WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.200 Every time I think things can't get worse for Gavin Newsom, 2 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:10.240 they just get worse. And it's not just the transgender 3 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:16.199 controversy with the CIF track meet and transgender athletes and 4 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:18.839 all that, and then the clash with the Trump administration 5 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:26.359 that's looming. There was an oversight hearing yesterday in Sacramento 6 00:00:26.519 --> 00:00:29.519 about the oil and gas industry. And this comes off 7 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:34.640 the news that two major oil refineries in the state 8 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:45.000 are closing down, meaning, with lessened supply and demand not 9 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:50.479 really changing very significantly, prices for gas are going to 10 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:58.039 skyrocket by twenty twenty six. So the state legislatures gathering 11 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:02.000 together to askool what what happened and how is this happening? 12 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:11.079 And everyone's all in a tizzy over it, And what 13 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:15.200 no one wants to acknowledge is that the state legislature 14 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:19.680 did this. This is all the state legislature's fault and 15 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:26.680 Gavin Newsom's fault. Chiefly Gavin Newsom's fault. They took actions 16 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:32.280 in twenty twenty four in which they were warned if 17 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:37.680 you do this, bad things will happen, refineries will close, 18 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:43.519 prices will go up, and they did it anyway. It's 19 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:47.439 all one hundred percent their fault. All right, what am 20 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:50.640 I talking about? Well, it all has to do with 21 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.840 the extraordinary session of the legislature. Gavin Newsom called last 22 00:01:55.040 --> 00:02:06.599 year he was upset at price spikes for gasoline. Basically, 23 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:11.039 he's he gets upset that in the summertime, when demand 24 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:17.240 goes up, the cost of gasoline throughout California goes up. 25 00:02:18.439 --> 00:02:27.159 And Newsome kept insisting basically ascribing these price spikes not 26 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:31.039 to the normal fluctuations of supply and demand in the market, 27 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:34.960 but ascribing it all to greed on the part of 28 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:40.719 oil companies, price gouging on the part of oil companies. 29 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:46.280 So he introduced legislation a bill called ab X two 30 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:53.719 dash one ab X two to one that put requirements 31 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:58.879 on California oil refineries or fine oil and gas for 32 00:02:58.919 --> 00:03:04.960 our cars to maintain a higher supply of gas at 33 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:12.919 all times in order to avoid the fluctuations, to offset 34 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:17.400 the fluctuations. Basically, just maintain a higher supply of gas 35 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:21.960 at all times. Then when demand gets high, you already 36 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:26.960 have the gas on hand to do that. Well, it's 37 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:30.199 not that easy. If it were just that easy, that 38 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:33.319 you could well just maintain a higher supply and then 39 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:39.360 when the you know that, you know that demand's gonna increase, 40 00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:44.360 So when demand increases, then you're ready. It's not that simple. 41 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:51.240 Keeping an artificially higher supply of gas, a supply of 42 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:57.280 gas that's higher than the current demand is costly. It 43 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:00.759 adds costs, and the gas company have to pass that 44 00:04:00.840 --> 00:04:06.800 cost along somehow, and guess how they pass it along. 45 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:09.400 They pass it along in the form of higher prices. 46 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:15.360 And the gas companies at the time last year, around 47 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.240 this time when ABX two to one was being debated, 48 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:24.800 the gas companies told Gaven Newsom told the state legislature 49 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:32.639 very bluntly, in no uncertain terms, if you pass this, 50 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:37.439 it's just going to lead to higher gas prices throughout 51 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:43.800 the year. We can't. This puts more cost on us 52 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:48.560 if you insist that we maintain artificially inflated higher levels 53 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:55.639 of gasoline in our refineries. Because let's remember why it's 54 00:04:55.879 --> 00:05:00.959 like this California specific problem. If you insists that we 55 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:05.360 maintain this higher level of gas at all times, then 56 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:09.519 it's going to add more costs to us, and we 57 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:12.160 have to start questioning as a business whether we want 58 