A BIT LONGER THAN MY USUAL POSTINGS – PLEASE BEAR WITH ME

IN THE NEWS – DOGE UNCOVERS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN WASTE, FRAUD AND CORRUPTION

Turning on the news it is almost overwhelming the amount of Taxpayer Dollars that have been found being wasted by “The Deep State Bureaucracy”.  While outright theft and fraud is surely criminal, many times the waste is founded in incompetent management and/or the tendency of any created department to want to become immortal long after their stated purpose in existing has become an exercise in futility or simply unneeded.     

Mismanagement and wasted resources is not totally the province of Government.  The following is an absolutely true story from personal experience and I will share it with you to emphasize the point.

Before I took an early retirement/exit from the Corporate World I worked in management for a fair sized company in the computer software, hardware and billing industry business.  One day I was called by one of the companies Directors and told they had an employee whom they were looking to promote but performed an important function in inventory control of many millions of dollars worth of computers and computer parts and asked me to spend some time with him to find out all he did, how he did it, what was involved and in general begin the process of finding a suitable replacement for him.  

I was familiar with this employee and knew him to be intelligent, reliable and loyal.  In working with him I found that he was responsible for maintaining an accurate inventory count of the “on hand” computer hardware, from large main frame systems to all the affiliated components including replacement parts.  His job was to do a rotating monthly hand count of what was available and produce a series of reports (from A to J) by category and distribute this report to the Corporate President, Vice Presidents, Directors and some related Managers monthly. 

After becoming familiar with his work process I decided it would be a good idea to visit with all the management personnel on the distribution list of this report and get their input on what they liked about the report and what changes could be made to possibly improve it. 

What I found out was that of all the folks on the distribution list for this report, not a single one of them ever even bothered to read it.  They all believed they were just receiving a “courtesy copy” probably of value to someone else.  They all either threw it away or recycled it.  In visiting with our Corporate Vice President of Accounting I found out that the company some years previously had automated the system with an Accounting Tracking Program which maintained the inventory on a Purchased, Sold or Scraped basis with an occasional “spot check” if a question came up.  After notifying the Director of my findings, I recommended we simply discontinue the report for 30-60 days and see if anybody in the Corporate “chain” complained about not getting it and if no-one did, to simply eliminate the position and save the $45,000 (plus Benefits) salary for use elsewhere.  He agreed and that is what we did.  I would like to say again that the employee did nothing wrong, just faithfully did as he had been instructed year after year.  He went on to become a valuable asset in his new position.  Up until DOGE I do not remember hearing of government ever doing what I have described above.  

I document the above to demonstrate that, whether in Corporate America or Government, sometimes the employee is not at fault for wasted Payroll/Budget Dollars.  Often Government and Corporations fall into a pattern of doing things from habit or routine without questioning whether the task(s) being performed are really necessary or could be completed in more efficient less expensive ways.  I will hasten to add that in my years with the company I also found waste and corruption in many other ways.  One example: employees who were kept “on board” simply because they had threatened management with litigation if terminated and Corporate Management made the “Money” decision that it was cheaper to keep that employee in a “Do Nothing” job than to pay the likely legal costs of a protracted legal battle disputing untrue but damaging allegations.  I remember one employee for example who was given the created title of “Postal Liaison Manager” whose only duty was to fraternize with the Postal Employees we interacted with.

The above is only a tame, sometimes innocent example of how Government and Corporations can waste Taxpayers and Shareholders Dollars through sometimes sloppy, but often just poor management and oversight. To get into the “Big Bucks” ratholes, pure fraud, graft and corruption you have to ask yourself how does Senator Foghorn or Congresswoman Leghorn begin their career in Government nearly broke with a Salary of $100,000+ and end up over a period of time with $75,000.000 (that’s 75 Million) Dollars in the bank.  Or, for a really screaming, record breaking example of waste and fraud, you might look at something like California’s “High Speed Rail” project which has seen 100 Billion Dollars spent without a single railcar ever moving a single mile down the track and the “Blue Sky Project” has made California a laughing stock “working” on something that from the beginning was simply a payoff to Organized Labor (especially the Operating Engineers Union) for supporting the Democratic Party. 

