS. Of the returns, 33,626 reported address changes from California to Texas,
which has been the top destination for individuals leaving California since 2007. Californians who moved to Texas between 2013
and 2014 reported $2.19 billion in adjusted gross income.
The
California Exodus Accelerates. There's lots of data, especially the comparison of rental rates for moving
trucks into and out of California, to show the steady exodus of prosperous Californians and their businesses. The truck
rental companies will almost give you a one-way truck to move from Texas to California, but charge a lot for a one-way truck
from California elsewhere, which tells a lot.
A
New Year's Present for California Trial Lawyers. As businesses and people flee from California to escape the notoriously
inhospitable business environment and the high costs of living, the state's government is moving, based on dubious statistics, to enact
another impossibly broad, costly regulation: a "Fair Pay Act" requiring businesses to prove that "they pay both genders equally
for 'substantially similar' work."
Texas
Top Destination for Migrating Taxpayers in 2013, New York Biggest Loser. Texas was the top destination for
American taxpayers on the move between 2012 and 2013, with 152,477 people moving to the Lone Star State from other parts of
the country. Texas' in-country migrants accounted for "more than half of the net migration into the South," according to
a report released last week by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In contrast, New York lost the largest number of
taxpayers during that same time period, with 113,861 taxpaying residents leaving the Empire State.
Nancy Pelosi
Just Might be Insane. Dollars go farther in Texas than they do in California, in part
because Texas doesn't tax its citizens violently and with prejudice. That's why so many of Pelosi's
fellow Californians and their companies are fleeing her state for Texas. It happens every day.
The politicized IRS is keeping this trend quiet: IRS
Delaying Release of Data on People Leaving High-Tax States. IRS data on internal migration showing how many
people have moved to and from which states generally shows people leaving high-taxed states and states with high unemployment
to states doing better in those categories. Now Obama's IRS is seeking to delay release of these statistics for another
12 months. For decades economists and lawmakers both have used this IRS data as a marker for which states are
succeeding in America, but the Obama administration has show its disdain for this important metric.
Nestle
to close Valley food plant. Nestle USA will close a San Fernando Valley production
plant that makes Hot Pockets by early October, shifting operations to an existing plant in rural
Kentucky where costs are cheaper. The move will eliminate 360 jobs at the Chatsworth plant, which
has been making the frozen sandwiches since 1988. A spokeswoman for Nestle USA, based in Glendale,
said Wednesday [8/6/2014] that the consolidation at the Kentucky plant gives the company more room to
expand and a more centrally located distribution point.
Elon
Musk Plays California for Tax Breaks, Then Moves SpaceX Operations to Texas. A smiling
Governor Rick Perry of Texas announced that Space Exploration and Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
will build the world's first private commercial rocket launch facility on an isolated beach near
Brownsville, Texas. Texas appear to have "bought the deal" by offering an $100 million economic
incentive package. [...] The move will initially add 300 high-paying jobs to the community that was
rated the poorest city in America.
California
Wages Economic War With Sriracha Hot Sauce Factory. Los Angeles is buzzing over the
possible exit of Sriracha sauce maker Huy Fong to friendlier territory in Texas. But why shouldn't
it go? L.A. is so unfriendly it makes Detroit look good, according to two studies.
Defense
Company, 530 Jobs To Leave California. Pratt & Whitney AeroPower, a subdivision of
the defense contractor that makes auxiliary power units and expendable turbojet engines for
military aircraft, announced on Thursday that it would be moving its San Diego facility to Florida,
Georgia or Texas, according to a report from the San Diego Union-Tribune. The facility
employs 530 people, although it was not immediately clear whether the company would send some or
all of the employees east.
Toyota
to California: 'Don't Mess with Texas'. Toyota has had its U.S. headquarters and marketing
operations based in Torrance, California (a suburb of LA) for almost 60 years — time enough to
witness California's descent into a neo-socialist hell of high income taxes, high property taxes, high sales
taxes, high regulations, and high home prices, all combined with breathtakingly bad government services.
Toyota will be moving its division to a location in Plano, a northern suburb of Dallas.
Wretched Refuse.
It's no surprise that more of the people who move to Texas come from California than from any other state; more of the people
who move to California come from Texas than from any other state. California, Texas, Florida, and New York exchange a
great many people among themselves, because they have a great many people to exchange. What is interesting in the IRS
data is this: The people moving from California to Texas have significantly higher incomes than those making the opposite
trek: about $56,000 per tax return for the Texas-bound vs. about $50,000 per tax return for the California-bound.
It's not just people... Thousands
of California Cattle Heading for Texas. The severe drought in California has created a
problem for cattle ranchers, many of whom are selling their herds across state lines. Reuters
reports that as many as 100,000 cattle have left the state in the past four months alone. Nearly
half of those, about 47,000, have headed to Texas. The rest will primarily go to Nebraska and Nevada.
Toyota
move gives Perry win for possible '16 run. With eight months left in office, Gov. Rick Perry is away from
Texas almost as much as he's home — hitting the road hard to tout his state as America's best place to do business.
Toyota's Plano move to bring 4,000 jobs from California,
New York and Kentucky. Toyota plans to start moving people to its new U.S. headquarters
in Plano starting this summer. The headquarters relocation — confirmed Monday afternoon
[4/28/2014] — will bring about 4,000 jobs from California, Kentucky and New York. The
worldwide automaker said it will consolidate its three separate North American headquarters for manufacturing,
sales and marketing, and corporate operations to a state-of-the-art campus to be built in Plano.
Texas
'Poaches Toyota HQ from California. That report is from the L.A. Times, which
must have had to choke back tears while writing up Toyotas big move. Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been
making a show of traveling to New York and California to convince businesses in those blue states
to move to business-friendly Texas. Its working.
Toyota
withdrawal a bombshell, economic blow to California city. Toyota Motor Corp's decision
to move its North American sales headquarters from California to Texas was met by disbelief in
Torrance, this Los Angeles exurb where the Japanese car manufacturer has run its U.S. operations
since 1982.
Rick
Perry Has Last Laugh as Toyota Moves to Texas. My question is not why Toyota is leaving, but why
it took them so long to make the move. The economic advantages to both the company and its employees are
quite compelling.
Illinois Job Creators Head for the
Exits. The Wall Street Journal recently looked at data from Allied Van Lines concerning where wealthy households were
moving to and from. The report found that Illinois and Pennsylvania have more wealthy households leaving than arriving, and
California leads the nation for the net number of wealthy households migrating away. The states gaining the most? Florida
and Texas. So what do East Coast, Midwest and West Coast states like Pennsylvania, Illinois and California have in common?
All three are high-tax states, said Joseph Henchman, a vice president at the Tax Foundation. On the other hand, Florida and Texas
are much lower tax states.
California positively
gets a negative from Tesla on battery factory. California pollution-control policies enable Tesla to rake in tens of
millions of dollars each year from selling environmental credits to other automakers — a key source of Tesla's revenue.
But is this a case of unrequited love? When it comes to building a $4-billion to $5-billion battery factory that will employ
6,500 workers, Tesla is shunning the Golden State. The automaker is looking at 500- to 1,000-acre sites in Arizona, Nevada,
New Mexico and Texas.
California, net exporter — of
residents. A net 3.4 million people have fled California over the past two decades, largely including the young and
the restless because of the lack of jobs and affordable living situations — which could quickly be trending towards an
accelerated demographic crisis for the heavy welfare state [...]
California becoming a
feudal society. [Scroll down] On one side is an older, educated, landed, wealthy elite that lives on California's
beautiful coasts. Then there is a much larger, younger, less-educated, indebted mass living inland, many of them working farm jobs
at subsistence wages. The good news is that both of these groups seem content supporting a Democratic Party whose policies
reinforce these trends. And if any of the current Californians don't like what the new California has become, they are free
to leave. The bad news is that millions of middle-class families already have, and the trend is likely to continue.
California Moves To
Texas (And Arizona And Nevada). The Census Bureau says that California had a net loss of 100,000 people last year. Many headed for
Texas (58,992), while Arizona (49,635), Nevada (40,114), Washington (38,421) and Oregon (34,214) all took in fleeing Californians.
An Embarrassing Metric
Disappears. Blue states with high state and local tax burdens have come out looking bad in recent years. California
and New York have been embarrassed publicly, as a steady exodus is underway from both. Regarding California, the free-market
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research concluded in September that "this exodus represents a huge reversal to established patterns of
domestic migration, and suggests that the Golden State is no longer perceived by most Americans as the land where dreams come true."
Taxing "The Rich" Working Out Swimmingly In
California. California ... state revenue for the month of November 2012 fell $806.8 million, or 10.8%, below budget.
Democrats thought they could hammer "the rich" by convincing voters to pass Proposition 30 to create the highest state income tax in the
nation. But it now appears that high income earners have already "voted with their feet" by moving themselves and their businesses out
of state, resulting in over $1 billion shortfall in corporate and income taxes last month and the beginning of a new financial crisis.
Obama Policies Copy Moribund California, Not
Texas. Anyone who thinks that President Obama's economic policies will spur strong growth should consider U-Haul rates between California
and Texas. Renting a 20-foot truck one-way from San Francisco to San Antonio, for example, will cost $1,693. But the U-Haul tab to go in the
opposite direction is just $983.
Prepare for Demise of California.
California's Liberal Supermajority is about to run the state into the ground and taxpayers are going to get all the government they ever wanted. [...] Big
government and absurdly strong unions destroyed Greece and Spain. Expect no less for California. Many large California corporations that can
flee, will flee.
Bankrupt California.
California may face the nation's largest budget deficit at $16 billion. It may struggle with the nation's second-highest
unemployment rate at 10.6 percent. It will soon vote whether to levy the nation's highest income and sales taxes, as if to
encourage others to join the 2,000-plus high earners who are leaving the state each week. The new taxes will be our way of saying,
"Good riddance." And if California is home to one-third of the nation's welfare recipients and the largest number of illegal aliens,
it is nonetheless apparently happy and thus solidly for Obama, by a +24 percent margin in the latest Field poll.
Why are people fleeing California?
The most troubling thing I've seen is the delusion embraced by the state's dominant Democrats, who really believe that California is only one
massive tax increase away from being fixed. [...] The state's problems don't bother me nearly as much as knowing that voters and officials here
are in denial about the problem and have no clue how to fix it. It's getting harder to blame Republicans for this any more, especially
in California where they are an endangered species.
Hundreds
of Thousands Flee Democrat-Run California. The report found that between 1960 and 1990, 4.2 million Americans moved to California and
helped accelerate California's booming economy. Since 1990, though, California has lost nearly all of that gain, with net domestic out-migration
averaging 225,00 residents a year. Between 2000 and 2010, out-migration has resulted in lost income of 5.67 billion to Nevada, $4.96 billion
to Arizona, $4.07 [sic] to Texas, and $3.85 billion to Oregon.
The
Great Golden State Business Exodus. One would think that given the serious nature of [California's]
problems, the legislature would focus on solutions at the exclusion of all else. Instead, lawmakers —
what would we ever do without them? — found the time in 2011 to trespass even deeper into Californians'
personal lives. Topping off Sacramento's monument to foolishness is a law requiring children younger than 8,
except for those taller than 4 feet 9 inches, to sit in booster seats in cars. Previous law let kids
leave their boosters at 6. Now children who had moved out of cars seats are being forced back into them.
Actually, the law is more authoritarian — and offensive and infuriating — than it is silly.
The Editor says...
This is another example of incremental changes in restictive laws, and once again, the changes only move in
one direction.
Business Exodus from California Accelerates.
California's infrastructure is crowded and crumbling. The school system is in a death spiral.
The universities are overpriced and bloated with unions and bureaucrats. The tax base is narrow and
focused on the rich, many of whom are leaving. The state's environmental laws have crippled a can-do
culture with can-never-do paralysis. An estimated 5 million residents are illegally in the
state. The official unemployment rate is 12.5%. Counting those who have given up searching for
a job and those who are working reduced hours or part time, the rate is closer to 20%. In parts of
Los Angeles, and in the water-starved Central Valley, unemployment ranges from 20% to 40%. More
than 3 million California residents receive food stamps, up 47% since 2007.
Crashing
and Burning, California Style . Part of what is slowly destroying California is its move from a land of
plenty to a land of locusts. The state taxes and regulates resident companies to such an extreme extent it has
driven many of them, and many tax-paying citizens, to other states. For decades California was a place to migrate
to. Now it's suffering an exodus. The fault lies in a political shift from being a conservative, low-tax
state to a statist, high-tax nanny state.
Progressive
Paradise. Under [Mayor Gavin] Newsom's reign, noted for imposing costly health care and
"green" mandates, the city has experienced a serious business exodus that commenced long before the
onset of the recession. City nannies hadn't done much since banning plastic shopping bags a
few years ago. But nannyism gets pent-up too, so last month it released a gusher. First
target: cell phones, whose sellers were required to calibrate the amount of radiation emitted
and post it at the point of sale.
Exodus:
California Tax Revenue Plunges by 22%. California politicians seem delusional in their continued
delusion that high taxes have not savaged the State's economy. Each month's disappointment is written off
as due to some one-time event. [...] The more likely reason tax collections continue falling is
that businesses and successful people are leaving California for the better tax rates available in
more pro-business states.
Will
the Last Job Creator to Leave California Please Turn Off the Lights? I've written before about
whether California is the Greece of America, in part because of crazy policies such as overpaid bureaucrats and
expensive forms of political correctness, And we all know that California has one of the nation's greediest
governments, imposing confiscatory tax rates on a shrinking pool of productive citizens. So it is hardly
surprising that the Golden State is falling behind, losing jobs and investment to more sensible states such
as Texas.
Businesses
Exit California and Illinois. Businesses have tad it with poor business conditions in two of the
most dysfunctional states in the union, California and Illinois. ... California and Illinois have many things
in common:
• Harsh business environments
• High tax rates
• Both states are among the most pro-union states
• Both states lack right-to-work laws
That California and Illinois suffer from business flight and high unemployment should not be surprising.
Voting with Their
Feet. The latest published data from the 2010 census show how people are moving from place to
place within the United States. In general, people are voting with their feet against places where the
liberal, welfare-state policies favored by the intelligentsia are most deeply entrenched. When you break
it down by race and ethnicity, it is all too painfully clear what is happening. Both whites and blacks
are leaving California, the poster state for the liberal, welfare-state and nanny-state philosophy.
California
Blazes Wrong Trail On Tax Hikes For Rich. According to a new report from the Golden State's
Franchise Tax Board, the top 1% of earners paid $25.7 billion in state income taxes in 2007. Two
years later, the most recent for which data are available, that figure dropped by half — to
$12.3 billion. Researchers note that the economic downturn contributed to this drop. But
that's not the only cause. A huge number of high-income taxpayers have simply left the state.
Between 1992 and 2008, California suffered a net loss of 869,000 tax filers. About 3.5 million
moved into California, while 4.4 million left.
More college-bound Californians are heading out of state. Fed up
with tuition increases and frustrated by rejection at packed California universities, more high school graduates than ever are ditching the state to attend college.
Boise State saw its freshmen enrollment from California rise tenfold during the last decade. Arizona State doubled its enrollment of freshmen from California.
The University of Oregon has quadrupled it, with freshman enrollment from California growing from 280 in 2000 to 1,100 in 2010.
Californians flee for better-run
states, study finds. Californians are fleeing in droves to live in better-managed states, according to a conservative research group.
The long-running exodus from the cash-strapped Golden State is an old story, but a new study by The Manhattan Institute finds that the biggest beneficiaries
of the population drain are Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Georgia and South Carolina. Lower cost of living, less
government debt and a more business-friendly culture are the main drivers, according to the study.
84
companies added to 'leaving California' list. A list of companies moving out of or expanding
outside California has grown by 84 since the start of the year, says Joe Vranich, Irvine consultant who
specializes in relocating companies.
Campbell Soup Leaving California. California's
state song will soon be changed from "California, Here I Come!" to "California, There It Goes!" An American icon, the Campbell Soup Company, is
closing its plant in Sacramento, leaving 700 people without jobs. The plant was built in 1947, and some of its workers have worked there for
forty years or more.
They're leaving other Democrat-ruled states as well — for the same reasons. Van
Lines Data Show People Fleeing States With Big Fiscal Problems. Citizens and businesses are fleeing states with fiscal
problems — that is one apparent message from the latest annual report from United Van Lines. The company's study of 2012
interstate shipments, released in December, showed significant continuing flight from states with high state government debt loads as
measured by the Institute for Truth in Accounting (IFTA). For example, the top five states for the share of outbound interstate
shipments in the latest UVL survey were, in order from one to five — New Jersey, Illinois, West Virginia, New York, and
New Mexico.
California compared to Texas:
The Editor is somewhat biased, having living in Texas all his life, and never having been to California.
Even so, it isn't necessary to make the trip to California to make this comparison.
Fact-Checked:
Gavin Newsom Shouldn't Have Dared Us. [Scroll down] Here are the comparisons:
• The rates in the middle of California's 10 personal income tax brackets are 8% (starting at $92,788 in annual adjusted
income for married couples filing jointly) and 9.3% (starting at $117,268 in annual income), says the Tax Foundation. [...] Texas has no income tax.
• Fuel taxes, hardest on lower- and middle-income Americans, are punitive in California, where the combined state taxes on
gasoline are 67 cents per gallon. That's more than three times the levy (20 cents per gallon) in Texas.
• Vehicle registrations are $51.75 per vehicle in Texas. In California, the fees are several hundred dollars
for a modest car a middle-class family would drive.
• The lower and middle classes are also disproportionately impacted by sales taxes, since they take a larger share
of their incomes compared to the wealthy. Here, there's little difference between the two states. The Tax Foundation figures the
combined state and average local sales taxes in California are 8.68%, ninth highest in the nation. Texas is 14th at 8.19%.
• It's true that property taxes are higher in Texas. Thanks to California's Proposition 13, the state
ranks no worse than 20th. The effective rate is about 1%, when other fees and taxes are figured in. Texas rate is about twice
that — 1.9%. But any advantage to Californians is negated by the state's housing crisis. The median-price home in
California was $811,170 in July, according to the California Realtors Association, while the Texas Quarterly Housing Report reports the
median-price home there is $300,490.
Joe Rogan's
Texas move rejects Hollywood's 'stultifying conformity,' ex-California lawmaker says. Former California
Assemblyman Chuck DeVore told "Fox & Friends" Monday that comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan's announced move to Texas from
California likely stems from a desire to get away from the "stultifying conformity that demands that everybody speak and
think the same." "I'm going to go to Texas," Rogan said on "The Joe Rogan Experience Pocast" last week. "I just want
to go somewhere in the center of the country, somewhere [where] it's easy to travel to both places and somewhere where you
have a little bit more freedom." Rogan added that he thinks that Los Angeles is "overcrowded" and suggested "it's a real
issue when you look at the number of people that are catching COVID because of this overpopulation issue, when you look at
the traffic, when you look at the economic despair, when you look at the homelessness problem that's accelerated radically
over the last six, seven, ten years."
Joe Rogan is leaving
Los Angeles and moving to Texas because there's more freedom there. Joe Rogan, host of one of the most popular
podcasts on the planet, said that he decided to move from Los Angeles, California, to Texas because he wanted "a little bit
more freedom." Rogen explained further the decisions behind his move during his podcast conversation with guest Joe De
Sena, the CEO and founder of Spartan and the Death Race. "I'm outta here," said Rogan when De Sana asked him about
moving. "I'm gonna go to Texas." "I just want to go somewhere in the center of the country, somewhere it's easier
to travel to both places, and somewhere where you have a little bit more freedom," he explained.
San Francisco [CA] vs. Frisco
[TX]. Amusingly, San Francisco is the opposite of Frisco, Tex., a sprawling Dallas exurb that has grown from
33,000 to 188,000 in this century. In contrast to highly gay San Francisco, Frisco, the weekday home to the Dallas
Cowboys, has been called "the Best Place to Raise an Athlete." Ironically, while everybody in San Francisco hates when
you call it by its unloved nickname "Frisco," Republican-voting Frisco is much better at narrowing racial divides than is
liberal San Francisco. Frisco has a white-black gap of only 1.4 years. Frisco is San Francisco's friendlier,
less dysfunctional right-wing opposite. While San Francisco occupies perhaps the world's most perfect spot for a city,
Frisco is randomly plopped down on the prairie. San Francisco is an adult Disneyland with the lowest percentage of
children of any city, while Frisco specializes in raising the next generation.
The
Great White Culture War. [Scroll down] To understand different outcomes of the white culture war,
consider California and Texas. Both states are firmly majority-minority. Yet the leaders of both states are still
disproportionately white and male; they're just culturally very different kinds of white males. Conservative white
Americans eagerly move to majority-minority Texas. Those same people would be far more reluctant to live in
majority-minority California, because of its profoundly different treatment of religious freedoms, gun rights, and
of course tax rates.
Here's
How Much You Need To Earn To Live In Alameda County 2018. San Francisco ranked first in the nation as the most
expensive metro area with a basic budget of $148,439 a year for a two-parent, two-child household. On the flipside,
that same household would only need to earn $58,906 to live comfortably in Brownsville, Texas, the least expensive metro area
in the country.
California
government mandates send electricity prices skyrocketing, but Texas free market policies keep prices low.
California's rush to impose harsh government mandates cutting carbon dioxide emissions in the generation of electricity is
raising the electricity bills of families and businesses across the state. Poor families are suffering the most.
In sharp contrast, Texas is successfully taking a free-market approach that is increasing the use of clean renewable energy
and lowering electricity bills in the state. The tale of two states offers a lesson for the nation.
Liberal
California fails at fighting poverty, conservative Texas succeeds. Liberal California and conservative Texas
are different in many ways — including their poverty rates. California's poverty rate is 20.4 percent and
the Texas rate is only 14.7 percent, based on the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which accounts for the regional cost of
living, out-of-pocket medical expenses and other items. Why the dramatic difference in poverty between California and
Texas — proportionately 38.8 percent higher in the Golden State, and affecting the lives of millions of
people? And what can we as a nation learn from the success of Texas and the failure of California to hold down their
poverty rates?
Houston
Is The Best Of America. Berkeley Is The Worst. Here's Why. Over the weekend, we saw the best of
America: Americans helping Americans in Houston. Race, creed, color — none of it mattered.
Americans were in need, and other Americans moved to help them. Meanwhile, in Berkeley, we saw the worst of
America: Americans, garbed in black, helmeted, wearing bandannas over their faces, assaulting peaceful protesters
merely there to exercise their free speech rights. We saw the police stand down. We saw assaults in the streets.
So, what's the difference between Americans in Houston and Americans in Berkeley? The existential threat.
California
conservatives, tired of state's liberal politics, find friendlier abodes in Texas. [Paul] Chabot, a 43-year-old
Republican and native of Southern California, in recent years had become increasingly frustrated with what he saw as a
liberal shift in his home state and the effects it was having on his family's life. After two failed congressional
runs, Chabot decided it was time to bail on the Golden State and move to the Lone Star State — specifically,
Collin County in north Texas — in January. "When I was growing up in a Republican state, we had safe towns
and great schools," Chabot told Fox News. "But California has done a 180. It's not a family-friendly state
anymore so we decided to move to Texas.
Texas
Booms (+3.9%) as California Flatlines (0.1%); Mining, Manufacturing Drive Growth. Texas, the nation's second
most populous state, had the fastest growing economy in the nation in the first quarter of this year with its state GDP
growing at a real annual rate of 3.9 percent, according to data released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. By
contrast, California, the nation's most populous state, ranked 42nd out of 50 states for first quarter economic growth, with
its GDP growing at a real annual rate of just 0.1 percent.
America's Future
Is Texas. Texas has been growing at a stupefying rate for decades. The only state with more residents is
California, and the number of Texans is projected to double by 2050, to 54.4 million, almost as many people as in California
and New York combined. Three Texas cities — Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio — are already among
the top ten most populous in the country. The eleventh largest is Austin, the capital, where I live. For the past
five years, it has been one of the fastest-growing large cities in America; it now has nearly a million people, dwarfing the
college town I fell in love with almost forty years ago. Because Texas represents so much of modern America —
the South, the West, the plains, the border, the Latino community, the divide between rural areas and cities — what
happens here tends to disproportionately affect the rest of the nation.
Texas vs. California Update for May 22, 2017.
Stop me if you've heard this before: Texas is once again ranked the best state for business, while California is ranked the worst.
Texas vs. California Update for February 15, 2017: Why
California can't repair its infrastructure: "California's government, like the federal government and most other state and local governments,
spends its money on salaries, benefits, pensions, and other forms of employee compensation. The numbers are contentious — for obvious
political reasons — but it is estimated that something between half and 80 percent of California's state and local spending ultimately goes
to employee compensation." Put another way: "Governor Moonbeam and the other leftist kooks in charge are flushing a staggering
$10 billion down an unneeded high-speed rail project, on top of the still more staggering $25.3 billion per year they spend on the
illegal aliens they have gone out of their way to welcome."
Texas
Bests California In Economic Opportunity. PolitiFact released an article in the Statesman that rated this claim
as "true." However, as in sports, one or two years of winning seasons by California doesn't come close to the extraordinary
success in Texas during the last decade of what could be considered an economic opportunity dynasty. One of every five
people live in these two states. One of every four dollars of production nationwide are produced there. Ranking
each state against countries, California would rank sixth and Texas would rank 10th. The list could go on. Given
their size and importance, Americans really need both states to prosper. After descending into a deep valley during the
recession, California's economy has recently grown at a faster rate than in Texas, where the drop in oil prices and higher value
of the dollar have negatively affected the mining and manufacturing sectors. However, during the last decade, the productive,
real private sector growth has increased by 13.6 percent in California compared with a robust 29.1 percent in Texas.
The
States Gaining and Losing the Most Migrants — and Money. When comparing the health of state
economies, we usually look at employment and incomes. Another critical indicator worth closer attention is where
Americans choose to move, and the places they are leaving. [...] To measure the states that are most attractive to Americans
on the move, we developed an "attraction" ratio that measures the number of domestic in-migrants per 100 out-migrants.
A state that has a rating of 100 would be perfectly balanced between those leaving and coming. Overall, the biggest
winner — both in absolute numbers and in our ranking — is Texas.
Texas vs. California Update for September 14,
2016. "The biggest problem faced by the State of California is not 'climate change' or 'poverty it is the
overreaching power of California government itself, namely the California Legislature and Administration, and the threats
that this Democrat establishment poses to California's future, particularly with regard to the economy and individual
liberty. California Democrats are celebrating the passage of new climate change legislation that provides California
government with broad, sweeping new powers to drastically curb greenhouse gas reductions without regard to economic impact or
the basic rights of businesses and individuals."
Texas vs. California Update for July 25, 2016.
[#1] June marked the 114th month that Texas was at or below the national unemployment average. Texas also created 246,600 jobs in
the service sector. [#2] Once again Texas ranks as the best state for business, and California ranks worst.
20.1%:
Calif. Metro Area Has Nation's Highest Unemployment Rate. El Centro, California bills itself as one of Southern California's
"most promising new commercial and industrial regions." But it had a 20.1 percent unemployment rate in April, by far the highest of the
387 U.S. metropolitan areas surveyed by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. That 20.1 percent unemployment rate is more
than four times the national unemployment rate of 5.0 percent (seasonally adjusted). The only other metropolitan area to come close to
El Centro's jobless rate was Yuma, Arizona, where the unemployment rate was 18.7 in April. El Centro and Yuma, both near the Mexican
border, are located in contiguous counties.
Texas vs. California Update. Overall,
Texas had four of the five fastest growing large counties, and seven of the top twenty. California had none. [...] It's
like a whole bunch of Texas vs. California roundup statistics all in one big green ball of fail. Read the whole thing.
Nearly
500,000 People 'Gone to Texas,' Says U.S. Census Bureau. On March 24, the U.S. Census Bureau released statistics that
tracked the state's explosive population growth. Four Texas metro areas added more people in the one year period from July 1,
2014 to July 1, 2015 than in any other state in the nation except for Texas as a whole, which gained approximately 490,000 new
residents. Topping the list, the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland metropolitan area experienced the greatest population increase
during this period, adding about 159,000 residents. Following closely was the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metroplex, with 145,000
new people.
America's
city rankings set for Texas-sized shake up; Houston to edge past Chicago. Hidden in the haze of the petrochemical
plants and beyond the seemingly endless traffic jams, a Texas city has grown so large that it is poised to pass Chicago as the
third biggest in the United States in the next decade. Houston has been one of the fastest-growing U.S. cities for years,
fueled by an energy industry that provided the backbone of the economy, low taxes and prospects of employment that have attracted
job seekers.
You're
Killing Me: Regulations, Government Unions, And Taxes Quash Small Business. Thumbtack.com published their latest annual
survey of 17,633 small business owners to determine the states that are the most — and least — welcoming to small
business. This year, and the previous three years the survey was completed, Texas and Utah were rated by small business owners
as the best states for small business. New Hampshire also received an A+ grade this year. At the bottom, with an
F rating for the past four years, were California and Rhode Island. They were joined this year by Connecticut and Illinois.
Texas
emerges as top destination for Californians fleeing state. Californians fled the state in unprecedented numbers
over the last decade, and their primary destination was Texas, according to an analysis issued Monday [8/31/2015]. About
5 million Californians departed the Golden State between 2004 and 2013, while 3.9 million arrived from other states
for a net population loss of roughly 1.1 million, the Sacramento Bee reported Monday [8/31/2015] using tax-return data
from the Internal Revenue Service.
Of
The Four Majority-Minority States in America, Minorities Do Best In Texas. There are
four "majority-minority" states in the U.S.: California, Hawaii, New Mexico and Texas. The
well-being of minorities in these states, as well as of the soon-to-be plurality of white,
non-Hispanics, is instructive for policy makers. Of these four demographic versions of America's
future, it's only in Texas where all four of the largest racial or ethnic groups have below average
Supplemental Poverty rates.
Texas
Is Booming, but CNN Doesn't Want You to Know Why. Much of my writing is focused on the
real-world impact of government policy, and this is why I repeatedly look at the relative economic
performance of big government jurisdictions and small government jurisdictions. But I don't just
highlight differences between nations. Yes, it's educational to look at North Korea vs. South Korea
or Chile vs. Venezuela vs. Argentina, but I also think you can learn a lot by looking at what's
happening with different states in America. So we've looked at high-tax states that are languishing,
such as California and Illinois, and compared them to zero-income-tax states such as Texas.
Texas
has added one million jobs since 2007 vs. only 24,900 jobs in California. By May of
2011, Texas had regained all of the jobs lost during the Great Recession. In contrast, it took
California three years longer, until April of this year, to regain the state jobs lost due to the
effects of the recession. Since the Lone Star State regained all of the lost recession-related
payroll jobs by May 2011, the state has since then added more than one million new jobs, bringing
the state's employment level to a new record high in May 2014 of 11.53 million jobs.
Report on how each state
treats its small businesses turns out exactly as expected. Mike Shedlock at Global Economic Analysis points
us to an extensive study comparing each state on how well it treats its small businesses. The results are only
surprising if you're Paul Krugman, Thomas Piketty or that homeless guy sleeping behind the dumpster at 7/11.
Houston's
jobless rate dips to 4.6 percent. The Houston area unemployment rate dipped to 4.6 percent
in April, down from 5.2 percent in March, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday [5/16/2014].
The rate is not adjusted for seasonal factors such as holidays and school schedules. The statewide
rate, however, is adjusted for the typical hiring and firing patterns that occur each year and in
Texas, the unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent in April. The statewide unemployment
rate was 5.5 percent in March.
California
vs. Texas in one chart. The chart [in this article] displays 1-unit housing starts for
the entire state of California and the Houston metro area annually from 2011-2013 and year-to-date
through March for 2014. During the period from January 2011 to March 2014, there have been slightly
more single-family housing starts in Houston (95,037) than in California for the entire state
(94,993). In this single chart, we can understand the dynamism of the booming, expanding Texas
economy and housing market compared to the stagnation of the California economy and the housing
market there for new construction.
Debunking The
'Texas Miracle' Debunkers. When not making excuses for President Obama's dismal economic record, liberals try
to explain away Texas' stellar growth. But what choice do they have? The Lone Star State proves limited government works.
Texas
leads nation in job growth, adding 322,400 workers in last year. Texas once again is leading the nation in
job growth — at least through January — and economists say trends for the rest of the year look promising.
The state added 33,900 jobs in January and 322,400 for the 12 months ending in January, ranking No. 1 for
both periods, according to information released Monday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
California
energy companies are moving to Texas. And what, do we suppose, might be one of the hugely driving factors behind this
robuster-than-everyone-else level of equitable job creation? It couldn't possibly be that Texas has been conscientiously developing
their energy reserves — like, for example, the Eagle Ford Shale, could it? While other states — like, say,
California — have been quixotically ignoring their own resources in favor of their politically preferred pet projects?
Don't 'Turn Texas into a Liberal Swamp'.
Over the past decade, Texas has been an economic powerhouse. The state has created 3 out of every 10 American jobs over the last decade and recently surpassed
California in tech export sales. [...] Today, political operatives are swarming the Lone Star State to turn Texas into a liberal swamp. At the same time, the
Obama Administration is trying to make Texas buckle under a torrent of federal rules and regulations.
Texas surpasses California as
top tech exporter. Texas is tops for tech exports, a new report says. Companies in Texas making semiconductors, telecommunications
devices, computers, and other items shipped more than $45 billion in products to other countries in 2012, according to a report by the TechAmerica
Foundation, a lobbying and advocacy firm representing the technology industries. That's a $3 billion rise from 2011.
Texas vs. California: 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.
What should be the Federer vs. Nadal of state-level competition has become a lopsided trouncing: Texas has humiliated its opponent in straight
sets. The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis is out with its state-by-state economic growth numbers for 2012, and Texas is dancing the two-step
all over California's "recovery."