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:16.680 to keep maintaining our California based refineries because our California 59 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:19.439 based refineries cost a lot of money to maintain year 60 00:05:19.480 --> 00:05:23.240 over year. To maintain an oil refinery a gas refinery 61 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:25.680 over the course of a year requires something like three 62 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:28.240 hundred million dollars per year of investment. It's a lot 63 00:05:28.279 --> 00:05:30.959 of investment. If we're not making enough profit because our 64 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.079 prices have to be too high and a certain point 65 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:38.680 it's hurting our bottom line, then we're gonna move. We're 66 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:41.839 gonna stop our California based operations. And if we shut 67 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:45.519 down our California based refineries, it's gonna have a massively 68 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:53.399 negative impact on prices for the California gas consumer. The 69 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:58.959 oil companies told us that last year they explicitly warned 70 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:03.120 us of this. The state legislature passed this law anyway, 71 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:09.399 and that outcome has happened. Two major refineries have shut down. 72 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:19.079 Gas prices are gonna skyrocket. Now, why is it that 73 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:22.680 we're so dependent on like two refineries shutting down, Like 74 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:25.839 wouldn't you think the whole California market would be bigger 75 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:29.639 and bigger and diversified enough to sort of absorb the 76 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:34.959 blow of something like that. Well, it gets back to 77 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:38.160 the whole reason why gas is expensive in California in 78 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:43.959 the first place, a problem that everybody understands, and nobody 79 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:47.040 with any power in California government wants to grapple with. 80 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:51.480 The reason why gas is expensive in California is not 81 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:54.519 a mystery, and it is not the result of oil 82 00:06:54.639 --> 00:07:00.399 or gas price companies being greedy. It's not like they're 83 00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:04.120 greedier in California than they are in Nevada, or greedier 84 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:10.560 in California than they are in Massachusetts. Gas prices are 85 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:14.160 more expensive in California because of one, taxes, but more 86 00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:21.959 significantly regulation regulation on the kind of gas that can 87 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:25.040 be sold in California, which is different from the kind 88 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:26.600 of gas sold in the rest of the country. It's 89 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:33.519 a different blend that you can't get that is California specific. 90 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:37.399 You can't just use the gas that's sold at the 91 00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:42.439 pump in Oklahoma in California, because California has these specific 92 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:47.560 regulations that make it different. You have to do a 93 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:55.040 different refining refining process. As a result, oil and gas 94 00:07:55.079 --> 00:08:01.040 companies they still wanted to sell in the California, so 95 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:06.680 they made the investment to set up refineries that are 96 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:14.040 California specific. California is a gas island, it's supply chains 97 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:18.040 for getting crude oil and making it into gas are 98 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:22.399 separate from those of the rest of the country. So 99 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:25.759 if we've got two refineries shutting down that are producing 100 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:28.319 California gas, it's not like we can get it from 101 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:30.879 other places. There are only so many places to get it. 102 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:45.720 So again, this is yet another Gavin Newsome catastrophe. And 103 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:49.679 this is like the I don't know, the sixth or 104 00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:53.840 seventh massive Gavin Newsome catastrophe that we've been dealing with 105 00:08:54.440 --> 00:09:01.759 over the last year. Here between the structural deficit in 106 00:09:01.799 --> 00:09:06.559 the California state budget, wildfires being a problem for the 107 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:10.679 whole Newsome administration and then culminating in the worst wildfires 108 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:17.720 anyone's ever seen in January of this year, homelessness being 109 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:21.600 a massive growing problem, and us coming to the conclusion 110 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:24.519 last year that the state had spent twenty four billion 111 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:28.720 dollars on homelessness to no impact, to no effect through 112 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:33.200 programs that had no accountability, no metrics even for measuring 113 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:39.000 that they were effective, let alone demonstrating effectiveness. The high 114 