Editor’s note: This week, we’re reprinting some of our best stories from the past year. In this piece, originally published in June, former college president Greg Salsbury recounts the cost of California’s failed leadership.
* * *
Perhaps it is fitting that legendary Beach Boy and California native son Brian Wilson would pass away in the same year that a New York Times headline would ask, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/us/california-turmoil-resilience.html">“Is the California Dream a Mirage?”</a>
The social, environmental and economic disaster that is California has been mushrooming for decades now, with any improvements in the near term looking about as likely as a working bullet train from the north to the south in that state. The litany of negative facts emerging for the state is accompanied by descriptors such as “worst,” “first,” “record,” “ballooning,” “unsustainable,” “disaster,” and “mismanagement.” These ills are detailed in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-assemblyman-explains-how-state-has-mismanaged-fire-prevention-policies-as-wildfires-rage">myriad</a> <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/bad-policy-served-as-kindling-for-californias-wildfires-forest-water-management-social-justice-c5b94a4f?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAif-IufnKaxHOP49zFGTHPZhQuqrXUEi-2TLq3CTiNpkYvlSDqNxFWNzK60iAw%3D&amp;gaa_ts=685d8562&amp;gaa_sig=3-LfR_GHU3tLPG-o-YsVjgoRNU1-opiK9zrnQzURPOZIBNcm7OIKeIV5kTdTHBKbOeKnRJ-BbcIcuJq-0ipu3Q%3D%3D">articles</a> <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/01/11/opinion/catastrophic-wildfires-left-la-in-ashes-due-to-californias-failing-liberal-leadership/">pointing</a> to California’s failed leadership.
Consider the overall economic situation. California went from a state budget surplus of <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/after-100-billion-surplus-california-now-faces-73-billion-budget-deficit">$100b to a deficit of $73b</a> in just three years. This was driven in part from its decision in February of 2020 to escalate spending significantly while it was <a href="https://www.ppic.org/publication/whats-behind-californias-recent-population-decline-and-why-it-matters/">losing jobs</a>, and for the first time since receiving statehood in 1850, population. Between 2010 and 2023, the state saw 9.3 million people leave while only 6.7 million arrived — with a disproportionate number of the “leavers” in the high-income, high-tax-paying category.
California had the distinction of being rated as the very worst state in which to do business by <a href="https://chiefexecutive.net/california-is-the-worst-state-for-business-2014/">Chief Executive</a> magazine — for ten years in a row. Others were more positive with The <a href="https://sbecouncil.org/2019/05/06/new-report-sbe-council-ranks-50-states-according-to-public-policy-and-tax-climates-for-small-business/">Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council</a> seeing them as only the second worst state, and the <a href="https://www.cato.org/blog/best-worse-states-entrepreneurs">Cato Institute</a> placing them at 48th out of 50 for entrepreneurs.
<a href="https://californiapolicycenter.org/reports/worsttobest/">The California Policy Center</a> concludes:
<blockquote>“For anyone operating a business in California – small, medium or large – the experiences of the last twenty years have been challenging, and it gets worse every year. California’s regulatory environment, its high taxes and exorbitant fees, and the overall cost of doing business are the toughest in the nation. Many businesses have voted with their feet, moving their operations to more welcoming business environments.” </blockquote>
According to WalletHub.com’s report “<a href="https://wallethub.com/edu/best-places-to-retire/6165">Best &amp; Worst Places to Retire (2025)</a>,” which examined 182 cities across the U.S., four out five of the worst cities in which to retire are in California.
The story is equally daunting in a host of other arenas for the state — education, illegal immigration, water, violent crime, theft, housing, insurance, energy, environment, assorted taxes and fees, cost of living, state employee pensions, healthcare, and more. <a href="https://www.consumeraffairs.com/movers/%23editorial">ConsumerAffairs</a>, a consumer news and advocacy organization, compared all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. across five categories: affordability, economy, education and health, quality of life, and safety. California ranked as the single least desirable state to move to. Their conclusion might have been influenced by seeing that, compared to all other 49 states in the nation, California has the:
<ul>
<li>Highest <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2023/demo/p60-280.html">poverty rate</a></li>
<li>Highest top marginal <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates/">state income tax rate</a></li>
<li>Highest <a href="https://www.redfin.com/blog/most-expensive-states-to-buy-a-house/">median home price</a></li>
<li>Highest <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-gas-tax-rates-2024/">gasoline tax</a></li>
<li>Highest number of federal <a href="https://www.datapandas.org/ranking/welfare-recipients-by-state">welfare recipients</a></li>
<li>Highest amount of <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-states-blame-most-nearly-400-million-unemployment-fraud">unemployment benefit fraud</a></li>
<li>Highest number of <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/22/what-we-know-about-unauthorized-immigrants-living-in-the-us/">illegal immigrants</a></li>
<li>Highest percentage of <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/map-states-most-high-school-dropouts-1872310">high school dropouts</a></li>
<li>Highest rates of <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/human-trafficking-statistics-by-state">human trafficking</a></li>
<li>Highest <a href="https://247wallst.com/special-report/2024/02/13/this-is-the-state-with-the-most-homeless-people-every-state-ranked/">homeless population</a></li>
<li>Highest level of <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/pension/comparative_view/table/">state pension shortfall</a></li>
<li>Highest level of <a href="https://www.consumeraffairs.com/movers/states-people-are-moving-to-and-from.html">net exodus</a> from the state</li>
<li>Highest <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/630090/states-with-the-average-electricity-price-for-the-residential-sector-in-the-us/">cost for kilowatt hours</a> in the continental U.S.</li>
</ul>
While many folks have wryly referred to California as, “the most expensive weather in the world,” an increasing number of people are rethinking that cost — especially when the weather itself is now regularly accompanied by wildfires, mudslides, and earthquakes.
The <a href="https://hgbr.org/californias-economic-challenges-a-growing-exodus-and-policy-concerns/">Hampton Global Business Review</a> concludes, “The allure of California’s beaches and innovation hubs might not be enough to counteract the growing disenchantment among its residents and business leaders.”
While all of this is more than sobering, contrary to the popular narrative, the untenable situation in which the state now finds itself cannot be blamed solely or even largely on the handful of people who have occupied the top leadership roles or even the few thousand in mid-tier management/political roles for the state. To be sure, many of those people have largely been far worse than feckless; they have been actively counterproductive — perhaps even maleficent. But blaming leadership is like blaming guns for shooting homicides. They could not have performed this disservice without the active support of the California voters.
Time and time again, California voters continue to check the box for more of the same people who continue to inflict damage on them for decades now. But more importantly, they knowingly do so. No objective observer can credibly argue that Californians have been fooled or misled by their leaders or the outrageous decisions they have made, or failed to make.
The great scholar, author, and life-long California resident Dr. Victor Davis Hanson has for years <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/28121811-the-decline-and-fall-of-california">detailed</a> the disastrous results of many of these decisions — from eliminating fire-preventing forest management, to not only failing to build appropriate dams but blowing up existing dams and eliminating reservoirs, to promoting unchecked and mass illegal immigration.
There was likely no more clarifying moment of truth on this point than when Governor Gavin Newsom faced a recall. His record was damning. There was the bungled and hypocritical mismanagement of the COVID virus response — complete with vaccine shortages, maskless French Laundry dinners with friends, and arbitrary business closure guidelines, a budget deficit that was more than double his own projection, and most importantly, the ignoring or exacerbation of most of the long list of the aforementioned maladies destroying the state.
Not only did the recall effort fail miserably, with Newsom receiving a convincing approval mandate of 62% of the vote, but he was then solidly re-elected in 2022 with nearly that same margin. California voters, no doubt painfully aware of all of these issues essentially said, “Yes, yes, yes! Give us more of this!”
But suppose for just a moment that Newsom had been recalled, that perhaps he had skewered one of the sacred cows big enough to motivate his ouster. Perhaps he drove a diesel car, or contended that there is something wrong about allowing a 250lb biological male athlete to compete with women, or suggested that maybe the unpunished shoplifting limit should be reduced from $950 to say $500, or publicly stated that illegal immigrants are not entitled to the same rights as U.S. citizens. Who would voters have suggested take his place? It almost certainly would have been another entity not dissimilar to Newsom in any significant way.
All of this is exacerbated by the fact that so many logically thinking, hard-working, patriotic Americans are leaving California if they can. With each passing year, the state is left with an increasingly left-leaning voter base — and they like it that way.  Thus, it is folly to believe that California’s ills can be solved as simply as replacing a few, key incompetent leaders. California’s failed leadership is not nearly as problematic as its failed follower-ship. And that is a far harder nut to crack.
Brian Wilson made a career writing songs about the abundant fun, fun, fun available in the Golden State. Were he with us today, begrudgingly or not, he would have to admit that clearly, daddy took the T-Bird away.
* * *
Greg Salsbury, Ph.D. is former president of Western Colorado University and Board of Advisor member for <a href="https://starrs.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">STARRS.US</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Newsom best of

