Last week, in the first of two in this space, we talked about the Democrat prospects for the presidential election in 2024. See the first piece here. As we discussed then, Joe Biden isn’t going to make it as a candidate to the November 2024 presidential election. You know it, I know it, and most registered Democrats know it. He’s a placeholder, a bookmark. He spends 40 percent of his time on vacation, and when he’s actually at work, his narcissism gets the best of him. (See Maui, where he compared a kitchen fire and the potential loss of his Corvette to the deaths of over 100 Hawaiians and the more than 1000 still missing). He’s not in charge of anything. His cognitive and physical abilities are gone. So, what’s next?
As we also discussed last week, Biden’s vice president is even less likable and even more unelectable than her boss. Hmmm. So, the Democrat strategist and pundit industry is abuzz. They don’t want Biden, and they sure as hell don’t want Kamala Harris. Enter California’s Governor Gavin Newsom. Yes, he of the French Laundry gourmet dining and keeping his Napa Valley winery open during the state-wide COVID lockdowns when your children were locked out of schools fame. The same guy whose children went to a private school in the haughty parts of Sacramento while your kids were holed up at home for almost two years.
Yes, that guy.
Gavin Newsom and fellow state Democrats have destroyed California. And he’ll destroy our nation. I know; I live in the state and have, off and on, since 1993. I ran for U.S. Congress in 2020 trying to make a difference in a blue district. I lost. But I’m here and still fighting. And this is my clarion call: To elect Gavin Newsom to the presidency would be the death of the nation.
The once “Golden State” of unmatched opportunities, idyllic weather, gorgeous beaches, majestic mountains, endless farmland, and an abundance of natural resources is now a cesspool of crime, high taxes, homelessness, feces-lined sidewalks, poor public education, high unemployment, the highest cost of living in the nation, and welfare rolls. Read some John Steinbeck, read some Victor Davis Hanson, listen to the Beach Boys to understand what it once was. California is a sick state, and Newsom Democrats are the reason. Under Newsom’s leadership, California has lost over 800,000 residents who fled to greener pastures, intent on opportunities, family security, improved lifestyles, and lower taxes.
And now Gavin wants to be our president. Don’t do it, America. Don’t do it. I implore you. Newsom likes to brag that California is the fifth largest economy in the world, and it is, but let’s look deeper into how Newsom has squandered California’s inherent riches and destroyed America’s paradise.
In a recent study of the best states to live in, U.S. News & World Report analyzed how each of the 50 ranked across 71 metrics in eight categories aiming to illustrate how well states serve their residents. California finished 33rd in overall rankings and dead last among all states for “Opportunity” (Affordability, Economic Opportunity, and Equality).
Particularly oppressive is California’s tax structure under Newsom. State sales tax in California is the highest in the nation, reaching 10.75 percent in some parts. The gasoline tax in California is also the highest in the nation. Californians pay an additional 72 cents per gallon at the pump solely on state and local taxes. Yesterday, for example, I gassed up in an LA suburb and paid $5.29 per gallon. And it’s getting worse.
Personal income tax in California is also the highest in the U.S., reaching a top rate of 13.3 percent. In addition, the business environment in California is forcing corporations and small businesses to relocate due to corporate taxes being the highest in the Western United States. Even Hollywood is relocating its entertainment production to states like Georgia and Tennessee.
With all those tax revenues, you would expect a state with thriving public programs. You’d be wrong. And nothing is more in your face or illustrative of the failed government in California than the homeless epidemic. Currently, there are more than half a million homeless across the United States, and California has the most in the nation, with 28 percent of the nation’s total on the streets. As a California resident, I can personally attest that it’s literally everywhere and getting worse — In spite of the fact that California has spent a stunning $17.5 billion on the problem over just four years with little to no success.
Another pot that Newsom and the Democrat super majority in Sacramento dump tons of money into is the state welfare system. Yes, you guessed it, California is indeed first in the nation for residents on the public dole. More than two million people receive regular government payments in California.
Finally, let’s consider education in California. In spite of prestigious universities such as Stanford, Cal Berkeley, USC, and UCLA, California’s public school system is failing miserably under Newsom and state Democrats. As the father of three children who attended public schools in Southern California, my wife and I learned early on that we could not depend on the state education system to properly educate our children. A 2023 study of public schools across the nation by schoolaroo.com found that despite the world’s fifth largest economy, California ranked 40th out of 50 states overall, 49th in terms of “student safety,” and 36th in terms of “school quality.”
Joe Biden is essentially retired on active duty, as we would say, in the Air Force. He’s limping to the finish line with no visible energy or ability to make it. Kamala Harris is incompetent and clearly out of her league at the White House. Democrats are looking for solutions. Newsom is sitting in the wings on Biden Death Watch, planning his destruction of the country. He’s measuring the Oval Office for drapes. His wife is mentally redecorating the Lincoln Bedroom. He will do to America what he did for California, and the nation will suffer similarly. We won’t survive. Please don’t California America.