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:44.440 speed rail train that continues to just not be problem 115 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:48.799 after problem after problem after problem, so specifically with gas, 116 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.519 there was an oversight hearing in Sacramento in the state 117 00:09:55.639 --> 00:09:59.919 legislature about the Newsome administration and its approach to the 118 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:08.159 oil and gas industry. It was present there were members 119 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:13.679 of the California Air Resources Board and they were discussing 120 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:17.480 the various problems and difficulties that are coming out of 121 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:24.000 one the Trump administration sort of undoing the all electric 122 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:27.519 cars by twenty thirty five mandate, but then also dealing 123 00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:30.120 with again this fact that we're gonna have two refineries 124 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:33.679 closing down and gas prices are about to go nuts. 125 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:38.320 So Ashley Zavala is a Sacramento based local news reporter 126 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:40.799 in Sacramento who's like the only person who actually covers 127 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:43.919 the state capitol. I'm convinced. She was live tweeting the 128 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:54.399 event this hearing, and Siva Gunda from the California Energy 129 00:10:54.399 --> 00:11:00.679 Commission was presenting, and she presents this slide show about 130 00:11:00.840 --> 00:11:07.720 gas price spikes that the state is bracing for these 131 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:15.039 spikes to worsen with the loss of refining capacity. So 132 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:22.200 because we have two refineries closing down, gas price spikes 133 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:26.799 are going to be worse than they were last year. 134 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:30.799 Which the irony of this is so rich. The whole 135 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:35.720 reason why Gavin Newsom introduced and passed ABX to one 136 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:40.120 last year. His bill to the whole point of the 137 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:44.440 bill was to prevent gas price spikes by insisting that 138 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:47.720 gas companies maintained artificially high supplies of gas at all 139 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:52.559 times so that when demand spiked, they'd have enough gas 140 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:56.840 to do it. Well, now we don't have enough refining capacity. 141 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:00.440 So because the company, the gas companies said, this is 142 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:02.240 going to be way too expensive for us to do. 143 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:06.200 It's way too expensive for us to maintain refineries if 144 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:08.639 we have to jack up our prices this much, and 145 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:11.200 this is not worth it for us anymore. We're pulling 146 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:15.840 out of California. So now our supply is so low 147 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:19.360 that the gas price spikes, they're still going to have 148 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:22.240 to do gas price spikes, and in fact they're going 149 00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:25.639 to be worse. They're gonna be worse. This bill, whose 150 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:29.480 whole point was to prevent spiking prices of gas, has 151 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:37.360 made it worse. And this is yet another, yet another 152 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:44.559 Gavin Newsom failure, just of epic proportions. No one was 153 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:48.759 talking about this legislation until Newsome stomped his foot and 154 00:12:48.840 --> 00:12:54.080 insisted on it. Last year, he called a special session 155 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:59.639 of the legislature to do it because he has to 156 00:12:59.720 --> 00:13:06.159 blame name somebody else. He and the environmentalist wacko controlled 157 00:13:06.679 --> 00:13:11.600 California state legislature that they are so insistent on blaming 158 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:14.879 anyone other than themselves for high costs of energy, and 159 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:21.120 it's only their fault. It's only their fault. The idea 160 00:13:21.159 --> 00:13:25.320 that you can blame gas and oil companies in California 161 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:29.039 based gas and oil companies for being greedy. They're not 162 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:32.480 any greedier in California than they are greedy anywhere else. 163 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:39.080 Their greed level is exactly the same. There's no reason 164 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:41.879 why they would be so much greedier in California than 165 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:44.080 they are in Hawaii. And everyone knows that greed is 166 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:47.039 not the underlying reason for why gas prices are so high. 167 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:53.000 Everyone understands why gas prices are high. They are high 168 00:13:53.879 --> 00:14:01.639 because of policy decisions made by California California lawmakers. Policy 169 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:06.240 decisions that were made and maintained by California lawmakers. That's it. 170 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:15.679 That's the first, middle last, only