An Army veteran is running a California surrogacy agency that facilitates wealthy Chinese nationals having children through American surrogates — with the resulting babies obtaining U.S. citizenship at birth.
Haotian Bai, a 37-year-old U.S. Army veteran and founder of the Irvine-based Patriot Conceptions, has built a business connecting intended parents with American surrogates and egg donors. According to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/21/us-news/meet-the-us-army-vet-running-a-california-baby-factory-for-chinese-nationals-to-have-american-kids/">New York Post</a>, a substantial share of the agency’s international clientele comes from China, where surrogacy is prohibited domestically.
The arrangement has drawn new scrutiny after a California surrogate identified as “Judy” discovered she was carrying a child intended for Chinese billionaire Xu Bo, who has reportedly fathered more than 100 children through U.S. surrogacy arrangements.
Judy told <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/projects/2026/surrogacy-abuse/">CBS News</a> she had responded to an Instagram advertisement offering $120,000 to become a surrogate. She said Patriot Conceptions told her the intended parent was a single father seeking to expand his family, and that when she asked how many surrogates he had hired, she was told the number was close to two dozen.
Leaked documents obtained by CBS identified Xu as the intended father. Judy said she repeatedly asked to meet him but never did. “I feel blindsided. I feel misled,” Judy told CBS.
Patriot Conceptions said it facilitated the surrogacy journey but was not Xu’s only agency. In a statement, Bai said the surrogate’s concerns deserved to be taken seriously. The company has disputed aspects of CBS’s reporting about its role in the arrangement.
The case has brought attention to a largely unregulated international surrogacy market that has grown rapidly in the United States.
A <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10978240/">2024 study</a> by researchers at Emory University found that international intended parents accounted for nearly 40% of U.S. gestational-carrier cycles by 2019. From 2014 through 2020, 41.7% of international intended parents in the study were from China, making Chinese nationals the largest group among international clients.
The demand has been especially concentrated in California. The Emory researchers found that nearly 65% of gestational-carrier cycles involving international intended parents from 2014 through 2020 took place at California clinics.
The <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/chinese-billionaires-surrogacy-pregnancy-7fdfc0c3">Wall Street Journal</a> reported in December 2025 that wealthy Chinese clients have increasingly used American surrogacy services to have children despite commercial surrogacy being illegal in China. The Journal described a growing industry of American fertility clinics, surrogacy agencies, attorneys, and other businesses serving Chinese clients who want children born in the United States.
Some wealthy Chinese clients have sought unusually large numbers of children. Xu, the billionaire at the center of the latest controversy, told a Los Angeles judge in 2023 that he hoped to have roughly 20 U.S.-born children through surrogacy, according to people who attended the confidential hearing described by the Journal. The judge reportedly rejected his petition for parental rights at the time.
Xu has subsequently been reported to have more than 100 children born through U.S. surrogates. He has disputed the larger estimates, <a href="https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20251217A071X200">saying</a> he has custody of 12 children born through U.S. surrogacy, though his company <a href="https://www.ibtimes.com.au/california-surrogate-xu-bo-pregnancy-identity-1875576">acknowledged</a> after the Journal&#8217;s reporting that the effort had produced &#8220;a little over 100&#8221; children. His former partner, Tang Jing, who is in a custody and financial dispute with him in China, has claimed he may have as many as 300.
The legal appeal of American surrogacy for foreign nationals is partly tied to birthright citizenship. In June, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-rules-against-trump-in-birthright-citizenship-case">Supreme Court rejected</a> President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship for children born to parents who were unlawfully or temporarily present in the country. The court held that Trump’s executive order violated the 14th Amendment.
That ruling did not specifically address children born through surrogacy, but the broader citizenship rule remains a significant part of the international fertility market described by the Journal and Post.
Bai has openly promoted Patriot Conceptions as an international business. In a <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/co/good-company/growth-studio/patriot-conceptions-tech-transformations">2025 profile</a> published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Bai said international clients accounted for 40% of the company’s business. The company says it has expanded internationally through partnerships with clinics and legal professionals.
According to the Chamber, Patriot Conceptions was founded in 2019. Bai previously founded Pacific Surrogacy, another California-based surrogacy company. 
Before entering the surrogacy industry, Bai lived in Hawaii. The Post reported that he helped arrange Chinese student internships in the Hawaii state legislature, a program later shut down amid allegations about how the students were placed and housed.
Former Hawaii state Rep. Matthew LoPresti, a Democrat, told the Post that he was concerned about students appearing in his office without his request, particularly because his office had been involved in sensitive military and intelligence matters. The Post reported that Bai denied selling the internships and faced no charges over the episode.
The surrogacy controversy comes as CBS has documented broader concerns about the industry&#8217;s lack of oversight. In a yearlong investigation, CBS interviewed dozens of surrogates and reported cases involving foreign intended parents, multiple simultaneous surrogacies, and disputes over compensation and disclosure.

