You represent one of the biggest undertold stories of the decade — the mass wave of disgust felt by lifelong liberal Democrats (like me) with a party now captured by a faction that says any law violated disproportionately by people of color is racist, ipso facto, and must be loosened. Boudin stands for this belief. You could win this election as an Independent, Michael. Never before have so many party members on both sides felt betrayed. Millions yearn for a normal government, and yet the very word “normal” uttered at the Dem convention would evoke a rafter-shaking torrent of booing.
The “achievement of racial equity” is just another phrase for “the attaining of true socialism”. It means destroying history, destroying capitalism, destroying the rule of law.. all so devils in human form that are incapable of probity end up in charge. It rots everything it touches and may need to be rejected as violently as it is imposed. The left-wing domestic terrorists already inside the DNC or federal and state governments… a category into which many of 44’s associates fall… should be returned to private life.
If the Biden Regime began taking political prisoners or attempted to close businesses and churches a la Justin Trudeau or Beto (everything they don’t like is defined as “hate”), or deployed criminals as a paramilitary to loot or kill its opponents, it would lose whatever legitimacy it may once have had.
Irrational hate? Next thing you will be praising Newsom, Harris and the other villains destroying California. They are evil… a word you either embody (like them) or fail to understand.
They went to Hell in 1968 when they embraced the Great Society even after it had begun to destroy black families and let violent terrorists like Alinsky and Rosenberg into the DNC’s inner circle. They should have been executed for their crimes.
Blaming anything on Republicans for the current state and direction of California is erroneous when California is a supermajority Democratic Party legislature and has been under majority control of the Democratic Party for decades.
California’s problems are the Democratic Party’s problems. That some loyal democrats deny this is just another problem with California, and the Democratic Party.
The Democratic Party still doesn’t acknowledge its legacy of slavery; I don’t imagine it will acknowledge its responsibility for California’s homeless problems or its energy instability, or any other problem.
The Democratic Party is just an empty shell that does whatever the bidding of its most powerful and richest special interest factions demand. And then wraps whatever it does in the language of democracy and equality.
But don’t get me wrong... the Republican Party does a similar thing. Yet the Republican Party doesn’t rule California, the Democratic Party does.
I don’t understand your point. Does China being the second largest economy on Earth bestow the CCP with great credit? And was California in a decline economically before the Democrats consolidated their power? California is the 5th largest economy on Earth despite the corruption and incompetence of its government, not because of it. It could be the 3rd largest economy on Earth, and also not have a ridiculous homeless population problem or energy instability, or outrageous housing markets or failing schools.
The suggestion that California would not be the 5th largest economy were it not for the Democratic Party exploiting it is garbage.
Try to buy a house? The cost of housing is higher than it has ever been. Prices for just about everything is higher than it has ever been. As are taxes. Yet the services we get for those costs are crap.
What exactly am I envious of? I live in California. And relatively comfortably. For people who scream so much about equality and such, it is peculiar to hear accusations of envy for not wanting to fund an incompetent government that simply increases the cost of goods in the state. I don’t have envy. I have righteous indignation. For how much we pay to our government, everyone should be pissed for the shit we get in return. Unless perhaps if you are on the payroll of the California Democratic Party.
Remove Silicon Valley and California's economy is nowhere near that level. Remove Big Tech from Silicon Valley and you're removing about 33% of that sector. Silicon Valley grew because the state was once a Golden Land to start up businesses and do research. It is neither of those today, but Silicon Valley is too firmly entrenched to easily move (though some are). The California of today would never attract a fledgling industry as it once did on a regular basis. Those who can are leaving. Those who cannot live with the crap. Those who make excuses for the crap need to own it. Michael Shellenberger has the guts to look at his worldview and see what was right and what was empirically wrong. If you're living around thousands of homeless, thousands of illegal immigrants, school results that would not be accepted anywhere else on earth, a government planned energy shortage, and crime so bad that mass shoplifting is the norm- and you accept all of it as 'better than Conservatives'- you are the problem. Objectively- it's not better than anything. It's a failed society. Either get with changes to improve or get out of the way of those with the guts to do it.
The housing problem in CA goes back to 1950 Prop 10--which required local votes to approve any housing using public funding. It was a reaction to the SCOTUS 1948 ruling that racial covenants on real estate were unenforceable. NIMBY covering up racial discrimination. The Proposition passed, and became Article 34 of the CA Constitution. It cannot be removed without a state-wide voter referendum. The Ds were trying to get it onto the ballot but it failed to pass both houses in 2020 in time to get on the ballot. (In 1950 the Governor, House and Senate were all held by Republicans.)
When Reagan came along he cut the already too small state budget for low income housing, and emptied the psychiatric hospitals.
Don't forget that our last recall Gov. was a Republican. Elder's lost because he was a bad candidate--not because he was a republican. He claimed climate change was a hoax, while Lake Tahoe was being threatened by fire. He wanted to open the state as Texas and Florida were dealing with overcrowded hospitals.
Yes, the south was Democratic up until the mid 1960s when Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts and Goldwater initiated the "Southern Strategy." Its been red for decades.
The Democratic Party currently holds veto-proof supermajorities in both houses of the California State Legislature. And has a Democratic Governor. During Democratic Party *supremacy*, the problems with California have gotten worse. Pointing out what some Republicans did in the 1950s, or the fact that California had a Republican Governor decades ago is slobbering irrational loyalty that is exploiting and harming California.
And fact that you seemingly attempted to absolve the Democratic Party of its guilt for its legacy of slavery by scapegoating Goldwater and the “southern strategy” implies that you are deeply infected by Democratic Party propaganda. Goldwater had little to do with the “southern strategy” of Democratic Party propaganda lore. He was just a stupid libertarian that primarily had ocd over a particular provision of the civil rights act.
You should read my essay on the Democratic Party and its legacy of slavery, and it’s attempt to conceal it. It’s working on you.
Yes the Democratic party holds veto proof supermajorities but unlike Republicans all Democrats don't vote in lockstep as they represent a far larger range of political ideology. As for your tar-and-feathering the Democrats for all of CAs ills I'd remind you that we had a Republican Governor from 2003-2011 and rural CA is quite red.
Article 34 still affects the construction of public funded housing in CA. It hasn't been removed because there hasn't been the political will to remove it. Because some area--Republican and Democratic--send representatives to the state government that don't want it removed.
And I'm fully aware of the history of the Democratic party being the party of the south until the 60s. And while you may claim I absolve the Democratic party of any guilt, I would claim that you hold them to be the universal boogie man holding them in singular blame for all of CAs problems even thought the state swung from blue to red back to blue since the depression and was solidly red (Presidential elections) from 1952 to 1992 with the exception of Johnson '64-68. Governorships bounced between the two parties in the same time period.
"Goldwater had little to do with the “southern strategy” of Democratic Party propaganda lore." Really?
Forgive me if I forgo your article in your self-published newsletter and refer to
"The Long Southern Strategy – How Chasing White Voters in the South Changed American Politics" by Angie Maxwell and Todd Shields. She is a Professor of Southern Studies and an Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Arkansas, while he is a Professor of Political Science, University of Arkansas. From the Oxford University Press Scholarship Online Abstract "Beginning with Barry Goldwater’s Operation Dixie in 1964, the Republican Party targeted disaffected white voters in the Democratic stronghold of the American South. To realign these voters with the GOP, the party capitalized on white racial angst that threatened southern white control. " https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190265960.001.0001/oso-9780190265960
It doesn’t matter if the democrats don’t “walk lock step” -- that would then be a problem with the Democratic Party unity. For democrats to place primary blame in republicans for continuing problems still makes no sense. They should then just be primarily blaming other democrats when democrats have a supermajority. How will the Democratic Party make required changes if so many loyal democrats can’t even acknowledge responsibility for their own party for not making them?