reason why. And Democrats 171 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:19.440 in California think they can constantly go back to this 172 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:23.960 well of blaming the greed of big oil for why 173 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:28.120 stuff is expensive. Ignore, and people keep voting for it, 174 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:32.039 People keep buying it, People keep buying this notion that 175 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:35.519 the gas companies are so powerful in California. They're not 176 00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:42.759 very powerful. Clearly, they're not very powerful. If they had power, 177 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:45.840 they wouldn't they would have stopped the passage of ABX 178 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:52.039 two one. They didn't because they're not very powerful. You 179 00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:56.399 know who's powerful in California, environmentalist groups, that's who's powerful. 180 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:07.960 So it's yet another Gavin Newsom failure. And when we return, 181 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.159 I want to talk about the Gavin Newsom failures that 182 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:15.360 they're not just like partisan failures, they're just non partisan 183 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:17.799 any which way you look at it failures. Next on 184 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:22.679 the John Growardy Show, here's the thing with Gavin Newsom's 185 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:29.159 various failures. And I feel like I do this every show. 186 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:31.759 I feel like I go back to what's gonna happen 187 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:35.120 on a Democrat primary debate stage in twenty twenty seven. 188 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:40.639 In December twenty twenty seven, CNN presents the Democrat Primary Debate, 189 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:44.399 the first Democrat primary debate, and Gavin Newsom's gonna be 190 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:49.159 up there, grinning with his slicked back hair and his 191 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:54.600 veneers shining in the camera and he's going to try to, 192 00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:57.519 you know, obviously, promote himself in the great work he's 193 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:00.120 done in California, and someone's gonna turn to him and say, 194 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:02.639 are you kidding me? The great work you've done in California. 195 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.559 Let me give you a list of horrible things that 196 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:12.240 have happened under your administration. And then they'll proceed to 197 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:18.200 give a list not of politically controverted things that Democrats 198 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:22.919 like and Republicans don't like. That's not what's going to 199 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:26.600 be presented again. It'll be a Democrat primary debate. Okay, 200 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:35.480 it's Democrats debating other Democrats. The thing is Newsome's biggest failures, 201 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:42.360 his failure after failure after failure, spectacular failure after failure. 202 00:16:43.240 --> 00:16:49.320 It's all stuff that isn't really up for political debate. 203 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:55.519 It's just an outcome that's obviously bad. California has the 204 00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:59.679 highest gas prices in the country. They had the highest 205 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:02.759 gas prices in the country when you entered office, and 206 00:17:02.840 --> 00:17:07.440 their gas prices are now much higher. In fact, after 207 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:12.000 you passed the law in twenty twenty four to try 208 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:17.480 to insist that oil refineries in your state artificially keep 209 00:17:18.839 --> 00:17:21.799 a higher supply of gas at all times in order 210 00:17:21.880 --> 00:17:26.160 to prevent gas price spikes, which they told you not 211 00:17:26.279 --> 00:17:29.440 to do, which plenty of smart people warned you not 212 00:17:29.640 --> 00:17:33.920 to do, because it would cause those oil companies to 213 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:38.799 pull out of the state, close down refineries, and ultimately 214 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:44.119 lead to higher gas prices. You charged ahead anyway, You 215 00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:47.680 signed the legislation anyway, and that's precisely what happened. Within 216 00:17:47.720 --> 00:17:53.480 a year, two oil refineries were shutting down, and you're 217 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:56.079 looking at eight dollars a gallon gas in some parts 218 00:17:56.079 --> 00:18:03.519 of California coming up in twenty twenty six, like eight 219 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:07.720 dollars a gallon. Guess that's not a Republican problem. It's 220 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:12.000 not a Democrat problem. That's a problem probl em. It 221 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:15.680 doesn't matter if you're a Republican or Democrat. Homelessness was 222 00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:18.519 a bad problem in California in twenty eighteen when you 223 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:25.000 ran for governor. It's a worse problem here in twenty twenty. 