It would be no exaggeration to say that when voters in last month’s presidential election gave Republicans control of all three branches of the federal government, they tacitly rejected the left-leaning cultural values that California politicians have always espoused. Probably not.
Republican Donald Trump’s campaign effectively weaponized Vice President Kamala Harris’ California roots to sweep the battleground state. The most notable was an ad featuring a video clip of him supporting sex reassignment surgery for transsexual prison inmates.
“Kamala is for them. Trump is for you,” the spot concludes. Post-election analysts, including The New York Times, cited the ad as the most effective ad of the campaign.
Additionally, the results also showed that the Harris campaign’s focus on abortion rights, another favorite theme of Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California politicians, did not help her. Suggests.
Voters in states that chose President Trump, including neighboring Nevada and Arizona, were driven primarily by economic issues, particularly cost-of-living inflation during the Harris administration and President Joe Biden.
It’s debatable whether the regime was actually responsible for inflation, but it’s also beside the point. When voters are dissatisfied with the current situation, for some reason they often take that dissatisfaction out on the political party currently in power.
As expected, Ms. Harris easily defeated Mr. Trump in California, winning 54 electoral votes, but the state was not immune to the problems that led to her downfall elsewhere, particularly on cost of living issues.
Families in California have to deal with perhaps the highest prices of basic goods of any state, including housing, gas, and electricity. Even products that are supposed to be cheap in California, such as food, are expensive because suppliers’ high costs are reflected in their production, packaging, and distribution.
The cost of living is a major factor in California’s functional poverty rate of 15.4%, the highest in the nation, according to Census Bureau calculations. Using a similar methodology, the Public Policy Institute of California calculates that 31.1% of Californians will live in poverty or near poverty in 2023.
In the aftermath of the election, Democrats, who control all branches of state government, suddenly realized that the cost of living was a pressing issue that needed to be addressed. As Congress reconvenes for its biennial session this week, legislative leaders said doing something about the cost of living will be a top priority.
“Our voters don’t feel like California is working for them,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas told his colleagues during the session. “That is their lived experience in this moment. Our mission in this session is urgent and clear. We need to chart a new path forward, and that is with a focus on affordability.” It starts from.
“California will always be a destination of dreams and opportunity for America,” he added. “But we need to look at every bill from the perspective of Californians who are concerned about affordability. Specifically, we need to focus on building more housing and lowering energy costs. You must.”
But there’s not much Newsom and lawmakers can do to have a real impact on the cost of living. Instead, the price of gasoline, a critical commodity, is likely to rise significantly because Newsom’s Air Resources Board just ordered fuel changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Republicans have asked Newsom to put the decision on hold, but Newsom has defended it as a necessary element of California’s campaign to reduce hydrocarbon use.
Additionally, power costs are rising rapidly as utility companies bury power lines to reduce their contribution to wildfires.
California politicians talk well about inflation, but whether or not it will happen remains highly uncertain.