Best Of 2025: California Had Fun, Fun, Fun — Until Voters Took The T-Bird Away

Business

California

Gavin Newsom

Immigration

Jobs

Opinion

Small Businesses

Taxes

Does more government involvement in the socioeconomic sphere make the life of an average New Yorker better? Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani thinks so, with big-government policies prioritizing economic redistribution, a fundamental aspect of socialist ideology.
Mamdani’s platform includes city-owned grocery stores, free buses, no-cost childcare, rent freezes, a $30 minimum wage, and small business reforms.
While the latter proposal is commendable and bipartisan, Mamdani’s solutions are, unfortunately, not. He has promised small businesses, which account for <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/assets/smallbizfirst/downloads/pdf/small-business-first-report.pdf">98%</a> of firms in the city and employ over half of the private sector workforce, a regulatory reform package focused on improving compliance.
Mamdani alleges to be a <a href="https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform">champion for the little guy</a>, claiming he will “cut small business fines in half, speed up permitting and make online applications easier, and increase funding for 1:1 small business support by 500%.” While his message resonates and it correctly identifies that the city’s systems can be punishingly slow, his agenda does not target root concerns for businesses.
Rather than removing any of the <a href="https://nyc-business.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/index">6,000 regulations</a> that cost small businesses time, money, and resources, Mamdani proposes that minimally <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2022/05/mayor-adams-reduces-burdens-nyc-small-businesses-jumpstarts-city-s-economic-recovery-by">reducing compliance expenses</a> is the best strategy for making business operations faster, easier, and cheaper.
Violations such as labor non-compliance, sanitation issues, or building code infractions can cost owners <a href="https://cei.org/blog/american-small-businesses-are-paying-through-the-roof-for-regulations/">thousands of dollars annually</a>. The right solution is deregulation — to remove needless and onerous regulations and to ensure compliance with essential safeguards.
Instead, he has proposed more government bureaucracy, namely the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wuZ-s8VnnAHqHhqtHESwgzINiN7D95vy/view">“Mom and Pop Czar” Office</a>. This entity, allegedly designed to promote small business interests, will work to halve fines and eliminate fees. Leaving thousands of bad regulations on the books and simply arbitrarily reducing fees is more likely to lead to confusion, harmful non-compliance, and situations that can be easily gamed — in short, a profit for lawyers and accountants but not for workers and customers.
This is more likely to undermine local trust in regulatory fairness. Firms that have invested in compliance in the past may feel penalized, creating an environment of social decohesion. This is a politically motivated and poor substitution for deregulation.
Speeding up permitting and making online applications easier should quicken the timeline for which small businesses can begin operations. New York City’s permitting process is complex and slow, taking several months and costing owners time, money, and resources. However, the mayor-elect’s plan lacks any detail on how to achieve a simpler <a href="https://www.permitflow.com/blog/nyc-building-permits">permitting process</a> and is more likely to be a false campaign promise than a serious effort to ease the burdens of New York City’s businesses.
Increasing funding for small businesses by 500% is intended to offer personalized support for owners in the form of grants, loans, and technical assistance. Mamdani will finance and expand the <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/site/sbs/about/pr20220907-nycbest.page">Business Express Service Teams (BEST)</a>, which offer one-to-one support and assist small businesses with bureaucratic hurdles.
Over-reliance on government assistance may harm entrepreneurial independence as it fosters governmental dependence and crowds out numerous private sector entities that provide the same kind of support to businesses. Scaling up BEST requires hiring and training more staff, risking inefficiencies and mismanagement of funds.
Instead of <a href="https://comptroller.nyc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/RedTapeReport.pdf">eliminating useless or obsolete regulations</a>, he offers <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/14-aM9DKG337SDMilmfQtLRR-pDwyWSTc/view">crushing tax increases</a> and false promises mired in government bureaucracy. Mamdani’s policies do not address leading concerns for small businesses, those being the over 6,000 regulations that impede operations. He targets operational burdens and small fees, completely ignoring the primary costs for entrepreneurs — regulations.
Making compliance requirements less restrictive can best be achieved by eliminating the compliance requirement altogether. Removing the regulatory burdens that plague small business owners best fosters free market competition and economic growth.
Mamdani should recognize a simple truth: prudent deregulation is the only viable long-term solution, not government intervention.
* * *
Nicole Huyer is a Senior Research Associate in The Heritage Foundation’s Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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This piece is a part of <a href="https://www.heritage.org/wealth-and-innovation">The Heritage Foundation’s Wealth and Innovation project.</a>

