In an apparent bout of frustration over tightening polls showing he might well lose his recall election, Governor Gavin Newsom let loose a brief rant to reporters this week when asked how he could ensure all Californians can still achieve the California Dream, despite the state’s rising costs of living, loss of jobs, and stagnant wage growth. After touting some questionable and inaccurate stats, the threatened governor said people who criticize the state and his leadership are just, well, jealous.
“Everybody outside this state is bitching about this state because of our success and I’m proud of it,” he said.
Unfortunately for Newsom – and more importantly, the Californians subjected to his reign – there are many reasons that led a grassroots movement of Californians to collect millions of signatures to put Newsom up for recall September 14. Jealousy wouldn’t make the top 10.
As CPC President Will Swaim explained in his recent article for National Review, there are the raging wildfires that destroy more lives and homes each year, while emitting massive amounts of pollution in a state that limits residents’ energy use to save the planet. There’s the cozy – and lucrative – relationship between the governor and the state’s teachers unions that kept many schools closed for the 2020-21 school year, and threatens the upcoming one. The $31 billion Employment Development Division fraud. The bullet train boondoggle. The blackouts. The French Laundry hypocrisy.
The challenges facing those vying to replace Newsom are great, and with nearly 50 on the ballot, we wanted to know where they stand on issues the media shies away from. In CPC’s just-published candidate questionnaire, you can read directly from candidates about how they’d deal with the outsized influence government unions have over California politics, how they’d give parents control over their child’s education, and how they’d balance the need for local control while addressing California’s greatest problems.
We agree with the governor: The California Dream is still alive, but it’s not as well as he claims. We invite you to visit our candidate questionnaire today to learn more about the candidates and their plans for protecting the California Dream and making this state one to be jealous of.
Quote of the week
“You don’t have to be a Republican or even a conservative to see why thousands of Californians volunteered to gather more than 1.5 signatures to qualify this recall for the ballot. You don’t have to like Donald Trump to get why millions more will vote to remove the governor. You don’t even have to like the idea of recalls. But when you think about what Gavin Newsom has cost ordinary Californians — never mind California’s neighbors — you can understand.” – CPC President Will Swaim, National Review
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ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER
The California Policy Center promotes prosperity for all Californians through limited government and individual liberty.