Americans Are Migrating
To More Free Republican States. The "Freedom in the 50 States" study measured economic and personal freedom using a wide
range of criteria, including tax rates, government spending and debt, regulatory burdens, and state laws covering land use, union
organizing, gun control, education choice and more. It found that the freest states tended to be conservative "red" states, while the
least free were liberal "blue" states. The freest state overall, the researchers concluded, was North Dakota, followed by South Dakota,
Tennessee, New Hampshire and Oklahoma. The least free state by far was New York, followed by California, New Jersey, Hawaii and
Rhode Island.
The Red-State Path to Prosperity.
You can tell a lot about prosperity in America by observing the places people are moving to and where they are packing up and moving
from. [...] Among the 10 fastest-growing metro areas last year were Raleigh, Austin, Las Vegas, Orlando, Charlotte, Phoenix,
Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. All of these are in low-tax, business-friendly red states. Blue-state areas such as
Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo, Providence and Rochester were among the biggest population losers.
The
Perpetual Campaign: How Obama's Left-Wing Partisans Plan to Invade and Destroy Texas. If either California or Texas
were their own country, they would rank in the global top 20 and outmuscle most other countries on earth. But California, a
Democrat stronghold, suffers from unemployment about two points above the national average. [...] Texas, a Republican stronghold and
right-to-work state, has unemployment well below the national average, its books are balanced, and it's always at or near the top in
population growth over the past decade.
California vs. Texas. In recent years, much has been made
about the economic success of Texas and the decline of California. Many have pointed to California's tax and regulatory burdens and the more
business friendly policies of Texas as a primary reason. These certainly are a fundamental reason, and one statistic captures the essence of
the difference between the nation's two most populous states.
Texas Ranked Top Exporting State for 11th Consecutive Year. Texas is ranked as the
number one exporting state for the 11th year in a row, according to 2012 annual trade data released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce. "The fact that
Texas is ranked the nation's top exporter for the 11th year in a row further demonstrates that our strong economic climate provides a broad range of opportunities for
businesses to succeed," Gov. Perry said.
Texas Is America's Top State for Business 2012. Texas has done it
again. The Lone Star State makes a triumphant return as America's Top State for Business — its third time at
the top of our rankings.
America looks like Texas, not like
California. If you draw a triangle whose points are Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, enclosing Austin, you've just drawn a map
of the economic and jobs engine of North America. Texas prospers not just because of oil and gas, but thanks to a diversified and
sophisticated economy. It has attracted large numbers of both immigrants and domestic migrants for a quarter-century. One in
12 Americans lives there. America is getting to look a lot more like Texas, and that's one trend that I hope continues.
Texas vs. California,
Revisited. California is often a trendsetter in the realm of left-wing policymaking, while Texas legislators
keep their government small. The results speak for themselves.
Texas vs. California.
One in five Americans calls California or Texas home. The two most populous states have a lot in common: a
long coast, a sunny climate, a diverse population, plenty of oil in the ground, and Mexico to the south. Where they
diverge is in their governance. ... I moved to Texas late last year, joining the 2 million Californians who have
packed up for greener pastures in the past ten years, with Texas the most common destination.
Texas Employment Update. The
Texas economy continues to expand. Texas added 7,100 jobs overall in October. Private job growth in October
was robust with 15,900 new jobs added, offset by a loss of 8,900 government jobs. Year-to-date, the state
has gained 186,000 total jobs and 241,700 private jobs.
California
taxes away jobs while Texas adds them. In 2008, 70 percent of all the jobs
in the country were created in Texas. In 2009, all of America's top five job-creating cities
were in Texas. More recently, "Texas created 129,000 new jobs in the last year —
over one-half of all the new jobs in the U.S. In contrast, California lost 112,000 jobs
during the same period," according to ... a new report by the Texas Public Policy Foundation
released in October.
Houston,
We Have a Solution. The policies that Houston and Texas have followed are proof of concept
for the conservative vision of government, which is, essentially, to keep the government off the people's
backs and let a free society find its own way to prosperity.
California vs. Texas: The Verdict Is
In. Texas, increasingly, is the economic and intellectual leader of the U.S. During the last
18 months before the current recession took hold, while the country as a whole was still creating jobs,
more than half of those jobs were created in a single state: Texas. Texas has usurped the
leadership position that, decades ago, belonged to California. Today California is in decline, likely
irreversibly so.
The Big-Spending, High-Taxing, Lousy-Services
Paradigm. One out of every five Americans is either a Californian or a Texan. California
became the nation's most populous state in 1962; Texas climbed into second place in 1994. ... According to the
most recent data available from the Census Bureau, for the fiscal year ending in 2006, Americans paid an average
of $4,001 per person in state and local taxes. But Californians paid $4,517 per person, well above that
national average, while Texans paid $3,235.
A Governor Who Prays or
Preys? Conservative commentator Bill Bennett says that anyone looking for democracy, good
government, business and job growth, the best medical care, a lower cost of living and taxes should look to
Texas as the model and to Rick Perry as the model governor. Then there's California, left with a
$26 billion budget deficit courtesy of its disgraced former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who fathered
a "love child" with the family maid.
What
Texas can teach us: If you want to see a place where the private sector in America has been
booming and generating jobs, you should look at Texas. That's my take from these absolutely fascinating
numbers compiled from Bureau of Labor Statistics figures by The Business Journals, tracking the increase
or decrease in private sector jobs in the ten years between April 2001 and April 2011.
Texas economy called better than most
states'. Standard & Poor's gave Texas government bonds an AA+ rating on Thursday [5/5/2011]
and said the state's economy will likely recover quicker than most other states.
California
Dreamin' — of Jobs in Texas. It wasn't your usual legislative hearing. A
group of largely Republican California lawmakers and Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled here last
week to hear from businesses that have left their state to set up shop in Texas. "We came to learn why
they would pick up their roots and move in order to grow their businesses," says GOP Assemblyman Dan Logue,
who organized the trip. "Why does Chief Executive magazine rate California the worst state for job and
business growth and Texas the best state?" The contrast is undeniable.
If you move to Texas, leave your Democrat politics behind. Importing Disaster:
Demographic Changes Mean Democrat Future. At a gathering some years ago, I had a political
conversation with a man who had recently arrived here from Denmark. He was advocating his home country's
socialist system, which, of course, led to profound disagreement. ... When asked if he wanted to return home,
his answer was no. This is a common phenomenon. We see it, for instance, in liberal northerners
who move to the South for the lower taxes and cost of living and greater freedom, but then continue to vote
for the kind of politicians who made the Northeast a nice place to leave.
Texas
Has Had The Best Idea, New Census Data Make Clear. The Census Bureau released county and city
populations for the last of the 50 states from the 2010 census last week, ahead of schedule. Behind
the columns of numbers are many vivid stories of how our nation has been changing — and some
lessons for public policy as well.
California
unions stand in the way of a Texas-sized success. In the first half of 2010, Texas saw more
small business growth than any other state in the country. During that period, it also added 178,000
jobs — twice as many as any other state. Texas was also one of only five states to add
manufacturing jobs. California, on the other hand, lost more than 113,000 jobs from August 2009 to
August 2010. And while Texas has seen steady job growth in recent years, California was losing jobs
well before the economic downturn began in 2008. Since 2005, California has lost just under
1.3 million jobs.
Texas
booms while California busts. Among the states, it has become clear there are two competing
visions of political economy in America, embodied by California and Texas. One vision involves the
economic devastation that comes of an overregulated economy. The other reveals the prosperity
unleashed by smaller government.
Census:
Fast Growth in States With No Income Tax. The great engine of growth in America is not the Northeast Megalopolis,
which was growing faster than average in the mid-20th century, or California, which grew lustily in the succeeding half-century.
It is Texas. Its population grew 21 percent in the last decade, from nearly 21 million to more than 25 million.
That was more rapid growth than in any states except for four much smaller ones (Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Idaho). Texas'
diversified economy, business-friendly regulations and low taxes have attracted not only immigrants but substantial inflow
from the other 49 states.
Texans Won't Be Driven to
California's CO2 Craziness: SUV-driving California legislators passed a bill on July 1 [2002] to
reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new vehicles. How is California going to meet these requirements?
Well, the politicians there don't really care; the automobile industry will have to figure it out and consumers
will have to pay for it.
California Should Copy Texas.
Last Wednesday [12/2/2009], Gov. Schwarzenegger released a new report based on research compiled by the
California Energy Commission claiming that by 2100 San Francisco Bay would be more bay than San Francisco,
with Fisherman's Wharf and Treasure Island under the rising waters of climate change. His show-and-tell,
which included a new Google Earth application the commission spent $150,000 to help develop, goes a long way
toward explaining the once-Golden State's slide into an economic and budgetary abyss.
America as Texas vs. California. Texans on average believe in
laissez-faire markets with an emphasis on individual responsibility. Since the '80s, California's policy-makers have
favored central planning solutions and a reliance on a government social safety net. This unrelenting commitment to
big government has led to a huge tax burden and triggered a mass exodus of jobs. ... Second, Californians have largely
treated environmentalism as a "religious sacrament" rather than as one component among many in maximizing people's
quality of life.
Texas population booms amid lean
times. While bubbles burst around the nation, Texas booms. U.S. Census estimates released
Wednesday [12/23/2009] show that Texas added more residents than any other state in the year ending July 1.
The Lone Star State has 478,000 more people than it did a year ago — roughly the equivalent of packing up
all of Fresno, Calif., and moving it here. Why the growth? Try looking for work in Fresno, where
the unemployment rate is nearly 16 percent.
California is overregulated, overtaxed, and just plain over.
Unemployment is higher than 12.2 percent as of September. Business costs are almost 23 percent
higher than other states on average. Migration out of the state is at an all time high. A map by
United Van Lines shows a strong demand for moving trucks as residents leave California for other destinations,
particularly Texas. More Californians would leave if they could sell their houses, but the Golden State's
real estate market has tanked as well. It has the fourth-highest foreclosure rate of any state.
Texas
Shows Its Swagger in New Population Estimates. [Scroll down] Texas over the decades has
had low taxes (and no state income tax), low public spending and regulations that encourage job growth. It
didn't have much of a housing bubble or a housing price bust. Under Govs. George W. Bush and Rick Perry,
it has placed tight limits on tort lawsuits, and has seen an influx of both corporate headquarters and medical
doctors.
Low-tax
Texas beats big-government California. [Over the last ten years,] Texas has been teaching some
lessons to which the rest of the nation should pay heed. They are lessons that are particularly vivid
when you contrast Texas, the nation's second most populous state, with the most populous, California.
Both were once Mexican territory, secured for the United States in the 1840s. Both have grown prodigiously
over the past half-century. Both have populations that today are about one-third Hispanic. But they
differ vividly in public policy and in their economic progress — or lack of it — over the last decade.
Global Warming on Trial.
In the past few years, there have been many court cases concerning the actions of governments to the alleged threat
of global warming. The latest has been filed by Texas against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with
respect to the Endangerment Finding of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Texas has filed two petitions in federal
court. The first is a request for review of the endangerment finding, which is intended to examine the
science behind global warming.
How
Texas Escaped the Housing Crisis. It's one of the great mysteries of the mortgage crisis:
Why did Texas — Texas, of all places! — escape the real estate bust? Only a dozen
states have lower mortgage foreclosure and default rates, and all of them are rural places like Montana and
South Dakota, where they couldn't have a real estate boom if they tried.
Obama's Quiet War on
Red States. President Obama is quietly but gleefully sticking it to red states, which by virtue
of less government, lower taxes, fewer regulations, and open shops are typically better off than blue states
of the Northeastern, Midwestern, and Californian phyla. ... For years, states like New York, New Jersey,
Michigan, and California have all marched lockstep in accord with liberal orthodoxies — with similar
disastrous results.
Dallas:
Fastest growing U.S. city. The booming Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area added more residents
during the past decade than any other city in the United States. ... Dallas's attractions include a very favorable
business climate, according to Mayor Tom Leppert. There's no corporate income tax, building costs are
relatively reasonable and regulations are minimal. "It's a great place to do business," he said,
"especially attractive for companies from high-tax states."
The
EPA's Anti-Prosperity Agenda. On Labor Day, President Obama pledged to "keep fighting every single
day, every single hour, every single minute to turn this economy around and put people back to work." If job
creation is such an overarching priority, the president might take a closer look at the recent barrage of job-suffocating
actions from his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The president might also look at Texas, where job creation
and environmental improvement have occurred simultaneously and at a pace far above the national average.
California
sings the Blue State Blues. Indeed, by virtually every business measure conceivable Texas is better than
California. Texas has a lower unemployment rate (8.1 to California's 12.4), it exports more than any other state in
the union (a record previously held by California), and it has a lower home foreclosure rate (California is fourth highest
in the nation compared to Texas's ranking of 29th). Texas also imposes fewer regulations on its businesses than does
California. Apparently, being friendly to business rather than hostile to it has its advantages.
California Fleeing.
Just when you thought things couldn't get worse on the left coast, along comes more bad news for the Golden
State. Across the country, Republican state legislatures and governors are adopting a new economic
development strategy: Raid California for its jobs and businesses. At least three Republican
governors have said as much in interviews. The idea is to offer lower taxes, a more business-friendly
atmosphere and the right to be left alone from overzealous regulators.
The Texas Jobs
Panic. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported this summer that Texas created 37% of all net
new American jobs since the recovery began in June 2009. Texas by far outpaced every other state, including
those with large populations like New York and California and those with faster-growing economies, like North
Dakota. Other states have lower unemployment rates than Texas's 8.2%, though that is below the national
average and the state is also adding jobs faster than any other.
Americans love to hate
California: poll. California, home of Hollywood, the Golden Gate Bridge and more people than any other
state in the union, is also the most disliked of the 50 states, a new poll shows. ... Republicans said Texas and
Alaska were their favorite states, while Democrats liked Hawaii, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington.
Recovery? Just 16 States Have Gained Jobs Under Obama.
Just 16 states have seen job growth since President Obama took office, according to state employment data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The remaining states have lost a combined 1.4 million jobs since January 2009. Even 34 months after the recession officially ended in June 2009, there
are still 11 states that have fewer people working now than at the start of the recovery. Meanwhile, 20 states have unemployment rates at or above
8%, including nine with unemployment at 9% or higher, according to the BLS.
Texas
Leads Best States For Future Job Growth. Rick Perry ascended from Lieutenant Governor
to Governor of Texas in December 2000 when then-governor George Bush resigned after being elected
the 43rd President of the United States. Perry will retire in January with the tenth longest
gubernatorial tenure in U.S. history. Perry made job creation one of his principle mantras, and he
has overseen remarkable employment gains under his watch with 2.1 million jobs added during his
tenure. The total represents 30% of the jobs added in the U.S. since 2000 and more than twice as
many as any other state.
Texas
job growth outpaces rest of U.S. combined. Since the recession began in December 2007, 1.2 million
net jobs have been created in Texas. Only 700,000 net jobs have been created in the other 49 states combined.
The remarkable employment growth in Texas looks even bigger considering its size relative to the rest of the U.S. Total
non-farm employment has grown by 11.5 percent in Texas since December 2007. Employment in the rest of the
United States has grown only 0.6 percent. Until September 2014, total employment growth in the rest of the
United States since December 2007 was still negative.
Fluctuating
Oil Prices Won't Slow The Texas Economy Down. Texas has been a bright spot in an
otherwise dim U.S. economy for years. Consider that Texas employs 1,444,290 more people than when
the recession started in 2007, according to the latest state-level employment report; excluding
Texas from the nation's job creation equation, there are 276,290 fewer people employed in the same
period. Rapid job growth helped lower the unemployment rate to 4.6%, which has now been at or below
the national average and California's rate for at least eight years.
A
Golden Gate Bridge suicide barrier is nanny-state government writ large. A report about the endlessly rising
costs of a suicide barrier for the Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin perfectly illustrates why it's
questionable whether the government should take it upon itself to swaddle its citizens in an effort to protect them from all
physical harm. [...] And while every suicide is a tragedy, taxpayers must ask, in a dangerous world and one in which human
nature assures that some people will make bad, sad decisions, should taxpayers have been forced to pay $213.5 million
to save an average of 23 people per year?
The Editor says...
If someone leaps off the bridge and gets snagged in the suicide-prevention nets, will that person get mental health
treatment, or will he or she just be released to try it somewhere else?
CA
says mobile food vending trucks a 'threat' to kids. The California legislature continues to act as
the hard left's petri dish for testing totalitarian policies. AB 1678, introduced last Tuesday [2/14/2012],
would ban mobile food and beverage trucks within 1,500 feet of elementary and secondary schools.
New 2010 laws: Cooking to texting.
From same-sex marriage in New Hampshire to payday loans in Kentucky, new state laws taking effect on New Year's
Day will change the way people live. California becomes the first state to bar restaurants from cooking
with trans fat — partially hydrogenated oils that have been linked to strokes and heart disease.
The tyranny of visions:
part II. California has long had more than its fair share of busybodies with a vision of the
world in which it is necessary for them to force other people to do Good Things. One of the latest
examples is a recent ruling by one of the many busybody commissions in California that people who build houses,
or just remodel their homes, will in the future have to have more fluorescent lights and even install motion
sensors to control lights – all in the name of saving energy.
Totally Committed:
What would we do without the California Legislature? How could we survive without the guidance of
environmentalists? Oh how our lives would be meaningless without the Legislature taking care of our every
need. Who else can protect us from ourselves?
It's Official — Belmont Bans Smoking In
Some Homes. Thought to be the first of its kind in California, the ordinance declares secondhand
smoke a public nuisance and extends the city's current smoking ban to include multi-unit, multi-story residences.
Though Belmont and some other California cities already restrict smoking in multi-unit common areas, Belmont is
the first city to extend secondhand smoke regulation to the inside of individual apartment units.
Anti-smoking Efforts Go Too
Far. How far has the anti-smoking movement come in just the past four years? Much further
than many of its most ardent activists would have dreamed of in the 1970s, when the notion of smoking bans
first surfaced and was met largely with derision. … Of course, as with most limitations on personal
freedom, California leads the way.
Officials
in California Town Say Smoking Ban Is Working. Ten weeks after they enacted the most draconian
smoking ban in the nation, city officials in Calabasas, Calif., say the rules are having the desired
impact — reducing exposure to the secondhand smoke that can accumulate when smokers congregate
outdoors and near building entrances.
Private property issues:
The left's
vision: Santa Monica, California, has decreed a fine of $2,500 a day for not
cutting your hedges! Has someone discovered some terrible health hazard or other danger from hedges that are
too high? Not at all. The politicians who run Santa Monica have simply decided that people
should not be able to build a high wall of hedges around themselves.
Barbara Boxer's World of
Development Restriction and "Affordable Housing": "Liberal" Senators — and many
others — have repeatedly wrung their hands over a lack of "affordable housing" in California.
Meanwhile, they are doing all they can to prevent any housing from being built on ever more vast areas
of land.
How Californians
are being escheated. Escheat is a feudal concept that arose from the despotism of the Dark Ages.
It stemmed from the principle that property rights depend upon the sufferance of the sovereign, and when a person
dies or disappears without heirs, his property reverts to the feudal lord. California revived this medieval
doctrine in 1959 and began seizing personal assets on the smarmy pretext that after a few years of account or
safe-deposit box inactivity, property is obviously "lost," and the state needs to "protect" it by selling it off
and depositing the proceeds into the general fund. Today in California, no one's property is safe.
Tyranny lite:
Public service or self-service? In a
free market, as Forbes magazine says, your reward is a function of how much you contribute to the economy,
but in a regulated market it's how much you contribute to politicians. Sound familiar? It should,
especially to Californians. In New York, it is the reason a taxi cab license is worth $600,000 (because
of fares rigged by paid-off politicians). In California, the cost of a vast range of services gets skewed
by high pay and benefits for public employees.
Speeding, Parking Tickets on Rise as Government Revenue
Source. Drivers across the country, beware — a heftier fine could be coming to a dashboard near
you. Faced with rising deficits and dwindling revenues, many states and local municipalities are turning to increased
traffic and parking fines to fill their coffers. In California, the cost of a "fix-it ticket" nearly tripled on
Jan. 1, meaning that drivers in the Golden State can pay up to $100 for having a broken headlight — an
infraction that didn't even garner a citation years ago.
California: No Gun Photos Allowed. A
nine-year-old is almost suspended from a Los Angeles Unified School District school because a substitute teacher
discovered photographs of him and his brother shooting firearms. The photos were taken when their aunt, a
police firearms instructor, took them for some safety training.
California city shuts down girl's lemonade stand.
Eight-year-old Daniela Earnest has made lemonade out of lemons in more ways than one this week. Hoping to
raise money for a family trip to Disneyland, the Tulare girl opened a lemonade stand Monday [8/3/2009].
But because Daniela didn't have a business license, the city of Tulare shut it down the same day.
What ever happened to respecting our elders? An
82-year-old California woman says an officer cited her for taking too long to cross an intersection.
Mayvis Coyle insists when she entered the crosswalk the signal was green, but it turned red before she reached
the other side where an officer was waiting with a $114 ticket. "He treated me like a six year old,
like I don't know what I'm doing," Coyle said.
California police state:
The totalitarians are fully in control of America's largest state. The California Supreme Court ruled
4-3 last Thursday [1/24/2002] that police in the state may search cars if a driver fails to produce a license
or registration, regardless of whether the officer has a warrant.
California Assembly Expunges Santa
Barbara Drilling Vote. The California State Assembly is refusing to provide the names of
assemblymen who voted to ban oil recovery off the coast of Santa Barbara. Twenty-eight members
supported the ban, but their votes cannot be found in the official state database. Assembly leaders
expunged the votes in order to spare lawmakers running for re-election an official record of their
controversial decision.
The Editor says...
How can we have a representative government if the legislators conduct secret ballots?
Brown calls 1996
anti-affirmative action law unconstitutional. Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown has told the California Supreme
Court that Proposition 209, the anti-affirmative action measure passed by voters in 1996, violates the U.S.
Constitution. The state attorney general's stance marks the second time in six months that he has determined
that ballot measures approved by California voters were unconstitutional.
Tyranny In the Name of Progress: California
court bans religious objections to same-sex pregnancies. Once again, judges in California have
taken sides in the culture wars. On Monday [8/18/2008], in North Coast Women's Care v. Benitez, the Golden State's
highest court ruled that doctors may not rely on their religious principles to refuse in-vitro fertilization
for same-sex couples. The decision runs roughshod over the First Amendment's free-exercise clause,
seeking to supplant Judeo-Christian principles with the state-imposed religion of secularism. This is a
false choice under the federal Constitution, which makes room for both.
California's
bumbler in a black robe. After reading Walker's decision, Ed Whelan, a constitutional law authority
and president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, concluded that Walker was "intoxicated by his own bias."
Yet, this latest decision marks the third time Walker has been rebuked by appellate courts since he was appointed
to the federal bench by President Reagan.
California golden for legal
shakedowns. California has earned another dubious distinction, this one laid at the doorstep of a "predatory"
legal community. The state, particularly Los Angeles and Humboldt counties, was declared the nation's second-worst
"judicial hellhole" by the American Tort Reform Association.
South San Francisco ferry
loaded with subsidies. That new ferry line to South San Francisco opened to a lot of fanfare, offering rides to and from Oakland and
Alameda in less than 55 minutes. What's not being talked about is that for every $14 round-trip ticket sold, the public will be kicking
in a subsidy of nearly $100. People who pay taxes and tolls will be picking up the bill for an armada of costs for the new ferry over the
next 20 years.
Half-Billion in
Hollywood Corporate Welfare Passes In Sacramento. You and I are not only helping to pay the salaries
of the top one-percent, we're paying for product that attacks our country, our values, our faith, and who we are.
We're paying for propaganda. And this is how the entire system of our government is corrupted. Tax
loopholes and these kinds of carve-outs only encourage Big Business to spend money on lobbyists instead of putting
it towards improving the product so they don't need government handouts.
Yet Another State Computer Fiasco.
The Sacramento Bee reported this week that the California Public Employees' Retirement System was having so many problems with its
new $514 million computer system that some retirees are getting notices that their health insurance policies are being canceled
because of CalPERS' nonpayment of premiums. That's only the start. Thousands of retirees or survivors of retirees are
struggling to get correct payments or any payments at all.
Why Your Highway Has Potholes.
The Senate has passed a two-year $109 billion bill sponsored by Barbara Boxer of California that bails out the highway trust fund with
general revenues, including some $12 billion for such nonessentials as the National Endowment for the Oceans and the Land and Water
Conservation Fund. The bill requires little or no reform. The prevailing Senate view is the more concrete that gets poured,
the more jobs back home. So more "shovel-ready" nonstimulus.
L.A. can't explain $7 million in
fuel bills. Controller's audit finds that millions of gallons of taxpayer-funded city fuel was pumped in recent
years with no record of where it went.
Another California City may be Going Under.
In December of last year, RecordNet asked whether union pensions would ultimately drive the city of Stockton, California, into
bankruptcy. ... This week CBS Sacramento reported that Stockton was considering precisely that: ["]The possibility of filing for
Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. If it happens, Stockton would be the largest California city to go bankrupt.["]
It would follow in the footsteps of Vallejo, California, which was itself "the largest city to declare bankruptcy when it
did so in 2008."
The California wind boondoggle.
The "renewable credit" scam described by [Larry] Bell is a more advanced example of Obamanomics: nothing
is being produced at all. Better still, the California taxpayers getting fleeced to subsidize this scam
won't even know what hit them. An increasing portion of our economy-crushing tax burden is hidden this way,
behind a complex screen of mandates and regulations that make it very difficult for the taxpayer to know precisely
whose hand is shoved into his pocket.
Bullet train's
$98-billion cost could be its biggest obstacle. The ambitious plan to connect Anaheim and San
Francisco with high-speed trains has encountered plenty of obstacles, including intensifying resistance from
wealthy and poor communities lying in the track's path.
Bullet train cost
estimates rise to $98.5 billion. California's bullet train will cost an estimated $98.5 billion
to build over the next 22 years, a price nearly double any previous projection and one likely to trigger
political sticker shock, according to a business plan scheduled to be unveiled Tuesday [11/1/2011]. In a
key change, the state has decided to stretch out the construction schedule by 13 years, completing the
Southern California-to-Bay Area high speed rail in 2033 rather than 2020.
Buyers'
remorse for California's 'bullet train to nowhere'. Ambitious plans for a fast track linking Los Angeles and San Francisco
at speeds of up to 220 mph in just over two-and-a-half hours were slimly approved by 53 percent in a statewide ballot in 2008.
That allowed the state to raise $10 billion from bonds and secured an injection of $3.5 billion in stimulus money from the
Obama administration. There is currently no direct train route between the two. Construction is expected to begin later
this year in the middle of California's Central Valley near Merced, a town of 80,000 people known for having one of the highest home
foreclosure rates in America.
A State of
Total Insanity. It turns out that the chief psychologist for the state's prison
system earned $838,706 — last year alone! To be precise, the shrink earned
somewhere between $261,408 and $308,640 in salary, with the remainder coming from bonuses or
cashing in unused sick leave. This is not an anomalous case. Of the ten highest-paid
California state employees (all earning more than a half-million bucks a year), seven worked for
California's grotesquely dysfunctional prison system. Of those, four were prison doctors
or dentists.
California
pays prisons guards for attending Las Vegas convention. The California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation has set aside about $350,000 to pay several hundred corrections officers while they attend
their union's annual convention later this month in Las Vegas. The arrangement with the California
Correctional Peace Officers Association is unique among the state's collective bargaining agreements.
The Boondoggle Express.
The largest construction boondoggle in recorded human history continues to unfold in the Central
Valley of California. The initial segment of Obama's pet project, a high-speed rail line from
Merced to Bakersfield, just had its first announced cost overrun. With costs jumping from
$7.1 billion to a staggering $13.9 billion, the project now has doubled in price even
before a single shovelful of earth is turned. Now that is the seat-of-the-pants, lets just
make up a number, government contracting that the Democrats and the unions so dearly love.
Hi-speed
train to financial ruin in California. Federal spending for high-speed rail is coming under close
Congressional scrutiny. Both political parties have begun to recognize the enormous capital costs required
for another Solyndra style payoff; in this case the billions of Federal dollars needed to fund a lucrative
union-only jobs program.
California,
The "Failed State". Do a web search with the words "failed state" and names like Somalia,
Haiti, and Sudan will appear on your computer screen. Unfortunately, the 31st state in our
union — California — is looking more and more like a "failed state" as well.
California
makes huge payouts for some workers' unused time off. Contracts cap unused vacation balances
at 80 days but allow exemptions for those who are needed in emergencies or who perform 'critical' work.
Some have retired with six-figure compensation checks.
California High-Speed Rail Still on Track to
Nowhere. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) in California has released a
devastating report on the California High-Speed Rail project. The report highlights the follies of the
project managers and the crippling fiscal impact the project will continue to have on state and federal-level
coffers. The California High-Speed Rail Act, which is now in its 15th year since being passed in 1996,
established the California High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) and detailed a plan to establish high-speed rail
in California by 2020. The project has been bogged down by numerous delays and constant calls for
additional funding.
California's triple whammy.
California triple whammy required spendaholics at government's helm running up perpetual double-digit,
billion-dollar annual budget deficits papered over in the current year, to be fretted over in the next.
Following close behind was an addictive need to issue billions in government bonds, which are nothing
more than drawing cash on a promise to pay it back.
"Hi,
I'm California, And I'm Addicted to Spending. With less than 2 months in office, Governor
Brown has already hinted that California's famous "Proposition 13" might need to be undone. In
case you've forgotten, this was a landmark ballot proposition that drew a record number of voters to the
precincts in 1978. It passed in a landslide, and imposed a statewide limit on the rate at which local
counties and cities could levy property taxes.
California Declares Fiscal Emergency. Jerry Brown,
California's governor, declared a state of fiscal emergency on Thursday [1/20/2011] for the government of the
most populous US state to press lawmakers to tackle its $25.4 billion budget gap. Democrat Brown's
declaration follows a similar one made last month by his predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Republican
governor.
$69 million in California
welfare money drawn out of state. More than $69 million in California welfare money, meant
to help the needy pay their rent and clothe their children, has been spent or withdrawn outside the state in
recent years, including millions in Las Vegas, hundreds of thousands in Hawaii and thousands on cruise ships
sailing from Miami.
Creating Poverty Through
'Social Justice'. In the story about social justice not working in San Francisco, we witness the
creation of special interest groups, via legislation and regulation, which are literally inserted into the free
market process to create wealth for entities that would otherwise not be needed in the free market Capitalist
economic system. By virtue of San Francisco's social justice legislation and regulation, wealth has been
extracted from the taxpayers, unnecessarily, via the process of government procurement, to reward the unproductive.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is Progressive, Socialist, Marxist, wealth redistribution fashioned for the
Capitalist economic system. It's here and it is happening... right now.
Why California Is Bankrupt.
By now, the entire world has heard that California can no longer pay its bills. The amount
of money going out exceeds the amount coming in. ... To the outsider, California's dilemma is
paradoxical. After all, this is home to Silicon Valley and high technology. Geniuses
are everywhere, and the state is renowned for being on the cutting edge on all issues from sex to
science. Brilliance abounds, EXCEPT in state government because California is cursed with a
gaggle of extreme tax and spend liberals in the State Assembly.
California School Spending Soared ... On Administrators.
California schools, like the rest of state and local government, have pleaded poverty as the recession and
housing bust abruptly ended the tax-revenue boom. But a study of 52 California school districts by
Pepperdine University showed that K-12 spending rose 21.9% from fiscal 2003-2004 to 2008-2009, outpacing
state income growth and inflation. On a per-student basis, spending jumped 25.8%, because attendance
declined 3.1%.
Giving Failure a Pass.
The Los Angeles Unified School District, the largest in California, spends $10 million a year to "house,"
with full pay and benefits, about 160 teachers deemed unsuitable for the classroom, according to "Failure
Gets a Pass," a recent series in the Los Angeles Times. "If I had my way, I would fire [all of
them], and they would not get another d----- penny," LAUSD superintendent Ramon C. Cortines told the
Times. "They're milking the system."
California School Spends $10G a Year to Teach
AP Spanish to Kids Who Speak Spanish. A middle school in Southern California is spending $10,000
a year to teach Advanced Placement Spanish to 35 of its 650 students — and all but one of them are
already fluent in Spanish. Thirty-four of the kids in the AP class are from Mexico or are the children
of Mexican immigrants. They all grew up speaking Spanish at home.
California
Supreme Court OKs In-State Tuition for Illegal Immigrants. Illegal immigrants can get in-state tuition at
California colleges if they graduated from a high school in the state, the California Supreme Court ruled. "The ruling
is the first of its kind in the nation," the Los Angeles Times' Maura Dolan and Larry Gordon report, and though just ten other
states offer such benefits, this ruling makes challenges to those laws less likely.
Financial Aid
for Illegal Students OK'd. The Assembly Higher Education Committee approved two bills on
Tuesday [3/15/2011] allowing college students who are in the state illegally to receive financial aid.
Dubbed the California Dream Act, AB130 allows illegal immigrants to receive privately funded college
scholarships, and AB131 allows them to receive taxpayer-funded financial aid such as Cal Grants.
Currently, illegal students who spend at least three years in California high schools pay only the in-state
tuition rate — a significant cost savings over legal citizens from other states who are attending
California colleges. That benefit was provided by AB540, which passed in 2001.
Taxpayers Oppose the "Billion-Dollar Fish Fry" Project.
Special interests are pushing S. 27 as a way to "settle" their two-decade-old lawsuit against the federal government (specifically,
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation) to restore the salmon population to the historical outlines of San Joaquin River. Even
though the targeted segment of riverbed has been dry for 75 years (thanks in part to a dam California voters approved in
1933), these same activists are prepared to spend considerable taxpayer resources in an attempt to bring back a minimum of
500 salmon to the area.
California
bill would give newborns $500. Happy birthday, baby, here's $500, courtesy of California
taxpayers. The state's Legislature is considering a plan for taxpayers to provide a tax-free, long-term
investment account to every baby born in California, regardless of his or her parents' financial or
immigration status.