I’m not a Republican. Bringing that party up makes no sense. It just reveals how desperate you are to defend the Democratic Party. I even voted for a democrat in the recall. If Shellenberger decided to run on the Democratic Party ticket instead of running as an independent, I’d still vote for him.
And just a taste of how ignorant you are of history -- the Democrats were *more* successful in the south than the Republicans in the 60s and 70s, the height of the Republicans trying to appeal to southern voters leveraging racist sentiments. 83 Southern Democrats voted no on the Civil Rights act of 1964, of those 2 switched to the Republican Party. Those 83 Southern Democrats were inevitably appealing to the racists of the south. How many southern Republicans voted no? 11. Because that is all there were. The South was primarily Democratic, and the Democratic Party appealed to the racist sentiments of the South since it fought a war for slavery and it continued to do so in the 1960s and the 1970s. It even did so in the 80s, which can be demonstrated by the fact that Joe Biden appealed to the racists of the south when in 1987 bragged about getting an award from George Wallace, arch segregationist, and said that his state was on “the South’s side in the Civil War.” Yes, that Joe Biden, our current president. In 1976 Biden supported a measure sponsored by Senator Robert Byrd, the ex KKK member who filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act, to restrict bussing.
It took 30 years after the 1964 civil rights act for the Republican Party to gain a majority of congressional seats in the South.
Bringing up the “southern strategy” is just a *strategy* democrats have learned to absolve the Democratic Party of guilt from its war for slavery and its nursing of a racist terrorist organization. Whatever the Republican Party did in the latter half of the 20th century has no relevance to the Democratic Party’s unredeemed past. It only matters to irrationally loyal democrats. The Democratic Party, which originally acquired its wealth and power through the support of slavery and racial terrorism, *itself*, not Americans in general, owes reparations to the descendants of black slaves. Don’t be an apologist for the Democratic Party’s legacy of slavery. Support its redemption.
And you referred to some random inaccessible book’s abstract on the internet? Try something better. Use your own words.
My family came to California in the late 1800s. I left for good to live in Texas this year. Seeing the infrastructure decay, forests burn, power outages the new normal, high taxes and passing of my tax money on pork barrel programs that inflame the degradation of California. Property values would seem to follow the downward trend. I hope you are successful Michael! California is an amazing piece of art the world made into a showcase of "good ideas" that don't work.
I am more conservative than the most conservative in Texas. Live in the SF Bay Area for as long as I have and watched it turn from the most beautiful city in the world to a first class c rap hole and you will become conservative.
Those people have been out of office for a long time. Your governor is now Newsom and the state of California has been blue/democrats for about 4 decades now. When are you and your fellow democrats who have run the state of California for 4 decades now going to fix the problem? All you do is say that people who are no longer in office or are dead are responsible. Okay I will play your silly game. When are the democrats who are so wonderful and can solve any problem (see DC - the democratic President is doing a great job!!!) going to fix California. When - can you give me a date and time?
I can see how your own personal reality has gotten to you and you need to blame your unhappiness on others. Biden Played your TrumPutin perfectly, and united the entire Decent World behind him.
While my California ancestry doesn't go back as far as yours, I also left the East Bay after living in Sacramento/Bay Area for 35 years. I moved to NE Houston in November 2021 leaving everyone I know and love. I could not afford a home in Alameda, or anywhere in the Bay Area. We rented a two bedroom apartment for 16 years.
Working in 2019 on San Francisco's Market St at UN Plaza was almost traumatic as I had to wind my way through zombieland every day. After that job I never set foot in SF again. The homeless creep, people's dour attitudes, yearly drought and wildfire smoke, growing political disunity between myself and everyone else, and the cost of living drove me away. If I were still living in CA, though, Michael would have my enthusiastic vote.
I don't know how women could stomach Market Street. I worked at 4th and Market for seven years. One day a young woman I worked with was chased by a street person as she walked a half block from one office building to the next. She ran into a drug store to seek safety, but didn't feel very safe. She was strong woman and brilliant woman. It really bothered me to see her so undone. Another time at lunch a young man was walking down Market street with his wang out masturbating as he walked. I watched the young woman walking in front of me with "eyes front" as she walked past him. One citizen of the streets spit in my face as I walked past him. I could have easily retaliated as was bigger and stronger but those people are of a special protected class; much like the spotted white owl. Mess with them and it could destroy a taxpayers life - and they know it.
I volunteered for a ministry in the Tenderloin - San Francisco City Impact. I would go there on Sunday afternoons to minister to the people in the Tenderloin with food and prayer. All the people there are addicts and mentally ill from being an addict. How the people of SF can stand around and do nothing while the souls of these people rot is beyond my comprehension. It is evil.
Those are the Reagan Wounded, those sent out in the streets after Ronnie closed all our mental hospitals to save money for Ed Meese. Proposition 13 has made it impossible to rebuild them.
So Ronald Reagan was Governor of California until 1975. That is approximately 47 years ago. Ronald Reagan left the Presidency in 1988. Approximately 34 years ago. Ronald Reagan has been dead since 2004 - that is approximately 18 years ago. California has been run by democrats for the past 40 years. Why did they not overturn any thing that Ronald Reagan did 47 years? Let me help you here sir since you as massively confused:
The Lanterman–Petris–Short (LPS) Act (Chapter 1667 of the 1967 California Statutes, codified as Cal. Welf & Inst. Code, sec. 5000 et seq.) regulates involuntary civil commitment to a mental health institution in the state of California. The act set the precedent for modern mental health commitment procedures in the United States. The bipartisan bill was co-authored by California State Assemblyman Frank D. Lanterman (R) and California State Senators Nicholas C. Petris (D) and Alan Short (D), and signed into law in 1967 by Governor Ronald Reagan.[1] The Act went into full effect on July 1, 1972.
The LPS was drafted and authored by Democrats. They were in the majority in Congress in California at the time so Reagan signed it. AGAIN: It was authored BY DEMOCRATS.
Blaming a politician that has been out of office for 30+ years, when the Democrats controlled all 3 houses at least once, and did nothing to fix it is B.S. at the federal level. More so at the California State level, where they have virtually controlled all 3 houses (often with super-majorities) for the last 50 years. Those that claim it's all one Republicans fault, because of votes that were widely supported or championed by the left (and they voted for), are either fools, dishonest partisans, or both. Anyone that repeats that can be discounted as not informed or honest enough to have adult discourse with.
1986, Ronald Reagan signed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) into law, and this law created the VICP. The VICP protects the pharmaceutical company from liability related to vaccines. If someone suffers from a vaccine injury, they can't bring a lawsuit against the manufacturer.
Taxpayers get to pay for "vaccine injuries" thanks to this.
You contradict yourself. You say that the bipartisan bill was co-authored by Lanterman (R) and in the next paragraph state it was drafted and authored by democrats. Did Lanterman switch parties? You also don't mention that Reagan slashed the CA budget for public housing at the same time.
And it was co-authored by TWO democrats. SF has spent billions on housing in the past year - HAS THAT FIXED THE PROBLEM? Quit living in the past and blaming people who have been dead for almost 30 years and out of office for almost 50 years. DEMOCRATS have been running Califiornia - LA/SF for almost 40 years - when ARE THEY GOING TO FIX it - It just keeps getting worse and YOUR excuses are pathetic.
How is living in TX compared to CA? Despite its faults, it is hard for me to imagine living anywhere else. (At least permanently -- I'm currently in NYC for work).
Shopping is easier and less stressful. Produce and meat better quality and cheaper. My house in Texas is 4200 Sq ft bought with half the sales price of my 1200 Sq ft California home. People here are relaxed and friendly. California people are tense and guarded with speech because of the pervasive wokeness. The infrastructure is well made and maintained in Texas. My library is better in Texas than any library I ever was part of in California.
California has geography and natural beauty that is the best for sure. The mountains and the coast are the best. I just hated to live in a nanny state.
