Who is this guy sitting in the governor's office in California? His name is still Gavin Newsom, but lately, he hasn't been acting as the progressive zealot we're used to. Perhaps he's an AI version?

On Saturday, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed workers on strike to become eligible for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits.

Wait, what? Newsom passed on a chance to take our hard-earned tax dollars and give them to someone else while pandering to unions? Can this actually be happening?

Governor Hair Gel noted that the state's unemployment fund is just plain out of money:

BREAKING: Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoes bill that would have allowed workers on strike to get unemployment pay.

In his veto note, he points to the state’s unemployment insurance fund debt: pic.twitter.com/5mUOlOyzW8

— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) October 1, 2023

Why is the fund out of money, you might ask. His budgeting skills might have something to do with it:

CA Gov. Newsom Manages to Turn a Massive Budget Surplus Into a $32 Billion Deficit—in Just One Year

The governor explained in his veto note:

Any expansion of eligibility for UI benefits could increase California’s outstanding federal UI debt projected to be nearly $20 billion by the end of the year and could jeopardize California’s Benefit Cost Ratio add-on waiver application, significantly increasing taxes on employers.

Furthermore, the state is responsible for the interest payments on the federal UI loan and to date has paid $362.7 million in interest with another $302 million due this month

Now is not the time to increase costs or incur this sizable debt.

Union folks were not pleased; here is one of the tamer messages posted Sunday on X:

Everyone will need to remember in four years when Gavin Newsom runs for president that he pretended to be on the side of labor, then straddled the fence, and ultimately opposed the power of unions because his corporate sponsors told him to.

— Zachary Loeser (@BadSciFiName) October 1, 2023

Many were far more pointed and NSFW.

Newsom has also surprised progressive loyalists with several other recent decisions. In late September, he pushed the state Assembly to backtrack and pass a law that makes sex trafficking a felony. (In the unbelievable den of depravity that is the state legislature, lawmakers had initially killed the measure before Newsom stepped in.) He signed the bill and then also stunned his supporters further by vetoing a law that would have required parents to affirm their child's gender identity or be punished. Thought such things were his #1 priority?

Gavin Newsom dismisses questions about denying parents the right to know that their kids are gender transitioning at school, says the issue pales in importance compared to #climatechange + shouldn’t have been asked on the debate stage. #GOPdebate #parentalrights #california #2024 pic.twitter.com/8Nbu9BXlxF

— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) September 28, 2023

Who is this man? It's not the Newsom that we know and have gotten accustomed to assaulting our everyday values and destroying our cities at every opportunity.

No, this is a man running for something—the '24 presidency, the vice presidency, the '28 race, who knows?

What makes it all the more disgusting is how easily he turns on his principles. Although I deeply disagree with most of his odious ideology, I'd respect him more if he at least stuck with it. But with recent decisions, he's shown that he doesn't actually have any core convictions and is willing to change his positions at the drop of a hat and stab his supporters in the back if it gives him an opportunity.

It's unclear what his game is by pretending to move to the middle because he's repeatedly denied he's running for the presidency. But we can be sure that it's self-serving because at his core he is a narcissist who will do anything to gain more power and exert more control over the people he supposedly represents.

See also:

President Newsom - Could It Happen?

Debate Takeaway: CA Gov. Newsom Is a Slick Used Car Salesman, but You’ll Drive Away in a Lemon