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California Tag

The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) authority has decided not to release surveillance videos of robberies occurring at BART stations for fear they videos might incite racism. People have begun to fear for their safety due to the numerous crimes, but fears of stereotyping have taken priority with BART officials.

More than forty wildfires are raging across the western U.S., fueled by high temperatures and dry conditions.
The National Weather Service early on Monday issued red flag warnings, signaling critical conditions over the next 24 hours, for regions in at least six states. In some areas, firefighters have been battling fires for a week, trying to keep them from spreading across roads and churning through dry vegetation near populated areas.

Failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's defeat last November finally brought attention to what has happened slowly since 2010: Democrats are not only slipping at the national level but also the state level. At first, people focused anger on President Donald Trump and Republicans, but that has changed in Democrat-friendly California. The tipping point this month happened when the state assembly decided to shelve a universal health care bill. Activists stormed the capitol and even sent death threats to legislators.

As President Donald Trump continues his second international trip this week, it appears G20 climate change proponents are faltering at their attempts to isolate him after the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord.
“Huge efforts are underway now to make sure as many countries as possible hold the line and compensate for America’s withdrawal by redoubling their efforts. How far this goes, I have my doubts,” said Dennis Snower, president of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a leading German think tank advising the European Commission ahead of the summit meeting.

I have long joked about the negative feelings that Californians inspire among citizens in the remaining 49 states. However, new arrivals to Portland, Oregon were the victims of something more than a joke. Their home and auto were the target of a graffiti attack that told them to return to the Golden State.
A couple from California, who relocated to Portland 4 months ago, woke up Sunday to find their car and house vandalized.

Yesterday, we reported that the U.S. House of Representatives passed Kate’s Law (increasing penalties for illegal immigrants who keep trying to re-enter the United States) and another that denies federal grants to sanctuary cities. The need for such federal intervention was promptly highlighted after news of a six-figure settlement between the "sancturary city" of San Francisco and an illegal immigrant was released:

In February, California decided to ban state-funded travel to Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee after officials deemed laws in these states discriminate against the LGBT community. California has now added Texas, Alabama, South Dakota, and Kentucky to that list for the same reasons.

Legal Insurrection readers may remember my post on a launch of a California recall effort to remove state Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), who voted for the $52 billion road repair package, paid for by fuel taxes and registration fees, just four months after he took office. Unhappy that their super-majority status is in jeopardy, Democratic politicians in Sacramento inserted language into a bill for a veteran's cemetery that would kick a recall vote into the next general election.
Over impassioned objections from GOP lawmakers, California Democrats on Thursday used a budget maneuver to help out a freshman colleague, Sen. Josh Newman, who faces an ugly recall battle in Southern California after voting for increasing the state’s gas tax six months after he was elected.

This weekend, I recounted the astonishing immaturity of California's junior U.S. Senator Kamala Harris during several hearings in which she participated. However, our state's senior U.S. Senator, Dianne Feinstein, may be attempting to salvage some of California's former reputation of producing serious politicians. Feinstein recently stated that perhaps the time has come to look into Comey’s testimony that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch asked him to minimize the nature of his investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

California's Bay Area is is a technological capital of this country, where thousands of highly trained computer and engineering professions strive to created the latest digital and mechanized wonders. In a move so rich with irony that the Russians are looking for mining rights, San Francisco politicians are mulling a ban on one of the most recent creations: Delivery robots.

On Thursday, President Trump announced the great news that he is withdrawing the U. S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, and the response across the internet was predictable.  On Friday, dozens of states and cities announced that they had established a "United States Climate Alliance" to meet the U. S.'s commitment without Washington. Thus far, the California-led effort seems focused on lowering carbon emissions and not on the government's financial commitments. The Los Angeles Times reports:
President Trump may be quitting the Paris accord on climate change — but forcing the rest of the nation to go along with him is proving more of a challenge. Led by California, dozens of states and cities across the country responded Friday to Trump’s attack on the worldwide agreement by vowing to fulfill the U.S. commitment without Washington — a goal that is not out of reach.

I have been following the aftermath of the California legislature's massive gas tax hike, which is slated to be implemented in January. The Democratic Party supermajority swore up-and-down that the new funds would totally go to road repair and the essential infrastructure maintenance that this state desperately needs. The skeptical among us, recognizing that the state is facing an epic pension fund shortfall, suspected that the politicians were offering #AlternativeFacts.

The last time we ran an "insanity check" on the state of California, our state's legislators were laying out plans for a single-payer healthcare system. Subsequently, the state's money crunchers processed the numbers and the price tag is twice the state's annual budget!
Creating a single-payer health care system in California would cost $400 billion a year — including $200 billion in new tax revenue, according to an analysis of legislation released Monday by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The anti-Trump fervor we've been documenting is not limited to college campuses, the mainstream media, and well-organized and -funded leftist organizations.  The unhinged hatred for our president most recently manifested at California's Democratic Party Convention where its chairman, John Burton, raised his middle finger and lead a chant of “F*%! Donald Trump." The Sacramento Bee reports:
The anti-Trump fervor at California’s Democratic Party convention this weekend can be summarized in choice words from outgoing chair of the California Democratic Party, John Burton: “F*%! Donald Trump.”

The last time we checked on Crazy California, many of its taxpayers were rebelling against the legislature-created gas tax and were mounting a recall challenge against one of the Democrats who made that hike possible. During a speech in Orange County earlier this month, and in response to taxpayers angered by the massive increase and those who are supporting the recall of State Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, Governor Jerry Brown had this to say (hat tip, conservative pundit Kira Davis):
“The freeloaders — I’ve had enough of them,” Brown said, adding that the approved tax and fee hikes bring those charges to the level they were 30 years ago if adjusted for inflation. “They have a president that doesn’t tell the truth and they’re following suit.”