California Gov. Gavin Newsom appears to be taking actions to regulate gasoline on two fronts — through the legislature, and CARB, which consists of 14 voting members — 12 of whom are appointed by the governor without State Senate confirmation.
“In September of last year, CARB estimated that the change could lift gasoline prices 47 cents a gallon, or $6.4 billion a year,” reported the Los Angeles Times. “Other analysts put the price even higher — 65 cents a gallon, or $8.8 [billion] a year.”
It’s unclear how much the new refinery regulations — which would give the state power to tell refineries when they’re allowed to shut down for maintenance and repairs, and determine how much inventory of gasoline to maintain on hand in case refineries have to be shut down — would cost. However, a broad coalition of Republicans, Democrats, neighboring governors, and even labor unions is opposing the measure, which does seem ready to pass.
The small group of labor organizations that came out against the bill — employed in energy trades — shared a number of safety and even electoral concerns.
“This issue is readily being used against our candidate in those states and beyond,” wrote the coalition regarding the potential direct implications for the swing states of Arizona and Nevada that rely on California for gasoline, and the use of California’s climate positions as a tool to attack Democrats nationally more broadly. “If we cannot be heard and believed on issues that could jeopardize the lives of our members, something is very wrong in CA. Every member who votes for this bill should be prepared to answer if something goes wrong”
Assemblymember Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, said that he believes most legislators actually no longer support the bill but feel strong-armed by the governor.
“The legislature honestly needs to stand up for itself and tell [Newsom] no. I’m guessing the vast majority of legislators want this bill to die,” said Patterson on X. “We shouldn’t do it just because of the Governor’s strange obsession with this weird policy to give bureaucrats power over gasoline production.”
CARB will be voting on the new amendments to the state’s low carbon fuel standard on November 8, just days after the presidential election, on whether or not to adopt new, stricter standards that will make it harder to generate LCFS credits, and require more LCFS credits to be purchased.
As can be seen in CARB data, the LCFS has been so successful that as of April 2024, the most recent data point, the reduction in carbon intensity of the state’s fuel system is already past the goal for 2026. While the widespread availability of LCFS credits has reduced emissions, the rapid scaling of the desired LCFS credit-producing technologies has also reduced the value of individual credits.
Should the new, more strict LCFS requirements be adopted, fewer credits would qualify, and the cost of credits would go up, but much of the billions of dollars invested in existing infrastructure to generate LCFS credits could turn worthless overnight.
California’s gas taxes are already the highest in the nation, with federal, state, and local taxes and fees adding approximately $1.62 per gallon, which is significantly more than the difference between California and national gas prices. If the LCFS is approved, California gasoline could cost approximately $2.09 to $2.27 per gallon more than the national average, a move that could drive more consumers to electric cars, or out of the state entirely.
]]>But other than Obama, all of these people have one thing in common. They all have a political career that will continue beyond 2024 if they do NOT replace Joe Biden as the Democrat nominee for president. Their names are being floated and they’re being courted by various powerbrokers behind the scenes, but it seems unlikely that any of them would jeopardize their future to take on an increasingly strong Donald J. Trump. Doing so would subvert their potential for 2028 or beyond.
This is why it seems like only two people are being floated by the Democrats’ communication team, also known as corporate media. Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton have been the most common names being proposed the last few days as replacements for Biden because neither has a political future whether they take over the nomination or not.
Harris is young enough but her time as Vice President has not endeared her to… well… anyone. She has alienated herself from Biden’s staff and rumors indicate many in her own staff don’t even like her. If Biden drops out of the race, she will have the unique advantage of taking over his campaign war chest which is why she’s being floated, but polls show she might perform even worse than her dementia-ridden boss.
If Biden stays in the race and they lose, Harris would have a harder time mounting a 2028 run than Mike Pence did this primary season.
As for Clinton, why not? She’ll be 77-years-old on Election Day. Nobody will be looking to her in 2028 whether she’s in this race or not so she has nothing to lose by replacing Biden. Some rumors say she’s being considered. Other say she and her husband are backing Biden. Who knows?
More importantly, who cares?
Barack Obama and his cronies in the Globalist Elite Cabal are working on their options. If they really wanted to, they could force Newsom, Whitmer, or anyone else with better chances than Clinton or Harris. If any among the younger group do end up being the nominee, it will be because Obama and his cronies made it happen.
Personally, I’d love to see either Harris or Clinton as nominee because of the entertainment value. Watching Biden on the campaign trail or in another (God forbid) debate makes me cringe. And if Obama gets one of the younger guns to play ball, then we’ll get to target Democrat policies as a whole and litigate them in front of voters. There’s a silver lining to pretty much any circumstance.