$1-Billion
Affordable Housing Bond Measure May Go to Voters in L.A.. A $1-billion bond measure that would
help provide housing for thousands of low-income residents and enable others to become first-time homeowners
is likely to appear on the Los Angeles ballot in November.
Why Buying Government Bonds is a Bad
Investment for Yourself, and Our Future: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
spends 80% of its budget on administrative overhead, while private charities are prosecuted for fraud if more
than 20-30% of donations goes for staff. In California, there are an average of 132 administrators for
every 100 teachers in the public schools, while there are only 18 per 100 teachers in the parochial schools.
Average cost per high-school student: $5200 public vs. $2200 private.
What Should We Expect from Smaller
Classes? In a thoughtful review of studies of class size and academic performance in last
November's Scientific American, Ronald G. Ehrenberg and colleagues point out class-size reduction has one
obvious drawback: "It costs plenty." They note the state of California alone has spent more
than $1.5 billion annually over the past several years to reduce class sizes to 20 or fewer in
kindergarten through third grade …with only a "tiny effect."
California At The Breaking Point.
A new Stanford study says California's public-employee retirement funds are $500 billion in the hole.
It's news that unions and their candidate, Jerry Brown, don't want to hear.
Public-sector employees are the new fat cats. In
California, 9,111 retired government workers have pensions of more than $100,000. One retiree draws an
annual pension of $509,664. Among retired teachers, 3,065 receive more than $100,000. One gets
$285,460. Pensions for retired state workers and teachers will rise 2 percent this year, though
Social Security recipients aren't getting any cost-of-living increase. The increase in California isn't
tied to inflation.
Pension Tsunami: That approaching wave of pension debt is
a lot bigger than it looks. The purpose of this site is to provide an overview of the multiple pension
crises that are about to drown America's taxpayers. Our primary focus is on California, but we also
track other states, corporate pensions, social security and international trends.
In a
Welfare State, How Much Is 'Enough'? California is imploding. Public-sector unions there,
and across the country, are swallowing budgets. In California alone, pension costs have gone up 2,000 percent
in a decade. At the national level, Obamacare has done little to fix — and much to hurt —
America's long-term entitlement mess. Already, America's structural deficit has tripled since 2007.
Economist Price Fishback has just published a paper finding that America spends more on social welfare than
socialist Sweden (though we spend it differently).
Trickle-Down Misery in L.A. The city is chin-deep
in California's trickle-down misery, and last week Richard Riordan, who was L.A. mayor from 1993 to 2001,
coauthored with Alexander Rubalcava — an investment adviser — a Wall Street Journal
column declaring the city's fiscal crisis "terminal."
Schwarzenegger
budget would eliminate welfare. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked lawmakers Friday to eliminate
the state's welfare program starting in October and dramatically scale back in-home care for the elderly and
disabled as part of his May budget revision to close a $19.1 billion deficit.
Bye Bye, CalWORKs.
In the early 1990s, Bill Clinton campaigned on a promise to "end welfare as we know it." Republicans in
Congress called his bluff, and the result — the landmark 1996 welfare-reform bill —
ushered in a decade of plummeting welfare rolls and declining poverty. Now California governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger, no one's idea of a staunch conservative, has done Clinton one better: He has called for
the end of cash welfare in California, period.
Credit card caper
is L.A. County's next bombshell. Some Probation Department employees apparently have been
ripping off taxpayers, buying personal items such as TVs, video games and barbecue grills on county-issued
credit cards.
Derelict
Legislature. As states start to rein in pension costs, California's legislature remains lost in
space, nixing even a modest reform to save itself $110 billion over 30 years. Are there any
signs of intelligent life out there?
The
Next Big Crisis: State Bankruptcies. Many say that the situation in Greece is a harbinger
of what is coming to the United States. They are right. But first it will come to states like New
York, California and Michigan, which are stretched way beyond their means and deeply in debt.
The Editor says...
Please note that New York, California and Michigan are three of the so-called "blue states". Wherever
Democrats predominate, prosperity cannot endure, because liberals abhor capitalism.
California
judge denies Schwarzenegger's minimum wage order. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge
Patrick Marlette today [7/16/2010] denied Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's request to immediately compel
State Controller John Chiang to pay state employees minimum wage.
800k Salary For California City
Manager; 100k For Part Time Employees. Bell is one of the poorest cities in Los Angeles County,
and it pays its city manager about $800,000. ... His salary is double what city managers make in surrounding
areas, as is the $457,000 salary that Bell city pays it chief of police.
For Whom Bell, California
Tolls. It tolls, of course, for public employees and for Democrats, the party almost exclusively
linked to big labor, big government, and big labor in big government. Bell, California, a small
municipality in Los Angeles County with a population of 40,000, has come to symbolize public employee rot.
Bell's average resident earns under $30,000 per year, and its unemployment rate hovers around 16%, even higher
than the high statewide rate for California (over 12%). Yet we learned from the Los Angeles Times that
Bell was run by Chief Administration Officer Robert Rizzo (D), bringing down a salary of $800,000, and by
Police Chief Randy Adams, earning $457,000. There must certainly be a lot of streets being swept and
drunk drivers being ticketed in this clean and orderly piece of America.
This Bell Is the Chime of Freedom.
The saying goes, you get what you pay for. To the working class citizens of Bell city, California, their
hard-earned cash got them a sleazy, overpaid and corrupt government run by Democrats. The government
officials got rich. Today [9/21/2010], thankfully, eight of them — every single one a
Democrat — also got arrested.
Corruption As Usual.
In addition to Bell and Irwindale, two other Los Angeles suburbs have recently been disgraced by public corruption.
The former mayor of Temple City recently pleaded no contest to bribery and other charges and will do 16 months.
In Vernon, a tiny town of 100 residents, city managers were making salaries of $1.6 million and
enjoying perks like first-class air travel and $800-per-night hotel rooms.
Change
Club Med Environment at Club Fed. Unleashing criminals from American jails onto American streets
is determinately criminal. But still, the debate on American incarceration continues to flare up due to
tough economic times and because our country spends roughly $50 billion annually to incarcerate public
nuisances and dangerous thugs. Shockingly, the annual cost per prisoner in California is $50,000.
No wonder there has been a violent push for the privatization of prisons and the revamping of the American
legal system.
New
K-12 school in Los Angeles costs taxpayers $578 million. There's been an ongoing budget crisis in
Los Angeles this year. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was at one point threatening to shut city services
down two days a week to make ends meet. Despite this, it does not appear that the city has been cutting
back.
L.A.'s
'Taj Mahal' School's Real Cost. For anyone who ever doubted bureaucrats' ability to spend, one
need look only at Los Angeles' newest public school, the most expensive ever built. If only the education
inside was as rich. With a price tag of $578 million, the new Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools
is an impressive building — perhaps indicative of what some call the Los Angeles Unified School
District's edifice complex.
Let states go bankrupt. After two years of
bailouts, "stimulus" spending, TARP and earmarks, the country took a deep breath and is now beginning a discussion about the
unsustainable trajectory of federal expenditures and the reforms necessary to right the country's fiscal ship. This is
all good and healthy. However, Washington is not the only place with an overspending problem.
Government
Work: $205,000 to Move a Shrub. In 2010 $205,075 was spent to "translocate (that's govspeak for "move") a single bush
that was apparently in the way a highway renovation project that was partially funded by stimulus money. No, I'm not kidding.
$205,075 to move a bush. [...] The plant in question is called a Franciscan manzanita and is extinct. Except where it is found
growing in people's yards in California. And nurseries where they retail for about 16 bucks.
Democrat-Run
California About to Get Hit with 50 Cent per Gallon Gas Tax. In today's edition
of Getting What You Vote For, the dummies in California are about to get hit with a 50 cent
per gallon gas tax. Remember, California voters have handed the Democrat party full power
over the former Golden State. Democrats run everything from the governorship on down.
Democrats not only hold majorities in the state legislature, they hold veto-proof majorities. [...]
According to Triple-A, the average cost of a gallon of gas in California today is $5.29. That's
nearly $1.70 more than the national average. In some parts of California, gas costs $6.32 per gallon.
California's
New Electricity-Income Tax Is Only Weeks Away. In a couple of weeks, California's
Public Utilities Commission will vote on whether or not to adopt a new fixed charge for
electricity, one that will likely be based on income. When I first wrote about this proposal
a year ago, the utilities were suggesting that fee could be as high as $85 a month for some
households. That's not including whatever the utilities charge for actual usage of
electricity. The new fixed fee as proposed was essentially an income tax being paid via your
electric bill. Since then, the proposal has been scaled back quite a bit but some version of
it now seems likely to pass.
Will
'Billionaire Tax' Be Death Knell For California's Troubled Economy? These days, it's hard to keep up with
the once-upon-a-time Golden State's foolish policies. They come in such number and profusion, you can't even track
them all. That's why the one-party state's latest tax proposal is such an attention-getter: It would damage
the state's economy, perhaps beyond repair. The proposal is, as a matter of economics, foolish beyond
belief. In brief, the Democrats who have taken over the state now propose a "wealth tax" on the richest
Californians, who are already fleeing the increasingly socialist state in alarming numbers.
California
Lawmakers Move to Tax People Who Have Left the State. California lawmakers appear intent on making the
Eagles song Hotel California a reality[,] at least when it comes to taxes for those who try to flee the
state. At the Hotel California, "you can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave!" With soaring costs
and a massive $24 billion deficit, the state is also facing an exodus of people leaving the state. The
solution? Convert the state into a tax Venus flytrap: not only impose a wealth tax on those caught in the
state but tax those who try to leave. The new bill introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Alex Lee would impose an
extra annual 1.5% tax on those with a "worldwide net worth" above $1 billion, starting as early as January 2024.
The law has a cynical bait-and-switch provision. The billionaire tax is just meant for the initial packaging and
passage. It can therefore be sold as a "billionaire's tax." However, in two years, the threshold drops to a
worldwide net worth exceeding $50 million.
Uncollected
sales taxes and vehicle license fees. Thanks to its lenient shoplifting laws, California (or, as I think
of it, Commiefornia) is almost certainly losing substantial revenue. Yet the same state that fanatically collects
vehicle registration fees seems unperturbed by these other losses. In Arizona, the sales tax is called a
"transaction privilege tax," and retail businesses are required to collect that tax when selling taxable items if they
are to keep their business license. (Yes, the sales tax is really called "transaction privilege tax.") State
sales tax, when combined with city or town taxes and any other local entities that join the sales tax grift, usually
total more than 10% in most communities. One of the local small cities even charges a 3% sales tax on otherwise
tax-exempt groceries. The merchants' obligation to fund the government with every sale of taxable goods leads me
to conclude that, when a thief steals from the retailer, not only is the retailer taking a loss but so are the
government entities that do not receive their taxes.
California
Decides This Is a Great Time to Raise the State Gasoline Tax. This morning [6/20/2022], the national average
price for a gallon of regular gasoline has dropped a few pennies from the all-time high on June 14; on that date it was
$5.01, and this morning it is $4.98, according to the American Automobile Association. Certain states are much higher;
in California, the statewide average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $6.39. Naturally, at the end of the month,
the state government of California will increase the state tax on gasoline, from 51 cents per gallon to 53.9 cents.
California has the highest taxes on gasoline. This is separate from the environmental regulations that make gasoline
more expensive in California: ["]California's reformulated gasoline program is more stringent than that of the
federal government — California gasoline must use a different formula in warmer weather in an effort to curb
pollution. As a result, gas prices in the state are typically higher and more variable because few supply sources
outside of the state are able to offer California's unique blend of gasoline.["] [...] As the recent supply chain
crisis helped illustrate, more than 40 percent of the container cargo in the U.S. passes through California ports.
Meaning that everything you buy that passes through California is influenced by the price of diesel fuel in the Golden State.
California to raise its
gas tax, already the highest in the nation. California lawmakers appear unlikely to pause the annual summer
increase in the state's gasoline tax ahead of a May 1 deadline, Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said on Monday [425/2022]. Newsom,
a Democrat, had previously expressed support for helping California motorists experiencing pain at the pump by
waiting to implement a 5.6% tax hike scheduled to take effect on July 1. The tax is used to fund roads and other
infrastructure projects; the state's Legislative Analyst's Office projected the tax will generate about $8.8 billion in
revenue during the 2021-22 fiscal year.
Aggressive
new California tax hike proposal could accelerate exodus from state. A new healthcare proposal that would
nearly double California's tax revenue has the potential to push more people out of the state. The ambitious
legislative proposal would create a single-payer healthcare system and use the increased taxes to fund it. While the
legislation faces an uphill battle, Gov. Gavin Newsom has publicly voiced support for single-payer systems in the
past. He has yet to weigh in on the new legislation.
California
considering insane plan to double its (already high) taxes. California already has some of the highest taxes in
the United States and is losing residents as a result. Yet Golden State liberals aren't deterred. They're now
pursuing a state constitutional amendment that could double California's taxes. The proposed amendment, ACA 11, would
hike several key taxes to fund a state-level government healthcare scheme. According to the right-leaning Tax Foundation,
it would increase the average household's taxes by an astonishing $12,250. It's estimated that the amendment would increase
state revenue by $163 billion a year, which is more revenue than California had ever seen in an entire year before 2020.
(That means it's effectively doubling the state's taxes.)
California's
government is wiping out its pot growers. When California made pot legal, the theory was that pot had become
such a normalized part of California culture that it should be treated like alcohol: Adults should be able to buy and
use it legally subject to restrictions. However, California also decided to turn pot into a profit center...for
California. Therefore, it imposes a cultivation tax on growers as well as a 15% excise tax rate on consumers for any
legal pot purchases. California also controls the allowed mark-up rate, which stands at 80%. With the state having
imposed these stringent price controls on legal marijuana, is it any surprise that pot growers are going broke?
San
Francisco considers traffic congestion fee that would only apply to 'rich' drivers making more than $46,000 a
year. San Francisco is considering a congestion pricing plan that would charge motorists for entering the busy
downtown core — but only if they make more than $46,000 per year. The San Francisco County Transportation
Authority is leading the city's study on the proposal to charge a fee to any drivers who enter the downtown zone, details of
which were reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. London has used a similar congestion charge scheme for nearly a
decade, but it does not include an income threshold. New York City is currently considering a daily charge of $14 for
motorists who enter certain parts of Manhattan.
California's
Gas Prices Highest in the US Before Independence Day. As Independence Day approaches, California's gas prices
have hit a record-high since 2014. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the national average gas
price on July 1 is $3.123 per gallon but California's average price for regular gas was $4.284, which was $1.535 higher than
in Mississippi. The Golden state's average price of a gallon of premium gas was $4.595. [...] California had an
automatic gas tax hike on July 1 that means drivers now have to pay 51.1 cents per gallon in state taxes —
the highest gas tax in the country.
California
Democrats Propose A Wealth Tax Which Taxes You Even After You Leave The State. The pandemic has put a $50
billion dent in California's finances and Democrats are busy coming up with new ways to raise more tax money. Plans to
consider a tax hike on those making more than $1 million was just put off until next year, but now a California Assemblyman
has proposed a wealth tax on top earners: [...] To be clear, property would not be considered as part of total wealth because
it's already taxed by property taxes, but they have to report it anyway. UC Berkeley economist Emmanuel Saez co-wrote a
paper about the new tax. It makes clear that the wealthy would not be able to flee the state to avoid it because the
wealth tax would continue for 10 years after someone leaves the state.
'Mystery
surcharge' and gas taxes boost California gasoline prices by about $1.26 per gallon. With Southern California
gas prices topping $4 for the first time since 2015, many have been quick to place the blame on refinery problems and a
switch to the summer blend of gas. Both clearly figure into the mix. But the Golden State's broad array of gas
taxes and a "mystery surcharge" no one can quite explain placed California motorists at a disadvantage to begin with.
Here's a breakdown of what we pay in gasoline taxes, according to the California Energy Commission. All numbers except
the final category have been rounded to the nearest penny and were effective as of March. The combined Cap & Trade and
low Carbon Fuels Standard costs were effective April 12.
Critics
argue Gov. Newsom is diverting gas tax money to projects voters did not approve of. [Scroll down]
"Instead of building capacity on our highways to move people and freight, Governor Newsom is funding his pet rail projects
throughout the state," state Assemblyman Jim Patterson, R-Fresno, said. "This theft of funds meant to improve our
roadways is a glimpse into the future of transportation in our state and Newsom continues to execute his September 2019
Climate Change Executive Order. The Central Valley is just the beginning. Other road projects will likely be
next." "This is theft of our gas taxes by Executive Order," Patterson added.
NY
and CA spend billions more in taxes than TX and FL — and get worse results. America's four largest
states — California, Texas, Florida and New York — have a lot in common. They are iconic, dynamic
and diverse. Each could be formidable countries themselves. And, yet, they are also very different in their
politics and governance. California and New York are dominated by Democrats who have implemented the nation's highest
and sixth-highest marginal income tax rates, respectively, to help finance large social programs and bureaucracies. (New
York's rate rises to second-highest if New York City income tax is included.) Texas and Florida, meanwhile, have been
governed mostly by conservative Republicans for decades; they are among the few states that levy no income tax on workers,
while maintaining leaner social programs.
American
Dystopia: California's high taxes still aren't enough to pay for basic services in San Francisco. San
Francisco residents pay some of the highest taxes in the country, but more than a dozen neighborhoods still levy mandatory
fees on property owners to finance services the city is failing to provide. "We already pay the city taxes. We've
always paid," says Gilles DeSaulnier, who runs a grocery store previously profiled in Tucker Carlson Tonight's "American
Dystopia" series. "Starting this year in January, we're paying an extra thousand dollars a year, each real estate owner
in this whole district, to help pay to keep the streets clean." Eighteen San Francisco neighborhoods have voted to
create "Community Benefit Districts," which charge mandatory fees to property owners in order to provide services like
private policing, graffiti removal, and sidewalk clean up.
California
hikes tax rates on legal marijuana businesses again. California is increasing business tax rates on legal
marijuana, a move that stunned struggling companies that have been pleading with the state to do just the opposite.
Hefty marijuana taxes that can approach 50 percent in some communities have been blamed for pushing shoppers into
California's tax-free illegal market, which is thriving.
Newsom's Gas-Tax Switcheroo.
The gas tax was sold as a means to fix and expand freeways, but S.B. 1's fine print gave state officials much latitude to
spend the money in other ways. Voters should have known better but, hey, this is California. Voters' own
culpability didn't stop them from getting angry after Gov. Gavin Newsom last month signed an executive order diverting
road funds to his pet rail projects.
California
[will] have [the] highest gas prices in [the] nation when [their] new gas tax kicks in [on] July 1. When the
new gas tax kicks in July 1, California will have the highest gas tax in the country. The new gas tax will add an
additional 5.6 cents per gallon of gas. Consumer Watchdog President Jaime Court argues even though the new gas tax is
expected to generate more than $50 billion over the next decade for much-needed road repairs, road infrastructure and transit
upgrades, consumers shouldn't be stuck with the bill.
California
Governor Wonders Why Gas Prices Are So High In State With High Gas Taxes. California Governor Gavin Newsom has
noticed something amiss in his home state and [...] he wants some answers. What is that's put a bee under his bonnet?
Gas prices in the Golden State are too high and people are grousing about it. People who vote. So the Governor is
swooping into action, determined to solve this vexing mystery.
California
Gas Tax Goes UP 5.6 Cents on July 1. Gasoline prices at the pump have climbed for eight weeks in a row, and
California is expected to soon pay an average of more than $4 a gallon for the first time in almost five years, according to
GasBuddy. "The national average gas price has now risen for 2 months straight, tacking on a total of 50 cents per
gallon in the last 90 days," said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for fuel-price tracker GasBuddy. That's
the longest run of consecutive weekly gains since 2015. It also means Americans will pay nearly $200 million more at
the pump today than back in early January, he said. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded stood at $2.745 early
Monday afternoon [4/8/2019], according to GasBuddy. That's up 27.3 cents a gallon from last month's average of $2.472.
California
Has Become America's Cannibal State. For over six years, California has had a top marginal income tax rate of
13.3 percent, the highest in the nation. About 150,000 households in a state of 40 million people now pay nearly half
of the total annual state income tax. The state legislature sold that confiscatory tax rate on the idea that it was a
temporary fix and would eventually be phased out. No one believed that. California voters, about 40 percent
of whom pay no state income taxes, naturally approved the extension of the high rate by an overwhelming margin. California
recently raised gas taxes by 40 percent and now has the second-highest gas taxes in the United States. California has
the ninth-highest combined state and local sales taxes in the country, but its state sales tax of 7.3 percent is America's
highest. As of April 1, California is now applying that high state sales tax to goods that residents buy online
from out-of-state sellers.
Sacramento
wants to tax soda, tires, guns, water, pain pills, lawyers, car batteries... There are a whole bunch of taxing
ideas in the Capitol: on new tires, firearms, water, prescription painkillers, lawyers, car batteries, corporations based on
their CEO pay, estates worth more than $3.5 million, oil and gas extraction. The list goes on. The oil and gas
extraction tax is long overdue. We're the only major oil-producing state without one. It would raise an estimated
$1.5 billion a year.
The Editor says...
I guess the LA Times writer thinks an oil and gas extraction tax is a painless money-maker that will have
no effect on the price of gasoline or electricity.
California May Be Coming for
You. Those of us who live in California are used to the state's aggressive tax-collection policies.
Despite record-setting budgets, the state never has enough revenue to fund all the programs it wants to create or expand so
the tax authorities have to shake every last dime out of residents' pockets. But now, thanks to confusion over how to
collect online sales taxes, California's tax-collection agency may be coming for you — even if you sell a few
items from your kitchen table in Kansas. The newly created California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA)
has been sending collection letters to small businesses that sell products via online retail platforms such as Fulfillment by
Amazon. The agency claims that such third-party sellers owe eight years of back taxes because they are considered to
have a physical presence in the Golden State. The agency threatens tens of thousands of dollars in fines and
imprisonment of up to three years.
San Francisco
Voters Back 'Robin Hood' Tax On Business. San Francisco voters passed Proposition C yesterday [11/7/2018] with a 60%
majority, Recode reports. The proposition establishes a tax between 0.175% and 0.69% on the gross income of businesses
reporting over $50 million in annual turnover, along with a 1.5% payroll tax for certain companies with $1 billion
in turnover to fund housing and homeless services. The city predicts it will generate between $250 million and
$300 million to help needy causes.
Enraged
Californians rebel against Gov. Brown's massive tax hike on cars and gas. In California, a state known for
its love of driving, high-priced gasoline and history of tax revolts, a rebellion is brewing against Gov. Jerry Brown's
massive gas-and-car tax increase. In the two weeks since the Democrat signed Senate Bill 1, opponents have launched
an initiative drive to repeal the $52.4 billion transportation package as well as a recall campaign to eject a vulnerable
Democratic state senator who is seen as the deciding vote for the law.
Taxifornia Does
It Again. California's far-left government has done it again. Not realizing its real problems are
excessive spending on misplaced priorities, excessive taxes, too much debt and a far-too generous welfare state, its legislature
working in cahoots with Gov. Jerry "tax-and-spend" Brown has pushed through the largest tax hike in state history.
California Prepares
to Enact the Highest Gas Tax in the Country. The California Senate Democrats has approved a multi-billion-dollar increase
in the state's gas tax to pay for road and infrastructure projects. The so-called Road Repair and Accountability Act would ratchet up
the state's gas tax by 12 cents a gallon, and raise the tax on diesel fuel by 20 cents a gallon. It also etches out an additional
charge to annual vehicle license fees ranging from $25 to $175 depending on the car's value. The Senate passed the bill, 27-11 on
Thursday [4/6/2017]. Republicans did not support the measure.
Pasadena
Planning to Introduce 9.4% 'Netflix Tax'. The city council of Pasadena, California has come under fire recently
after announcing a plan to implement 9.4% tax on video streaming services — a Netflix tax. CBS reports that
the tax, which was designed to generate revenue that had been lost due to the recent trend of people "cutting the cord" and
cancelling cable TV services, was met with widespread disapproval from Pasadena residents. The new law is based around
a 2008 ruling that allowed the city council to tax cell phones as they taxed home landlines, this however set an unforeseen
precedent that allows the city to apply a similar tax to digital streaming services. As many as forty other California
cities have a similar law.
Proposition 55 would
extend "temporary" tax for 12 years. When Gov. Jerry Brown and his allies urged voters to adopt a temporary income tax on
the wealthiest Californians and a statewide sales tax on everyone four years ago, the deal was billed as a short-term salve for a state
mired in debt and on the verge of insolvency.
The Editor says...
Remember this when the next "temporary" tax is proposed.
Unaffordable
California — It Doesn't Have To Be This Way. Here's a documented comparison of California taxes and
economic climate with the rest of the states. The news is bad, and getting worse. [...] CA has the highest state sales
tax rate in the nation. 7.5% (does not include local sales taxes). [...] CA has the nation's 5th highest "gas pump" tax at
59.0 cents/gallon (January, 2016). But add in the unique 10-12 cent CA "cap and trade" cost per gallon, and CA is #1 (about
the same as Pennsylvania). [...] Average 2012 CA impact fee for single-family residence was $31,100, 90% higher than next
worst state. [...] CA has now instituted the highest "cap and trade" tax in the nation — indeed, the ONLY such
U.S. tax.
California
governor's highway plan includes $65 driver fee. More than two months after calling a special session to
address California's transportation funding backlog, Gov. Jerry Brown has begun circulating a list of administration
proposals on how to pay for it, including a $65 annual fee for drivers and increases in the diesel and gas taxes tied
to inflation.
More
Californians Will Flee State After Recent Tax Increases. California Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday said California would start a tax-increase
wave across the nation, but recent history suggests California's tax increases will only accelerate the number of people who will leave California to
other states with better tax climates. When asked whether California was going to start a "tax-increase sweep" across the nation on CNN's
"State of the Union," Brown agreed.
A Nightmare of Collapse. My home county has been
clobbered by the recession. Taking the unemployment numbers at face value, the March 2012 rate was 11.1%. Next month the county will vote on a measure
that promises to keep our libraries open. The implied threat is if voters don't extend the 1/8% sales tax they approved in 1998, libraries will close.
Since the measure extends an existing tax, its prime selling point is that it doesn't raise taxes.
A
"Third Income Tax" To Fund Public Education? California, with an average statewide unemployment
rate of over 12% (in some regions the rate is over 20%) and a budget deficit of somewhere between $10 and
$15 billion, is considering the imposition of a third income tax. The additional income tax rate
would vary, according to which region of the state one lives in, and would be imposed directly by school
districts and county governments. Many of California's public school districts (there are over
1000 of them) are themselves broke, just like the state government.
Texas
Shines Big in the 2010 Census. The Census Bureau last week released county and city populations
for the last of the 50 states from the 2010 Census last week, ahead of schedule. Behind the columns of
numbers are many vivid stories of how our nation has been changing — and some lessons for public
policy, as well. ... The lesson is that high taxes and strong public employee unions tend to stifle growth
and produce a two-tier society like coastal California's. The eight states with no state income tax grew
18 percent in the last decade. The other states (including the District of Columbia) grew just
8 percent.
Will
California Tax Itself to Prosperity? [Scroll down] Ideology still trumps reality in
California, even in this new, "post Arnold" era. And so it was that, less than twenty-four hours after
his inauguration, Governor Jerry Brown began laying the groundwork for raising taxes in California, rather
than cutting government spending. The problem with the state budget, so the Governor reasoned, was not
that politicians had spent too much or that government agencies are wasteful. No, no, Californians
aren't taxed enough — they've been given an "unfair" break on their property taxes via the state's
famous, 32-year-old "Proposition 13," and if that could be undone, then the state budget would be fixed.
California
Stealin'. Desperation grabs for revenue are nothing new in politics, but California is once
again leading the way in creative financing. To help close yet another gaping budget deficit, now
estimated to be $7 billion this year and reach as high as $20 billion next, Sacramento lawmakers
have authorized a 10% increase in the amount of taxes withheld from worker paychecks starting November 1
and through 2010.
Tax
Increases, Coming To A Theater Near You. In only 100 days and change, President Barack
Obama has committed $6.5 trillion to waste, fraud and abuse. That's $6,500,000,000,000.00, which is
more than all the costs of World War I and World War II combined. And you think it can't get
worse? Believe me, IT CAN. Things have gotten so bad that, even in my home state of
California, a Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is urging support for a massive $16 billion tax
hike which is deceptively masquerading as a measure to put a lid on out-of-control government spending.
You read that right: A massive tax-hike — Proposition 1A — is being
peddled to the people as a measure to control spending.
RINO alert! California governor wants
to tax golf, auto repairs. In California, Schwarzenegger wants to help close a nearly
$42 billion budget deficit by taxing rounds of golf, auto repairs, veterinary care, amusement park and
sporting event admissions and appliance and furniture repairs. Democratic Gov. David Paterson in New
York has proposed levies on MP3 downloads, taxi rides, movies, concerts, sporting events, and personal
services such as haircuts, manicures and massages. Schwarzenegger's fellow Republican in Utah, Gov. Jon
Huntsman, has shelved a proposal to tax attorney and accounting services but promises to bring it back
next year.
The Editor says...
Why not tax illegitimate children, illegal immigrants, and those hubcaps that rotate backwards?
Sides square
off in fight to hike tax on tobacco. Come November, Californians will be asked to impose the
biggest tax increase ever on tobacco products, a change that healthcare advocates believe will reduce
cigarette consumption, but some officials think will increase cigarette smuggling.
Benedict Arnold. Just over
five years ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger swept into power in California, vowing to crush the "spending addicts"
responsible for the state's crushing budget deficit and to thwart Sacramento Democrats who saw taxpayers as
ATMs. "The people of California have been punished enough. From the time they get up in the morning
and flush the toilet, they are taxed. Then they go and get a coffee, they are taxed. They get into
their car, they are taxed. They go to the gas station, they are taxed. ..."
Lawmakers consider
$1.50-per-pack cigarette tax hike. For years tobacco companies have successfully fought off attempts
by California lawmakers and health groups to increase the cigarette tax. But next month, as the state grapples
with the worst financial crisis in recent history, that may change. Lawmakers will consider a proposal to hike
cigarette taxes by $1.50 per pack and raise $1.2 billion annually. During the last decade, cigarette makers
have spent tens of millions of dollars to kill 14 straight attempts to make smokers pay more.
Smokers face a hit as tobacco taxes
spike. However they satisfy their nicotine cravings, tobacco users are facing a big hit as
the single largest federal tobacco tax increase ever takes effect Wednesday [4/1/2009]. Tobacco
companies and public health advocates, longtime foes in the nicotine battles, are trying to turn the
situation to their advantage. The major cigarette makers raised prices a couple of weeks ago,
partly to offset any drop in profits once the per-pack tax climbs from 39 cents to $1.01.
Lawyers:
Target sued: website not
accessible to the blind. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), represented by Berkeley's
Disability Rights Advocates as well as two law firms, has sued discounter Target, alleging that it violates
California disabled-rights law because its website is not operable by blind computer users.
ADA Lawsuit
Abuse: Businesses of all sizes and types … have been targeted by what they call "ADA
frequent filers" who file look-alike lawsuits where a single plaintiff and his/her lawyers file lawsuits
alleging the same violation against numerous small businesses in a particular area. … For example, one
plaintiff specializes in alleging toilet paper dispenser heights don't meet the ADA-required 40 inches, causing
him emotional pain, humiliation and physical injuries. He has filed more than 700 ADA lawsuits in
California and collected millions from California small businesses in settlements. Another plaintiff has
filed more than 1,300 ADA access lawsuits since 1998; many against small, family-owned Northern California
wineries. Another plaintiff targeted more than 300 businesses in San Diego, using the same attorney
to file all the cases.
Why Lawsuit Abuse Continues in
California: California's business climate suffered another blow [in May 2005] when the Senate
judiciary committee killed SB 855, a measure that would have closed another loophole for unscrupulous
attorneys who shake down California's small businesses.
Frivolous Lawsuits in California: A rapidly
emerging source of frivolous, shakedown lawsuits is the Americans with Disabilities Act, more specifically the
California version of that federal law. Restaurants, hotels, and businesses of all types have become
targets of lawsuits for ADA violations. The major problems include an inability of businesses to get
certification that their business complies with the law, a lack of protection from future lawsuits when the
violation is settled, and no time to fix a violation before a plaintiff sues. These problems discourage
compliance with ADA because a plaintiff can sue anyway.
Radical environmentalism and restrictive environmental laws:
EPA
greenlights Cali EVs. With a little more than a month left in his term, President
Biden is certainly not holding back from issuing controversial pardons, rules, and waivers as he
packs up his belongings before heading back to Delaware. On December 18, the Biden
administration approved two waivers for California's Advanced Clean Cars II Regulations.
Specifically, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted "two requests from the California
Air Resources Board (CARB) for waivers to implement and enforce its Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II)
regulations for light-duty vehicles, and its 'Omnibus' low-NOx regulation for heavy-duty highway
and off-road vehicles and engines." Although these waivers might seem innocuous, they are
extremely far-reaching. In essence, they allow California to ban the sales of all new
gasoline-powered automobiles by 2035.
Fury
as California gets green light to ban all gas cars in Democrat state. Automakers are
furious after California moved forward with plan to ban the sale of all gas-powered cars by 2035.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday granted two requests from California to
enforce strict standards for vehicle emissions after it found opponents were not able to meet the
legal burden to how it was inconsistent with the federal Clean Air Act. 'California has
longstanding authority to request waivers from EPA to protect its residents from dangerous air
pollution coming from mobile sources like cars and trucks,' EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in
a statement.