U.S. Secretary Of State Antony Blinken Visits Shanghai

California Surrogacy Agencies Cash In On Wealthy Chinese Demand

birthright citizenship

california

china

immigration

surrogacy

With a costly October 1 deadline days away, Paramount Skydance’s threat to leave Los Angeles may be tabled for now. 
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/media/paramount-discussed-1-5-billion-california-investment-to-clear-merger-hurdle-ebe9f59b">reported late Sunday</a> that the studio made a series of concessions to the coalition of blue states suing to stop the $110 billion merger that could at last bring their volatile negotiations to an end. Among Paramount’s offers are a $1.5 billion investment in California production, the sale of several cable channels, the establishment of an oversight board to protect CNN&#8217;s editorial independence, and an agreement to pay penalties if Paramount fails to make 30 movies a year.
The parties appeared close to reaching an agreement late last week after the studio reportedly told California officials that a deposit had already been put down on moving trucks. According to <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/paramount-karen-bass-leaving-california-1236864828/">Variety</a>, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who had spent weeks accusing Paramount of trying to “blackmail” regulators with the relocation threat, softened his stance at the urging of Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom. On September 20, however, the alliance of 12 states divided into competing camps when New York Attorney General Letitia James demanded further concessions.
James received <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/19/business/mark-ruffalo-urges-california-ag-rob-bonta-to-reject-paramount-warner-merger-settlement/">outside support</a> from celebrities like Mark Ruffalo, whose involvement also comes amid his separate feud with Paramount over his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-mark-ruffalo-swapped-the-avengers-for-antisemitism">antisemitic remarks</a>. As one of the most prominent voices in a group calling itself the “Block the Merger Coalition,” the actor posted multiple social media statements urging Bonta not to “cave” and called on supporters to protest outside Bonta’s office. If a deal is not reached by October 1, Paramount will have to pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders a $7 million daily ticking fee for every day the transaction remains incomplete, further incentivizing a move.
The sticking point comes down to CBS, CNN, HBO, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and rights to NFL games coming under one corporate roof. In July, after the Trump administration approved the deal, Bonta and 11 other states filed suit to block it, arguing that the combined company would have enough market power to raise prices and weaken competition in the entertainment industry. The Writers Guild of America also sued, claiming further consolidation would reduce pay and worsen working conditions for writers. CEO David Ellison has argued that the merger is necessary to build a company capable of competing with other streaming giants like Netflix and Disney as traditional television continues to lose audience share.
According to <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/09/17/paramounts-nashville-overture-01081617">Politico</a> and <a href="https://pagesix.com/2026/08/12/hollywood/how-paramount-has-been-building-roadmap-for-seismic-move-from-calif-for-years-larry-ellison-has-one-foot-out-the-door/">Page Six</a>, many Paramount staffers are privately enthusiastic about the prospect of relocation, citing lower housing costs, cheaper gas, and the absence of state income taxes in Tennessee and Texas. One executive estimated that relocating would allow him to keep another $133,000 of a $1 million annual salary, and former Los Angeles news anchor Jeff Vaughn <a href="https://x.com/JeffVaughn/status/2099368903038394613">said</a> several employees have told Paramount execs, “Take us with you.”
Though Paramount has not formally announced it will abandon the Hollywood lot that has been its home for nearly a century, Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee have all been mentioned as possible new headquarters. And the company has reportedly been spotted exploring roughly 400,000 square feet of office space in Nashville. If one of the industry’s biggest studios does follow through on its relocation threat, it will be another blow to a state already contending with empty soundstages, shrinking production, higher operating costs, and aggressive incentive packages from rival states.
Leaked analysis commissioned by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation estimated that a full Paramount departure could cost California nearly 58,000 jobs, up to $21 billion in annual economic output, and as much as $1.17 billion in state and local tax revenue. A separate estimate forecast about 4,500 Los Angeles job cuts over three years.
If the parties do not reach an agreement, the case will go to trial in March 2027.

