Victor Davis Hanson
Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 16, 2022
“Hypocrisy and elite virtue signaling, however, are now trademarks of California politicians — and illustrate how little elected officials care for the victims of their ideological agendas.”
In a run-up to what is likely to be a 2024 presidential bid, California Gov. Gavin Newsom hit upon the bizarre idea of boasting in commercials that California is America’s true “free” state.
Part of his ad campaign is to attack Florida — currently run by Newsom’s possible rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Yet, with the most burdensome regulations and high tax rates, Newsom’s California is arguably the most unfree state in the union. In return for these steep costs, the state’s public institutions, infrastructure and services are among the country’s worst.
California’s once-vaunted freeway system is near the bottom of all state comparisons.
More than half the nation’s homeless crowd the state’s major cities. One-third of America’s welfare recipients have flooded into the state. A fifth of the resident population lives below the poverty line. Well more than a quarter of Golden State residents were not born in the United States.
California public school test scores consistently fall among the bottom 10 states. San Francisco has the highest per capita property crime rate in the country. The city’s recently recalled District Attorney Chesa Boudin and his soon-to-be recalled Los Angeles counterpart George Gascon have nearly ruined their cities.
State residents are not free to drive safely because of their decrepit freeways. They are not free from filthy and toxic sidewalks or dangerous physical assault in their major cities.
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