Funny thing is that the people back in California are disappointed when I claim to be happy here. They keep asking in a hopeful manner that I will feel differently.
That said, I hope Michael becomes governor and straightens things out. I am not optimistic. Newsome drives out those who oppose him and has captured the media to drive the woke propaganda.
Yes, the infastructure is better built and well maintained in Texas Roads are concrete in Texas with few pot holes and they keep the roadsides clean. That is helped by the passing torrential downpours that wash the streets. California roads are mostly asphalt and cheaply patched with more asphalt. While the roads in Texas are better, the highway engineering is a little wonky with on and off ramps doing some weird crossovers. I favor the California design, but maybe my preference will change as I get use to the Texas method.
I don't know what Ted Cruz taking a trip to Mexico has to do with the price of electricity. I associate high electrical costs with shutting down nuclear-powered generators, avoidance of hydroelectric investment, poot forest management and government policy. Would the electrical bills be lower if Cruz vacationed somewhere else?
No, the electrical bills in Texas were lower because they didn't maintain the grid. Which is why, after a blackout, residents were getting $15K electric bills.
That makes sense. Likewise fires in California are caused by forest policy, environmental policy and regulations that discourage logging. (The fires have also driven up electricity costs as the grid has to be "hardened " and the power company gets sued... and it purchases more expensive electricity from out of state to compensate for high demand and self-induced power plant shutdowns)
Cruz is not the Senator of a State that has the highest number of drug addicts living on their streets. Let's lock up the government officials in CA first for their crimes against humanity.
I live in SF. I have cancer and developed extreme scoliosis to the point I was bent in half and if my feet were pointed north my torso was pointed east. I had two major spine surgeries in 2021. In the end it took 5 surgeons 11 1/2 hours to straighten out my back and get me standing up almost straight.
I have a 3rd floor walk up apartment. During the year, and to this day, any delivery left downstairs appears outside my door. I had neighbors arguing over who got to help me with my trash.
My second surgery was at UCSF's spine center at the time Texas' hospitals were turning down surgeries because they were overrun by unvaccinated covid patients. The spine center kept forgetting I lived within walking distance because they are so used to dealing with patients flying in from all over the world.
Thanks to Covered CA my insurance was mostly subsidized and other than my normal deductible I didn't pay anything more towards the MILLIONS of dollars my treatments would have otherwise cost. (I know the amount because my first operation/hospital stay--which didn't accomplish the goals--cost over $1.5M without the surgical team.)
People are "friendlier and more helpful"? There is no way a building full of diverse characters could have been friendlier or more helpful. I wouldn't have gotten the medical care, the quality of care, or the subsidies for assistance had I lived in Texas.
And in the 16 years I've lived here my power has gone out exactly twice. Once was because a car hit a pole about 1/2 a block from my house. The other time was because of a transformer. Neither lasted more than 6 hours.
Praise the Lord and Oh by the way, when I do run into the drug addicts living on the streets in Austin I tell them how much more money they can get by moving to California.
Good look Michael. Resist the pull to cater to the left by softening your critique of progressivism. I suspect there's a majority in California who are sick of it, some literally. Be yourself. I know you will.
After nearly 40 years in California, my husband and I escaped last year. I’d been wanting to leave for a long time but we own a business and my husband didn’t want the disruption.
When Covid lockdown happened, he got to see that he and his staff could work from home effectively, so he finally agreed to leave.
I’ve seen California degrade and deteriorate every year. It’s heartbreaking and infuriating to see my once beautiful State become a moral shithole and an environmental mess. I’ve struggled with the bad, smokey air every year, the water price hikes because of the lack of new dams, the encroachment of homeless into my suburb, the feeling of malaise and a bit of doom.
And not least, the horrendous taxes I’ve paid year after year, along with new rules for small business to require things like annual sexual harassment training, and now CalSavers.
I said we escaped because that’s how it feels. Like escaping the pot of slowly boiling frogs.
You are a proponent of universal health care, but to pay for it I would, once again be forced, as a business, to pay more than my fair share for that - and not even have the option to keep private health insurance. No thank you. I had enough of being squeezed and watching unions rule our kleptocratic leaders, while BLM rioters ran amok and drug addicts took over parts of our cities. I’m sorry, but I’m done being victimized. I opted out instead of staying to fight a rigged system.
we basically have universal care already... private individual plans were discontinued 2020, rolled into Covered California with rates based on income... so... MediCal-Covered California-Medicare covers the bases... guess the only reason you wouldn’t be covered is if you didn’t bother to research/sign up or not a legal resident of the state.
Teachers Union as well as Public Employee Union, by far, are the most vocal and financially active participant in California politics funding, driving the political agenda.
Teachers Unions pushed hard for remote learning despite the poor results for kids... ditto masking despite social development impediment for population at little to no risk.
Pending:
SB 871 mandates covid & hep B vax for ages newborn to 17, eliminating ALL exemptions including medical & belief in order to attend daycare or school.
SB 866 allows kids 12-17 to get covid vax without parental consent
... many parents will be surprised at their lack of options come fall back to school season
... it’s about time for school choice at the federal level to allow funding to follow the best interests of the child... including pods & homeschooling.
These Covid vax mandates were one of many reasons my family fled the state. Husband and I eventually chose to get this particular jab after many months of hesitancy. We shall not vax our 17-year-old son with THIS vaccine.
The lawmakers writing the bill for it have already put forth some ideas of funding, and not allowing private insurance is part of the bill. The State wants complete control, and seeing how our schools are at the bottom, and how they handle everything else, there's no way health insurance thru the State of California would be anything but an expensive fucking mess. They do not do anything for the people - everything they say they need money for "for the people" goes into the kleptocrats and mini-oligarchs pockets. (I pay 100% of my employees health and dental.)
please run_ be aware at attempts to cheat by dems-also, as someone here mentioned, take strong positions re homeless drug addicted and mentally ill that emphasize two psychiatric consent, reimagine the psychiatric hospitals and make them larger. Reach out to other states because the homeless, mentally ill are often originally from elsewhere.
How did Newsom "win"? he gave himself the win when he decreed that all voters could print ballots at home. How would this work? all an unscrupulous politician and his people would have to do is scout the voter data (readily available from the ROVs) for people that are registered but rarely or never vote. The campaign would print ballots in the Voter's names, fill them in and, with the *magic* of ballot harvesting, drop the printed ballots into the system. Lets be honest, with the current state of California there is no way Newsom won the recall election...and certainly not by the huge margin he did. They will leverage this fraud against your campaign, how you and other candidates fight this will tell the tale of CA's future. If it were me i'd have my campaign's digital team run some forensic analysis on the recall election to see if this happened and publicly make the case against the practice of printing ballots.
He won with practically the same numbers he won the governorship.
Elder was talking climate change was a hoax while Lake Tahoe was threatened and doing away with all covid restrictions while Florida and Texas had overflowing hospitals.
And really--you can't do better than some unfounded conspiracy theory?
If anyone can look me in the eye and say confidently that the destructive and unpopular Governor Newsom won election handily, that "61.9% voted to retain Newsom, and 38.1% voted to recall", i'll show you a person that is disconnected from reality. If it had been a close vote we might have a discussion, not at those numbers. It was voter fraud.
Little that I know of you, I think you would be a great change for Cali. I've never lived there, but did lots of work as a lawyer for a global entity with presence there.
My gut says you are trying hard to please all significant CA constituencies to get elected. Probably trying too hard, unless you just want to say "I ran, I tried". Have you thought about identifying the positions that would turn enough voters your way? That is, taking on a posture that is not waffling, not weaseling, but that speaks to the needs, interests, of ordinary folks who will vote?
Here is an example: "We need cheap and reliable energy, but we also need to make progress on climate change." Really? If you put yourself into the shoes of a voter, that sounds like electoral BS. Please the folks who just want to drive their IC vehicles, but stroke the folks who just want to move to windmills and solar. That is unlikely to work.