]]>Today’s Rucker Links
Pandemic Social Distancing Increased Preterm Births and Newborn Deaths
BY INFOWARS
The pandemic social restrictions were linked to an increase in preterm births and newborn deaths, according to a new study. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, is yet further evidence for the harmful knock-on effects of the social restrictions like lockdowns and social distancing. Researchers looked at data for…
These 10 State Officials Could Play Outsize Role in Presidential Election
BY DAILY SIGNAL
The map of battleground states in the November presidential election is expanding, and Democrats are in charge of elections in the bulk of these competitive states. Secretaries of state once held an office that got little attention. However, after the disputed results of the 2020 election, the statewide office gained…
Trump Says He Was Not Warned Before Taking the Stage Despite Obvious Security Concerns
BY RED STATE
Excerpts from an interview with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance conducted with Fox News host Jesse Watters were released Saturday night, and Trump revealed some disturbing information: he was not warned that there was a risk despite the fact security forces were aware that his…
Ireland, Mass Immigration, and The Great Reset
BY GAVIN O’REILLY, GLOBAL RESEARCH
(Global Research)—On Monday morning, Ireland would awake to reports of unrest in the Dublin suburb of Coolock, when after months of peaceful protest by local residents over plans to move upwards of 500 male migrants into a disused paint factory in the working-class neighborhood, tensions would come to a head…
Steve Garvey Destroys Adam Schiff, Says Turning on Biden Shows ‘Selfish Desperation’
BY RED STATE
California GOP Senate candidate and former Dodger baseball great Steve Garvey blasted his opponent, the ethically challenged Dem Rep. Adam Schiff, for turning on President Biden just a short time after lauding his leadership abilities and cognitive skills. Schiff saw that Biden’s struggles since the debate disaster were damaging for…
Five Climate Extremists Get Lengthy Prison Terms for Conspiracy to Block London Highway
BY HUMAN EVENTS
Five activists from the environmental group Just Stop Oil have been sentenced to prison after conspiring to create gridlock on the M25 highway in London. Roger Hallam, Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu and Cressida Gethin were found guilty last week of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance…
Turkey Declares Hijab Mandatory, ‘Commandment of Allah,’ Debunking Left’s ‘Personal Choice’ Lie
BY RAIR FOUNDATION
The mask has come off, and the facade of the Left-Islamic alliance has been removed. The insistence that Islamic dress for women is a matter of modesty and personal choice has been debunked by a top Islamic authority. But will the Western, Islam-enabling left-wing media report this truth or continue…
Mexican President Warns Trump to Not Close the Border
BY INDEPENDENT SENTINEL
The AP reports that Mexico’s president called Donald Trump “a friend” Friday. He said he would write to the former U.S. president to warn him against pledging to close the border or blaming migrants for bringing drugs into the United States. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called Trump “a man…
Josh Hawley Went to Trump Rally Site for Answers — The FBI Shut Him Out
BY DAILYWIRE
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) went to Butler County, Pennsylvania, on Friday in search of answers in the wake of last week’s attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump — and when he got there, he said the FBI made him leave. Hawley, who also sent a letter to…
Bill Maher ridicules claims God saved Trump’s life, Says nothing but “LUCK”
BY END TIMES HEADLINES
Bill Maher has ridiculed claims that God saved Donald Trump’s life during an assassination attempt at a political rally. The comedian blasted those using the events of last week as evidence that the presidential hopeful is being endorsed by a higher power. He accused Republicans of engaging in a ‘orgy…
Gloves Off: Biden Fed up W/ Obama and Pelosi Over Election Coup
BY HEADLINE USA
President Joe Biden is reportedly fed up with his pals, former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over what many are calling a coup d’état within the Democratic Party’s nomination process. Several people close to Biden told the New York Times on Friday that the embattled president…
Must-See: Air Traffic Controller Offers Prayer for Trump Force One During Takeoff
BY THE GATEWAY PUNDIT
In an extraordinary moment, a heartfelt prayer was offered by an air traffic controller for former President Donald Trump’s plane, Trump Force One, as it departed Milwaukee early Friday morning. This rare event occurred after Trump and former First Lady Melania concluded their presence at the Republican National Convention and…
“Fraud, Pure and Simple”: Merck Mumps Vaccine May Contain Up to 4 Times Approved Amount of Live Virus
BY MICHAEL NEVRADAKIS, PH.D., THE DEFENDER
(The Defender)—Drug manufacturer Merck misrepresented the efficacy of its mumps vaccine for years, “overfilling” the vaccine with live mumps virus to meet efficacy targets despite the lack of safety testing — and the practice may be continuing today. Merck appears to have concealed the practice from public health agencies, which…
Popular Show Adds Disclaimer About ‘Coincidental’ Assassination Attempt After Trump Shooting
BY THE GATEWAY PUNDIT
Making any show — much less a raunchy, vulgar and hyper-violent one — tackle the subject of political assassinations is always a risky endeavor. Making any show tackle the subject of political assassinations when one of your characters is an admitted analog to a real-world politician? That seems like an…
Biden ‘Seething’ at Pelosi for Abandoning Him: Report
BY DAILYWIRE
President Joe Biden is reportedly seething at former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for not standing by him as he fights for his political life following his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump late last month. Pelosi met with dozens of Democratic lawmakers earlier this month to discuss next…
When zoning first came into practice, it was a local effort to protect the character of neighborhoods and cities, essentially sorting out land uses by category. The result separated uses into categories and designed them by general plan ordinances.
The result was a city with space for industrial development and jobs, commercial centers and free enterprise, and residential areas. Those residential areas were further divided into single family homes, apartments and duplexes, with refinements taking into account lot sizes and other desirable features. Careful local planning brought character, stability and financial security to one of life’s most significant investments, a home. The political decisions as to how this was done were made by local citizens elected to city councils and boards of supervisors.
Here the goal was to protect someone’s investment, so the character of a neighborhood did not allow an oil refinery erected among million-dollar homes.
Other than major highways, substantive water projects and other selective public works, the state had nothing at all to do with local parks, libraries, law enforcement, fire protection, streets and roads, street lighting districts, water districts, mosquito abatement districts, etc.
This week Gov. Gavin Newsom presided over an event that illustrates the death of local government. Newsom’s purpose was to remind California voters he is their friend and protector and is watching out for them. Newsom, you see, is a creator of “equity.”
