"What's Jon Reading" - A Compendium Of Great Links To Articles, Columns, Podcasts, Videos and Charts! For The Week Ending May 24!

This Saturday feature, which is a labor of love for me, is packed with amazing content. It’s very popular. For those of you who subscribe ($70/year, $7/month), this column is a thank you for your support of my independent work. There are a couple of items above the paywall worth reading/watching. But that is just the part of the tree you can see. SO MUCH more under the paywall.

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Jon’s Appearance on this week’s Radio Free California Podcast!

I was pleased to join Will Swaim on National Review’s Radio Free California podcast this week, filling in for David Bahnsen — and as usual with Will, the conversation moved fast.

We started with the California governor’s race, where the big question is no longer whether Republicans can win the governorship in November. The immediate question is whether Republicans will even have a candidate on the November ballot.

That matters far beyond the governor’s race. If the top-two runoff ends up being Xavier Becerra versus Tom Steyer, Republican turnout could collapse — and that would ripple down into congressional races, legislative races, city councils, school boards, and boards of supervisors all over California.

We also got into Gavin Newsom’s latest national audition, including his attempt to position himself on artificial intelligence, wealth redistribution, “universal basic capital,” and the coming economic disruption he hopes to turn into a 2028 presidential platform.

From there, we talked about homelessness, high-speed rail, Medi-Cal, public-sector unions, budget gimmicks, UCLA, antisemitism, the San Diego mosque shooting, immigration, assimilation, and the broader question of whether California’s political class is actually trying to solve problems — or simply fund permanent systems that never do.

And yes, there were detours into Cinco de Mayo, avocado sales, Dodger dogs, Philippe’s French dip sandwiches, Lord of the Rings, and Will’s ongoing inability to run a short show.

It was a wide-ranging, blunt, and very California conversation.

Listen to the full episode here:

Listen now · 1:14:07

You can find it on your favorite podcasting app. The great show notes are on the show’s webpage here.

HOW THE BILLIONAIRE TAX COULD MAKE CALIFORNIA POORER

Veronique de Rugy writes in Reason about two competing California tax measures: one that would impose a billionaire wealth tax, and another that would limit the state’s ability to tax savings and personal assets. She argues the billionaire tax could chase wealth, investment, and future tax revenue out of California while opening the door to broader asset taxation later. The real question is whether voters will expand Sacramento’s taxing power or restrain it.

BECERRA’S NONPROFIT NETWORK AND THE DEPORTATION DEBATE

Susan Crabtree reports in RealClearPolitics on Xavier Becerra’s deep ties to California’s taxpayer-funded immigrant legal-aid network, including groups that fight deportation even for illegal immigrants with serious criminal records. The piece highlights CHIRLA, UnidosUS, and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, while raising a direct question Becerra has avoided: Should public money be used to shield criminal illegal immigrants from removal? It is a timely look at immigration politics, nonprofit power, and the California governor’s race.

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