US-POLITICS

Mamdani’s ‘Mom-and-Pop’ Plan Doesn’t Cut Red Tape

Mamdani’s 'Mom-and-Pop' Plan Doesn’t Cut Red Tape

bureaucracy

Democratic Socialism

Heritage Foundation

Manhattan

New York City

Zohran Mamdani

Democrats are lashing out at the eight senators from their own party who voted to reopen the government without securing more federal subsidies for the Affordable Care Act &#8212; but a new survey of small business owners reveals that Democrats&#8217; favorite health care policy may not be playing well with the American electorate.
“The cost of health insurance has gone up every year since the ACA,” a Pennsylvania manufacturer told the National Federation of Independent Business. “No small business can keep up with the costs.&#8221;
Health insurance premiums rose <a href="https://www.cms.gov/cciio/resources/forms-reports-and-other-resources/downloads/uninsured-affordability-in-marketplace.pdf">143%</a> in the first six years after the ACA, colloquially known as Obamacare, took effect. Next year, premiums are set to rise <a href="https://www.kff.org/quick-take/aca-insurers-are-raising-premiums-by-an-estimated-26-but-most-enrollees-could-see-sharper-increases-in-what-they-pay/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">26%</a> on average. Democrats say these rising premiums justify Congress approving <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61734">$24.6 billion</a> worth of taxpayer-funded subsidies, while Republicans say the need to spend billions offsetting premium costs proves that the ACA is unaffordable and unsustainable.
&#8220;The increase will surely kill many small businesses in the next couple of years,&#8221; the Pennsylvania manufacturer said. &#8220;Soon I will no longer be able to offer health insurance to my employees. In turn, this will cost me good employees.&#8221;
He&#8217;s not the only one feeling the crunch.
&#8220;It is becoming increasingly difficult to provide medical insurance that the company and employees can afford,&#8221; a manufacturer from Ohio added.
Obamacare prices were at the heart of the longest government shutdown in American history, which the Senate voted to break Monday night after 41 days. Republicans pushed for a continuing resolution to reopen the government, while Democrats refused to agree unless the measure included a one-year extension of ACA subsidies.
From the Senate Floor, Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) argued preserving the ACA was essential.
&#8220;I must vote no [to reopen the government] because health care prices are so severe, so urgent, and so devastating for families back home,&#8221; Schumer said. &#8220;I cannot support this CR that fails to address the health care crisis.&#8221;
The National Federation of Independent Business&#8217; optimism index fell 0.6 points in October, according to the report. The sharpest contributor to October’s dip was a deterioration in earning trends, with 25% of owners reporting lower profits. NFIB’s Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg reported the government shutdown likely played a role, as the Uncertainty Index fell 12 points to its lowest reading this year.
Despite the pullback, optimism among small businesses remains three points above the low from earlier this year and above its 52-year average of 98. Confidence hit its lowest point in April amid market volatility and tariff-related uncertainty, before rebounding midyear as conditions stabilized.
The labor market continues to frustrate small employers. Like last month, small businesses reported a tight labor market with labor quality remaining the most significant problem in October. Small businesses report struggling to compete with large corporations offering higher wages, signing bonuses, and more comprehensive benefits.
The gap is most apparent in skilled trades, where 28% of small businesses reported job openings they can’t fill. Jobs for electricians, plumbers, welders, HVAC technicians, and construction workers are among the hardest to supply. <a href="https://www.nfib.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/NFIB-SBET-Report-Oct.-2025.pdf">Nearly half (49%)</a> of small businesses in the construction industry reported not being able to find construction workers.
This trend was years in the making. Fewer young people have pursued vocational programs and many older, experienced tradespeople have retired. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average age in the manufacturing industry is 44 and the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18b.htm">average age</a> of a construction worker is 42, signaling an aging workforce.
However, there may be reason for cautious optimism. Recent studies suggest that Gen Z is increasingly turning toward <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mike-rowe-reacts-to-rise-in-skilled-trade-enrollment-calls-gen-z-the-next-toolbelt-generation">trade careers</a>, motivated by higher education costs and concerns that artificial intelligence could disrupt traditional white-collar jobs.
While overall small business optimism has cooled in recent months, the survey reports that business &#8220;won’t be pleasant until the shutdown is ended.” With the reopening of the government, many business owners expect the negative impacts of the shutdown to reverse.

Shutdown Risks Leaving Millions With Costlier Health Insurance

Small Business Owners Are Sick Of Rising Obamacare Costs

Economy

Government Shutdown

Health Care

Obamacare

U.S.