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

Paramount May Not Leave California After All

business

letitia james

mark ruffalo

paramount

rob bonta

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and his wife are reaching <a>deep into their pocketbooks</a> to block voter ID requirements in California.
The streaming titan cut a $1 million check earlier this month, while his wife of 35 years, Patty Quillin, dropped a whopping $1.5 million on August 31 to smash Proposition 39, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/17/us-news/netflix-founder-reed-hastings-gives-big-to-stop-california-voter-id-requirements/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Thursday. That proposition would require Golden State voters to show government-issued identification at the polls. The proposition will appear before voters in the November election.
Under the proposed mandate, in-person voters would have to show a valid photo ID, while mail-in voters would need to write down the last four digits of their identification number on their ballot envelopes. Backers of the proposition say the measure is a common-sense tool to clamp down on election fraud and restore trust in a state notorious for taking weeks to count votes.
Hastings put his cash into a &#8220;No on 39&#8221; committee backed by labor and health groups, which also received $2 million from the Los Angeles-based California Community Foundation. Quillin’s millions went to a separate anti-Prop 39 coalition tied to the ACLU.
The battle comes as a new <a href="https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-government-september-2026/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-government-september-2026/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1789806355435000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3FQEbBn7mtnbpw0y7y1J7p">Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) poll</a> shows the measure trailing, with 55% of likely voters opposing Prop 39 and just 43% in favor. The issue has sparked an intense partisan split, as 85% of Republicans support the ballot measure, compared to a paltry 19% of Democrats. Support remains strongest among voters over 55 and residents in the Central Valley and Inland Empire.
Supporters of the proposition accuse California Attorney General Rob Bonta of intentionally slanting the official ballot title to scare voters off.
“Rob Bonta knows that Prop 39 is likely to pass because it is a bipartisan solution to Voter ID and is supported by a supermajority of Democratic, independent, and Republican voters. Knowing he can’t defeat our bipartisan solution to Voter ID in a fair election, he has decided to rig the vote against Prop 39 with a false title claiming it prohibits citizens from voting!” Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/28/us-news/california-voter-id-backers-sue-rob-bonta-for-trying-to-rig-ballot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nypost.com/2026/07/28/us-news/california-voter-id-backers-sue-rob-bonta-for-trying-to-rig-ballot/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1789806355435000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0kndfVnKpPn8QCWNoX8b9r">said</a>.
California&#8217;s delayed vote-counting process and recent federal scrutiny over signature-gathering fraud have kept eyes on the state. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli warned in June that the state&#8217;s loose mail-in voting rules create structural flaws where fraud can slip through unnoticed.
Hastings shelled out $3 million to help save Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom during his 2021 recall attempt.