But not to get “off track” of the “Congressional Path to Personal Prosperity”, let us get back to Senator Foghorn.  Here is how the game can be played.  The good Senator attaches, for his vote on a piece of pending Legislation,  provision within the Legislation  for a grant (from Taxpayer Dollars) of $2,000,000 (That’s Two Million Dollars) go to a two man “Research Team” in a Banana Republic to study the effect of Transgender Surgery on Frogs with a clear, quiet, understanding from said pending recipient that a generous portion of those funds will find their way back to his re-election campaign bank account or some other “slippery” way into his “Retirement Fund”.  Or maybe a “Commission Check” (wink, wink) is sent to a numbered account at an “Offshore” Bank or Brokerage House.  Hence our Senator Foghorn, or Congresswoman Leghorn turns their “Public Service” into a “Gravy Train”.

Are they all a bunch of crooks.  No, but sadly, there is a too small a number of “Good Ones”.  And, there are also many others in positions of power who use their position to enrich themselves through graft and corruption at the Taxpayers expense.   

I would like to see Congress pass a law that each member of House of Representatives and the Senate be required to make public their financial net worth when the are sworn into office and an annual updated report of their financial net worth each year they are in office “Serving the Public”.   I know, “Fat Chance” this will ever happen.

“Do Nothing Jobs” – “Kickbacks” – “Insider Trading” – “Sweetheart Deals” 

The following is a typical example – Both Parties have many such members

Life can be good in the “Swamp”!

Bob Bandy – March 2025

LOOK FAMILIAR

PLEASE NOTE: The following is not intended to discredit the untold thousands of Public Service Employees who go to work everyday to keep the lights on, the streets safe, our children educated, Social Security checks and services ongoing and so many other essential public services needed by all of us.  This is about corrupted officials who have maintained some public agencies and departments long past their useful life and/or used their positions to enrich themselves at the taxpayers expense.

My Hero, Elon Musk, and the DOGE Crew are going where no one has dared go before and they are finding in government what too many of us have done on a smaller scale.  Overflowing Agencies and Departments, or in our case Garages and Storage Units, filled with the oft forgotten, frequently broken debris of yesteryear that for some reason we never get around to discarding or disposing of and instead pay a price to maintain year after year.  Too many Government Agencies, Departments and programs are like that.

Here is an anonymous story which tells the sad tale of how government too often works:

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.  Congress said, “Someone may steal from it at night”.  So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.  Then Congress said, “how does the watchman do his job without instruction?”

So they created a planning department and hired two people.  One person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.  Then Congress said, “How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?”  So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people.  One was to do the studies and one was to write the reports.

Then Congress said, “how are these people going to get paid?”  So they created two positions: a time keeper and a payroll officer, then hired two people.  Then Congress said, “Who will be accountable for all of these people?”  So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Congress said, “We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $918,000 over budget, we must cut back.”

So they laid off the night watchman. (but kept the department and all other spending intact indefinitely)

*******************

Another example taken from an article I wrote back in 2018 titled STORAGE WARS AND THE GOVERNMENT uses as an example the United States Department of Energy is excerpted below:

“Our government is filled with departments and agencies on steroids which have metasticized past their original intent and charter, have budgets in the Billions and employees in the tens of thousands.

There are dozens of excellent examples of Government Departments and Agencies that began life as a well intended, “We’ve got to do something” pregnant thought in the mind of a bureaucrat. 

One good example of how government programs become bloated, employee heavy, overgrown, self sustaining, ineffective, unnecessary rat holes for tax dollars can be seen in the U.S. Department of Energy. 

Created in 1977 it was originally chartered to make the U.S. independent from the need for foreign oil.  What it has become is a Thirty Two Billion Dollar a year, Ten Thousand plus employee boondoggle. 

What was really needed was an examination of government policies and regulations that was choking the life out of energy producers. 

Forty years and about a Trillion Dollars later the Department of Energy never met its original goal. 

We are now trembling on the verge of becoming energy independent, not because of the Department of Energy but by getting government out of the way of private market energy producers.

Are we hearing any plans to shut down, or downsize of the Department of Energy?  No!”

********************

Unfortunately the DOGE group are also finding waste and corruption beyond just run-a-way departments on steroids that waste our tax dollars.  Government Employees and Politicians that have “salaries” in the hundred thousand’s of dollars per year but in a few short years are multi-millionaires.  “Lucky guesses on investments/insider trading?” – “Finders Fees/kickbacks” on “paid out government grants to domestic or foreign recipients?”  “Money trees in their back yards?”  “Hit the lottery?”

I find it kind of humorous that those who are trying to stop the DOGE group are putting themselves in a position defending Government Waste, Fraud, Abuse and outright Theft of Taxpayers Dollars.