'Climate'
Policies in a Harris Administration. Ground zero for the war on conventional energy
in the United States is in Kern County, California. It is home to some of the largest oil
fields in the United States, with estimated reserves totaling more than 27 billion
barrels. Most of these reserves contain what is considered heavy oil, making it more
difficult to extract and refine, but as a result, Californians have developed what are among the
cleanest and most sophisticated extraction and refining technologies in the world. All of
that is melting away under a relentless regulatory onslaught. Despite sitting on ample
reserves, today, California imports 75 percent of its oil and 90 percent of its natural
gas. And despite subjecting taxpayers and energy consumers to literally hundreds of billions
in extra costs in order to replace oil with renewables, 50 percent of California's total
energy production is fueled by petroleum, with another 30 percent coming from natural
gas. That total, 80 percent from fossil fuel, is a mere two percent better than the
global average. In 2023, 82 percent of worldwide energy production came from fossil fuels.
California
police agencies going green with Teslas complain they're 'nearly unusable' as squad
cars. California police departments are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on
Teslas to comply with the state's zero-emissions mandate — only for some to find them
"nearly unusable" as squad cars. Multiple municipalities have started buying modified
electric cars since Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill in 2020 ordering that all vehicles sold in
California be zero-emission by 2035. The city of Irvine even spent a whopping $150,000 on just
one tricked-out Tesla Cybertruck, drawing the ire of taxpayers because it is not for regular patrol
but more to turn heads in anti-drug D.A.R.E. programs, according to LAist.
California
bill mandating health warning labels on gas stove sales passes in state legislature.
Gas powered stoves in California could now come with a health warning label similar to what you'd
find on a pack of cigarettes or other tobacco products, according to a new proposed law in the
state. California lawmakers passed a bill at the end of August that would make it illegal to
sell a gas stove that is manufactured or sold online on or after Jan. 1, 2025, or sold in a
store on or after Jan. 1, 2026, "unless the gas stove bears an adhesive label attached in a
conspicuous location," according to the text of the bill. Gov. Gavin Newsom has until
the end of September to sign the bill into law, NPR reported.
State
Officials Tell Californians to Stop Outdoor Grilling over Air Quality Concerns. The
State of California ratcheted up its nanny-statism another degree, by asking Californians to stop
outdoor grilling because of air quality concerns. [...] Of course, the real problem is actually the
wildfires[,] which are springing up from a combination of bad land managementand forcing utilities
to divert funds used for fire mitigation to fuel green energy utopia policies. The use of
candles, incense, and pan-frying is also discouraged. [...] Currently, I am monitoring a brush fire
that is broken out close to the home of a family friend. [...] The fire is still not contained, and
if the wind kicks up... well, it could be problematic. And I am sure that fire is putting out
more carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulates than all the grilling and pan-frying going
on in the state. The fact that state officials are focusing on candles and outdoor grills
demonstrates perfectly the silliness and incompetence of California's officials and politicians.
California
Mandates Trains That Don't Exist. California has long been infamous for its
regulatory regime, imposing harsh restrictions on businesses and individuals. This pattern
has been accelerating since climate change alarmism took hold in the state, with demands for carbon
emission reductions serving as an excuse to restrict or ban everything from charcoal grills to gas
stoves and more. Vehicles of all sorts have been swept up in this craze, with electric cars,
trucks, and buses becoming the mandatory modes of transportation. Now, however, the state has
its eyes on another form of transportation. Under a new proposed rule, the operation of
diesel freight trains older than 23 years will be banned so they must be replaced with
electric trains. That will certainly come as welcome news to climate change alarmists, but
there's one small problem with this proposal. There are currently no fully electric trains in
commercial production and there is no estimated timeline for when such trains might be commercially
available given the current state of the technology. In other words, California is looking to
mandate the use of trains that do not exist.
You strain at a gnat while you swallow a camel. The
nation's filthiest beach is here. Blame Biden, Newsom. By any objective
standard, the southern coast of San Diego County is enduring a long-running environmental
nightmare. Decades of billions of gallons of untreated human waste flowing north from broken
sewage infrastructure in Tijuana have sickened a vast number of surfers and swimmers and many Navy
SEALs training at Coronado. Especially because of ailments reported by border agents, some
doctors worry that the health threat goes far beyond active ocean users to include those who spend
extended time in coastal areas and breathe air that often smells like a filthy portable
toilet. Now there is fresh confirmation of how uniquely awful this problem is. The
Surfrider Foundation has released a report on 567 sites in which it tested water for unsafe
bacteria levels and found Imperial Beach — which has been closed for more than two
years — had far and away the dirtiest water in the United States.
California
takes the crown for the nation's filthiest beaches. Does California's Gov. Gavin
Newsom ever stop talking about his state's "climate leadership"? [...] Today's San Diego
Union-Tribune has a hit-it-out-of-the-ballpark editorial on Newsom's (and Joe Biden's) much-touted
"climate leadership." [...] Newsom in his speech to the pope blamed Big Oil and corporate greed for
all the pollution he's doing something about. He ought to be looking to the Mexican
government, which is polluting the heck out of San Diego, with poor, battered Imperial Beach being
so polluted by Tijuana's sewage outflow the beaches there have been closed for two literally
stinking years.
California
Sets New Rule for Chevron, Gas Price Is Expected to Rise. In a recent interview,
energy expert Ronald Stein discussed California's shifting energy landscape and the challenges of
transitioning away from fossil fuels. As a former engineer and author on energy issues,
Mr. Stein provided insightful perspective on the complex trade-offs involved. California
has made reducing oil production and dependence on foreign imports a priority. However,
Mr. Stein notes this has unintended consequences, like lost revenue for cities and increased
costs passed onto consumers. While aiming to curb emissions, Mr. Stein argues the
state's policies may simply outsource them elsewhere through increased imports. When it comes
to renewable energy, Mr. Stein acknowledged the role of wind and solar but highlighted their
limitations compared to fossil fuels. As electricity alone cannot replace the vast array of
products derived from oil, a total transition away from oil may not be realistic given society's
material demands.
Newsom
Wants Fed Bailout After Green Scheme Kills 830K Salmon. "Bring the salmon home.
Remove the Klamath dams," read a banner protesters displayed in California years ago. Now the
dams have been removed — and, as a result, approximately 830,000 juvenile salmon [died].
This was unforeseen by the greentopian dam destroyers, and Golden State Governor Gavin Newsom,
who backed the project, now wants federal disaster aid and economic assistance. Oh, this
doesn't mean Newsom's administration is taking any responsibility. Instead, its officials are
blaming, in part, wait for it ... climate change! Yet the un-dammed water gets muddier
still. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife claims the dead salmon were "excess"
fish and that overall populations won't be affected. Despite this, salmon fishing off
California's coast has been banned for the second year running, "in response to near-historically
low stock abundance forecasts for the fall Chinook runs of salmon originating from the Sacramento
and Klamath rivers," explains California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis.
Over
800,000 Chinook Salmon [are] Dead Days After Release from California's 'State-of-the-Art'
Hatchery. Despite the great lengths we go to save endangered species and ensure we
create sustainable methods of farming and harvesting, those efforts still can fail catastrophically
when we're faced with unforeseen obstacles. And it appears that, as reported on March 2
by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), over 800,000 Chinook salmon are now dead
due to those unforeseen circumstances. Though they were carefully hatched, cared for and
released in California's new, $35 million "state of the art" Fall Creek Fish Hatchery in
Siskiyou County, it wasn't enough to save them from presumably succumbing to gas bubble disease in
the Klamath River, according to the CDFW.
Drain
the Reservoirs, Return California's Stolen Land. The destruction of dams on the
Klamath River provides an encouraging precedent for progressives throughout California. As
was breathlessly reported in the San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere, indigenous tribes
are now able to recover their sacred land and revive their ancestral villages and way of
life. It is time for California's progressive supermajority to do the right thing and return
all stolen land to the first peoples. They can start by draining the rest of California's
reservoirs. Not only is demolishing California's dams, draining all of its reservoirs, and
returning the restored riverfront property to their rightful claimants an appropriate reparatory
gesture, but it will also set the rivers themselves free. Unshackled, they will again be
welcoming habitats for salmon and other aquatic life, able to send torrents of nurturing fresh
water into California's Central Valley and ultimately into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
California
Demolished [a] Dam to Save Salmon [but] Killed the Salmon Instead. California, which
is in a state of perpetually self-inflicted drought, restricts all sorts of practical water
solutions based they would hurt some living creature somewhere. (People, especially farmers, don't
count.) And along the way the state decided to demolish a dam to help some salmon. The
destruction was celebrated by environmentalists and rubber-stamped by the media. [...] Tribal
leaders, environmentalists, and state officials are the only people who count in California.
$500 million was spent to make California a worse place. For human beings. And for
salmon too. [...] Maybe I'm a bit of a skeptical fellow, but I don't believe that anyone actually
cared about the salmon. No more than I think that the border wall lawsuits were really about
the welfare of a bug. The purpose of these projects is not about fish or bugs. The fish
or bugs are a pretext for the actual goal which is wrecking America. Measured by this
standard, wrecking dams and killing hundreds of thousands of salmon is doubly a success.
California's
Impossible War on Oil and Gas. Determined to save the world from climate change,
California has nearly shut down its oil and gas industry, though the Golden State currently gets
50 percent of its total energy from oil and another 34 percent from gas. The
state's most recent move was a decision by California's Geologic Energy Management Division to deny
new hydraulic fracturing permits on oil and gas wells. The assault on oil and gas has been
unrelenting. In September 2023, California attorney general Rob Bonta sued Exxon Mobil,
Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and BP for allegedly causing climate change-related damages and
deceiving the public. A year before that, in September 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom
signed legislation to ban new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of any occupied
structure — a restriction so likely to kill the industry that more than 623,000
registered voters have endorsed a referendum to repeal it this November.
The Editor says...
California's legislative effort to eliminate climate change presumes that all the causes of world-wide
climate change are located in California. In other words, California's propsed solutions are based on
the assumption that climate change is entirely their fault. Turning California (back) into an
18th-century wasteland won't have any impact on the climate anywhere else. Apparently nobody
in the state government has engaged in rational thought about that causes and effects of
unstoppable and imperceptiby gradual changes in the world-wide climate.
California's
green mania continues to make life difficult for its residents. I first saw aseptic
containers when I was in Europe in the early 1980s and thought they were wonderful. They
meant soups, juices, eggs, and other products that would last as long as canned goods but that
wouldn't taste of the can, even while making food easier to store and ship. [...] We're all
familiar with the bans already in place in California: paper bags, single-use plastic bags, straws,
plastic utensils — they've all been put on the chopping block. The latest targets
are containers that cannot be recycled or composted: [...] According to CalRecycle, aseptic
containers will soon be verboten. The ramifications are serious. [...] Whether California
laws affect others across America will also play out this year now that its anti-animal cruelty law
is going into effect. Moving forward, all animal goods sold in California must have been
raised in an environment optimal for the animals' mental health and well-being.
The
SEC Oversteps its Powers on Climate Change. Nearly two years ago, the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a rule that would force publicly traded companies to take
climate change seriously by reporting on how climate change might materially affect their
operations. The mandatory reports were to include, among other things, what actions they are
taking to fight climate change, to anticipate and mitigate its potential impacts, to report on
their emissions, and the emissions created throughout their supply chain, and any efforts they were
taking to reduce emissions. This was a purely political action pushed by the commission's
three Democrat appointees. Facing fierce backlash from investors, the public, and Congress,
the SEC has delayed, for the moment, formally imposing the rule. During the SEC's delay,
California, ever the leader in inane, job-destroying, consumer-costing policies, stepped in and
passed its own similar law. As will be the case should the SEC finalize its rule, business
and farm groups sued to block the law, in part, because it usurps the federal government's
constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce by applying to companies headquartered
outside the state, if they do business in California.
California
magical thinking will derail America. The unelected California Air Resources Board,
which has been working for years to force the rest of the country to ban internal combustion
engines in cars and trucks, now wants to control the nation's railroads. If approved by the
federal Environmental Protection Agency, a board proposal to phase-out diesel locomotives will
affect rail service throughout the U.S. as interstate railroads divert billions of dollars from
safety, maintenance and congestion projects. It could also put some California shortline
railroads that carry farm commodities and supplies out of business. It must be stopped.
Under the proposed rule, beginning in 2030 diesel locomotives operating in California can't be
older than 23 years. New engines on freight trains must be zero emission by 2035.
2024
Promises the Expansion of the Green Energy Scam. [Scroll down] On this
side of the pond, we have California banning the sale of gasoline-powered cars by 2035 and a wave
of blue states lining up behind them. This at the same time the state is asking existing
electric car owners not to charge their cars while leaning on fossil fuels to stave off the return
of rolling blackouts. The reality is that the green energy revolution is a fiction.
Green energy is incapable of providing the energy requirements developed nations require and the
green energy movement is a cult. In fealty to that cult, Western nations are wasting hundreds
of billions of dollars every year on "green energy" programs — most of which fail.
Federal
court deals knockout punch to blue city's Biden-backed effort to ban gas stoves. A
federal appellate court ruled Tuesday that it would not reconsider an earlier decision that
prevents the city of Berkeley, California, from enforcing its de facto ban on installing
gas-powered appliances in new buildings. Berkeley, one of the most liberal cities in America,
enacted the policy in 2019, marketing it as a means of countering climate change while others
railed against it as a de facto gas stove ban. The California Restaurant Association sued the
city over the ordinance, losing its challenge in federal court initially before a three-judge panel
vindicated the trade group in April 2023, a decision the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
opted against revisiting on Tuesday. "By completely prohibiting the installation of natural
gas piping within newly constructed buildings, the City of Berkeley has waded into a domain
preempted by Congress," Patrick Bumatay, a circuit judge on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit and member of the panel, wrote in his opinion.
Newsom's
California Is Showing Us What The Green Energy Transition Looks Like — And It Isn't
Pretty. California has long pushed the envelope when it comes to environmental
regulation, whether in land-use, emissions, harmful substance disclosures, renewable energy
requirements and more. The state offers a preview of where the climate agenda will take
us. Earlier this year the California legislature passed, and Governor Newsom signed, laws
requiring new emissions reporting requirements for businesses with sales of over $1 billion
operating in the state. These onerous reporting requirements add to the dozens of other
costly environmental regulations such as banning the sale of vehicles with internal combustion
engines and requiring solar panels on all new houses. But these regulations make California a
worse place to live, especially for the poor. They are not costless and the bill is coming
due. These environmental regulations make everything more expensive, from housing to
electricity to food to transportation.
California's
EV Conundrums. The crude oil industry's time in California is limited, and the
oil-refining industry is behaving as any industry would in comparable circumstances, by
transitioning its operations away from gasoline to activities that will prove to be more profitable
in the long run. And as crude oil supply falls further, much higher gasoline prices will
become a way of life for Californians, as the conundrums associated with EV mandates may be
growing. Standard economic logic indicates that high California gas prices should encourage
fuels supply to be shipped to California from other states. But this doesn't happen because
no other state formulates California's unique gasoline blend. In addition, the West Coast
fuels market is isolated from other supply/demand centers as California is an energy island.
Unintended
Consequences: The California Electric Truck Mandate. If you own a trucking
company that picks up shipments from California ports, you now have to deal with the consequences
of a new law designed to reduce your carbon footprint. Trucking is one of the vital
ingredients in our infrastructure that virtually all parts of the economy rely on. About
two-fifths of all containerized imports to the US come through one of California's twelve
commercial ports. According to a recent report in National Review, beginning January 1,
any trucker doing "drayage" (the technical term for transporting stuff to or from a seaport) in
California can only buy zero-emission vehicles, although they can hang on to their existing diesel
fleet for a while. Trucks don't last forever, however, and evidently the court of wisdom
otherwise known as the California legislature decided this was the best way to get truckers used to
the additional coming mandate that in 2035, all trucks entering California seaports and intermodal
rail yards (where the containers are loaded onto trains) must be zero-emission types.
California's
Heat-Pump Fantasy. Electric-powered heat pumps, once an obscure appliance, are being
hyped as the key to decarbonizing homes and buildings in California. Regulators in Sacramento
and in the Bay Area are phasing out gas-furnace sales, and two upscale communities now require
heat-pump retrofits when air conditioners wear out. But as with so many things "green,"
advocates underestimate the true costs and burdens of these policies, while ignoring their adverse
health and climate consequences. In summer, a heat pump works like an air conditioner, using
refrigerant to transfer heat outdoors for cooling. In winter, it can run in reverse, moving
heat into a home. Activists insist that trading gas furnaces for heat pumps will cut costs
and improve health while protecting the climate. The cost benefits are as yet illusory.
California
scheming. If you liked the coronavirus lockdowns, you'll love the coming climate
lockdowns. Leftists sure liked the former, noting that animals reclaimed some urban areas and
the skies were clearer and bluer. Government pandemic policies forced millions of Americans
to work from home, and this could become the permanent norm if special carbon taxes are put in
place. [...] Drive to work in a car? You are subject to special taxes. Travel by
plane? Ditto. Moreover, your children will be impacted by climate lockdowns, too.
For example, schools may frequently impose online only school days. In the U.S.,
California-style rolling blackouts will become the norm across the fruited plain due to failed
green energy policies. With the abolition of "fossil fuels" and nuclear power, consumers will
be prevented from purchasing new gasoline-powered cars, lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and chainsaws.
Nor will many soon be able to obtain or afford gas stoves, water heaters, and air-conditioners.
California will ban the sale of gasoline cars in less than 13 years, because, you know, the
internal combustion engine is E-V-I-L. Despite the fact that it has arguably led to more
freedom and prosperity than any other invention in the history of the world.
Budgets
blown: Wind [is] not exactly the net bargain they advertised. The wind and sun are
free, we were and are told. One only has to wire something up that transmits the harnessed
power and everyone will rejoice we did so. We're still hearing that now — cast
your ears towards the painful pleadings of advocates for offshore wind farms in California.
The onshore ones they have have been working out so well for CA consumers, no? "Oh, if we
only get umptyphrats amount more turbines, everything will work out!" It's all
[nonsense], as I noted in a June post about Gavin Newsom already scrambling to lock on external
sources of energy to keep power flowing to his state this summer. His plans, by the way, will
be put to the test this coming week, cuz it's going to be hot. CA residents' electric bills
will reflect all those savings from renewables.
Incorporating
Out-of-State Regulations is Unconstitutional. Besides Washington D.C., as many as 14
states — the CARB states, so called after the California Air Resources Board —
apply the bluebook, California's stringent air pollution control laws. In most of them, lawmakers
have neither legislated on the matter nor consulted citizens. This anomaly is being challenged as
unconstitutional by Peters Brothers Inc., a trucking firm based in Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania.
The family business owns a fleet of refrigerated trucks.
Goodbye
gas. New all-electric homes show how to live without fossil fuels. From the
outside, the rows of tile-roof houses in a new community in Menifee don't look much different from
those in other subdivisions cropping up in this fast-growing city in Riverside County. But on
the inside, these all-electric homes are revolutionary, offering a glimpse of the zero-emission
future we should be hurtling toward to fight climate change and adapt to its effects. All the
houses in the Durango and Oak Shade at Shadow Mountain communities, two adjacent KB Home
subdivisions I visited in May for an opening event, were built without natural gas hookups or
appliances. Each of the 219 homes comes with rooftop solar panels, heat pumps for heating and
cooling, induction cooktops and other energy-efficient electric appliances, and a smart electrical
panel that manages energy use. In the garage is a battery storage system that can power the
home during an outage and in the evenings when the cost of electricity from the grid is higher.
The Editor says...
[#1] Oh, what a wonderful idea, but where does the electricity come from? A big power plant in
another state perhaps? One that runs on coal? [#2] The solar panels on this house will
work for about ten years. What then? [#3] The climate will always change, gradually, but
there is no sense in fighting it. Adapt. [#4] Please tell me more about the "effects" of
climate change. What effects have you noticed? [#5] There is no "zero-emission future."
Emissions of what? Go ahead and say, "carbon dioxide," and we'll all know how tiny your problems
are. [#6] Your electric appliances won't work on a night when the wind isn't blowing and your
batteries are dead. [#7] Batteries consume more power than they give back, and in California,
there is never a good time to charge them.
July
4 Fireworks Canceled Due to Climate Change Activists. Woke Los Angeles sacrificed the
celebration of the Fourth of July this year on the altar of climate change gods by canceling
several fireworks on the birthday of the American nation because of new environmental
regulations. As of May 25, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board started
forcing all fireworks vendors to obtain a permit for their public displays and use biodegradable
plastics after adopting a countywide order. The Washington Examiner reported that the
decision was made to curb ocean pollution that was caused by plastic debris following all fireworks
shows. Even though most shows in the area will obtain their permits, at least five shows will
be canceled over the holiday weekend because one firework company — Pyro Spectaculars by
Souza — didn't bow down to the climate change mob by refusing to comply with the new
rules over its employees' safety concerns.
Summertime
in SoCal, and with green recycling, here come the rats, roaches, flies and maggots.
[H]ere in San Diego, where we are under a state mandate to recycle our green garbage —
food scraps, food-soiled paper, and yard clippings — fresh new environmental problems
are abounding. According to local T.V. station KFMB: ["] [...] Some people said
they're concerned the waste could attract rodents and other animals. "We understand it's
something that people have to get used to and put into practice," said Director of Environmental
Services Department, Renee Robertson.["] Did I hear that right? Did she just say
we need to get used to having rats and roaches around the old middle-America ranch house now going
for a million dollars on the market, with property taxes indexed to it? I think that's what
she's saying, because people are reporting problems because they use the government system.
It
Was Always Only About Power With the Left. California has been building massive solar
farms in pristine deserts and rural areas. Many spread over thousands of acres and require
disruptive supporting infrastructure. In the American Midwest, these new generations of solar
farms are unlike anything in our recent past. Often in size larger than Manhattan, they take
out of production tens of thousands of acres of prime farmland. What is curious about all
these next-generation projects is the relative silence of environmentalists to the radical
disruptions and dangers they pose to fragile and pristine natural landscapes, rare species of flora
and fauna, and quality of life for surrounding rural communities. In the case of hundreds of
thousands of lost farm acres, prior liberal advocacy for preserving America's heartland, and its
precious family farm acreage and those who work it, likewise go out the window. Yet if any
clean-burning natural gas plant, affordable housing development, a border wall, retirement
community, or farming operation caused as much havoc to the environment as solar — and
often wind — farms, there would arise leftist outrage replete with
environmentalist-driven court injunctions. In other words, left-wing environmentalism is
calibrated only by whether the Left or the Right is reengineering the landscape.
California
to Ban Diesel Truck Sales by 2036. California suffers from a homelessness crisis, a
drug epidemic, high taxes, and affordability issues, but there's one thing the state's residents
won't have to worry about in the future: diesel trucks. That's because state regulators on
Friday approved a rule that would forbid the sales of diesel vehicles by 2036 and require all
trucks to be zero emissions by 2042. The California Air Resources Board also unanimously
approved the Advanced Clean Fleets rule which will require delivery and garbage trucks to be electric.
This won't increase the price of groceries, will it? CARB
Approves Drastic New Locomotive Emission Regulations. The California Air Resources
Board (CARB) announced on Thursday that they have approved new locomotive regulations designed to
significantly cut back on emissions emitted from trains in the state, including banning the use of
all trains built before 2007 in 2030. California has introduced many restrictions on cars and
trucks in the last several years, including a new gas-powered car sale ban set to be fully
implemented in 2035 and requiring that half of all new sales of heavy duty trucks need to be
electric by 2035. While a few other states have so far followed California's lead on the
car and truck laws, no one had been willing to apply similar rules to trains. However,
that changed Thursday, with California becoming the first major state to implement emissions-based
restrictions on trains.
Deciphering
the Government's Invisible Ink. Have you heard about California's environmental tar
baby? California has 14 million vehicles, but is the fastest-growing purchaser of
electric vehicles (one million to date) — this is more than the following ten states
combined. California is on track to ban internal combustion engines by 2035, which is only
12 years away! Enter the tar baby! California is shuttering coal, hydroelectric,
nuclear power, and some natural gas plants, all while having conniptions over wind farms killing
migratory birds and disturbing peoples' sleep — amidst rolling blackouts to boot!
From where is the essential electricity going to come? What about tomorrow? Where's the
deep dive into exactly how all this will pan out? Inquiring minds don't seem to want you
to know.
Federal
Court Blocks California City's Gas Stove Ban, Turning Up The Heat on Democrats. A
federal appeals court on Monday overturned a California city's first-in-the-nation ban on natural
gas hookups in new buildings, saying it violates federal law. The three-judge panel from the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal sided with a coalition of California restaurants, who argued that the
City of Berkeley's ordinance essentially bans gas appliances in violation of a 1975 directive that
gives Congress control over restrictions on appliances. The unanimous ruling is a major blow
to California Democrats' green energy push, and could clear the way for legal challenges to similar
bans around the country. Democrats have increasingly moved to ban gas stoves while attempting
to downplay their efforts. New York is poised to become the first state to ban gas stoves,
and California is working towards a statewide ban of its own. The White House has denied that
President Joe Biden supports banning gas stoves while the Energy Department works to restrict their
sale. Blue state attorneys general and environmental groups lined up to support the ban in
court, in a sign of the case's national implications.
Ninth
Circuit Throws Out Berkeley Ban on Gas Stoves. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit tossed a Berkeley, California, ban on gas stoves on Monday, saying that the federal
Energy Policy and Conservation Act preempted state and local authorities in regulating natural gas.
[...] The Biden administration has taken steps toward eliminating gas stoves — though it
briefly pretended otherwise — ostensibly to prevent asthma, but actually as part of a
broader push against fossil fuel production.
Balboa
Island Ferry May Close Due to California's Zero-Emission Regulation. A California
regulation requiring the historic Balboa Island Ferry in Newport Beach to install electric engines
might put them out of business. The California Air Resources Board, or CARB, is requiring the
104-year-old company to meet zero-emission standards and use electric engines by the end of 2025.
"It's probably not going to happen. It's probably impossible," Seymour Beek, owner of the
Balboa Island Ferry, told The Epoch Times. Beek has been meeting with members of CARB, asking
them to postpone the regulation, but such efforts have thus far been unsuccessful.
When
Will This Climate Madness End? What do gas ranges, Dutch farmers, and moose have in
common? In a normal everyday context, very little. But in the world of apocalyptic
climate change, everything. [...] In 2021, Biden signed an executive order banning the federal
government from purchasing gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035 and requiring federal contracts for
all goods and services to be carbon-neutral by 2050. Despite claims to the contrary, the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission has already begun the process of banning gas stoves by approving
an official Request for Information on the hazards related to them. At the same time,
California is charging ahead with its own environmental plans. The state will ban the sale of
gas-powered water heaters and furnaces by 2030. In addition, it and six other states intend to ban
the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. Last Monday, the United Nations released a report
saying, "The world is rapidly approaching catastrophic levels of heating." U.N. secretary-general
António Guterres said developed countries should attempt to reach net-zero carbon emissions by
2040 instead of 2050.
The Editor says...
Any assertion that the "world is rapidly approaching catastrophic levels of heating" is an outright lie.
The rate of global warming is near zero. There is no urgnet need to shut down gasoline engines and coal-powered
industry. There is no climate emergency. There is no crisis. The U.N. is looking for ways to
perpetuate its existence, and the tyrants at the U.N. assume (and hope) that you know nothing about global warming.
The
EPA Plays Along With California's Attempts to Ruin the Supply Chain. You've got to
hand it to California. Even though the luster has dulled on the Golden State, the leftists
there are going to stick to their principles. You name a left-wing dogma, and California has
most likely devoted itself to it. This, of course, includes the radical climate agenda, which
California has now even extended to the nation's already struggling supply chain. California
has declared war on diesel vehicles, from pickups to buses to tractor-trailers, and the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has greenlit the state's plan to limit the sale of diesel vehicles.
California
Regulators Ban Gas Appliances In San Francisco Bay Area. California regulators voted Wednesday
[3/15/2023] to ban gas furnaces and water heaters in one of the state's most populated regions, a move that
will likely require locals to undergo costly home renovations. The Bay Area Air Quality District Board,
a panel of appointees tasked with curbing pollutants for nine California counties, voted Wednesday to block
the installation of gas-powered appliances beginning in 2027. The board acknowledged that homeowners will
have to spend thousands of dollars to install electric appliances and that the pivot away from natural gas will
increase energy costs. The ban comes as Democrats nationwide set their sights on natural gas. The
Biden administration has proposed a rule change that would effectively ban the sale of half of all gas stoves
in the United States, a move Democrats had claimed was not on the table.
California
bill would bar, fine businesses for using paper receipts. A bill in California's
state assembly takes aim at paper receipts and if passed, would ban businesses from handing
customers receipts unless they specifically ask for it. In the reintroduced "Skip the Slip"
bill, businesses would be charged up to $300 if they continue to pass out paper receipts.
Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, introduced Assembly Bill 1347, and shared that his bill is an easy way
to reduce paper waste in the state while addressing consumers' frustrations with excessively long
receipts. "When we get coffee to-go or a pack of gum, most of us don't want or need a physical
receipt. It's time we provide customers with the option to get no receipt or a digital
receipt. It doesn't make sense to kill so many trees and produce billions pounds of carbon
emissions," Ting said in a press release. "AB 1347 gives customers a choice and still
provides for customers to request a paper receipt when they need it."
Outlawing Diesel
Trucks Makes No 'Green' Sense. A serious question that should precede such a major decision is, does it
make sense to deploy electrically powered trucks on a large scale over diesels, especially for long-haul use?
Assuming the consequent increase in electric power demands are met and recharging infrastructure is built —
hardly a small feat — there are still a number of other factors to consider, such as recharge time, range (on
a full charge), economics (including battery replacement and cargo displacement due to battery size and weight), energy
efficiency, and environmental impact. Proponents of electric vehicles concede that impact is sensitive to the way
in which electricity is generated. Big diesel trucks can carry 300-gallon fuel tanks and have an average range of
over 2,100 miles. Refilling a diesel tank takes relatively little time compared to battery charging, which is
prohibitively slow with standard electric charging. A fundamental problem with battery charging is the state of
charge approaches full charge inverse exponentially. That means the battery achieves a partial charge quickly, but
charging decreases proportionally to the state of charge, and a full charge can take many hours. As a result,
high-power fast direct current charging (DCFC) has been developed to mitigate the delay, but it is expensive and still
not widely available.
Out
of state, out of mind. A CalMatters investigation finds that environmentally stringent California sends
nearly half its toxic waste across its borders, often to states with weaker rules. One of the biggest out-of-state
dumpers: the state's own hazardous waste watchdog.
California's Green Debacle.
Climate change, which serves as the all-purpose villain for every adverse event today, is the driving force behind
California's energy policies. Whether in response to summer drought and wildfires, winter rains and mudslides, or
alleged price-gouging by climate-denying oil companies, the state has adopted energy policies that will supposedly
vanquish climate change, much as Hollywood's heroes vanquish evildoers. The state's history of
climate-related regulation extends back two decades. In 2004, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an
executive order directing state agencies to build a hydrogen-fueling network on state highways by 2010. It never
happened. Today, 53 such stations are in operation, concentrated around the Bay Area and Los Angeles, to serve the
approximately 10,000 hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles in the state. The average cost to build each station was about
$2 million. That works out to about $10,000 per vehicle, excluding the cost of the hydrogen itself.
California
bans 70,000 tractor-trailers amid supply chain crisis. Do you remember way back in November when we were
teetering on the edge of running out of diesel fuel? Thankfully, reduced demand and some temporary increases from
our remaining refineries pushed off that crisis for a while. But it was an important reminder that the nation's
supply chain still runs almost entirely on diesel and if we run out, no products will be moving anywhere for a
while. Out in California this month they're looking at a different but related crisis. Instead of a shortage
of fuel, the state will be looking at a shortage of trucks. All tractor-trailers and buses made before 2010 are
now banned from the state's highways. That adds up to an estimated 200,000 vehicles, including more than 70,000
tractor-trailers. And you probably don't need me to tell you why. It's because of climate change,
of course.
Large
Trucks and Buses Made Before 2010 [are] Now Banned From California Roadways. Big rigs and buses made
before 2010 are now banned from operating on California roadways. The law, which went into effect on New Year's
Day, was part of a set of clean air regulations the California Air Resources Board passed nearly 15 years
ago. According to truck lobbying groups, the new law will prohibit about 10 percent of the commercial motor
vehicles that are operating in the state.
Year
in Review: California Got Even Crazier in 2022. California Democrats love to say their state's laws lead
the way. But where, exactly, are they leading us? Here are some guideposts. [#1] The California
Climate Crisis Act: In August, the state legislature approved a plan to reduce carbon emissions by at least
85 percent by 2045. Critics predict the plan will cost about $4 trillion, add $50,000 to the cost of
every new home, endanger "hundreds of thousands of jobs," and could intensify the number of companies leaving the
state. It's unclear if the rules will apply to Democratic politicians' wineries, which climate activists say hurt
the climate by sucking up water, using pesticides, and employing gas-powered tractors. California also banned
the sale of gas-powered cars starting in 2035.
Bye-bye
trucks? California air regulators to consider phasing out diesel big rigs. California truck drivers
and environmental groups presented their concerns about a proposal under consideration by state air regulators to phase
out the sale of medium and heavy-duty gas-powered vehicles within the next 20 years. The California Air Resources
Board held its first public hearing this week to receive feedback from the public on the proposal, which the board will
likely consider in Spring 2023. If adopted, all new medium and heavy-duty vehicles sold in the Golden State will be
required to be zero-emission by 2040. Additionally, the proposal outlines a phased approach to adding zero-emission
vehicles to certain fleets at the state and federal levels. Under the proposal, half of the vehicles added to
state and local government fleets must be zero-emission starting in 2024 and 100% by 2027.
