WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.720 Yesterday on the show, I felt a little ambivalent to 2 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:06.400 flip floppy. I was reading through a piece about what 3 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:13.919 a Trump administration could do to impact California and specifically 4 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:19.199 California housing, and I sort of came to the conclusion 5 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:24.760 that there's not necessarily a ton that Trump could do. 6 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:30.640 There's certain things, maybe, but there's just not a lot 7 00:00:30.679 --> 00:00:32.920 through executive action that Trump could do that's going to 8 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:37.840 counteract the layers and layers of state law and state 9 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:41.280 regulation that make it difficult for builders to build. Clearly, 10 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:46.560 housing affordability as a priority for the administration, but what 11 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:51.479 the federal government can do to pierce all these layers 12 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:59.280 of California law, I'm not exactly sure. However, another area 13 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:03.759 of California life, very important for us in the San 14 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:08.359 Joaquin Valley is agriculture, and there is more that Trump 15 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:13.879 could potentially do to benefit California farmers. All of you 16 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:20.879 listening to this from Vicelia up through Modesto. There's a 17 00:01:20.920 --> 00:01:25.840 lot of important stuff that a Trump administration could do 18 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:35.079 with agriculture and specifically with water. So this actually relates 19 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:38.560 to so I think it's always good to do this 20 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:41.959 on a semi regular basis, just to give a summary 21 00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:48.200 of California water and kind of how it works. So 22 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:56.159 water in California, the reason why we are able to 23 00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:01.959 have water is because of rivers and then pumping the 24 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:06.480 water from the rivers down south from the Bay area 25 00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:15.199 south through a series of man constructed waterway systems that 26 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:18.800 help bring agricultural water for our fields in the San 27 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:21.599 Joaquin Valley and which helped transform the San Laquin Valley 28 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:26.639 fortify the San Joaquin Valley into the greatest food production 29 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:33.840 engine the world has ever known, as well as pumping 30 00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:36.360 water down so that people who live in Los Angeles 31 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:40.560 can shower and get water from their sink and water 32 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:43.960 to drink at the tap, and all of that even 33 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:46.759 if they live somewhere like Palm Springs or Palm Desert 34 00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:56.120 or something. So water flows out of the mountains into 35 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:59.599 the San Joaquin River for most of us here in 36 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:03.039 San Quae Valley, and the Sacramento River for folks up 37 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:08.479 north in the Sacramento Valley. Water from the Sacramento and 38 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:13.840 San Joaquin Rivers comes to meet and then it branches 39 00:03:13.879 --> 00:03:16.439 off into a bunch of gazillion little tributaries that flow 40 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:20.879 out into the San Francisco Bay. The series of little 41 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:23.199 tributaries that flow out into the San Francisco Bay are 42 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:27.120 called the delta. It's called a delta from the Greek 43 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:29.520 letter delta, which is shaped kind of like a triangle. 44 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:32.919 So a river delta is where the river sort of 45 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:37.800 splits into a bunch of little branching off tributaries as 46 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:41.520 it flows into the ocean. The Nile River has a delta, 47 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:44.000 for example, so it kind of looks it looks kind 48 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:45.800 of like a triangle from one way of looking at it. 49 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:52.039 So at the delta. Instead of the water all just 50 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:58.919 flowing off into the ocean, we take that water and 51 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:06.280 we pump it south. We pump it south into two 52 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:09.919 one of two different Now, now much of it does, yes, 53 00:04:10.120 --> 00:04:14.319 just flow out into the ocean, but much of it 54 00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:17.399 we take and we pump south into one of two 55 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:26.000 different man made water transport canal systems. The one is 56 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:30.759 the California Water System. The California Water System, as you 57 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:35.079 can tell by its name, is managed by state agencies 58 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:39.279 of the state of California. It takes this water and 59 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:43.759 largely what this water is used for is for southern 60 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:48.160 California residential use. And there are kind of three uses 61 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:51.000 that you can have for water. There's normal like residential use, 62 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:53.439 so water that is in the tap and in your 63 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:59.759 toilet and in your shower and et cetera. There's agricultural use. 64 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:08.079 And then lastly there is quote environmental use i e. 65 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:11.560 Non use, letting the water just flow into the ocean. 