XPost: alt.california, alt.politics.democrats, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
XPost: talk.politics.guns

On 24 Aug 2023, Lou Bricano <lb@cap.con> posted some news:WVSFM.631834$mPI2.318330@fx15.iad:

Rudy helped ruin California. Nice work!

As Republican presidential candidates were slogging through Iowa and
talking to voters prior to caucuses, California-bashing was common.

Los Angeles Times reporter Seema Mehta picked up on the phenomenon,
writing that “the Golden State, its elected leaders and its policies were
a constant target.”

“Bashing California, one of the most liberal states in the nation, is a
grand tradition in the GOP,” Mehta observed. “But Republican presidential candidates may be targeting the state and its politicians more this cycle because they are a better target than President Biden.”

“Biden isn’t as motivating a villain as other Democrats might be. So the Republican candidates are essentially running a negative campaign against California,” California politics scholar Dan Schnur told Mehta. “The very
worst thing Ron DeSantis could think of to say about Nikki Haley during
the debate was that she might be more liberal than (Gov.) Gavin Newsom.
For an Iowa Republican – or any Republican for that matter – that’s an absolutely terrifying concept.”

California may be the state that many in the rest of the nation loves to
hate, but a new poll of Californians indicates that they aren’t very
sanguine about the state, either.

The UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that just 33% of California voters believe the state is headed in the right direction while
57% say it’s on a negative track.

“This is a somewhat more negative assessment than voters have given in
similar measures conducted over the past 11 years,” poll director Mark DiCamillo said.
Newsom's nanny state includes toy aisle: California forces retailers to
have 'gender-neutral' toy aisles. Why not let kids be kids?

The sour attitudes extend to Newsom, the poll found. Asked about his job performance, 47% of voters surveyed disapprove and 46% approve. That’s a
very slight improvement from the 49% to 46% ratio that pollsters found in October.

“However, similar to the October survey, twice as many voters say they
strongly disapprove of the governor’s performance (33%) as strongly
approve (17%),” DiCamillo noted.

Voters consider California's whopping budget deficit a 'serious issue'
The poll introduced a new topic – the whopping budget deficit that Newsom
and the Legislature must address this year – and discovered that nearly
90% of voters consider it a serious issue and there’s almost no support
(13%) for raising taxes to deal with it. Instead, voters prefer that
Newsom and legislators cut spending (51%) or tap into state reserves (35%)
to cover the deficit, which Newsom pegs at $38 billion but the
Legislature’s budget analyst estimates to be $68 billion.

Newsom also has shunned raising taxes, but progressive legislators, with support from groups dependent upon the state budget, such as public
employee unions, have continued to press for higher personal and corporate income taxes and/or a new tax on wealth.

$20 for flipping burgers? California minimum wage increase will cost
consumers – and workers.

It appears that by cutting or postponing some spending, using reserves, borrowing from special funds and implementing some accounting gimmicks,
the governor and the Legislature could fashion a 2024-25 budget without
new taxes.

However, Newsom’s budget advisors and those of the Legislature also agree
that California faces continued multibillion-dollar deficits for the next several years, at least, which means the debate over spending cuts and
taxes will continue for the remainder of Newsom’s governorship.

“The survey suggests little appetite for tax increases to address the
deficit, but a challenge for Governor Newsom and the Legislature is that
while spending cuts, in principle, are relatively popular, that support
would likely dissipate when it comes time to making cuts to specific
programs and services,” the co-director of the poll, Eric Schickler said.

Dan Walters is an opinion columnist for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's state Capitol
works and why it matters. This column first published in the Ventura
County Star.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Outsiders love
bashing California but residents are souring on the state, too

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/outsiders-love-bashing-california- but-residents-are-souring-on-the-state-too/ar-BB1hloGn

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