Supreme
Court to decide if CA can use pigs to impose its left-wing agenda on America. The state of California
simply refuses to leave the rest of us alone. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard more than two hours of oral
arguments (more than in the case overturning Roe v. Wade) concerning pigs and how much space should be
allotted for a sow to give birth and wean her piglets. In 2018, California voters approved a proposition that
banned the sale of any pork not produced at a farm that provided at least 24 square feet of space per sow. While
there is always an argument to be made against animal cruelty, the problem here is a matter of practicality. Only
four percent of pig farms currently meet California's new standard. Boutique pork — as it were —
is available at stores like Whole Foods for around $8 a pound. If applied nationwide, California's law would raise
the price of pork by an estimated 9.2 percent; current record inflation and already-high food prices [notwithstanding].
Believe it or not, the Biden regime is reportedly siding with the pork farmers, not California.
L.A.
Times: California Policymakers Have Failed for Decades on Gas Prices. The reliably left-wing Los
Angeles Times has published an unusually candid analysis: that California's policymakers, given ample warnings
about the state's vulnerability to high gas prices, have failed to do anything to address the basic problems that cause
them. [...] But as a spokesman for Valero, the company that operates two of the state's 11 refineries, recently noted in
a letter to the California Energy Commission, "market drivers of supply and demand, together with government-imposed
costs and specifications," are the main reasons for high prices in California, and cited a recent federal judicial
decision that dismissed claims of price collusion in the industry. Moreover, he added, "California is the most
challenging market to serve in the United States" because of regulations that require a unique blend of gasoline;
because of its environmental regulations; and because state policymakers have made it difficult to operate refineries,
limiting supply in a crisis.
Please use all-electric appliances — but only between midnight and sunrise. Don't worry, the power grid won't collapse! California
moves to ban natural gas furnaces and heaters by 2030. California is committing to a plan that will make
it the first U.S. state to phase out gas-fueled furnaces and water heaters in homes, a move environmentalists are
betting will provide a template for other states. The Golden State will ban the sale of all new natural gas-fired
space heaters and water-heating appliances by 2030, under a proposal unanimously approved by the California Air
Resources Board on Thursday. "We need to take every action we can to deliver on our commitments to protect public
health from the adverse impacts of air pollution, and this strategy identifies how we can do just that," board Chair
Liane Randolph said. "While this strategy will clean the air for all Californians, it will also lead to reduced
emissions in the many low-income and disadvantaged communities that experience greater levels of persistent air pollution.
California
Will Allow Human Composting After Death to Combat Climate Change. The far-left state of California further
embraced neo-paganism this week when Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law allowing the practice of
composting dead human beings to better combat climate change. Citing the high CO2 emissions associated with
cremation, the bill will give people the option to give their dead remains over to a process known as natural organic
reduction (NOR) should they not want to be buried or cremated. "The process involves placing the body inside a long,
reusable steel container along with wood chips and flowers to aerate it — allowing microbes and bacteria to
break down the remains," according to the Daily Mail. "One month later, the remains will fully decompose and be turned
into soil." The act of cremation reportedly accounts for 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
The Editor says...
[#1] Are they trying to claim that gradual decomposition by "microbes and bacteria" does not produce carbon dioxide?
[#2] In 2016, China produced 10,432,751,400 tons
of CO2. If it's true that "[t]he act of cremation reportedly accounts for 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year," a quick
calculation shows that China will emit that much CO2 in less than 20 minutes.
California's
Net-Zero Energy Model Is Already A Disaster — So Why Should The Rest Of The U.S. Copy It?
Americans are now being told that California's crazy energy policies would be a good model for the rest of the
nation. Have these people seen what's going on there? California's plan to ban all gasoline-powered vehicles
by 2035 and replace them with electric vehicles "could be" a model for the rest of the nation, Energy Secretary Jennifer
Granholm recently said. She didn't mean that as a warning, but you should know: It is one.
"I think California really is leaning in. And of course, the federal government has a goal of — the
president has announced — by 2030 that half of the vehicles in the U.S., the new ones sold would be electric,"
Granholm added. Get that? She's saying the federal government, already trying to destroy the auto industry and
ruin the oil industry through insane regulations and restrictions that have pushed energy costs to prohibitive levels,
hasn't gone far enough.
California
Goes Over the Edge. We've known for a long time that California is the land of fruits and nuts. Many
of us have thought that it would be difficult for them become more insane. But recent actions by the Democrats in
Sacramento lead us to understand that there is no limit to leftist insanity. And that shows that the same applies
in D.C. As long as Democrats are in power, no one is safe. The Solons of Sacramento have already passed
regulations that will ban the sale of gasoline or diesel cars in thirteen years. But that's not enough. In
four years, over a third of all new cars sold will have to be electric. It doesn't matter that electrics cost more
than gas-powered cars. It just sounds so good and righteous. We're going to clear all the pollution out of our air!
California's
Ban of Gas-Powered Vehicles Likely Illegal, Unrealistic. California plans to ban the
sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. In 2021, California required 12 percent of total new vehicle
sales to be powered by batteries or hydrogen. By 2026, their goal is to reach 35 percent.
By 2030, 68 percent. And in 2035, 100 percent powered by batteries or hydrogen. [...]
According to the Independent Women's Forum, banning gas-powered cars is likely unconstitutional.
Mandy Gunasekara states: "First, it could violate the Commerce Clause as it creates unreasonable
burdens on interstate commerce, i.e. the manufacture and sale of vehicles. The Supreme Court has
long held that the Commerce Clause has been a "self-executing limitation" on the power of States to enact
laws which restrict interstate commerce. Second, under the Clean Air Act, California is required
to receive a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in order to set its own, more stringent,
emissions standards."
The Editor says...
If all cars are "powered by batteries or hydrogen," that won't really fix anything. What's the power
source for charging all those batteries? How much power would be needed to produce enough hydrogen to
run an automobile for a month? Is there a Permian Basin of hydrogen somewhere? In a state that
already has occasional power blackouts, where is all that newly-demanded power going to come from?
Two
More States Follow California's Decision To Ban Gas Car Sales By 2035. It's only a
day since we reported on California's intention to outlaw sales of new combustion-engined vehicles
from 2035, and already the ripples are being felt across the nation. The California Air
Resources Board (CARB) that governs motor vehicle emissions for the state adopted new rules that
will require 35% of the new cars sold in the state are electric or plug-in hybrids by 2026, with
that percentage rising to 68% by 2030 and 100% by 2035. California has a waiver from the
federal government to set its own air quality rules, and other states are allowed to opt into its
regulations, which are typically more stringent than the national standards.
California
to unveil plan tomorrow that will see sale of new gas cars banned by 2035. California
is set to roll out its long-awaited ban on new gasoline cars on Thursday, which is part of its rule
to have all new cars sold by 2035 to be electric only in an effort to fight climate change.
Governor Gavin Newsom first announced the ban in 2020 as a means to reduce the amount of
smog-induced pollution in the air, which will improve the state's air quality that is the worst in
the US. The move will also make California the first in the world to mandate zero-emission
vehicles on its roads — but many other states and countries have joined the movement,
but have not yet began the ban.
California
moves toward banning new cars running only on gas by 2035. California is set to move
closer to banning the sale of new cars running only on gasoline by 2035, a major step in the
car-loving state's fight against climate change. The expected embrace of the policy by the
state's Air Resources Board during a meeting scheduled for Thursday comes after Gov. Gavin
Newsom (D) set a target in 2020 for cleaning up California's auto fleet. The proposed
regulation would set strict deadlines for meeting that goal, forcing automakers to step up
production of cleaner vehicles considerably, starting in 2026. The requirements would only
speed forward from there, until only zero-emission passenger cars, pickup trucks and SUVs as well
as a limited number of plug-in hybrids are allowed to be sold in the state by 2035.
The Editor says...
[#1] No legislation will ever control the weather, or keep the climate from changing.
[#2] If California is the only state taking action to reduce the CO2 content of the atmosphere, what good
will it do if the other 49 states don't take the same action? What good will it do if China
and India keep pumping out CO2? [#3] If it is still legal to drive a gas-engine car in
California after 2026, what's to prevent someone from buying such a car in a neighboring state?
[#4] California already deals with power outages every year. When everybody is driving
electric cars, what will happen to the power grid?
Environmentalism
is an Environmental Hazard. 20 years after voters rejected 'toilet-to-tap' water, Los Angeles Democrats brag
that they will be the first city in the state to pipe toilet water to faucets for the sake of the environment. As part
of the city's version of the Green New Deal, a majority of Los Angeles water will be 'toilet-to-tap'. California Democrats,
who refuse to build new dams or do anything to expand water resources, are set to spend at least $12 billion on what they
describe as "locally sourced" water which certainly sounds nicer than toilet water. The environmentalist elites will go
on drinking bottled water and it will be the city's poor drinking out of the toilet. Environmentalists insist that
nothing can go wrong even though a 2019 NIH hosted survey noted that "there have been relatively few health-based studies
evaluating the microbial risks associated with potable reuse" and that California wants to achieve "a benchmark level of
public health protection of 1 infection in 10,000 people per year". That's 1,000 people in Los Angeles County.
California
governor calls for no new gas plants in climate fight. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced steps Friday
[7/22/2022] to speed up the clean-energy transition and fight climate change, including an end to building gas-burning power
plants, even as the move away from fossil fuels has threatened his state with blackouts and forced him to reconsider nuclear
power. Newsom said he would work with Sacramento legislators to pass a law requiring California to reach carbon
neutrality, a goal set by his predecessor Jerry Brown in an executive order. In a letter to the state's top climate
change regulator, the Democratic governor also called for building offshore wind farms, deploying 6 million home heat pumps,
requiring the aviation industry to increase its use of clean fuels, and setting firm targets for removing carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere using land management and machines designed for the task. Perhaps most important, Newsom told the head
of the California Air Resources Board that he doesn't want new natural-gas plants built in the state.
The Editor says...
The avoidance of carbon dioxide emissions and the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are both futile. Any and all money
spent on these activities is wasted. China and India aren't wasting their time with projects like this, and they share the same atmosphere.
California
cities ban new gas stations in battle to combat climate change. Without realizing they were starting a movement
in green energy policy, leaders of a small Sonoma Valley city seem to have done just that when they questioned the approval
process for a new gas station — eventually halting its development and others in the future. "We didn't know
what we were doing, actually," said Petaluma Councilwoman D'Lynda Fischer, who led the charge last year to prohibit new gas
stations in the city of 60,000. "We didn't know we were the first in the world when we banned gas stations." Since
Petaluma's decision, four other cities in the Bay Area have followed suit, and now, leaders in California's most car-centric
metropolis are hoping to bring the climate-conscious policy to Southern California.
Where
Science Ends and Morality Begins. Environmentalists' desire to halt development of the natural landscape is
plainly visible in their restricting of the water supply in California. Since 1970, the population of California has
increased 100 percent, but the volume of water in her reservoirs has increased only 26 percent. The last major dam in
California was built 42 years ago. Environmentalists fight the construction of every new water project, including even
desalination plants, which could be a source of virtually unlimited water for Californians. But more water would mean
more people, more wealth, and more transformation of the landscape. (It would be a mistake to attribute California's
water shortage to radical environmentalists; in California, garden-variety environmentalists have simply enjoyed more
power to enact the standard green agenda than their comrades elsewhere.)
In
SoCal, the comrades target the taps of 'water wasters' for restrictions. In drought-plagued Southern
California, the comrades have ways of making you obey. Fresh after nixing a new plan for a desalination plant to
provide water to residents during these water-lean times, they'd rather target individual water-wasters at residences.
They're putting "flow restrictors" on residential taps to stomp out "water-wasters," same way Stalin's men worked to stomp
out wreckers and hoarders. Apparently, paying higher bills for excess water use is simply not enough. Coercion is better.
The Editor says...
Perhaps California would have plenty of water if they'd stop releasing fresh water into the ocean for the benefit of the Delta Smelt.
(Very few people have ever seen a Delta Smelt and most of them probably wouldn't care to see another one.)
Providing water isn't the Left's primary concern. Their primary concern is control.
California
Court Declares Bees Are Actually Fish. A California appeals court ruled Tuesday that bees can be classified as
fish under the state's Endangered Species Act (CESA) in a blow to agriculture groups. The Sacramento-based three-judge
panel ruled that four species of bumble bees found across California are technically fish since they are invertebrates,
according to the decision in a case concerning the species' protected status that pitted the state government against
agriculture groups. The court added that the term fish shouldn't be confined to "aquatic" invertebrates under the CESA.
"We acknowledge the scope of the definition is ambiguous but also recognize we are not interpreting the definition on a blank
slate," the appellate court's ruling stated. "The legislative history supports the liberal interpretation of the Act (the
lens through which we are required to construe the Act) that the Commission may list any invertebrate as an endangered or
threatened species."
Engineered
Famine: California diverting water flows into the ocean, depriving rice farmers of necessary irrigation to grow
food. All across California, residents are being told to scrimp and save water because of historic drought
conditions. Meanwhile, state officials are dumping freshwater into the ocean while intentionally depriving rice farmers
of the water they need to grow food. Colusa County in Northern California is the top producer of rice in the Sacramento
Valley. The area generates more than 150,000 acres of rice in a normal year — but as you can probably tell
by now, 2022 is anything but a normal year. Officials there say that only a fraction of the usual rice crop will be
grown there this year, delivering a massive financial blow to rice farmers, workers and suppliers. [...] Meanwhile, 50 percent
of California's water flows right out into the Pacific Ocean, a policy that was enacted for "environmental" purposes to save the
Delta smelt, an "endangered" fish species.
Can
California Really Achieve 85% Carbon-Free Electricity By 2030? In the contest to be the most virtuous of all
the states on the "carbon-free" electricity metric, the race is on between California and New York. In 2018 California
enacted a bill going by the name "SB100," which set a mandatory target of 60% of electricity from "renewables" by 2030 (and
100% by 2045). Not to be outdone, New York responded by enacting its "Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act" in
2019, setting its own statutory targets of 70% of electricity from renewables by 2030 (and 100% by 2040). So is any of
this real? Or is it just so much posturing to show conformity with current fashions, all of which will be forgotten by
the time the now-seemingly-distant deadlines approach? As to New York, I have had multiple posts explaining how the
supposedly mandatory goals are completely unrealistic as to both feasibility and cost, and how the people charged with
achieving the goals have no idea what they are doing. Is California any less clueless?
Hundreds
of oil wells to close in Long Beach under city efforts to go green. In 1921, oil was discovered in Long Beach,
California, and the city became one of the nation's biggest boomtowns — drilling 1,450 wells. The port city
once produced one-fifth of the nation's oil supply, more than 60 million barrels per year. That has been scaled back to
about 8 million barrels per year, and city officials hope it will dwindle to zero by 2035. Now, a proposal to spend
$1.2 billion to seal up operational oil wells has been discussed by the city's environmental committee.
Imagining
Regime Change Without Tears. [Scroll down] Then there's California, going full-steam ahead to a
fossil-fuel-free future, where the state goals include:
[#1] "getting 33% of our electricity from renewable resources by 2030."
[#2] "achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible, and no later than 2045."
Suppose these goals are a) impossible, and b) crash the California economy. Are you "Facebook, Apple, Netflix,
Twitter, Google, Intel, and a host of other social media and technology companies," plus Hollywood plus the gubmint sector going
to sacrifice your lives, your fortunes and your sacred honor if it turns out that carbon neutrality is the cruelest and the
stupidest idea since Stalin's Five-Year Plan that starved the Ukraine?
California's
Nuke Follies. Of all of the endless follies of California these days — I know, it's hard to
enumerate all of them let alone put them in rank order — closing our last nuclear power plant at Diablo Canyon
ranks perhaps at the top of the list. It provides more than 10 percent of California's electricity, and can run 24/7,
unlike wind and solar power. As one of the last nuclear power plants built and brought online in the 1980s, it easily
has another 40 years of potential service left in it, if not more. The perverse energy policy of California, which
excludes nuclear along with any new dams from its legal definition and mandates for clean or "renewable" energy, virtually
compelled the closure of Diablo Canyon, and the corporate socialists who run PG&E simply lied to the public that they can
make up the shortfall with wind and solar power and magic batteries. In fact, they will make up electricity shortfalls
in large part with natural gas and power imports from other states.
Food
waste becomes California's newest climate change target. Banana peels, chicken bones and leftover veggies won't
have a place in California trashcans under the nation's largest mandatory residential food waste recycling program that's set
to take effect in January. The effort is designed to keep landfills in the most populous U.S. state clear of food waste
that damages the atmosphere as it decays. When food scraps and other organic materials break down they emit methane, a
greenhouse gas more potent and damaging in the short-term than carbon emissions from fossil fuels.
The Editor says...
[#1] If your garbage rots in your garden, or it rots in the landfill, what's the difference? [#2] Rotting garbage is nothing
new. If decaying food scraps cause global warming (and they don't), the process didn't start in the last few years. Decaying
vegetation can be found all over the world.
Los
Angeles bans condiment packets in restaurants to overcome "extreme climate challenges". The city of Los Angeles
has moved to ban restaurants from distributing condiment packets as part of its efforts to fight an imaginary threat called
climate change. Fox Business reported that a new ordinance passed by L.A. officials bans restaurants with 26 employees
or more from giving out packets of ketchup and mustard to customers. Customers must specifically request for the
condiments before restaurants can issue them. The ordinance approved Nov. 15 will apply to all restaurants in the city
by April 2022. Aside from condiment packets, the ban also extends to plastic utensils, napkins, splash sticks and
toothpicks. Erring restaurants will only receive warnings for the first and second violations. For the third and
succeeding violations, they will be fined an administrative penalty of $25 per day — with an annual limit of $300.
According to a Nov. 16 press release, L.A. city council members Paul Krekorian and Paul Koretz were responsible for the
ordinance. "Larger restaurants in L.A. are now officially partners in the effort to address the environmental
catastrophe caused by the disposal of millions of pounds of plastic waste along our beautiful California coastline.
Their compliance is critical as we aggressively counter what has been a major contribution to the climate crisis," Krekorian said.
The Editor says...
[#1] There is no climate crisis. [#2] Let's see the pictures of "millions of pounds of plastic waste along
[the] California coastline. Millions of pounds? Really? [#3] Why are napkins and toothpicks banned?
Because the napkins go straight from the restaurant's trash can to the Indian Ocean. Diners
now have to ask for plastic utensils and napkins in Los Angeles. Customers at Los Angeles restaurants will only
get plastic utensils and napkins if they ask for them, under a new ordinance taking effect Monday that aims to reduce
waste. The rule requires all restaurants with more than 26 employees to remove all single-use plastic utensil
dispensers, the Los Angeles Times reported.
When
ideology drives legislation, common sense often ignored when it comes to fossil fuel. There can be few better
examples of ideologically convinced politicians running head-on into reality than a new California law known in the
Legislature as AB 1346. This bill, signed into law in September by Gov. Gavin Newsom, is the personification of
today's faddish hostility to everything fossil fuel by the Democrats who dominate California government. These
ideologues want to ban natural gas appliances from new construction. They want new cars to be all-electric before 2040,
even if few have the range to travel from one end of California to another without long stops for recharging. And they
are getting their way.
Gas
stoves and water heaters face a climate change reckoning. In 2019, Berkeley became the first city in the
country to ban gas stoves and water heaters in all new construction in order to cut down greenhouse gas emissions that are
causing climate change. Since then, dozens of others, including Seattle, San Francisco and New York, have followed suit
with similar restrictions and President Biden has laid out an ambitious plan to help Americans ditch gas appliances and
heaters in favor of electric ones.
The Editor says...
For those of you who have just tuned in, here is the other side of the argument about gas appliances: [#1] Man-made "greenhouse
gas emissions" are not necessarily "causing climate change;" [#1A] Even if they are, the benefits are well worth it;
[#1B] The climate changes all the time anyway, no matter what we do; [#1C] Nothing we do about "greenhouse gas emissions"
makes any difference if China emits more than anybody else; [#1D] Nothing we do about "greenhouse gas emissions" makes any
difference if all the volcanos and termites in the world emit far more CO2 than we do; [#1E] the rate of global warming is
near zero at the moment, and whatever the rate of global warming may be, it's to tiny and too slow to notice; [#2] The
electricity which will power your new electric appliances (made in China by slaves) will have to come from a power plant, which
means the "greenhouse gas emissions" will merely move to the power plant, and you've gained nothing, even if there's
a problem to be solved, which there isn't.
Bill
banning small, gas-powered engines and generators heads to Governor's desk. A bill is now on Governor Gavin
Newsom's desk that could disproportionately impact families in the Central Valley and nearby foothill and mountain
communities. Assembly Bill 1346 would end the production of gas-powered small, off-road engines — used in lawn and
garden equipment and generators — by January 1, 2024. Authors of the bill say small off-road engines produced more
emissions than cars in 2020. It would replace the gas-powered engines with zero emission battery technology.
The Editor says...
It's safe to say that the authors of the bill are lying when they claim that "small off-road engines produced more emissions than cars in 2020."
There are 280 million cars on the road,
and perhaps one tenth as many lawnmowers in use. The annual US market for lawnmowers
is 13 billion dollars.
If the average price of a lawnmower is $500, there are 26 million of them sold every year. But they aren't in daily use like automobiles are.
Even so, small gasoline engines are used for more that leaf blowers and lawn mowers. When the power goes out for several days, which is far more likely
in California than any other state, batteries aren't going to power your house for more than a few minutes. You'll need a generator, and the generator
needs an engine. Think ahead, or suffer. Stop voting for tree-hugging Democrats.
Because the price of gas is so low... Los
Angeles County votes to phase out oil and gas drilling. Los Angeles County supervisors voted unanimously
Wednesday [9/15/2021] to phase out oil and gas drilling and ban new drill sites in the unincorporated areas of the nation's
most populous county. Over 1,600 active and idle oil and gas wells in the county could be shuttered after the 5-0 vote
by the board of supervisors. A timetable for the phaseout will be decided after the county determines the fastest way
to legally shut down the wells. Among the sites is the Inglewood Oil Field, one of the largest U.S. urban oil
fields. The sprawling, 1,000-acre (405-hectare) site, owned and operated by Sentinel Peak Resources, contains over half
the oil and gas wells in the county's unincorporated areas. The field produced 2.5 million to 3.1 million
barrels of oil a year over the past decade, according to the company.
Leaf blowers? That's a problem? Your life is so tough! Bay
Area cities prepare to restrict gas leaf blowers. A statewide ban could be next. Two more Bay Area cities
took sides in the region's long-running crusade against gasoline-powered leaf blowers in recent weeks, with officials in
Novato and Hayward moving toward banning the contraptions, increasingly derided as noise, smoke-belching nuisances.
Oakland, too, has vowed to get serious about enforcing its rules against their use. And the entire war may swiftly come
to a head if a state Assembly bill seeking to ban new leaf blower sales statewide wins approval. "I'm happy to see them
banned," said Al Mendall, a member of the Hayward Planning Commission, which voted 4-3 recently to outlaw their use in
residential areas beginning in 2023. "They're incredibly loud and obnoxious."
San
Francisco bars natural gas in new building construction starting next year. New homes and buildings in San
Francisco won't be able to use natural gas or other fossil fuels for their heating and appliances beginning in June of next
year. Instead, all new construction in the city must use only electricity for heating, cooling, cooking, and other
activities, according to a new city ordinance passed unanimously on Tuesday by the city's Board of Supervisors. "It is
necessary and appropriate to stop construction of new natural gas infrastructure in San Francisco in order to reduce the
unique impacts San Francisco will endure from global warming," the ordinance said.
The Editor says...
[#1] There is no extraordinary global warming. [#2] In your lifetime, there will be no extraordinary global warming.
[#3] Global cooling is far more likely. [#4] San Francisco is not affected by the weather any differently than other cities.
[#5] Global warming (and cooling) takes place at a rate of one or two degrees per century. It is not a problem that needs fixing.
Shutting down capitalism won't improve the weather. Adapt or migrate as necessary.
A
New Abnormal of Rolling Blackouts Under Biden Energy Plan. In concert with the aspirational Green New Deal
co-sponsored by his running mate Senator Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Biden's plan calls for humongous expenditures in renewable
energy, including installing 500 million solar panels and manufacturing 60,000 wind turbines. Add to this that Biden
proposes to have taxpayers finance a half-million electric car chargers across America — along with funding to
help car makers convert their factories to electric vehicle (EV) production. Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin
Newson has now ordered his state to ban new gas vehicles by 2035 in order to weaponize its gigantic car market as a hammer to
force automakers to concentrate on EVs. All of this, of course, will shift even greater energy demand from petroleum to
the electrical power sector. Producing and recharging those EVs will require that energy sufficiency is constantly
available. That wasn't the case when that August heatwave left millions of perspiring Californians in the dark as power
demand outstripped supplies.
Gavin
Newsom: If You Like Your Car, You Can Keep Your Car. When Barack Obama told the country that under
Obamacare "if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it," he was dinged for telling the PolitiFact Lie of the
Year. California Gov. Gavin Newsom made a similar promise when he signed last week an executive order that will
outlaw the sale of new gasoline- and diesel-powered cars by 2035. "You can still keep your internal-combustion engine car,"
he said. "You can still have a market for used cars. You can still trade and transfer those cars —
we're not taking anything away." Obama knew better, or at least he should have, than to make his promise about health
care plans. But Newsom is likely telling the truth, as far as he knows. Outside of an override by the Legislature
on possible future legislation that would contradict him, he has the authority to keep his promise as long as he's
governor. But he has no control of what happens after he leaves office.
Mandating
electric vehicles without a plan will be devastating to California's economy. Before sky diving, you need to
plan ahead by having a parachute before you jump. California Governor Newsom's recent suicidal jump onto the EV train
has a minimum of eight (8) lack-of-a-plan ramifications from his recent Executive order to ban the sale of gas-powered
vehicles by 2035 that will be devastating to the state's economy and environment.
As
rats swarm California cities, Gov. Newsom bans popular poison to protect wildlife. California
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Tuesday that seeks to protect mountain lions and other wildlife from being poisoned by a
popular form of pesticide. The move raises questions about how the state will manage its growing urban rat population,
which some experts say is surging due to the spread of homeless camps across California. Newsom signed Assembly Bill
1788, which bans, with few exceptions, the use of what are known as "second generation anticoagulant rodenticides" until
state pesticide regulators develop plans to ensure they're not harmful to wildlife.
EPA:
California's Ban on Gas-Powered Cars Is Possibly Illegal. Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler
on Monday warned California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) that his plan to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035 raises
"significant questions of legality," Breitbart reports. In a letter sent to Newsom, Wheeler questioned how the
state could add millions of electric vehicles despite having "a record of rolling blackouts." He said it "begs the question
of how you expect to run an electric car fleet that will come with significant increases in electricity demand, when you can't
even keep the lights on today." Newsom has yet to reply to the EPA.
California
ban on gas cars a preview of what liberals want nationally. Who can fail to be attracted to the Tesla?
That sleek, silent-running electric vehicle seems more common on the road every day. The introduction of the Model 3
has put this fascinating, tech-heavy brand of car into the same price category as the more expensive nonluxury conventional
vehicles. As a result, Tesla can barely build them fast enough to keep up with demand. Nor is Tesla the only make
of electric car generating broad interest. Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, and other automakers
are all expected to come out with new fully electric models in the next year or two. Even so, there are limits to this
revolution. Electric vehicles are still very expensive for the low-income consumer who can't do without wheels.
Even for consumers willing to pay more for added range, they are less suitable than conventional cars for certain long-range uses.
California's
Gavin Newsom Bans Gas-powered Vehicles, Effective 2035. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday [9/23/2020]
that the state will ban sales of gas-powered vehicles, effective in 2035. Newsom said that the "audacious" goal was necessary
to achieve the state's goal of 100% renewable energy by 2045. Newsom said that his new executive order would "eliminate"
the sales of "internal combustion engines" and move to electric vehicles — a move that he said would create jobs
and allow California to "dominate" the market, and address climate change. Those who currently own gas-powered vehicles
would still be allowed to operate them and to sell them on the used market.
The Editor says...
Presumably, one could still purchase a gas-powered car in Nevada or Arizona and drive it to California, so the governor has just
cut the throats of all the new car dealers in California. Brilliant.
California's
Disastrous Forest Mismanagement. At some point in the next 30 years, global temperatures are expected to rise
1.5°C above their pre-industrial levels, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. If we doubled
the average fuel efficiency of all the cars on the planet, decreased the amount of global automotive travel by one half,
increased solar-energy usage 100-fold, and increased wind-power capacity by ten times, we would go half of the way toward
averting that temperature increase, assuming all the projections are correct and nothing else in the world changes in the
interim. A tall task, but that is how California governor Gavin Newsom plans to combat the wildfires consuming his state.
The Editor says...
If California experienced 400 degrees of warming, that might ignite trees and brush, but while "global temperatures are expected to
rise," they haven't yet. There is no extraordinary global warming or cooling, and the climate is not starting fires in California.
California
State Water Project Draws Ire of Environmentalists. Four environmental groups sued the state of California in
state court Wednesday, claiming the complex series of dams, channels, aqueducts and pumps responsible for transferring water
from Northern California to the south state are killing fish. "It's time for the state to be honest about the damage
being done to the delta ecosystem and our native fish by the unsustainable water diversions of the State Water Project," said
Jeff Miller, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity.
There are homeless bums defecating in the streets, but California is more concerned with bugs and snails. California
Sues Trump Administration Over 'Failure to Protect Species'. Reuters reports, California is suing the Trump
administration for the administration's failure to protect endangered species in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.
The lawsuit by the state Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the California Natural Resources Agency and the California
Environmental Protection Agency filed suit on Thursday against the Trump administration in the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of California. The attorney general said in a statement, "California won't silently spectate as the
Trump Administration adopts scientifically challenged biological opinions that push species to extinction and harm our
natural resources and waterways."
San
Francisco Restaurants Adding "Climate Change" Surcharge to Bill. Despite its reputation as a tourist draw, San
Francisco saw more than 400 restaurants closed during 2019. [...] Well, it turns out that there may soon be another reason
for diners to reconsider their eating options. Some restaurants are adding a "climate change" surcharge to the bill.
Gotta save all that water for the Delta Smelt! California
Passes Insane New Law Limiting Personal Water Usage With Massive Fines. The news coming out of California gets
crazier every week. Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law which just went into effect that limits personal water
usage. People can even be hit with massive fines if they exceed their limit by doing laundry and taking a shower on the
same day. This was recently discussed on KTLA News and the reporters seemed shocked to learn the details.
California
to sue over federal rules governing water. California officials say they will sue the Trump administration over
its rules governing water in the fragile San Joaquin Delta. The federal government released the new rules last month,
which would govern the federal Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. The new rules committed to sending more
water to farmers despite warnings from environmental groups that it would imperil endangered species in the state's rivers.
San
Diego's Green New Deal Showcase Unwittingly Reveals an Expensive Future. A couple of weeks ago, functionaries
from the San Diego's Metropolitan Transport System (MTS) proudly rolled out one of six new electric buses that they had
bought. These million dollar babies compete with their Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) siblings whose capital cost is
nearly half that of the "Green New Deal" machines. [...] In my humble opinion, this move to what are known as EV (electric
vehicle) buses is part of a conditioning program for passengers to get them used to higher fares, gradually escalated.
Let's face it: There is no rational cost basis for this decision otherwise. [...] The price of CNG in November 2019 in
Southern California is about $2.00 per gallon. The "energy," a.k.a. heating value of a gallon of CNG is 92.5% of a
gallon of diesel. In other words, since the CNG bus gets 4.51 miles per DGE, the bus would get 4.17 miles per
gallon of CNG. That means the CNG-powered bus fuel cost would be $0.48 per mile. In other words, the "fuel cost"
for the EV bus is 15% higher than that of the CNG bus.
U.S.
Cities Ban Natural Gas to Combat Climate Change; Gas Ranges on Chopping Block. The fight against climate change
is coming to our kitchens — and our bathrooms and laundry rooms. Cities across the United States are banning
the use of natural gas in new construction; others are considering such a ban. That could mean the end of gas ranges,
heating systems and clothes dryers in new homes. Berkeley was first. Officials in the Northern California city
voted unanimously in July to ban natural gas in newly constructed buildings, becoming the first city in the country to
do so, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
California
bucks Trump administration lightbulb rollback with tougher state standard. A California board voted to enact
tougher energy efficiency standards for lightbulbs, pushing back against a rollback from the Trump administration. A
new rule from the Department of Energy (DOE) eliminates energy efficiency standards for half the bulbs on the market, a move
critics say will make the U.S. a dumping ground for energy-sucking, cost-ineffective bulbs.
The Editor says...
If certain light bulbs are "cost-ineffective," how would they be "dumped" here? Goods are "dumped" by lowering the price to an irresistible
bargain, undercutting the competition. That's a winning situation for the consumer, since the consumer knows [#1] cheap light bulbs
might not be very reliable, and [#2] there are other choices on the store shelves.
Another great idea from the tree-hugging hippies who brought you 1.6-gallon toilets: No
more fire in the kitchen: Cities are banning natural gas in homes to save the planet. Fix global warming
or cook dinner on a gas stove? That's the choice for people in 13 cities and one county in California that have enacted
new zoning codes encouraging or requiring all-electric new construction. The codes, most of them passed since June, are
meant to keep builders from running natural gas lines to new homes and apartments, with an eye toward creating fewer legacy
gas hookups as the nation shifts to carbon-neutral energy sources. For proponents, it's a change that must be made to
fight climate change. For natural gas companies, it's a threat to their existence. And for some cooks who love to
prepare food with flame, it's an unthinkable loss.
U.S.
Sues California For Entering Agreement With Quebec To Control Emissions. Last week, the U.S. sued the state of
California along with other state entities for entering an agreement with Canadian province, Quebec, back in 2013. The
agreement was to control emissions linked to climate change and the issue being that the state had no right to conduct foreign
policy. According to the Justice Department, the state of California, state officials, the California Air Resources Board,
and the Western Climate Initiative Inc. entered into the 2013 agreement without congressional approval. In the lawsuit,
President Donald Trump's administration makes the argument that the constitution prohibits states from making treaties or pacts
with foreign powers.