The Allen & Co. Media And Technology Conference

Netflix Co-Founder, Wife Invest Millions To Block Voter ID Push

gavin newsom

politics

reed hastings

voter id

An illegal immigrant trucker who was released into the United States during the Biden administration was arrested for a fatal hit-and-run in California months after the crash, when he was found behind the wheel in another state, The Daily Wire is first to report.
The trucker, Indian national Chamkaur Singh, 30, is accused of causing a multi-car pileup in Ontario, California, on March 29 that resulted in the deaths of two individuals before he fled the scene.
Five months later, on September 1, police in Moab, Utah, pulled Singh over in a semi-truck for speeding. The officers then discovered a warrant from California for the deadly collision and took him into custody.
Singh was driving with a California Commercial Driver&#8217;s License (CDL), which was issued on May 10, 2025, after he had already received a deportation order, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told The Daily Wire. Singh&#8217;s CDL has remained active despite three convictions on his driving record for improper lane or location, following too closely, and speeding.
Before the fatal crash, Singh scaled the border wall in Arizona in August 2021 and was caught by Border Patrol agents, who swiftly released him, according to law enforcement sources. By January 2024, an immigration judge ordered Singh&#8217;s deportation from the United States, according to immigration court records.
He appealed the removal order but has yet to receive a decision on the matter.
While in federal custody after his border crossing, Singh required a Punjabi translator to communicate with agents.
<div id="attachment_1181079" style="width: 250px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1181079" class="size-full wp-image-1181079" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Untitled-design-2026-09-17T154217.049.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="240" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Untitled-design-2026-09-17T154217.049.jpg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/09/Untitled-design-2026-09-17T154217.049-150x150.jpg 150w" sizes=" (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px" />Photo of Chamkaur Singh from his border crossing (DHS)</div>
&#8220;Due to the Biden Administration’s open borders and Gavin Newsom’s sanctuary policies, this criminal was released into our country and granted a commercial driver’s license,&#8221; Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement regarding Singh&#8217;s latest arrest.
&#8220;DHS is calling on Gavin Newsom and other sanctuary politicians to eliminate these deadly sanctuary policies that give handouts to illegal aliens at the cost of American lives. Illegal aliens have no right to be in our country or on our roadways,&#8221; he added.
When the California collision occurred, Singh was approaching an existing crash scene when he rear-ended a sedan, killing a passenger inside the vehicle and leaving the driver critically injured, according to KSL Utah.
Singh then caused a multi-car pileup before continuing to drive onto the right shoulder, the local news channel reported. He then hit a disabled vehicle, causing it to fatally strike a pedestrian.
Two other individuals were also killed in the incident, which involved a firearm, <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2026/09/02/california-truck-driver-wanted/">according to the Salt Lake Tribune</a>, citing local police.
Police bodycam video of the Utah traffic stop showed officers placing Singh in handcuffs and telling him that he was wanted in California.
&#8220;We got in touch with California, San Bernardino County, they confirmed it is you on that warrant, so at this time you are under arrest. So you are going to jail today,&#8221; one officer could be heard telling Singh while he sat in the back of a police car in handcuffs.
Singh appeared to let out an unintelligible sound in response but otherwise did not react in the video.
When Singh crossed the border, he told federal agents via the translator that he left his native India in December 2020 and first headed to Dubai, sources said.
From there, he traveled to Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, where he arrived in July 2021 before entering the United States, sources said. He said he scaled the border wall to make his way into the country.
He said he intended to travel to California to find work, sources said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a detainer for Singh&#8217;s arrest on September 2, asking local authorities to transfer him to federal custody if he is released.
He is currently being held at the Grand County Jail.
The Department of Transportation is now investigating the trucking company that employed Singh, a department official said.

Chamkaur Singh

EXCLUSIVE: Illegal Immigrant Trucker Caught Months After Killing Two People In California Hit-And-Run

