California is underwriting its grand progressive experiment with money produced by the very private-sector dynamism its politicians so often scold. The cash is pouring out of an artificial-intelligence boom centered in Silicon Valley, and Sacramento appears tempted to treat the windfall as proof that its governing model works. It does not.
California still offers the nation’s most visible homelessness crisis, crumbling infrastructure, scarce and ruinously expensive housing, high taxes, and a regulatory maze that sends businesses and residents looking for the exits. I voted with my feet and moved to Nevada a decade ago. Yet California can govern badly and remain rich because AI may create enough private wealth to keep financing public failure.
That is the paradox: AI is not vindicating progressive governance. It is bailing it out.
I spent more than three decades in Silicon Valley investing in technology and life-sciences companies. When a transformative technology arrives, the wealth it creates can swamp the assumptions that came before it. AI looks like one of those moments, and the wealth is already piling up in California.
In 2025, California companies captured 63% of all U.S. startup funding, according to Crunchbase. New York, the runner-up, received 11%. Among AI companies, California’s share of U.S. seed-through-growth funding was about 80%.
The San Francisco Bay Area alone raised roughly $122 billion in AI funding in 2025, more than three-quarters of the U.S. total. Bay Area companies also captured 45% of all U.S. seed funding, up from 33% in 2024 and 28% in 2023. People and businesses may be leaving California, but the capital financing America’s next technological revolution is somehow still moving toward the state that keeps warning capitalism to behave.
The fiscal payoff is simple. AI companies create equity value. Founders, employees, and investors realize capital gains. Engineers and researchers receive large compensation packages. Successful companies hire workers and buy goods and services. California taxes nearly every step, then calls the proceeds foresight.
The tax code makes the dependency worse. Sacramento leans heavily on personal-income taxes, and a disproportionate share of that revenue comes from high earners whose income includes stock compensation and capital gains. When Silicon Valley booms, the treasury fills fast — allowing politicians to mistake a cyclical jackpot for moral affirmation.
California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has already pointed to AI enthusiasm, rising technology stocks, and higher tech-sector compensation as important sources of recent income-tax strength. In its May 2026 fiscal update, the office raised its forecast for the state’s three largest taxes by roughly $25 billion across the budget window. Almost all of that improvement came from stronger personal-income-tax expectations — not from a sudden outbreak of competence in Sacramento.
This cycle is still young. Many AI companies will fail, but venture capital does not need every investment to work. A handful of exceptional companies can pay for a long list of disappointments. California needs only enough winners to generate extraordinary taxable wealth — and enough political restraint not to spend it as if the laws of markets have been repealed.
Silicon Valley’s advantage is not easy to copy. Northern California has the technical talent, universities, venture capital, experienced founders, lawyers, executives, investment bankers, and institutional memory needed to build and finance technology companies. Those networks took decades to develop, not one legislative session and a press conference.
But a technology boom is not a governing philosophy. AI will not clear homeless encampments, build housing, repair roads, or make public agencies competent. It may simply generate enough revenue to let California avoid those choices while expanding the government that failed to solve them.
The money will not arrive in a straight line. I lived through several technology and investment cycles. Markets overshoot. Valuations collapse. Capital moves. The internet changed the world; it did not repeal gravity.
California’s tax system magnifies both sides of the cycle. When technology stocks rise and high earners realize gains, revenue surges. When markets fall, the money vanishes quickly. Sacramento would be reckless to turn an AI windfall into permanent spending obligations, though recklessness has rarely needed much of an invitation.
The state should treat this moment as a narrow opportunity to repair its foundations. AI-generated revenue should go toward basic infrastructure, housing reform, public safety, and homelessness programs with measurable outcomes. California should also remove the regulatory barriers that punish the entrepreneurs, companies, and capital producing the windfall in the first place — a radical notion in a state that often treats wealth creation as suspicious until the tax bill arrives.
More money is not better government. Capital creates options; it does not guarantee results. Leadership, strategy, execution, and accountability still matter. Government deserves the same scrutiny investors apply to a management team entrusted with scarce resources — especially when the management team has already misplaced the basics.
California may be rich enough to survive bad government. That is not an argument for the California model. It is a measure of how much private ingenuity the model can squander and still demand applause.
The private sector is creating the wealth. Sacramento’s test is whether it can stop confusing a boom with competence and turn a temporary windfall into durable public results. If it cannot, California’s AI miracle will become the strangest of monuments: private genius underwriting public fantasy while the state’s most basic failures remain in plain sight.
***
Guy Paul Nohra is co-founder of Alta Partners, a leading Venture Capital firm in life sciences, funding over 150 companies in the healthcare/life sciences sector since 1996 through eight Venture Capital funds.

