Democrats ruined California 

Many find it easy and satisfying to volunteer "others" to make a sacrifice, and Mr. Donegan nails it in his column "Harsh realities" (Nov. 21). Property rights (the foundation of capitalism) are under attack from the left. The mantra of the elite left is, "Do as I say not as I do." My profit, my salary, is my business, and the Grand View Apartments owners' rights are also my business. The socialists take for granted the benefits of capitalism as they tax and regulate the fruits of capitalism, all the while condemning it.

Make the rich pay, the corporation pay, and under that rhetoric, it is the middle class that ends up paying for their schemes. Regulations, taxes, and fees have led to the high cost and shortage of housing. See California and the promise of cheaper energy costs. Elected leaders say we should end the use of natural gas (a cheap clean energy) and nuclear power. Gov. Gavin Newsom's appointees manage PG&E, which ends up paying above rates for renewables. Nothing is left for maintenance, and consumers pay 50 percent more than the national average. In the meantime, capitalism pays for schools that preach socialism, denigrate capitalism, and graduate students believing they know things that they do not know.

See SLO City Council and its latest "rent control," which is another short-term fix with long-term implications for both higher costs and a greater shortage of housing. When searching for who to blame for the closing of the Grand View Apartments, housing shortages, high rents, crowded highways, power shutoffs, homelessness, infectious disease outbreaks, just look to the high-tax, extreme regulatory Democrat state of California!

Harry Fawcett

Avila Beach