commercial driver license

department of homeland security

illegal immigration

sanctuary policy

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman will not seek the death penalty when his office tries Nick Reiner for the 2025 murders of his parents, actor and director Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Reiner.
Entertainment outlet TMZ <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/09/15/nick-reiner-prosecutors-not-seeing-death-penalty-in-parents-murder/">reported</a> that Hochman made the decision in part out of respect for the Reiners&#8217; views on capital punishment — they had vocally opposed it on a number of occasions — and in part because Nick&#8217;s siblings, Romy and Jake Reiner, might find it difficult to participate in a trial that could end with their brother being put to death.
Rob Reiner, an outspoken liberal, had nothing but kind words for Erika Kirk after she publicly forgave Tyler Robinson — the man charged with the assassination of her late husband, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Nick Reiner&#8217;s siblings have opted not to be involved in their brother&#8217;s defense, and he has struggled to mount a consistent defense in part because he has been <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/15/us-news/nick-reiner-wont-get-death-penalty-if-hes-convicted-of-killing-parents-rob-and-michele/">unable to access</a> money from his trust. Reiner and his attorneys have claimed he was entitled to half of the $1.5 million trust when he turned 30 in 2023, but it did not happen.
The death penalty was on the table in the immediate aftermath of the killings because, as Hochman stated at an early <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/us/nick-reiner-death-penalty-murder.html">press conference</a>, the initial charges of first-degree murder had added special circumstance enhancements — lying in wait and multiple murders — which elevated the crime to make it eligible for either the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole.
According to the indictment, the crimes “involved great violence, great bodily harm, threat of great bodily harm, or other acts disclosing a high degree of cruelty, viciousness, or callousness.&#8221;
The Reiners were found stabbed to death at their Los Angeles home on December 14, 2025. Their daughter Romy was the first to discover the bodies.
“This was a profound betrayal by someone who was loved and trusted by the very people he is accused of killing,” Hochman said.
Nick Reiner, who had a long history of drug addiction and mental illness, was apprehended a short time later and charged with the murders.
California state law also lists killing for financial gain, killing a police officer or public official, or a killing that involved torture as additional special circumstance designations that could also invoke the death penalty as a consideration.
Although a number of death penalty cases have been tried in California in the last two decades, the state has not executed a death-row inmate since 2006.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom&#8217;s 2019 executive order also currently halts executions statewide, meaning even a death sentence would not have resulted in Reiner&#8217;s execution unless a future governor reversed the moratorium.

6th Annual GLSEN Respect Awards

California DA Reveals Death Penalty Decision In Rob Reiner Murder Case

California DA Makes Decision On Death Penalty In Rob Reiner Murder Case

death penalty

los angeles county

nathan hochman

nick reiner

rob reiner

A California city is deploying police drones that can beat officers to a crime scene by about 120 seconds. 
Chula Vista, a city just south of San Diego, <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/saver/drone-first-responder">uses</a> the Drone as First Responder (DFR) system to &#8220;transmit critical information back to emergency teams in real time, allowing for faster and better-informed decision-making.” 
While the police force uses the drones for a variety of reasons, they have especially been useful in tracking down shoplifters. Chula Vista police launched the drone program in 2018, making it one of the first of its kind in the country and one of 10 agencies the Federal Aviation Administration selected for its original drone pilot program. Since then, the department&#8217;s drones have flown more than 25,000 missions and played a role in over 4,000 arrests. 
The Clovis Police Department in California has used the same model to catch shoplifters since 2020. In one case in 2025, a man <a href="https://abcnews.com/US/police-drone-tracks-walmart-theft-suspect-real-time/story?id=125940726">fled</a> a Walmart with a stolen bicycle, weaving behind nearby businesses. Officials said that without the help of the department’s system, the suspect likely would have gotten away. Officer Ty Wood said the shoplifter &#8220;went behind other retail businesses and he would have been lost if it weren&#8217;t for the drone.” The drone tracked the suspect, 19-year-old Sean Baker, on a nearby street. 
Wood said the cameras give law enforcement a significant advantage. “We have the ability to see license plates and get physical descriptions of suspects,” he said. 
Officers are also able to review live drone footage from their patrol cars while on the way to the scene. 
The drones can aid police by adding descriptions and details to otherwise unclear incidents. In 2023, Chula Vista officers <a href="https://www.chulavistaca.gov/departments/police-department/programs/uas-drone-program">saved</a> a man from a burning car with the help of drone technology. Officers were not able to obtain an exact location from the man, but drones were able to provide officers with exact coordinates. Ultimately, the officers made it to the scene in time to rescue the man from his burning vehicle. 
Federal regulators have cleared the way for the model to spread quickly. The FAA issued <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/07/hundreds-drone-first-responder-programs-could-soon-be-launched-across-country">976</a> waivers between 2018 and 2025, but that number doubled from April 2025 to February 2026, signaling a demand for the new technology across emergency response services. 
Footage from the drones is <a href="https://www.chulavistaca.gov/departments/police-department/programs/uas-drone-program">stored</a> in a private cloud service where police Body Worn Camera (BWC) footage is also stored. The footage is stored for one year or less unless it is categorized as evidence in a crime or formal investigation.