image_fb6b77c9

California Is Funding Its Wildest Dreams On Shaky Fiscal Ground

artificial intelligence

california

homelessness

opinion

silicon valley

state budget

California&#8217;s serial butt-sniffer has struck again — and police have once again placed him behind bars.
Calese Crowder, 39, is a registered sex offender who apparently gets a thrill from sneaking up behind unsuspecting women and smelling them — specifically, their posteriors. He was <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/31/us-news/californias-serial-butt-sniffer-accused-of-striking-again-as-disgusting-picture-emerges/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost">identified</a> on surveillance video from at least two Southern California stores on Friday, and police apprehended him a short time later.
The first call hit the Glendale Police Department around 3:30 p.m. local time, and cops were dispatched to a location in the 1500 block of Glenoaks Boulevard. The report indicated that a suspicious man had been seen crouching in the aisles, and police said that he appeared to be &#8220;sniffing someone out.&#8221;
Officers were just finishing up at that scene when they were called to another location in the same vicinity — and the report was almost exactly the same: a suspicious-looking man crouching in the aisles and appearing to smell people as they passed by him.
After reviewing surveillance footage from both locations, police identified Crowder. They were able to track him down a short distance from the second location and placed him under arrest for violating the conditions of his parole.
Crowder was previously arrested for a similar crime in 2025, when police caught him behaving strangely as he wandered around the women&#8217;s department at a Nordstrom Rack in Burbank&#8217;s Empire Center. Burbank police stated at the time that Crowder had been &#8220;engaging in lewd behavior by inappropriately sniffing her buttocks.&#8221;
At the time, Crowder was already on parole — for a number of similar charges dating back several years — and was charged with violating those conditions. He was ordered to serve 135 days in the Los Angeles County Jail — for that parole violation — in September of 2025.
In 2023, after a similar incident at a Barnes &amp; Noble, Crowder was arrested, and it was confirmed that he had failed to follow a court order to register with local police as a sex offender. At that time, a Fox News digital <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-barnes-noble-sniffer-arrested-again-failed-register-as-sex-offender">report</a> confirmed that he&#8217;d been arrested 43 times in Los Angeles County alone since 2005.
&#8220;As a component of a previous arrest and sentencing Crowder was ordered to register as a sex offender,&#8221; Glendale Police said at the time. &#8220;Glendale Police confirmed that he had not registered as a sex offender with our department and was in violation. He was arrested again today.&#8221;
Michaela Witter, who captured the Barnes &amp; Noble encounter and shared it to TikTok, blasted the system that allowed Crowder to be released just three days after his initial arrest: &#8220;Is this real? I think he maybe spent three days in jail … They can&#8217;t do anything until he&#8217;s done something really bad to someone, and I&#8217;m honestly scared that that person is gonna be me.&#8221;
Crowder is currently being held pending his next hearing.

Screenshot

‘Butt Sniffer’ Sex Offender Arrested Again After Blue State Keeps Letting Him Walk

California's Serial 'Butt-Sniffer' Arrested Again

calese crowder

crime

parole

sex offender registry

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is throwing her political weight behind San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in an effort to ensure that her longtime congressional seat goes to the Democrat of her choosing.
Pelosi <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/us/pelosi-connie-chan-congress.html">endorsed Chan</a> two weeks before California&#8217;s June primary, but it remains to be seen whether the long-serving Congresswoman&#8217;s influence will be enough to get her chosen successor across the finish line.
Because of California&#8217;s top-two primary system — in which the two candidates receiving the most votes advance to the general election regardless of party — Chan will face off against another Democrat in November: far-left state Sen. Scott Wiener.
Wiener has made no attempts to hide the fact that he was gunning for Pelosi&#8217;s seat. He had previously said he would not run for the seat until Pelosi announced her retirement, but jumped into the race last October before she announced that she would not seek another term.
That timing has fueled speculation in San Francisco political circles that Pelosi&#8217;s aggressive support for Chan is partly motivated by frustration with Wiener.
Others have suggested that Pelosi is backing Wiener&#8217;s opposition because his early campaign announcement undercut a possible run from Christine Pelosi for her mother&#8217;s seat. The younger Pelosi is currently running for Wiener&#8217;s seat in the state Senate, and her mother has voiced nothing but support.
&#8220;She wants to have her own path in California, which I love,” Pelosi said. “There was never any thought that she would run for my seat, although they like to use that because they don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Christine Pelosi, who is also backing Chan for Congress over Wiener, likewise denied any ill will between her family and Wiener: &#8220;With respect, some of us do things for positive reasons.&#8221;
Nancy Pelosi also denies any animosity toward Wiener over his early campaign launch, and says her primary reason for backing Chan is to ensure that women keep one more seat at the table: &#8220;Nobody knows Congress better than I do. Nobody. And I think she would be the best member of Congress.&#8221;
Pelosi discussed the race at a recent event celebrating the 106th anniversary of the 19th Amendment — which codified women&#8217;s suffrage — and explained that she supported Chan because she believed women were losing power and she wanted to reverse course.
But despite Pelosi&#8217;s reputation as a deal-maker and world-class fundraiser, her influence may not be enough to drum up the kind of money and support Chan will need.
Since declaring her candidacy last November, Chan has <a href="https://jweekly.com/2026/08/03/new-polls-find-race-between-wiener-and-chan-closer-than-ever/">raised</a> about $1.1 million. Wiener, in contrast, has pulled in more than $4.5 million.
Pelosi&#8217;s on-the-ground efforts don&#8217;t appear to have moved the needle either. Her attempts to get labor leader Dolores Huerta to endorse Chan — in addition to Wiener — fell flat.
Democratic power broker — and Esprit clothing company founder — Susie Tompkins Buell questioned why Pelosi was throwing her considerable political weight behind someone with so little legislative experience: &#8220;It’s not about any woman. It’s about the right woman. Connie Chan is a place where progress goes to die.&#8221;
Recent polling shows Chan <a href="https://jweekly.com/2026/08/03/new-polls-find-race-between-wiener-and-chan-closer-than-ever/">gaining ground</a>, but still lagging slightly behind Wiener.