The governor is proud of the fact he threatened the City of Malibu with lawsuits and bludgeoned the locals into submission, so proud he issued a press release. The state, he declared, has taken over local zoning decisions and has successfully forced Malibu to build low-income housing amid those multi-million dollar seaside mansions.
Essentially, California’s new government model places “equity” ahead of private property rights and reduces local government to the level of overseer of state mandates.
Malibu has been forced to comply with the Housing Element law. The city will allow to be build 79 new housing units, 47 of those reserved for low-income folks who otherwise would not be able to partake of the Malibu coastal lifestyle. Hey, quit your job and move to Malibu. Makes perfect since in a country guided by overseers, but not if it values private enterprise and personal freedom.
“Our housing laws are not optional; they apply to all cities and counties in California,” State Attorney General Rob Bonta declared, and he intends to “make sure that every single city and county comes into compliance and plans for the future.” This is the essence of “equity.”
Of course, the homeowners living adjacent to the future low-income housing may see their life’s most important investment disintegrate, but that is irrelevant. The highlights of the history of low-income housing projects is written in neighborhood decline, increased crime and social failure. It always has been the case that low-income housing residents’ best chance of success is to escape.
For now, the future of Malibu is low-income housing. With visions such as this, it is no wonder the California governor dreams of being president.
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
]]>- Stellantis plans to lay off thousands of workers in Detroit and Ohio in 2024 in order to adjust to California’s strict emission standards, raising concerns that other automakers may have to do the same, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
- California has the strictest environmental standards in the country for vehicles and can use its dominant market share to influence broader U.S. trends, coercing automakers to design more expensive cars to fit that market, the experts said.
- “Considering the losses and layoffs we’ve already seen, the effects on the auto industry could be devastating,” Marlo Lewis, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told the DCNF. “Millions of middle-income households are already priced out of the market for new motor vehicles.”
(Daily Caller)—California’s strict emission standards are poised to move the entire auto market towards more expensive, lower-emission vehicles, endangering the American auto industry, which is already posting huge losses in the electric vehicle market, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Top U.S. car manufacturer Stellantis sent notices to 2,455 workers in Detroit and 1,225 workers in Ohio on Dec. 8, notifying employees of possible layoffs to come in February in a move to shift its production to comply with California’s regulations that are increasingly cracking down on internal combustion engine vehicles, according to Barron’s. The projected layoffs from Stellantis could be one of many in the auto industry as California’s environmental regulations shift markets across the country, despite electric vehicles still not being affordable for many Americans and profitable for automakers, according to experts who spoke to the DCNF.
“The California standards have a huge impact,” Marlo Lewis, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told the DCNF. “Both the [Environmental Protection Agency] in its proposed greenhouse gas motor vehicle standards and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in its proposed corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards cite California’s [zero-emission vehicle] mandate as driving vehicle electrification in the U.S. Moreover, under Clean Air Act Section 177, other states may opt into California’s ZEV and [greenhouse gas] standards — if those policies are lawful in the first place, which of course California and its state and federal agency allies claim is the case.”
California is emboldened by the Environmental Protection Agency’s current standards under the Clean Air Act, which dictates that states must follow the federal government’s vehicle emission standards or opt into California’s more restrictive requirements. California has passed restrictions facilitating the switch away from traditional vehicles, requiring that all new cars, pickups and SUVs be electric or hydrogen-powered by 2035.
“The standards have a large effect because automakers don’t want to make different cars for different states,” Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment at the Heritage Foundation, told the DCNF. “That is why California affects the rest of the country. In addition, another 16 states have voluntarily said they will copy California’s laws.”
NEW:
The Biden administration has highlighted an EV charging company as evidence that its climate agenda is working. Now, the company’s stock is tanking, and the firm faces a class action lawsuit. @DailyCaller News Foundationhttps://t.co/XWSUXbA3IK
— Nick Pope (@realnickpope) December 12, 2023
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has previously touted the “California Effect,” which dictates that because of the state’s size and market share, it can dominate national trends and influence manufacturers, forcing them to tailor products to the standards or risk missing out on the market entirely, according to The New York Times. The state has the fifth-largest economy in the world.
“Considering the losses and layoffs we’ve already seen, the effects on the auto industry could be devastating,” Lewis told the DCNF. “Millions of middle-income households are already priced out of the market for new motor vehicles. Ford’s F-150 Lightning costs about $14,000 more than the comparable internal combustion engine (ICE) model. Energy analyst Robert Bryce reports that during second quarter 2023, Ford lost $72,762 for every EV it sold, and that in July, Ford projected $4.5 billion in EV-related losses by year’s end—more than double the company’s $2.1 billion EV business losses in 2022.”
Following the losses, Ford sent out a memorandum on Tuesday to suppliers that it was cutting production of its F-150 lightning pickups in 2024 from a weekly target of 3,200 to 1,600 units.
As losses mount for automakers, the Biden administration is pushing for even greater production with subsidies to the EV industry. The Biden administration, through the Inflation Reduction Act, has instituted a $7,500 tax credit per EV in an attempt to make the cars more affordable.
“The standards will raise the costs of transportation, disproportionately hurting poor people, small businesses and farmers,” Furchtgott-Roth told the DCNF. “Some people like EVs, but others find them to be more expensive, inconvenient to charge, and difficult in cold climates because they lose range. Plus, these EVs make America depend on China. The auto industry is losing money trying to comply with the standards because people are not buying electric vehicles in sufficient quantities.”