66 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:16.360 Letting the water flow into the ocean. Because the idea 67 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:21.040 is the more water that exists in our waterways in 68 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:24.199 the Sacramento River, in the San Juaquin River, in the Delta, 69 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:30.240 the more this benefits the fishies. Okay, and the fish 70 00:05:30.279 --> 00:05:34.759 populations in the Sacramento San Juaquin rivers and the Delta, 71 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:38.519 many of them are protected by layers of either the 72 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:41.639 Federal or the California and Endangered Species Act, and this 73 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:45.560 has been the source spot for water anyway. So the 74 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:47.399 water from the Delta gets pumped south either in the 75 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:52.279 California Water System, which is usually for resident which is 76 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:55.959 much of which is used for residential water in southern California. 77 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:01.800 And then there's another waterway system that starts at the 78 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:07.600 Delta and water gets pumped south, which is the Central 79 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:11.720 Valley Water System. This water system was built during World 80 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:15.199 War Two by the federal government and is to this 81 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:23.720 day controlled operated by the federal government by various federal agencies. 82 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:32.079 This water system, its chief use is water for agriculture 83 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:40.920 in San Jaquin Valley. Now that's sort of the basics 84 00:06:40.920 --> 00:06:47.800 of water in California, and the big difficulty there's been 85 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:53.040 difficulties with water in a number of respects. One is 86 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:58.160 how much water are we diverting for environmental purposes i e. 87 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:03.240 Helping keep salmon and delta smelt and other fishy species 88 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:11.439 alive versus residential and agriculture use. So the idea being, well, 89 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:14.480 there's a more or less finite supply of water in 90 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:16.639 any given year, and the amount of water you have 91 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:19.000 is determined by how much rain you had, how much 92 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:24.319 snowmelt you have, et cetera. You have this finite amount 93 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:27.120 of water, how much is going towards environmental use i eat. 94 00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:29.800 Not going to be used by humans for anything, either 95 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:38.800 residential use or agricultural use. Secondly, we've had in California 96 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:43.319 the problems of water storage. Yes, there are some years 97 00:07:43.959 --> 00:07:46.319 that are more dry where we don't have as much 98 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:48.279 snow melt, we don't have as much rain, we don't 99 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:52.800 have as much water. If we were able to store 100 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:59.800 our water for a non rainy day, then maybe we 101 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:02.360 and be so much at the mercy of year to 102 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:10.199 year this season fluctuations in precipitation levels. California hasn't wanted 103 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:14.120 to build any more water storage in decades because again, 104 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:18.160 California environmental law makes it so difficult to do. Any 105 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:21.199 attempt to build some kind of water storage system or 106 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:26.800 damming is met with furious environmental objections because dams usually 107 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:34.360 hurt the fishies. And this is also the problem, is 108 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:36.879 that when we do have a really good year, we're 109 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:42.080 not able to capture all the water from the good year. 110 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:45.120 A lot of it is just beyond our capacity to 111 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:49.440 capture and save. So we are wasting this opportunity to 112 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:52.840 capture water that we could use again for a non 113 00:08:52.919 --> 00:09:03.279 rainy day. Now, in the first Trump administration, there were 114 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:06.720 it was it was I heard it characterized this way 115 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:09.320 by sort of Devin Nunez, who was a congressman at 116 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:13.360 