Detachment from Reality = Incompetence

By graja @Adobe Stock

Tax More to Get LessIf anything brought to the forefront the craziness of the left’s green detachment, it was the devasting LA fires that came after the Democrats lost the White House.

To get a handle on why Donald Trump is back in the White House., California Governor Gavin Newsom, who claims he is a changed politician, wants to understand what’s going on. He announced he would interview leaders from the “MAGA movement” to “understand what the motivations are, the legitimacy of those motivations, and just really understand where people are coming from.”

Really? What Does MAGA Think?

Newsome also unveiled a “California Jobs First Economic Blueprint” in Los Angeles, in which he promises to use the wildfires to change how the government does business. But first, writes Allysia Finley in the WSJ, Newsome must combat his awful record in his home state.

“The inability of the state of California to get out of its own way, (Newsome) said, is driving many of its problems including “homelessness, housing, the issue of our competitiveness, our tax base, all of it.” He added: “We are now getting out of our own way as it relates to this recovery, and this mindset, it must be maintained moving forward.”

Well, that’s good for him because the LA fires are certainly a tragedy that is too good to waste. However, waste seems to be baked into California’s DNA when it comes to taxpayer dollars, human capital, and water.

Over a decade ago, Ms. Finley you thrashed Lindsay Lohan for squandering her talent as “she spiraled from one personal crisis to another.” Ms. Lohan has since gotten her act together.” California has not, you lament.

Giving lip service to reform does not mean that Gov. Newsom is willing to spend capital to rehabilitate California.

While campaigning for governor in 2017, Lt. Gov. Newsom promised to build 3.5 million new housing units by 2025. He won the 2018 election but has fallen 2.8 million short of that goal. His glossy economic blueprint document resembles a Chinese Communist Party five-year plan, filled with puffery about the state’s economic success and promises to steer investment to “strategic sectors” including green energy and film.

Crushing Job Creators

Keeping the rich happy seems to be the primary aim of Democrats in Sacramento. They lavish tax breaks on their rich Hollywood friends while they “crush middle-class entrepreneurs who run fast-food franchises with a sector-specific $20-an-hour minimum wage, making Big Macs and Chalupas less affordable for those working-class Californians who haven’t yet fled the state.”

Since 2020 about 1.4 million Californians have left for other states. Many are middle-class folks who can’t find jobs that cover the high cost of living. California’s 5.5% jobless rate is higher than Puerto Rico’s. In the Los Angeles metro area before the wildfires, it was 6%. When government crushes job creators with high taxes and excessive regulation, what do you expect?

Doesn’t Gov. Newsome have a plan to expand state-administrated program for paid family and sick leave?  I thought this was to be funded by a 1.2% payroll tax, food stamps and “transitional kindergarten” for 4-year olds. This doesn’t seem unlike the national Democratic Party’s agenda: Expand entitlements by taxing everyone more.

In an example of what is failing California residents only 29% of California fourth-graders rate proficient or better in reading. That’s in a state that spends $50 billion more on K-12 education than they did 15 years ago. And no, student test scores have not improved.

During Covid shutdowns led by teacher unions, Mr. Newsome “fiddled.”  After the LA fires, Newsome boasted of bringing “back some sense of normalcy for our youth by eliminating barriers to getting them back learning in school.” this included waiving state regulations to let students displaced by the fires enroll in others outside of their district.

Couldn’t the same be done to alleviate the state’s education emergency?

Alas. Allowing more school choice for poor kids would anger teachers’ unions, whose support Mr. Newsom wants to run for president in 2028.

Owning to a highly progressive income tax, California has a problem with a narrowing tax base.

Its top rate is 13.3% on those earning more than $1 million (which rises to 14.5% on payroll income). In 2021 households making more than $10 million paid a quarter of state income-tax revenue. Those earning more than $1 million paid half.

In Sacramento, Democrats are often left gasping for more money to pay for promises they made to their public union donors. So they raise taxes even more, often by stealth.

How about cutting taxes, Ms. Finlay? Wouldn’t that moderate taxes for Governor Newsome and for California?

Mr. Newsom and the Legislature could moderate these swings by cutting taxes on the wealthy. They don’t because that would mean less money for them to buy votes to compensate for their mismanagement. They kill jobs, then give unemployed workers generous handouts: food stamps for oil jobs.

And yes, let’s hope the Governor benefits from an economically successful Trump presidency.

A downturn could precipitate a budget emergency that would further tarnish the governor’s record and diminish his White House prospects. Alternatively, he could bolster his chances by telling his friends in the climate lobby, government unions and the Legislature to get out of Californians’ way.