While the number of people buying EVs is growing, not enough people are opting into buying an EV to keep up with the rising supply following the regulations and subsidies in the industry. The total volume of EVs sold in January was 3% of new cars, making up 3% of market share, but as of September, volume has risen to 6%, while sales have only risen to 4%.
The current production of EVs requires the use of rare earth minerals, specifically in the vehicle’s battery, with China currently controlling around 87% of the world’s refining capacity for the components. The U.S. has so far been unable to compete in the market, but the Department of Defense has committed millions of dollars to cultivating domestic ventures.
“This agenda is a massive threat to consumer welfare,” Lewis told the DCNF. “In the short term, some automakers may profit from government handouts and the narrowing of competition. In the long term, an industry that does not produce what consumers want at prices they can afford is in big trouble.”
The California governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request to comment from the DCNF.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
(Daily Caller)—A major utility company serving millions of Americans wants to jack up its electricity rates because of climate change, according to Fox KTVU.
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), a California-based utility provider with more than five million customers, has requested state regulators allow the firm to raise rates by an average of up to $20 each month because of climate change, according to Fox KTVU, a local outlet that cited analysis conducted by The Utility Reform Network.
This requested hike would supplement an already-approved increase scheduled to kick in on January 1, 2024, which is expected to raise utility bills by an average of $33 each month.
California is suing oil companies over climate change https://t.co/jM65aSB2px
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 17, 2023
PG&E asserts that the rate hikes, if approved, will provide it with the billions of extra dollars needed to fortify its infrastructure to endure climate change and its impacts, according to its filing with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the state’s utility regulator.
“It’s gonna be between $12 and $20 additional each month. That’s on top of the $33 that’s coming January 1,” Mark Toney, the executive director for The Utility Reform Network, told Fox KTVU. “They want them to start collecting in March, even before the CPUC has held a proceeding and decided whether PG&E should get paid back by rate payers; two billion dollars for overspending … PG&E has several requests for at least another $3 billion.”
The company’s power lines sparked several massive wildfires in the state in the late 2010s, but the utility instead blamedglobal warming for the tragedies.
“There needs to be serious auditing of this organization to make sure that they’re not being wasteful, inefficient as passing costs onto people, particularly those that don’t have income that are unfair,” Edward Voss, a retired accountant and a PG&E customer, told Fox KTVU.
“I think it’s a complete rip-off,” another PG&E customer, Ron Rosaia, told the outlet.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
]]>(Daily Caller)—Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife stepped in to end a Thursday debate with Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to multiple reports.
Newsom and DeSantis participated in “The Great Red State vs. Blue State” debate in Alpharetta, Georgia, hosted by Fox News’ Sean Hannity, where two governors later agreed to extend the debate past its original 90 minute duration. Hannity ended the debate following a commercial break directly after the agreement was made in real time, during which Jennifer Siebel Newsom interjected on behalf of her husband, both Politico and NBC News reported, citing DeSantis aides as well as unaffiliated sources.
The DeSantis campaign confirmed the events to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Gavin Newsom got beat so badly last night his wife literally had to throw in the towel for him,” Andrew Romeo, communications director for the DeSantis campaign, told the DCNF. “It was embarrassing.”
However, Newsom aides have since denied that his wife was the reason for the debate ending, arguing that staffers from both governors mutually agreed to the decision, both Politico and NBC News reported.
Ron DeSantis destroyed Gavin Newsom last night — and it wasn’t even close.
See for yourself: pic.twitter.com/ALRpbmUpGy
— DeSantis War Room
(@DeSantisWarRoom) December 1, 2023
The two governors sparred over their respective states’ policies, largely over the issues of crime, the economy and numerous social issues.
Newsom dismissed data that Hannity cited over his state’s violent crime rate being higher than both the national average and Florida’s, where he instead claimed that “we’re near 50 year lows, down 55% violent crimes in the state of California from the 1990s.”
“So this is the slick politician — you put up the rates. He has 500 per 100,000. Florida is 250. So that’s almost twice as much, and he’s trying to spin that to say California’s doing good? People are leaving California in droves, largely because public safety has collapsed,” DeSantis pushed back.
The Florida governor presented a map of human feces that he said represented the city of San Francisco, of which Newsom previously served as mayor of.
DeSantis also pressed Newsom on his presidential aspirations for 2024 earlier in the debate, asking, “Why don’t you just admit that you’re running?”
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
]]>Granted, he was quoting Steven Cheung, one of his spokespersons, but nobody would be surprised if the words came directly from him.
He went after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his chief nemesis for the Republican nomination for president. He even dropped a mention of Nikki “Birdbrain” Haley for effect. This came as DeSantis was preparing to debate California Governor Gavin Newsom on Fox News.
Here’s the post:
“Ron DeSanctimonious is acting more like a thirsty, third-rate OnlyFans wannabe model than an actual presidential candidate. Instead of actually campaigning and trying to turn around his dismal poll numbers, DeSanctus is now so desperate for attention that he’s debating a Grade A loser like Gavin Newsom.
At the debate, Ron will flail his arms and bobble his head wildly, looking more like a San Francisco crackhead than the governor of Florida. This isn’t a prediction. It’s a spoiler.
Hopefully for Ron, it’s a seated debate so he won’t have to mash his foot into his high-heels to look taller. But if not, he’ll definitely be on a 12 inch step stool so he can peek right above the podium.
In a damning new report exposing Ron for his Chinese ties, he provided ‘tax relief to a federally investigated subsidiary of a Chinese company, according to Florida state government records, despite claiming in the past his administration had not supported the business.’ Lying Ron or Red Ron, either way, he’s a shill for China and a CCP sympathizer who will go to great lengths to protect them.