the time. And now Nunez has been a close Trump 117 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:17.759 confidante in the year since Trump left office. Trump made 118 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:23.080 Devin Nunez the CEO of Truth Social and I guess 119 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:26.240 I would not be shocked if Nunez winds up getting 120 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:29.200 some kind of prominent role in the Trump forty seven 121 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:32.679 administration as a result. I mean, he's managed to stay 122 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:41.799 very tight with Donald Trump. Nunez characterized it. I remember 123 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:44.480 I went to some kind of water related event in 124 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:48.039 I think it was down into Larry sometime in like 125 00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:52.879 twenty eighteen twenty nineteen that Trump had introduced the first 126 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.799 set of either federal or state regulations that had actually 127 00:09:56.840 --> 00:09:59.879 resulted in more water delivery to farmers rather than le 128 00:10:00.120 --> 00:10:07.000 us in forty years. So basically what Trump had done 129 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:13.000 is the Obama era rules for water allocation, what is 130 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:16.279 going to ag versus what is going towards environmental purposes 131 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:22.639 were very inflexible and draconian towards farmers. Environmental was getting 132 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:25.440 a lot, farmers were not, and it was just under 133 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:30.000 you know, it was based on federal regulatory agencies and 134 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:36.399 environmental agencies looking at the state of different species that 135 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:43.240 lived within the Central Valley System's waterways and in the delta, 136 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:50.960 and then assessing for a whole year basically that only 137 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:53.679 this much water will be pumped through the Central Valley 138 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:58.440 System for farmers. And it's based on this one assessment, 139 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.039 and then you're locked into that assents basically for a 140 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:05.000 full year, and farmers were getting short shrift. They just 141 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:10.840 were not getting much allocated to them. When Trump came 142 00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:15.159 into office, he put in place regulations that actually, at 143 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:18.879 least it was characterized to me, now, I'm not sure 144 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:23.080 if maybe this is just Republicans trying to put a 145 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:25.320 nice spin on it, and actually it wasn't more politicized 146 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:31.639 than this. But the messaging from Nunez et al. Was 147 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:36.240 that agencies within the federal government were coming up with 148 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:41.440 better and more scientifically grounded guidelines for water pumping, and 149 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:45.200 the idea being well instead of just having one set 150 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:49.559 amount that was going to be allocated for the full year, 151 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:55.639 for the full time frame, instead, federal agencies would engage 152 00:11:55.679 --> 00:12:01.840 in continual, regular assessments of the health of different species 153 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:06.080 within California waterways and would have the flexibility to pump 154 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:11.480 more or less depending on how things were going, which 155 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:15.200 was going to result in more water going down for farmers. 156 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:19.159 So instead of an inflexible, draconian standard that the Obama 157 00:12:19.159 --> 00:12:28.120 administration had, the Trump administration was basically giving more flexibility. Now, 158 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:41.240 this was met with furious objection by the incoming Gavin 159 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:46.080 Newsom administration. Who proceeded to sue the federal government over this. 160 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:54.440 Gavin Newsom taking the posture that he represents the fishies 161 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:59.240 of California, not the farmers of California, or allegedly the 162 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:05.879 fishies of Calumlifornia, and basically Newsome was sort of implacably opposed. 163 00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:11.919 He was just totally opposed to these Trump regulations. Now, 164 00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:15.720 when we return, we're going to talk through Dan Walter's 165 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:18.240 piece in cal Matters and we're going to talk about 166 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:21.240 what kinds of things Trump could do this second time around, 167 00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:25.320 how that relates to state government, etc. That is next 168 00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:31.159 on the John Girardi Show. Dan Walter's the longtime columnist 169 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:35.559 for the Sacramento b He runs Calmatters dot org. That's 170 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:39.440 his outlet now and he's still, I think the most interesting, 171 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:45.000 incisive commentator on California politics that we have. And he's 172 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:47.960 got a great piece you can find out my Twitter page, 173 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:54.639 Twitter dot com, slash Fresnojohnny at Fresnojohnny basically talking about 174 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:59.799 California water, California agriculture and what a Trump administration could 175 00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:02.840 do for it. He writes there are three policy issues 176 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:07.039 particularly important to California's farmers that Trump wants to change. 