General
Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota Split With Industry, Side With Trump Administration Over Emissions Fight. General
Motors, Fiat Chrysler and Toyota sided with the Trump administration in a battle over emissions against the state of
California. The Trump administration proposed to lower emissions standards set during the Obama administration,
according to The New York Times. California responded to the proposal by announcing the state would continue to enforce
the Obama administration laws on fuel economy standards for automobiles.
Why
Do Environmentalists Seem Determined To Torment, Rather Than Convince? [Scroll down] Now, the lines are
much slower because bagging has become an ordeal thanks to the "Earth-protecting" plastic-bag ban the state had passed a few
years ago. Consider what happens now. Store employees can't simply place your food in the needed bags. They
have to ask how many bags shoppers want to buy. "As many as needed," I always say, given that I don't really care if
the $150 transaction costs another buck. It's basically just another tax we pay to live in a former paradise. But
that's not how it works now. The employees dispense bags parsimoniously. Who can blame cashiers given the guff
they might get if they sell someone an unnecessary bag? Bagging used to be an artform, where baggers carefully
separated, say, the eggs from the bottle of Chivas Regal. Now they cram as much stuff as possible in a single
bag. Heaven forbid you get stuck behind someone who pulls out a trove of bacteria-laden, reusable sacks.
California
bans hotels from using tiny plastic bottles. Hotels in California will have to stop giving guests small plastic
shampoo bottles under a new law. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday [10/9/2019] he had signed a law banning
hotels from giving guests plastic bottles filled with shampoo, conditioner or soap. The law takes effect in 2023 for hotels
with more than 50 rooms and 2024 for hotels with less than 50 rooms. Violators could be fined $500 for a first
offense and $2,000 for subsequent violations. The law follows similar actions by some of the world's largest hotel chains.
Cop's
Tesla runs out of battery power during high-speed chase. A police officer's Tesla ran out of battery power in
the middle of a high-speed chase in California last week, reports said Wednesday [9/25/2019]. The cop from the Fremont
Police Department was pursuing a suspect in a department-issued Tesla Model S car last Friday when he suddenly noticed he
was running low, the Mercury News reported. As the officer and the suspect hit speeds of 120 miles per hour,
the cop radioed that he would have to drop the pursuit. "I am down to six miles of battery on the Tesla so I may
lose it here in a sec," the cop said on the radio, according to the report.
The Editor says...
Yes, and for every second he talks on the radio, he has a little less juice in the battery.
Calif.
Police Officer Loses High Speed Chase when Battery of His Electric Cruiser Dies. A California police officer
lost a suspect in traffic after the battery in his electric patrol car conked out before he was able to nab the crook he was
chasing in a high-speed chase. A recording of police radio calls shows that a Fremont, California, officer was chasing
a suspect at speeds of upwards to 120 miles per hour. But the chase did not go well for the police, according to
the Mercury News.
The Editor says...
A criminal — probably guilty of a violent crime — got away. But at least the police car didn't wreck
the earth by emitting carbon dioxide, and that's what California considers a top priority. If it's not a priority, why are the cops
driving electric cars?
[Photo:
A 1971 Plymouth Satellite, perhaps with a 440-cubic-inch V8.]
Another
city bans natural gas in new construction projects. Despite the fact that natural gas is the cleanest of the
fossil fuels hands down (and now the cheapest), liberals continue to oppose it. The "keep it in the ground" folks
scored another victory this week when the city of San Jose California voted to ban natural gas lines and appliances in all
new construction projects going forward. This is allegedly part of the state-mandated goal of going 100% "carbon-free"
by 2045. Of course, as with all things, the devil is in the details.
The Editor says...
The emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is what this is all about. Natural gas is abundant (in the U.S.) thanks in
large part to fracking — no thanks to Obama who tried his best to stop fracking — and natural gas combustion
emits no smoke. Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, and every other country in the world is burning up hydrocarbons faster than
the U.S., or they would if they could!
California
raises the caution flag on 'green jobs'. California's mixed record of using public investments and
environmental mandates to create "green jobs" raises serious questions about the promises of some Democratic presidential
candidates to use economy-transforming investments in environmentally friendly technologies to put millions of people to
work. Many of the initiatives touted by the candidates in their environmental plans are already in place in California,
and some of them having been promoted as important engines of job creation. But California stopped counting green jobs
in 2013, struggling to separate truly new jobs from existing employment growth.
DOT,
EPA announce 'one, and only one' national fuel standard. The Department of Transportation and Environmental
Protection Agency Thursday announced that there will be "one, and only one" national fuel standard, a move made to cut the
costs of vehicles and bar California from making stricter standards. In a release and in a briefing today [9/19/2019], the
department said, "This action will help ensure that there will be one, and only one, set of national fuel economy and greenhouse
gas emission standards for vehicles." The department, in the release shared in advance with [the Washington Examiner], also
took a shot at California which will lose its waiver to require different fuel standards, a model followed by a dozen other states.
California's
Fuel Mileage Standards, Revoked. President Donald Trump says his administration is revoking California's
authority to set auto mileage standards stricter than those issued by federal regulators. In a tweet, Trump said his
move would result in less expensive and safer cars. He insisted that new cars would be cleaner, even as they burn more
gasoline than they would have under Obama-era fuel efficiency standards he wants to replace. California's authority to
set its own, tougher emissions standards goes back to a waiver issued by Congress during passage of the Clean Air Act in
1970. Even before the announcement revoking that authority, California and environmental groups said they planned legal
action. California officials and environmental groups are criticizing the Trump administration's decision to revoke the
state's authority to set auto mileage standards.
Trump
Is Right to Ditch the California Auto Waiver. The Trump administration is pushing ahead with a plan we endorsed
previously. It will revoke California's ability to set separate greenhouse-gas standards for cars — so that
a single policy will apply to the entire country, and so that California can't use the threat of a bifurcated regulatory
regime to influence that policy in a way other states cannot. We are fans of federalism. But Congress,
understandably not wanting automakers to have to comply with 50 different sets of regulations, has generally preempted state
regulation in this area — with the exception that California, and California alone, may apply for a waiver to
create its own emission rules to address "compelling and extraordinary conditions." Other states may then adopt these rules
if they choose. "Compelling and extraordinary conditions" was intended as a reference to smog. And in contrast to
Californian smog, there is nothing compelling and extraordinary about Californian climate change.
EPA to
revoke California's power to limit vehicle emissions. The Trump administration on Wednesday will revoke
California's power to enforce more stringent limits on vehicle carbon pollution than the federal government, sparking a
battle with the state that has led a revolt against the EPA's rollbacks of dozens of environmental regulations. The
long-expected move seeks to neuter California's resistance to President Donald Trump's proposed rewrite of the Obama-era
rules that would have required automakers to accelerate the deployment of more fuel-efficient cars and light trucks, a high
priority in the state that has led the nation in efforts to fight climate change.
The Editor says...
How are those "efforts to fight climate change" working out? Did the climate
stop changing? SWRpb3RzIQ==
Save
California, Ban Environmentalists. The 6-foot-tall man dressed as a giant receipt stood on a stool next to the
emblem of the State Capitol in Sacramento. He was there because Assemblyman Phil Ting of San Fran wanted to ban
receipts. California had a great ban streak going. It had already banned plastic bags, straws and dog breeders.
Assemblyman Ting, who had only been known for wearing bow ties, had declared war on receipts. And Ting had his aide wear a
giant receipt to show how bad receipts were for the environment. And how better to crusade for the environment than by
printing up a receipt 100,000 times normal size? According to Ting's people, receipts not only wasted trees and water,
but were actually toxic. The San Francisco Democrat explained that receipts were coated in chemicals that weren't allowed
in baby bottles. [...] The same Democrats who shrug at a hepatitis outbreak gasp at the toxicity of store receipts.
EPA
Wants to Revoke California Auto Regulation Powers. The Trump administration is preparing a plan to strip
California's authority to set tougher auto efficiency regulations than the federal government, even while agencies continue
finalizing a rollback of national standards, according to a person familiar with the matter. The matter is still under
consideration and no final decision to proceed has been made but is expected in the coming days, said the person, who
requested anonymity to discuss the matter.
Why
Are Automakers Caving To California's Radical Greens? Anyone who thinks that big business hates regulation
should look at what's happening in the auto industry today. While the Trump administration is pushing much-needed
regulatory relief, four major carmakers are embracing California's plans to kill the internal combustion engine. The
issue involves federal fuel economy mandates, a vestige of the 1970s "energy crisis" that forced carmakers to meet
increasingly strict fuel economy standards for their new cars. These "corporate average fuel economy" standards
resulted in a radical downsizing of the American car fleet back then, and were instrumental in destroying the U.S. auto
industry's lead in the car business.
The
Trump Obsession Comes for California's Water. Tomorrow, the Golden State's Democrat-run, veto-proof legislature
returns from its summer break and is expected to quickly take up S.B. 1, the "California Environmental, Public Health, and
Workers Defense Act of 2019." It has been proposed for one reason: Donald Trump is president. Under his
administration, long-standing EPA regulations and analyses, and bureaucratic (state and federal) actions, related to water
have been rethought, reviewed, and relaxed. Which comes to the progressive Left as a threat: All that water-denying
is now at risk. Hence the bill. Its consequence will be to preempt any possible forthcoming federal regulations
that would result in people and farms (instead of, seriously, the Pacific Ocean) getting more, already available water.
Due to lawsuits and environmental red tape, nothing can be built in California — except sports arenas! Welcome to California.
[Scroll down] It's not just hard-core environmentalists who use CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act] to block
development. CEQA is also a favored tool of businesses that use it to try to handicap competition (the Parking Spot
sued LAX a few years ago over plans to connect a rail line to the airport, for instance); developers who attempt to hinder
rival projects; NIMBYs who don't want anything new built near them; and unions that try to force developers to exclude non-union
workers from construction projects. Yet while CEQA deters housing construction, the policymakers manage to carve out
exemptions or secure fast-track approvals for projects important to them, such as basketball arenas and football stadiums.
California
spends $178 million per fish to bring back salmon. Leftie greenies recently hailed the return of ... five ...
salmon, swimming upstream to the San Joaquin river to spawn. Paradise restored! In water-starved California, that
was quite an achievement, given that each salmon required 50,000 gallons of water to get the job done, coming at a price tag
of $890 million at the low end and $2 billion at the high. And that water came out of the hides of
California's farmers, who got very little of the water they were promised, and paid for, as a result. That's some use
of resources to get those five salmon to swim upstream.
California
restaurants may add climate change surcharge: 'We as chefs want to do the right thing'. Dining out may get more
expensive in California. As part of an initiative aimed at combating climate change, restaurants will have the option
to adhere to the Restore California Renewable Restaurant program and add a one percent surcharge to diners' bills. The
extra money will go to support environmentally friendly farming practices.
California
may ban hotels from giving guests tiny bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotion. The bill would ban "lodging
establishments", including hotels, motels, resorts, bed and breakfasts, and vacation rentals, from offering small plastic
bottles holding 12 ounces or under of product in rooms or public spaces. Instead, the establishments could offer "bulk
dispensers" that could be used by a number of people. The goal is to cut down on the amount of plastic containers thrown
away by guests and operators. The law wouldn't apply to nursing homes, hospitals, long-term rentals, or hosted rentals.
California
Could Be Coming For Your Kitchen Stove Next (Plus Your Water Heater, Clothes Dryer, Etc.). California is
essentially a one-party state at this point so whatever Democrats want to do is what is going to happen. One of the
things they are apparently thinking about doing now is getting rid of natural gas appliances in homes and businesses.
The idea is to replace millions of gas stoves, gas dryers and gas heaters with replacements that run on electricity to help
fight climate change.
The Editor says...
Switching to electric appliances is simply brilliant, except that much of the electricity required would be imported (see next article),
and that electricity would be generated by burning coal and natural gas. None of this would prevent the climate from changing.
No
State Imports More Electricity Than California. California has taken bold action by shuttering its coal plants,
planning to shut down the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant so it can increase its share of renewable energy, or that's what the
Greenies out there want to believe. In reality, the Golden State simply imports electricity generated by coal, natural
gas, and nuclear facilities from Arizona and Nevada and pretends they are "green energy" leaders. In fact, no other
state imports more electricity than does California.
Climate
Junk Science and the Utter Nonsense of Twelve Years to Destruction. California has just endured one of its
rainiest winters in memory. More than 18 trillion gallons of water fell in February alone. Similarly, it
experienced an abundantly wet winter only two years ago in 2016-1017. Yet between 80 and 90 percent of all that
rainwater is lost and wasted, runoff into the Pacific. Why? Because, despite money allocated by voters, the Climate Change
Theologians have resisted building more reservoirs and aquifers, persuaded that Climate Change assures that California will be in
sustained drought forevermore. So they instead blew tens of millions on a high-speed rail boondoggle that they now have
canceled, while losing all that precious precipitation and still with no new water construction.
Despite
California's long drought, trillions of gallons of rainwater [are] wastefully flowing into sea. California's
rainy season could be the wettest in 40 years, but experts say the state is missing a major opportunity by failing to collect
the trillions of gallons of storm runoff that currently flows wastefully into the ocean. "We will never capture it all,
but we need to do a better job of capturing what we can," said Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute. In February
alone, an estimated 18 trillion gallons of water fell on the state. In urban areas and coastal cities, 80 percent
ends up diverted into the ocean, as Los Angeles and other cities built long concrete channels for flood control. The Los
Angeles River, for example, is a 51-mile-long canal as wide as a football field. Almost none of the water seeps into the
underground aquifer.
The Green New Deal
Versus Rural America. California has mandated that utilities must get at least 60 percent of their electricity
from renewables by 2030. Last year Mark Nelson and Michael Shellenberger, of the Berkeley-based think tank Environmental Progress,
released a report that showed that between 2011 and 2017, electricity prices in California rose at more than five times the rate in
the rest of the U.S.
Berkeley
Restaurants To Charge Fee For Disposable Cups. One California city is pushing residents to switch to reusable
cups by imposing a new tax. On Wednesday, the Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to force restaurants and coffee
shops to charge a 25-cent fee for their disposable cups. The Democrat controlled city council is hopeful the tax will
reduce the city's paper and plastic waste, and encourage people to bring their own reusable cups while dining out.
Restaurants will reportedly be allowed to keep the funds raised from the fees to be used however they want.
California
set to seize 1,100 miles of coastline. The California Coastal Commission is set to empower local government to take
thousands of properties through eminent domain along 1,100 miles of coastline to prepare for sea level rise. Despite California
being battered by 4-8 inches of torrential rain and flooding from an El Niño weather cycle, E&E News reported that the
State of California in late January will authorize eminent domain authority for local jurisdictions to implement a "managed retreat"
policy that will allow taking and demolishing coastal homes and businesses. The California Coastal Commission circulated an
87-page "Draft Residential Adaptation Guidance" in March regarding how communities could proactively address sea level rise impacts
through Local Coastal Programs (LCPs). Although the CCC draft did not adopt specific retreat guidance, the California Special
Districts magazine expects that the CCC will predict a sea level rise of 2.5-5.5 feet and the elimination of 31-67 percent
of Southern California beaches by the year 2100.
The Editor says...
Do the California politicians really think there's an impending disaster resulting from rising sea levels?
(There isn't.) Or do they just want to own all
the beaches?
The
Biggest Junk Science of 2018. [#5] In California, Coffee Is a Carcinogen. Coffee contains a tiny amount of
the chemical acrylamide (on average, a half a millionth of a gram in a cup of roasted coffee). Based mostly on animal
and in vitro studies, acrylamide has been found to be a potential risk factor for cancer in very high doses. Therefore
coffee causes cancer and requires a warning label. Such was the apparent logic of California Superior Court Judge
Elihu Berle in a ruling this past spring. Scientists and experts almost universally decried the move as a gross
overextension of the precautionary principle, but to no avail. Coffee is immensely unlikely to cause cancer, but in
California, the popular drink now comes accompanied by a scary and misleading warning label.
Carbon
prices — Set to KILL California economy, families and businesses. If you are staying in California
be prepared for a government policy to skyrocket the cost of doing business in this Third World State. The current
price is $14.65. "As required by legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017 extending the state's
cap-and-trade program through 2030, the state Air Resources Board has proposed a new ceiling on the price of carbon credits,
per ton, at auction. Until now, California has not set a price at the high end. Regulators have proposed a
ceiling of $61.25, which, if approved, would take effect in 2021. [...] That is right — they want to increase the
price by four times. But, they say it will never happen. Social Security started at 1%. They wanted a
maximum of 2%, but told it could never get that high — today it is closer to 15%.
California
mandates solar panels for homes built in 2020 and later. California lawmakers on Wednesday officially approved
a measure that mandates all homes built in the Golden State in 2020 and beyond be solar-powered. The new standards were
approved earlier this year and voted on unanimously by the California Building Standards Commission, the Orange County
Register reported. Officials heralded the move as a "historical undertaking" that "will be a beacon of light for the
rest of the country."
California
Gov. Jerry Brown Issues Another Bogus Global Warming Prediction. Mark your calendars. In five years,
everyone will believe the global warming doomsday scenarios repeated ad nauseam by environmentalists. That's according
to California Gov. Jerry Brown. More likely, it be another in a long line of climate change "tipping points" that
never arrive.
LA's
Measure W would charge property owners to help recycle rainwater. Proponents say it's all about rainwater.
"Traditionally every drop that drops here we've engineered to wash out to the ocean so we need to capture and clean the water
that falls here and put it to good use," says Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. To pay for all this Measure W would
place a new tax on property. The tax would be on what is called "impermeable area" such as your house your driveway,
concrete patios. Anything that stops rainwater from going into the ground.
California
Imposes Tough New Rules For Efficient Toilets, Faucets. State officials took emergency action on the drought
Wednesday [4/8/2015], imposing tough new standards for toilets, urinals and faucets sold in California starting January
1st. In an unprecedented move by the California Energy Commission, made possible by the Gov. Jerry Brown's
executive action last week, retailers won't be allowed to sell any of their remaining less efficient models after that date.
Declare
San Francisco Critical Habitat for Grizzly Bears? Drive through San Francisco on any given day and you are
likely to see more than a few grizzly bears. No, they will not be soiling sidewalks in the Tenderloin or chasing
high-tech billionaires down Market Street. But they will be flapping in the wind above City Hall and other public
buildings. The grizzly, you see, is California's state animal and adorns its state flag. Yet not a single wild
grizzly has been seen in the state in nearly a hundred years.
We Must All Sacrifice
for the Environment (But I meant you — not me!) The city [of San Francisco] has banned plastic straws,
grocery bags, and Styrofoam, and even required solar panels on private buildings. If it is on the environmental industry
wish list, San Francisco is leading the way. Even so, when activists there insist on leaving more water in the rivers, to
protect salmon, they mean water from Central Valley farmers — not their own water. State regulators have obliged, and
water restrictions have been imposed on farms to the south for 25 years. Hundreds of billions of gallons of water
previously used for irrigation have been flushed to the ocean every year, rather than sent through the California Aqueduct to
the Central Valley. Nevertheless, salmon remain endangered. So now, the California Water Resources Control Board
proposes further restrictions, this time including water that is part of the municipal supply of San Francisco. Public
hearings are generating lots of angry responses.
Since there's plenty of money available... Gov. 'Moonbeam' says
California to launch climate satellite. California Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday [9/14/2018] that [...]
state officials will work with the San Francisco-based company Planet Labs to develop a satellite to track climate-change
causing pollutants.
The
Deep State, Obama, and Destroying America. Vitriolic hatred of President Trump has sprung America into an
Afghanistan-like "state of collapse, civil conflict, ethnic and disintegration locked in a self-perpetuating cycle that may
be simply beyond outside resolution." An example is California versus America over energy. California has chosen 100%
renewable energy by 2045 when it's proven that renewable energy doesn't work on a scalable, affordable basis now or in the
coming decades without immense fossil fuel backup and billions in taxpayer subsidies. Thankfully, the United States
embraced fracking, allowing the U.S. to overtake Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world's number-one oil producer.
In
California, Human Breath Is [seen as] a Cancer Risk. Last Wednesday, the FDA threw its hat into California's
eternal does-or-doesn't-coffee-cause-cancer fight. "Requiring a cancer warning on coffee, based on the presence of
acrylamide, would be more likely to mislead consumers than to inform," the federal agency's statement read. That's
because scientists are in near uniform agreement that coffee doesn't cause cancer — its safety is reinforced by
some of the most comprehensive data available. But since coffee contains a chemical called acrylamide, California's
Proposition 65 law requires the beverages to bear a warning. The law is broken, and its inconsistency is just part of
the reason why Californians pay these warnings little mind. So in August's waning days, the rules governing Proposition 65
warnings changed to make them more informative. Now, rather than vague notices about cancer and reproductive harm, California
law requires manufacturers to identify which specific chemical on the state's list of roughly 900 carcinogens and reproductive
toxins an item might expose consumers to.
Catering
to [a] Single Wolf Puts California in [Superior] Courtroom. [Scroll down] The California version of the
federal [ESA] law isn't much different, but it now is being challenged in court over bureaucrats' decision to launch all
their protections on behalf of a single gray wolf, which lives in neighboring Oregon. The CESA designated the gray wolf
as endangered last year, but the California Cattlemen's Association and the California Farm Bureau, pointing out that the
rules forbid them from even "chasing [a] wolf to the border of his or her property," sued the California Fish and Game
Commission, the Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Protection Information Center, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands
Center and Cascadia Wildlands.
The Editor says...
The Pacific Legal Foundation asserts that
"The Gray Wolf's listing is illegal because it is based on the presence of a non-native subspecies of wolf."
Tom
McClintock: Trump 'Is Absolutely Right' About CA's Environmental Laws. Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) said
President Donald Trump "is absolutely right" to link California's wildfires to the Golden State's poor management of water and
forest resources. [...] "Our water policy is ludicrous," said McClintock. "We have not built a major reservoir over a
million-acre feed of storage since the New Melones was opened in 1979. Meanwhile, the state's population has nearly doubled."
San Francisco: The City of Bans.
On July 19, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to forbid restaurants, bars, and convenience stores from
handing out or selling straws. The city joins a growing list of progressive enclaves to do so, including Seattle, Malibu, Santa
Cruz, and Santa Barbara. Most cities impose a fine for such verboten behavior. But Santa Barbara's ordinance, which goes
into effect next year, imposes a fine of up to $1,000 and imprisonment of up to six months. [...] What's the official point
of it? It's designed to cut down on the plastic waste that ends up in the ocean. But as Reason's Christian Britschgi
recently reported, plastic straws "account for about 2,000 tons of the 9 million tons of plastic that are entering the ocean
each year." That's a tiny amount. And he noted that Starbucks, which recently announced that it will stop using straws, is
introducing new lids that actually use more plastic than the old ones. There's no gain and activists are complaining about the
elimination of a product that helps many disabled people drink from cups.
Wise
Giants and Arrogant Dwarves. [S]ince 2008, during the peak of drought, 1.4 trillion gallons of water have been
dumped into the Pacific. And why? Affluent progressive environmentalists, who don't have to provide their own food,
and who fancy themselves the possessors of ecological and global warming "science," are harming an essential industry and
driving up food and energy costs in order to protect the Delta Smelt, a two-inch bait-fish. There is no scientific
demonstration of how the extinction of the Delta Smelt would harm humans or threaten their existence, any more than the
extinction of 99% of all the species that ever existed has held back the human race. Instead, bad environmental
"science," old nature-love clichés, and a Disneyfied understanding of humanity's relationship to nature are driving
the smartest people in history into doing things an illiterate farmer in 1850 had too much common sense to do.
Activists
push for statewide plastic straw and styrofoam food container ban. Activists from Environment California and
the Surfrider Foundation gathered at Goleta Beach Park Friday morning to push legislators to pass statewide measures to
protect California's coastline. The laws would address plastic straws and food packaging in the state of
California. Julia McLaughlin works with environment California's Isla Vista office and helped organize the event.
She says the organization has been working all summer to advocate for a state-wide ban on polystyrene, more commonly known as
styrofoam, as well as limiting single-use plastic straw consumption.
California —
so advanced they can keep the lights on quite a lot of the time. In LA temperatures are forecast to reach as
high as 32C (90F) on Monday [7/23/2018] and 36C (97F) on Wednesday. (They call this a heatwave?) But gas is running
so short that Californians are being asked to turn off non-essential lights and not use their biggest appliances from 5pm to 9pm.
Welcome to the future, where you need to plan ahead to run your washing machine or oven.
California's
Climate Extremism. Environmental extremism increasingly dominates California. The state is making a
concerted attack on energy companies in the courts; a bill is pending in the legislature to fine waiters $1,000 —
or jail them — if they offer people plastic straws; and UCLA issued a report describing pets as a climate
threat. The state has taken upon itself the mission of limiting the flatulence of cows and other farm animals. As
the self-described capital of the anti-Trump resistance, California presents itself as the herald of a green, more socially
and racially just society. That view has been utterly devastated by a new report from Chapman University, in which
coauthors David Friedman and Jennifer Hernandez demonstrate that California's draconian anti-climate-change regime has
exacerbated economic, geographic, and racial inequality. And to make things worse, California's efforts to save the
planet have actually done little more than divert greenhouse-gas emissions (GHG) to other states and countries.
California's
Costly Global Warming Campaign Turns Out To Be Worse Than Useless. For more than a decade, California has won
high praise from environmentalists for its stringent greenhouse gas restrictions. But a new report shows that despite
the enormous costs of this effort, the state is doing a worse job at cutting CO2 emissions than the rest of the
country, while badly hurting its working families.
Judge
throws out SF and Oakland climate suits against big oil. A federal judge Monday [6/25/2018] tossed out two
groundbreaking lawsuits by San Francisco and Oakland that sought to hold some of the world's largest oil companies liable for
climate change. In an exhaustive, 16-page ruling that touched on such scientific matters as the ice age and early
observations of carbon dioxide, U.S. District Judge William Alsup acknowledged the problem of a warming planet but said it is
just too big for the courts to solve. The cities are trying to get five oil and gas giants, including Bay Area-based
Chevron, to help cover the costs of dealing with sea-level rise, like picking up the tab for seawalls.
The Editor says...
If the sea level is rising a few millimeters per year, how big should the wall be?
California's
Delta Tunnels: An Unnecessary $15 billion, 15-Year Jobs Program. When Jerry Brown was elected for his third term,
he ran with it in 2011 now claiming the tunnels were needed to protect the Delta Smelt, a non-indigenous fish. "To protect smelt
from water pumps, government regulators have flushed 1.4 trillion gallons of water into the San Francisco Bay since 2008," Wall
Street Journal columnist Allysia Finley wrote in 2015. "That would have been enough to sustain 6.4 million Californians for
six years." During his 2016 Presidential campaign, Donald Trump vowed to "open up the water" in drought-stricken California,
acknowledging that the "drought" was political.
California's
new water restrictions send residents fleeing to saner states. "Please sir, I want some more," is no longer a
sentiment just for Oliver Twist in the orphanage. A new law in California limits how much water can be used by each
household. Now their showers, how many flushes, and how often they can do their laundry will be under the watchful eye
of the state government. This from politicians who have pushed policies creating homeless and drug abuse crises
throughout the state. They have now decided to clamp down on the use of the most basic needs of civilized living.
As the blog Zero Hedge put it, "it's now against the law to do laundry and shower on the same day in the Sunshine State," and
they're not exaggerating. Under the guise of addressing "climate change," the new bill rations water to a degree that
makes it impossible to maintain a healthy home environment.
Hypocrisy:
Oakland, Suing Oil Companies Over Climate Change, Fined By EPA For Polluting San Francisco Bay. Talk about
being caught with your pants down: the city of Oakland, which is suing oil companies over "climate change," has been fined
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for polluting San Francisco Bay. As Heartland.org reports, in late April, the
EPA fined Oakland and the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) $360,000 for permitting untreated sewage to flow into
the San Francisco Bay. Oakland has been hit with fines before for sewage discharges; in 2014, EBMUD and the seven
communities it serves, including Oakland and Berkeley, paid $1.5 million in civil penalties and were required to repair
1,500 miles of pipes over a 21-year period.
California's
Self-Inflicted Housing Disaster Couldn't Get Worse — Or Could It? California is a virtual one-party
state, and suffers for it. A case in point: At the final forum for gubernatorial candidates before the June 5
state primary, lavish promises were made by Democratic candidates to build "millions" of new homes to end the state's housing
crisis. But the fact is, California's far-left politicians created the problem, and don't have a clue about how to
solve it. As the headlines above show, the same politicians that vow to build "millions" of new homes to keep state
citizens from leaving will now require solar panels on new houses. They claim that'll add just $9,500 per house, but of
course that's way low. Making homes less affordable is no way to end a housing shortage.
California
Bureaucrats Will Soon Require Solar Panels on New Homes: But Is It Safe? The California Energy Commission, a
group of unelected bureaucrats, is poised to approve new changes to the state building code. Among these changes is a
requirement that all new housing be equipped with rooftop solar panels in an attempt to cut down on fossil-fuel usage and greenhouse
gases, which many scientists believe contribute to climate change. Expected to be approved today [5/10/2018], the change to
the building code would take effect in 2020. Current estimates are that the required solar panels will add an additional
cost of $8,000-$12,000 per house. California would be the first state to make such a requirement, although it is also
being discussed in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C.
California
becomes first state to mandate solar panels on new homes. California has become the first state in the nation
to mandate solar panels for all new homes, in a move to cut greenhouse gas emissions that critics say will end up raising
home prices in the already expensive market. In a unanimous 5-0 vote Wednesday [5/9/2018], the California Energy Commission
approved the policy. The regulation will require all homes and apartments built after 2020 to have solar panels, adding an
average of roughly $10,000 to construction costs for a single-family home.
California,
Land Of The Mandatory Solar Panels. Thinking of building or purchasing a newly constructed home in
California? Even assuming you can somehow afford to own one in one of the most brutal real estate markets in the
country, get ready for the cost to go up further. The state government is preparing to pass a new law which will
mandate that every new house, condo or other building up to three stories high must have solar panels installed and comply
with a "net-zero energy" profile. (This means that they have to produce enough of their own solar power to offset all
electricity off the grid and natural gas consumed over the course of a year.) Even more remarkably, they want everyone to
be in compliance in under two years. What this will do to the California real estate market, particularly for aspiring,
low-income homeowners remains a mystery.
California
to require solar panels on most new homes. There's no question that solar power is entering the mainstream, but
California is about to give it a giant boost. The state's Energy Commission is expected to approve new energy standards
that would require solar panels on the roofs of nearly all new homes, condos and apartment buildings from 2020 onward.
There will be exemptions for homes that either can't fit solar panels or would be blocked by taller buildings or trees, but
you'll otherwise have to go green if your property is brand new.
California
city wants to charge for every disposable takeout container. While many cities across the world are banning
plastic grocery bags in an effort to cut back on waste, one city in California is taking it one step further by targeting
disposable containers and cups. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arregu'n held an event Tuesday [4/24/2018] at the local recycling yard
to introduce the legislation, which would encourage people to bring their own reusable containers and cups to restaurants and
coffee shops or be charged an extra 25 cents. The Disposable-Free Dining plan would also require to-go containers
to be 100 percent compostable or recyclable, chosen from a pre-approved list.
Lefty
mayors' frivolous climate change lawsuits need to stop. Who or what is actually responsible for "global
warming" and how should the individuals, businesses or industry sectors be held accountable? If you listen to New York
City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the California mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond and others, the entire blame rests
exclusively with our oil and natural gas industry. Conveniently, these money-hungry mayors and their equally greedy
trial lawyers accuse only the largest, most profitable oil and natural gas companies of wrongdoing. Their municipal
lawsuits allege that global warming is a local, "public nuisance" issue and the sole perpetrators of our planet's "warming"
are no farther away than the local refinery or natural gas plant. Sound unfair? Add this insane reasoning to the
fact that dozens of other industrialized nations are apparently blameless for any of the planet's climate-related woes.
Operators of airlines, asphalt factories, cement plants, auto dealerships and heavy machinery in New York or California are
likewise off the hook for any climate change-related issues.
Coffee
must carry cancer warning, California judge rules. Bad news, coffee drinkers: A California judge has
ruled that coffee companies across the state will have to carry a cancer warning label because of a carcinogen that is
present in the brewed beverage. Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle sided with a nonprofit's case against dozens of coffee
companies, including Starbucks, Peets and other chains, saying that businesses that sold coffee were in violation of a state
regulation requiring businesses with at least 10 employees to disclose the prevalence of carcinogens and toxic chemicals.
"While plaintiff offered evidence that consumption of coffee increases the risk of harm to the fetus, to infants, to children
and to adults, defendants' medical and epidemiology experts testified that they had no opinion on causation," Berle wrote.
"Defendants failed to satisfy their burden of proving by a preponderance of evidence that consumption of coffee confers a benefit
to human health."
The
Courts against Proposition 65. Around 1.8 million tons of glyphosate has been used across the U.S. since 1974.
Such a commonly used chemical has obviously demanded a rigorous health and safety assessment. It has repeatedly been certified as
non-threatening to humans from regulatory bodies all over the world, including in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and
Japan. The controversy over the substance arose when IARC — a semi-autonomous branch of the World Health Organization
(WHO) based in Lyon, France, which was recently slammed by House Science Committee members for its "manipulation of scientific data"
and "shoddy work" — found it "probably carcinogenic" to humans. Despite the fact that this remains the only major
study to reach such a conclusion, IARC's ruling meant that glyphosate was automatically added to California's Proposition 65
list, a lengthy catalogue of supposed carcinogens.
California
to add recycled sewer water to the state reservoirs. California's water regulation agency approved new measures
Tuesday that will allow recycled water — water that once ran through the sewers — to be added to the
state's reservoirs, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The new rules are expected to be implemented by 2023.
"This is a type of indirect potable use — it's not treated recycle water that goes directly to someone's house,"
said Miryam Barajas at the Water Board. "It's highly treated." She says the new regulations could potentially
affect all 36 of California's reservoirs that serve as the main source of the state's municipal drinking water.
