Arduinna

Posted by Dan Walters

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/16/walters-some-newsom-detractors-make-up-stuff-but-theres-fodder-for-legitimate-criticism/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12365911

As Gavin Newsom ramps up his almost certain campaign for president, and polls put him in contention for the Democratic Party’s nomination in 2028, he has become a favorite target of right-leaning commentators on network television and in YouTube videos and social media.

While some criticism is grounded in fact and reasonable differences, there’s also a substrata of highly exaggerated, even fictional, output. Talking heads present him not as an ambitious politician who poses as a selfless public servant — something they all do, including the current president — but as a crooked charlatan.

There’s plenty of material in Newsom’s nearly three decades-long political career for legitimate criticism. And he tends toward over-the-top braggadocio about his accomplishments and amnesia about his failures.

However, his most virulent critics take nuggets of fact — including those having nothing to do with Newsom — and pump them up to depict him as an agent of corruption and incompetence.

One much-repeated trope is that Newsom, in concert with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, purposely or incompetently failed to protect residents of the city and suburban neighborhoods from devastating wildfires early this year.

President Donald Trump fed that narrative by accusing Newsom of not sending enough water to Southern California, thus leading to shortages that impeded firefighting. It’s just not true, but it’s repeated, with embellishments, on a regular basis.

Another oft-aired criticism of Newsom misuses a column I wrote when he was inaugurated in 2019. It depicted the fascinating interconnections between his family and the Getty, Brown and Pelosi clans, stretching back more than eight decades.

Videos that frequently pop up on YouTube quote from the column verbatim, without attribution, and show the chart of family connections that accompanied the article. Then they tack on fact-free addendums suggesting connections to organized crime or some other nefarious activities.

Another line of criticism cites some left-wing legislative or ballot measure proposal, treats it like it’s already in law, portrays its supposedly devastating effect on the innocent public and lays it at Newsom’s feet. The proposed wealth tax, which could appear on the 2026 ballot, is one favorite topic, even though Newsom has repeatedly rejected it.

Many of Newsom’s critics who breathlessly report on his evil plans (that the left-wing mainstream media supposedly cover up) are just nobodies who feign authority and are obviously fronting for right-wing organizations. But some are recognizable California figures.

Two frequent YouTube critics are Carl DeMaio, a longtime Republican politician in San Diego who won a seat in the state Assembly last year, and Victor Davis Hanson, an historian connected to Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

DeMaio’s shtick is that he has discovered some horrible thing that Newsom and other Democrats have cooked up to damage honest, hard-working Californians, but that mainstream media have ignored. It’s usually accompanied by a pitch for donations to his organization.

Hanson is a widely recognized, erudite authority on military history, particularly World War II. He also fancies himself a political commentator with a particular bead on Newsom, but his critiques are often factually deficient.

One of Hanson’s favorite assertions is that Newsom diverted bond funds meant to construct new water projects into financing the demolition of four dams on the Klamath River. However the commitment for that project dates back to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s governorship, and the bond issue specifically contained the appropriation for it.

Distorted criticism of Newsom is more off-putting than even his own tendency to bend historic fact. It also undercuts legitimate questioning of Newsom’s record, because he can, and does, depict any negative depictions as baseless propaganda.

The anti-Newsom drumbeat is likely to get louder as he moves ever closer to a declaration of presidential candidacy. Viewer beware.

Dan Walters is a CalMatters columnist.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/16/walters-some-newsom-detractors-make-up-stuff-but-theres-fodder-for-legitimate-criticism/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12365911

Posted by George Skelton

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/16/skelton-courage-lacking-to-fix-states-deep-rooted-budget-shortfall/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12363877

It’s almost like slapstick comedy — the budget act that California’s Legislature and governor perform every year.

OK, it’s not really funny. But it is a joke — all the gymnastics the politicians go through trying to hide their red-ink spending and convince us they’ve met their legal obligation to produce a balanced state budget.

“Balanced” means having enough money to pay for all the authorized spending. But it’s largely guesswork. And the budget often is balanced only on paper. The state pencils in whatever numbers are needed to “balance” the books.

“They always cook the numbers,” gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa told me last spring.

Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor, knows firsthand about “cooking.” He once was in the kitchen as a powerful state Assembly speaker.

“Every finance person does it,” he said. “But there’s got to be a limit. At the end of the day, you can cook [numbers] so much they’re not real.”

