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Republicans Unveil ‘The California Promise’ – Does it Matter?
‘They vote Democrat because the Democrats haven’t hurt them, and Republicans are scary’
By Edward Ring, October 13, 2022 2:45 am
No state in America is more thoroughly dominated by one party than California. The State Senate has been controlled by Democrats for over 30 years, with Republicans currently holding only 9 of the 40 seats. Since 1992 the State Assembly was in Republican hands only once, in 1996, and today GOP politicians occupy only 19 of the 80 seats. Starting with Governor Newsom, every higher office is held by a Democrat.
One might think the state of the state would give voters pause. But rumors of realignment are greatly exaggerated. So far, the voting blocs that constitute a reliable supermajority for Democrats are durable and overwhelming. And voter motivation, notwithstanding the Democrat’s bloviating saturation campaign to vilify Republicans as racists and sexists, is economic.
The least heralded but biggest example of this are white liberal boomers and their descendants, living in the inherited homes they grew up in, protected by their lineage and by Prop. 13 from the prohibitive cost of housing for everyone else. By the millions, they vote Democrat because the Democrats haven’t hurt them, and Republicans are scary.
The next sizable bloc of Democrat voters in California are employees of state and local governments and public utilities. Taking into account retirees, active employees, their spouses and their adult children, they represent several million voters. All of these households collect pay, benefits, and pensions that are lucrative enough to shield them from the worst impacts of California’s cost-of-living. And while some of them are dimly aware that California is unaffordable because of Democratic polices, they’re acutely aware that Democrats do whatever public employee unions tell them to do. They’re not about to disrupt that arrangement.
Also voting Democratic by the millions are those Californians who have given up any hope of succeeding in life without government assistance. By and large, these voters are the least aware that in a deregulated economy with adequate enabling public infrastructure, they would be able to afford a life of comfort and dignity without government assistance. On the other hand, this is the bloc most susceptible to Democratic demonization of Republicans as heartless ogres who will strip away the safety net.
And then there are the elites. Entertainment moguls. Tech billionaires. Those workers in the digital economy who collect high salaries and vest stock options. These workers include the in-house activists who write the algorithms that regulate search results and online content. With money and influence far out of proportion to their numbers, California’s elites are reliable Democrat voters.
This is California’s electorate. They are either minimally affected by the crime, homelessness, poor schools, and high costs for everything, or they are devastated by it but convinced the only answer is more taxes, more government, more spending, more subsidies, more services. And if that’s your mentality, Republicans truly are the ogres that want to steal your lunch.
How Republicans Are Responding
This is a near hopeless situation. It’s the reason Republican donors have abandoned California. But one encouraging fact emerges. Ethnic demographics has very little to do with Democratic domination in California, despite the “anti-racist,” racist drivel that emanates from hard-left activists and the workshops of pragmatic political consultants. As described, for the most part, California’s voters choose Democrats for economic reasons.
Recognizing this underscores the futility of merely pointing out how Democrats are killing California’s economy, because they’re not. So far, Democrat policies are only killing certain sectors of California’s economy – agribusiness, energy, and small businesses. These sectors are powerful, but they nonetheless represent a small fraction of California’s overall economy and a small fraction of California’s electorate. Most of them are already Republicans. But again, there are encouraging elements to this story, because eventually, once the Democrats have thoroughly throttled California’s ability to deliver energy, water and food to everyone, the electorate will finally turn on them.
When that happens, the Republican litany of Democrat failures will find more receptive ears. Even the media will perk up, and begin to hold Democrat politicians accountable for the policies that led to the catastrophe. But to avoid a “solution” that is even worse than the status-quo, i.e., to avoid a descent into Democrat driven desperate rationing and even more taxes and regulations, the Republicans will need to offer a coherent alternative. And they need to start doing that now.
To that end, the California Republican Party has launched “The California Promise.” While the online presence of this campaign is minimal, and the online home of the campaign is little more than a splash page, it’s a start. For each of the bullet points listed on the California Promise website, here are some suggestions:
An Affordable California: Repeal the Global Warming Solutions Act and all subsequent legislation. Develop California’s oil and gas reserves and expand refinery capacity. Keep Diablo Canyon open till at least 2060 and sue the federal government to deregulate nuclear power. Eliminate laws that restrict construction of single family homes on open land. Put mass transit and HSR funds into upgrading and widening freeways across the state. Repeal mandate to ban sales on non EVs.
A Safe California: Put initiatives on the ballot to repeal Prop. 47 that downgraded drug and property crimes. Construct minimum security prisons to incarcerate inmates convicted of minor crimes and put them to work on forest thinning and conservation projects.
A Quality Education: Implement school vouchers so parents have the option to choose private, charter, or parochial schools.
A Solution for Homelessness: Direct the California Attorney General to challenge Jones vs City of LA and other 9th circuit rulings that deny the ability of police to get vagrants off the streets. Build inexpensive shelters and expose the corruption of the Homeless Industrial Complex which has solved nothing and wasted tens of billions of dollars.
A Reliable Water Supply: Put the Water Infrastructure Funding Act of 2022 on the state ballot so voters can have a chance to decisively solve water scarcity in California.
A Fire Safe California: Bring logging and milling back to California. Guarantee equipment loans so private companies can quickly reestablish operations in California’s forests. Radically streamline the regulations that prevent property owners from thinning, logging or grazing livestock on their properties.
That barely scratches the surface, of course. What CAGOP has put up there is a good start, but it isn’t enough. Not only will more specific detail be helpful, at some point CAGOP will have to make truly bold assertions.
