If you live in a state with garbage politicians, well hold my beer. In California, we infect the nation with the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and honeypot plower Eric Swalwell. At the state level, we have Lorena Gonzalez. Gonzalez is a union leg-humper and state assembly hack. She’s face to face with an ethics allegation that my buddy Jennifer Oliver O’Connell covered.

Gonzalez is responsible for the accruable abomination known as AB5. AB5 was a gift to unions. It pretty much outlawed all freelancing work, save for a few exceptions. It was designed to force freelancers into W2 jobs when they had no desire to be someone’s employee. Joe Biden loves AB5

AB5 devastated the freelancer economy and put hundreds of thousands if not millions of freelancers on the sidelines. I was one of them.

In 2020, I was the sports cartoonist for the LA Times. AB5 had become operative that year. The bill carved out exceptions for favored independent contractors, like lawyers, but my other freelancing occupation of newspaper cartoonist was not on the favored status list. AB5 set an arbitrary and idiotic submissions limit of 35. Where did “35” come from? It was a number Gonzalez picked out of thin air. That’s how she legislates. When she is not marching with union thugs, she’s throwing darts at a dartboard to decide the fate of freelancers.

I was sidelined while Gonzalez and her union handlers wrote another bill to “fix” the massive problems with AB5. That’s like fixing Frankenstein’s raging monster with a Tylenol. It helped me, but it didn’t help others.

The absurdly titled “Build Back Better” includes a national version of AB5. Instead of using the IRS test for determining freelance status, the PRO Act includes an ABC test. Although many union parrots have claimed that freelancers have nothing to fear supporters like Joe Biden will not budge on the ABC test. There’s a reason why. They know it will hurt freelancers and help unions. Unions like AFL-CIO have reassured freelancers that they have nothing to fear. That’s like Ted Bundy telling a nurse to close her eyes — she has nothing to fear. Even Democrats who can still think for themselves know the PRO Act is a job-killer.

The canary in the coal mine was AB5. It killed freelancer jobs on a massive scale. Joe Biden has done enough damage to economy by printing more money than trees in the Amazon and causing run-away inflation. The PRO Act as written will blow up the gig economy — and the economy in general will suffer, if it becomes law.

Thanks, Brandon!