For decades California has had a single political party running the show in Sacramento; this had led to a steady decay in education, infrastructure, and public safety; a massive growth in the homeless population; outrageous cost for housing; and ineffective use of taxpayer dollars.
Two recent actions by our elected officials point out how bit by bit Democrats have been destroying our once “golden state.” Democrats pay taxes too; they should be embarrassed about how their money has been wasted by the people they elected.
There are several examples. The first, Senate Bill 54, repeals an existing state law that “provides that when there is reason to believe that a person arrested for a violation of specified controlled substance provisions may not be a citizen of the United States, the arresting agency shall notify the appropriate agency of the United States having charge of deportation matters.”
In other words, your elected representatives think that illegal aliens should be given a free pass to commit crimes and still be allowed to remain in the state. Thus, the state of California has determined that it will no longer comply with or assist with the enforcement of federal law. The result, based on many reports, is that once released for the initial crime they frequently commit other crimes including assault, robbery, theft, and even murder.
This is a direct and calculated threat to public safety and should not be tolerated by the electorate.
Next is Proposition 50, the Use of Legislative Congressional Redistricting Map Amendment. Contrary to the California Constitution, the king of our state, Gavin Newsom, contrived a plan to place this measure on the ballot to further strengthen the power of those politicians who have a strong commitment to the destruction of our inner cities and the state in general.
What King Newsom has done violates Section 8 of the California Constitution, which states “(b) An initiative measure may be proposed by presenting to the secretary of state a petition that sets forth the text of the proposed statute or amendment to the Constitution and is certified to have been signed by electors equal in number to 5 percent in the case of a statute, and 8 percent in the case of an amendment to the Constitution, of the votes for all candidates for governor at the last gubernatorial election.”
For all of you who may disagree that Democrats are destroying our state, look around or take note of how they spend your money. Billions spent to “solve the homeless problem” resulted in more homeless on the streets and no accountability to determine where all the money went.
Other issues include soaring housing costs due to new state regulations, which increased the cost of construction, and a deterioration of neighborhoods by changing zoning standards to allow houses to be placed within 5 feet of the property line and eliminating on-site parking requirements.
Media reports say that a couple looking for a home to buy would have to save for 10 years just to make a down payment, then earn a substantial income for 15 to 30 years to make monthly payments.
Concerning all the “problems” politicians identify during political campaigns, you must wonder why once elected they have no solutions for those problems. Their solution seems to be to either make the problem worse or just wait until the next election when they say they need more time (“elect me again”) to solve the same problems.
If we ever want to regain the title “the Golden State,” something needs to change, and it starts with new political leadership. ∆
Ron Fink writes to New Times from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Sept 18-28, 2025.
Ron, couldn’t agree with you more. I was born and raised in California, California has the fourth-largest economy in the world, having surpassed Japan in April 2025 with a nominal GDP of $4.1 trillion. All that comes out of Sacramento is posturing and grift.
Our farmers need to be prosecuted too for hiring all the illegals running around. They like to portray themselves as the salt of the earth, but they aren’t. They dodge their taxes by hiring illegals. If they need labor so bad, they can raise their wages to the point where they attract actual law abiding Americans. Trump needs to get the IRS involved and examine all the books they’ve cooked. Every farmer that hires an illegal is a complete FRAUD.
Well put, and I agree. The prospects for California sink as we increase dependency on government, and at the same time chase away the business and taxpayers necessary to sustain this spending.
I question Elliot Ness’ assertion that we can readily replace the agricultural labor of illegals by just raising compensation. It is awfully hard work under grueling conditions, and with our generous social safety net providing an alternative livelihood, most Americans will still refuse. The ancestors of many of our residents here in SLO fled the Dust Bowl and worked the California fields, because they had to in order to survive. Today’s people don’t face such a threat to their survival. Plus, how productive and reliable would Americans be with our load of employment laws limiting the ability of employers to fire the unreliable and lazy? The next time you drive by the fields on a 105° day, ask yourself how much it would take to get YOU out there?
John:
“…with our generous social safety net providing an alternative livelihood, most Americans will still refuse.” Let’s see, food stamps are being slashed, Medicare/Medicaid being destroyed, unemployment limited, and so forth. Where is this “generous social safety net” you speak of? I’ve lived in the Central Valley, it is a blazing hot hell hole. Under the right conditions and with a slow pace, I’d pick tomatoes for $38.00 an hour. A lot of agriculture is mechanized anyway.
Maybe not for you, a retired, well-to-do Boomer, but for the rest of us, the economy has collapsed. Mortgages are twice what they were a mere 4 years ago and you get half the house. The dollar is collapsing and gold is skyrocketing. What planet are you living on?