For example:
“There is no climate crisis, renewables are not any more sustainable than so-called non renewables, and special interests have hijacked the environmental movement. While we care about the environment, we intend to revisit every single environmentalist inspired law and agency and we intend to scrap anything that we find excessive, redundant, corrupt, or based on false premises.”
That mouthful, as well, barely scratches the surface. And millions of people agree but are afraid to say so.
Maybe it’s going to take an entirely new generation of politicians to stand behind assertions this radical. It’s sad that we live in a state where fearmongering over an alleged imminent climate catastrophe is considered normal and is encouraged, while suggesting – with ample evidence if you know where to look – that the planet is not gravely imperiled, is considered radical and is condemned. But these are the times we live in.
When the lights go out, and they will, California’s voters are going to be looking for decisive answers. The issues CAGOP has highlighted in their California Promise provide a sufficiently comprehensive taxonomy. But within each category, they must offer not only specifics, but radical change. The ship needs to turn away from the iceberg, not merely slow down.
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Another great article by Edward Ring. He would make an excellent Governor. As Captain Picard would say, “make it so”.
Wow, I knew it was bad, but this article describes just HOW bad AND WHY it is so….
PLEASE run for Governor Mr. Ring, your state needs you!!!
Ed writes intelligently, while Jessica Millan Patterson has her subordinates write 1990’s style emails bleating for contributions….
The CA Rep Party has nothing to lose by being bold.
The CA GOP just screams weakness. Look at their website. No messaging, no calls to action above the fold. It is so cowardly it does need even have the same red color to distinguish it as Republican. Rather, it uses green like some kind “climate change” website. In fact, it feels like I just stumbled across a green energy non profit that wants a donation. Many of the county websites are better….Alameda County has far more useful information being conveyed. The CA GOP does not even respond to any feedback. At the end of the day it seems like the CA GOP is simply trembling before the market cap based between SF and San Jose and unless they find their sacks nobody will respond. Who wants to put up with the heat coming from family, friends, media, employers, etc..only to find out you just went to bat for some grifting RINO. If you don’t believe me go look at the CA GOP website right now, the husk of the CA GOP has been terribly compromised.
Part of the problem is that so many people who would vote against the Dems have just given up and left the state (how can we blame them?). We are quickly heading towards the neo-feudal state that the Democrat leadership so desperately wants where an extremely rich and powerful elite class rules over a mass of disenfranchised underlings begging for whatever scraps their “benevolent” betters will throw them. Of course the joke is on them because such a society will be so dysfunctional that even the elites who benefit from it will quickly abandon it. And then, maybe then if there is anything left to save, perhaps the state might be able to be salvaged.
@Okakuon, I could not agree more!
If it were not for my home, which I love, I would have left years ago. With that said after reading this excellent writing from Ed Ring, I need to reevaluate that decision to stay. I am not sure what will be left to save. The Republican candidate for Governor, Brian Dahle has given a couple of radio interviews., other than that, he is AWOL. I went ahead bought a campaign sign on Amazon, his website does not offer them. Still I put the sign up. I worried my sign might be taken, my husband said not to worry, no one knows who he is! When I tell people I am voting for Brian Dahle, they ask, WHO??
I hear and read more policy talk from Michael Shellenberger, an independent primary candidate.
As you stated, the people who have everything they wanted in a utopian failed government will run from it as well. Not sure who will be left to pick up the pieces.
Hello Brian Dahle are you out there? Maybe we should put his picture on the back of a milk carton., if located please call (555)-555-HELP
Republican donors abandoned the Republican party because the Rino party abandoned the electorate decades ago. The R. elites have hated their voters since Reagan.
I have every faith God will move his hand over California… Newsom and his ilk (Weiner, Pan and the rest) will not survive politically. Newsom knows the CA election system is rigged, that he was ‘installed’ in 2018, and he’s hellbent on making it even more corrupt (mail-in ballots, ballot boxes, sharpiegate, voter rolls, etc). Who in their right mind would glorify abortion, promote mutilating children (transgender), deprive them of honest learning (CRT), and cause physical damage with vaccines… and expect there to be no consequences? Watch how quickly they fall.
‘New California Movement Founder Paul Preston Joins Mike Adams to Discuss the Golden Future…’
natural news (on bitchute.com)
I hate to say this, but I think CA is a lost cause. Planning to leave ASAP.
If only …
An excellent piece highlighting the cabal of entitled boomers, elite lefties, and those who feed at the public sector job trough.
It doesn’t matter. Newsom didn’t even have the courtesy to even fake his sincerity by posting something in the voter pamphlet. Blank page. Thanks Gav. We know you are up nights giving away tax money to your buddies.
This is why I am running for the State Assembly in Novemeber. We need a new leadership which is going to get at the causality of the problems and break from the globalist green agenda which dominates everything in California. This includes not only building numerous nuclear plants for energy and 30 desalination plants which would create a productive workforce and water we need, but also getting us out of the globalist monetary control of the Federal Reserve. If we do not abolish the Federal Reserve and go back to National Constitutional Credit into what will be our future, we will not solve anything. I believe we must bring Republicans, Democrats, Independents together around the mission that is needed.Let us defeat Democrats and RINO’s –the UNI PARTY. We can make California Great Again and we are not alone in the country. There is a movement out there. Remember we are doing this for the future generations. The most important wealth (not money) lies in the minds and souls of our children. If we break from the Federal Reserve Control, if we deafeat Newsom and the Bontas of this state we can create a real education for our children and a mission for the future. Mindy Pechenuk, Republican Candidate for Assembly 18. I am running against Mia “Missing In Action” Bonta.