So what has Mayor Suarez done for Miami? Removed the Sanctuary city designation. In his own words.
“We’ve balanced our budget. We have surpluses… because of that, we have 1.4% unemployment,” said Suarez, noting how scarce surpluses are in American cities and states today. “We had 12% growth last year, the second most growth in recorded history. So, while our president decides he wants to divide us, to distract us, I think, we are in Miami staying united and growing.”
“I know firsthand that Americans want a government that is on their side but off their backs; a government whose hand is off their wallet and whose nose is out of their bedrooms. They want a country that stands tall and a government that gets the basic things done—so they can live their lives and provide for their families. And Americans want leaders who are here to help them and to serve them, not to rule over them or regulate their lives. They want leaders who champion America the way a mayor champions a city. Because when you think about it, America is really one big city—a shining city—where everyone plays a role, everyone finds a place, and everyone has a home.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced a sweeping package of what he called the country’s “most aggressive” climate measures to “accelerate the state’s transition” to non-conventional energy sources.
The package includes 40 bills that appear to provide new green rules on laws related to things ranging from large-scale industry to the family home and private and public transportation.
The Democratic governor’s office said in a statement the package of climate change-focused measures aims to cut pollution and target “big polluters.”
It comes as America’s most populous state has struggled to provide stable electricity for residents amid a heat wave, which saw the state asking residents to use less power and suggest the best times to use air conditioners or charge electric cars.
“This month has been a wake-up call for all of us that later is too late to act on climate change. California isn’t waiting any more,” Newsom said in a statement. “Together with the Legislature, California is taking the most aggressive action on climate our nation has ever seen.”
“We’re cleaning the air we breathe, holding the big polluters accountable, and ushering in a new era for clean energy,” he continued. “That’s climate action done the California Way—and we’re not only doubling down, we’re just getting started.”
In July, Newsom called for “bold actions” to combat climate change. He declared his climate-focused vision for California involves a push to achieve 90 percent “clean energy” by 2035, “carbon neutrality” by 2045, “setback measures” to target oil drilling, carbon capture programs, and to “advance nature-based solutions” to remove carbon from “natural and working lands.”
40 “Green” Bills
Newsom’s office said his sweeping package of measures will create four million new jobs over the next 20 years, cut air pollution by 60 percent, and reduce state oil consumption by 91 percent.
How this would be achieved was not explained in the governor’s news release.
The package of measures, the governor’s office said, will save the state $23 billion by avoiding damage from pollution. It further aims to cut fossil fuel use in buildings and transportation by 92 percent and refinery pollution by 94 percent.
The governor named a list of the 40 new green bills, which touch on things from the broad scope of the climate to more everyday matters such as community air quality, electricity supply, vehicle permits, and gas pricing.
Some of the bills, which were all named in the governor’s news release, include:
AB 1279: “The California Climate Crisis Act”
AB 1389: “Clean Transportation Program: project funding preferences”
AB 1749: “Community emissions reduction programs: toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants”
AB 1857: “Solid waste”
AB 1909: “Vehicles: bicycle omnibus bill”
AB 2075: “Energy: electric vehicle charging standards”
AB 2622: “Sales and use taxes: exemptions: California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project: transit buses”
AB 2836: “Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program: vehicle registration fees: California tire fee”
SB 1063: “Energy: appliance standards and cost-effective measures”
SB 1205: “Water rights: appropriation”
SB 1230: “Zero-emission and near-zero-emission vehicle incentive programs: requirements”
SB 1322: “Energy: petroleum pricing”
SB 1382: “Air pollution: Clean Cars 4 All Program: Sales and Use Tax Law: zero emissions vehicle exemption”
How the package of new green laws and regulations might impact, for example, standards required for cars to be permitted on Californian roads; how and when homes can be cooled; the source of electricity allowed to be supplied to homes; the manufacturing of everyday appliances and products, etc., were not outlined in the governor’s news release.
This latest pronouncement comes on the heels of Newsom enacting regulation to phase out sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
Former President Donald Trump with Justice Samuel Alito. Alito briefly blocked a lower court order forcing the Biden administration to reinstate Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, giving the Supreme Court a few days to consider the case. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
By Michael Washburn for Epoch TimesSeptember 16, 2022
Democrats believe their best hope is to position themselves as the only alternative to Trump
In the coming midterms, Democrats believe their best hope is to position themselves as the only alternative to Trump and his brand of Republicanism, according to political strategists.