You face an Everest of stasis in California politics. And the Governorship is the least of it. Even i9f you succeeded here, you'd face an intransigent legislature.
Good luck. you will need lots of it, even if you were to succeed this Fall.
Now there's a mass collectivizing mentality at work, harnessed to a GOP turf claim. Maybe that works for the spuds where you live.
"that sounds like electoral BS."
No it doesn't. Not if someone is advocating for a nuclear power alternative over the fossil fuel status quo instead of pie in the sky about solar panels and wind power.
I see no mention of the current governor's impending mandate that your children receive experimental mRNA shots to attend school. California removed nearly all -medical- exemptions to vaccines. That's insane! Frankly, I am a bit more concerned about my childrens' health than that of SF drug addicts and homeless. You should consider staking out a position on medical freedom. I think you may find that there is a growing and vocal part of the population that is against mandated medical treatments. I think there may be an explosive growth in support for medical freedom as the carnage wreaked by covid vaccines becomes increasingly difficult to hide.
We're leaving this summer. I'm one of a lot of knowledge workers that have the option to work remotely now. Don't get me wrong, the bay area is nice in many ways. But there are lots of equally nice places that don't have the Bay Area's many problems. And above all I am uncomfortable with the child Covid vaccine mandates. It's okay for them to be encouraged but choice in medical procedure must be allowed. Who knows what they will mandate next if this is accepted. Good luck with your gubernatorial campaign, we won't be here to vote for you, we are off to Utah.
Right there with ya. Moved to Texas last November in part because I will not vax my 17 year old son with the Covid shot. Not anti-vax, he has all the others.
Dear Mr, Shellenberger, I read this campaign statement, and it is short-sighted. Full disclosure: I do not do drugs, am a non-drinker, and have worked steadily since the late 1980's, and came very close to becoming homeless myself a few years ago after my dad died. But for the grace of God in the form of some REALLY lucky breaks, I'd be homeless. Contrary to your recitation of the "mental illness" script, the underlying issue is the economy. California has become out-of-reach for the average working-class person. 50 years ago, the American Dream was alive and well here, but endless regulations on businesses, taxes, fees, mandatory permits and Red Tape has driven the cost of doing business up to a point to where those businesses must raise their prices, so as each chain in the link has to pay more and more, we are stuck with the ever-increasing tab of housing, goods, groceries, gas, etc, the opposite of "we pass the savings onto you". John Cox, who ran in the recall election last year, pointed out this economic principle.
Regarding mental illness, once again, this, as is the case with so many other platforms of political hopefuls/office holders, misses the point. The question we should be asking ourselves is "WHY are there so many mentally ill people now, as opposed to before? What has changed? Obviously, the breakdown of the family unit, and to a larger extent, communities, has been a huge factor, but per the issue of homelessness, when a person is put in a situation where they become homeless--whether through their own fault-or simply because they got sick, lost their job, or got hit with some unexpected expense, and realize they have no way of ever getting back into permanent housing, thus will never have shelter security, and they're cold, tired, living in fear of being attacked, told to "move along", and simply realizing that no matter how hard they work, they will never be able to make enough money to afford to obtain a house/apartment, nor maintain the ridiculously high cost of keeping up with the cost of living in this state, they simply give up, take to drinking/drugs, or even if they don't self-medicate, they simply crack up from the stress, fear, and depression the results from being constantly cold, tired, running, hungry, isolated, and sleep-deprived. Yes, mental illness can be environmental. As for self-medicating, think of the fact that alcohol has become such a big industry in California. All the "wine culture" that's taken over: people who aren't homeless are so scared from trying not to be, they self-medicate on booze, even if dressed up as "culture". It didn't used to be this way.
Also, when I hear people say "Reagan closed the mental hospitals, that's why we have so many homeless people", I say, "Reagan's been out of office for 47 years, so why haven't those in power changed that, and why is it so much worse today?" Again, the root is economic.
The reason we have so many homeless people is because the cost of housing has skyrocketed to the point where the average working-class person cannot afford to live here. I know the prevailing attitude--even increasingly among supposedly-progressive Democrats is "If you can't afford to live here, leave". Great, but here's the thing, we DO live here and being told if we can't afford to run fast enough to keep up with the out-of-control increase of living that we need to leave is not going to cut it anymore.
You say you noticed this a few years ago? I noticed this DECADES ago. I'm glad you have a happy life and a nice family, but you are out of touch. Don't get me wrong, I can't STAND Newsom, but we need to step back and ask ourselves "why are the working-class being forced out by high prices?"
Even if we get someone competent for governor, what good does that do when we live in a state where the we have a supermajority in the state assembly AND the state senate? How many people can even name their state senator or assemblyperson? The whole Leftist legislature needs to be cleaned out and re-staffed.
So, whether it's the security guard getting crushed by the high cost of being required to commute to his job 34 miles away, the middle-aged woman struggling to support herself and her kids by taking an extra job at Door Dash, the retired disabled person whose too broke to stay, but too poor to leave the state, the economy is killing us gradually, the myth that the homeless and the getting-closer-to-being-homeless are simply drunks, drug users, and mentally ill flies in the face of reality.
Also, while you may be our next governor, (and I certainly hope Newsom and his ilk are replaced) your "we will win" is false bravado. I've heard many political aspirants say this, then lose.
Ask yourself "what were we doing differently BEFORE this became such a big problem?" and you will start your journey to a solution.
>> Ask yourself "what were we doing differently BEFORE this became such a big problem?" <<
THAT'S truly the inconvinient question, not just regarding CAL, but the west as a whole: I was always identifying as a liberal and vehemently defending it against evil (anti-liberal) leftism as a dichotomy - but not just that groups who profited most of liberalism (women, LGBT.., ..) are actually turning against "white" liberalism ... one really has to ask when did liberalism go off the rails into woke-alyptic auto-immunity and whether this degeneration is always inevitable!?
what proportion of the CA state budget goes to these two, very primary tasks of any state that you, very insincerely, pick out!? I think there is an OCEAN of pork barrel and harmful agencies that can be dried out! On the contrary, ur socialist apocalypse will soon resemble Mogadischu!
You represent one of the biggest undertold stories of the decade — the mass wave of disgust felt by lifelong liberal Democrats (like me) with a party now captured by a faction that says any law violated disproportionately by people of color is racist, ipso facto, and must be loosened. Boudin stands for this belief. You could win this election as an Independent, Michael. Never before have so many party members on both sides felt betrayed. Millions yearn for a normal government, and yet the very word “normal” uttered at the Dem convention would evoke a rafter-shaking torrent of booing.
The “achievement of racial equity” is just another phrase for “the attaining of true socialism”. It means destroying history, destroying capitalism, destroying the rule of law.. all so devils in human form that are incapable of probity end up in charge. It rots everything it touches and may need to be rejected as violently as it is imposed. The left-wing domestic terrorists already inside the DNC or federal and state governments… a category into which many of 44’s associates fall… should be returned to private life.
If the Biden Regime began taking political prisoners or attempted to close businesses and churches a la Justin Trudeau or Beto (everything they don’t like is defined as “hate”), or deployed criminals as a paramilitary to loot or kill its opponents, it would lose whatever legitimacy it may once have had.
Have you considered mental therapy? When irrational hate like yours festers, people die.
Irrational hate? Next thing you will be praising Newsom, Harris and the other villains destroying California. They are evil… a word you either embody (like them) or fail to understand.
The booing and screams of "Lock her up!" came from the conservatives.
Actually not. They came from the populace. You know, the Deporables who once upon a time Dems claimed to represent.
They went to Hell in 1968 when they embraced the Great Society even after it had begun to destroy black families and let violent terrorists like Alinsky and Rosenberg into the DNC’s inner circle. They should have been executed for their crimes.