Nancy Pelosi visit to Ireland

Nancy Pelosi’s Attempt To Pick Her Successor Isn’t Going As Planned

Nancy Pelosi's Attempt To Appoint A Successor Isn't Going To Plan

2026 midterm election

connie chan

nancy pelosi

politics

scott wiener

A bill designating Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as official California state holidays is nearing final passage, with the state Senate expected to vote before the legislative session ends this week.
<a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2017">Assembly Bill 2017,</a> authored by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) and co-authored by Sen. Aisha Wahab, would add the two Islamic holy days to California&#8217;s list of state holidays, allowing workers to use existing paid leave to take the days off. Public schools and community colleges could also choose to close for the observances under agreements with employee unions, and the measure creates a mandatory excused-absence category for students who miss school to observe Eid.
Eid al-Adha, translated as the &#8220;Festival of the Sacrifice,&#8221; traditionally involves the ritual slaughter of livestock — typically a sheep, goat, cow or camel — in commemoration of Ibrahim&#8217;s willingness to sacrifice his son. The meat is customarily divided among family and the needy, a practice known as &#8220;qurbani.&#8221; Eid al-Fitr, or the &#8220;Festival of Breaking the Fast,&#8221; falls at the end of Ramadan, the month in which observant Muslims abstain from food and drink between dawn and sunset.
The bill <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/california-lawmakers-push-make-muslim-holy-days-state-holidays-sparks-debate-school-neutrality">cleared</a> the Assembly by a 64-1 vote late in May and has since moved through Senate committee review. Haney, who introduced the legislation in March during Ramadan, has said the measure addresses a gap in state law affecting California&#8217;s roughly 500,000 Muslim residents.
&#8220;California is home to one of the largest and most vibrant Muslim communities in the country,&#8221; Haney said in a <a href="https://haney.asmdc.org/press-releases/20260312-new-california-bill-will-recognize-eid-official-state-holiday">press release</a> announcing the bill. &#8220;AB 2017 is about making sure Muslim Californians are seen, valued, and treated with the same dignity as every other community in our state.&#8221;
The legislation has drawn opposition over a provision authorizing the State Board of Education to develop optional curriculum for classroom activities marking the holidays. Greg Burt, vice president of the California Family Council, has argued the provision crosses a line from teaching about religion into promoting it, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/california-lawmakers-push-make-muslim-holy-days-state-holidays-sparks-debate-school-neutrality">telling</a> Fox News Digital the bill amounts to schools &#8220;encouraging the celebration of a religious holiday.&#8221; The council, which says it represents thousands of constituents and more than 2,000 churches statewide, has also questioned where te state would draw the line on recognizing additional religious holidays.
If signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha would join Diwali and Lunar New Year among community-specific holidays California has formally recognized in recent years. Because both holidays follow the Islamic lunar calendar, their dates shift each year on the Western calendar.

Eid al-Fitr Prayer in Silicon Valley of California

Blue State Moves To Recognize Islamic Holiday Celebrating Ritual Slaughter

eid al-adha

eid al-fitr

gavin newsom

matt haney

Pour one out for Pabst.
A truck carrying roughly 40,000 pounds of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer — more than 50,000 cans’ worth — has disappeared in Southern California, prompting Pabst to issue a public ultimatum to whoever took it.
The truck was last seen in Montclair, California, on August 17, when it was supposed to deliver its cargo to San Diego. Instead, the delivery never arrived. The shipment was <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/08/28/45000-worth-of-beer-and-a-semi-truck-went-missing-in-montclair-pbr-wants-your-help-to-find-it/">worth roughly $45,000</a>.
The haul included approximately 1,406 cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon and 196 cases of Old Milwaukee Non-Alcoholic Beer, according to Pabst in a statement to <a href="https://www.mensjournal.com/news/pabst-blue-ribbon-truck-carrying-40000-pounds-of-beer-stolen">Men’s Journal</a>. 
The apparent beer heist could be one of the largest of its kind ever reported. Pabst, however, isn&#8217;t leaving the matter entirely to police. The beer company took to Instagram to address the thief directly, offering what might be one of the most unusual bargains in the history of criminal investigations.
“To the thief: we don&#8217;t fault you for wanting to brag to your friends how much PBR you have, we just wish you obtained it the honorable way,” Pabst <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DcUyt9uG8Kd/?img_index=1">wrote</a>. “Pabst is officially starting the clock now — you have exactly 18 days and 44 minutes to return our truck, no questions asked,” the company said. “Leading up to that time, we will be offering a reward to anyone who can help us solve this mystery.” The company concluded its message with a warning: “P.s. this is real and we are deadly serious.”
Pabst later provided an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DccTaWnGXH0/?img_index=1">update</a> as the search continued. 
“Beer is getting warmer, trail is getting colder. Clock&#8217;s still ticking,” the company wrote.
Montclair police said the shipment disappeared after a subcontractor was scheduled to transport it from an Anheuser-Busch distribution center. A police report was filed, and authorities are working with Pabst to recover the truck and its cargo.
“We’re working with the local authorities to try and recover the stolen truck and are grateful for all their hard work,” a Pabst spokesperson told Men’s Journal. “We also appreciate all the individuals who have been sharing possible sightings of the truck.”
The company added one final request for the brew bandit: “We hope that whoever managed to steal our truck also knows the importance of keeping beer cold.” 
For now, however, the beer and the truck remain missing, and Pabst&#8217;s clock is ticking.

Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer

Pabst Warns Thief After Massive Beer Heist: The Clock Is Ticking

pabst blue ribbon

theft

Six Flags Magic Mountain quietly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-mystery-that-forced-six-flags-to-shut-down-popular-ride">shut down</a> one of its roller coasters without saying why, but a new investigation found that the coaster left riders with life-altering disabilities, at least one coma, and two deaths. 
According to CNN&#8217;s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/27/us/six-flags-rollercoaster-brain-injury-invs">review</a> of medical records, depositions, and legal filings, X2 is linked to more than a dozen serious injuries and hospitalizations since it opened in 2002. Originally named X, the ride was the world’s first “fourth-dimension” roller coaster. Its seats rotate a full 360 degrees independently of the track as the train travels at speeds of up to 76 miles per hour and plunges through a series of sudden drops.
X2, located in Valencia, California, has an average rating of 4.7 out of five stars from riders, but several negative reviews share a common complaint that the ride was enjoyable until its violent final moments. 
“Terrible, avoid this coaster,” one rider wrote. “It started off really fun until the last ‘raven drop,’ where it forces your head forward and then slams you back hard against the seat.” 
Another rider said, “The ride was fine until the last bit where it shakes you up. I felt like I was in a car wreck.” 
“I don’t know how this ride continues to operate,” another person added. “It seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen.”
The ride officially closed on July 12, after two riders suffered brain hemorrhages in less than a week. Doctors told CNN that the injuries observed were typically seen in patients after high-speed crashes, not after riding an amusement park ride. Three neurosurgeons who treated the women wrote in an email reviewed by CNN that the injuries were “the result of a traumatic rapid acceleration-deceleration event experienced while on the X2 ride.”
One of the women, 40-year-old Pamela Guillen, required emergency skull surgery after losing consciousness on the platform. Guillen immediately began vomiting after the ride, and paramedics said they found her unresponsive with her pupils looking “sluggish.” The other woman, 25-year-old Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, lost consciousness shortly after exiting the coaster and remains in a coma, according to her family.
But X2’s history of incidents predates this summer. In 2022, 22-year-old Christopher Hawley died less than 10 hours after riding X2, with a neurosurgeon comparing his injuries to “shaken baby syndrome.” Hawley rode the ride with his cousin and brother, and court records stated that the three of them were flipped around like “rag dolls.” When the three exited the ride, Hawley said he felt lightheaded and then slumped to the ground. CNN reported that Six Flags had received over 70 complaints involving head and neck injuries linked to X2 from 2019 to Hawley’s death. 
State regulators shut down the ride after Hawley’s death, but days later, it reopened. According to CNN, regulators did not interview witnesses or medical experts but relied on safety data provided by Six Flags. Twelve years before Hawley&#8217;s death, 28-year-old Hilda Farias died after riding the coaster. She had a preexisting brain abnormality when she rode the coaster. Farias’s family settled in court for an undisclosed amount. 
Six Flags has defended the ride in litigation by arguing that it warns people about the coaster&#8217;s “inherent risks” and that the physical forces involved are not strong enough to cause brain injuries in a “normal” rider. But not every expert agrees.
“I personally don’t think head injury should be an expected risk from going on a roller coaster ride, and there is no reason a ride can’t be properly designed to prevent injuries like this,” Lyndia Wu, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of British Columbia who studies roller coasters’ effects on the brain, told CNN.
Six Flags has not said when, or if, X2 will reopen.

Inside Six Flags Magic Mountain Amusement Park Ahead Of Earnings Figures

Terrifying ‘Fourth-Dimension’ Roller Coaster Led To Brain Surgery, Coma, And Death