177 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:10.159 If he does what he has promised one one might 178 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:14.080 benefit the industry and two might damage it. The beneficial 179 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:17.240 change is what the California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglas, 180 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:21.159 in a post election statement, calls securing a sustainable water supply. 181 00:14:21.799 --> 00:14:25.120 For years, state officials have been trying, either through regulatory 182 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:28.600 decrees or negotiations, to reduce the amount of water san 183 00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:31.440 Juquin Valley farmers take from the San Juquin River and 184 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:36.320 its tributaries to enhance flows through the Sacramento San Juan Delta, 185 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:39.559 thus improving its water quality to support fish and other wildlife. 186 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:44.799 So they're mad. The state officials are mad that farmers 187 00:14:44.919 --> 00:14:47.919 want water from the San Juquin River because they think 188 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:52.360 that hurts the fishies downstream in the Delta. That's the rub. 189 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:57.799 Farmers are miffed that, after two wet winters filled the 190 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:04.360 state's reservoirs, state Federal Water Manager still limited agricultural deliveries 191 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:08.080 a few days because the state views farming as a 192 00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:11.120 blight upon the face of California. Maybe I might rant 193 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:13.519 about this later. A few days before the election, the 194 00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:17.360 State Water Resources Control Board issued the latest version of 195 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:21.159 its water quality plan, but The supposed compromise is being 196 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:24.320 critiqued by both farmers who want to minimize restrictions and 197 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:29.120 environmentalists who demand a crackdown on water diversions. Trump stepped 198 00:15:29.159 --> 00:15:32.320 into the issue during his first presidency, directing federal water 199 00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:35.799 regulators to increase agricultural supplies, and is likely to do 200 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:41.759 so again. Just before the election, Trump described California water 201 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:45.279 policy in all caps in all capital letters on his 202 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:51.639 Truth social website as quote insane insane policy decisions, which 203 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:56.159 he defined as the ridiculously re routing of millions of 204 00:15:56.360 --> 00:15:58.919 gallons of water a day from the North out of 205 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:02.320 the Pacific Ocean rather than using it free of charge 206 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:06.480 for the towns, cities, and farms dot it all throughout California. 207 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:09.919 I can't really do a very good Trump, I'll just 208 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:13.440 keep it going. The two pending issues that could so Basically, 209 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:18.200 Trump said, California has insane policy decisions that ridiculously re 210 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:20.200 route millions of gallons of water a day from the 211 00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:22.240 north out of the Pacific Ocean rather than using it 212 00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:24.240 free of charge for the town, cities, and farms dotted 213 00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:27.799 all throughout California. The two pending issues that could backfire 214 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:30.840 on farmers who voted for Trump. So okay, So that's 215 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.879 the positive. Is that Trump put in place these beneficial 216 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:39.440 regulations for more water allocation for farmers the first time. 217 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:44.519 He'll likely do it again. Trump clearly gets this issue. 