Stop blaming Newsom for Reagan's Crime.
Blaming anything on Republicans for the current state and direction of California is erroneous when California is a supermajority Democratic Party legislature and has been under majority control of the Democratic Party for decades.
California’s problems are the Democratic Party’s problems. That some loyal democrats deny this is just another problem with California, and the Democratic Party.
The Democratic Party still doesn’t acknowledge its legacy of slavery; I don’t imagine it will acknowledge its responsibility for California’s homeless problems or its energy instability, or any other problem.
The Democratic Party is just an empty shell that does whatever the bidding of its most powerful and richest special interest factions demand. And then wraps whatever it does in the language of democracy and equality.
But don’t get me wrong... the Republican Party does a similar thing. Yet the Republican Party doesn’t rule California, the Democratic Party does.
California has the fifth largest economy on earth, bigger than 200 other nations. It is twice the GDP of Russia with its eleven time zones.
Republicans own the red states which need government handouts.
I don’t understand your point. Does China being the second largest economy on Earth bestow the CCP with great credit? And was California in a decline economically before the Democrats consolidated their power? California is the 5th largest economy on Earth despite the corruption and incompetence of its government, not because of it. It could be the 3rd largest economy on Earth, and also not have a ridiculous homeless population problem or energy instability, or outrageous housing markets or failing schools.
The suggestion that California would not be the 5th largest economy were it not for the Democratic Party exploiting it is garbage.
You folk do not get it: We are not in a decline. The economy is very robust here, . . just try to buy a house.
Take your envy elsewhere.
Try to buy a house? The cost of housing is higher than it has ever been. Prices for just about everything is higher than it has ever been. As are taxes. Yet the services we get for those costs are crap.
What exactly am I envious of? I live in California. And relatively comfortably. For people who scream so much about equality and such, it is peculiar to hear accusations of envy for not wanting to fund an incompetent government that simply increases the cost of goods in the state. I don’t have envy. I have righteous indignation. For how much we pay to our government, everyone should be pissed for the shit we get in return. Unless perhaps if you are on the payroll of the California Democratic Party.
Take your obsequious bullshit elsewhere.
Remove Silicon Valley and California's economy is nowhere near that level. Remove Big Tech from Silicon Valley and you're removing about 33% of that sector. Silicon Valley grew because the state was once a Golden Land to start up businesses and do research. It is neither of those today, but Silicon Valley is too firmly entrenched to easily move (though some are). The California of today would never attract a fledgling industry as it once did on a regular basis. Those who can are leaving. Those who cannot live with the crap. Those who make excuses for the crap need to own it. Michael Shellenberger has the guts to look at his worldview and see what was right and what was empirically wrong. If you're living around thousands of homeless, thousands of illegal immigrants, school results that would not be accepted anywhere else on earth, a government planned energy shortage, and crime so bad that mass shoplifting is the norm- and you accept all of it as 'better than Conservatives'- you are the problem. Objectively- it's not better than anything. It's a failed society. Either get with changes to improve or get out of the way of those with the guts to do it.
I was an electronics engineer there 1972-74.
I like your jealousy.
Not surprisingly, you think too much of yourself. It is a common trait I see in many of you.
The housing problem in CA goes back to 1950 Prop 10--which required local votes to approve any housing using public funding. It was a reaction to the SCOTUS 1948 ruling that racial covenants on real estate were unenforceable. NIMBY covering up racial discrimination. The Proposition passed, and became Article 34 of the CA Constitution. It cannot be removed without a state-wide voter referendum. The Ds were trying to get it onto the ballot but it failed to pass both houses in 2020 in time to get on the ballot. (In 1950 the Governor, House and Senate were all held by Republicans.)
When Reagan came along he cut the already too small state budget for low income housing, and emptied the psychiatric hospitals.
As for CA always being blue--hardly.
https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-pol-ca-california-voting-history/
Don't forget that our last recall Gov. was a Republican. Elder's lost because he was a bad candidate--not because he was a republican. He claimed climate change was a hoax, while Lake Tahoe was being threatened by fire. He wanted to open the state as Texas and Florida were dealing with overcrowded hospitals.
Yes, the south was Democratic up until the mid 1960s when Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts and Goldwater initiated the "Southern Strategy." Its been red for decades.
The Democratic Party currently holds veto-proof supermajorities in both houses of the California State Legislature. And has a Democratic Governor. During Democratic Party *supremacy*, the problems with California have gotten worse. Pointing out what some Republicans did in the 1950s, or the fact that California had a Republican Governor decades ago is slobbering irrational loyalty that is exploiting and harming California.
And fact that you seemingly attempted to absolve the Democratic Party of its guilt for its legacy of slavery by scapegoating Goldwater and the “southern strategy” implies that you are deeply infected by Democratic Party propaganda. Goldwater had little to do with the “southern strategy” of Democratic Party propaganda lore. He was just a stupid libertarian that primarily had ocd over a particular provision of the civil rights act.
You should read my essay on the Democratic Party and its legacy of slavery, and it’s attempt to conceal it. It’s working on you.
https://minorityreport.substack.com/p/accepting-the-obvious?s=r
Yes the Democratic party holds veto proof supermajorities but unlike Republicans all Democrats don't vote in lockstep as they represent a far larger range of political ideology. As for your tar-and-feathering the Democrats for all of CAs ills I'd remind you that we had a Republican Governor from 2003-2011 and rural CA is quite red.
Article 34 still affects the construction of public funded housing in CA. It hasn't been removed because there hasn't been the political will to remove it. Because some area--Republican and Democratic--send representatives to the state government that don't want it removed.
And I'm fully aware of the history of the Democratic party being the party of the south until the 60s. And while you may claim I absolve the Democratic party of any guilt, I would claim that you hold them to be the universal boogie man holding them in singular blame for all of CAs problems even thought the state swung from blue to red back to blue since the depression and was solidly red (Presidential elections) from 1952 to 1992 with the exception of Johnson '64-68. Governorships bounced between the two parties in the same time period.
"Goldwater had little to do with the “southern strategy” of Democratic Party propaganda lore." Really?
Forgive me if I forgo your article in your self-published newsletter and refer to
"The Long Southern Strategy – How Chasing White Voters in the South Changed American Politics" by Angie Maxwell and Todd Shields. She is a Professor of Southern Studies and an Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Arkansas, while he is a Professor of Political Science, University of Arkansas. From the Oxford University Press Scholarship Online Abstract "Beginning with Barry Goldwater’s Operation Dixie in 1964, the Republican Party targeted disaffected white voters in the Democratic stronghold of the American South. To realign these voters with the GOP, the party capitalized on white racial angst that threatened southern white control. " https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190265960.001.0001/oso-9780190265960
It doesn’t matter if the democrats don’t “walk lock step” -- that would then be a problem with the Democratic Party unity. For democrats to place primary blame in republicans for continuing problems still makes no sense. They should then just be primarily blaming other democrats when democrats have a supermajority. How will the Democratic Party make required changes if so many loyal democrats can’t even acknowledge responsibility for their own party for not making them?
I’m not a Republican. Bringing that party up makes no sense. It just reveals how desperate you are to defend the Democratic Party. I even voted for a democrat in the recall. If Shellenberger decided to run on the Democratic Party ticket instead of running as an independent, I’d still vote for him.
And just a taste of how ignorant you are of history -- the Democrats were *more* successful in the south than the Republicans in the 60s and 70s, the height of the Republicans trying to appeal to southern voters leveraging racist sentiments. 83 Southern Democrats voted no on the Civil Rights act of 1964, of those 2 switched to the Republican Party. Those 83 Southern Democrats were inevitably appealing to the racists of the south. How many southern Republicans voted no? 11. Because that is all there were. The South was primarily Democratic, and the Democratic Party appealed to the racist sentiments of the South since it fought a war for slavery and it continued to do so in the 1960s and the 1970s. It even did so in the 80s, which can be demonstrated by the fact that Joe Biden appealed to the racists of the south when in 1987 bragged about getting an award from George Wallace, arch segregationist, and said that his state was on “the South’s side in the Civil War.” Yes, that Joe Biden, our current president. In 1976 Biden supported a measure sponsored by Senator Robert Byrd, the ex KKK member who filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act, to restrict bussing.
