Randy

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Archives for the ‘Gavin Newsom’ Category

Will the People be ‘allowed’ to decide on tax hikes and fees?

Saturday, May 11, 2024, 11:27 am | Randy Thomasson

As the above graphic shows, the current 7 judges (in pale pink fields) of the California Supreme Court, with the exception of one, were nominated by Democrat Party governors.

And since the Democrat Party wants to make the government bigger and the People poorer, when Newsom & Co. recently asked the State Supreme Court to remove from the ballot a rock-solid taxpayer protection initiative that’s already qualified, the state’s high court was “obliged” to hear it — because as recently as 2018, the Democrat-dominated Supreme Court has removed initiatives so the People couldn’t vote on them.

The well-written “Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act” would prohibit the Legislature from increasing a tax or fee or “a levy, charge, or exaction of any kind” without a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. And then the People of California would have to approve it with a majority vote! Same thing for local government tax and fee hikes and ” a levy, charge, or exaction of any kind.” See why the Democrat Party politicians and their establishment county and city tyrants hate this?

In the San Francisco state high court’s building on Wednesday, May 8, our side’s super-duper attorney, Tom Hiltachk, the official proponent of the initiative, told the judges:

  • The opposing attorneys’ claims are “based not on evidence submitted to this court but on the opinions of people in the government who do not want change.”
  • “What we have evolved into is it is an administrative state that has far too much power among non-elected bureaucrats, who no one knows their name, setting fees not for a fishing license fee, that’s not what this is about, but raising billions of dollars out of the economy without any legislative oversight.”
  • Hiltachk warned the judges that removing the initiative from the ballot would be “making a political judgment it should not make…instead that judgment should be entrusted to voters.” And he reminded the judges that California’s legal history is replete with ballot initiatives on taxes. “The people have the last word…this tug-of-war over taxation has been going on for over 100 years.”

After the hearing, Rob Lapsley of the California Business Roundtable talked to the media and succinctly explained why Newsom & Co., the League of California Cities, and big unions oppose this good initiative, saying, “The whole issue here is that they are scared to death of the people of California being empowered to vote on state and local taxes.”

Stop and realize the People of California could vote to reduce the full-time Legislature back to a part-time legislature, and this would not be an unconstitutional “revision” of state government. Similarly, the People could limit the size of the state budget, and this wouldn’t be an unconstitutional “revision” either.

Likewise, requiring the People’s approval for taxes and fees and other government money-grabs reflects the fact that, as the California State Constitution declares in Article II, Section 1“All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their protection, security, and benefit, and they have the right to alter or reform it when the public good may require.” This means altering or reforming the system to give more power to the People to decide money-grabs is an absolute right.

The “Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act” will go on the November ballot in late June if no more than three of the six Democrat Party judges vote to remove it. Since Gavin Newsom has three judges, they might vote against the People’s rights. It could be that close.

That the power to tax involves the power to destroy;
that the power to destroy may defeat and render useless the power to create.
John Marshall, U.S. founding father and chief justice from 1801 to 1835, in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Newsom deceptively claims California’s in good economic shape

Monday, May 6, 2024, 11:28 am | Randy Thomasson

SaveCalifornia.com provides this solely for educational purposes
and does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Instead of saying what he’s going to do to lower gas prices, decrease inflation, prevent crime, and truly eliminate transients (such as banning homeless camping on public land, which Florida’s Ron DeSantis is doing), California’s Democrat Party Governor Gavin Newsom is tooting his own horn — but is he lying again?

Click to watch Newsom’s Sunday, May 5 video promoting himself as brave, admirable, pro-prosperity, and pro-America, when he says, “Travel spending in the state reached an all-time high”:

But we say it’s “high time” to ruthlessly fact-check Gavin Newsom.

What do you “credit” for price increases in California? Because bad government increases the cost of everything (and remember, Democrat Party politicians have been ruling California for a long time now).

His war on oil jacking up gas prices, burdensome regulations on businesses, “minimum wage” hikes, amusement park & hotel price increases, etc.