Something to think about,

Bob Bandy – February 2025

PACIFIC PALISADES TODAY

**********

NEVER LET A GOOD CRISIS GO TO WASTE

RAHM EMANUEL from a quote by Saul Alinsky

**********

Following the aftermath of the terrible Southern California fires in PACIFIC PALISADES, ALTADENA, MALIBU etc., President Trump went to Southern California to meet with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and a group of City and County Administrators and other Leaders on planning for recovery of the fire stricken areas with an emphasis on rebuilding the some 15,000 or so homes that were destroyed.  President Trump was pushing for an expedited process of building permits so those who lost their homes could begin immediate reconstruction funded in large part by Billions of  Dollars in Federal Disaster Relief Money. 

Unsaid, but my impression was that the President was thinking that John Q. and Mary J. Citizen had a house lost in the fire and the City/County should “give” John Q. and Mary J. a new piece of paper authorizing them to rebuild what they lost in the fire.  My further impression was that, if my television resolution were a little better, I would have been able to see the looks of opportunity in the faces of these “Public Servants” as they envisioned the Billions of Federal Taxpayer Dollars being filtered through their “hands” so they could “harvest” a share of this money in Permit Fees, Impact Fees, Environmental Fees, Mitigation Fees, School  Fees, Drainage Fees, increased Property Taxes, etc., etc., ad nauseum.  

In plain Taxpayer terms, John Q. and Mary J. will be paying more,  in taxes and, if they have a mortgage, probably much more for a home like the one they had before the fire.  However, the City and County of Los Angeles will reap a great harvest in fees and increased property taxes.

Hard numbers are difficult to come by when it comes to Permit Fees (if you do an internet search have a lunch and calculator handy) but “new” residential construction in California begin with a paperwork fee of $5,000 to $7,000 and by the time you are shovel ready to build the total cost is in the $100,000 (or more) range just for the completed permit to let you build.  I have been told by knowledgeable sources that  the above number is even more in many areas.  Keep in mind that these permit fees are added to the “value” of the home for market and tax purposes and you will in fact be paying property taxes on the permit fees “forever”.  And you were wondering why housing in California is so expensive?

Couple the above with the fact that if any of these homeowners have lived for many years in their homes they were covered by California Proposition 13 which restricted Property Value Tax Increases to 1% per year if they maintained their property as it was when they bought it and the “State”/”County”/”Authorities” could not raise your tax rates just because home values have increased over the years.  To give you an example I will use someone whom I know well.  To protect his identity I will just call him “Bob”.  Bob bought his average residential 1,500 square foot home some thirty years ago for $110,000.  With Proposition 13 in place the County has increased the Property Tax Valuation of the property by 1% (accrual) a year and the County now values the Property at $174,000 for Tax Purposes.  If my friend, “Bob”, had done a major remodel or added on a room etc. it would have triggered a County Revaluation to current market value, lets say $440,000 and he would be paying property  taxes on the increased value.  If “Bob” sells his home the new buyer will pay taxes on the current market value.  If “Bob’s” house burns down and the Insurance Company rebuilds it then that triggers a new tax basis and the “County Revenuers” win again.  Similarly, folks in these fire ravaged areas, if they have lived there for a number of years, were being protected from property tax increases by Proposition 13.  Rebuilding now they lose that benefit and their tax rates will increase to current market values.

Soooooooo………..  You can see why the City, County and State can see the opportunity presented by the terrible losses from the fires as both a challenge and and opportunity.  A bonanza in Permits and Fees and as a bonus the increased Property Tax Base on the increase in value of the “New” Homes.  “NEVER LET A GOOD CRISIS GO TO WASTE”.

For another view of life in California living I am including below a link to an article I wrote some six years ago titled: 

CALIFORNIA’S “END AROUND” PROPERTY TAX HIKE

Still available at: https://www.stoppullingthewagon.com/?s=California%27s+end+around+property+tax 

Don’t you just love government and their ingenious ways to tax you?

Bob Bandy – February 2025

IT’S PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION DAY AND THE NEWS IS FILLED WITH PROMISED AND SPECULATED “FIRST DAY” DIRECTIVES FLOWING FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.

While I recognize the importance of many stated “Prime” “First Day” orders pending, I have my own vision of what I want to have first priority from the Trump Administration.  If I have one social agenda that I continually put forth, it is the protection of our nations most valuable asset……  our children.  I would like nothing more, or less, than a “Prime Directive” to come from the White House (as well as all State Government Capitols) to protect children from:

      1. So-called “Drag Queen” Pedophiles from performing in front of children.  Men who do this are nothing less than sexual predators and should be treated as such.