amusement park injury

brain injury

roller coaster safety

six flags magic mountain

If you were to ask almost any Iowa family what they have noticed about digital entertainment or “the shows they watch,” they will say that even though there are more streaming services, there are fewer quality shows, and that what they are watching just gets more expensive. That’s what happens when one company gets too far out in front, and the companies chasing it are too small to catch up. In other words, not enough real competition means everyday Iowans — and everyday Americans — are paying more.
A successful Paramount-Warner Bros. merger would change that. Netflix <a href="https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/internet/streaming-stats/">dominates</a> the market for streaming. Paramount+ and HBO Max together are <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/what-a-combined-paramount-warner-would-mean-for-streaming-movies-and-news">smaller than Netflix, smaller than Disney, and smaller than Amazon</a>. The merger could create a company to compete: an estimated $6 billion in savings to reinvest, and a public commitment to release at least 30 movies in theaters every year. More movies mean more entertainment — and more competition means lower prices.
A commitment to release 30 films a year is a big deal. That means more real choice for the family deciding which subscription to keep and which to cancel; more entertainment for small-town theaters to put on the marquee; and even more work for the crews who build sets and run cameras. Iowans do not need an economist to explain that.
Now think about what California’s delay is doing. Beginning in October, Paramount is contractually obligated to pay Warner Bros. roughly $7 million a day for as long as this transaction sits in limbo, and the trial that 12 state attorneys general have engineered will not even start until March 2027. That money could have lowered streaming costs but instead is being burned on a lawsuit that federal antitrust enforcers and 68 regulators around the world already concluded was unnecessary.
The hard costs are only half of it. Two storied American companies are frozen. Warner Bros. cannot confidently green-light a film, upgrade its technology, or sign a long-term contract without knowing whether it will exist as an independent company next year. Paramount cannot execute its plans without a merger either. Employees cannot plan careers. And a movie that does not get made this year may never get made at all. Financing expires, talent moves on, and production slates are abandoned. No court ruling in 2027 can go back and produce the film that was never shot. And no Iowan will ever get to see that movie either.
So what exactly is California’s lawsuit protecting us from? The Department of Justice spent more than eight months turning over every stone and checking every stalk for blight. Career investigators reviewed more than 2 million documents and interviewed participants across the industry, including the competing bidders. State attorney general offices — including California’s — had access to that same record. The Department’s conclusion was that the merger will “<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/statement-department-justice-antitrust-division-closing-its-investigation-merger-paramount">increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, with benefits for American consumers and workers</a>.”
The Department examined this deal market by market and found a benefit in each one. In streaming, it concluded the combined firm is likely to increase competition by giving consumers “<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/statement-department-justice-antitrust-division-closing-its-investigation-merger-paramount">a more robust competitive alternative</a>” to the dominant players. In television, it found a market in steady decline from streaming pressure but still a robust competitive landscape, one this merger <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/statement-department-justice-antitrust-division-closing-its-investigation-merger-paramount">does not change</a>. In movies, it found <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/statement-department-justice-antitrust-division-closing-its-investigation-merger-paramount">competition intensifying</a> rather than shrinking, from Disney, Sony, Universal, Lionsgate, and Amazon’s MGM, from independents like A24 and Blumhouse, and from Netflix and Apple, which now make theatrical films of their own. More movies are being made, and more workers are being hired. That is the opposite of a monopoly problem.
Regulators on nearly every continent reached the same answer. The <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/es/ip_26_1663">European Commission</a> conducted its own extended review and cleared the deal. So did <a href="https://www.gurufocus.com/news/8924848/paramount-skydance-corporation-psky-advances-in-merger-with-warner-bros-discovery">Canada</a>, the <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/08/paramount-takeover-of-warner-bros-cleared-uk-1237027545/">United Kingdom</a>, <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/06/paramount-wbd-mergerl-clears-australia-1236952390/">Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/chinese-regulators-clear-paramount-skydance-warner-bros-discovery-merger-source-2026-06-17/">China</a>, and dozens more. California and its coalition of the unwilling find themselves more hostile to this pro-competition merger than Europe and China.
California argues that the Department of Justice waved this through as a political favor to Paramount’s owners. Then someone should explain how the Department managed to get approval in China, Europe, Canada, and the other 60-plus jurisdictions. When regulators in 68 jurisdictions with different laws, different politics, and no stake whatsoever in American elections all reach the same conclusion, the outlier is not the consensus. California is just dreaming up something radical.
That brings me to why Iowa is going to the Supreme Court of the United States rather than simply filing a brief in California.
On July 13, 12 states sued in a federal courthouse in San Francisco and, a week later, obtained an order halting a $110 billion transaction. That order does not stop at the California border. It reaches into Iowa, into all 38 states led by Republicans and Democrats alike that reviewed this deal and declined to challenge it. Iowa examined the same evidence and reached a different judgment: that this merger helps our economy and our citizens. Twelve states have overridden that judgment for the entire country, and Iowans never got a vote.
California is once again trying to be the country’s regulator. And once again California is defying common sense to raise costs around the country. That makes this a dispute between states, and the Constitution says those can <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1251">only be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court</a>. Iowa cannot sue California in a district court, because Congress said so. Intervening in California’s chosen forum raises the same problem — at least until the Supreme Court tells us whether it agrees with Congress that it is the only court that can hear this case. Without that ruling, we would be walking into a case filed by California before a judge with no authority to decide a controversy between states.
Just like California should keep its hands off America’s bacon, California needs to understand that it doesn’t get to decide what Americans can choose to watch or stream. If California believes a transaction that 68 regulators approved is nevertheless illegal, it is free to make that argument. But it should make it in the one court with the authority to bind all of us, and it should make it now, before the bill for the delay comes due.
***
Brenna Bird is the Attorney General of Iowa.