It took 30 years after the 1964 civil rights act for the Republican Party to gain a majority of congressional seats in the South.
Bringing up the “southern strategy” is just a *strategy* democrats have learned to absolve the Democratic Party of guilt from its war for slavery and its nursing of a racist terrorist organization. Whatever the Republican Party did in the latter half of the 20th century has no relevance to the Democratic Party’s unredeemed past. It only matters to irrationally loyal democrats. The Democratic Party, which originally acquired its wealth and power through the support of slavery and racial terrorism, *itself*, not Americans in general, owes reparations to the descendants of black slaves. Don’t be an apologist for the Democratic Party’s legacy of slavery. Support its redemption.
And you referred to some random inaccessible book’s abstract on the internet? Try something better. Use your own words.
Reagan has been dead for 20 years. Now, about the present, Newsom is in charge. Because he applied for the job. Get on it.
My family came to California in the late 1800s. I left for good to live in Texas this year. Seeing the infrastructure decay, forests burn, power outages the new normal, high taxes and passing of my tax money on pork barrel programs that inflame the degradation of California. Property values would seem to follow the downward trend. I hope you are successful Michael! California is an amazing piece of art the world made into a showcase of "good ideas" that don't work.
My family came at the turn of the 1900 century to SF Bay Area. My son moved his business and I left with him to Texas in 2020.
Please dont Californicate Texas. Remember why you left.
I am more conservative than the most conservative in Texas. Live in the SF Bay Area for as long as I have and watched it turn from the most beautiful city in the world to a first class c rap hole and you will become conservative.
Nope. I watched that happen under Reagan, Wilson and Deukmejian, Dear.
They were so bad, they turned California into a Democratic state.
Those people have been out of office for a long time. Your governor is now Newsom and the state of California has been blue/democrats for about 4 decades now. When are you and your fellow democrats who have run the state of California for 4 decades now going to fix the problem? All you do is say that people who are no longer in office or are dead are responsible. Okay I will play your silly game. When are the democrats who are so wonderful and can solve any problem (see DC - the democratic President is doing a great job!!!) going to fix California. When - can you give me a date and time?
I can see how your own personal reality has gotten to you and you need to blame your unhappiness on others. Biden Played your TrumPutin perfectly, and united the entire Decent World behind him.
I did not leave California, Dear.
Texas doesn't want you.
Good. Now you have to live there.
Got your gun?
And I am living in peace and freedom.
Wonderful. I mean it.
Good luck.
While my California ancestry doesn't go back as far as yours, I also left the East Bay after living in Sacramento/Bay Area for 35 years. I moved to NE Houston in November 2021 leaving everyone I know and love. I could not afford a home in Alameda, or anywhere in the Bay Area. We rented a two bedroom apartment for 16 years.
Working in 2019 on San Francisco's Market St at UN Plaza was almost traumatic as I had to wind my way through zombieland every day. After that job I never set foot in SF again. The homeless creep, people's dour attitudes, yearly drought and wildfire smoke, growing political disunity between myself and everyone else, and the cost of living drove me away. If I were still living in CA, though, Michael would have my enthusiastic vote.
I don't know how women could stomach Market Street. I worked at 4th and Market for seven years. One day a young woman I worked with was chased by a street person as she walked a half block from one office building to the next. She ran into a drug store to seek safety, but didn't feel very safe. She was strong woman and brilliant woman. It really bothered me to see her so undone. Another time at lunch a young man was walking down Market street with his wang out masturbating as he walked. I watched the young woman walking in front of me with "eyes front" as she walked past him. One citizen of the streets spit in my face as I walked past him. I could have easily retaliated as was bigger and stronger but those people are of a special protected class; much like the spotted white owl. Mess with them and it could destroy a taxpayers life - and they know it.
I do believe you.
I worked in SF for years and do not believe you.
I worked a ministry in the Tenderloin. I believe him It happened to me.
I volunteered for a ministry in the Tenderloin - San Francisco City Impact. I would go there on Sunday afternoons to minister to the people in the Tenderloin with food and prayer. All the people there are addicts and mentally ill from being an addict. How the people of SF can stand around and do nothing while the souls of these people rot is beyond my comprehension. It is evil.
Those are the Reagan Wounded, those sent out in the streets after Ronnie closed all our mental hospitals to save money for Ed Meese. Proposition 13 has made it impossible to rebuild them.
So Ronald Reagan was Governor of California until 1975. That is approximately 47 years ago. Ronald Reagan left the Presidency in 1988. Approximately 34 years ago. Ronald Reagan has been dead since 2004 - that is approximately 18 years ago. California has been run by democrats for the past 40 years. Why did they not overturn any thing that Ronald Reagan did 47 years? Let me help you here sir since you as massively confused:
The Lanterman–Petris–Short (LPS) Act (Chapter 1667 of the 1967 California Statutes, codified as Cal. Welf & Inst. Code, sec. 5000 et seq.) regulates involuntary civil commitment to a mental health institution in the state of California. The act set the precedent for modern mental health commitment procedures in the United States. The bipartisan bill was co-authored by California State Assemblyman Frank D. Lanterman (R) and California State Senators Nicholas C. Petris (D) and Alan Short (D), and signed into law in 1967 by Governor Ronald Reagan.[1] The Act went into full effect on July 1, 1972.
The LPS was drafted and authored by Democrats. They were in the majority in Congress in California at the time so Reagan signed it. AGAIN: It was authored BY DEMOCRATS.
Blaming a politician that has been out of office for 30+ years, when the Democrats controlled all 3 houses at least once, and did nothing to fix it is B.S. at the federal level. More so at the California State level, where they have virtually controlled all 3 houses (often with super-majorities) for the last 50 years. Those that claim it's all one Republicans fault, because of votes that were widely supported or championed by the left (and they voted for), are either fools, dishonest partisans, or both. Anyone that repeats that can be discounted as not informed or honest enough to have adult discourse with.
1986, Ronald Reagan signed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) into law, and this law created the VICP. The VICP protects the pharmaceutical company from liability related to vaccines. If someone suffers from a vaccine injury, they can't bring a lawsuit against the manufacturer.
Taxpayers get to pay for "vaccine injuries" thanks to this.
You contradict yourself. You say that the bipartisan bill was co-authored by Lanterman (R) and in the next paragraph state it was drafted and authored by democrats. Did Lanterman switch parties? You also don't mention that Reagan slashed the CA budget for public housing at the same time.
And it was co-authored by TWO democrats. SF has spent billions on housing in the past year - HAS THAT FIXED THE PROBLEM? Quit living in the past and blaming people who have been dead for almost 30 years and out of office for almost 50 years. DEMOCRATS have been running Califiornia - LA/SF for almost 40 years - when ARE THEY GOING TO FIX it - It just keeps getting worse and YOUR excuses are pathetic.
The evil of Governor Alzheimer lives on in California.
Well it is all the democrats fault for not fixing it as they have ruled CA for the past 4 decades. Obviously they need to find another line of work.
Oh, good! Does that mean you are giving up?
Okay. I will play your silly game. Giving up what?
I am glad you are happy at last.
We all seek out place.
They work well until they get overloaded by freeloaders coming for the California Dream only to ruin it.
How is living in TX compared to CA? Despite its faults, it is hard for me to imagine living anywhere else. (At least permanently -- I'm currently in NYC for work).