Perhaps it is fitting that legendary Beach Boy and California native son Brian Wilson would pass away in the same year that a New York Times headline would ask, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/us/california-turmoil-resilience.html">“Is the California Dream a Mirage?”</a>
The social, environmental and economic disaster that is California has been mushrooming for decades now, with any improvements in the near term looking about as likely as a working bullet train from the north to the south in that state. The litany of negative facts emerging for the state is accompanied by descriptors such as “worst,” “first,” “record,” “ballooning,” “unsustainable,” “disaster,” and “mismanagement.” These ills are detailed in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-assemblyman-explains-how-state-has-mismanaged-fire-prevention-policies-as-wildfires-rage">myriad</a> <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/bad-policy-served-as-kindling-for-californias-wildfires-forest-water-management-social-justice-c5b94a4f?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAif-IufnKaxHOP49zFGTHPZhQuqrXUEi-2TLq3CTiNpkYvlSDqNxFWNzK60iAw%3D&amp;gaa_ts=685d8562&amp;gaa_sig=3-LfR_GHU3tLPG-o-YsVjgoRNU1-opiK9zrnQzURPOZIBNcm7OIKeIV5kTdTHBKbOeKnRJ-BbcIcuJq-0ipu3Q%3D%3D">articles</a> <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/01/11/opinion/catastrophic-wildfires-left-la-in-ashes-due-to-californias-failing-liberal-leadership/">pointing</a> to California’s failed leadership.
Consider the overall economic situation. California went from a state budget surplus of <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/after-100-billion-surplus-california-now-faces-73-billion-budget-deficit">$100b to a deficit of $73b</a> in just three years. This was driven in part from its decision in February of 2020 to escalate spending significantly while it was <a href="https://www.ppic.org/publication/whats-behind-californias-recent-population-decline-and-why-it-matters/">losing jobs</a>, and for the first time since receiving statehood in 1850, population. Between 2010 and 2023, the state saw 9.3 million people leave while only 6.7 million arrived — with a disproportionate number of the “leavers” in the high-income, high-tax-paying category.
California had the distinction of being rated as the very worst state in which to do business by <a href="https://chiefexecutive.net/california-is-the-worst-state-for-business-2014/">Chief Executive</a> magazine — for ten years in a row. Others were more positive with The <a href="https://sbecouncil.org/2019/05/06/new-report-sbe-council-ranks-50-states-according-to-public-policy-and-tax-climates-for-small-business/">Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council</a> seeing them as only the second worst state, and the <a href="https://www.cato.org/blog/best-worse-states-entrepreneurs">Cato Institute</a> placing them at 48th out of 50 for entrepreneurs.
<a href="https://californiapolicycenter.org/reports/worsttobest/">The California Policy Center</a> concludes: 
“For anyone operating a business in California – small, medium or large – the experiences of the last twenty years have been challenging, and it gets worse every year. California’s regulatory environment, its high taxes and exorbitant fees, and the overall cost of doing business are the toughest in the nation. Many businesses have voted with their feet, moving their operations to more welcoming business environments.” 
According to WalletHub.com’s report “<a href="https://wallethub.com/edu/best-places-to-retire/6165">Best &amp; Worst Places to Retire (2025)</a>,” which examined 182 cities across the U.S., four out five of the worst cities in which to retire are in California.
The story is equally daunting in a host of other arenas for the state — education, illegal immigration, water, violent crime, theft, housing, insurance, energy, environment, assorted taxes and fees, cost of living, state employee pensions, healthcare, and more. <a href="https://www.consumeraffairs.com/movers/%23editorial">ConsumerAffairs</a>, a consumer news and advocacy organization, compared all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. across five categories: affordability, economy, education and health, quality of life, and safety. California ranked as the single least desirable state to move to. Their conclusion might have been influenced by seeing that, compared to all other 49 states in the nation, California has the:
<ul>
<li>Highest <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2023/demo/p60-280.html">poverty rate</a></li>
<li>Highest top marginal <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates/">state income tax rate</a></li>
<li>Highest <a href="https://www.redfin.com/blog/most-expensive-states-to-buy-a-house/">median home price</a></li>
<li>Highest <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-gas-tax-rates-2024/">gasoline tax</a></li>
<li>Highest number of federal <a href="https://www.datapandas.org/ranking/welfare-recipients-by-state">welfare recipients</a></li>
<li>Highest amount of <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-states-blame-most-nearly-400-million-unemployment-fraud">unemployment benefit fraud</a></li>
<li>Highest number of <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/22/what-we-know-about-unauthorized-immigrants-living-in-the-us/">illegal immigrants</a></li>
<li>Highest percentage of <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/map-states-most-high-school-dropouts-1872310">high school dropouts</a></li>
<li>Highest rates of <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/human-trafficking-statistics-by-state">human trafficking</a></li>
<li>Highest <a href="https://247wallst.com/special-report/2024/02/13/this-is-the-state-with-the-most-homeless-people-every-state-ranked/">homeless population</a></li>
<li>Highest level of <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/pension/comparative_view/table/">state pension shortfall</a></li>
<li>Highest level of <a href="https://www.consumeraffairs.com/movers/states-people-are-moving-to-and-from.html">net exodus</a> from the state</li>
<li>Highest <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/630090/states-with-the-average-electricity-price-for-the-residential-sector-in-the-us/">cost for kilowatt hours</a> in the continental U.S.</li>
</ul>
While many folks have wryly referred to California as, “the most expensive weather in the world,” an increasing number of people are rethinking that cost — especially when the weather itself is now regularly accompanied by wildfires, mudslides, and earthquakes.
The <a href="https://hgbr.org/californias-economic-challenges-a-growing-exodus-and-policy-concerns/">Hampton Global Business Review</a> concludes, “The allure of California’s beaches and innovation hubs might not be enough to counteract the growing disenchantment among its residents and business leaders.”
While all of this is more than sobering, contrary to the popular narrative, the untenable situation in which the state now finds itself cannot be blamed solely or even largely on the handful of people who have occupied the top leadership roles or even the few thousand in mid-tier management/political roles for the state. To be sure, many of those people have largely been far worse than feckless; they have been actively counterproductive — perhaps even maleficent. But blaming leadership is like blaming guns for shooting homicides. They could not have performed this disservice without the active support of the California voters.
Time and time again, California voters continue to check the box for more of the same people who continue to inflict damage on them for decades now. But more importantly, they knowingly do so. No objective observer can credibly argue that Californians have been fooled or misled by their leaders or the outrageous decisions they have made, or failed to make.
The great scholar, author, and life-long California resident Dr. Victor Davis Hanson has for years <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/28121811-the-decline-and-fall-of-california">detailed</a> the disastrous results of many of these decisions — from eliminating fire-preventing forest management, to not only failing to build appropriate dams but blowing up existing dams and eliminating reservoirs, to promoting unchecked and mass illegal immigration.
There was likely no more clarifying moment of truth on this point than when Governor Gavin Newsom faced a recall. His record was damning. There was the bungled and hypocritical mismanagement of the COVID virus response — complete with vaccine shortages, maskless French Laundry dinners with friends, and arbitrary business closure guidelines, a budget deficit that was more than double his own projection, and most importantly, the ignoring or exacerbation of most of the long list of the aforementioned maladies destroying the state.
Not only did the recall effort fail miserably, with Newsom receiving a convincing approval mandate of 62% of the vote, but he was then solidly re-elected in 2022 with nearly that same margin. California voters, no doubt painfully aware of all of these issues essentially said, “Yes, yes, yes! Give us more of this!”
But suppose for just a moment that Newsom had been recalled, that perhaps he had skewered one of the sacred cows big enough to motivate his ouster. Perhaps he drove a diesel car, or contended that there is something wrong about allowing a 250lb biological male athlete to compete with women, or suggested that maybe the unpunished shoplifting limit should be reduced from $950 to say $500, or publicly stated that illegal immigrants are not entitled to the same rights as U.S. citizens. Who would voters have suggested take his place? It almost certainly would have been another entity not dissimilar to Newsom in any significant way.
All of this is exacerbated by the fact that so many logically thinking, hard-working, patriotic Americans are leaving California if they can. With each passing year, the state is left with an increasingly left-leaning voter base — and they like it that way.  Thus, it is folly to believe that California’s ills can be solved as simply as replacing a few, key incompetent leaders. California’s failed leadership is not nearly as problematic as its failed follower-ship. And that is a far harder nut to crack.
Brian Wilson made a career writing songs about the abundant fun, fun, fun available in the Golden State. Were he with us today, begrudgingly or not, he would have to admit that clearly, daddy took the T-Bird away.
* * *
Greg Salsbury, Ph.D. is former president of Western Colorado University and Board of Advisor member for <a href="https://starrs.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">STARRS.US</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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California Had Fun, Fun, Fun — Until Voters Took The T-Bird Away