224 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:28.240 In December of twenty twenty seven, when this debate's happening, 225 00:18:30.759 --> 00:18:34.440 you inherited a state budget that was relatively stable. By 226 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:37.480 the time you left office, your state budget was facing 227 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:41.680 structural deficits of ten to twenty billion dollars every year. 228 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:47.480 Deficits are just bad. Like, there's no it's not a 229 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:53.720 Republican bad, Democrat bad. Everyone acknowledges that's bad. And there's 230 00:18:53.759 --> 00:19:00.680 only so many boogeymen Newsom can blame. Whom does he 231 00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:06.720 blame for deficits? Well, it's the fault of uh, it's 232 00:19:06.759 --> 00:19:09.880 not the Republicans fault. And that's the thing with Newsome, 233 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:17.079 it's all his fault. He has no Republicans to blame. 234 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:21.960 There are like three Republicans in Sacramento. Republicans are not 235 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:25.319 just the minority. They're not just the super minority. They 236 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:28.599 are a super duper minority because Democrats don't just have 237 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:30.720 a majority. They don't just have a super majority of 238 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:33.279 two thirds, which you need two thirds majority. If you 239 00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:36.119 have a two thirds majority, there's lots of additional things 240 00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:38.680 you can do. Democrats don't have two thirds. They have 241 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:43.000 three fourths. They have three fourths of all the seats. 242 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:45.319 For those of you from Rial Linda, three fourths is 243 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:56.319 more than two thirds. So Republicans can stump their feet 244 00:19:56.359 --> 00:19:59.599 and shout all they want. They can't do a darned thing. 245 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:03.720 It's all Newsome's fault. The high speed rail was not 246 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:06.160 built when he started it's still not built when he's 247 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:15.599 leaving and not funded. He has these failures on issue 248 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:20.880 after issue after issue after issue, where it's again, it's 249 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:29.680 just not like a partisan deal. It's surely just a failure. 250 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:33.279 Wildfires were a horrible problem his whole time as governor, 251 00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:36.400 and he clearly didn't take effective enough steps to correct it, 252 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:39.200 because in January twenty twenty five, Los Angeles has the 253 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:43.880 biggest wildfire in history. New housing construction was a problem 254 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:47.240 that wasn't happening quickly enough in twenty eighteen when he 255 00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:53.160 ran for governor. By you know, here, we are almost 256 00:20:53.640 --> 00:20:57.200 five months out from the wildfires in January, and how 257 00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:00.440 many permits for new homes to be rebuilt have been 258 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:07.000 approved a paltry tiny fraction of all the houses that 259 00:21:07.079 --> 00:21:13.680 burnt down, Like he's just failed. And it's stuff that's objective, 260 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:19.640 doesn't matter where you stand. And even the things where 261 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:22.200 maybe you could criticize him one way or another politically, 262 00:21:22.359 --> 00:21:27.480 like medical coverage for illegal aliens, he gets it coming 263 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:34.240 and going. Conservatives can blame him and criticize him for 264 00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:38.559 providing medical coverage for illegal aliens, and then liberals can 265 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:42.799 blame him for having to embarrassingly roll that back because 266 00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:48.759 it cost way more than he anticipated. So he's just 267 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:53.519 faced and now with god knows where where his you know, 268 00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:58.720 head's gonna stop spinning on the transgender issue. Democrats might 269 00:21:58.759 --> 00:22:03.119 criticize him, Republicans might criticize him, like he's just got 270 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:09.400 failure after failure after failure after failure that, and he 271 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:13.640 it seems like he's racking them up in rapid succession. Really, 272 00:22:14.119 --> 00:22:19.039 just over the course of twenty twenty five, he's cooked, 273 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:24.480 he's done. I just don't think he's got a snowballs 274 00:22:24.599 --> 00:22:31.799 chance in hell of being elected president. Just the series 275 00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:38.839 of catastrophic California news, from the budget structural deficit, to 276 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:45.440 the wildfires, to the alarming news about how underfunded the 277 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:49.319 high speed rail is, how they seriously don't have enough 278 00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:54.720 money to get it done. Just boom boom boom boom, 279 00:22:54.759 --> 00:23:00.759 thing after thing after thing he is. I just don't 280 00:23:01.079 --> 00:23:07.359 see how he can possibly credibly run for president when 281 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:12.799 we return the inevitable criticisms of Diane Pierce and other 282 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:19.200 local Fresno politicians talking about this whole state issue with 283 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:23.839 