California has turned into a remake of 鈥淏utch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,鈥 the 1969 movie about two outlaws struggling to understand changing times while they鈥檙e chased by a super-posse over a cliff.
The Democrats who dominate state and local politics have been able to stage their train robberies without opposition for a long time. Even when Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, he had his own super-posse chasing him over fabricated Russian collusion allegations. California Democrats laughed and filed 123 lawsuits to stop his policies.
But times have changed.
Now the federal government is coming after California. For example, on Wednesday the U.S. Department of Education announced that the state Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation are violating federal law by allowing biological males to compete in females鈥 sports. The U.S. Department of Justice had already sent a letter warning of legal action against school districts over the issue. California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond responded by telling school districts to ignore the letter.
The U.S. Department of Education is also investigating California over a 2024 state law that prohibits schools from telling parents if their child is identifying as a different gender. The law, Assembly Bill 1955, may violate federal law, specifically FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has ordered California to remove 鈥渁ll gender ideology references鈥 from the curriculum of its federally funded Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP).
The U.S. DOJ is investigating the University of California for allegedly violating federal law by following race- and sex-based hiring practices described in the university鈥檚 鈥2030 Capacity Plan鈥 to expand diversity. The DOJ is also suing the Orange County Registrar of Voters for refusing to turn over information needed for an investigation prompted by a complaint that a noncitizen had been mailed an unsolicited ballot.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is threatening to cut off federal funds to California over everything from the failed high-speed rail project to state and local sanctuary laws to the closure of Metro stations during the recent L.A. riots, or protests, or incidents of civil unrest. Whatever they were, they鈥檙e turning out to be very expensive.
California is being chased by a super-posse.
At the cliff鈥檚 edge, California state officials are frantically filing lawsuits against the Trump administration for federalizing the National Guard, cutting program funding, firing federal workers, imposing tariffs and blocking the state鈥檚 ban on the sale of gasoline-powered cars.
Meanwhile, California鈥檚 local officials are acting as if their cities are being invaded by the Union Army.
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Imelda Padilla publicly asked LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell if he would 鈥渨arn us, so that we can warn our folks, in the spirit of your loyalty to the city of Los Angeles鈥 if federal law enforcement officers were seen driving into L.A.
Cudahy Vice Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez posted a TikTok video in which she demanded to know why local gang members had not shown up to defend their territory, which was being 鈥渋nvaded by the biggest gang there is,鈥 the United States government.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass told a local TV station, 鈥渋t was shameful for both the vice president as well as the Homeland Security Secretary to parachute into town, to be here for a few hours, to know absolutely nothing about our city, and to make the proclamations that they did.鈥
At one point, Gov. Newsom even suggested that California would stop paying taxes to the federal government.
Democrats have been driven to the brink of insanity. President Trump really doesn鈥檛 get enough credit for dropping them off there.
Trump鈥檚 political superpower is his talent for spotting issues where political elites have reached a polite consensus that just happens to be 100% opposed by 80% of voters. Illegal immigration is one of those issues. While other Republican presidential candidates vaguely advocated for 鈥渃omprehensive immigration reform,鈥 Trump vowed to close the border and get criminal illegal aliens out of the country.
This put Trump鈥檚 opponents 鈥 Democrats and never-Trump Republicans 鈥 in the untenable position of defending criminal illegal aliens and an open border, or admitting Trump had a point.
He鈥檚 done the same thing on the issue of biological males playing in women鈥檚 sports, gender ideology in school curricula and illegal racial and gender discrimination repackaged as 鈥渄iversity, equity and inclusion.鈥 While other politicians and every major corporation paid homage to these policies, Trump was not afraid to side with 80% of the American public. His opponents call him names and think that matters to him. That鈥檚 cute.
In California, the price of gasoline (and everything else) is higher than in other states because of 鈥済reenhouse gas reduction鈥 laws that intentionally raise the cost of oil refinery operations in the name of fighting climate change. For example, the July 1 update to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard is expected to raise gas prices by 65 cents per gallon. Another program called 鈥渃ap and trade鈥 is a hidden tax on energy, requiring refineries and utilities to pay for emitting greenhouse gases. Actually, you pay. More. For everything.
Cap and trade is set to expire in 2030, which would lower the cost of living in California, but Gov. Newsom wants to renew the program, now renamed 鈥渃ap and invest,鈥 through 2045. He has proposed this extension as a budget 鈥渢railer bill.鈥 That evades hearings, cost analysis and debate.
Here鈥檚 how to read the draft trailer bill language: Go to the Department of Finance website, dof.ca.gov, then 鈥淭railer Bill Language,鈥 then 鈥淣atural Resources and Capital Outlay,鈥 then 鈥淐ap and Invest Extension.鈥
Trump could go to court to end cap and trade and make gasoline affordable again, leaving Newsom fighting for higher gas prices.
Enjoy the rest of the movie.
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