Democrats are mystified by the “changes of heart” by Governor Gavin Newsom on certain issues advocated by Republicans, and these Democrats are thinking Newsom is selling them out. He has attacked Republicans at every turn over the last five years, and spent taxpayers’ money on every crazy thing he could think of, let government workers lounge around their house when they’re supposed to be at work, and adopted a lot of other left-wing policies for California, making him the darling of the left-wing Democrats across the country and a leading Democrat contender for President in 2028. Then, all of the sudden, he acknowledged that maybe Republicans are not as bad as he said a little over a year ago, and maybe some of their policies make sense. The left-wingers are losing their mind.
I think I know why he has changed his mind. Those same Republicans he has been attacking for years now have the power to bail him out from the worst consequences of his bad policies over the years. The state is short over $6 billion in its ability to pay for its MediCal health care program, the taxpayer paid free medical program, which provides free medical care to, among others, those who have entered this country illegally, and the state needs a way to pay for that “shortfall” without eliminating illegals from the program or raising taxes. Eliminating illegals will cause him to lose his left-wing support, and raising taxes will cause him to lose the moderates in this state. If he doesn’t do either one of these things, the state’s budget will collapse, and the state will face a form of government bankruptcy. All of these options end his Presidential ambitions.
So now, Newsom has to suck up to the Republicans in Congress and President Trump to get the money to pay for his mismanagement of the state budget, while at the same time refusing to reform the programs, like eliminating free services for illegals, or raise taxes. He and his Democrat friends in the legislature should not be bailed out, they should pay the political price for their incompetence, not shift the responsibility to the taxpayers in other states.
A little history.
In 1994, the voters of the state of California passed Proposition 187, which would have cut off free medical care, and other government services, for illegals. The state was sued for passing that law, and in 1999, then Governor Davis and Attorney General Bill Lockyer, entered into a settlement of that lawsuit, essentially behind closed doors, without any input from those who supported Prop. 187, which summarily invalidated its provisions. No court ruling, no trial, no public input, just “we give up, court, you can invalidate the initiative, which, by the way we campaigned against. We’re not going to support California’s voters.” They literally threw the voters of California under the bus to give illegals a bunch of free stuff. Now, their policies coming back to bite them, since it is driving the state into bankruptcy, and they want relief with a federal bailout.
They don’t deserve it.
This is not the first time this has happened. In the early 2000’s, when California had a Governor who called himself a Republican, the Bush administration bailed out California from a $2.5 billion shortfall caused, in part, by that free stuff for illegals, which would have been eliminated if Prop. 187 had stayed in effect. Schwarzenegger needed to be protected from the Democrats’ spending spree in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, driven by the elimination of Prop. 187’s spending protections, and Schwarzenegger could make the case that it wasn’t his fault (which, in his defense, it wasn’t). So he got his bailout. Bad idea then, bad idea now.
Now these same spendthrifts are looking for another bailout without having to make the tough political decision. It should be over. There should be a political consequence for continually making bad policy decisions.
So, Congress, please don’t bail them out. Things may be tough here in California for a little bit if there is no bailout, but the voters will see how misguided policies really affect their bottom line, and maybe, just maybe, they will start to question their voting decisions. The right policy decision for Republicans in this case is no bailout. California politicians and taxpayers should pay the price for the last 30 years of bad policy decisions.