Oklahoma Senator James Lankford urged his colleagues to permanently overturn an “absurd” Biden-era regulation that requires small business owners to report personal information to the federal government. 
Lankford told The Daily Wire that the Senate should <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-wont-enforce-outrageous-biden-era-small-business-reporting-rule" target="_blank" rel="noopener">follow</a> the Trump administration&#8217;s lead and prohibit enforcement of the beneficial ownership information reporting requirements for American companies. The rule, as promulgated by the Biden administration, required people who had direct or indirect control of a company to report their name, birthdate, address, and a unique identifying number to the Treasury Department.
“There is no way anyone is going to ever tell me and convince me that the Constitution allows the federal government to go to every small business and say, ‘tell me who your influences are and send me that in a form’. That is not the job of the federal government to go do that,” Lankford told The Daily Wire. 
The Trump administration announced on Sunday that it would stop enforcing the rule for domestic businesses and that it would be promulgating a new rule only applicable to foreign companies. 
Lankford said that the Biden administration had taken a statute that was “snuck” into a National Defense Authorization Act to supposedly combat money laundering and created an “over-burdensome” and “quasi-Orwellian” unconstitutional rule that did more to harm honest small business owners than illicit companies. 
He said the rule made a massive &#8220;assumption that companies that are laundering drug money will suddenly at that moment become honest and report that they are actually being controlled by a drug kingpin. The practical effect of the rule was to force small business owners to prove that they were laundering drug money,&#8221; Lankford said. 
Consequences for not complying with the form, which Lankford said many small businesses were unaware of, could include a $10,000 fine and up to two years in prison. 
“Small businesses don’t get up every day and read the federal register to be able to find out what it is the federal government is now imposing on them as a new regulation for a new piece of paper to be able to get in or face jail,” he said. “They’re getting up and turning lights on, cleaning toilets, and doing all the things they need to do to get their business going that day.”
Senate Republicans have previously introduced multiple bills to challenge the rule and Lankford said that the Senate Banking Committee is expected to hear one of the proposals in light of the decision from the Trump administration. Recently, Republicans on the committee <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/majority/scott-leads-effort-to-ease-burdens-on-small-businesses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> a measure that would have bumped the deadline for small businesses to report the required information. 
Last month, the House of Representatives voted unanimously to extend the deadline for businesses to respond to the Treasury Department, which had previously been scheduled for March 21. 
“This is one of those things that every small business just wants this gone so that they don’t have to think about it all the time and be worried about if they are going to go to jail tomorrow because of a form not being filled out,” Lankford told The Daily Wire.

Congressional Lawmakers React To The Expiration Of The Title 42 Border Policy

Lankford Urges Senate To Permanently Overturn ‘Absurd’ Biden Small Business Reporting Rule

Biden Administration

James Lankford

Senate

Treasury Department

Trump Administration

Kevin Hassett, a former senior adviser to former President Donald Trump and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said this week that Vice President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kamala-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kamala Harris</a> stole another proposed economic policy from the Republican presidential nominee.
Hassett said during an interview on PBS&#8217; &#8220;Firing Line&#8221; with Margaret Hoover that Harris&#8217; proposed $50,000 small business tax credit was actually something that she was against when Trump was in office and he proposed increasing the tax credit.
&#8220;So that policy, the small business deduction, it’s $5,000 in the law now,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And in 2018, President Trump and the Republicans wanted to expand the deduction to $20,000. It actually passed the House with very little Democratic support. And so, you know, Republicans are on the record as saying that there should be a bigger deduction for the start of a small business. And so this is an example of her reaching into Donald Trump’s playbook and taking one of his policies.&#8221;
&#8220;Expanding the deduction for startup business is a good idea. And it’s something that Republicans tried to do in 2018, but the Democrats were opposed to it,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;And so, it’s something that she was opposed to before she was for it. And so you could say, well, is she really for it now? Or, you know, could she explain why she changed her mind?&#8221;
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726313279401000&amp;usg=AOvVaw115_qPFFEePDP86-Fvo-Vd">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a>
He added that it was not clear at all what her economic agenda was, but that a lot of what she has proposed is &#8220;very extreme.&#8221;
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Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett Interview