     2. Protect children from radical, activist “Trans-Gender” teachers and adults who want to groom and seduce children into sexuality and “gender choices”.  Children are not ready for adult choices and decision making. We do not allow them to drive cars, join the military, drink alcohol or vote for a reason.  Adults who try to steer them into radical lifestyle changes while still children through pharmaceutical or surgical (castration – mastectomies etc.) body changes are also predators and should be treated as such.  We have laws against Child Molestation and recruiting and grooming children for adult sexual decisions is no less damaging in my opinion.

The so called “Progressive” movement makes great claim to “following the science” but refuses to admit that on a medical, biological and scientific level you cannot change your gender.  You can “mess” with your plumbing but not your DNA.  So called Transgenderism is a mental and psychological condition, not a biological one. 

     3. We must stop trying to sexualize children.  Let them experience the joy and innocence of childhood and the early teen years.  Adult choices and responsibilities will come soon enough. 

I wrote an article some three plus years ago on this subject titled “Protecting The Most Vulnerable” and it is still true.  A copy of the article follows:

*****************************

PROTECTING THE MOST VULNERABLE

WE ALL HAVE THE OBLIGATION TO PROTECT THE MOST VULNERABLE AMONG US

I am sure there are some out there who are going to be angry with me for what I am writing.  That’s okay.  Be angry.  I am past angry, I am outraged with what I see is happening in some of our schools nationwide to the young, vulnerable and innocent youth of America.  Our children are more important than your opinion of me.

First, let me say that I am not a “Gay Basher”, I do not hate Gay People or other members of the LGBTQ community.  I have worked with, shared food with and respected many of this group for many years.

I am writing about the latest militant activist generation of this group coming out of our new “WOKE” Colleges and becoming “Educators” in our Grade Schools with an agenda to indoctrinate and recruit CHILDREN into the Gay and Transgender elements of our society.

We do not allow CHILDREN to buy guns, get drivers licenses, serve in the military, be doctors or work in dangerous jobs for a reason.  They are not mature enough to make life changing decisions about something they do not understand.  Children do not understand sexuality and fall easy prey to teachers whom they respect. 

What I am witnessing that has me so irate is what is happening in some of our schools with the youngest and most vulnerable of our children.  I am talking especially about little ones in the K-6th Grade.

There are many well documented reports:

• I have seen on television video clips of strident, militant LGBTQ Grade School Teachers bragging about how they love sharing their “orientation” with their grade school students.  “Teach them while they are young”.
• Giving children instruction on how to choose their own preferred pro-nouns and choice of sexual identity.
• Children in grades 3-6 being given graphic pictorial curriculum on sexual body parts and their functions – even reports of how to perform oral sex on one another.
• Giving CHILDREN the knowledge of full acceptance of all types of sex in the LGBTQ community. 
• Full support for those CHILDREN who decide they are Transgender and how to “transfer” to the sex of their choice.  In many locations the schools are making available the pharmaceuticals and other resources for CHILDREN, PRE-TEENS and EARLY TEENS to pursue these life changing decisions, often without parental consent.
• In many, many locations throughout America Schools are restricting or prohibiting parents from access to these curriculum or any parental rights to exclude their own child from these materials.
• A school is forced to permit a “suddenly” “Transgender” boy access to the girls Locker Room and Showers.

Are you angry yet?  Many people are very upset about what is happening but afraid of the power of those “pushing” this agenda, including Teachers Unions and the National LGBTQ Community.  Fear of being “Cancelled”, reprisals from employers, even government agencies that are in the “pockets” of the above powers.

We, me, you and all our fellow citizens and neighbors need to be (non-violently) pounding on the tables at School Board Meetings, writing, calling and challenging our elected leaders at all levels and speaking out boldly against this monstrous abuse of all our CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN, NEIGHBORS CHILDREN and all CHILDREN everywhere. 

The above is pure evil.  Our CHILDREN deserve to be children and play as children.  They must not be rushed into the world of adult sexuality and the adult decisions that come with it.

Children our our most treasured and vulnerable asset.  We must protect them.  Be angry with me if you wish.  Hate me if you wish.  But, if you agree that our children must be protected, please share your thoughts, copies of this and similar articles with your family, your neighbors, your School Board, Educators/Teachers,  your elected officials, anybody who will listen and help stop this madness.