Several States Are Preparing Lawsuit To Challenge Paramount’s Purchase Of Warner Bros. Discovery

To Save American Movies, I’m Taking California To The Supreme Court

antitrust

paramount skydance

streaming

supreme court

warner bros discovery

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom offered unusually supportive praise for one of President Donald Trump&#8217;s signature policies, urging families to enroll their children in Trump Accounts.
“I am enthusiastic about encouraging people to get a Trump account,&#8221; Newsom said last week. &#8220;It’s one of the best things he’s done. Take advantage of this. It means something for your kid. We want to encourage everybody out there to take advantage of this program.”  
Newsom, one of Trump&#8217;s most outspoken political opponents, made the remarks in San Francisco as California celebrated one million children claiming accounts through CalKIDS, the state&#8217;s college savings program. California officials are encouraging families to combine benefits available through CalKIDS and the federal Trump accounts program.
&#8220;I&#8217;m pretty aggressive pushing back against Trump, but not on this,&#8221; Newsom <a href="https://abc7news.com/post/gov-gavin-newsom-urges-california-families-sign-trump-accounts-rare-bipartisan-moment/19715863/">told</a> ABC7. &#8220;This was one of the really outstanding things that this administration has done. And they deserve a lot of credit.&#8221;
Trump Accounts officially launched on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the United States. About 7 million children have already been <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/27/bessent-trump-account-signups-reach-7-million.html">enrolled</a>, with roughly one million additional sign-ups each month. 
Children under 18 with Social Security numbers are eligible for the tax-advantaged investment accounts. U.S. citizens born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, are also eligible for a one-time $1,000 contribution from the federal government. The program was established through Trump&#8217;s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 
According to White House<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Trump-Accounts-Give-the-Next-Generation-a-Jump-Start-on-Saving.pdf"> projections</a>, the $1,000 seed investment for a child born in 2026 could grow to about $5,800 by age 18 without any additional contributions. Under the administration&#8217;s maximum-contribution scenario, the account could grow to approximately $303,800 by that age.
By age 28, the account could reach about $18,100 without additional contributions or as much as $1.09 million under the maximum-contribution scenario, demonstrating the long-term power of<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-secret-weapon-that-will-supercharge-the-trump-accounts-for-newborns"> reinvesting earnings</a>. 
Parents, relatives, and others may contribute up to a combined $5,000 per year, with the limit indexed to inflation beginning after 2027. To encourage participation, the Trump administration also made qualifying employer contributions up to $2,500 tax-exempt. Employer contributions count toward the $5,000 annual limit.
When participants reach adulthood, the account converts to a traditional IRA, but withdrawals can be made without penalties for approved expenses, including college tuition, purchasing a home, or starting a business.
The Trump administration issued guidance in June <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-trump-administration-just-solved-a-problem-most-americans-never-think-about">allowing</a> state and tribal child welfare agencies to open and manage accounts on behalf of eligible children in foster care.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had called the program “the most important benefit for young people since the GI Bill.”

Donald Trump/Gavin Newsom

Gavin Newsom Gives Full-Throated Praise For Recent Trump Policy

donald trump

one big beautiful bill act

trump accounts

I was born and raised in Los Angeles and spent the first 60 years of my life in California, where I served in both Houses of the State Legislature and represented the state in Congress.
Ten years ago, I fled California for Arizona.
Many believe I moved mainly to pay lower taxes, which was a factor. Others assume that California’s restrictions on activities beyond theft, abortion, and illegal alien protection pushed me away. That also played a role in my decision.
But a third overlooked factor is that the government in Sacramento creates laws and regulations every year to make the cost of just about everything in California rise well above the costs in nearly every other state. They do this either in the name of “saving the planet” or “keeping us safe.”
Take the quintessentially American and California-specific car culture. What once defined the zeitgeist of a golden era in the Golden State has become nearly prohibitively expensive. It already has the highest gasoline prices in the country and consistently ranks in the top five for the highest car insurance rates. So, in order to make driving your own car more expensive (as opposed to riding on the multibillion-dollar train to nowhere), they have decided to double down and make tires more expensive as well.
The California Energy Commission, acting under a 2003 law, just passed new regulations requiring all tires sold in California to meet certain “low rolling resistance” standards starting in 2029. The standards get tighter every year until 2033. The idea is that low rolling resistance tires will save fuel and, therefore, carbon emissions, which will of course “save the planet.” Governor (and wannabe president) Gavin Newsom says that motorists will save $1 billion a year in fuel costs because of this regulation.
Let’s first give the proponents of this regulation their due. Low rolling resistance tires do exist. They do increase fuel mileage. They can have poor grip in wet conditions, but the regulation includes standards for having adequate grip on slick pavements. The regulation also exempts certain tires, including snow and off-road tires.
Fine. But let’s dig deeper.
The regulation will make 70% of all tires currently sold in the state illegal. Seventy percent.
According to the regulation’s proponents, the most common car to get a replacement tire in California is a 2017 Honda Civic. The commission itself acknowledges that only half of the tires currently in the correct size for this car meet the 2029 standards, and none meet the 2033 standard. The average price for those currently marketed as “low rolling resistance” is $629.48 for a set of 4 tires. The average price for all of the tires in this size category is $325.20 for that same set of 4 tires. So the person getting a new set of tires on their nine-year-old car will pay over $300 more, assuming compliant tires are even available. This analysis also doesn&#8217;t include price increases when choice shrinks starting in 2029.
When people on the Left raise the cost of something, like taxes, they assume people will just gladly pay it and move on. But real people don’t do that. They look for a way to not spend an extra $300 on nothing. What will they do? They can buy used tires coming in from other states because the regulation only covers new tires. These tires will be cheaper, but they’ll have less tread, be older, and pose a safety risk. It will be illegal to buy non-compliant tires in California, but not illegal to install them. So, a gray or black market for non-compliant tires will form. Or, drive to Las Vegas for the weekend and get new tires that are $300 cheaper while you are there, costing jobs in California and causing the state to lose sales tax revenue as well. Or, just keep driving your old tires longer until they fail.
As far as the claims about fuel savings, they are about as accurate as Newsom’s estimates of the cost of the bullet train. Low rolling resistance tires only save fuel when traveling at high sustained speeds. Have you even driven in L.A. or San Francisco? In stop-and-go traffic or on surface streets with lots of signals, there is no savings. That is where most driving occurs.
Leftists are always talking about “income inequality.” What they conveniently ignore is that the income inequality in California and New York is much worse than in red states like Texas and Tennessee. Why? Because of laws like this one. The person in their nine-year-old Honda Civic is going to pay $300 more for their tires. But the Beverly Hills leftist will have no restrictions on tires for their Bentley, because low-volume cars like Bentleys are exempt from the regulation. No limousine leftist in Sacramento feels they need to live by the laws they impose on everyone else.
However, as average Californians suffer under the burdensome costs of another new regulation, there is one thing they can know. They will help offset perhaps a second or two of China’s carbon emissions each year.
So clearly, it’s all worthwhile.
***
John Campbell was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He is a Certified Public Accountant, businessman, and former member of Congress who served from 2005 to 2015. He also has a 25-year career in the retail automotive industry, progressing from Corporate Controller to owner/operator and dealer principal, and represented 15 franchises during his career.