Top Trump Economist: Harris Stole Yet Another Trump Economic Policy

2024 Election

Donald Trump

Kamala Harris

Politics

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-house-of-representatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House</a> panel is pressing the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/state-department" target="_blank" rel="noopener">State Department</a> to be more forthcoming in a probe into alleged government <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/censorship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">censorship</a> that is also the subject of a lawsuit brought by The Daily Wire.
GOP lawmakers, who are looking into whether the government funded private entities to discredit small businesses and their owners over their political speech and views, <a href="https://smallbusiness.house.gov/uploadedfiles/01.08.2024_-_letter_3_to_global_engagement_center_re_censorship.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sent a letter</a> on Monday to James Rubin, coordinator of the agency&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-twitter-files-twitter-and-the-fbi-belly-button">Global Engagement Center</a> (GEC), <a href="https://smallbusiness.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=405837" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contending</a> the organization&#8217;s previous delivery of information to Congress &#8220;appears to be incomplete&#8221; with dozens of awards doled out in recent years seemingly omitted from the tranche.
“The GEC award recipients revealed in its partial production have caused enough concern that the Committee is requesting more detailed information to understand the reality and scope of what these companies are using taxpayer dollars for,&#8221; wrote Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams (R-TX) and Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations.
&#8220;The GEC’s initial production was provided to the Committee over five months after the requested due date of June 21, 2023. The result was a five-page spreadsheet; there is no reason the GEC would need one month per page of production. The Committee needs all relevant documents to ensure all American small businesses are able to compete online without interference from the federal government,&#8221; they added.
On its website, the GEC touts how it is focused on <a href="https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-public-diplomacy-and-public-affairs/global-engagement-center/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;proactively&#8221; leading</a> interagency efforts to counter disinformation and propaganda from foreign adversaries. But Republicans suspect the center is surreptitiously propping up activities that suppress free speech at home, particularly on social media as has been illustrated by the &#8220;Twitter Files,&#8221; and they have talked about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jim-jordan-unveils-budget-wishlist-to-fight-weaponized-federal-agencies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pulling taxpayer dollars</a> from the GEC.
A deadline of January 22 was given for the additional documents and information requested by the lawmakers.
A State Department spokesperson told The Daily Wire that the agency is &#8220;committed to being responsive to congressional oversight and continues to work with the House Small Business Committee on its requests.&#8221; The spokesperson added, &#8220;However, as a general matter, we do not comment on our communications with Congress.&#8221;
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-sues-us-state-department-conspiring-censor-american-media-companies-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joined</a> with The Daily Wire and The Federalist last month in suing the State Department, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wire-and-the-federalist-sue-biden-state-department-over-censorship-effort" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accusing the government agency</a> of funding censorship technology designed to bankrupt domestic media outlets with disfavored political opinions. The lawsuit seeks to put a stop to the alleged effort to boost censorship organizations that regularly target conservative media outlets with the stated goal of limiting ad revenue.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/14/technology/state-department-disinformation-criticism.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published a report last month</a> that said Rubin rejected claims that his organization censors Americans&#8217; comments online. “What we do not do is examine or analyze the U.S. information space,” he said.
Also noted in the article was how the Supreme Court is poised to weigh in on a broader <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-scores-victory-against-order-blocking-contact-with-social-media-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media censorship case</a> brought by the GOP attorneys general from Missouri and Louisiana in the spring following an appeals court panel ruling that said there was &#8220;no indication that State Department officials flagged specific content for censorship, suggested policy changes to the platforms or engaged in any similar actions that would reasonably bring their conduct within the scope of the First Amendment’s prohibitions.&#8221;

Rep. Roger Williams

House GOP Twists Screws On State Dept In Censorship Probe

Censorship

Congress

House Republicans

Ken Paxton

State Department

The Daily Wire

The Federalist

U.S. House of Representatives

As early as grade school, American children, especially from minority or disadvantaged backgrounds, are being told they should pursue social activism or even political revolution in order to make the country a better place.
But Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of Job Creators Network and the son of Mexican immigrants, argues that private enterprise would be a more effective way to achieve positive social change.
“If you want to make America a better place for everyone, especially minorities, forget social activism,” Ortiz said. “Instead, start a business.”
Ortiz notes that unlike activists and politicians, entrepreneurs create jobs and economic opportunities, not only for themselves, but for the people around them. The approximately 44 million small businesses in the United States provide roughly ⅔ of all new jobs.
Ortiz also notes that, relative to their share of the American population, “minorities start businesses more often than their white counterparts.”
According to the Kaufman Foundation, 360 out of 100,000 Americans will start a business in any given month, but among Hispanics, 540 per 100,000 will do so, and that disproportionate likelihood of starting a business has had rapid economic impacts.
“The ratio of household wealth between whites and Hispanics went from 8:1 to 5:1 between 2013 and 2019 as Hispanics became entrepreneurial,” Ortiz said. “There are 10 million minority-owned small businesses in America, generating $2 trillion of annual wealth and employing 10 million people.”
Ortiz cites the example of the Guthrie brothers, co-owners of Detroit Chassis, which assembles frames for motorhomes and trucks. The Guthries grew the company from a small workshop into a major manufacturer that brings in more than $100 million every year and employs more than 150 people, most of whom, like the Guthrie brothers, are black.
Ortiz argues that the American system is not rigged, and that people of all racial backgrounds can and will succeed if given the opportunity to do so. However, he argues that a large, redistributive state will cause the opposite of its desired effect by favoring large and well established firms over new businesses, limiting economic mobility.
“Small businesses, because they are small, are much more vulnerable to bad government policies.”
Minimum wages, inflation, rising energy costs, and many other hardships brought on by government policy disproportionately cut into the slim profit margins of small, local firms. Without profits, small businesses cannot develop new products, or hire new workers — if they start taking on losses, they may not even be able to operate.
“To lift up minorities and close the racial and ethnic wealth gap,” Ortiz says, “we should look to the millions of economic pioneers, many of them minority entrepreneurs, who are risking everything to make their lives, and our lives, better every day.”
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Want A Revolution? Start A Business.