Police Department Deploys Drones

Anti-Shoplifting Drones Give Police New Weapon Against Petty Criminals

chula vista

law enforcement equipment

police drone

shoplifting

Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on much these days. But they do agree that “affordability”  is the biggest issue in the electorate, and solving it may determine the winners and losers of the upcoming election.
That is where the agreement ends.
The solutions for dealing with affordability could not be any different.
For proof, look at the proposals coming from deep-blue California and Texas, which is still a red state despite the wishes of the New York Times.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently unveiled his six-point plan to increase affordability in Texas. According to the most cited affordability index of the 50 states (C2ER COL Index), Texas is already the 15th most affordable state. Still, the governor, up for reelection this year to a 4th term, recognizes the issue&#8217;s importance and wants to move Texas higher in the rankings.
His proposal includes:
<ul class="ul1">
<li class="li1">Reducing property taxes by capping annual appraisal growth and making it harder for governments to increase spending.</li>
<li class="li1">Rather than rely on government bureaucrats to give building permits, allow third-party permitting and create pre-approved home designs that would automatically be permitted.</li>
<li class="li1">Allow a new “essential benefits” health insurance plan to reduce those costs.</li>
<li class="li1">Create competition for municipally owned monopoly electric utilities and forbid governments from diverting utility revenue to pay for unrelated spending.</li>
<li class="li1">Continue the freeze on state college tuition.</li>
<li class="li1">Expand safe driving discounts to lower auto insurance costs.</li>
</ul>
It’s a brilliant plan. Much of the increase in costs for the average person has been caused by increased government spending, taxes, and regulation. Or, in some cases, regulation that prevents the private sector from offering a more cost-effective product. This plan is aimed directly at improving those conditions.
And it makes changes that should affect housing and energy costs, insurance, and tuition – things that will impact virtually every Texan.
How is California dealing with affordability?
Apparently, not well. According to the same C2ER COL affordability index, California is the 3rd least affordable state. Only Hawaii and Massachusetts have a higher cost of living than California. Without question, the affordability problem is much, much greater in California than in Texas.
Therefore, California must have a much bigger and more aggressive plan to deal with the problem than Texas, right?
Oh, ye of little blue state understanding.
Accepting the gravity of the issue, California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-San Benito) gave an address at the start of the current legislative session, vowing to tackle the problem. In April 2025, he created three select committees to recommend ways to lower costs. The titles of these committees are instructive and vary quite significantly in what Texas is focused on. Those titles are: CalFresh Enrollment and Nutrition; Child Care Costs; and Housing Finance and Affordability.
Sixteen months later, those select committees have produced…nothing.
Governor Gavin Newsom, distracted while trying to become your president by moving to the Left of AOC, has touted some bond issues on the November ballot that will give handouts to certain Democrat constituencies and will no doubt be loaded with fraud like every other California program, and a housing bill that slows down the next set of expensive housing regulations but removes few of the existing ones.
The problem for Democrats is simple. Their policies on climate, unions, government spending, taxes, and regulation are the very things that drive up the cost of everything. Only two of the 20 most affordable states are blue states (New Mexico and Minnesota). For California to truly address the problem, it needs to undo much of what the legislature and governor have done in the last 20 years. But that would be an admission of failure. One trait of Democrats is that they never admit that a policy has failed. If it isn’t working, it is only because they didn’t do enough of it.
So, California Democrats will continue to talk about affordability and blame high costs on Trump, while doing nothing except make the situation worse. Maybe they’ll look to New York for additional ideas on how to implement bad policies, perhaps government-run grocery stores?
In Scottsdale, Arizona, a few years ago, I bought my go-to McDonald’s meal I have been buying for decades: a quarter-pounder with cheese, medium fries, and a milk. Then I got on a plane and bought the exact same meal in Costa Mesa, California, the next day. It cost 70% more in California. The ingredients are the same. The difference, though, is the additional insurance, regulatory, legal, tax, and other costs the California franchisee has to build into the price of that burger, which will probably get even cheaper in the Lone Star State.
God bless Texas.
***
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.

US Dollar Origami Bird Flying Creative Concept

Why The Battle For The Middle Class Runs Through Austin And Sacramento

greg abbott

housing affordability

texas

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.

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California Is Funding Its Wildest Dreams On Shaky Fiscal Ground

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

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

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

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