‘The California Way’ Isn’t as Rosy as Gov. Newsom Touted in State of the State

California Gov. Gavin Newsom told a few whoppers during his 18-minute State of the State Tuesday evening. Listening to him, someone from another state might mistake California for a state with low unemployment, affordable housing, cheap gas and affordable energy, superior public schools and universities, treatment and services for homeless living on the streets, and a state fully re-opened from COVID lockdowns and mask mandates.

Au contraire mon frere. Newsom’s speech was mostly a rehash of the last few years. And he seemed in a hurry to get it over.

Gov. Newsom glaringly said nothing at all about the drought and need for more water and reservoirs, which voters already approved and paid for through water bonds.

The Globe and the California Policy Center live tweeted under #GovGavGab thoughts and fact checks during Newsom’s blessedly short speech.

About 17 minutes too long? #GovGavGab

— Lance Christensen (@lancelands) March 9, 2022

Newsom took an early jab at Donald Trump without even saying Trump’s name:

“California does democracy like nowhere else in the world. No other place offers opportunity to so many from so many different backgrounds. But we can’t take our democracy for granted.

Authoritarian and illiberal impulses aren’t just rising overseas. They’ve been echoing here at home for some time. We might not have strongmen quite literally waging war in our country, we are plagued by agents of a national anger machine, fueling division, weaponizing grievance.”

“The California Way means rejecting old binaries and finding new solutions to big problems.”

As for “authoritarian and illiberal impulses,” Newsom is the archetype as he clings to his 2-years of emergency powers, ruling by executive orders, dissing the State Legislature, and extension of the State of Emergency even as COVID dwindles.

“The California Way” for @GavinNewsom is to cling to his emergency powers over two years later, refusing to lift the State of Emergency. What emergency is it now? #GovGavGab

— Katy Grimes (@KATYSaccitizen) March 9, 2022

One of the biggest whoppers: Newsom praised job creation in California. Yet California has one of the worst unemployment rates of any state in the entire country.

Gov. Newsom said “California experienced far lower COVID death rates than any other large state.”

“No state, no state took bolder steps to protect public health and human life over the last two years,” Newsom said.

Our lockdowns, distressing as they were, saved lives. Our mask mandates, our mask mandates saved lives. Your choices saved lives. California experienced far lower COVID death rates than any other large state. Fewer than Texas, Ohio. Fewer than Florida — 35 percent fewer, to be exact.”

Yet, as the California Policy Center pointed out, “California and Florida had similar COVID case trends during the Omicron wave, even though California had significantly more restrictions, including the statewide mask mandate. LA, which had the most restrictions, had the highest case rate of any county in CA.”

CA raised cost of housing, taxes, gas, etc.

Encouraged cancelling elective surgeries during the pandemic.

Destroyed jobs and forced companies out of CA.

Indoctrinated kids and funded teachers unions.

Never even voted on universal healthcare. #CAway #govgavgab #kingnewsom https://t.co/vDAVws5YKF

— Jackson Reese (@JacksonReeseCA) March 9, 2022

Gov. Newsom spent time on one of his favorite illusory topics: Climate change.

“Take for example, the speaker was talking about, climate policy. California has no peers.”

Newsom blamed high gas prices on “geopolitical” uncertainty, yet gas prices were escalating long before the Russia/Ukraine war.

“Look, no one’s naive about the moment we’re living in with high gas prices. And the geopolitical uncertainty that’s fueling them.”

As a matter of fact, gas prices started climbing on President Joe Biden’s first day in office when he cancelled the Keystone Pipeline.

“In January, we proposed a pause to the gas tax increase,” the Gov. said.

The “pause” was not imposing a scheduled 3 cent gas tax increase.

The state gas tax has been climbing since the Legislature passed a $5 billion per year gas-tax transportation funding bill in 2017. The Legislative Analyst’s Office confirmed this: “This tax is set in state law at 18 cents per gallon. Starting November 1, 2017, the transportation funding package adds a 12 cent per gallon base excise tax—bringing total base excise taxes to 30 cents per gallon. It also adjusts the rates for inflation starting in 2020. These changes are expected to raise $2.2 billion annually.”

California's highest-in-the-nation gas taxes are rising. But fear not… rather than eliminate the gas tax the Governor has declared that the solution is to simply hand out more taxpayer dollars. #GovGavGab

— theCLproject (@theCLproject) March 9, 2022

Gov. Newsom said  he will be “working with legislative leadership — I’ll be submitting a proposal to put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas prices.” But it was unclear exactly what this proposal entails. Be very wary.

"What more evidence do you need that we need to fight polluters, and not bolster them," says @GavinNewsom. Calls oil and gas industry Petrodictators. #GovGavGab

— Katy Grimes (@KATYSaccitizen) March 9, 2022

Newsom attacked the oil and gas industry again, calling oil and gas producers “Petrodictators,” to prop up Democrats’ plan to eradicate gas-powered cars and trucks in California:

“At a time when we’ve been heating and burning up, one thing we cannot do is repeat the mistakes of the past. By embracing polluters. Drilling even more oil, which only leads to even more extreme weather, more extreme drought, and more wildfire.”

Oil and gas, and internal combustion engine vehicles are “polluters.” Yet the state does not have the capacity to power an all-electric grid and vehicles.

The fantasy of converting all passenger cars and trucks in California to run on electricity would raise energy demand by as much as 25%. #GovGavGab #CASOTShttps://t.co/Wukx4sE5gr

— Mallory Staley (@MalloryHStaley) March 9, 2022

Gov. Newsom touted his Lithium Valley proposal, which the Globe addressed and explained, that it’s not green energy.

“Now, we have the opportunity to extend this leadership, to secure a critical component of the supply chain for batteries, by tapping one of the world’s largest lithium reserves – right here in California. In Imperial Valley. And you consider this, our nation-leading climate investments  — some $38 billion — will ensure that other innovations will surely follow not by re-creating the 20th century, by extracting more oil, but by extracting new ideas, drilling for new talent by running our economy on a carbon-free engine.”

And as Ann Bridges explained at the Globe, “without copper, no electrical grid can be built out, no battery charging stations will exist, and we’ll have another taxpayer-funded boondoggle project.”

"Our nation-leading climate investments" according to @GavinNewsom is "the California way."
Hate to break it to you governor, but the rest of the country is not impressed with "the California way."#GovGavGab

— Katy Grimes (@KATYSaccitizen) March 9, 2022

You can read the governor’s entire speech here.