Money

PragerU

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/small-businesses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Small businesses</a> impacted by the current <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economic</a> tumult are filing for bankruptcy at levels last witnessed at the outset of the lockdown-induced recession, even as President <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> touts an uptick in new business ventures.
Economic phenomena such as <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inflationary pressures</a>, as well as the rising <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/interest-rates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interest rates</a> caused by monetary tightening from the Federal Reserve, had produced an increase in the number of small and medium-sized businesses filing for bankruptcy, according to a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-credit-crunch-bankruptcy-bank-crisis-svb-fed-inflation-markets-2023-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">note</a> from investment bank UBS obtained by Business Insider. Fears of a credit crunch amid the failure of multiple banks worsened the rise in bankruptcies. The number of business closures surpassed the peak witnessed three years ago when governments implemented lockdown mandates.
The number of monthly bankruptcy filings reached nearly 32,000 as of February 2023, an 18% rise from the 27,000 bankruptcy filings seen in February 2022, according to <a href="https://www.abi.org/newsroom/bankruptcy-statistics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the American Bankruptcy Institute. Chapter 11 bankruptcies, which are typically used by larger businesses because of their more complex nature, increased by 83% over the same period.
Communications from the White House have nevertheless downplayed the present economic challenges and the burdens they create for small businesses. Biden has repeatedly cited the overall higher rates of new business formation over the past three years, as noted by <a href="https://www.census.gov/econ/bfs/pdf/bfs_current.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Census Bureau, without noting the phenomena which have simultaneously weighed upon entrepreneurs.
“When I came into office, this economy was reeling. Small businesses were hurting. Literally hundreds of thousands of small businesses had closed across the country. Millions of Americans, many of whom worked in small businesses, lost their jobs through no fault of their own,” Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/03/27/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-sba-womens-business-summit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last week. “To jumpstart American economic recovery, we needed to help the small businesses and we needed to help them fast. So we got to work.”
The commander-in-chief claimed that the American Rescue Plan boosted the economy by delivering emergency loans to millions of businesses. Critics have asserted that the stimulus package <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americans-continue-to-opt-out-of-the-workforce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worsened</a> labor shortages by extending enhanced federal unemployment benefits established amid the recession, a reality which thereby increased price levels.
The budget proposal unveiled last month by the White House would increase the corporate tax to 28%, which would split the difference between the current 21% rate and the previous 35% rate that was in effect before 2017. One in four businesses registered as corporations are small businesses, according to <a href="https://www.atr.org/biden-budget-violates-his-small-business-tax-pledge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> compiled by Americans for Tax Reform, implying that the higher taxes would negatively impact smaller employers.
Biden has likewise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-celebrates-economic-progress-even-as-inflation-remains-four-times-higher-than-at-the-beginning-of-his-term" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> that his policies have lowered inflation in recent months while neglecting to mention that price level increases are currently four times higher than the rates observed when he assumed office two years ago. “We are making progress in the fight against inflation,” he said last week in a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/31/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-february-pce-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “The fight against inflation isn’t over, and every day my administration is working to give families more breathing room.”
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Inflation has a more severe <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wharton-economist-warns-that-inflation-is-hitting-poor-americans-the-hardest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impact</a> on low-income households, which typically allocate a greater portion of their monthly income to core living expenses relative to wealthier families. Real wages plummeted 1.9% between February 2022 and February 2023, according to <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/realer.nr0.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

President Biden Delivers Remarks On 2024 Budget Plan In Philadelphia

Small Business Bankruptcies Reach Worrisome Level As Biden Touts Rising Business Formation

Small Business Bankruptcies Reach Worrisome Levels

Inflation

Restaurant and bar owners in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/houston-taqueria-where-patron-shot-and-killed-would-be-robber-gets-robbed-again" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Houston</a> are sleeping in their establishments, armed, in order to protect them from robbers.
The restaurant owners have resorted to sleeping in their businesses in order to prevent a recent rash of break-ins that have taken place in recent weeks. The owners said that their businesses have been broken into repeatedly, sometimes by the same suspect. They placed the blame on Houston&#8217;s bail policies, which have resulted in more criminals out on the streets.
“We’ve been broken into six times now,&#8221; Tod Jones, the owner of Glitter, a karaoke bar in Midtown Houston, told local news outlet <a href="https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/houston-restaurant-bars-burglaries/285-6667ff6d-562d-4173-9594-be37661e754b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KHOU</a>. “They’re coming in, grabbing as many bottles as they can, throwing it in a bag and then they’re out. Both my windows are broken, and I’m like, &#8216;Man, I don’t even want to fix them because they’re going to be broken again in the next few days.’”
Jones said that the thieves have caused more than $20,000 in damages and stolen alcohol. “At this point, you don’t even want to claim it on your insurance, because you don’t want to lose your insurance,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You just have to fix it yourself.” KHOU reported that Jones now sleeps at the bar from closing until morning to protect the property.
Raul Jacobo, the owner of Cobos Barbecue in the East Downtown neighborhood, is also sleeping in the back office of his restaurant with a gun waiting for burglars. The restaurant was broken into twice in less than two weeks, despite being a block away from a Houston Police Department office. In one instance, Jacobo and a security guard caught a would-be thief and held him until police arrived. &#8220;Police got there, he had his bag with all his tools in it, ski mask,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Then, next thing I find out, he’s out the next day.”
“We are literally one street away from an [HPD] substation and we have a criminal that is breaking in twice in four days and doesn’t care about any consequence,&#8221; he added.
“I have been burglarized 15 times in the last year,” Lindsey Rae, the owner of Two-Headed Dog in Houston, said during a recent city council meeting, via the <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/01/19/armed-bar-owners-in-texas-sleeping-in-shops-to-stop-criminals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Post</a>. “We’re seeing, if they are getting caught, they’re getting re-released because of the cash bond issues we’re having,” she added. &#8220;They can come back and rob us again.”
A 2021 investigation from ABC affiliate <a href="https://abc13.com/feature/harris-county-bond-system-repeat-offenders-houston-crime/11250980/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KTRK</a> found that Houston&#8217;s bail policies have allowed more criminals back onto the streets. The outlet found that in 2011, just 3.5% of cases filed in Harris County court resulted in the defendant being released on felony bond; in 2021, the defendant was released in 18.8% of cases, nearly six times as often. The most frequent charges for defendants who posted felony bond were: felon in possession of a weapon; possession of a controlled substance; or aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The investigation also found that criminals were committing more crimes while out on bail. In 2011, just 3.5% of cases involved a defendant who was already out on at least one existing felony bond; in 2021, that number leaped to 19%. Of those cases, 968 accused felons allegedly committed four or more new crimes since being released on bond. One case investigated by the outlet found that the offender was out on 13 separate bonds.

