Recall Benefits GOP

By Richard Eber

For California politics, the vote recalling Gavin Newsom this fall is an important date in the state’s history. This election will be a referendum on the socialistic policies that have evolved during the last two decades pushed by Democratic leadership.

In my mind it is not important who the winners and losers might be in the recall effort.  If Newsom triumphs, he will need to run again to hold into his office in 2022.  Should the incumbent lose, it will mean the individual who succeeds him will need to run for re-election the following year as well.

Even if Newsom is removed from office, he will likely be replaced with a candidate with similar ultra liberal views.

With this being the case why should conservatives and middle of the roaders in both parties be concerned with this election?  The reason is simple. The campaign will expose the entire electorate to the conservative side of how the Golden State should be governed.  Leftist media coverage will not be able to suppress the mismanagement of the state under Progressive leadership.

Important issues must be addressed during the recall campaign.  No more hiding behind the perceived hatred of Donald Trump.

For the GOP this means taking off the gloves and speaking about things that matter to the middle class who still control who wins and losses when all the votes are counted.

This list includes:

• High taxes, government regulation, astronomical energy prices leading to job losses resulting in the exodus of high paying jobs to other regions. Hewlett Packard, Space-Ex, Oracle, Tesla, to name a few. are fleeing California in droves.

• A pathetic public education 1-12 system which is in the bottom 10% of student proficiency in the United States.  Because of the influence of the California Teachers Union (CTA) most in school learning has been halted for the last year.  Meanwhile Governor Newsom, who has depended on the unions support for his past success, has refused to intercede with the CTA to bring kids back to the classroom where they belong

• Even though the Governor was able to narrowly get a gas tax increase passed in 2020, frustration grows with a large portion of the proceeds being allocated to little used urban public transportation systems and the notorious Bullet Train to nowhere.  Meanwhile, pot holes remain unfixed and needed widening of freeways led by I-5 and US 99 have not been dealt with. California’s high gas prices continue to rise with no end in sight.

• The power of public employee unions (SIEU) continues to grow along with the pension deficits that need to be dealt with on a city, county, and State levels.  Because of these increased pension costs local governments have been forced to raise sales taxes to make up for the commitments made that supersede paying for ongoing every day expenses.

• California’s commitment to the New Green Deal which has rejected nuclear power, construction of needed carbon based energy, and  decommissioning  damns in favor of expanding in efficient solar power sources. As a result the State’s power grid has been imperiled.  During times of peak used, power has needed to be imported from nearby States.

• Housing policies in California are a complete mess.  The legislature led by progressive politicians from big cities insists that stack and pack developments that utilize mass transit systems for residents, should be the wave of the future.  They think that construction of single family homes should be banned.  What these socialist office holders forget is that with the Covid-19 epidemic and what is expected to follow, more people are expected to work from home.  With this being the case, there is no reason to limit the growth of single family homes in the suburbs in the name of removing traffic congestion.

The list grows.  Corruption with inefficient State agencies from the Department of Employment, Caltrans, to the DMV continues unabated under the leadership of Governor Newsom.  On a personal level he has continued to send his children to private school while harboring a ”Let them eat cake” attitude dining with lobbyists at the French Laundry.

Crime continues to rise with the defunding the police movement. Dangerous felons have been released from prison under  the lenient administration of Progressive district attorney’s.  In addition, most felonies committed in Sanctuary Cities go uncharged because guilty verdicts will result in deportation.  At the same time billions of dollars of taxpayer money is spent each year for medical and welfare expenses of undocumented residents.

Despite such “point of information” realities, the Republican Party in California has been unable to communicate with voters their frustrations of how bad a job Democrats are doing.  To their credit Gavin Newsom and his allies have conducted a brilliant public relations campaign to deflect attention away from their misdeeds.

Blaming President Trump for all that ails them has been a successful tactic in the past.  Instead of talking about real issues, media attention has focused upon the effort of former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s numerous lawsuits filed against the Republican administration in Washington D.C. At the same time little mention has been made of well paying jobs leaving the state or California, whose tax rates which are among the highest in the nation.

When things get tight, politicians in Sacramento continue to come up with new punish the wealthy  schemes which don’t take into account what happens to revenues when these people move to greener pastures.

These truths make me excited about the recall of Gavin Newsom; regardless of the outcome.  I don’t expect a knight in shining armor such as Arnold Schwarzenegger to step forward.  If a successful recall takes place we will probably see the current Lt. Governor (whose name I can’t remember) or someone like defeated Senatorial candidate Kevin De Leon to fill the void.

None of this is terribly important to me.  I want to see the voters of California to be exposed to conservative values that have been buried for a generation.  Should this take place a foundation will be built to battle the Progressive juggernaut in the future.

Republished with Author’s Permission

Richard Eber studied journalism at the University of Oregon. He writes about politics, culture, education restaurants, and was former city and sports editor of UCSB Daily. Richard is president of Amerasa Rapid Transit, a specialized freight forwarder.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal.

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