For those readers of Faith – Pray for our Children.

Bob Bandy – January 2025

MY WAY TO REDUCE INFLATION

There is a “sure-fire” way to reduce inflation and it is guaranteed to work.  Greatly reduce or eliminate taxes and fees by “government” on those who produce the things we need to live our lives. From toothpaste to gasoline to laundry detergent to the electricity that runs our air conditioners.  Everything we need, want and buy for day to day living.  

Politicians don’t want to reduce or eliminate taxes on these businesses because they have spent years telling us these companies, producers and corporations need to pay their “fair share” of taxes.  They know but won’t admit that these companies, producers and corporations don’t pay taxes, their customers (that’s us) do.  Taxes are just another cost factor in production.  For a simple example, people in California have been educated by politicians that Pacific Gas and Electric Company must pay their “fair share” of taxes.  The company has one, and only one, source of revenue to pay these taxes.  Their customers.  They don’t have an orchard of money trees. 

The same principal applies to all of the other things we consume in our lives.  The more you tax the folks who provide what we need, the more it will cost the consumer.  This “corporate tax” is another cost of production and, in the end, the consumer pays the tax indirectly to the government.

At the risk of being redundant, whether building a house or producing a tube of toothpaste, if Cities, Counties, States or the Federal Government add a “permit” cost, a fee or a tax, and whether the cost is $100,000 on a home building permit or 7 Cents on a tube of toothpaste, the “Bean Counters” in Accounting see it as a cost of production and add it to the end price of the product being sold.  They have to pass on those taxes and fees by adding them into the end price of the “stuff” they produce and sell to consumers. 

A Business or Corporations that does not show a profit for those who invest in them goes out of business.  Some will say just tax their profits but we already do that when profits are paid out to those who own the business or shareholders are paid profits.

TAXING A BUSINESS OR CORPORATION IS JUST AN INDIRECT WAY OF TAXING CONSUMERS AND THE ONES WHO GET HURT THE MOST ARE THE WORKING POOR (EMPHASIS – WORKING).  IF POLITICIANS ARE SINCERELY INTERESTED IN CUTTING INFLATION THEY CAN DO SO EASILY BY CUTTING, OR ELIMINATING, TAXES AND FEES ON THE PRODUCERS OF ALL THE THINGS WE NEED TO LIVE – LIKE GROCERIES, GASOLINE, ENERGY, CLOTHING ETC. ETC. ETC. 

IT HAS BEEN MY OBSERVATION OVER THE YEARS THAT I HAVE NEVER SEEN SOMEBODY DEMANDING THAT “THEY” PAY THEIR “FAIR SHARE” REACHING FOR THEIR OWN WALLET OR CHECKBOOK

**********

To end on a lighter note, back in 2017 I wrote a satire piece about California’s never ending search for new taxes and fixation to combat Global Climate Change.  That article is reprinted below. Enjoy!

FAIR SHARE TAXES AND GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

November 2017

I have information from reliable but nameless and secret sources that the State of California is very near announcement of a two fold plan for a Fair Share Universal Tax to help fund the War on Global Climate Change.

First, in recognition that exhaling releases carbon dioxide gas which is a contributor to Global Climate Change,  every resident or visitor to the State of California will be required to have a micro chip implant that will both monitor and report each time they exhale to the State of California.

This data will be forwarded to the Franchise Tax Board who will calculate the tax due and be responsible for collecting the scheduled tax from “Breathers”.  At the time of this writing the tax rate being considered is one tenth of a cent per exhale.  This may seem  a paltry sum until one calculates that the average adult respiratory rate is about 15 times per minute or 900 times per hour.  Do a little math and the average cost of exhaling in California will be about 90 cents an hour or $21.60 a day.

This tax can be avoided by simply no longer exhaling and residents and visitors can take comfort in the fact that inhaling is still free.  At least for now.

For the Second phase of this battle consideration is being given to the fact that methane is also a contributor to Global Climate Change and it is the responsibility of all of us to pay our Fair Share Tax in the battle to monitor and reduce the release of this gas into California’s breathable air resources.

It is also a scientific fact that flatulence is a major contributor to the release of methane into the atmosphere. Therefore, California is creating a new agency to monitor and tax the unwanted release of this gas.  To fund this Board and its employees a new source of revenue will be created through the establishment of a Flatulence Air Resource Tax. (FARTax)

Under development is a new monitoring device to be worn by all residents and visitors on the rear upper portion of the thigh which will sense, tabulate and report to the Board all releases of methane gas by the wearer.

