Ignoring goofy radio ads, the most obvious way to look at the California governor recall is that recalling Newsome would be “blaming him for everything”.  While that is a legitimate view, here is another equally legitimate view.

California has been a one-party state for at least a decade.  During the time that Democrats have been in continuous control of the government, the state has lost ground (compared to other states) in a number of important areas that are affected by public policy: (a) Unaffordable Housing; (b) High Taxes & Cost of living; (c) Poor Public Schools; (d) Water Shortage; (e) Wildfire Control; (f) Homeless People. 

Looked at from the political center (imagine Bill Clinton or Harry Truman), California policies have moved to the extreme left which has captured the Democrat party.  Such policies contribute to California’s decline as follows.

Affordable Housing

Environmental extremists and zoning bureaucrats drastically limited housing units built in the state, while other states (with less demand) built many more housing units.  Any centrist would allow more housing starts.

High Taxes/High Cost of Living

Obviously, the extreme left favors high taxes and high regulation, both of which are major contributors to the high cost of living.  A centrist would consider deregulation and lower taxes.

Poor Public Schools

Anyone looking from the center can see the resistance of teachers’ unions to all reasonable education reforms is a main cause of poor public schools, particularly the unions’ fanatical resistance to charter schools and school choice which promote competition in schooling.  Competition made California’s private economy the envy of the world, while Democrats support the union bureaucracy’s fights against competition that centrists know would fix schools.

Water Shortage

California is a desert state always in a state of drought.  Because of snow in the Sierras and the Sacramento River, California had plenty of water until environmental extremists began to insist that more and more water be diverted directly to the Pacific Ocean to protect the survival of various “endangered species”.  Biodiversity is valuable, but centrists believe that if extreme environmentalists are in charge, people will be an endangered species.

Wildfire Control

Center, right, or left, wildfires are worse lately as evidenced by increased fire damage costs and three months of smoke each summer.  Extreme leftists talk about global warming but refuse to return to traditional forestry practices including logging and controlled burns, or to stop issuing building permits in fire-prone areas.  Democrats have no plans to do anything other than talk about climate change.  Centrists would take preventative actions.

Homeless People

There may be many causes of homelessness, but the high cost of housing must be near the top.  Democrats have no plan to allow more housing units, but prefer to subsidize homelessness by providing greater welfare benefits to homeless people which has created a homeless migration from other states.  A centrist would allow more housing starts, and install incentives into homeless welfare benefits.

Bottom Line Summary

Gavin Newsome may not be worse than any other Democrat California Governor, and it may not be “fair”, but the recall provides an opportunity for any centrist to take a big whack at 10 years of unproductive, far-left policies put in place by one-party Democrat rule.

Categories: Commentary, Politics