If you are a farmer and you are hiring illegal aliens, you’re un-American and a crook.
Well, let’s see, I’m not going to claim that California is not without its problems. It’s a big state with many moving parts. But, in the last 15 years that Democrats have controlled the state government, the state’s GDP has more than doubled, from $1.9 trillion to $4.1 trillion. Today, it is home to the broad majority of companies currently developing AI technology (which appears to be how Trump thinks he will improve an economy that he has crippled with his tariffs).
In addition, the number of residents with health insurance has grown from 75% of the population to over 95%. It has raised its minimum wage from $10 an hour to $20 an hour. In comparison, bright red Texas, which seems to be the envy of the Republicans, still has a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and has the largest number of citizens in the nation without health insurance.
But, I am certainly glad that New Times continues to allow free speech on these pages and reactionaries such as Ron Fink, John Donegan and Shanti/Fly/TP/Muncie/Elliot Ness can express their opinions. Other outlets seem to be limiting expression.
Michael: I am pleased to see that a geezer like yourself has mastered the new format, and has rejoined me, Shanti in all of his online incarnations, and the others, in keeping SLO arguing.
Thanks, Mr. Donegan, the body is failing but the mind stays sharp, for now, and I can still find the computer room in my spacious mansion I bought with the ill gotten gains I stole from future generations. LOL
Michael Smith, nestled in material comfort and security, bathed in moral superiority, wonders why former Democrats like myself and countless others, have left his party in droves and joined what to him, seems like nothing more than a coven of witches. I’ve got news for him, some of us found ourselves unable to vote for a party (his) who last Fall and through his party’s Commander-in-Chief, Joe Biden, was providing the MLRS and targeting data to the corrupt country of Ukraine to bomb deep into the interior of Russia, thereby putting us on the precipice of a nuclear exchange. So despite Michael’s description of the utopia California is to people in his financial position, it means nothing in nuclear war. Why would anyone vote for a party threatening nuclear to the point it made the Cuban missile crisis look like child’s play? My family and I were looking at a local drainage pipe as our nearest fallout shelter. If Michael or anyone else WASN’T, they are clueless. I would rather live and breath under abject fascism than be dead from nuclear annihilation caused by the Democratic party. Sorry, Michael, we haven’t forgot what your party almost did to humanity.
Screw the defense department, screw war, and return our tax dollars.
Americans need to ask themselves what will happen when Ukraine builds a long range missile that can land in Moscow. Start saying your goodbyes to your loved ones.
It turns out, that is exactly what Ukraine is doing, building long range missiles and will surely strike moscow. I would have liked to have seen Montana.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/ukraine-aims-to-build-thousands-of-flamingo-long-range-cruise-missiles-a-year
Thomas Frank, author of “Listen Liberal,” perfectly explains how libs sold all of us out:
https://youtu.be/4xPCMhwyHy0?si=9s9QVm5UqNgA_9nJ
Michael S:
“… spacious mansion I bought with the ill gotten gains I stole from future generations.”
I can only guess by the dialogue between you and attorney Donegan, that you own your own home (or three). Even owning one of the million dollar, dilapidated, Depression era, shacks in SLO does seem like a “mansion” to the rest of us in the working class and yes, you as well as every other member of your Boomer cohort, who squandered the Post War boom and through your insane voting patterns, have effectively pulled up the bridge on the rest of us through tax breaks, exporting our industrial capacity for short term gains, and removing the Depression era regulatory restraints on the banks, have indeed “stole from future generations,” mine and everyone younger than me. So take your smug perspective and disappear into the hallways of the assisted living facility that awaits you shortly.
We aren’t stupid and your entire generation just plays dumb. History text books are going to look at the damage your generation had done and will forever hold you as the worst generation of Americans to ever exist. You basically spit in the face of every WWII veteran that got blown out the sky, dying for something the rest of us will never know. The “mansion” you live in belongs to us and you better not forget it. When some CNA feeds you your jello only to return to the car she lives in, you better thank your lucky stars for what your parent’s generation did for you after surviving the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, and the Battle of the Bulge.
Our government and media will never declare it, but America needs to prepare for Depression level unemployment and Depression level economic conditions. China is no longer buying our agricultural products, we export nothing, DOGE fired a bunch of people, our current administration, like Republicans fixated on never providing direct governmental intervention in the market by enacting wage and price controls or a public works program, and AI is eliminating millions of jobs. And China just banned US AI computer chips.
Me, I’m starting to catch rock fish for protein for my family, I have a bread machine, and we never eat out. I would recommend all Californians to take their own survival in their own hands. Your government is lying to you. We’re doomed.