1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu Hardtop

The Road To Hell Is Paved With The Golden State’s New Tire Regulations

california energy commission

cost of living

tire regulation

California Democrats are under fire after revealing that the state does not track noncitizens on its voter rolls, raising serious questions about compliance with federal standards.
The disclosure comes alongside findings from a Department of Homeland Security review that flagged roughly 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote across California, triggering calls for immediate roll cleanups.
&#8220;According to a DHS review of state voter rolls and public records, they identified approximately 278,000 non-citizens who are registered to vote in federal elections,&#8221; the White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/election-integrity/?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=ncl_amplify&amp;utm_campaign=260818-icymi_california_admits_it_doesnt_track_noncitizens_on_voter_rolls_as_federal_law_requires&amp;utm_content=ncl-9v8BuAUBN3&amp;utm_term=&amp;_nlid=9v8BuAUBN3&amp;_nhids=ncM4MFZBmTEXyls">stated</a>. &#8220;Since Democrat states refused to share their voter files, the real number is actually much higher — yet even this limited analysis found more than a quarter of a million foreigners illegally registered to vote. Put together, these disclosures reveal an election system so broken and vulnerable that no one can possibly defend it.&#8221;
Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2026/08/17/california-admits-it-doesnt-track-noncitizens-on-voter-rolls-as-federal-law-requires/?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=ncl_amplify&amp;utm_campaign=260818-icymi_california_admits_it_doesnt_track_noncitizens_on_voter_rolls_as_federal_law_requires&amp;utm_content=ncl-FZ9z3crAdY&amp;utm_term=&amp;_nlid=FZ9z3crAdY&amp;_nhids=ncM4MFZBmTEXyls">reported</a> that his organization submitted public records requests seeking details on state efforts to safeguard voter rolls. The California Secretary of State’s Office responded that its central registration system does not maintain a specific category or reason for cancelations based on non-citizenship.
State officials noted that applicants must sign a document of eligibility under penalty of perjury when registering. But without serious tracking of potential noncitizen removals, it is difficult to see if those safeguards are working.
A different inquiry directed to the California Department of Justice about procedures for investigating referrals of possible illegal voting left some unanswered questions. California DOJ officials reported having no formal written policy listing standard procedures for managing or processing those referrals once they got them.
“California’s own Department of Justice — the agency charged with enforcing the state’s election laws — has no written policy for what happens when someone reports illegal voting. Not redacted. Not withheld. Nonexistent,” Sekulow wrote.
The National Voter Registration Act requires states to maintain and make publicly available their efforts to ensure roll accuracy for at least two years. A real problem is that driver’s licenses issued in California under state programs like AB 60, which don’t require proof of legal presence, can be used for personal identification.

