The Atlantic has just published a status report on the California #Resistance and its battle with the White House.
From the moment Donald Trump took office, California has been ground zero for the resistance against him and his administration, in terms of both grassroots citizen activism and legal and administrative action by its Democratic-dominated state government. But since the inauguration of Governor Gavin Newsom in January, the Golden State has often seemed to be in a state of total war with the White House.…The latest flash point in the long-running battle between Sacramento and Washington, D.C., is Trump’s recent cancellation of nearly $1 billion in federal transportation grants for California’s long-stalled high-speed-rail project, after Newsom infelicitously suggested in his State of the State speech last month that he would abandon the most ambitious goal of the project, linking San Francisco and Los Angeles. Newsom later insisted he’d been misunderstood and only intended to say he would focus first on a route through the state’s Central Valley, from Merced to Bakersfield. But Newsom’s announcement was excuse enough for Trump to withhold further funds for the project, and seek to claw back the $2.5 billion already spent.“Whole project is a ‘green’ disaster,” Trump tweeted, while Newsom promptly rejoined, “Fake news,” adding, “This is CA’s money … we’re not giving it back.” In succeeding days, Newsom’s Twitter account went on to accuse Trump of “manufacturing a crisis” at the border and “declaring a made up ‘national emergency’ in order to seize power.” He added: “Our message to the White House is simple: CA will see you in court.” Still later, Newsom added, “Instead of fighting the actual threats facing Americans, the President has chosen to undermine our Constitution and fan the flames of nativism & xenophobia. This is not a ‘national emergency.’ It’s a national disgrace.”
This warfare has real-world consequences for the state. Since our state Attorney General Xavier Becerra has filed over 40 lawsuits against the Trump, he hasn’t kept up with the more traditional duties of this office….like making sure the state laws are followed.
California’s backlog of criminals illegally in possession of firearms has grown to a record level, a report released by Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Friday shows.The report found there are now a record 23,222 people the state has identified in the Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS). These are generally people California identified as those who previously purchased firearms legally before committing a crime or being subject to a restraining order that made it illegal for them to possess firearms. The people flagged by the automated system, the only one of its kind in the United States, are referred to the Bureau of Firearms within the California Department of Justice. The bureau is tasked to ensure these individuals haven’t illegally retained possession of their previously owned firearms.The report, however, shows the backlog of those potentially holding onto their firearms illegally has grown nearly every year since the system was created in 2006 despite a slight dip after funding was increased in 2013.
The two years of political warfare has consequences. As a result of the skewed priorities and lack of concern for legal citizens, many Californians are are moving to Nevada, Idaho, and Utah to escape. One Nevada town’s population has skyrocketed because of the California refugees.
Fifty-six percent of new arrivals in Henderson between 2013 and 2017 were from California, according to Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles data. Home sales in many of the city’s master-planned communities have been dominated by migrants from the West.At the 1,300-acre MacDonald Highlands in the dusty bluffs overlooking Las Vegas, Californians accounted for about 70% of purchases in 2018, compared with 30% 20 years ago, said Rich MacDonald, the developer. He said he began increasing the share of his marketing targeting Californians over the past three years after seeing the run-up in housing costs there.
Personally, I am counting down the days when I can join other refugees from California.
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