Biden’s California Dream

John Stossel / April 07, 2021

I was surprised to read (in the Los Angeles Times) that the Biden administration’s “role model for America” is … California! He wants to “Make America California.”

That is a terrible idea.

Californians now rush to move out of California.

Some hopeful folks still move there, but so many more leave that California now loses more than 10,000 citizens every month. In fact, the state will soon lose a congressional seat.

Why do Californians leave? “Exorbitant tax rates, high crime rates, the failing public school systems, the exorbitant cost of living,” says reporter Kristen Tate in my new video.

So many Californians move away that there’s now even a shortage of U-Hauls. Renting one to go from Los Angeles to Houston costs four times as much as it does to go from Houston to Los Angeles.

“People are just emptying out!” says Tate.

But this seems crazy. California has great weather and all kinds of natural advantages.

The state’s politicians drive people away with bad policies.

Asked by Stossel TV whether it’s a bad idea for President Joe Biden to “make the U.S. more like California,” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office replied with a statement saying, “Before the COVID pandemic, California saw job growth and record low unemployment.”

Wow. Really?

Oh, it was a record for California. Before the pandemic, the state’s unemployment was 12th worst in America. Now, it’s third worst.

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The statement continues, “We remain the fifth largest economy in the world … home to 20 of Fortune’s fastest growing companies.”

But that only means California was hospitable to business years ago. Now Oracle, Tesla, and many other companies are moving operations to other states.

A big reason is California’s onerous regulations. They make it hard to create anything new. It’s also a reason housing costs so much.

California passed a law raising its minimum wage from $13 an hour to $15 an hour. That’s one reason many Californians can’t find any legal work.

A good thing about America having 50 states is that when states fail, we can learn from their mistakes. People defeated by California’s rules move to Nevada or Texas. But if the federal government adopts California’s rules, where can we move?

The Congressional Budget Office says a national $15 minimum wage will help some people, but it will cost 1.4 million jobs.

Yet, Biden wants the higher minimum.

Biden’s plan for America also includes a new version of Cash for Clunkers, the absurd program that once paid people to junk old cars. California has its own version, which the state claims helps reduce emissions.

“But most of the cars that were turned in were not even actively registered,” says Tate. “It means they probably were just going to be scrapped anyway! These programs are failures … but they make environmentalists feel good.”

Like California’s “clean energy” rules. How long until all American motorists pay the $4 a gallon Californians pay? Or the $7 people pay in Norway and Denmark?

Biden also picked lots of Californians for his administration.

When Vice President Kamala Harris was San Francisco’s district attorney, she oversaw 1,900 convictions for pot offenses. Yet, she’s since joked about her own marijuana use. When the Biden administration fired staffers for using marijuana in the past, Harris was spared.

“Unfortunately, there’s been a trend in the Biden administration of giving jobs to people who might check [race and gender] boxes,” says Tate. “But they have horrendous track records.”

Biden made Alejandro Mayorkas America’s new secretary of homeland security even though he was cited by the inspector general for pressuring his staff to approve visas for politically powerful Democrats.

“In government, you always fail up,” complains Tate.

The LA Times wrote that Biden wouldn’t nominate California Labor Secretary Julie Su because “rampant levels of fraud scuttled [her] prospects.” Biden then made her deputy secretary of labor.

“If we make America California,” concludes Tate, “we are all going to be paying for it.”

At least Californians can move to other states.

But I don’t want to leave America.

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