transgenderism at the California High School Track and Field meet 284 00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:26.759 coming up this weekend that is next on the John 285 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:32.039 Girardi Show. So I went today to the press conference 286 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:37.920 that Diane Pierce held for regarding the whole issue about 287 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:44.000 transgenderism within California high school sports that took place at 288 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:49.680 the Presno Veterans Memorial and about the California state high 289 00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:52.559 school track and field competitions which are being held the 290 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:55.839 state wide championships that are being held at Buchanan over 291 00:23:55.880 --> 00:23:58.839 the course of this weekend, and which are prominently featuring 292 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:03.119 a biological male competing in some of the women's events. 293 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:08.319 The Californianster Scholastic Federation has updated some of its rules 294 00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:12.000 basically to allow girls who may have been bumped from 295 00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:18.240 qualifying for things to still participate, who may have been 296 00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:23.799 bumped for qualifying for things by a transgender biological male 297 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:28.160 athlete to still qualify for things, but their policy is 298 00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:30.880 still not in conformity with the Trump administration's Executive Order 299 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:34.400 et cetera, et cetera, And my thoughts turned to Diane Pierce, 300 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:41.200 a public figure who has caused no small amount of 301 00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:44.440 controversy in our local politics, and the controversy around her 302 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:52.920 is always this. It's usually basically it's usually centered around 303 00:24:53.000 --> 00:25:03.319 other members of the City of Clovis City Council criticizing 304 00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:06.880 her for getting involved in issues that they say are 305 00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:12.640 outside the scope, outside the scope of what the city 306 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:15.000 council is supposed to do. Why can't you just be 307 00:25:15.079 --> 00:25:22.160 focused on fixing potholes, et cetera. Lynn Ashbeck is often 308 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:27.119 the leading figure criticizing Diane Diane Pierce very publicly for 309 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:29.799 this kind of behavior, and it leads me to want 310 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:37.440 to offer a defense of Diane Pierce and of politicians 311 00:25:37.559 --> 00:25:40.640 like her, like Gary Brettefeld. Gary Bretdefeld gets hit with 312 00:25:40.680 --> 00:25:43.839 the same kind of accusation quite a bit, that he's 313 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:46.960 a grand stander, that he's a self promoter, but also 314 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:53.359 that he overly politicizes things and focuses on issues that 315 00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:56.640 are outside of his ken. If you will, all right, 316 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:07.200 City governments are supposed to represent us. That's what they do, 317 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:14.960 and the work of city governments is limited. City governments 318 00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:20.559 and county governments are themselves purely and simply creations of 319 00:26:20.680 --> 00:26:26.680 state government. The parameters of what they do or can 320 00:26:26.839 --> 00:26:32.480 do are set by state law. This is true throughout 321 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:35.799 the United States, Okay, cities and county governments only have 322 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:38.240 latitude to act. They only have freedom to act. They 323 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:43.799 only have independence to act insofar as the state grants 324 00:26:43.880 --> 00:26:47.480 them that freedom latitude independence to act. So the range 325 00:26:47.559 --> 00:26:53.519 of what a city council can do is fairly limited. 326 00:26:53.559 --> 00:27:00.000 Their football field on which they can play is very small. Okay, 327 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:07.759 the parameters are set by state law. So as a result, 328 00:27:08.039 --> 00:27:15.359 there's a lot of kind of big picture things national 329 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:25.119 news controversies, even statewide news controversies that city council's city government, 330 00:27:25.240 --> 00:27:30.559 local government, county government. They may not be able necessarily 331 00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:36.000 to have a big impact on it, or there might 332 00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:38.319 be some issue that's a county issue but not a 333 00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:47.880 city issue, or vice versa. The instinct of any local 334 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:56.799 government official is to flee controversy, to settle themselves into 335 00:27:56.839 --> 00:28:02.839 something quiet, safe and secure. I think there's very much 336 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:06.119 a temptation to do that in county government on the 337 00:28:06.119 --> 00:28:11.519 County Board of Supervisors. The County Board of Supervisors made 338 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:17.279 a lot of headlines by not really changing their boundary. 