Hot Takes In California Politics

Occasionally we run these grab-bag columns that hit on a bunch of different topics. It's hard to narrow these columns down - since there is literally so much stupid stuff happening all of the time...

Occasionally, I write up a “Hot Takes” column on things that catch my eye. Since this one is on an afternoon, I will put three of my takes above the paywall. But most of them are below, reserved for our paid subscribers. We have picked up 7 new ones so far just this week, and I am so appreciative. With that upgrade, you get the 35% of our content that is otherwise blocked, but more importantly, it helps me to do this project!

Don’t forget you can listen to what we write - on So, Does It Matter? SPOKEN. Search for it on your favorite podcasting app. Or go here. As an incentive to try it out, all of today’s hot takes are there, even the ones under the paywall!

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Hot Takes!

ENERGY POLICY THAT MAKES CALIFORNIA POORER

California Democrats claim to be obsessed with “affordability.” Yet their energy policies practically guarantee the opposite. In a California Globe article titled “Chevron Warns of Irreversible Harm to California’s Economy and Energy Security in Letter to Gov. Newsom,” reporter Katy Grimes details a stark warning from one of the state’s largest energy producers. Chevron cautioned that new regulations being pushed by California’s Air Resources Board could cripple the state’s already shrinking refinery sector and push gasoline prices even higher.

This is the inevitable result of Sacramento’s war on energy production. Democrats pile on regulations, taxes, and mandates — then act shocked when companies warn they can’t survive under the rules. Energy isn’t some isolated industry. It underpins transportation, food distribution, manufacturing, and nearly everything else that determines the cost of living. Drive energy out of California, and you don’t save the planet. You just make life unaffordable.

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CALIFORNIA’S SINGLE-PAYER FANTASY

California progressives are once again pushing their favorite ideological fantasy: a government-run, single-payer health-care system for the entire state. In a California Post column titled “Single-payer health care would bankrupt California,” Sally Pipes, president of the Pacific Research Institute, explains just how massive the price tag would be. The cost of such a system could run into the hundreds of billions of dollars each year, a staggering burden for a state that is already struggling with persistent budget deficits and volatile tax revenues.

The deeper problem is the mindset behind the proposal. Sacramento politicians continue to act as though government spending has no real limits and that new programs can always be funded with higher taxes. But California’s taxpayers are already among the most heavily taxed in the nation. A single-payer scheme on this scale wouldn’t solve the state’s problems. It would make them dramatically worse.

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SUPREME COURT TAKES A HARD LOOK AT FEDERAL GUN BAN

For years, Washington politicians have treated the Second Amendment like a privilege they can hand out or take away depending on the latest political fashion. One of the clearest examples is the federal law that automatically bans anyone labeled an “unlawful user” of drugs from possessing a firearm. As Amy Howe reports in a SCOTUSblog article, several justices sounded deeply skeptical that the government can constitutionally strip Americans of a fundamental right using such a vague and sweeping category.

And they should be skeptical. Constitutional rights are not supposed to disappear because Congress writes a sloppy statute. If the government can disarm someone based on a loosely defined status rather than a clear criminal conviction, then the Second Amendment becomes whatever bureaucrats say it is. Hopefully, the Court uses this case to remind Washington that constitutional rights still mean something.

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There are a bunch more, tantalizingly close for those of you who have a free subscription. Jump in — the water’s warm. Check it out and bust paywalls almost every day!