218 00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:48.360 He clearly gets how ridiculous it is that we're just 219 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:51.399 letting tons and tons of water dump out into the 220 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:54.679 Pacific Ocean completely uselessly, while we have farms that are 221 00:16:54.759 --> 00:17:03.279 dying on the vine out Walters is China both sides 222 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:05.920 of it, he says. The two penning issues that could 223 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.920 backfire on farmers who voted for Trump are imposing tariffs 224 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:13.319 on imports from China, which could invite retaliatory tariffs on 225 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:18.200 agricultural exports, and deporting undocumented immigrants, who comprise at least 226 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:23.400 half of the state's agricultural workers. Despite objections from California's 227 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:26.720 Republican congressional delegation, Trump hit China with tariffs during his 228 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:29.559 first term, and China retaliated with import tariffs that target 229 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:32.559 US agriculture. According to a report from the University of 230 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:38.319 California's Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, for almans and pistachios, 231 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:41.759 the tariffs did not reduce the volume of uxx US 232 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:45.200 exports to China, the report continued. However, the trade war 233 00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:48.839 diminished california exports of walnuts, wine, oranges, and table grapes. 234 00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:53.519 Cracking down on undocumented immigrants has been a bedrock issue 235 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:55.839 for Trump throughout his political career, and he's promised to 236 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:59.480 make good on his deportation pledge immediately after taking office. 237 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:03.240 For a variet reasons, the state's farmers have had difficulty 238 00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:06.240 finding enough workers to till and harvest their crops in 239 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:10.400 recent years. Immigration restrictions, California's high living costs in the 240 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:13.680 creation of new factory jobs in Mexico are among the reasons. 241 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:19.680 California has as many as two million undocumented residents. Gosh, 242 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:21.640 I'd have to think it's more than that, many of 243 00:18:21.640 --> 00:18:24.680 whom work in industries ranging from construction to agriculture. The 244 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:28.559 full blown roundup Trump promises would have an immense economic 245 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:31.720 effect on the state, with agriculture arguably the most vulnerable. 246 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:35.559 When Central Valley farmers were enthusiastically backing a second term 247 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:38.640 for Trump, they undoubtedly were hoping for relief from water restrictions, 248 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:40.799 Yet that could be the smallest impact Trump two point 249 00:18:40.839 --> 00:18:46.720 zero may have on their industry. So this is Walter's 250 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:49.200 kind of given both sides of it, which I think 251 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:59.119 is fair. Personally, on the labor shortage front, I sort 252 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:02.920 of hate. I sort of think I'm going through puberty 253 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:08.640 on the radio. I sort of think that all of 254 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:14.440 the arguments that we need to keep illegal immigrants here 255 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:19.960 because otherwise who will pick our grapes? Honestly, it kind 256 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:25.440 of reminds me of Sparta in sort of the four 257 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:33.440 hundred 's BC. Sparta was a horrifically unjust society that 258 00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:36.920 was built on the backs of slavery of the Helots. 259 00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:42.680 So basically, this city nearby Sparta that Sparta conquered, they 260 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:47.519 made all of its residents and into slaves. Slaves, so 261 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:51.680 it was like this whole slave society whose only role 262 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:57.359 was to exist as a prop for Sparta. The Helots 263 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:02.279 were beyond second class citizens. They were a slave population 264 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:09.799 who were sort of the bedrock of this two stratosphered society. 265 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:14.440 Now it's not that bad, but the idea that we say, 266 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:16.880 the idea that we're just comfortable saying, oh, we need 267 00:20:16.920 --> 00:20:19.279 to keep a legal immigration because otherwise who will do 268 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:24.400 all these crappy jobs. Well, boy, that's pretty classist, and 269 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:28.799 that's pretty an egalitarian that we just leave all of 270 00:20:28.839 --> 00:20:37.920 our most difficult or dangerous or laborious jobs for people 271 00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:44.720 who are here in a perilous legal state, whom we 272 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:47.880 can get away with paying dirt cheap wages and you 273 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:51.680 know whatever, because they're not even really supposed to be here. 274 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:55.599 I don't like that. I don't like this attitude that, 275 00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:57.839 you know, these are the only kinds of people who 276 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:01.480 can do this, and that this is somehow adjust set up. Secondly, 277 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:06.720 I also just think realistically, there's gonna be enough people 278 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:12.200 to pick. Okay, economic incentives are there. Farming is still 279 00:21:12.200 --> 00:21:14.200 a big business. They're going to find the people they 280 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:16.920 need to pick stuff. Trump is not going to be 281 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:20.720 able to deport all, you know, twenty million whatever it 282 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:24.640 is illegal aliens who are here. Clearly there's going to 283 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:30.920 be some prioritization that has to happen, and it's probably 284 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:35.119 not going to start with guys who are busy productively working. 