Democrat candidates and their supporters, they say, are hoping that the furor around former President Donald Trump’s alleged storing of sensitive documents in Mar-a-Lago, as well as his alleged role in the events of Jan. 6 will not abate even slightly between now and the November midterm elections, and will distract voters from the Democrats’ shortcomings, particularly with regard to the economy.
Even in battleground states where a variety of Republican candidates competed in this week’s primary elections, Democrats are acting as if their best bet is to paint all Republicans as nascent or actual extremists and to capitalize on some voters’ dissatisfaction with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the strategists argue.
President Joe Biden and his party have come in for severe criticism for their handling of the economy and for an inflation report credited with bringing about the stock market’s worst day of 2022 on Sept. 13, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down nearly 1,300 points. Some economists view the highest inflation in four decades as a function of the Biden administration’s expansionist monetary policy, which they argue has led to too much money chasing too few goods. For fiscal year 2022 as a whole, the federal budget deficit is projected to be $1 trillion.
These dismal figures may motivate GOP voters as much as, or more than the court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization will drive Democrat turnout, strategists predict.
In this context, Democrats are quick to seize on any potentially bad news for Trump as good news for their embattled party. Indeed, for some Democrats, the ongoing investigation of Trump’s alleged legal and financial violations may help cast the midterms as a referendum not only on the current president and his economic performance, but on Trump and those Republicans who, they claim, fit the same mold. Given the severity of Biden’s problems, Democrats will do their best to exploit charges and allegations against Trump to their fullest political advantage whether or not the attacks have merit, strategists say.
“Every day brings the risk of more bad news about Trump, which splashes mud on every Republican. The Dobbs ruling is known and GOP candidates either get on the right side of the issue or shift to the economy, which is a bigger deal for most voters,” Keith Naughton, a political consultant and the director of Germantown, Maryland-based Silent Majority Strategies, told The Epoch Times.
Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower in N.Y. on Aug. 9, 2022, the day after FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach home, in Fla. (David ‘Dee’ Delgado/Reuters)
A Double-Edged Sword?
Mark C. Smith, a professor of political science and Director of the Center for Political Studies at Cedarville University in Ohio, acknowledges Trump’s continuing prominence within the GOP and his popularity with many Republican voters. This has helped make the coming elections, in large part, what some voters in either party would like it to be: a Trump-Biden rematch as much as a spate of House, Senate, and gubernatorial races.
“Unlike other losing presidential candidates, Trump has maintained a strong presence within his party. He is endorsing candidates, raising funds, and holding rallies. This changes the dynamic of the midterm,” Smith told The Epoch Times.
“Interestingly, the Democrats are happy if Trump continues to headline for Republicans. While popular within the GOP, Trump is toxic for independent voters, and he runs poorly with college-educated white voters, as well as suburban women. In light of his recent legal troubles, Democrats are fine with Trump’s expanded role,” Smith said.
But given the severity of the economic problems and other factors, Smith does not believe that the Democrats’ strategy of decrying Trump’s alleged extremism, and that of “Trump-y” candidates in local issues, will succeed.
“If we consider the political climate, this should be a huge election for Republicans. A relatively unpopular president and a struggling economy, in addition to foreign affairs instability, should put the GOP in a strong position,” said Smith.
While the electoral math of midterm contests varies, it is possible to identify a statistical mean when looking at long-term trends, Smith argued.
“On average, the party out of power picks up around 26 House seats, and five or six Senate seats. To the degree this election is normal, it will be good for Republicans and they will take both houses of Congress,” he said.
While turnout in midterm elections is often low compared to presidential elections, Lonny Leitner, vice president of the government affairs firm LS2 Group, which has offices in Iowa and Minnesota, believes that the Mar-a-Lago raid has backfired and that its findings will not dissuade GOP voters.
“I spent a few days out at the Minnesota State Fair, and I can count on one hand how many times someone brought up the fact that they were concerned about the FBI raid, which tells me it is yet another failed attempt by the Democrats to end Trump once and for all. When will they learn?” Leitner told The Epoch Times.
It was far more common for people he encountered at the fair to voice serious concerns over inflation, fuel prices, out-of-control crime, and the crisis at the border with Mexico, Leitner said.