Busybodies battle outbreaks of freedom.
The majority leader of California's state Assembly has introduced legislation that would impose a fine of up to $1,000 on any waiter or
waitress who offers a plastic drinking straw to a customer without being asked. The Washington Post notes that this is part of a
growing anti-straw movement, which is driven by alarm over the 500 million straws that are used every single day — which is
almost certainly a fake number, seeing as how it is based on an unconfirmed phone survey by a 9-year-old boy. (Yes, really.)
Is Trump's
EPA chief bluffing? Or will he gut California's tough emissions standards? California officials and clean
air advocates are increasingly concerned the Trump administration may attempt to unravel a key program to drive down
greenhouse gas emissions from automobile fleets while also jeopardizing the ability of California and other states to set
pollution standards stronger than federal rules. Backed by automakers, Trump officials are in talks with their
California counterparts to weaken tough vehicle tailpipe standards approved by the Obama administration. The standards
are aimed at reducing greenhouse gases, but could also help reduce emissions that cause smog and particulate pollution, and
13 other states have adopted them, including Washington, Pennsylvania and New York.
San
Francisco Politician Wants to Outlaw Gas-Powered Cars. Sacramento is threatening to outlaw a freedom
Californians have enjoyed for more than a century through a bill introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting, of San
Francisco. If it's passed and signed, new gasoline-powered cars will become the state's new undocumented
immigrants. Government will refuse to register them. Should it become law, Assembly Bill 1745 would, beginning
Jan. 1, 2040, "prohibit the department from accepting an application for original registration of a motor vehicle unless the
vehicle is a zero-emissions vehicle." Commercial vehicles weighing 10,001 pounds or more when fully loaded are exempt
as are vehicles brought in from other states. While the San Francisco Democrat insists a transition to electric vehicles
is necessary to sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions, the argument has more smoke than fire. Speculation that man is
overheating his planet due to Industrial Age atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations is far from settled science.
Having solved all other problems... California
Considers $1,000 Fine for Waiters Offering Unsolicited Plastic Straws. Ian Calderon wants restaurateurs to
think long and hard before giving you a straw. Calderon, the Democratic majority leader in California's lower house,
has introduced a bill to stop sit-down restaurants from offering customers straws with their beverages unless they
specifically request one. Under Calderon's law, a waiter who serves a drink with an unrequested straw in it would
face up to 6 months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
California's
Soft Secession Accelerates. Earlier this week Twitter briefly lit up with news of yet another California
progressive excess. The state's Democratic house majority leader has submitted a bill that imposes criminal
penalties on waiters who offer their customers plastic straws. [...] It's not worth spending too much time on this absurd
bill (and I do mean absurd — Reason investigated and found that the justification for it rests on research
conducted by a nine-year old), but it's a useful segue to a far more significant point. California is in the midst of
an experiment in progressive governance and active resistance that is combining to create a simultaneously dangerous
and tantalizing experiment in state autonomy.
California
Bill Seeks Ban on Fossil-Fueled Vehicles by 2040. California would ban the sale of new cars and trucks powered
by fossil fuels in 2040 under legislation introduced Wednesday in the state legislature. "We're at an inflection point:
we've got to address the harmful emissions that cause climate change," Democratic Assemblymember Phil Ting, the bill's
author, said in a statement. If the measure becomes law, by January 1, 2040, all new passenger vehicles sold in
California would have to be so-called zero emission vehicles such as battery-electric or hydrogen fuel cell cars. More
cars are sold each year in California than in any other state — and more than in some countries.
Ban
Gas-Powered Cars? California Is Thinking About It. It isn't enough for California to contemplate its own
state-run single payer health care system that would require, at a minimum, tripling the state budget. Now a lawmaker
wants to have the state ban gasoline-powered cars by the year 2040. I certainly hope California follows through and tries
this. If nothing else, it will provide wonderful black market opportunities. Think of all the meth labs that will
convert to mini-refineries, not to mention the smuggling. It is doubtful we can legally confiscate existing cars, so look
for California's rolling stock to become the equivalent of all those 57 Chevys and Buicks we see on the streets of Havana.
California's
enacted and potential bans: From internal combustion engines to plastic bags. Cars with internal
combustion engines could soon be banned in California. Mary Nichols, the California Air Resources Board chair, told
Bloomberg that Gov. Jerry Brown is interested in a potential ban. However, she said banning cars with internal
combustion engines wouldn't happen in the next 10 years.
Car Ban: Yet Another Gaseous
Proposal. California Assemblyman Phil Ting managed to get some positive coverage in newspapers across the state and in major
news publications across the country last week. That was quite a feat for the little-known San Francisco Democrat[. ...] Ting
announced plans to next year introduce a bill that would outlaw the sale of cars powered by internal-combustion engines after 2040.
It doesn't appear to be his idea, actually. He was following the lead of Mary Nichols, head of the ham-fisted California Air
Resources Board.
California's
Latest Bad Idea — Outlaw Gas-Powered Cars. California is considering a ban on the sale of
gasoline-powered cars. If state officials go this route, it will have little effect on CO2 emissions, but will harm
consumers and kill California's economy.
California
lawmaker wants to ban gas car sales after 2040. France and the United Kingdom are doing it. So is
India. And now one lawmaker would like California to follow their lead in phasing out gasoline- and diesel-fueled
vehicles. When the Legislature returns in January, Assemblyman Phil Ting plans to introduce a bill that would ban the
sale of new cars powered by internal-combustion engines after 2040. The San Francisco Democrat said it's essential to
get California drivers into an electric fleet if the state is going to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets, since the
transportation sector accounts for more than a third of all emissions.
Experts
Mock California Enviro Push To Ban Fossil Fuel Vehicles In The State. Analysts and conservatives believe a
Democrat-led plan to propose a ban on gas-powered cars in California later this year is a pie-in-the-sky scheme that ignores
important factors about the state's auto industry. Assemblyman Phil Ting plans to introduce a bill in January that
would ban the sale of gas-powered cars produced after 2040. The Democratic lawmaker said California drivers must adopt
electric vehicles if the state is going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — but some are scoffing at the push.
"The market is moving this way. The entire world is moving this way. At some point you need to set a goal and put
a line in the sand," Ting told reporters Friday. Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club have joined his push to
wipe out the state's fossil fuel industry.
California
Senate Scraps $3 Billion Electric-Vehicle Subsidy Bill. The California legislature scrapped a $3 billion spending bill
aimed at boosting tax subsidies for electric vehicles that could have been a boon to Tesla. The late Friday [9/1/2017] move came after
criticism that the bill was short on details and failed to demonstrate exactly where the money would come from to pay for it. The
state Finance Department had opposed a previous version of the bill because it appropriated billions of dollars "without identifying a
funding source." The bill's original language called for funds to come from additional taxes on utilities, but that language was
stripped out earlier in the legislative process.
Green
Delusions and the Wind Bully. California has passed a law that 50% of its electricity is to be renewable by
2030. Taken seriously, that would be technically impossible. But California has a method of turning non-renewable
electricity into renewable electricity by legal fiat. Instead of importing electricity, "Renewable Energy Certificates"
can be imported from someone generating and selling renewable electricity outside California. The abstract "renewable
attribute" comes with the certificate and can be used to legally turn non-renewable electricity into renewable
electricity. It's modern alchemy.
California
Sues Oil Companies For Rising Sea Levels. Three California counties sued 37 of the world's largest oil and coal
companies Monday for damages related to global warming-induced sea level rise. Marin County, San Mateo County and
Imperial Beach filed separate, but virtually identical, lawsuits claiming that oil companies bear responsibility for the sea
level rise harming in coastal counties. County lawyers claim flooding is more frequent and beaches are eroding more
rapidly. The counties want reimbursement for current and future financial losses from sea level rise, in addition to
punitive damages. The plaintiffs don't set a specific number for damages, but estimate they'll need at least $54 billion
dollars over the coming decades.
Had
Hillary Clinton Won the Election... Had HRC won, she would be implementing thousands of new regulations on
businesses to further hamstring the economy. She would let the fascist freaks at the Environmental Protection Agency
have their way with every aspect of our daily lives: Our cars, our showerheads, our toilets, our rainwater in our
yards, etc. She would, like the EPA under Obama, privilege any species, no matter how insignificant, over humans.
Central California has been devastated by the environmentalists' reverence for the delta smelt! Thousands of farm
workers lost their jobs thanks to this lefty decision, turning a lush agricultural valley into a brown wasteland in the
name of "going green." This is the American left today.
'People
Will Die... Seas Will Rise': CA's Brown Signs Energy Deal with China. Tucker Carlson debated a Bay Area radio
host over his support for Gov. Jerry Brown's (D-Calif.) clean energy accord with China. Brown previously slammed
President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris accord, warning that "people will die, habitats will be destroyed and the
seas will rise." Carlson pointed out that it is unconstitutional for a state to usurp federal powers and act on its own
when dealing with other nations. KGO's Ethan Bearman said the agreement signed with President Xi Jinping is nonbinding
and therefore still legal.
Jerry
Brown Plays President; Signs Climate Deal with China. California Governor Jerry Brown signed a new climate
change agreement between the State of California and the People's Republic of China on Tuesday [6/6/2017]. The gesture
continued Brown's efforts to expand ties with China, as well as his diplomatic campaign to push for more action on climate
change. It came in the immediate aftermath of President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords.
The Green Guillotine. If you've ever wondered what
happens when Berkeley-grade environmentalists finally seize control of all the levers of government power, let me introduce you to my town of Hermosa
Beach, California. [...] Environmental purists believe that burning carbon in any of its various forms ultimately causes the seas to rise and the polar
caps to melt. They believe carbon emissions cause the rainlessness that is turning central California into fallow hardscape. [...] Predictably,
the first step towards "carbon neutrality" calls for getting rid of the city's cars. According to PLAN Hermosa, transportation accounts for
54 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the city, so it is important to "disincentivize conventionally fueled automobile use."
The Best and Worst Places for
Breathable Air in the U.S. Los Angeles maintains its rank as the city with the worst ozone pollution. The City of Angels has
remained at the top of the worst pollution list for 17 out of the 18-year history of the report. Bakersfield is holding steady as the city
with the worst short-term particle pollution and Visalia-Porterfield-Hanford rounds out a California trifecta in the pollution rankings by becoming
the most-polluted city for year-round particle pollution for the first time this year. California also retains its ranking with seven of the
10 most-polluted metropolitan areas and 11 of the worst 25 cities.
Lawsuit
Seeks to Remove Gray Wolf from CA Endangered Species List. A lawsuit filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation
(PLF) on behalf of California farmers and ranchers alleges a state commission's 2014 decision to list gray wolves as an
endangered species is illegal. The suit, filed in San Diego County Superior Court on January 31, says the listing was
illegal because, among other things, the gray wolves at issue are a non-native species originally from Canada, not a subspecies
originally native to California. Accordingly, the wolves that entered California are not protected under the 1970
California Endangered Species Act.
California
Passes a New Climate Law to Regulate Cow Methane. Governor Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown has just signed a law to
require dairy farmers to reduce bovine methane emissions. [...] The number of Californian people and businesses fleeing
overregulation and high costs reached a record high last year. I doubt the new cow [emissions] law will do anything to
reassure people who haven't yet joined the great Californian exodus.
Cow
emissions can now be regulated in California. California Gov. Jerry Brown kept up his assault on climate
change Monday [9/19/2016], pushing through a law meant to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from dairy farms and landfills.
[...] Brown's approval of Senate Bill 1383 goes after short-lived climate pollutants, which include methane, black carbon,
and HFC gases, per the AP.
Crazy
California Legislators Approve Cow [Emission] Legislation to Curb Gas Emissions. Cows could literally be
exploding thanks to new legislation. If this wasn't California you would know it was a spoof. However, nothing is
too strange for California. [...] Costs will be passed on to consumers of course. No one mentions what the price of a
gallon of milk will rise to after this goes into full effect, but you can bet it won't be cheaper.
Nestle
Pays Only $524 to Extract 27,000,000 Gallons of California Drinking Water. Nestle has found itself more and
more frequently in the glare of the California drought-shame spotlight than it would arguably care to be — though
not frequently enough, apparently, for the megacorporation to have spontaneously sprouted a conscience. Drought-shaming
worked sufficiently enough for Starbucks to stop bottling water in the now-arid state entirely, uprooting its operations all the way
to Pennsylvania. But Nestle simply shrugged off public outrage and then upped the ante by increasing its draw from
natural springs — most notoriously in the San Bernardino National Forest — with an absurdly expired
permit. Because profit, of course.
Now
California's Climate Cops are Going After the Cows. California is sliding slowly into the abyss. It's not
enough that 9,000 companies have packed up and moved to more tax-friendly states. The Bay Area is so expensive that few
can afford to live there. Progressives run the place like their own personal slot machine. The California Air
Resources Board has issued regulations to cut the state's greenhouse emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, but the board is
getting worried about their climate agenda. It could all be ruined by natural phenomena. They've gone after the
oil producers, the manufacturers and now they are going after the cows. It's methane, which "according to the
board is a 'short-lived climate pollutant with an outsized impact on climate change in the near term.'" "Cow manure and
'enteric fermentation' (flatulence) account for half of the state's methane emissions."
The Editor says...
Methane from cows is not a pollutant. It is part of a natural cycle that has been going on for as long as cows, termites and volcanoes have been
around. And if cows are responsible for half of the methane emissions in the state, then the state doesn't have a serious problem. There
will always be cows, and the cows will do what cows do. In any case, if California reduces its methane emissions to zero, but Mexico and Nevada
do not, then what has been gained?
Thorny
issues challenge California's commitment to renewable energy goals. As California pushes forward on its
ambitious goal to produce 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, it will confront a wide range of potentially
troubling economic, technical and political questions — though there remains strong support among public officials
for the state's climate program. The state is demonstrating to the rest of the nation and the world that it has the
deep political willpower to address climate change, but it has yet to fully understand the impacts of the program on
low-income residents, economic growth and electrical grid reliability.
California land officials sign
off on closing nuclear plant. California land officials dropped their longstanding environmental objections to the state's last nuclear
power plant and signed off Tuesday [6/28/2016] on a deal to close the Central Coast facility nearly 20 years ahead of its previously planned termination.
The Editor says...
That makes perfect sense, because the population of California isn't increasing, and the summer isn't hot there, and the new bullet train runs on pixie dust.
Officials
Vote for Mandatory Solar Panels on New Buildings in San Francisco. This week, a new law mandating the installation of solar panels
on new buildings was passed with a unanimous vote by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The new bill, which goes into effect in
January 2017, requires that all new buildings — commercial or residential — be fixed with solar panels if the building
stands at 10 stories or less. Builders are required to ensure that at least 15% of the roof on new structures be "solar ready,"
meaning they cannot be shaded or obstructed from sunlight.
California
Regulations Force Taxpayers to Support Ineffective Solar Plant. Research claims that renewable energy is more
cost effective than fossil fuels at producing electricity. But at the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California,
taxpayers are actually losing out on their money. Ivanpah, the 377-megawatt, world's largest solar thermal plant
located in the Mojave Desert, fell short of production in 2014 and 2015. Managers attributed the shortfall to less sunny
weather than expected, but the plant's problems extend far past weather forecasts. Despite being owned by three private
companies — Google, BrightSource Energy Inc. and NRG Energy — the plant received $1.6 billion in loan
guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy. It is paid four to five times more per-megawatt hour than natural gas plants.
Critics
of California water-tunnel project claim it's gov't waste to save tiny smelt. Even as it squeezes taxpayers to
repair bridges and roads, cash-strapped California is planning a $15 billion water tunnel designed, at least in part, to save
a tiny fish that may already be extinct. The "WaterFix" Twin Tunnels project, championed by Gov. Jerry Brown but opposed
by environmental groups and taxpayers alike, would bore 150 feet underground to the side of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The plan is to divert fresh water for thirsty farms and communities throughout the state without disturbing the habitat of protected
species that live in the delta, including the finger-long delta smelt. "To a large extent, this seemingly innocuous little
fish controls much of what we can or cannot do in the delta," said Robert Shibatani, managing partner and principal hydrologist at
the California-based Shibatani Group International.
California's
drive to save water is killing trees, hurting utilities and raising taxes. Eight months after California's
governor ordered cities to cut water consumption by a quarter, residents and businesses have exceeded expectations. But no
good deed goes unpunished. Now, the state's furious conservation drive is not only threatening trees but also resulting in
sluggish sewer lines and possible increases in water and tax bills. In declaring a drought emergency in April, Gov. Jerry
Brown (D) said watering emerald-green grass every day "is a thing of the past." He neglected to say trees were exempt, so
residents, businesses and local governments stopped watering them, too. Now the state is losing millions of trees that
beautify their cities, improve air quality, offer shade in areas where temperatures can reach 100 degrees and provide
habitat for untold numbers of squirrels, birds and other animals.
Obama
admin allocates water for endangered fish, leaves California farmers high and dry. Despite wetter-than-average weather in
California, some farmers are looking at another year of a zero federal water allocation even as the billions of gallons of water continue
to be dumped into the ocean in order to save a three-inch fish. The worst part for many lawmakers at Wednesday's [2/24/2016] House
subcommittee hearing is that the Delta smelt remains as vulnerable as ever after the loss of 1.4 trillion gallons of water since
2008 under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Critics
of California water-tunnel project claim it's gov't waste to save tiny smelt. Even as it squeezes taxpayers to
repair bridges and roads, cash-strapped California is planning a $15 billion water tunnel designed, at least in part, to save
a tiny fish that may already be extinct. The "WaterFix" Twin Tunnels project, championed by Gov. Jerry Brown but opposed
by environmental groups and taxpayers alike, would bore 150 feet underground to the side of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The plan is to divert fresh water for thirsty farms and communities throughout the state without disturbing the habitat of protected
species that live in the delta, including the finger-long delta smelt. "To a large extent, this seemingly innocuous little fish
controls much of what we can or cannot do in the delta," said Robert Shibatani, managing partner and principal hydrologist at the
California-based Shibatani Group International.
The Editor asks...
What is so important about that fish? If the Delta Smelt is already near extinction, what other animal is starving as a result?
Why aren't the left-wing environmentalists happy to see survival of the fittest in action?
California district reported
incorrect numbers while 'shaming' water wasters. East Bay Municipal Utility District, which serves counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, recently
released lists of more than 4,200 customers accused of violating the water usage limit imposed to combat the lingering drought. That limit is roughly
1,000 gallons per household each day. However, an investigation from the Contra Costa Times revealed that some figures were off by 1,000 or more.
One retired woman was listed as using more than 5,000 gallons per day when the real number was just over 1,000, the newspaper reports.
California
pushes for warning labels at the pump: Drivers, you're hurting the planet!. Can you guess where such an idea sprouted from?
Because I can. The city of Berkeley, with San Francisco possibly soon to follow, has voted to push forward with a plan to affix warning labels
to gas pumps. Their purpose? To subtly shame drivers for contributing to climate change.
Solar is in, biomass energy is
out — and farmers are struggling to dispose of woody waste. It should have been a good year for turning wood and
waste into electrons. A record-setting drought forced growers to bulldoze thousands of acres of trees, and hardly anyone in the
Central Valley has permission to light bonfires anymore. But more than trees have withered in California's sun. The state's
biomass energy plants are folding in rapid succession, unable to compete with heavily subsidized solar farms, many of which have sprouted up
amid the fields and orchards of the San Joaquin Valley. Paul Parreira is painfully aware of the irony. The third-generation
grower and almond processor is running out of dirt roads where he can spread ground-up almond shells, even as he expands a one-megawatt
solar array on six acres of his family's property in Los Banos.
Are
Dead Fish Worth More Than Struggling Farmers? The hellish drought in California has casualties. It tried to
destroy farmers, and has in some cases, but guess what it really destroyed? The Delta Smelt. The much admired, or reviled,
species depending on your perspective has declined beyond the point of organic regeneration. This would hardly be newsworthy,
were it not for the fact that environmentalists and their supporters in government have redistributed the dwindling baitfish's
suffering to human beings within and beyond the borders of California.
Even
the LA Times thinks California Governor Brown's latest Climate Claim is Nonsense. I personally think it is disgusting that the Governor
appears to be using local tragedies to promote his political agenda. A better use of the Governors time might be listening to and acting on the
advice of fire experts, rather than seizing on photogenic disasters as a PR opportunity to promote his scientifically unsupported political agenda.
Californians
upset that they can't sell their green energy homes. Trouble has reared its head for Californians who enrolled in a special government
program designed to allow them to use taxpayer funds to upgrade their homes with solar panels, wind turbines, unicorn flatulence converters and any
number of other green energy improvements. Tens of thousands of Californians signed up for the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE)
financing program which provided them with funding for installing such energy efficient goodies over the past several years, but now they're
finding their homes stalled on the market when they want to sell them.
A Liberal's Ten Commandments. West
Coast liberals should do something to alleviate the effect of the drought, given that they have cancelled most of the secondary phases of the
California Water Project and released several million acre-feet of stored reservoir water into the ocean: "I pledge that I will not use
any water that is stored in, and transferred at great costs from, a man-made, artificial reservoir, especially those at great distances built
in sensitive areas such as Yosemite National Park." There could even be an additional corollary: "I pledge that I will not waste
precious water on my lawn or ornamental plants."
California's
Drought: A Democrat-Made Crisis. [Scroll down] It is caused by a series of policies — some
from the past, many that are ongoing — which has prioritized environmental demands above the basic provision of
water resources to the public. More than half of the state's water resources simply flow out the San Francisco Bay to the
Pacific Ocean. Even now, in the Sierra foothills state officials empty reservoirs to protect "unimpeded" river flows to
benefit small numbers of non-endangered hatchery fish. The California Coastal Commission, the powerful agency with control
of development along the shoreline, is holding up a privately planned desalination plant over concerns about its impact on
plankton. The environmental-friendly commission want to force the developers to build a pumping system that destroys
the economics of the plant.
California's
climate fight comes down to late negotiations. Gov. Jerry Brown has made climate change the centerpiece of his
final tenure by laying out the most aggressive benchmark in North America, which would reduce California's carbon footprint
and boost the state's renewable energy use to 50 percent in 15 years.
CA Gov Jerry Brown's war on cars and suburbs. Not
only Moonbeam, mind you, but most of the socialist Democrats in the California state legislature who use the fanatical Green religion
as an excuse to strip people of their means of independent transportation and single family homes.
Gov.
Jerry Brown takes aim at oil companies over 'highly destructive' product. Gov. Jerry Brown, who is in the middle of
a political battle over climate-change legislation, took aim at oil companies Monday, saying they sell a "highly destructive"
product. "The oil industry is in deep trouble," the governor told reporters Monday at a news conference on the shores of
Lake Tahoe, where he was attending an annual meeting about the area's environment. Oil companies "have a product that is
highly destructive, while highly valuable at the same time. And we're trying to work out the right policies," he said.
The Editor says...
How do you suppose the governor got to Lake Tahoe? Not by bicycle, one can surmise. More likely by way of gas-guzzling
limo or gas-guzzling jet. Maybe both.
Obama
Hatches A Vast, Left-Wing, Green Conspiracy. California Gov. Jerry Brown rips oil companies for their "highly
destructive product," while President Obama calls the Koch brothers un-American. [...] Obama apparently sees nothing wrong
with burning 25,000 gallons of fuel jetting to Las Vegas to attend Sen. Harry Reid's conference to push uneconomical "green"
alternatives to fossil fuels while demonizing those who disagree with him. Par for the course. Obama has set a goal of
slashing CO2 emissions 26% by 2025, proposing that alternative energy sources such as solar and wind will serve as
replacements — a key part of his much broader plan to "fundamentally transform" America. The problem, contrary
to Brown's foolish remarks, is that fossil fuels are anything but "destructive." They are in fact the very source of our
industrial economy — and our high standard of living.
L.A. Mayor: Thirsty California
Needs Cool Black Balls. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's plan to slow California's drought by covering a reservoir
with 96 million "shade balls" is sparking debate among experts, who say that the black balls could lead to disaster.
According to Fox News, Garcetti said that the balls, which cost $34.5 million, would block the evaporation of
300 million gallons of reservoir water. The plan is projected to save taxpayers $250 million. Despite the
projected savings, experts have dubbed the balls a "disaster." Matt MacLeod, founder of the California biotech firm Modern
Moon Farms, said that the black color of the balls would create a "bacterial nightmare." "Black spheres resting in the hot
sun will form a thermal blanket speeding evaporation as well as providing a huge amount of new surface area for the hot water to
breed bacteria," said MacLeod.
LA
'black ball' reservoir rollout potential 'disaster' in the making, say experts. LA's scheme to cover a
reservoir under 96 million "shade balls" may not be all it is touted to be, experts told FoxNews.com, with some critics going
so far as to refer to the plan as a "potential disaster." The city made national headlines last week when Mayor Eric
Garcetti and Department of Water officials dumped $34.5 million worth of the tiny, black plastic balls into the city's
175-acre Van Norman Complex reservoir in the Sylmar section. Garcetti said the balls would create a surface layer that would
block 300 million gallons from evaporating amid the state's crippling drought and save taxpayers $250 million. Experts
differed over the best color for the tiny plastic balls, with one telling FoxNews.com they should have been white and another
saying a chrome color would be optimal. But all agreed that the worst color for the job is the one LA chose.
State Still Releasing Water to Save a Few
Fish. Gov. Jerry Brown met with San Diego civic leaders last Tuesday [8/11/2015 (?)], where they discussed the state's
water-conservation standards as the drought grinds on. The governor "hinted" at giving the region's water users "some flexibility
in complying with California's rigorous ... mandates," according to a Union-Tribune report. We'll likely see flexibility for urban
water districts that are trying to conserve scarce resources — and come up with new sources. But 450 miles north
of San Diego, local officials are accusing the Brown administration of being inflexible in a bitter spat between farmers and the
environmental-oriented State Water Resources Control Board.
L.A. will
add bike and bus lanes, cut car lanes in sweeping policy shift. Over the decades, Los Angeles has bulldozed
homes, paved through tranquil canyons, toppled countless trees and even flattened some hillsides, all in the name of keeping
automobile traffic flowing as fast as possible. On Tuesday [8/11/2015], city leaders decided to slow things down.
They endorsed a sweeping policy that would rework some of the city's mightiest boulevards, adding more lanes for buses and
bikes and, in some places, leaving fewer for cars. The goal is to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians while
also luring more people out of their cars.
California will soon have toughest shower head
requirements in nation. The flow of water from shower heads and bathroom faucets in California will be sharply reduced under
strict new limits approved Wednesday [8/12/2015] by the state Energy Commission. Current rules, established in 1994 at the federal level,
allow a maximum flow of 2.5 gallons per minute from a shower head. Effective next July, the limit will fall to 2.0 gallons per
minute and will be reduced again in July 2018, to 1.8 gallons, giving California the toughest standard of any U.S. state.
Let's
Worry about a Real Threat. These days, there is a lot of tampering with the electric
grid. People who wouldn't know a generator from a turbine are suddenly making no small plans to
reform it. We now have good electricity and bad electricity. Good electricity is generated without
emitting carbon dioxide (CO2). But that rule is not rigid, because nuclear electricity, and hydro
electricity, if it involves a dam, are both bad electricity, even though they don't emit CO2. I'm
not making this up. I'm repeating the California legal definition of renewable electricity.
Law
Would Mandate Solar Panels on All S.F. Building Rooftops. A new resolution to be introduced next week in San Francisco would
require the owners of most new apartment buildings in the city to install solar panels or gardens on the buildings' rooftops. According
to the San Francisco Chronicle, city Board of Supervisors President David Chiu will introduce the Solar Vision 2020 resolution next
week, a resolution that would apply to both commercial and residential buildings.
Brown
signs bill to urge more drivers into eco-friendly vehicles. Seeking to put more
California drivers in electric cars, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Sunday [9/21/2014] providing financial
incentives and other perks to entice consumers to buy the environmentally friendly vehicles. The
push for low-emission cars, combined with the governor's approval of climate-conscious measures such
as one to encourage residential solar energy use, comes days before he is set to appear at the
United Nations Climate Summit in New York City, where he is expected to tout the state's efforts to
combat climate change.
California
passes plastic bag ban, would be first such law in U.S. The California state legislature enacted a ban
on plastic grocery bags on Friday [8/29/2014] near the end of its two-year session, a measure that if signed into law
would become the first of its kind in America. A number of cities and counties in California and other U.S. states,
including Hawaii's Maui County, have made it illegal for grocery stores to pack purchases in plastic.
Renewable
Electricity: a Technological Rip-Off, and an Environmental Loser. In California, electricity sales were $35 billion
in 2012. The average retail price of electricity in California is around 14 cents per kilowatt-hour. This compares to
about 8 cents in states that have not found the renewable energy religion. The differential gives the California renewable
energy mafia about $15 billion a year with which to reward its friends and supporters. That's just for the electricity sector.
The Costs of the Environmentalism
Cult. California is in the third year of a drought, but the problem isn't a lack of water. The snowfall in the Sierra
provides enough to help us ride out the years of drought. All we need to do is store it. But California hasn't built a new dam
in 35 years. Worse than that, every year we dump 1.6 million acre-feet of water — about enough to serve 3.2 million
families for a year — into the Pacific Ocean in order to protect an allegedly "endangered" 3-inch bait-fish called the Delta smelt.
Caution: This Warning May Be
Useless. For more than 25 years Californians haven't been able to pump gas, go to the grocery store or even
buy coffee at Starbucks without seeing a sign with wording such as: "WARNING: This Area Contains A Chemical Known To The
State of California To Cause Cancer." [...] However, I recently examined cancer rates and discovered no evidence that Proposition 65
has lowered cancer incidence among Californians. There isn't a single empirical study that demonstrates any public-health benefits.
California poised to
become first state to impose full ban on lead bullets. California is on the verge of becoming the first state to impose a full ban on hunting
with lead bullets — with environmentalists and gun-rights advocates squaring off as Gov. Jerry Brown decides whether to sign the legislation.
The state already has a ban on lead-bullet hunting in eight counties with an endangered condor population. But the new proposal, overwhelmingly approved
this month [September 2013] by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly, would impose a statewide ban on all hunting.
California's Middle Class Faces Slow Death by
Green Laws. An environmental law in California, designed with the best of intentions of course, has helped wreck middle class prospects — and
state lawmakers are finally taking note. The California Environmental Quality Act, signed into law by Ronald Reagan in 1970 and beloved by environmental groups,
mandates strenuous reviews of the environmental effects of all proposed construction projects. While greens have claimed that the law has protected California's
natural beauty from rapacious developers, lawmakers are coming around to the viewpoint that it has been abused to the detriment of citizens, as the New York Times
reports: [...]
California's Smoke Signals.
Like so many other emergencies in California, this one is government-made and a warning about its green political obsessions. [...] To hit
the renewable mandate, utilities are building long transmission lines to deliver power from distant solar and wind projects to population
centers. Most large-scale solar plants in California are being built in dry, sunny desert and valley regions. Wind farms are
concentrated in the mountains. Both are fire-prone.
Global Warming Programs Force
Hike in California Power Bills. The California Public Utilities Commission approved large rate hikes in electricity prices due in part to high
costs associated with the state's global warming restrictions. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a 12 percent hike in
San Diego Gas & Electric Co. rates and a 10 percent hike in Southern California Gas Co. rates. CPUC and power company officials said the rate
hikes were necessary to install smart grid technologies, comply with federal and state environmental restrictions, maintain infrastructure, and comply with
global warming restrictions.
California's anti-coal agenda is adverse to
human health and welfare. Coal based energy is a key factor in global socio-economic development, transforming agrarian
societies to modern industrial ones. This societal transformation, driven by the accumulation of income and wealth, eliminates many
contagious diseases, reduces child mortality, and lengthens adult life expectancy. Throughout the world, rapid emergence from poverty
has proceeded as countries develop electricity networks based on coal.
Chevron Defies California On Carbon Emissions.
Chevron is leading a lobbying and public relations campaign to undercut the California mandate aimed at curbing global warming, two years after the state started
phasing it in. Research on commercially viable climate-friendly products has come to naught, stymied by the poor economics of coaxing hydrocarbons from
plants' stubborn cell walls, according to Chevron officials.
California Environmental Law Needs Reform,
Not Excuses. Ask business owners what they hate most about the Golden State, and you're likely to get an earful about regulation. Taxes,
rents, utilities and housing are all costly, but they are at least predictable. What hurts most is the threat of the unknown — being
blindsided by lawsuits or watching projects get mired in unforeseen delays. California is hassle central, and everyone pays the cost. One
law in particular, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), exemplifies what's wrong with the state's regulatory regime.
Renewable Energy:
Bringing Blackouts Back to California? The epidemic of power outages and "rolling blackouts" which nearly shut down California in
the early 2000s may be returning. Back then, the culprits were unscrupulous energy providers like Enron and a poorly-thought out process of
deregulation. This time, renewable energy would be to blame, as the state has pushed to increase the use of solar and wind energy without
ensuring that there is enough traditional power generation to keep the grid stable on cloudy, windless days.
A Good Day for Academic Freedom.
Within the past 24 hours, courts from both coasts handed down important rulings in two academic-freedom cases, both times rejecting
university efforts to dismiss cases brought by conservative academic critics. The first decision denied the core of the defendants'
motion to dismiss a case brought by Professor James Enstrom [...]. Enstrom not only blew the whistle on junk science behind recent
proposed California diesel emissions restrictions, he discovered the state's lead "scientist" had purchased his degree from a fictitious
"Thornhill University" and that many members of the state's Scientific Review Panel had overstayed term limits by decades.
California is "greening" itself toward a third world
electrical grid. Alas, California's ecotwits have forced most of the state's fossil fueled power plants into
mothballs. The ones that are still limping along will likely be shuttered by 2020 thanks to onerous and prohibitively
expensive upgrades required under the Clean Air Act. So what will happen on cloudy, windless days?