The Board will then forward this information to the California Franchise Tax Board who will be responsible for billing and collecting the approved tax.  At this writing a rate of $1.00 per release is under consideration.  Think of it as an exhaust gas tax.

Taxpayers can avoid this tax by simply not releasing any methane gas through the monitored process.

The State agency for this Board is reporting some difficulty in recruiting, hiring and training workers who will be responsible for checking and monitoring individuals at random to be sure they are wearing the methane release and sound monitoring device and that it is working properly.

Formal announcement of this new Fair Share Tax and implementation of monitoring should be released through the media within the next 60 days.

All tax rates are subject to review and increase depending on Battlefield Assessment Reports from the ongoing War against Global Climate Change and subject to review and correction by former Vice President Al Gore.

What could possibly go wrong?

Just for fun.

Bob Bandy – December 2024        

Gavin Newsom – California Governor

photo – California Globe

California Governor Newsom is an empty suit.  A man of huge ambitions and little moral fiber who is a champion and supporter of things like the mutilation of children in the name of “Gender Care” which destroys innocent young lives and families.   The former Mayor of San Francisco left that city, the Jewel of the Pacific Coast, in a degraded condition, filled with drugs, crime and failing businesses due to his mis-management.  He is now doing to California what he did to San Francisco and has delusions of himself in the Oval Office of the President of the United States. 

I am reprinting below excerpts from an article by Katy Grimes in the California Globe – November 26 – 2024.  She does a stellar job of outlining how our governor is turning once beautiful  and prosperous California into a Socialist State in ruins.  

********************

96.5% of New Jobs in California This Year Were Government Jobs – Apparently California is already a Socialist state

By Katy Grimes, November 26, 2024

While California Governor Gavin Newsom is traveling around the state gaslighting residents and the media about his purported successes, no one is doing business in the once Golden State. That’s because California is the only employer doing the hiring.

96.5% of new jobs in California this year were government jobs.

Is it any wonder so many people are fleeing the state?

Government jobs do not create wealth – they consume wealth and redistribute it because it is taxpayers who pay for all of it.

The Hoover Institution reported in August:

Between January 2022 and June 2024, employment in US private businesses increased by about 7.32 million jobs. Of these 7.32 million jobs, about 5,400 were jobs created in California businesses—representing about .07 percent of the US figure. Put differently, if California private-sector jobs grew at the same rate as in the rest of the country, they would have increased by over 970,000 during that period, about 180 times greater than the actual increase.

[Data is from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. For total jobs, see the data tool. The calculation for California private-sector jobs is derived from total jobs minus California government jobs.]

Apparently California is already a Socialist state.

There were just 5,460 private sector jobs in a state of 39 million people.

At the same time, hundreds of thousands of people have been leaving the state, while illegal aliens have moved in. But they are not producers – they are dependents – dependent on the government and taxpayers for support.

“Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it,” economist Thomas Sowell explained. “Despite a voluminous and often fervent literature on income distribution, the cold fact is that income is not distributed: It is earned.”

The Hoover Institution reported:

It is well known that California has been among the worst-performing states in the country in terms of job growth. But the latest statistics show that nearly all jobs that are being created in California are government jobs. Between January 2022 and June 2024, total California jobs grew by about 156,000, with government jobs accounting for 96.5 percent of that growth.

California’s job creation record has been even more dismal over the last 18 months. Since January 2023, private-sector employment in the state declined by over 46,000 workers. California’s private-sector job collapse is unprecedented, and with the state representing nearly 12 percent of the country’s population, it is a drag on the nation’s economy.

Part of California’s job weakness reflects the number of people and businesses leaving the state. California’s population declined by about 75,000 between 2022 and 2023 (the latest data available), and a number of business headquarters have departed.

******

The above excerpts are from Katy Grimes article in the California Globe – the complete article is available on their website which is located at: california globe.com.  Katy Grimes is an excellent journalist who does her “homework” in well researched, well written articles.  It is an honor to quote from her work.

*******************

As a native born Californian it saddens me to see what Governor Newsom has done to our once beautiful and prosperous state.  For my memories of what California was like in my early years here please visit my article at:

https://www.stoppullingthewagon.com/?s=journey+to+the+dark+side

or type:  journey to the dark side   in the search box in the left column of this home page

“And the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made”

(from “The Sound of Silence” – Paul Simon 1960)

Bob Bandy – December 2024