People shop at a supermarket in Montebello, Calif., on Aug. 23, 2022. U.S. shoppers are facing increasingly high prices on everyday goods and services as inflation continues to surge with high prices for groceries, gasoline, and housing. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
The Case of New Hampshire
To understand the Democrats’ approach, it is useful to look at one state in particular that has been fiercely contested in recent election years, namely New Hampshire, believes Andrew Smith, Director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center and an expert on elections and electoral methodology.
Smith believes that New Hampshire is not as politically conservative as its reputation and famous license plate motto (“Live Free or Die”) might lead some people to believe.
“New Hampshire’s electorate is divided between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats generally have a little bit of an advantage in presidential elections, but it’s not that big an advantage in midterm elections with a Democrat president,” Smith told The Epoch Times.
“It’s also a state with higher levels of education and income than most states, and it’s a suburban state,” he said, noting a large proportion of its population lives in the suburbs surrounding Boston. “In that sense, it’s similar to other suburban areas of the northeast that lean Democrat. It’s not a Republican state, that’s a myth,” he added.
Generalizations
In the GOP primary elections held in New Hampshire on Sept. 13, Karoline Leavitt won the race for the first congressional district against a field of rivals including Matt Mowers, Gail Huff Brown, and Russell Prescott, with 34 percent of the vote compared to 25 percent, 17 percent, and 10 percent respectively. In the second congressional district race, Robert Burns scored a victory with 33 percent of the vote versus 29 percent for George Hansel, 25 percent for Lily Tang Williams, and smaller numbers for other competitors.
In the Senate primary, former military officer Donald Bolduc, who hopes to unseat Democrat Senator Maggie Hassan in November, barely edged out his GOP rival Chuck Morse, winning 37.1 percent of the vote to Morse’s 35.8 percent.
In the GOP gubernatorial primary, incumbent Chris Sununu easily trounced all his rivals, winning 78 percent of the vote.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu speaks during a ceremony in Manchester, N.H., on Sept. 2, 2020. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images for DraftKings)
The winning candidates come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have diverse views and ideologies. Leavitt is a former assistant press secretary in the Trump administration, Burns is an entrepreneur and former treasurer of a New Hampshire county, while Sununu has a reputation as a moderate Republican who helped secure funding for a cause championed by Democrats, namely state funding for full-day kindergarten.
While some in the media may wish to associate Bolduc with Trump, it is important to remember that he lost New Hampshire’s 2020 Senate primary to Trump-endorsed candidate Corky Messner, Smith said.
In spite of the eclecticism of these candidates and the impossibility of categorizing them all as strictly “Trump-y” figures, Smith argued, Democrats will treat the candidates in New Hampshire and other states as Republicans in the Trump mode in the hope of wooing the roughly 42 percent of voters in the state who register as independents. Smith said that the tactic put to use in New Hampshire is a microcosm of a broad political strategy.
“Democrats are going to use all these candidates’ connection with Trump—whether it’s there or not—as arguments to vote against them. But that’s true across the country. Democrats are running as if Trump is still in office,” he commented.
With the tricky position in which Democrats find themselves amid so much bad economic news, they place their hopes in controversies around a figure who remains powerful and influential within the GOP.
“All the Mar-a-Lago stuff, they’re praying that will go on until after the midterm elections, because they’re running at a moment when the president is not very popular, and that’s a difficult place to be, as we saw in 2010 and 2014,” Smith continued.
In the New Hampshire races in November 2010, Republican candidates won both the congressional districts contested in this week’s primaries, though they did not win the governorship, Smith noted. Looking at the 2010 midterm elections nationally, Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives, which they held onto in 2014 in addition to winning majority control of the Senate.
President Joe Biden delivers a primetime speech at Independence National Historical Park Sept. 1, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Biden described “MAGA Republicans” as being extremists who posed a threat to democracy. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The ‘Extremism’ Charge
Since the spring, when predictions widely favored the GOP in the coming midterms, Democrats have found more opportunities to try to paint Trump and the GOP more broadly as extremist and will rely heavily on this political strategy all the way through the elections, believes David Bateman, a professor of government at Cornell University.***
***According to his own words and published books and articles, Bateman leaves hard left. (Pro-abortion,anti-conservative values, etc) –TPR
This strategy does not come at the expense of, but rather goes hand in hand with, a strong emphasis on the Dobbs ruling and other issues of concern to Democrat voters at the local level, he argued. To a certain extent, voters will decide in accordance with the narratives crafted by the party leadership as Democrat spokespeople try to link congressional and gubernatorial hopefuls to the 45th president.