Add to this Newsom & Co.’s policies promoting illegal aliens, early release of convicts, “climate change” regulations on businesses, and nearly whatever union bosses want, which is always more money and power. All these bad policies have increased the cost of living in California in the Newsom era.

So yes, California tourists are paying more than before, because Newsom & Co.’s oppressive policies have CAUSED higher prices than in 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019. This rapid inflation is not a sign of prosperity, but another demonstration that Democrat Party policies make life more costly for both tourists and residents.

As the non-conservative CalMatters observed in December, “There are warning signs for the California economy: Unemployment is inching up, tech layoffs continue and IPOs are waning. Experts expect a downturn, but it’s still possible the state will avoid a recession.” And this came two months before the California Legislative Analyst reported an even higher state budget deficit of $73 BILLION.

But Gavin Newsom, a professional liar who’s still running for president, can’t be bothered with facts, can he? He’s not at all interested in solving California’s myriad of public problems, because, as a true narcissist, he’s loathe to admit the truth — that he’s caused or accelerated most of them since becoming governor in 2019.

Evil men do not understand justice,
But those who seek the Lord understand all.

The Bible, Proverbs 28:5

Like a roaring lion and a charging bear
Is a wicked ruler over poor people.

The Bible, Proverbs 28:15

Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees,
Who write misfortune,
Which they have prescribed.

The Bible, Isaiah 10:1

BILLIONS of homeless funds down the drain

Friday, April 12, 2024, 7:37 pm | Randy Thomasson

If you’ve supported the Democrat state politicians’ $24 BILLION already spent on “homelessness,” or Newsom’s $10+ BILLION for “free homeless housing”(Prop. 1), you’ve flushed away big money.

The California State Auditor on April 9 issued a scathing report that basically asks, “Where’s the money gone?”

Democrat Party Governor Gavin Newsom appoints the co-chairs of the “California Interagency Council on Homelessness.” Yet the State Auditor, also appointed by Newsom, says the “council” hasn’t been doing its job:

“(The council) has not tracked and reported on the State’s funding for homelessness programs statewide since its 2023 assessment covering fiscal years 2018–19 through 2020–21. Currently, it has no plans to perform a similar assessment in the future. In the absence of an up-to-date assessment, the State and its policymakers are likely to struggle to understand homelessness programs’ ongoing costs and achieved outcomes,” reads the report.  “(It) has neither ensured the accuracy of the information in the state data system, nor has it used this information to evaluate homelessness programs’ success.”

As veteran California newspaper columnist Dan Walters writes:

The number of homeless Californians has increased by 50% in the last decade and 20% since Newsom became governor in 2019, despite the state’s spending about $20 billion on the various anti-homelessness programs during the last five years.

Meanwhile, the proliferation of anti-homelessness programs continues. Just last month, voters – by the thinnest of margins – approved Newsom’s multibillion-dollar plan to overhaul mental health treatment in California, including providing more housing for those with ailments.

The fact that his measure, Proposition 1, barely survived despite many millions of dollars being spent on the campaign for it, indicates anew that Californians are growing weary of politicians’ promises to end the crisis.

The new audit implies that the public’s skepticism is well-founded. If the agency created to coordinate homelessness responses is falling short of its mission, why should we think that any specific programs are having a lasting impact?

Critically-thinking Californians, along with SaveCalifornia.com, knew Gavin Newsom’s Prop. 1 was a scam, with zero requirements for transients to go to counseling, classes, or training. And now we know even more, don’t we?

See my March 25 blog, “Newsom snookered voters to attract transients worldwide

…the state is spending money faster than it can track it, that the money being spent is exorbitant, that spending money on homelessness, at least in California, actually increases the problem due to the induced demand (people from out of state coming for the benefits and yes it is a very high percentage,) and that the homeless-industrial complex – which stands between the state and the homeless person – is hoovering up vast amounts of cash with little or no oversight.
“California State Auditor’s scathing homeless report: Where did the money go?”, California Globe, April 10, 2024