339 00:28:17.559 --> 00:28:22.519 Their redistricting boundary lines very much. So every ten years 340 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:25.559 you do redistricting and the County Board of Supervisors, their 341 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:31.880 individual supervisorial districts have to get redrawn to reflect the 342 00:28:31.960 --> 00:28:37.839 latest census data, and the president County Board of Supervisors 343 00:28:37.880 --> 00:28:44.079 didn't change their boundary lines all that much. County supervisors 344 00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:49.720 make really good money for relative to other elected officials 345 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:52.759 in California state government. County supervisors make very good money. 346 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:56.920 They make much more than even City of Fresno City 347 00:28:56.920 --> 00:29:02.119 council members make. They make a comfortable into the six figures. 348 00:29:04.119 --> 00:29:08.640 And county supervisors don't have term limits. It's very comfortable. 349 00:29:08.920 --> 00:29:13.640 You can if you don't make waves. You maybe have 350 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:16.440 two or three controversial votes per year. You've got your 351 00:29:16.519 --> 00:29:21.960 district that's fairly Republican I mean that fairly Republican or 352 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:31.440 fairly Democrat, and you can sit tight pretty well. And 353 00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:34.720 yet in the last county supervisor round of elections, two 354 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:40.279 incumbents lost in favor of two pretty hard charging challengers. 355 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:43.599 Gary Bretdefeld replaced Steve Brandew. And I like Steve Branda, 356 00:29:43.720 --> 00:29:45.880 and I'll say this, I don't think Steve Randall was 357 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:48.880 like that. I don't think he was a comfortable sit 358 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:52.440 around guy. I mean he I'll always credit him for 359 00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:54.680 passing the library ordinance that took a lot of guts 360 00:29:54.680 --> 00:30:00.440 for him to do. But sal Can and Tara All 361 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:05.119 so he got replaced by Luis Chavis. And I do 362 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:08.519 believe that there is a real temptation in local government 363 00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:15.599 not to talk about your views on bigger, broader topics 364 00:30:15.640 --> 00:30:22.079 because you don't want to be controverari sial. Even though 365 00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:25.319 this is a thing you may not be able to 366 00:30:25.480 --> 00:30:29.920 impact it. But part of living in a political community 367 00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:39.960 together is affirming what's good and denying what's bad. Alerting 368 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:43.200 your citizenry about things that are happening that are good 369 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:50.640 or bad, rallying attention, rallying concern on behalf of your 370 00:30:50.680 --> 00:30:54.680 city for things that are maybe beyond your city's power 371 00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:57.480 to immediately do something, but maybe your city ken if 372 00:30:57.480 --> 00:31:03.160 you will lobby for that thing. I think Diane Pierce 373 00:31:03.720 --> 00:31:08.279 was admirable for doing just this in the context of libraries. 374 00:31:10.680 --> 00:31:13.480 Here's the Clovis City Council, which, for those who haven't 375 00:31:13.480 --> 00:31:17.400 been to the closed City Council, it's this. It's right 376 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:21.440 across the street from Clark Intermediate School. It's right near 377 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:26.279 San Joaquin College of Law on Bullard, which turns into 378 00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:29.519 Fifth Street. Once you get to Old Town Clovis it 379 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:32.640 becomes Fifth Street, and then as you leave Old Town 380 00:31:32.680 --> 00:31:38.880 Clovis it turns back into Bullard. So the Clovis City 381 00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:41.920 Council is in this sort of complex of buildings that 382 00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:44.319 all look the same. It's right next door to a 383 00:31:44.359 --> 00:31:49.519 Fresno County Library, the Clovis branch of the Fresno County Library, 384 00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:53.880 and in the Clovist branch of the Fresnoe County Library. 385 00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:57.160 They had all kinds of smut aimed at kids. I 386 00:31:58.119 --> 00:32:00.759 go to that library, I've seen it to. It's not 387 00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:04.599 just Diane seeing it. I've seen it too. And so 388 00:32:04.759 --> 00:32:09.440 Diane Pierce made a big public stink about it and said, hey, 389 00:32:09.799 --> 00:32:11.759 this is really bad. And it was right in the 390 00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:15.440 middle of this being a big national, you know, news 391 00:32:15.640 --> 00:32:19.119 story talking point in what was I guess this was 392 00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:22.559 twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four, that 393 00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:29.480 public schools were introducing public schools and county run public 394 00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:35.480 libraries introducing more and more aggressive sexual content to younger 395 00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:38.799 and younger audiences, and Diane Pierce said, why the heck 396 00:32:38.839 --> 00:32:43.160 do we have this the al Basically everyone on the 397 00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:47.160 Clovis City Council sort of wrung their hands and said, well, 398 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:51.160 that's a controversial topic, and you're making city staff feel 399 00:32:51.240 --> 00:32:53.519 uncomfortable by drawing attention to it. And by the way, 400 00:32:53.559 --> 00:32:55.640 it's a county it's a county library, it's not a 401 00:32:55.680 --> 00:32:57.799