“Elections are never about one thing, whether that is a referendum on presidential leadership, national economic or other issues, or the local performance and responsiveness of the incumbent. And voters make choices not only on the basis of their priorities, but on the basis of the choices and narratives presented to them by parties. Democrats probably want voters to make a choice on the basis of local issues—which tend to favor incumbents—and then on the extremism of the GOP, as showcased by Trump but as embodied locally by GOP candidates,” Bateman told The Epoch Times.
Though predictions about the likely outcome of the midterms have swung since the spring and do not monochromatically favor GOP candidates as much as before, Democrats still play to what they see as their strengths.
“I expect Democrats’ basic strategy remains the same: have their congressional candidates highlight how they have delivered locally for their districts as well as the extremism of their GOP rivals, while the larger party apparatus and the president emphasize GOP extremism nationally. The abortion decision has helped Democrats a lot, as has the continued attention to Trump,” Bateman said.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the DNC for comment.
TOPSHOT - Honduran migrants taking part in a caravan heading to the US, leave Arriaga on their way to San Pedro Tapanatepec, southern Mexico on October 27, 2018. - Mexico on Friday announced it will offer Central American migrants medical care, education for their children and access to temporary jobs as long as they stay in two southern states. (Photo by Guillermo Arias / AFP) (Photo credit should read GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images)
Under President Joe Biden, the foreign-born population of the United States has grown to its highest level ever recorded, the U.S. Census Bureau reports.
Over the last year, the Biden administration added two million new foreign-born residents to the U.S. population — undocumented and legal immigrants on green cards and visas — serving as a boon for Biden’s billionaire donors in the financial industry who are some of the biggest beneficiaries of mass immigration and an ever-growing populace.
According to Steven Camarota at the Center for Immigration Studies, who analyzed the latest Census Bureau data, the foreign-born population hit nearly 47 million this year, which is the largest ever recorded by the agency’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement survey.
Since 1970, the nation’s foreign-born population has quintupled and since 1980, it has tripled in size. In 1990, the foreign-born population was just half of what it is today — with 1-in-7 U.S. residents having been born outside of the country.
“The foreign-born share of the U.S. population is approaching the record highs reached in 1910 (14.7 percent) and 1890 (14.8 percent),” Camarota writes.
Center for Immigration Studies
For America’s working and middle class, mass illegal and legal immigration depresses wages and is a drag on labor force participation among native-born Americans while also pushing American communities to the brink in terms of social services, infrastructure, and sky-high housing costs.
“Just the sheer number of people overwhelms communities,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said this week. “This idea of mass immigration — whether it’s illegal immigration or whether it’s just mass immigration through the legal process like the Diversity Lottery or chain migration — that is not conducive to assimilating people into a civil society.”
For the wealthiest of income earners, mass illegal and legal immigration provides an endless stream of low-wage foreign workers as well as more consumers to sell to, more families needing housing, and billions in wider profit margins and reduced wages.
Though many Republicans running in this year’s midterm elections have gone silent on legal immigration levels — with more than a million being awarded green cards every year — GOP voters overwhelmingly continue to back drastic cuts to boost wages and job openings.
The latest Rasmussen Reports survey shows that a majority of 54 percent of likely Republican voters want to cut legal immigration levels by more than half to fewer than 500,000 admissions a year. Meanwhile, a majority of swing voters say they want legal immigration levels cut down to at least 750,000 admissions a year with a plurality supporting cutting levels by more than half.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom‘s climate change policies Wednesday, arguing they are causing the state’s energy shortages.
“Californians narrowly averted rolling blackouts on Tuesday, but the threat looms all week amid an unpleasant but not unusual heat wave,” the editors wrote in an opinion titled “Gavin Newsom’s Dirty Energy Secret.”
“This ought to be a warning about how the government force-fed green energy transition is endangering grid reliability, but Democrats and the media can’t break out of their climate-change conformity to think clearly, or think at all,” they continued.
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 09: California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a bill signing ceremony. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
California does not have enough energy to supply consumers’ demand and has asked people to reduce using their air conditioning, powering their homes and even charging their electric cars during heat waves. This past week, California’s electric grid operator issued an “energy emergency alert 3,” its highest alert level.