Shopping is easier and less stressful. Produce and meat better quality and cheaper. My house in Texas is 4200 Sq ft bought with half the sales price of my 1200 Sq ft California home. People here are relaxed and friendly. California people are tense and guarded with speech because of the pervasive wokeness. The infrastructure is well made and maintained in Texas. My library is better in Texas than any library I ever was part of in California.
California has geography and natural beauty that is the best for sure. The mountains and the coast are the best. I just hated to live in a nanny state.
Funny thing is that the people back in California are disappointed when I claim to be happy here. They keep asking in a hopeful manner that I will feel differently.
That said, I hope Michael becomes governor and straightens things out. I am not optimistic. Newsome drives out those who oppose him and has captured the media to drive the woke propaganda.
Peace and Freedom
Interesting, thanks for this insightful description!
Infrastructure is well made and maintained? What about that little problem that drove Cruz to Cancun and landed people with $15K electric bills?
Yes, the infastructure is better built and well maintained in Texas Roads are concrete in Texas with few pot holes and they keep the roadsides clean. That is helped by the passing torrential downpours that wash the streets. California roads are mostly asphalt and cheaply patched with more asphalt. While the roads in Texas are better, the highway engineering is a little wonky with on and off ramps doing some weird crossovers. I favor the California design, but maybe my preference will change as I get use to the Texas method.
I don't know what Ted Cruz taking a trip to Mexico has to do with the price of electricity. I associate high electrical costs with shutting down nuclear-powered generators, avoidance of hydroelectric investment, poot forest management and government policy. Would the electrical bills be lower if Cruz vacationed somewhere else?
I love Texas. People in Texas are just downright friendly and welcoming. Wish you the best my Texan neighbor!
No, the electrical bills in Texas were lower because they didn't maintain the grid. Which is why, after a blackout, residents were getting $15K electric bills.
That makes sense. Likewise fires in California are caused by forest policy, environmental policy and regulations that discourage logging. (The fires have also driven up electricity costs as the grid has to be "hardened " and the power company gets sued... and it purchases more expensive electricity from out of state to compensate for high demand and self-induced power plant shutdowns)
You are blaming Ted Cruz for the drug problems in SF - good job!
Please point out where I mention drugs?
Cruz is a moot point anyway. I hope Heidi and the kids are ok when he's locked up for sedition.
Cruz is not the Senator of a State that has the highest number of drug addicts living on their streets. Let's lock up the government officials in CA first for their crimes against humanity.
I live 13 miles northwest of Weatherford, Texas in a very rural area. I am at peace and love the people of Texas. Just love them. God Bless you.
I live in SF. I have cancer and developed extreme scoliosis to the point I was bent in half and if my feet were pointed north my torso was pointed east. I had two major spine surgeries in 2021. In the end it took 5 surgeons 11 1/2 hours to straighten out my back and get me standing up almost straight.
I have a 3rd floor walk up apartment. During the year, and to this day, any delivery left downstairs appears outside my door. I had neighbors arguing over who got to help me with my trash.
My second surgery was at UCSF's spine center at the time Texas' hospitals were turning down surgeries because they were overrun by unvaccinated covid patients. The spine center kept forgetting I lived within walking distance because they are so used to dealing with patients flying in from all over the world.
Thanks to Covered CA my insurance was mostly subsidized and other than my normal deductible I didn't pay anything more towards the MILLIONS of dollars my treatments would have otherwise cost. (I know the amount because my first operation/hospital stay--which didn't accomplish the goals--cost over $1.5M without the surgical team.)
People are "friendlier and more helpful"? There is no way a building full of diverse characters could have been friendlier or more helpful. I wouldn't have gotten the medical care, the quality of care, or the subsidies for assistance had I lived in Texas.
And in the 16 years I've lived here my power has gone out exactly twice. Once was because a car hit a pole about 1/2 a block from my house. The other time was because of a transformer. Neither lasted more than 6 hours.
Please stay in California. Thank you.
I intend to. The only good thing to come out of Texas is I-40.
Praise the Lord and Oh by the way, when I do run into the drug addicts living on the streets in Austin I tell them how much more money they can get by moving to California.
Good look Michael. Resist the pull to cater to the left by softening your critique of progressivism. I suspect there's a majority in California who are sick of it, some literally. Be yourself. I know you will.
I meant to say "good luck", but it's a "good look," too. Like the logo and slogan, emphasizing hope.
After nearly 40 years in California, my husband and I escaped last year. I’d been wanting to leave for a long time but we own a business and my husband didn’t want the disruption.
When Covid lockdown happened, he got to see that he and his staff could work from home effectively, so he finally agreed to leave.
I’ve seen California degrade and deteriorate every year. It’s heartbreaking and infuriating to see my once beautiful State become a moral shithole and an environmental mess. I’ve struggled with the bad, smokey air every year, the water price hikes because of the lack of new dams, the encroachment of homeless into my suburb, the feeling of malaise and a bit of doom.
And not least, the horrendous taxes I’ve paid year after year, along with new rules for small business to require things like annual sexual harassment training, and now CalSavers.
I said we escaped because that’s how it feels. Like escaping the pot of slowly boiling frogs.
You are a proponent of universal health care, but to pay for it I would, once again be forced, as a business, to pay more than my fair share for that - and not even have the option to keep private health insurance. No thank you. I had enough of being squeezed and watching unions rule our kleptocratic leaders, while BLM rioters ran amok and drug addicts took over parts of our cities. I’m sorry, but I’m done being victimized. I opted out instead of staying to fight a rigged system.
🎯
we basically have universal care already... private individual plans were discontinued 2020, rolled into Covered California with rates based on income... so... MediCal-Covered California-Medicare covers the bases... guess the only reason you wouldn’t be covered is if you didn’t bother to research/sign up or not a legal resident of the state.
Teachers Union as well as Public Employee Union, by far, are the most vocal and financially active participant in California politics funding, driving the political agenda.
Teachers Unions pushed hard for remote learning despite the poor results for kids... ditto masking despite social development impediment for population at little to no risk.
Pending:
SB 871 mandates covid & hep B vax for ages newborn to 17, eliminating ALL exemptions including medical & belief in order to attend daycare or school.
SB 866 allows kids 12-17 to get covid vax without parental consent
... many parents will be surprised at their lack of options come fall back to school season
... it’s about time for school choice at the federal level to allow funding to follow the best interests of the child... including pods & homeschooling.
These Covid vax mandates were one of many reasons my family fled the state. Husband and I eventually chose to get this particular jab after many months of hesitancy. We shall not vax our 17-year-old son with THIS vaccine.
The lawmakers writing the bill for it have already put forth some ideas of funding, and not allowing private insurance is part of the bill. The State wants complete control, and seeing how our schools are at the bottom, and how they handle everything else, there's no way health insurance thru the State of California would be anything but an expensive fucking mess. They do not do anything for the people - everything they say they need money for "for the people" goes into the kleptocrats and mini-oligarchs pockets. (I pay 100% of my employees health and dental.)
please run_ be aware at attempts to cheat by dems-also, as someone here mentioned, take strong positions re homeless drug addicted and mentally ill that emphasize two psychiatric consent, reimagine the psychiatric hospitals and make them larger. Reach out to other states because the homeless, mentally ill are often originally from elsewhere.
Michael, I am with you brother. I live in San Francisco. When do we get together for coffee with the rest of this crowd?
As a conservative latino person I hope you win.
How did Newsom "win"? he gave himself the win when he decreed that all voters could print ballots at home. How would this work? all an unscrupulous politician and his people would have to do is scout the voter data (readily available from the ROVs) for people that are registered but rarely or never vote. The campaign would print ballots in the Voter's names, fill them in and, with the *magic* of ballot harvesting, drop the printed ballots into the system. Lets be honest, with the current state of California there is no way Newsom won the recall election...and certainly not by the huge margin he did. They will leverage this fraud against your campaign, how you and other candidates fight this will tell the tale of CA's future. If it were me i'd have my campaign's digital team run some forensic analysis on the recall election to see if this happened and publicly make the case against the practice of printing ballots.