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office reminded us of this in a recent report. It warned of a growing state budget deficit for the next fiscal year beginning July 1.

In polite language, the analyst basically said that the current “balanced” budget — as Villaraigosa might put it — isn’t “real.”

“The budget problem is now larger than anticipated, despite improvements in revenue, and the structural deficits are significant and growing,” Legislative Analyst Gabriel Petek wrote.

“Structural deficit” is governmentese for taxes and spending being out of balance.

“The Legislature faces an almost $18 billion budget problem in 2026-27,” Petek reported. “This is about $5 billion larger than the budget problem anticipated by the (Newsom) administration.”

“Budget problem” is Sacramento lingo for deficit.

Petek predicts even more red ink in the future.

Not a rosy picture

“Starting in 2027-28, we estimate structural deficits to grow to about $35 billion annually, due to spending growth continuing to outstrip revenue growth,” the analyst wrote.

But that will be the next governor’s headache. It’s not uncommon for a departing governor to dump red ink all over his successor.

Right now, Gov. Gavin Newsom is finishing up the last budget proposal of his two terms. He’ll send it to the Legislature in early January.

Newsom’s deficit projection will be different from the legislative analyst’s, says H.D. Palmer, the governor’s budget spokesman. That’s mainly because Newsom will be using fresher data, the aide adds. The governor’s projected deficit size still hasn’t been determined, he says.

Translation: It’s still being cooked.

So far in Newsom’s reign, his budgets have mushroomed by 51% to $325 billion from $215 billion. But that’s not extraordinary growth under a California governor, Democrat or Republican.

Why does deficit spending matter? It’s akin to never fully paying off the credit card and wasting money on interest rather than retiring principal debt. In fact, it’s often just piling on more debt.

It’s kicking the can down the road and not ever tossing it in the trash.

The politicians employ various tricks to paper over deficit spending.

The state often borrows from itself — robbing Peter to pay Paul — by shifting money from one kitty to another, usually to the main checking account: the general fund. This often results in the delay or demise of a promised program that was to be funded by the tapped kitty.

Or lawmakers may raid bond money and use it for a purpose disguised as what voters thought they had actually approved.

They’ve even paid state employees on July 1 rather than June 30 so the spending could be counted in the next fiscal year.

All this gimmickry results in an unstable budget system.

Solution is simple

The legislative analyst advised legislators to fix the problem with “achievable spending reductions and/or revenue increases” — cutting programs or raising taxes. Duh!

But the Democratic-dominated Legislature won’t do that because whacking certain programs would anger interest groups that support the lawmakers’ election campaigns. And raising taxes in this high-tax state is a political no-no for all but the most lefty Democrats.

Former state Controller Betty Yee, a gubernatorial candidate who once was state budget director, has long advocated reforming California’s outdated and very volatile tax system. It relies too heavily on rich people’s incomes, especially their capital gains fueled by Wall Street. Tax revenue booms in good times and goes bust during recessions.

Yee says if it were politically possible — which it never has been — she’d extend the sales tax to some services used by the wealthy, including country club memberships. She’d also cut back on corporate tax loopholes.

Petek, in his analysis, cautioned that “California’s budget is undeniably less prepared for downturns” than previously. He also said the stock market is “overheated” and “unsustainable.”

But it seems beyond the lawmakers’ ability to creditably balance taxes and spending.

“Legislators inherently think that balancing the budget is the governor’s responsibility,” says Rick Simpson, a retired longtime legislative consultant to several Democratic Assembly speakers. “And it’s way easier to spend than to cut.”

“The leadership in both houses also care a lot more about making the [legislative] members happy than fixing the budget.”

Simpson also blames term limits. They’ve caused legislators to focus less on the state’s long-term interests and more “on the next office they’re going to run for,” he says.

Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio, who also has been an advisor to speakers, says: “There’s no upside for a politician to tackle nagging budget deficits. It’s much easier — and offends fewer allies — to paper it over and dump it in the lap of your successor.”

He adds: “No one runs for office wanting to slash and burn, except perhaps a few Republicans. But even they have pet priorities.”

So, Sacramento’s comedy of errors plays on year after year.

George Skelton is a Los Angeles Times columnist. ©2025 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/16/skelton-courage-lacking-to-fix-states-deep-rooted-budget-shortfall/

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