285 00:21:35.160 --> 00:21:38.359 It's probably gonna start with people who've committed crimes here, 286 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:41.839 people who recently came here illegally, et cetera. I just 287 00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:48.400 don't think that the impact on the labor market for 288 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:54.359 agriculture is going to be so profound, so immediately, I 289 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:56.799 think water is the lifeblood of all of this. And 290 00:21:56.839 --> 00:21:59.960 if Trump can actually and the problem is, can Trump 291 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:07.000 pierced through the fact that California could no could veto 292 00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:12.640 his efforts effectively through litigation. California just seems Newsome has signaled, Yep, 293 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:16.319 we are going to be back in full on resistance mode. 294 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:19.880 We don't want to comply or go along with absolutely 295 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:22.880 one single dogone thing that the Trump administration wants to do. 296 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:27.440 If he and Rob Bonta continue to take that posture, 297 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:30.640 I don't know that. I don't know that Trump's Even 298 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:36.480 if Trump does put into place positive regulations to deliver 299 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:40.119 more water, will it help you know? Will will it 300 00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:43.519 actually be effective at delivering more water? I guess we'll 301 00:22:43.559 --> 00:22:49.279 wait and see when we return. When the executive can't 302 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:53.400 really be the executive an extensive thought on the Governor 303 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:55.759 of California and the Office of the Presidency of the 304 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:59.839 United States next on John Girardi Show. This is going 305 00:22:59.880 --> 00:23:02.480 to be a bit of an extended ramble, and it's 306 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:07.799 about the executive branch, the executive branch of the federal 307 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:11.400 government and the executive branch of the State of California. 308 00:23:14.839 --> 00:23:22.319 Over time, the executive spreads and spreads and spreads its power, 309 00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:24.519 and I think over the course of history, some of 310 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:30.680 that is sort of a natural progression. Over time, the 311 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:33.079 government starts regulating more and more things, and it has 312 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:36.200 to task the actual act of regulating or enforcing the 313 00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:42.920 regulations to somebody, and they give that task to the executive. 314 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:45.039 And the executive can't do it all by himself. He's 315 00:23:45.079 --> 00:23:47.559 just one man who lives at sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue 316 00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:53.319 or at the governor's residence in Sacramento or wherever. And 317 00:23:53.400 --> 00:23:58.720 so executive agencies get formed more and more and more 318 00:23:58.759 --> 00:24:04.119 and more executive officials who exist to enact the will 319 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:16.839 of the president. And there's always been this sense of, well, okay, 320 00:24:16.839 --> 00:24:26.319 we're creating these bureaucratic agencies, and they begin to take 321 00:24:26.359 --> 00:24:29.039 on a kind of life and a characteristic of their own. 322 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:34.559 Because not everyone leaves the minute a new executive comes in. 323 00:24:36.119 --> 00:24:39.240 People tend to have skills that are useful for that 324 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:43.920 agency as it continues onward, and you know, Donald Trump 325 00:24:44.119 --> 00:24:46.759 leaves and Joe Biden comes in, and some people still 326 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:53.599 stay arnold. You know, Gray Davis gets recalled and Arnold 327 00:24:53.640 --> 00:24:57.559 Schwarzenegger comes in, and it's seemed that there's some kind 328 00:24:57.559 --> 00:25:00.680 of benefit to some kind of ongoing continuity, that not 329 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:05.480 everything every single executive agency does is totally a reflection 330 00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:12.240 of the changing political sentiment of the population, and that 331 00:25:12.279 --> 00:25:15.519 people can still be in that executive agency, still doing 332 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:23.480 work without it violating the will of the people. Now, 333 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:26.400 the problem is when that doesn't happen all the time. 334 00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:30.880 We've sort of accepted this, not this fiction, but we've 335 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:36.319 accepted this concept largely throughout the federal government. Okay, An, 336 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:40.079 your rank and file FBI agent working at the FBI 337 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:46.000 field office in I don't know, Pierre, South Dakota. He 338 00:25:46.039 --> 00:25:51.279 doesn't lose his job now because Donald Trump was elected 339 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:56.880 and Joe Biden is going out of office. Yes, he 340 00:25:57.160 --> 00:26:04.839 is a federal executive