“Democrats blame climate change for the state’s week-long warnings to conserve power, but California’s climate hasn’t suddenly changed,” the Journal’s editors wrote. “What has drastically changed in recent years is California’s electric generation.”
“Solar and wind power have rapidly expanded thanks to rich government subsidies along with the state’s renewables mandate,” the editors wrote.
They noted that these subsidies have made it more difficult for gas and nuclear generators to make money and, hence, caused the closure of said facilities.
CA Gov. Gavin Newsome with President Joe Biden (Getty Images)
The editors noted that California must “rely on imports from other states in the evenings” and that “these imports are becoming less dependable since California’s neighbors are also losing base-load generators owing to their own renewable buildouts.”
“During heat waves that span the Southwest like the one this week, California must resort to emergency measures to reduce electricity demand,” they wrote.
The editors warned that “what starts in California rarely stays in California,” and “Americans everywhere will soon be soaked with higher prices for power that is becoming less reliable.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom makes an appearance after the polls close on the recall election, at the California Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento, California, U.S., September 14, 2021. (REUTERS/Fred Greaves)
“The grid problems that Californians are enduring will grow and spread as supersized green-energy subsidies and mandates spread their harmful incentives throughput the U.S. economy in coming years. The culprit is the left’s climate policies, not climate change,” they concluded.
Joe Silverstein is a production assistant for Fox News Digital.
By Cristina Laila for The Gateway Pundit September 6, 2022
The $20 fast-food burger is coming…
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday signed a new fast-food bill that will pave the path for $22 an hour minimum wage.
The new measure passed by Democrat officials and signed by Democrat Governor Newsom, will create a 10-member council with the power to set minimum wage to $22 an hour.
“California is committed to ensuring that the men and women who have helped build our world-class economy are able to share in the state’s prosperity,” Newsom said in a statement. “Today’s action gives hardworking fast food workers a stronger voice and seat at the table to set fair wages and critical health and safety standards across the industry.”
Democrat Assemblywoman Luz Rivas celebrated the new bill and called it a “watershed moment in the history of the labor movement, led by Black and Latino fast food workers…”
Interesting?!? So as an essential Care-giver worker, I still make only $16 per hour. We had to fight for many years for this amount. And now a fast food worker will make $22 per hour, more than I do flipping patties and fries. So basically, I should go and work for McDonald.?@!!
Well, there goes the "Fast Food Industry". No one will buy $14 hamburgers and $10 fries. But then, that's the idea. Killing Low wage jobs so everyone HAS to rely on the GOv't for their income. Socialism coming in from the back door.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a nation-leading measure giving more than a half-million fast food workers more power and protections, despite the objections of restaurant owners who warned it would drive up consumers’ costs.
The landmark law creates a 10-member Fast Food Council with equal numbers of workers’ delegates and employers’ representatives, along with two state officials, empowered to set minimum standards for wages, hours and working conditions in California.
Newsom said he was proud to sign the measure into law on Labor Day.
The law caps minimum wage increases for fast-food workers at chains with more than 100 restaurants at $22 an hour next year, compared to the statewide minimum of $15.50 an hour, with cost of living increases thereafter.
The state legislature approved the measure on Aug. 29. Debate split along party lines, with Republicans opposed. Sen. Brian Dahle, the Republican nominee for governor in November, had called it “a steppingstone to unionize all these workers.”
Restaurant owners and franchisers cited an analysis they commissioned by the UC Riverside Center for Economic Forecast and Development saying that the legislation would increase consumer costs.
That last phrase didn’t need a bunch of “analysts,” it is apparent to everyone but a leftist – aka elementary school dropout, Luz Rivas.
Ukraine Seeks Corridor to Evacuate Civilians Near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant – Scores of people tried to evacuate villages near the power plant following an explosion that cut power and water supplies in a nearby town, and U.N. inspectors released a report that detailed damage that has been done to the nuclear plant. A6
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 16: Traffic moves along Interstate 80 on February 16, 2022 in Berkeley, California. The Biden administration is finalizing a waiver that will allow the State of California to resume setting its own vehicle emissions standards three years after the Trump administration rolled back a waiver that was decades old. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Visits: 12
By Jack Phillips for The Epoch Times
How funny is this? CA Mandates use of EVs, but can’t get enough electricity for their current demand. –TPR
Authorities in California extended a “Flex Alert” telling residents to conserve energy, including not charging their electric vehicles, on Sunday afternoon and evening.