A new poll from The Messenger and HarrisX further proved none of DeSanctus’ endorsements from Kim Reynolds or Bob Vander Plaat$ did anything to help his numbers. Ron actually dropped to single digits with Nikki ‘Birdbrain” Haley, while President Trump INCREASED his commanding lead to 68%.”
— Steven Cheyng, Trump spokesperson
Love him or not, support him or not, nobody can say that Donald Trump isn’t entertaining.
]]>It’s hard to predict how Mr. Newsom might pull it off, at least during this cycle—he has remained a steadfast supporter of incumbent President Joe Biden, and as the filing deadlines for multiple Democratic primaries have passed, he hasn’t flinched.
He could be gunning for 2028, two years after state term limits will force him out of the governor’s mansion. Or, if events line up just right, he could make his move sooner.
“I think it’s been pretty obvious that Newsom has been positioning himself for a run in 2028 and to be available in 2024 should Biden’s health or capacities deteriorate to the point that Democrats decide that they need another candidate,” Morris Fiorina, professor of political science and Hoover Institution fellow at Stanford University, told The Epoch Times.
California Assemblyman James Gallagher, who leads the Republicans in that chamber of the California Legislature, also cast doubt on President Biden’s ability to campaign for another term.
“Right now, everybody in public is saying they’re rallying behind Joe Biden, but it’s very clear that he is deteriorating,” Mr. Gallagher told The Epoch Times.
Gloria Romero, a Democrat who was formerly majority leader of the California State Senate, said “the conundrum is the vice president,” and dubbed Mr. Newsom “the replacement candidate.”
2024 as 1968
President Biden’s detractors have sometimes compared him to former President Jimmy Carter, who presided over high inflation and his own hostage crisis. But an even more war-clouded incumbent—Capitol Hill dealmaker President Lyndon B. Johnson—could offer another parallel as the United States steps up support for Israel against Hamas. Like the Vietnam War, the conflict is unpopular with much of the Democrats’ base, in part because of civilian casualties.
Amid protests over Vietnam, the unpopular President Johnson dropped out of the race early in 1968. Months of intraparty division, including the assassination of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, culminated in the chaotic and violent Democratic convention, which was held in August in Chicago.
The party establishment’s favorite, then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey, ultimately carried off the nomination, defeating a fellow Minnesotan, the anti-war Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-Minn.), and various others. Mr. Humphrey then fell in the general election to Richard Nixon, the man who was once counted out of national politics after he lost the 1960 presidential race to John F. Kennedy.
There are other striking similarities between 2024 and 1968. The Democratic National Convention will again take place in Chicago. Robert F. Kennedy’s son is in the running, too, albeit as an independent. And President Biden’s new Democratic primary challenger, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), is, like Mr. Humphrey and Mr. McCarthy, a Minnesotan (though, unlike them, he isn’t running against an unpopular war).
Chuck DeVore, a former California State Assembly member now with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told The Epoch Times that President Johnson’s departure from the field “opened up the delegates that he may have already won at that point to be able to vote as they pleased on the floor of the Democratic convention.”
“Essentially, you end up with this brokered convention. We may end up seeing something very similar in 2024,” he said.
Seeking the Center on Domestic Issues
The 2024 Chicago convention is many months away. For now, an observer can only assess what California’s governor has already done that may boost his presidential profile.
During the last legislative session, some of Mr. Newsom’s vetoes attracted media attention. For instance, he shot down legislation that would have decriminalized possession of psychedelic mushrooms. He also vetoed a bill that would have seen condoms distributed for free in California’s public high schools as well as legislation that would have altered child custody proceedings by making judges favor parents who “affirm” a minor’s transgender identity.
In a CNN opinion piece, liberal commentator Jill Filipovic called some of those vetoes “disappointing,” arguing that the governor is “a man who puts his own political future ahead of the will of the people.”
While some observers may sense a shift to the center, Ms. Romero doesn’t quite see it that way.
“It’s really political calculation,” she said. She lambasted some of the bills emanating from California’s Legislature, calling them “almost Babylon Bee-ish.” They are, in short, hard for the governor to greenlight if he wants to become competitive across a country where California values aren’t always and everywhere welcome.
She speculated that some of the vetoes show the governor trying to regain the trust of nonleftist Democrats like her, many of whom have become disillusioned with Mr. Newsom’s leadership style.
Ms. Romero described California’s leader as a chameleon-like figure who benefits from a relatively sympathetic treatment by the legacy media.
Like Ms. Romero, Mr. Gallagher characterized the vetoes as a political maneuver meant to make the governor seem less left-wing.
“The problem is, he’s still passing pretty radical policy,” Mr. Gallagher said. He cited bills such as Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener’s S.B. 253, which will require large companies to report greenhouse gas emissions.
He said Mr. Newsom’s vetoes may allow him to look tougher on drugs while preserving his environmental agenda—a signature issue for him domestically and during his recent trip to China, where climate policy was a central concern.
Vetoes by the Numbers
Mr. DeVore suggested the vetoes may be less exceptional than they seem.
“Every governor of California, or really any governor across the country, will veto a certain number of bills that they see as just poor bills,” he said.
“I think there is a danger in reading a little too much into that,” he added, noting that the state’s past Democratic governors have also vetoed bills from the Legislature, which has skewed left for many decades.
Indeed, while some media coverage suggests Mr. Newsom’s recent vetoes take him closer to the American center, the big picture is foggier.
