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POLITICS-
“Banning gas-powered cars was peak dictatorship in California.” Steve Hilton, candidate for Governor
California, particularly and Los Angeles specifically, is killing the free market and capitalism. Virtually every new law and mandate seeks to make life more difficult, expensive, and adds red tape and bureaucratic oversight to stifle dreams and innovation. We suffer from a political game of musical chairs, where politicians with little practical life experience are swapped between offices. So, we keep voting for the same hellacious policies, primarily because of name recognition and party affiliation.
During the Cold War, a week rarely passed without the Soviet Union’s command economy being mocked by the mainstream media for its central planning and five-year plans. These plans were dismal failures when measured against their lofty goals. Meanwhile, capitalism was celebrated alongside the benefits of the free market. The dollar was king and would always be the supreme currency. Today, California is doing its utmost to impose similar controls, mandates, targets, and commands—an overburden of regulation reminiscent of what brought the Soviet Union to its knees.
The state’s Democratic supermajority, which controls 93 of the 120 legislative seats, has enacted regulations, laws, and State Agencies, Boards, and Commissions that lord over developments, projects, businesses, and even homeowners. Two prime examples are the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Coastal Commission decisions. Shockingly, there are thousands of commissions, boards, and authorities at the City level, the County level, and the State level, all run by carefully selected soldiers of the ruling elite, usually picked for loyalty, not skill. Most of these positions have very desirable perks. Such agencies direct billions of dollars, and you didn’t vote for them. (Hat tip to Angeleno Insights)
Couple all this with no-bid contracts, labor mandates, non-merit-based hiring, and expansive benefits for undocumented immigrants that undermine free markets and economic vitality. Los Angeles, as the state’s largest city, reflects these issues, intensifying their impact.
California’s regulatory environment is thought to have over 273,000 rules. While the number can vary depending on who conducts the survey and how regulations are counted, a 2020 survey found that California had nearly 400,000, according to the Pacific Coast Business Times, compared to Texas’s 45,000, which is strangling businesses and murdering economic growth. We already pay the highest taxes in America for the worst results. High taxes, an 8.84% corporate and 13.3% top personal income tax, drain capital, prompting 352 corporate headquarters, including Tesla, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, McKesson, CBRE Group, Charles Schwab, and Oracle, to flee California between 2018 and 2022.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), enacted in 1970, exemplifies this overreach. Intended to protect the environment, CEQA’s 66,000+ rules delay projects by 2.5 years on average, adding 10–20% to costs (2023 California Policy Center). Statewide, CEQA exacerbates a 3.5 million-unit housing shortage, pushing median home prices to $900,000 and Los Angeles prices to $1.4 million,
California’s restrictive energy policies, which nobody voted for, further compound economic problems. California’s electricity costs 24.86 cents per kilowatt-hour—double the national average—due to regulations like Cap-and-Trade and a $24 monthly fixed fee for customers of investor-owned utilities. The closure of natural gas plants, which generate 40% of our power, and Diablo Canyon’s nuclear plant (set to lose 9% by 2030) under net-zero goals (AB 1279) risks blackouts, as seen in near-misses in 2022. These high costs deter businesses and burden households, with 30–33% of Californians unable to afford necessities (2024 ABC News).
Nothing embodies a communist, Marxist authoritarian market more than Governor Hair-Gel’s cherished electric vehicle mandate. The prohibition of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2035 was not established through a direct legislative vote or a popular vote via proposition; instead, it was implemented through an Executive Order and subsequent regulatory measures. In September 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-79-20, instructing the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to formulate regulations requiring all new passenger cars and trucks sold in the state to be zero-emission by 2035.
The House and the Senate voted to overturn these rules. As of this writing, it awaits the President’s signature. However, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is not finished making life challenging for the citizens of California concerning fossil fuels. In July, CARB mandated new low-carbon fuel (LCF) standards for gasoline. LCF is more difficult to produce, and it is estimated that by July 1st, we will be paying an additional $0.65 per gallon. This was established by an unelected group of officials appointed by Governor Hair Gel for their environmental zealotry. This will affect our poorest communities the most. Additionally, harsh regulations on refineries producing diesel and gasoline have led two major facilities to issue closing notices, removing 20% of California’s refined products from the market. Experts are suggesting a price of $8.00 per gallon of gas .
Soon, we will be importing more gasoline using ships that burn bunker fuel. Bunker fuel is one of the most polluting fossil fuels. Also known as heavy fuel oil, it is more harmful than other types of fuel. It powers large vessels, such as supertankers, and is a thick, residual oil produced from refining crude oil. Its environmental impact results from high sulfur content, heavy metals, and particulate matter. Only a special kind of foolishness would neglect to conduct a cost-benefit analysis and recognize that this will lead to even greater economic hardships. The misguided individuals running these agencies will boast about their clear lungs while every other quality of life metric continues to deteriorate.