The alert has been in effect for several days in the midst of a heat wave that is slated to last through Labor Day.
The California Independent System Operator, the manager of the state’s power grid, issuedthe statewide Flex Alert from 4 to 9 p.m. Residents are urged to set their thermostats to 78 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, avoid using major appliances, avoid charging electric vehicles, and turning off unnecessary lights.
“Additional Flex Alerts will likely be called as heat will only intensify through Tuesday, with little relief from triple-digit temperatures seen over the next several days,” the operator wrote. “Daytime high temperatures are forecast at 10-20 degrees above normal in much of the state through the Labor Day weekend and into next week, and record-breaking heat is projected in some parts of California.”
Elliot Mainzer, Cal ISO president, told local media this weekend that Sept. 1 saw the “highest demand for power” since September 2017 in California, adding that it’s “a dress rehearsal for what’s going to be much more significantly stressed conditions here as we get into the heart of the weekend.”
The National Weather Service says 100-degree temperatures are currently hitting Los Angeles, the state’s most populated city, on Sunday. Sacramento and other areas in the Central Valley, meanwhile, are forecast to hit 113 degrees F on Monday and Tuesday. San Jose, another heavily populated city, will see temperatures over 100 F on Monday and Tuesday.
In recent years, the California grid operator has issued flex alerts and made similar statements calling on residents to hold off on charging electric cars.
The operator in mid-July 2021 posted a Twitter message that Californians between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. should not charge their electric vehicles and other devices.
Electric Vehicle Mandate
Cal ISO issued Flex Alert targeting electric vehicles last week. The move prompted some to criticize a regulation that was passed recently by the California Air Resources Board to phase out the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035 in favor of electric vehicles and some plug-in hybrids. The rule was backed by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, who hailed the vote.
Some automotive groups say the new statewide mandates will be very challenging to meet. Other critics noted the recent issuance of Flex Alerts suggests a transition to electric vehicles is not feasible.
Several unnamed California drivers who were interviewed by KTLA-TV questioned the 2035 mandate amid the continuous days of Flex Alerts.
“If we can’t do these things today, how are we going to do when everything needs to be electric?” one driver asked last week.
“Unless you have a home charger it’s an absolute disaster,” an electric vehicle owner, named Rebecca, told the station.
Once upon a time, 26 Democrats decided to run for president and defeat the great threat to socialism.
As Democrats attacked one another, the DNC decided it needed somebody with a great resume, name recognition who wanted the job so badly he easily could be controlled: Joe Biden. And by the way, his running mate will be a female of color: Kamala Harris. She has only
1 percent of the vote, but she fit the bill.
The DNC had to work fast to shore up support from the other 25; some hung on until forced out. Others, like Pete Buttigieg, accepted jobs in the new administration. They assembled the PR team of CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, social media and major newspapers. The smear campaign began.
They used the FBI to get info on Trump and arrest his friends. The FBI had no factual evidence to arrest Trump, so innuendo was enough if the PR team blew it up. Anything bad about Biden was quashed — like Hunter’s laptop. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg recently testified the FBI told him the laptop story was Russian disinformation to help Trump, so stay away from it. And he did.
The American public knew nothing about the laptop, but they know plenty about the Russia link to Trump cooked up by Hillary’s campaign. The story later was disproven, and Hunter’s laptop is a treasure trove of evidence about the Biden crime family.
But alas, the plan worked and Biden beat his opponent.
The DNC and others (Hillary? George Soros? Obama?) now run the show. All progressive things Obama wanted are happening. The country, as we knew it, is in shambles.
Millions of immigrants have crossed our border illegally from 155 countries, carrying fentanyl with them. Fentanyl caused over 100,000 overdose deaths last year. It is packaged in colors to look like candy and appeal to younger crowds.
Inflation and gasoline are the highest in 40 years. Supply chain shortages are on everything. Crime is the worst ever, especially murder. Leading cause of death for young black men is murder. That is a sobering thought. The nuclear family — mom, dad and kids — is now a racist lifestyle.
Progressive Democrats calling shots are dismantling everything we have worked for. Biden doesn’t know what is happening. When reporters ask him questions, he lies. But they might not be lies, since he doesn’t know the truth.