Mr. Newsom vetoed 156 bills and signed 890 bills during the latest legislative session. That means he shot down a little less than 15 percent of the legislation that reached him from the state’s Legislature, both chambers of which are controlled by commanding Democratic supermajorities.
That’s in keeping with what he has done before, according to an analysis by the California Senate’s Office of Research.
Mr. Newsom vetoed a little fewer than 14.5 percent of the bills that reached him in 2022. While that marked a big increase over a 7.89 percent veto rate in 2021, it was roughly on par with a 13.08 percent veto rate in 2020—and in 2019, the governor vetoed 16.51 percent of the bills that crossed his desk, a higher rate than in 2023.
Mr. Newsom’s immediate predecessor, fellow Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown, vetoed a similar share of bills during his second stint as governor. The veto percentage under his leadership ranged from a low of 10.71 percent in 2013 to a high of 16.52 percent in 2018.
The last California governor who consistently vetoed a bigger chunk of bills was its last Republican state executive, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie star-turned-politician took down more than 22 percent of the bills that passed the Legislature every year he was in office. He wielded his veto pen most frequently in 2008, nixing 35 percent of the legislation that session.
Mr. Fiorina of the Hoover Institution argued that Mr. Newsom’s vetoes are just part of the picture when it comes to his supposed conservative turn.
In September, for example, the governor announced the Board of State and Community Corrections was awarding over $267 million to law enforcement agencies across California.
“He made extra funds available to local authorities for crime fighting,” Mr. Fiorina said.
In addition, the governor has launched the CARE Court program for mental illness treatment, which withstood disability rights activists’ legal challenge in the California Supreme Court. Mental illness is one of the chief contributors to homelessness, a formidable challenge in Mr. Newsom’s state.
“Crime, homelessness, trans issues … it is almost as if his staff is thinking, ‘What attack ads about [California] liberals will the Republicans run in the Midwest battlegrounds? Let’s move now to head them off,” Mr. Fiorina said.
Ms. Romero, the California Democrat, said she expects Mr. Newsom to “dance to the latest tune of the piper, even as silly as they might be, to basically become the new head of the Democratic Party.”
Newsom in China
The same President Nixon who in 1968 defeated Mr. Humphrey went on to visit China while in office. The president, a poker shark during his youth, played his hand boldly but carefully at a time when the Soviet Union and China were fracturing.
The trip, which helped set the stage for the end of the Cold War, was so iconic that it even inspired an opera, John Coolidge Adams’s “Nixon in China.” (“Five-card stud taught me a lot about mankind,” the President Nixon character muses in the third act.)
Mr. Newsom’s Chinese tour hasn’t yet been commemorated in song, at least. But a few photos and videos of his trip, part of foreign travels that also saw him visiting Israel, have circulated widely on social media, sometimes amplified by accounts unfriendly to the governor and his party.
There’s Mr. Newsom, posing in sunglasses on the Great Wall of China. There’s Mr. Newsom, tooling around in a Chinese electric vehicle. There’s Mr. Newsom, barreling into a small Chinese boy on a basketball court. For the media-savvy man at the head of America’s most image-conscious state, the optics may have smarted.
The substance of the governor’s trip has also come under scrutiny.
The Daily Caller News Foundation reported that an affiliate of a Chinese intelligence service took credit for bringing Mr. Newsom to China.
The Epoch Times has reviewed Chinese-language posts from that group, the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which the State Department in 2020 said was seeking “to directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda.”
In one post, the organization’s president, Yang Wanming, lauded California, saying it was “at the forefront” of U.S. states when it comes to relations between China and America, having what it called “close personnel exchanges.”
Mr. Newsom did not discuss China’s human rights record with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, though a statement from the governor’s office claimed he discussed “a variety of human rights issues including Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan” with other officials.
“It is wrong to visit China and fail to bring up human rights issues. But Newsom went further, defending his failure,” said Anders Corr, a strategic analyst of international affairs, in an email to The Epoch Times.
“The visit raises questions about why an American politician—who doubtless seeks the presidency—would do such damage to his own reputation,” Mr. Corr, who is also a contributor to the publication, added.
Mr. Gallagher pointed out that the governor’s time coincided with a flyover by a Chinese jet of a U.S. bomber. And only days ago, a federal prosecutor alerted the House Judiciary Committee of possible Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interference in the state’s 2024 election.
“While he’s back there, we have continued interference and aggression from China, and Gavin’s just buddying up to them,” he said.
The California State Assembly’s Republican leader questioned the governor’s comments lauding the country’s record on climate and the environment.
“He certainly is coming back really more singing China’s praises rather than standing up to them and the clear abuses that they have on human rights and intellectual property theft,” he said.
The trip garnered plenty of media attention, fueling more speculation about the governor’s possible ambitions for higher office. Yet both Mr. DeVore and Ms. Romero pointed out that such visits to China and other Asian countries aren’t so unusual for California leaders.
“This is not an unusual thing, for a California governor to be on the world stage,” Mr. DeVore said.
“California has a unique relationship with the Pacific Rim, and so it’s not unusual for delegations to go to Asia,” Ms. Romero said.
She was particularly critical of his stumble while playing basketball.
“Politics is a sport. There he is, playing a sport, and he literally trips over and falls,” Ms. Romero said.
Newsom Versus Harris
As he builds toward a possible bid for the White House, Mr. Newsom has to go beyond establishing his credibility on domestic and foreign affairs. He must somehow gingerly skirt around the woman now second in line for the most powerful office on the planet, Vice President Kamala Harris.
