The Sacramento Bee, part of Governor Hair Gel’s “homegrown team,” was all atwitter over the fact that Dementia Joe tapped Newsom as part of his 22-person entourage attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. It never cease to amaze me that, instead of doing this conference meant to “save the planet” over a CISCO or Zoom conference, an act that would require zero emission output, everyone is jetting to Glasgow.

How much of a carbon footprint does that leave? Asking for a friend.

From the Office of the Governor’s press release:

Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that he will join global leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland next week to highlight California’s groundbreaking policies to combat the intensifying climate crisis and rally the global community to end their reliance on oil. Governor Newsom will be joined by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, senior Administration officials and state legislators.

His Hairfulness skated the Recall, and the bomb cyclone storm that dumped some much needed rain on California has brought a respite to the wildfire season that ravaged the state. So, Newsom obviously thinks that everything’s awesome. The conference runs from October 31 through November 12, and Newsom will be there through November 3. In the meantime, crime continues to rise, and businesses are still shuttering their doors; some because of that rampant crime. Target and Walgreens? They have already closed several stores in San Francisco, because their bottom line cannot accommodate massive inventory loss. Then there’s that nagging problem of $20 billion in fraud due to the Employment Development Department’s malfeasance during the pandemic. That stench still lingers, as if Hair Gel stepped in horse hockey.

On Monday, the California Legislature finally got around to an actual hearing on that EDD fraud. In order to assist Newsom in winning the Recall, the Democrat Supermajority legislature put it off, twice. Finally, maybe the California people could get some answers.

Not especially, as KCRA reported:

At a Monday joint hearing of Assembly and Senate members, EDD’s director answered questions along with the California State Auditor.

Part of that questioning brought the new fraud amount. EDD Director Rita Saenz, answering questions from Irvine Assm. Cottie Petrie-Norris, said, “of the $177 billion that was paid out, $20 billion is estimated to be fraudulent.”

Assemblymember Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, began the hearing with a visual aid showing 11 dump trucks filled with cash. EDD put the blame, mostly, on criminal gangs and organized crime.

“I’ve spoken to a number of unemployment directors from across the country. There isn’t one department that didn’t face a large number of fraudulent claimants,” Saenz said.

Lackey was not convinced.

KTLA reported Lackey’s actual remarks:

“I don’t think people have captured in their mind the enormity of the amount of money has been issued errantly to undeserving people,” said Assemblyman Tom Lackey, a Republican from Palmdale, who brought along an illustration of 29 dump trucks filled to the brim with $100 bills representing just over half of that money lost to fraud.

California unemployment is the highest in the nation at 7.5 percent. California also has a backlog of 119,000 unprocessed claims, with 80,000 new or reopened claims. This is not a department that appears to have much under control, so Asm. Lackey is right to be skeptical.

The Legislature brought up another inconvenient fact: the state’s unemployment trust fund was at a deficit because of this fraud, until Dementia Joe helped to plug that hole; but it’s not without strings.

Legislators also asked about another looming problem: the state’s unemployment trust fund. With so many people unemployed due to COVID-19, the trust fund went into a deficit of nearly $20 billion.

That means the state of California took out loans from the federal government of that amount. Those loans will be required to be paid back, not by the state but by the state’s businesses. Most of those businesses will see those taxes coming from the federal government in January of 2023.

Most of these businesses are already struggling thanks to Hair Gel’s lockdowns, schizophrenic reopening, and now vaccine passports and mandates. Now these businesses get the joy of paying for massive fraud that happened on this governor’s watch.

But no matter. Here’s another $600 stimulus payment—you should be happy! California will keep, because His Hairfulness is urgently focused on the more important work of saving the planet, no matter what the cost. Since he’s not the one paying that cost, this comes as no surprise.