brand NCH official. Yes, his authority 341 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:07.680 is only an extension of the President's authority. But we 342 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:09.880 don't fire him. We keep him in office, and we 343 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:12.839 think that's pretty reasonable. Your rank and file FBI officer 344 00:26:12.920 --> 00:26:17.920 is not setting policy for the FBI. He's not deciding 345 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:23.000 who or how to enforce the law. He's just he's 346 00:26:23.079 --> 00:26:25.000 at the end of the line, taking orders in a 347 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:30.200 fairly a political fashion, dealing with fairly a political nuts 348 00:26:30.200 --> 00:26:33.440 in Bolt's federal criminal law enforcement. And we think that's okay. 349 00:26:35.799 --> 00:26:39.400 But as we get higher and higher up, the divide 350 00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:41.759 starts to happen at the level of director of the FBI, 351 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:47.039 where we start to realize, hey, the FBI has been 352 00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:53.079 pretty darn politicized, and FBI directors, by the way, that 353 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:56.039 the idea that James Comy when he was director of 354 00:26:56.079 --> 00:26:59.960 the FBI, that he was overly politicized not the first 355 00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:02.839 time that of the FBI has been wildly over politicized 356 00:27:03.880 --> 00:27:06.519 and viewed his role as a little fief dum unto himself. 357 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:12.480 J Edgar who I mean, that's why j Edgar Hoover 358 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:18.559 was famous, notorious, infamous because of his meddling and all 359 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:23.640 kinds of political things. And now there is a sense 360 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:28.000 in which, however, federal executive agencies, Yes, they are supposed 361 00:27:28.039 --> 00:27:30.200 to be responsive to the president. They're supposed to do 362 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:33.599 what the president wants. But there's a limit, right, the 363 00:27:33.640 --> 00:27:40.039 limit being the parameters of the law. And the parameters 364 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:44.039 and that parameter is simply the law the FBI is 365 00:27:44.039 --> 00:27:47.519 supposed to enforce. The law on behalf of the president. 366 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:52.720 They can't do stuff that's just purely self serving to 367 00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:57.680 the president, and you get problems when that line gets blurred. 368 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:02.079 Lyndon Johnson using the FBI to spy on his political 369 00:28:02.200 --> 00:28:07.559 foes or you know what have you? I think Johnson 370 00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:09.920 used the FBI to do that. I have to go back. 371 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:12.559 There are all kinds of presidents who did wildly abusive 372 00:28:12.599 --> 00:28:22.559 things with the FBI. Now, so we've sort of accepted 373 00:28:22.599 --> 00:28:25.160 that some people should sort of stay on in their 374 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:29.440 executive branch roles even when an executive leaves. But the 375 00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:33.319 problems we saw in the Trump administration was that a 376 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:39.079 huge percentage of the federal workforce, a huge percentage of 377 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:44.000 the federal bureaucracy apparatus, was staffed by people who hated 378 00:28:44.039 --> 00:28:50.759 Donald Trump and who subverted the policy things he wanted 379 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:59.200 to get done, slow rolled, it didn't work, put poison 380 00:28:59.240 --> 00:29:11.000 pill regulation into otherwise good regulations, actively undermined him. So 381 00:29:13.160 --> 00:29:16.759 that's a problem. The bureaucracy should not be fighting against 382 00:29:16.759 --> 00:29:23.119 the president. The UH. There's a great tweet on this 383 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:28.759 from Michael Brennan Doherty. He's criticizing these liberal commentators who 384 00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:31.599 are so upset that Trump wants to put quote loyalists 385 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:36.160 in his various executive branch positions, when it's like, yeah, 386 00:29:36.200 --> 00:29:39.279 of course he should put loyalists in executive branch positions. 387 00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:45.000 He's the executive. All executive branch officials are his. Are 388 00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:49.720 there to put in place his policies. He can't have 389 00:29:49.799 --> 00:29:54.160 executive branch officials who disagree with his policies. It's undemocratic 390 00:29:54.200 --> 00:29:58.279 to do so. So there's this guy Tom Nichols, used 391 00:29:58.319 --> 00:30:01.720 to be a conservative commentator and beca this heavily anti 392 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:05.599 Trump guy who writes, if you want to subvert a democracy, 393 00:30:05.799 --> 00:30:08.640 the first three institutions you try to capture with loyalists 394 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:12.440 are the military, the justice system, and the intelligence community. 395 00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:17.519 Trump is on the offensive against all three, to which 396 00:30:17.559 --> 00:30:20.319 Michael Brendan Doherty writes for National Review wrote, if there 397 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:23.279 is anything our founders wanted for us, it was a 398 00:30:23.319 --> 00:30:27.000 military and an intelligence community that would resist the elected executive. 399 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:30.440 And he's right Doherty's pointing out how absurd this is. 400 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:34.039 Of course, the founding fathers did not want the military 401 00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:37.640