Big banks weigh risks, rewards of
California's new CO2 market. Major banks are weighing whether to wade into the California carbon market, which experts
believe could grow into a $40 billion a year market by 2020, but one that is also loaded with risk and uncertainty.
Why
Geothermal Energy Is Stalled in California. The Geothermal Energy Association is working with California energy
authorities to help restart the flow of state utility power purchase agreements made with geothermal electricity generators,
after close to a year's doldrums. Karl Gawell, executive director of the Washington-based GEA, said, "There is no
question that geothermal is stalled in California. [...]"
Throwing cold water on the cherished tradition of beach bonfires.
Every weekend, hundreds of people stream down Imperial Highway as early as 6 a.m. to grab one of Dockweiler's 60 fire rings, roast marshmallows and
listen to the surf as the light fades away. Bureaucrats and homeowners, however, are robbing us of this romantic legacy. Of the 108 state parks
and beaches in California, only 24 allow fires, and some have early curfews.
Proposed ban would snuff beach bonfires in San
Francisco. For as long as anyone can remember, building a fire on the beach has been one of the simple pleasures of life by the sea. But
if the Park Service has its way, the tradition will soon be extinguished at Ocean Beach, the last stretch in San Francisco and one of the few beaches statewide
where bonfires still burn legally.
San Francisco bans wood burning on
Christmas Eve. No chestnuts on an open fire this Christmas Eve. Bay Area officials have banned residents from burning wood,
indoors and outdoors, on Tuesday — and might extend the ban into Christmas Day — as part of an air quality initiative. The
order came from a governmental body called the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
California Prepares to Auction
Carbon Credits. The central component of California's Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) is taking effect this
year, and with the state facing a $15.7 billion deficit, political leaders have ended a long debate over how to spend revenue
the act is expected to generate. The central component of the measure is "cap and trade," a complex system that aims to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions generated in the state by capping the amount of the emissions businesses may produce.
State agency confiscates
stuffed wolverine, red-tailed hawk at California bar. A stuffed wolverine and red-tailed hawk have been removed from a bar
in California's El Dorado County, some 50 years after the animals were first put on display, an employee told FoxNews.com.
An official from the California Department of Fish and Game, after receiving a tip, removed the animals on Tuesday [5/8/2012] from the
Georgetown Hotel and Saloon in Georgetown, bartender Anthony Fox said.
The government can't make its projects work if it must conform to its own environmental red tape. California bullet train chief seeks environmental
exemptions. The chief of the state bullet train authority said Tuesday that he hopes to obtain some type of relief from environmental laws that
would eliminate a risk that the 130-mile initial construction project could be stopped by an injunction, a potentially growing prospect as agriculture interests
in the Central Valley gear up for a legal fight.
California's Green
Mirage. On April 19, Next 10, a California-based cheerleader for all things green, issued a press release
announcing the publication of the 2012 California Green Innovation Index, their fourth in a series of annual reports. [...] A
brief review of Next 10's press release and attendant report, which resulted in a glowing story in at least one major
California paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, shows some embarrassing holes — if only people would look
beyond the hype.
CA
Congressional Office: "The environment is much more important than jobs". I wanted to take the time to introduce
Californians to Karen Bass. Her biography should raise red flags to Californians who expect their representatives to focus
on job creation — especially as Gallup reports that the real unemployment rate is over 9% and the "underemployment"
rate is close to 20%.
Democrats
In California Declare War On Farmers. To leftist food scolds, eating more vegetables is important.
So why are California's two Democratic senators having a cow about a water bill that would let their Central Valley's
farmers grow more veggies?
California
imposes energy standards on chargers for mobile devices. California's cellphones, tablet computers,
power tools and hundreds of other portable electronic devices will be required to have energy-stingy battery
chargers beginning next year. The California Energy Commission, by a 3-0 vote Thursday [1/12/2012], approved
first-in-the-nation efficiency standards designed to drive stakes through the hearts of about 170 million
so-called vampire charging systems that waste as much as 60% of the electricity they suck from outlets.
The Editor says...
How can anyone say with any certainty that any power has been "wasted"? The "wasted" power resulting from
less than 100% efficiency is dissipated as heat. That is only "wasted" energy in places where air conditioning
is in use. In all other cases, that heat contributes to the warmth of the house (or other building), supplementing
the heating system. In any event, the power "wasted" amounts to only a few watts. The transformer outside
your house "wastes" more power than that, even if you turn off all your lights and appliances. It is an
undeniable and unavoidable fact that all electric appliances and all power-generating systems are less
than 100% efficient. Conservation is not an energy source. If California is desperate enough for
electric power to go to this extreme, the solution is increased energy production.
California Global Warming Law Choking Food
Processors. As California's unemployment rate hovers above 12 percent, even the state's
Democratic leaders — notorious for regulating, taxing and complaining about California's business
community — are talking about jobs. They are championing the occasional job expansion in
Silicon Valley (i.e., a new Dell research and development center) and proposing their jobs plans, even
if such plans ignore the reasons businesses aren't growing here.
California's Green Power
Crisis. Among the many difficulties that the state of California has been facing, one in
particular is looming larger and larger: the power problem. The state is slowly coming to
grips with the fact that its preferred sources of electric power — wind and solar —
are neither cheap nor reliable. Yet, California is committed by law to increasing the use of wind,
solar and other forms of renewable energy. The economics don't come close to supporting this model.
California
Adopts 'Cap-and-Trade' Plan. California formally adopted the nation's most comprehensive so-called
"cap-and-trade" system Thursday [11/20/2011], an experiment by the world's eighth-largest economy that is designed
to provide financial incentives for polluters to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Delta Water Rules Smelt of Extremism.
If you want to understand the fundamental things wrong with our nation and California, in particular, you
ought to peruse the 140-page opinion recently issued by Judge Oliver Wanger in the "Consolidated Delta Smelt
Cases." It describes many of the most frustrating elements in our society — abuses of federal authority,
bureaucratic micromanagement of our lives and political zealotry masquerading as science. The case also
shows the indifference to the insanity by most Americans, who wouldn't know a Delta smelt from a cod fillet.
California's Green Jihad.
Ideas matter, particularly when colored by religious fanaticism, wreaking havoc even in the most favored of
places. Take, for instance, Iran, a country blessed with a rich heritage and enormous physical and
human resources, but which, thanks to its theocratic regime, is largely an economic basket case and rogue
state. Then there's California, rich in everything from oil and food to international trade and
technology, but still skimming along the bottom of the national economy.
Crazifornia:
Delta smelt refuse to die in pumps. In Tracy, California, where the massive California Water
Project pumps stand ready to move up to 15,450 cubic feet of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta water southward
every single second, it's been a busy spring. The pumps have been a mere shadow of their old selves
ever since U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger began ratcheting them down in 2007 in response to
environmentalist lawsuits brought under the auspices of the Delta smelt.
The California Greenout: Creating artificial demand
for the politically connected. Impatient with the lagging pace of California's economic collapse,
Governor Jerry Brown decided to speed things up today [4/12/2011]. The Associated Press reports Brown
"signed legislation requiring California utilities to get one-third of their power from renewable sources,
giving the state the most aggressive alternative energy mandate in the U.S." This is an increase from
current laws that require California utilities to get 20 percent of their power from renewable sources.
Light-bulb banning
begins. The cost of illuminating your home is about to go up significantly. Most Americans
take for granted that when they flip a switch, darkness immediately gives way to a warm, natural light.
That's no longer possible in California, where a regulation that took effect Jan. 1 only allows the sale
of harsh, cold compact fluorescents above a certain wattage.
California's
environmental regulations cause economic blackout. The origin of the modern environmental
movement and the creation of Earth Day are often said to have their origins in the 1969 Santa Barbara oil
spill. "Californians have largely treated environmentalism as a 'religious sacrament' rather than as
one component among many in maximizing people's quality of life," note the editors of Trends magazine,
commenting on California's decline. Nowhere is this more evident than the state's hostility to
energy production.
Saving California Almost
Half a Billion a Year — Easy. [The California Energy Commission issues] regulations —
lots and lots of regulations. They tell you what to use to light your home, how thick your insulation must be,
what type of washer/dryer you can buy, how big your pool pump can be, how big your windows can be, whether you can
leave your porch lights on at night — 176 pages for buildings alone. While a few could be
justified for safety reasons or for hidden features for subsequent occupants/owners, most are intrusive and no
business of government. The underlying premise is that the collective interests, as determined by the people
at the CEC, overrule any rational consideration of cost and benefit by a free citizen or inhabitant of the state of
California. Or maybe it is just because they think we're stupid?
CALGreen: Regulatory Nirvana.
Average Californians want a thriving economy, accountable schools, reliable police and fire services, a functioning penal
system, and fiscal responsibility from the state. Sacramento is giving them instead a new set of regulations — for
a dormant industry — which will employ hundreds of public servants to keep the CALGreen promise of reducing global GHG
emissions .0096 percent by 2020. Meanwhile, the public is invited to rejoice that more of the cost of green
regulation will be borne by the taxpayer. I'm not sure the art of regulation for regulation's sake can be perfected
much more than this.
California
banning 100-watt incandescent light bulbs. The state of liberal bastion, California, will start
phasing out the 100-watt incandescent light bulb on Jan. 1, 2011. By the beginning of the year
2012, it will be gone from sale in stores. Specialty lights that use less than 40 watts and more
than 150 watts, and three-way bulbs are exempt, but will later be required to use less energy.
Orange officials sue
couple who removed their lawn. Some Southern California cities fine residents for watering their
lawns too much during droughts. But in Orange, officials are locked in a legal battle with a couple
accused of violating city ordinances for removing their lawn in an attempt to save water.
Environmental red tape hurts families in California Fish Don't Vote.
The Republican Party has long been fishing for an issue that will reach out to Hispanic and other minority
voters. Now, a three-inch fish may be the key to establishing common ground between that voting bloc and
the GOP.
California adopts first regulation to limit greenhouse gas emissions from
fuel. California took aim today at the oil industry and its effect on global warming, adopting the
world's first regulation to limit greenhouse gas emissions from the fuel that runs cars and trucks. The
state Air Resources Board voted 9-1 in favor of the complex new rule, which is expected to slash the state's
gasoline consumption by a quarter in the next decade.
California
May Ban Black Cars. The California legislature is considering regulating the color of cars and
reflectivity of paint to reduce the energy requirements to cool them. ... The problem isn't the color per se,
but the reflectivity of the paint overall. And dark colors just don't reflect well, so they are likely
out. "Jet black remains an issue," says the report.
Update: California Car Paint Proposal Parked For
Now. California has backed down from a proposal on new cars' paint coatings. The state
said it's looking for ways to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions by improving cars' efficiency. One
way to do that is by making cars more reflective so that their air-condition systems don't have to work
as hard.
California
considering banning giant TVs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state's governor, has supported controversial
proposals by the California's energy commission to impose strict energy consumption limits on TVs with screens that are
more than 40 inches wide. The commission claims that California's estimated 35 million televisions and
related gadgets account for about 10 percent of household energy consumption in the state.
California To Ban TV: But Not For a Good Reason.
Why is the California Energy Commission (CEC), a Gov. Jerry Brown creation, wanting to ban television
sets? Well, it seems that a honking 48-inch plasma screen, that bright symbol of the bygone days of
conspicuous consumption and purveyor of drooling vacuity, uses too much electricity, and electricity
production makes too much greenhouse gas emissions (at least in America, where half of our electricity
comes from coal — in France, a plasma screen would emit nary a CO2 molecule as the TVs there
are nuclear powered).
California Gas Stations Shut Under Expensive Mandate.
Nearly 100 California gas stations are being forced out of business by a statewide mandate requiring them to
implement expensive new equipment to reduce vapor emissions at the pump. The mandate, issued by the
California Air Resources Board (CARB), is known as Phase II of the state's Enhanced Vapor Recovery
program. It requires gas station owners to purchase and install devices to prevent vapors from
escaping when customers fill their cars.
California's 'Green Jobs' Experiment
Isn't Going Well. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was all smiles in 2006 when he signed into law the
toughest anti-global-warming regulations of any state. Mr. Schwarzenegger and his green supporters
boasted that the regulations would steer California into a prosperous era of green jobs, renewable energy,
and technological leadership. Instead, since 2007 — in anticipation of the new
mandates — California has led the nation in job losses.
California
threat to sue US govt over ship, aircraft emissions. California said Thursday [8/31/2008] it
planned to sue the US government for failing to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from ships, aircraft,
construction and agricultural equipment. In the latest legal threat from the state against the
Environmental Protection Agency, California's Attorney General Jerry Brown said the body was "wantonly
ignoring" its duty to set pollution standards.
California's Potemkin
Environmentalism: [Governor] Schwarzenegger's reputation as an environmental trailblazer is in
keeping with California's recent history and self-perception. In truth, however, the Golden State's
energy leadership is a mirage. California's environmental policies have made it heavily dependent on
other states for power; generated some of the highest, business-crippling energy costs in the country; and
left it vulnerable to periodic electricity shortages. Its economic growth has occurred not because of,
but despite, those policies, which would be disastrous if extended to the rest of the country.
Who Will Control Your
Thermostat? In California, we have 236 pages of state-mandated standards for building energy
efficiency, known as Title 24. What should be controversial in the proposed revisions to Title 24
is the requirement for what is called a "programmable communicating thermostat" or PCT. Every new home and
every change to existing homes' central heating and air conditioning systems will required to be fitted with a
PCT beginning next year following the issuance of the revision. Each PCT will be fitted with a
"non-removable " FM receiver that will allow the power authorities to increase your air conditioning
temperature setpoint or decrease your heater temperature setpoint to any value they chose. During "price
events" those changes are limited to ±4°F. and you would be able to manually override the changes.
During "emergency events" the new setpoints can be whatever the power authority desires and you would not be
able to alter them. In other words, the temperature of your home will no longer be yours to control.
The Editor says...
I can think of a couple of ways to defeat that FM receiver without touching it. And I'm sure it will
only be a matter of time before some hacker figures out how to shut off (or turn on) every air conditioner
in town.
California Seeks Thermostat
Control. Next year in California, state regulators are likely to have the emergency power to
control individual thermostats, sending temperatures up or down through a radio-controlled device that will
be required in new or substantially modified houses and buildings to manage electricity shortages.
The Editor continues...
Scroll down to the end of the article to see a quote from Nicole Tam, a spokeswoman for PG&E,
who claims that the thermostat control signals are hacker-proof because they "are encrypted and
encoded". What a relief! We all know that no encryption scheme has ever been cracked
by hackers.
California
Proposes Taking Control of Thermostats. The California Energy Commission has proposed requiring
thermostats that allow the government to control the temperature of homes and businesses in case of high energy
prices or shortages, a measure that some critics are calling "draconian."
California Hotels Go
Green With Low-Flow Toilets, Solar Lights. Visitors to the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa won't
find the Gideon Bible in the nightstand drawer. Instead, on the bureau will be a copy of "An Inconvenient
Truth," former Vice President Al Gore's book about global warming.
How
Elite Environmentalists Impoverish Blue-Collar Americans: The great Central Valley of California has never
been an easy place. Dry and almost uninhabitable by nature, the state's engineering marvels brought water down
from the north and the high Sierra, turning semi-desert into some of the richest farmland in the world. ... The
depression conditions in the great valley reflect more than a mere water shortage. They are the direct result
of conscious actions by environmental activists to usher in a new era of scarcity.
Al
Gore visits Berkeley, charges up Prop. 87 rally. Former Vice President Al Gore appeared in
Berkeley on Monday [10/23/2006] to lend his celebrity and reputation as a crusader against global warming
to a measure on California's Nov. 7 ballot that would tax oil companies to raise $4 billion
for green energy projects.
Kit Bond goes into battle
on a lawn mower. Environmental groups heralded California's move three years ago to adopt new
pollution standards for small engines. The standards could require use of catalytic converters, which
have cleaned up cars and trucks, to be added to lawn mowers as well.
California's
Man-Made Drought. California has a new endangered species on its hands in the San Joaquin
Valley — farmers. Thanks to environmental regulations designed to protect the likes of the three-inch
long delta smelt, one of America's premier agricultural regions is suffering in a drought made worse by
federal regulations.
Obama's
Failure to Help May Spring from Racism. Why are the communities of Fresno County suffering so
deeply? Because in December 2008, the federal government decided that Fresno County, a farming-rich area
which provides half of America's vegetables, no longer needed water. The farmers whose ancestors built
the canals to irrigate the Central Valley have been totally cut off from their water supply, even though
they're still paying bills for it. Hundreds of acres of prime farming land lie fallow, crops withered
and dead. All because the federal government thinks that smelt — tiny 5- to 7-centimeter
fish — are more important than human beings.
It's farmers
vs. fish for California water. Supporters of California agriculture called on the Obama
administration and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday to lift water restrictions that were
imposed to protect the endangered delta smelt, saying the fish is putting farmers out of business.
Editor's note:
Many more examples of ridiculous environmental laws can be found
here.
Top
Ten Green Auto Headlines of 2009. California proposed a "Cool Cars Standard" that effectively
banned black cars so that they would reflect 20 percent of "impinging solar energy" and reduce emissions
via less AC use. Public outrage led to the rule's withdrawal.
On the other hand... Will Californians Repeal
Cap-And-Trade? A California legislator pushes a November ballot initiative to free the
state from the job-killing shackles of a 2006 law designed to fight climate change. The other choice
is freezing in the unemployment line. At last report, California's unemployment rate was 12.3%, with
2.25 million residents looking for work.
Effort underway to
suspend California's global-warming law. Republican politicians and conservative activists are launching
a ballot campaign to suspend California's landmark global-warming law, in what they hope will serve as a showcase for
a national backlash against climate regulations. Supporters say they have "solid commitments" of nearly
$600,000 to pay signature gatherers for a November initiative aimed at delaying curbs on the greenhouse gas
emissions of power plants and factories until the state's unemployment rate drops.
California's Toxic Air
Scare Machine: James Enstrom, southern California native, earned a Ph.D. in elementary particle
nuclear physics at Stanford, then received postdoctoral training in epidemiology and a Masters in Public Health
from UCLA. ... In 2005, Enstrom published his results of a robust and current (50,000 people, 1973-2002) study
on the effects of small particle air pollution in California. He found no premature death effect in California
from small particle air pollution. California's air pollution of the '50s and '60s has declined for
thirty years, and Enstrom was also familiar with the improvement in air quality and the conundrum of
increasing rates of asthma that was being misrepresented by CARB.
Grape Growing Collides With Fish Protection in
California. Grape growers in Northern California's cool, fertile Sonoma County wine region are
stomping mad at a new plan to limit the amount of water vineyards can pump from local rivers and streams to
protect crops from frost — a proposed regulation meant to safeguard coho salmon, a species on the
brink of local extinction.
Backing off on environmental perfection.
It will go down as a landmark decision. U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wagner ruled this week that people
have rights. That may sound a bit daffy but in the wacky world of California water politics people take
second class citizen status behind fish and even vegetation.
Water
Sanity For Central California. A federal judge has struck a blow for California's water-deprived
Central Valley, ruling that draconian federal water cutbacks violate human rights because —
surprise! — people also belong in the ecosystem.
A Not-So-Golden State.
As California's pumped-up governator prepares to push a costly cap-and-trade law on the state's manufacturers,
CEOs are sending a not-so-subtle message to him: Your state stinks.
California approves extensive carbon-trading
scheme. California has approved an extensive carbon-trading plan aimed at cutting greenhouse
emissions. State regulators passed a "cap-and-trade" framework to let companies buy and sell permits,
giving them an incentive to emit fewer gases. The aim is to create the second-largest market in the
field, after Europe's.
California government
hits rock bottom - keeps digging. California's Air Resources Board passed a cap and trade
regulation for the state's top 600 industrial facilities that will almost certainly bring economic activity
in the state to a near standstill.
Cap-And-Trade
Tosses An Anchor To Drowning California Economy. On Friday [12/17/2010], the California Air
Resources Board (CARB), the bureaucracy charged with implementing AB 32, the California Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006, adopted a cap-and-trade scheme to reduce California's greenhouse gas emissions by about
15% by 2020. CARB's regulations go into effect in 2012. The unelected officials at CARB intend to
reorder California's use of energy. In so doing they blandly declaim that their rules will create jobs
while admitting to higher energy costs and a slowing economy. Somehow, this formula is transmogrified by
CARB analysts into net job creation. Given the immutable laws of math, one is forced to calculate that
CARB's actions will "create" low-paying jobs at the expense of good jobs.
Manmade famine in
America. It seems inconceivable, but people in America are going hungry en masse due to a
famine caused by political authorities. Fresno, California is not yet a sister city of Kiev, Ukraine,
but the two cities, capitals of rich agricultural regions, share a history of mass hunger caused by central
governments indifferent to the suffering of their people, in the pursuit of ideological goals.
Fresno,
Zimbabwe. Fresno, California, stands as the de facto capital of California's mighty Central
Valley, the breadbasket of America. ... Yet far from being a paradise, Fresno is starting to resemble Zimbabwe
or 1930s Ukraine, a victim of a famine machine that is entirely man-made, not by red communists this time, but
by greens. State and federal officials, driven by the agenda of environmental extremists, have made it
extremely difficult for the valley's farms, introducing costly environmental regulations and cutting off critical
water supplies to save the Delta smelt, a bait fish. It's all driving the economy to collapse.
California Dumbs Down Tests.
When it comes to education trends, as California goes, so goes the nation. Which is all the more reason
to be concerned about the latest effort in California to dumb down standards. The University of California's
Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) has launched another salvo in its long-running war
against the SAT, the test used by many colleges and universities to assess academic achievement among high
school seniors. This is only the latest in a series of moves by BOARS against the SAT, but this one may
be a stalking horse to eliminate standardized tests in general, especially if they conflict with the goal of
promoting racial and ethnic diversity.
The Return of the
Fuzzies? In the 1990s, the Math Wars pitted two philosophies against each other. One side argued
for content-based standards — that elementary school students must memorize multiplication tables by third grade.
The other side argued for students to discover math, unfettered by "drill and kill" exercises. When the new 1994
California Learning Assessment Test trained test graders to award a higher score to a child with a wrong answer (but
good essay) than to a student who successfully solved a math problem, but without a cute explanation, the battle
was on.
Dumbed Down and Out in High
School: Some San Jose area teachers are dumping the D as a passing grade. They say students
who are doing the minimum to get by will just have to work a little harder. California's public
universities won't accept anything below C- on an academic transcript.
Math Instruction Doesn't Add Up.
California's standards call for students to learn algebra in eighth grade. Yet the graduation exam was
postponed because so many students were flunking the math portion of the test, which required only a
55 percent [score]. Only the hardest questions required high school math skills.
Book review: The
Language Police — How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn. Before Anton
Chekhov and Mark Twain can be used in school readers and exams, they must be vetted by a bias and sensitivity
committee. The New York State Education Department omitted mentioning Jews in an Isaac Bashevis Singer
story about prewar Poland, or blacks in Annie Dillard's memoir of growing up in a racially mixed town.
California rejected a reading book because The Little Engine That Could was male. Diane Ravitch
maintains that America's students are compelled to read insipid texts that have been censored and bowdlerized,
issued by publishers who willingly cut controversial material from their books — a case of the
bland leading the bland.
California math
scores among nation's worst. About 30 percent of fourth-graders and 23 percent of
eight-graders in California tested proficient math tests from the National Assessment of Education Progress,
ranking the state near the bottom nationally. ... Nationwide, 38 percent of fourth-graders and
33 percent of eighth-graders performed at proficient levels.
School grant program wastes
billions. Just how much improvement of low-accomplishing public schools have Californians purchased
with the $1.25 billion in their taxes spent on No Child Left Behind special programs? The disturbing
answer, apparently: "little if any academic improvement."
Schools used as leftist indoctrination centers:
Get Global Warming
Out of Our Schools. Because of the recent revelations of "Climategate" (see source materials
below) and my experience raising two children in private and public schools in California, I believe we
need to start a nationwide campaign to get "global warming" immediately removed from the curriculum of our
schools. We cannot wait for politicians or activists to do any more damage to our future generation.
"Global warming" is not just an objectionable and discredited scientific theory. Teachers are grafting
the loony climate-change premise onto lifestyle, religion, and politics in "science" classrooms. It
cannot stand.
California Offers Textbook Case of Political
Correctness: A textbook review process in California has changed or eliminated references to
everything from the Founding Fathers to hot dogs, leaving many to charge the state with distorting
history in the name of political correctness.
Save The Children (From
Global Warming Propaganda). Green schooling was surreptitiously introduced years ago when
teachers began espousing benign environmental distractions like "Earth Day." But trendy nontoxic
slogans like "reduce, reuse, recycle" eventually opened the door to the destructive propaganda of teaching
Al Gore's scientifically-challenged movie in science classes. Which soon facilitated a California
Law mandating unbalanced Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) theories be included in public school curricula.
And that paved the way for today's second installment of a malignant little program cleverly crafted to
indoctrinate our impressionable youth on a chillingly massive scale.
California State Senate Approves New Global Warming
Curriculum. The bill was controversial in the Senate because it simply requires "climate
change" to be taught, without requiring balance between the positions of alarmists and skeptics. "I
find it disturbing that this mandate to teach this theory is not accompanied by a requirement that the
discussion be science-based and include a critical analysis of all sides of the subject," state Sen. Tom
McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), said during the Senate debate, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
Letters from Sixth Grade Students Reveal Global
Warming Indoctrination. If you doubt some teachers are trying to brainwash schoolchildren with
global warming alarmism, take a look inside the sixth grade classroom of teacher Michael Steria at David A.
Brown Middle School in Wildomar, California. Twenty-five sixth graders teamed up to write eight letters
to The Heartland Institute describing what they had been taught about global warming. Steria sent the
letters to the institute in March.
Bill would require California's
science curriculum to cover climate change. Reading, writing and global warming? A
Silicon Valley lawmaker is gaining momentum with a bill that would require "climate change" to be among the
science topics that all California public school students are taught. The measure, by state Sen. Joe
Simitian, D-Palo Alto, also would mandate that future science textbooks approved for California public
schools include climate change.
Fairy Tales Don't
Come True. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled recently that parents had no right to
know about a very graphic sex survey given out to elementary school students in California. In fact, the court said
that parents have no right to claim sole responsibility for their children's sex education. ... Schools often give
information without parental notice about multiple access points to enter such behavior through "gay" community groups,
homosexual school clubs, local health clinics, Internet chat rooms, and politically correct youth organizations and clubs.
Gay Curriculum Proposal Riles Elementary School
Parents. A group of parents in a California school district say they are being bullied by school
administrators into accepting a new curriculum that addresses bullying, respect and acceptance — and
that includes compulsory lessons about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community that will be taught
to children as young as 5 years old.
California Elementary School Parents
Blindsided by Homosexual "Coming Out Day". Parents of students attending an elementary school
in Hayward, California, are in a frenzy after learning the school allegedly made no effort to inform them
their children were to participate in today's homosexual "Coming Out Day" school event, reports the Pacific
Justice Institute ... .
The
California homosexual activists' assault on schoolchildren: On May 11, the
California State Senate passed Senate Bill 1437. The bill demands "no teacher shall give
instruction nor shall a school district sponsor any activity that reflects adversely upon persons
because of their … gender … [or] sexual orientation." ... If a boy decides to come to school
in a dress, teachers may not even request that he change clothes.
Pinch Me If I Am Paranoid. A
bill is close to passing in California that would make all government (public) schools mandate a "positive"
portrayal of homosexuality in their textbooks and literature. However, many of these same schools will not
allow the mention of the word Christmas or Easter for fear that it will in some way "indoctrinate" the kids
into Christianity.
25 Reasons To Dislike
Liberals. [#2] Because the closest thing to Sodom and Gomorrah in the modern world is San Francisco and Berkeley.
Bill Would Force Schools to Support
Homosexuality. Gender-neutral bathrooms in public schools? Girls running for
prom king? Those are just a few of the possibilities which could result if the California Legislature
passes SB 1437 which would force schools to adopt an exclusively pro-homosexual message.
"There
Will Be No Apology". Those are the words of the mother of Matt Dariano, one of the five kids at
Live Oak High School in the San Francisco Bay Area who were sent home for having the temerity to wear American
flag tee shirts on the "Mexican heritage day" of Cinco de Mayo. "There will not be an apology,"
Mrs. Dariano told the camera crew outside the school.
California
Students Sent Home for Wearing U.S. Flags on Cinco de Mayo. Administrators at a California high
school sent five students home on Wednesday [5/5/2010] after they refused to remove their American flag
T-shirts and bandannas — garments the school officials deemed "incendiary" on Cinco de Mayo.
Calif.
School Bans American Flag Clothing For Non-Existent Mexican Holiday? For the Gilroy Dispatch
Lindsay Bryant reports that five young students of Live Oak High School in Gillroy, California were kicked out
of school on Cinco de Mayo because they dared to wear the venerable American colors while all the Mexican
students were wearing the Green, White and Red colors of the Mexican flag. According to Assistant Principal
Miguel Rodriguez these evil American children were "starting a fight."
Other bad ideas:
Gov. Brown gives green light to driverless cars in California. California took the fast lane to
the future on Tuesday [9/25/2012] when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that lets self-driving cars onto public roads. Brown rode to the signing
ceremony at Google Inc headquarters in the passenger seat of a vehicle that steered itself, a Prius modified by Google.
Genetically
modified foods: Why does California insist on finding a problem where nobody else does? On the state's ballot in November,
Californians will be voting on Proposition 37 — an initiative that would require all foods produced with or from genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) to carry mandatory warning labels. Oh, sure, it all sounds well and good and simple enough, except that such
a measure would impose significant expenses on (often small) businesses; would cost the way-past-completely-broke Californian government up
to over a million dollars to regulate the practice; and, oh yeah — is completely pointless because there is not a single documented
case of "adverse health consequences" due to genetically engineered foods.
California Caves to Illegals. It appears that in
California, those who are here illegally get the privileges. Rules and laws that legal residents had to abide by have been changed to accommodate
those here illegally. What was once fair and equitable for legal California residents is now not acceptable for illegal immigrants.
Organic Failure. Henry Waxman is at it
again. The Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade-climate change bill, which has been called the largest tax bill in history
because it would levy a national tax on energy use, narrowly passed the House in late June and is still pending in the
Senate, but the California Democrat has already moved on to his next bad idea: trying to save the nation's
populace by making farmlands sterile, so that only organic foods can be grown.
Obama has
little to show for '09. California, as every Californian will tell you, is the origin of the
fads and fancies that inevitably spread across the continent; San Francisco is where the Pied Piper of
Southside Chicago might have led the cult to a suitable jumping-off place. This is where the true
believers of the left exude the most noxious fumes.
California
prison case goes to Supreme Court. Agreeing to hear an appeal from Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, the U.S. Supreme Court said Monday [6/14/2010] it will decide whether the state
can be forced to release 46,000 inmates — more than one-fourth of its prison
population — to relieve overcrowding. The justices said they would hear the
case in the fall and rule early next year.
Where does
California put 33,000 released inmates? Hasn't California suffered enough? Apparently not,
according to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the name of reducing prison overcrowding and preserving a
"standard of decency," the high court this week handed down a decision that could set the stage for something
indecent: the release of tens of thousands of prisoners back into society.
The
Factory of Selective Moral Outrage. Democrats in Congress recently went all-out to try to
pass the Dream Act, an amnesty for illegal-alien students willing to enroll — and stay —
in college. Most of those who opposed it were derided as heartless at best, racist at worse. An
insolvent California — still struggling with its $15 billion budget shortfall — is
trying to advance its own version of the bill that would contravene federal immigration law and cost millions
of dollars. At around the same time, the state has announced plans to release about 40,000 prison
inmates due to a shortage of funds needed to address overcrowding. Highly taxed Californians can
borrow money to send illegal aliens to school, but not to keep felons in prison.
California
License Plates May Go Digital. California drivers may soon come bumper to bumper with the
latest product of the digital age: ad-blaring license plates. State lawmakers are considering a
bill allowing the state to begin researching the use of electronic license plates for vehicles. The
device would mimic a standard license plate when the vehicle is moving but would switch to digital messages
when it is stopped for more than four seconds in traffic or at a red light.
The Editor says...
Isn't California where all those "urban blight" activists live, who hate to see advertising all over
the landscape? The people who hate to see others stoop to the level of "anything for a buck"?
Apparently it's okay for big government to be so mercenary. It sounds as if the advertising is going to
be on every license plate, and the products or services thus promoted will be chosen by the state. What
if the state decides to advertise something the driver finds repugnant? How will the driver know?
Suffer
These Crimes in Oakland? Don't Call the Cops Oakland's police chief is making some dire
claims about what his force will and will not respond to if layoffs go as planned. Chief Anthony Batts
listed exactly 44 situations that his officers will no longer respond to and they include grand theft,
burglary, car wrecks, identity theft and vandalism. He says if you live and Oakland and one of the
above happens to you, you need to let police know on-line.
But What
If They Take My Computer? Facing a budget shortfall, the city of Oakland is about to lay off
80 police officers. This is hardly a wallop they can shrug off in a city where the murder rate is more
than three times the national average. So, in the event that last-minute negotiations fail to avert
these layoffs, citizens in Oakland are being informed that if they should suffer any of the misfortunes on
a list of 44 situations that once brought a police response, no officer will come to their door to take a
report, much less try to do something about it. Reports about incidents on the list will have to be
made online, police say. Given that burglary and theft are on the list, one must wonder what options
will be available to a man whose computer is stolen.
Other commentary on California's decline:
California, There
It Went. Flying over Los Angeles on an annual summer visit, I peer through smog so thick that
the coastline is hard to see. It is only three in the afternoon, but the cars are backed up for miles
on the freeways, which remain largely in the same state of disrepair that greeted me last year. The state
is literally deteriorating before my eyes.
Waving California
goodbye. More people are moving out of the state than are moving in. It's the economy, of
course, especially housing costs.