🎯
He won with practically the same numbers he won the governorship.
Elder was talking climate change was a hoax while Lake Tahoe was threatened and doing away with all covid restrictions while Florida and Texas had overflowing hospitals.
And really--you can't do better than some unfounded conspiracy theory?
If anyone can look me in the eye and say confidently that the destructive and unpopular Governor Newsom won election handily, that "61.9% voted to retain Newsom, and 38.1% voted to recall", i'll show you a person that is disconnected from reality. If it had been a close vote we might have a discussion, not at those numbers. It was voter fraud.
Little that I know of you, I think you would be a great change for Cali. I've never lived there, but did lots of work as a lawyer for a global entity with presence there.
My gut says you are trying hard to please all significant CA constituencies to get elected. Probably trying too hard, unless you just want to say "I ran, I tried". Have you thought about identifying the positions that would turn enough voters your way? That is, taking on a posture that is not waffling, not weaseling, but that speaks to the needs, interests, of ordinary folks who will vote?
Here is an example: "We need cheap and reliable energy, but we also need to make progress on climate change." Really? If you put yourself into the shoes of a voter, that sounds like electoral BS. Please the folks who just want to drive their IC vehicles, but stroke the folks who just want to move to windmills and solar. That is unlikely to work.
You face an Everest of stasis in California politics. And the Governorship is the least of it. Even i9f you succeeded here, you'd face an intransigent legislature.
Good luck. you will need lots of it, even if you were to succeed this Fall.
" If you put yourself into the shoes of a voter"
Now there's a mass collectivizing mentality at work, harnessed to a GOP turf claim. Maybe that works for the spuds where you live.
"that sounds like electoral BS."
No it doesn't. Not if someone is advocating for a nuclear power alternative over the fossil fuel status quo instead of pie in the sky about solar panels and wind power.
Yes!!!! This makes me so happy!!!! So glad you are running and praying you will win!!!
I see no mention of the current governor's impending mandate that your children receive experimental mRNA shots to attend school. California removed nearly all -medical- exemptions to vaccines. That's insane! Frankly, I am a bit more concerned about my childrens' health than that of SF drug addicts and homeless. You should consider staking out a position on medical freedom. I think you may find that there is a growing and vocal part of the population that is against mandated medical treatments. I think there may be an explosive growth in support for medical freedom as the carnage wreaked by covid vaccines becomes increasingly difficult to hide.
yesssssssssssss 🎯
We're leaving this summer. I'm one of a lot of knowledge workers that have the option to work remotely now. Don't get me wrong, the bay area is nice in many ways. But there are lots of equally nice places that don't have the Bay Area's many problems. And above all I am uncomfortable with the child Covid vaccine mandates. It's okay for them to be encouraged but choice in medical procedure must be allowed. Who knows what they will mandate next if this is accepted. Good luck with your gubernatorial campaign, we won't be here to vote for you, we are off to Utah.
Right there with ya. Moved to Texas last November in part because I will not vax my 17 year old son with the Covid shot. Not anti-vax, he has all the others.
I wish you the best Michael and I hope you win. I will pray for God to bless California with your leadership.
Leftists finally cracking under the strain of their absurd, hypocritical contradictions.
Dear Mr, Shellenberger, I read this campaign statement, and it is short-sighted. Full disclosure: I do not do drugs, am a non-drinker, and have worked steadily since the late 1980's, and came very close to becoming homeless myself a few years ago after my dad died. But for the grace of God in the form of some REALLY lucky breaks, I'd be homeless. Contrary to your recitation of the "mental illness" script, the underlying issue is the economy. California has become out-of-reach for the average working-class person. 50 years ago, the American Dream was alive and well here, but endless regulations on businesses, taxes, fees, mandatory permits and Red Tape has driven the cost of doing business up to a point to where those businesses must raise their prices, so as each chain in the link has to pay more and more, we are stuck with the ever-increasing tab of housing, goods, groceries, gas, etc, the opposite of "we pass the savings onto you". John Cox, who ran in the recall election last year, pointed out this economic principle.
Regarding mental illness, once again, this, as is the case with so many other platforms of political hopefuls/office holders, misses the point. The question we should be asking ourselves is "WHY are there so many mentally ill people now, as opposed to before? What has changed? Obviously, the breakdown of the family unit, and to a larger extent, communities, has been a huge factor, but per the issue of homelessness, when a person is put in a situation where they become homeless--whether through their own fault-or simply because they got sick, lost their job, or got hit with some unexpected expense, and realize they have no way of ever getting back into permanent housing, thus will never have shelter security, and they're cold, tired, living in fear of being attacked, told to "move along", and simply realizing that no matter how hard they work, they will never be able to make enough money to afford to obtain a house/apartment, nor maintain the ridiculously high cost of keeping up with the cost of living in this state, they simply give up, take to drinking/drugs, or even if they don't self-medicate, they simply crack up from the stress, fear, and depression the results from being constantly cold, tired, running, hungry, isolated, and sleep-deprived. Yes, mental illness can be environmental. As for self-medicating, think of the fact that alcohol has become such a big industry in California. All the "wine culture" that's taken over: people who aren't homeless are so scared from trying not to be, they self-medicate on booze, even if dressed up as "culture". It didn't used to be this way.
Also, when I hear people say "Reagan closed the mental hospitals, that's why we have so many homeless people", I say, "Reagan's been out of office for 47 years, so why haven't those in power changed that, and why is it so much worse today?" Again, the root is economic.
The reason we have so many homeless people is because the cost of housing has skyrocketed to the point where the average working-class person cannot afford to live here. I know the prevailing attitude--even increasingly among supposedly-progressive Democrats is "If you can't afford to live here, leave". Great, but here's the thing, we DO live here and being told if we can't afford to run fast enough to keep up with the out-of-control increase of living that we need to leave is not going to cut it anymore.
You say you noticed this a few years ago? I noticed this DECADES ago. I'm glad you have a happy life and a nice family, but you are out of touch. Don't get me wrong, I can't STAND Newsom, but we need to step back and ask ourselves "why are the working-class being forced out by high prices?"
Even if we get someone competent for governor, what good does that do when we live in a state where the we have a supermajority in the state assembly AND the state senate? How many people can even name their state senator or assemblyperson? The whole Leftist legislature needs to be cleaned out and re-staffed.
So, whether it's the security guard getting crushed by the high cost of being required to commute to his job 34 miles away, the middle-aged woman struggling to support herself and her kids by taking an extra job at Door Dash, the retired disabled person whose too broke to stay, but too poor to leave the state, the economy is killing us gradually, the myth that the homeless and the getting-closer-to-being-homeless are simply drunks, drug users, and mentally ill flies in the face of reality.
Also, while you may be our next governor, (and I certainly hope Newsom and his ilk are replaced) your "we will win" is false bravado. I've heard many political aspirants say this, then lose.
Ask yourself "what were we doing differently BEFORE this became such a big problem?" and you will start your journey to a solution.
>> Ask yourself "what were we doing differently BEFORE this became such a big problem?" <<
THAT'S truly the inconvinient question, not just regarding CAL, but the west as a whole: I was always identifying as a liberal and vehemently defending it against evil (anti-liberal) leftism as a dichotomy - but not just that groups who profited most of liberalism (women, LGBT.., ..) are actually turning against "white" liberalism ... one really has to ask when did liberalism go off the rails into woke-alyptic auto-immunity and whether this degeneration is always inevitable!?
Why did the family unit break down?
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Government destroyed California and you're here to bring more government, but a slightly different take on it than Newsome?
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what proportion of the CA state budget goes to these two, very primary tasks of any state that you, very insincerely, pick out!? I think there is an OCEAN of pork barrel and harmful agencies that can be dried out! On the contrary, ur socialist apocalypse will soon resemble Mogadischu!