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ALPERN AT LARGE - Let’s be honest and blunt: if illegal immigrants, young unhappy people, teachers’ unions, and those upset with our budgetary and infrastructure policies, and the majority of voters were mainly Republicans, Governor Newsom and the Democratic Legislature wouldn’t just throw up his hands…they’d take action on California governance.
Fortunately for the Democratic partisans (and oh boy, aren’t they PARTISAN now?!) and usual lobbyists, many will latch on to the “I HATE TRUMP!” and root for the Democratic Party as if they were the L.A. Lakers or Dodgers, and make excuses for all the misery run by the leadership of a now one-party state…without fixing the problems.
Of course, the “let no crisis go to waste” and profiting from the existence of a problem (homelessness, joblessness, etc.) rather than FIXING a problem is what dominates our current California Democratic leadership’s strategies (who are behaving more like Demogorgons than true, traditional, care-for-the-little guy Democrats of yore).
And for those Republicans and independents and Democratic centrists who know the horrible reality that California’s current Democratic leadership has led its citizenry into a morass?
They threw up their hands and bailed. Or they just shut up and give up.
Off to other cities, other counties, other states…and sometimes even the Democratic partisans and lobbyists are moving for their own self-interest to cheaper parts of the nation while still decrying that other political party (the GOP) who really can’t do much in CA because they’re out of power in the once-Golden State.
So while Trump IS a complete blowhard egotist (as if Newsom or Harris or Biden weren’t egotists to boot!), at least he’s apparently responding to the cries of a lack of affordability in our nation.
Whether Trump is just spouting nonsense or just political B.S. is obviously a good question to ask, but it’s obvious that the California Democratic Legislature and Governor are trying to address the impossible cost of living in California, as evidenced by the following:
1. When gasoline costs $1.75 - $2.75 a gallon in other states, and when California’s taxes per gallon is the highest in nation ($4.50 - $5.00 a gallon at the pump), the costs carry forward to food, groceries, and just about everything else transported to our stores and restaurants and small businesses.
2. When Sacramento doesn’t have the courage to STOP the bait-and-switch that was and is the California High-Speed Rail Project, it shows that the voters and their taxes are being taken for granted, and that the road, rail, and other transportation priorities are blatantly mismanaged.
3. When Governor Newsom takes little to no solid action to rebuild the Los Angeles region and other fire-ravaged portions of California, clearly he does NOT care about the voters who trusted him twice (three times, counting the former recall effort) to lead them through these disasters.
4. When the usual hucksters that throw “climate change, climate change, climate change” at projects that are NOT environmentally or fiscally helpful, it’s clear that “affordability be damned!” is the mantra of people whose idea of “green” is really the color of money and not the environment. (Give us da’ money!)
5. Gaslighting California voters into treating those not here legally (the law is still the law, even if Sacramento is desperate to bring in new armies of Democratic voters) as “residents” or “citizens”, and favoring them financially, shows that affordable housing and resources aren’t priorities in Sacramento. Just politics.
6. The concept that “if you don’t have a sponsor, be it a family member or a non-profit foundation or your employer, we just can’t afford you to stay here” is not inhumane, it’s pragmatic. Slave labor is BAD. Taxation without representation is BAD. Treating honest, law-abiding citizens like servants is BAD. Period!
7. Is there a reason why the homeless have to come here and get benefits, beyond the weather issues? Or can’t we build communities of cheap Quonset huts in the wide open spaces away from public sidewalks, parks, and beaches and require the homeless to go to those communities or face jail or expulsion from the state?
8. And WHY are there no new reservoirs and/or abilities to keep rainstorm water and create affordable middle-class communities in California? Or is the water crisis, like the homeless crisis and the inflation crisis, one which is BIIIIIIIIIG BUSINESS to hire people into the public sector instead of fixing these problems?
So the final two concerns are as follows:
9. Are Sacramento Democrats so desperate to grab and keep power that they will do anything to CAUSE the problem to prove somehow to their loyal fanboy/fangirl base they’re still the answer to the problem…even when they ARE the problem?
10. Do the powers that be who support the Demogorgons (not any truly-caring Democrats who are honest and sincere in their efforts, but sociopaths who feed off the misery of other humans, and are quite comfortable with their suffering) just misanthropes who…really…do…NOT…like…people?!
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at[email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