While America is burning to the ground, Biden vacations in a $20 million mansion in North Carolina. Then he goes to his summer home in Delaware and rides his bike on the beach.
FILE — A Chevrolet Bolt EV charges at a charging tation in Baker, Calif., April 18, 2019. The Biden administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act includes an extension of a tax credit for electric vehicles worth up to $7,500 per qualifying car or truck. (Philip Cheung/The New York Times)
Visits: 18
SACRAMENTO – One of the mainstays of California’s state government is the obvious disconnect between its leaders’ highfalutin rhetoric – and the real-world results we see here on our streets. The state promises to lead the world in combatting climate change, fighting homelessness, ending income inequality, promoting economic innovation and you name it.
“Look, people have always looked to California for inspiration,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said during his March State of the State address. “California is doing what we have done for generations, lighting out the territory ahead of the rest, expanding the horizon of what’s possible.”
It makes you wonder where the governor is living. One can consult myriad sources to see that we lead the nation – but not in an inspirational way. We have the largest homeless population, with cities overrun by tent encampments. We have the nation’s highest income inequality and least-affordable housing. Our population is falling and businesses pursue their innovations elsewhere.
The most obvious example of this “look how great we are, but don’t look too closely” process came in recent weeks, as the California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced new clear-air regulations. The Advanced Clean Cars II rule will – let’s say it altogether now – lead the nation and perhaps the entire world on a path to a carbon-free future.
In implementing Newsom’s 2020 executive order, CARB has issued “trailblazing” rules that put “California on a path to rapidly growing the zero-emission car, pickup truck and SUV market and deliver cleaner air and massive reductions in climate-warming pollution.” It establishes a “roadmap so that by 2035 100 percent of new cars and light trucks sold in California will be zero-emission vehicles.”
That means California will ban the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles, just as it has banned the sale of new lawnmowers and other power equipment that’s powered by gasoline engines. It’s the state’s latest attempt at technology forcing – “a strategy where a regulator specifies a standard that cannot be met with existing technology, or at least not at an acceptable cost,” as Science Direct explains.
Governments can’t even competently provide the services they are more than adequately funded to provide, yet presume to tell industry what to do. CARB admits the “timeline is ambitious,” but says it’s “achievable.” Fortunately, the same bureaucrats who mistakenly sent out as much as $31 billion in unemployment benefits aren’t responsible for building and marketing the electric replacement vehicles.
The CARB press release was filled with the usual grandiosity about California “leading the nation,” “groundbreaking strategies” and “environmental justice,” but another recent press release from another California entity offered a more realistic take on what the future might hold as the state forces all of us into buying electric vehicles.
“California and the West are expecting extreme heat that is likely to strain the grid with increased energy demands,” according to an August 30 statement from the California Independent System Operator (ISO). “The top three conservation actions are set the thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, avoid using large appliances and charging electric vehicles, and turn off unnecessary lights,” it continued (italics added).
To put a finer point on it, the same week that California policy makers announced an ambitious plan to shift California’s 27-million drivers into electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids, they also announced that Californians who currently own electric vehicles better not charge them for several days because the grid can’t handle the load. Isn’t that just so California?
The state’s small gasoline engine ban also is instructive. Those CARB rules go into effect in 2024 (or whenever the agency determines it to be feasible), but we’re already seeing the impact of the coming change. Consumers are stocking up on gas-powered mowers and generators. (Never mind how odd it is to require electric generators given that people use such generators to provide electricity when the lights go out.)
Manufacturers and retailers already are adjusting to the coming ban. They cost significantly more than gas-powered mowers and can cut significantly less. CARB is right that prices ultimately will come down, just as EV vehicle prices will fall as competition heats up. But instead of sparking an electric revolution, the rules will benefit wealthy people who can afford the extra cost – and encourage everyone else to nurse along their aging equipment.
But don’t worry. CARB is offering public subsidies so that poor and disadvantaged Californians can make the transition to electric vehicles. Not only will that tap the budget, but there won’t possibly be enough subsidies to go around. CARB also promises that EVs will ultimately cost less to operate, which may be true until one considers the cost of a $20,000 replacement battery.
The market already is moving in the EV direction, so the state should just let companies do their thing. Now if we can only figure out a way for the state to keep the electricity running.
Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute and a member of the Southern California News Group editorial board. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org.
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