In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in September, Mr. Newsom said Ms. Harris “is naturally the one lined up” if President Biden does not run.
The two go way back in California, and more specifically in San Francisco politics, having scored early wins in the same city that produced former House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Ms. Harris was San Francisco’s district attorney while Mr. Newsom served as that city’s mayor. In fact, according to local reporting from the time, Mr. Newsom was in the crowd during Ms. Harris’s swearing-in ceremony in 2004, the same day he was sworn in as mayor.
Ms. Romero suggested the Democrats may have to execute a delicate maneuver: “How do we replace her without being accused of being racist, sexist, blah blah blah?”
Mr. Gallagher agreed with Mr. Newsom that the “likely” replacement for President Biden, should he bow out, would be Ms. Harris, who is half Jamaican and half East Indian by origin.
While the daughter of two professors checks the right boxes for intersectional realpolitik, the vice president has been dogged by low likability and high unlikability ratings in many surveys. But slotting in Mr. Newsom could be tricky for multiple reasons.
“You would have to overstep her to get in that place. And if he does, then they’re going to have a problem with black voters, a core part of their voting constituency,” he said.
Indeed, black turnout fell in the 2016 election, when Hillary Clinton ran as the Democratic candidate after eight years of President Barack Obama, whose ancestry is half Kenyan and half white American.
But California’s white governor may have played his party’s intersectional (and coalitional) politics adeptly by appointing now-Sen. Laphonza Butler to take over for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
In addition to being an LGBT black woman, Ms. Butler was a leader in the Service Employers International Union (SEIU), a major force for Democrats during elections. She also led the pro-abortion access group EMILY’s List.
“She brought with her two vital constituencies for the modern Democratic Party,” Mr. DeVore said.
Ms. Butler has also announced she won’t seek reelection. That leaves a lane open for Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), beloved among many Democrats for his role in President Trump’s first impeachment.
Newsom Versus DeSantis (and Trump)
Like Ms. Romero and Mr. Gallagher, Mr. DeVore suggested Mr. Newsom would have a tough time bypassing Ms. Harris even with the presidency on the line.
“How do they finesse being able to minimize the time where Biden is a lame duck [and] somehow figure out how to muscle Kamala Harris aside and have a reset at getting a person in as a standard bearer who has a better shot at winning? This is not an easy thing to do,” he said.
Some of the credibility to pull it off may come from the California governor’s upcoming debate with Mr. DeSantis, another White House hopeful.
Mr. Newsom mocked Mr. DeSantis for accepting his invitation to debate. The two will go at it on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s program on Nov. 30.
“The fact that he took the bait in relation to this debate shows that he’s completely unqualified to be president of the United States,” Mr. Newsom said in a September interview coinciding with the second Republican debate in Simi Valley, California.
The governor dominated the Reagan Library’s spin room for portions of that event, helping to define the media’s interpretation of it.
Florida’s governor has seized on Mr. Newsom’s China visit to get in his own digs, comparing Mr. Newsom to Mr. Xi.
“These are two guys who locked down their people, violated their rights … imposed medical authoritarianism, and really hurt their societies—and they both had really the same playbook on COVID-19,” Mr. DeSantis said on Fox & Friends during Mr. Newsom’s trip.
Mr. Gallagher said, “I predict Gavin will get destroyed by DeSantis because Gavin has no record to stand by.”
For some Americans now wondering if Mr. Newsom has what it takes to be president, the matchup could prove educational. If not, it could at least be entertaining. It’s being billed a little like a pro-wrestling showdown.
Other Americans may reserve their judgement until the California governor faces off against the Republican frontrunner, President Trump.
Unlike Mr. Newsom, Mr. DeSantis, or Ms. Harris, President Trump has occupied both the White House and World Wrestling Entertainment’s WrestleMania ring.
Mr. Newsom has never duked it out with WWE promoter Vince McMahon, but he can talk the right kind of trash for modern American politics. In April, he predicted that Mr. DeSantis would “get rolled by Trump.”
Eva Fu contributed to this report.
]]>(Daily Caller)—After Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California passed away on Friday, the Daily Caller News Foundation compiled a list of politicians who may be appointed to her seat by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, in keeping with his pledge to name a black woman to the position.
Newsom pledged to nominate a black woman to temporarily fill a potential vacancy in Feinstein’s seat in March of 2021, when health complications had raised questions about whether she would complete her term. After Newsom updated his pledge on Sept. 10, saying that he would only appoint someone who isn’t currently a candidate for the seat, the DCNF compiled a list of Democratic black women politicians from California who may be appointed based on his requirements.
1. London Breed
Breed is currently the mayor of San Francisco, a position previously held by both Feinstein and Newsom. She is also running for re-election to a second full term in 2024 but is facing primary challenges from Daniel Lurie, a philanthropist and an heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. denim jeans manufacturing fortune, as well as Democratic San Francisco Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, who represents the 11th district.
Breed has been heavily criticized by Republicans and some Democrats for homelessness, sanitation drug use and crime in San Francisco. The number of encampments in the city recently reached its highest level since 2020, while the number of opioid deaths also exceeded a previous record on Sept. 19.
From the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein: pic.twitter.com/rvcAmVk8O0
— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) September 29, 2023
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson shared a statement from Breed where she said that “this decision is the Governor’s responsibility and that conversation can be saved for another day.”
2. Lori Wilson
Wilson is currently the majority whip in the California Assembly as well as the chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, two high-ranking positions in the state’s Democratic establishment. She represents areas around the state capital of Sacramento and previously served as the mayor of Suisun City.
