Things must really be bad for Gavin Newsom to stoop to this level.

Looking past the smug delivery and the monologues dripping with condescension, Gavin Newsom is actually revealing his desperation with his string of efforts to lure back migrating Californians. The governor seems a bit preoccupied with tempting those who have taken flight from the Golden State, and despite the confidence displayed in his scripts, there is desperation seen in the sequels.

The ridiculousness began with him running commercial spots in Florida, actually trying to say that California is the land of freedom as a means of drawing Floridians to relocate to his state. It was quite the serving of delusional boastfulness to suggest that his land of government shutdowns, perpetual mask mandates, and restrictive employment laws was somehow the libertine mecca, as opposed to the land of DeSantis and his fascist regime of permitting residents to live and prosper. He repeated this idiocy in Texas, sounding like a vegan attempting to tempt brisket lovers with a soy barbeque stand.

Now, Newsom has stepped over into the realm of sheer desperation, as he has turned his attention to bringing back Hollywood film and television productions. Newsom is offering up a double dose of offers, neither of which sounds very logical. The first is that he is attempting to use the recent Roe vs. Wade decision as motivation. He wants studios to halt productions in states that will have restrictive abortion laws – namely Georgia and Oklahoma – and return to the abortion Shangri-la that is California. The connection to studio work seems tenuous, at best.

The other leg he is showing with a lifted hemline has a garter stuffed with cash. Newsom is pledging more tax incentives to tempt studios to return to Burbank or Culver City, as this has been a primary driver of these shoots seeking out pastures of a greener nature. He is pushing new legislation that will dangle more dollars.

The bill, if passed, will provide $1.65 billion or $330 million annually in tax credits to film, TV and other media productions beyond 2025, when the program was set to expire.

Now, in full disclosure, I am neither a Democrat, nor a Californian, but this strikes me as bucking the party policy procedure. I have it on relatively good authority – that is, years of Democrat indoctrination – that this type of practice is wrong. Doling out tax dollars to large billionaires and multinationals has long been said to be the work of rapacious Republicans beholden to Wall Street. Yet, here is Gavin opening up the checkbook funded by his residents.

What is this move if not corporate welfare, one of the long-established political cudgels employed by the Democrats? Now here, we see one of the most liberal governors in one of the most liberal states employing the tactics that are routinely demonized by liberals. What you are witnessing is Newsom tacitly admitting that the very policies he has been pushing are injurious to California.

There is a reason all of these studios have been fleeing to other regions with their work. For decades, Canada has been leeching productions from California; Vancouver is called Hollywood North for this reason. Georgia has successfully established itself as the new filming hotspot, to the extent that massive studios have been constructed, with major films like Marvel superhero epics being shot on location. 

California’s high taxes and oppressive union standards have been driving out work consistently. Now add in the nonsensical AB-5 labor law, and the nation’s highest gas prices, and there are few reasons for new work to be brought in. Newsom recognizes this, and his repeated effort to draw people and work from far more fertile areas is a sign he recognizes the severe trouble. 

When you see a Democrat willing to forego tax collection, that is a clear indicator of warning lights going off. Gavin focusing on Florida, Texas, and now areas fostering the entertainment industry tells you exactly how bad things have become.