California Residents Vote In Primary Election

California Dems Face Scrutiny After Troubling Revelation On Noncitizen Voters

department of homeland security

election integrity

noncitizen voting

voter roll

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) is officially under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations of sexual misconduct, making him the latest California Democrat to face scrutiny as a series of scandals continues to roil Congress.
The bipartisan Ethics Committee announced Monday that it is reviewing allegations that Gomez “may have engaged in sexual misconduct” in violation of the House Code of Official Conduct, including “inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer.” The committee cautioned that an investigation does not itself establish that Gomez violated any law or House rule. “No other public comment will be made on this matter except in accordance with Committee rules,” the committee said.
The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/04/18/us-news/rep-jimmy-gomez-friend-of-of-eric-swalwell-accused-of-kissing-staffer/">reported in April</a> that Gomez had been seen kissing a much younger congressional aide in the backyard of then-Rep. Eric Swalwell’s Washington residence in August 2023. Gomez, 51, acknowledged in June that he had engaged in extramarital conduct but insisted that his actions were consensual and did not violate the law or House ethics rules.
“Years ago, I made personal mistakes outside my marriage that have caused real pain to my wife and family,” Gomez wrote in a statement to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/02/politics/jimmy-gomez-house-ethics-investigation">CNN</a>. “Although my actions were consensual in nature and haven’t violated the law or House ethics rules, that doesn’t diminish the impact that these mistakes have made on those I care about the most.”
“I take full responsibility and have committed myself to working through the pain privately with my wife and family,” Gomez added. “I sought professional assistance to help re-center and heal my relationships and move forward with honesty, transparency and respect.”
Gomez said Monday that he would cooperate with the Ethics Committee investigation. The panel specifically cited an allegation involving “inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer,” though it did not provide further details.
Gomez remains on the ballot for reelection in California&#8217;s 34th Congressional District. He advanced through the state&#8217;s top-two primary earlier this year and will face far-left Democrat Angela Gonzales-Torres in November.
The investigation comes during an unusually turbulent year for congressional ethics and sexual misconduct allegations. Two lawmakers, including California Democrat Eric Swalwell, have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/eric-swalwell-to-resign-from-congress-over-sexual-misconduct-scandal">resigned</a> from Congress this year amid sexual misconduct allegations. Swalwell has denied wrongdoing. Swalwell&#8217;s departure is particularly notable in the context of Gomez&#8217;s case because the alleged 2023 encounter involving Gomez occurred at Swalwell&#8217;s Washington residence.
The Ethics Committee has also recommended that Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-congressman-faces-censure-over-beyond-inappropriate-treatment-of-staffers">be censured</a> after finding that he violated House rules involving sexual harassment and created a hostile work environment. Edwards subsequently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/republican-ends-re-election-bid-after-report-on-beyond-inappropriate-behavior">abandoned his reelection</a> campaign and has denied wrongdoing.
The House has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/as-congress-returns-one-question-looms-which-house-members-could-face-expulsion">considering broader changes</a> to its rules governing relationships between lawmakers and congressional staff. Current House rules do not categorically prohibit members from engaging in romantic or sexual relationships with staffers who work for other members, although a bipartisan congressional task force is considering whether such relationships should be prohibited.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/07/21/congress/speaker-backs-ban-on-members-dating-staff-01006175">endorsed a broader ban</a>, saying that sexual relationships between lawmakers and congressional staffers are inappropriate in a workplace.
For now, the committee has not determined that Gomez violated House rules, and Gomez maintains that his conduct did not constitute an ethics violation.

House Lawmakers Work On Final Passage Of Signature Budget Bill

Another California Democrat Hit With Sexual Assault Claims

eric swalwell

house ethics committee

jimmy gomez

sexual misconduct allegation

A Los Angeles judge showed surprising leniency to an ex-con who shot and hit an LAPD helicopter with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle, explaining that while the dangerous stunt demanded prison time, the crime stemmed from drug abuse and the shooter was very polite while defending himself in court.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo sentenced Douglass Byers to 12 years and eight months behind bars, rejecting prosecutors&#8217; demands for a 41-year sentence. The judge exercised her authority to throw out severe firearm enhancements, according to <a href="https://mynewsla.com/crime/2026/08/11/man-convicted-of-shooting-at-lapd-helicopter-sentenced-to-prison">MyNewsLA.com</a>.
The wild August 2025 incident <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-03-12/lapd-helicopter-shooting-trial">unfolded</a> when South L.A. residents dialed 911 over a barrage of gunfire behind a home Byers shared with his mother. Arriving officers discovered an AR-15 assault rifle, mock firearms, and 18 shell casings scattered around the property.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
An ex con convicted of using an AR-15 to shoot and hit a LAPD helicopter w/ two officers in it last year has been sentenced to just under 13 years in prison instead of 41 years asked for by the prosecution after the judge said the defendant had acted friendly during the trial,…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) <a href="https://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/2087671585377550431?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Though police initially handcuffed Byers for negligent discharge, a post-flight inspection of an LAPD helicopter circling above revealed something far more terrifying: a high-powered bullet had punched straight through the aircraft&#8217;s tail section.
Authorities realized the round slammed within inches of vital control gear. Had the shot landed mere moments before, the chopper could have plunged into the crowded neighborhood below, putting the pilot, tactical officer, and residents in deadly peril.
Forensic teams linked the recovered casings directly to the rifle stashed in Byers’ shed. The trigger-happy felon later admitted he bought the weapon out of state and smuggled it back to California on a train, insisting he only fired it during holiday celebrations. His mother told investigators he was suffering from illness and deep paranoia leading up to the shooting, while Byers himself admitted to knocking back tequila, smoking marijuana, and using methamphetamine around the time of the chaos.
Despite facing overwhelming evidence, Byers maintained his innocence at trial, claiming he was simply too drunk to make such a shot and insisting he held no grudge against law enforcement. A jury saw right through the story, convicting him in less than an hour on charges of assault on a peace officer and firearm possession by a felon.
Prosecutor Eric Siddall vented his frustration after the sentencing, arguing that a convict who committed perjury and nearly slaughtered two officers deserved a far harsher reckoning.
But Judge Escobedo’s soft spot for the polite, self-representing gunman ensured Byers will serve only part of the maximum punishment.

Missouri State v USC

Judge Cuts Sentence by Decades For ‘Respectful’ Felon Who Shot LAPD Helicopter

gun violence

lapd

los angeles

sentencing

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