Wilson has recently criticized Newsom for vetoing Assembly Bill 957, a bill she had sponsored that would have threatened the custodial rights of parents who do not agree with their child’s transgenderism. “The veto … is a profound disappointment. Across this nation, transgender children are being targeted and erased,” Wilson wrote in a joint statement with the California Legislature’s LGBTQ caucus, adding “[t]his veto is a missed opportunity to remind the nation that California is a safe haven for transgender and non-binary children.”
3. Karen Bass
Bass is currently the mayor of Los Angeles, having been elected to the role in 2022. She previously served for eleven years in Congress, which included two years as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, as well as the Speaker of the California General Assembly from 2008 to 2010 while in the state legislature.
It is unclear whether Bass, who has served less than a year as mayor, is willing to relinquish her office for a temporary appointment to Feinstein’s former seat. A spokesperson for Bass said that she is not interested in the seat, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.
“Senator Feinstein was a trailblazer on whose shoulders I, and women in elected office all across America, will always stand,” Bass wrote on Twitter regarding Feinstein’s death.
4. Pamela Price
Price is currently the district attorney of Alameda County, which is adjacent to San Francisco and includes the city of Oakland. Price is currently facing a recall effort from business groups who allege that she has failed to combat crime in the city.
“District Attorney Pamela Price has absolutely failed the people of Alameda County. Crime is spiraling out of control. It’s time to stand up for victims of crime and their families to bring justice back to Alameda County,” said Carl Chan, president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, who has endorsed the recall effort, to CBS News. Campaigners need to gather 73,195 signatures from Alameda County voters within 160 days to initiate a recall election, CBS reported.
Price’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Feinstein’s death or whether she was seeking Feinstein’s seat.
5. Kamala Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris, like Feinstein, is from San Francisco and served alongside her in the Senate from 2017 to 2021. She also served as the district attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011 and as the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017.
Harris, who is the ex-officio President of the Senate and is running for re-election with President Joe Biden in 2024, is highly unlikely to resign from the vice presidency to fill Feinstein’s vacancy. However, she meets Newsom’s criteria of being a black woman who is not running for the seat in 2024.
“Senator Dianne Feinstein was one of the greatest public servants that California and our nation has ever known,” Harris wrote in a statement published on Twitter. “I will never forget how I felt in November 1992 as a 28-year-old prosecutor, driving across the bridge from my home in Oakland into San Francisco to celebrate her election to the United States Senate.”
6. Mia Bonta
Bonta serves in the California Assembly as a representative for the 18th district, which covers Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is also the wife of Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta of California, who was previously appointed by Newsom to his role.
Bonta, a black woman and member of the state legislature’s Black Caucus, is not currently seeking election to the Senate. If appointed, she would also become California’s first Hispanic woman senator, having been born to Puerto Rican parents who are the descendants of Ghanaian slaves.
“[Feinstein was] a Bay Area native who paved the way for a new generation of women leaders in California and nationwide. Her presence will be deeply missed in #AD18 and throughout the country,” Bonta wrote on Twitter of Feinstein’s passing.
7. Barbara Lee
Lee, the Democratic congresswoman from California’s 12 district, which covers Alameda County, is currently running for Feinstein’s seat in 2024. Were Newsom to appoint her, he would break his vow of Sept. 18 to appoint someone other than a candidate for office to the role.
“I am troubled by the governor’s remarks,” Lee said following Newsom’s announcement that he would only appoint a caretaker to the role. “The idea that a Black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless Black women across this country who have carried the Democratic Party to victory election after election.”
It is not certain whether, if appointed, Lee would win the election to a full term. She currently ranks third in polls, behind Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter, respectively.
“This is a sad day for California and the nation,” Lee wrote on Twitter of Feinstein’s death. “Sen. Feinstein was a champion for our state and served as the voice of a political revolution for women.”
Newsom, Harris, Wilson, Lee, Bonta and Price did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
]]>The poll shows Donald Trump ahead by 10-points. A double-digit lead at this stage of election season before Trump is even officially the nominee is shocking… unless we take into account the likelihood that someone else is going to be the Democrat nominee.
For their part, the Washington Post attempted to downplay the results. According to Fox News:
The Washington Post and ABC released the poll Sunday, which found that if the 2024 presidential election were held today, Trump would win 52% to 42% over Biden. Respondents also held a poor view of Biden’s handling of the economy and the U.S.-Mexico border, in addition to his age.
The Post downplayed the results of its own poll after it showed Trump with such a commanding lead, however.
“The sizable margin of Trump’s lead in this survey is significantly at odds with other public polls that show the general election contest a virtual dead heat,” the Post wrote Sunday. “The difference between this poll and others, as well as the unusual makeup of Trump’s and Biden’s coalitions in this survey, suggest it is probably an outlier.”
It certainly sounds like WaPo is upset by all of this. But they’re not upset that Biden is losing. They’re upset that Trump is winning. There’s a difference.
All of this adds fuel to the rapidly growing fire among Democrats that someone else needs to replace him. They don’t want Kamala Harris, who most Democrats dislike even more than Biden. Some say it’ll be Michelle Obama. Others are pointing to Gavin Newsom. Whoever they insert, it’ll be the choice of the powers-that-be, not the voters or even the DNC.
Joe Biden will go down in history as one of the worst presidents we’ve ever had. But before Republicans cheer, let’s remember that a fresh face replacing an old and tired one can do wonders to rejuvenate the Democrat base. After spending the last three years attacking Biden, we’ll be facing someone who is entering the fray unscathed.