These policies are like trying to shovel snow in a blizzard with a spoon. Transboundary pollution from Asia, particularly from China, which is constructing hundreds of coal-fired power plants, significantly impacts pollution levels in California. Most people would prefer lower fuel prices so they can afford to see a doctor and enjoy a better quality of life, rather than a non-quantifiable benefit of marginally cleaner air enforced by a Governor whose actions are dismantling everything that was once good about California.
Los Angeles amplifies California’s mismanagement. The city’s no-bid contracts, awarded without competitive bidding, favor politically connected firms, which, according to industry estimates, inflate costs by 10–20%. These deals, criticized by Assemblyman Carl DeMaio for rewarding donors, put pressure on the city’s $1 billion budget deficit, diverting funds from services like public safety and infrastructure. Small businesses, including those run by immigrants, are excluded, reducing economic diversity and job creation.
No-bid contracts allow the city or county to award contracts to a single vendor without seeking competitive bids. This is often justified by "emergency" needs, unique vendor capabilities, or expediency. Such practices limit opportunities for other businesses to compete, reducing market dynamism. Impact on Free Markets: Competitive bidding ensures that multiple vendors can compete for contracts, driving down costs and fostering innovation to meet contract requirements. By granting no-bid contracts, Los Angeles excludes smaller or newer firms, favoring established players or politically connected vendors, which skews market fairness.
Without competitive bidding, there is less pressure to provide the lowest price or best value. Vendors in no-bid contracts can charge higher rates, knowing they face no competition. The Los Angeles County Code, Chapter 2.121, permits no-bid contracts when deemed "economical or feasible," but this discretion is often misused, resulting in inflated costs. This inefficiency undermines the free market principle of allocating resources to the most cost-effective providers.
Labor regulations, such as the $20/hour fast food wage (AB 1228, 2024), have resulted in the closure of 48 Rubio’s restaurants and the elimination of 1,200 Pizza Hut delivery jobs. Moreover, automation has become increasingly appealing; for instance, Flippy robots can save high-volume fast-food locations $20,000 a month in labor costs. Fast-food prices have increased by 10% since 2023, impacting low-income residents the most. The loss of 9,500 fast-food jobs (2023–2024) disproportionately affects entry-level workers and residents, limiting pathways to economic stability.
Another reason why things are so messed up in the State is the mistaken belief by senior elected officials that carbon-induced climate change is an existential threat to the Earth. This misguided notion that carbon is somehow the enemy of life could not be more erroneous or carry more authoritarian implications for our way of life. Our very breath produces carbon dioxide, and plants absorb carbon to produce our food, shade, and building materials like lumber.
The proportion of greenhouse gases resulting from human CO2 emissions is incredibly small. The notion that CO2 will destroy the planet or alter the Earth's temperature is frankly ludicrous. However, from a Marxist, fascist, or communist perspective, it is a clever strategy to convince people that CO2 is a dangerous pollutant, which ultimately serves to control you. An example of such control is the much-heralded 15-minute cities, where you will be restricted to living and will not be able to venture out without special permits.
There's no human activity that doesn't result in CO2 emissions, including living, dying, and turning on a light switch; every single aspect of our lives produces CO2. If we submit to the idea that CO2 is pollution, then it falls under the regulatory control of those who claim to be saving us from pollution. So, when they conduct these environmental studies and say that your CO2 footprint will be smaller if you eat bugs or drive an electric car, that doesn't necessarily mean that the recommended action will benefit the environment. A true cost analysis is never given. It just subjects you to fewer choices and more unnecessary rules.
Additionally, the latest peer-reviewed study by Kesten Green and Willie Soon delivers a brutal verdict: IPCC climate models don’t just miss the mark, they fundamentally fail the most basic test of science: prediction.
The edicts of the supermajority un-democratic Marxists, along with their misallocation of tax dollars, unrealistic labor policies, and eco-fascism, will continue to take a significant toll on the state. These burdensome regulations and unnecessary rules that restrict how we conduct business in the Bear Flag State will further open the floodgates of exodus for companies and individuals fed up with governmental overreach, leaving a bankrupt state with a two-tiered society of a few haves and many have-nots. It will be a dangerous place to live unless we eradicate corruption very soon.
(Eliot Cohen has been on the Neighborhood Council, serves on the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council, and is on the Board of Homeowners of Encino, and was the president of HOME for over seven years. Eliot retired after a 35-year career on Wall Street. Eliot is a critic of the stinking thinking of the bureaucrats and politicians that run the County, the State, and the City. Eliot and his wife divide their time between L.A. and Baja Norte, Mexico.)