Guns

Houston Restaurant Owners Are Sleeping In Their Businesses, Armed, To Keep Out Burglars Because Of City’s Lax Bail Policies

Houston Restaurant Owners Are Sleeping In Their Businesses, Armed, To Keep Out Burglars Because Of City's Lax Bail Policies

Crime

Houston

Robbery

Texas

The owners of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/portland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Portland, Oregon</a>, clothing store have closed the shop, blaming “unrelenting criminal behavior” in a note left on the door that also warned the far-left city is “in peril.”
Rains PDX has been burglarized 15 times in the last year and a half, its owner, Marcy Landolfo, <a href="https://katu.com/news/local/portland-business-permanently-closes-citing-concerns-with-crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told KATU.com</a>. Damages from the break-ins, looted inventory, and the lawless environment of what may be America’s most liberal city prompted them to give up. Her insurance policy won’t even cover losses at this point, she said.
“Our city is in peril,” Landolfo wrote in a note affixed to the locked door. “Small businesses (and large) cannot sustain doing business, in our city&#8217;s current state. We have no protection, or recourse, against the criminal behavior that goes unpunished. Do not be fooled into thinking that insurance companies cover losses. We have sustained 15 break-ins … we have not received any financial reimbursement since the 3rd.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The owner at Rains tells me after five break-ins in about three weeks, she made the sudden decision to permanently close. Staff here are putting pressure on the city to look after small businesses dealing with ongoing challenges with crime. <a href="https://t.co/XyP2p6PR6W">pic.twitter.com/XyP2p6PR6W</a>
&mdash; Megan Allison (@mallisonKATU) <a href="https://twitter.com/mallisonKATU/status/1596602817942548480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Portland has seen a huge crime spike over the last few years and its downtown has not recovered since city officials allowed protesters to run amok in the summer of 2020. In addition to criminals, homeless people and drug addicts camp out on sidewalks and in other public spaces.
Landolfo told <a href="https://katu.com/news/local/portland-business-permanently-closes-citing-concerns-with-crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KATU.com</a> merchants can’t survive the city’s lawless climate.
&#8220;It’s just too much with the losses that are not covered by insurance, the damages, everything. It’s just not sustainable,&#8221; Landolfo said. &#8220;The products that are being targeted are the very expensive winter products and I just felt like the minute I get those in the store they’re going to get stolen.”
Last month, beleaguered Mayor Ted Wheeler pledged to offer Business Repair Grants to help business owners fix damage from break-ins. But Landolfo said the offer was too little, and too late.
“Paying for glass that&#8217;s great, but that is so surface and does nothing for the root cause of the problem, so it&#8217;s never going to change,” she said.
Last week, acclaimed Salt &amp; Straw ice cream shop said it was considering bailing on the city, citing rampant crime, drug use and homelessness.
“We would consider all options,” co-founder Kim Malek told <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2022/11/salt-straw-co-founder-says-i-cant-stay-here-if-portland-hq-employees-arent-safe.html">Oregon Live.</a> &#8216;We don&#8217;t have concrete plans. But our intention is to be at the table working with the city and county to find a solution and not move. Portland is part of the soul of our company. We love this city. This is about having a safe place for our team to work.”

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Portland

Woke Culture

Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee sat down with Ben Shapiro on this week&#8217;s episode of &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-133-bill-lee">The Sunday Special</a>&#8221; to discuss why American businesses and citizens across the United States have relocated to the southern state.
Lee, who operated a family-owned business for 25 years before becoming governor, said creating a business-friendly environment ranked as one of his top priorities before entering office in 2019. Since he was sworn in, the state has garnered 272 project commitments to create almost 40,000 jobs and $12.9 billion in capital investments, according to the state website.
&#8220;Americans right now look around the country, and they see things that are worrisome,&#8221; Lee told Shapiro. &#8220;They want to be reminded that America is the greatest nation in the world, they want to see places that remind them that America hadn&#8217;t lost their way, and I think when they look at Tennessee — they see that and a whole lot of them have decided they want to be there.&#8221;
According to a report by the <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/california-business-exits-soared-2021-and-there-no-end-sight">Hoover Institution</a>, Tennessee, Florida, and Texas have attracted California businesses — like The Daily Wire — and others from predominantly blue states. States like Tennessee, which offer fewer regulations, taxes, and workforce development strategies for business owners, help create jobs and opportunities for its residents.
<a href="https://chiefexecutive.net/best-worst-states-business/">The Tax Foundation</a>, a nonpartisan think tank focusing on state and national tax policies, ranks Tennessee 3rd for quality state business climates.
&#8220;Tennessee is a place that values opportunity and security and freedom,&#8221; Lee said. &#8220;And those things are things that Americans are looking for.&#8221;
But it&#8217;s not just the state&#8217;s business environment driving new residents and companies into Tennessee. The governor has been fighting against the federal government&#8217;s COVID policies since the early days of the pandemic.
Shapiro said the COVID response from individual states opened a wide gap between areas with strict protocols and those more focused on freedom. While legacy media praised states like California and New York for shutting down businesses and schools early and mandating face coverings, states like Tennessee &#8220;didn&#8217;t get enough credit.&#8221;
Lee said his background as a business owner in the private sector helped navigate his decisions to keep the state open as much as possible, despite the massive pushback he received from the media and the federal government.
&#8220;At the end of the day, I decided we can trust Tennesseans more than we can trust anybody else, frankly, because they know best,&#8221; he said.
Lee said the philosophy that people should be given the freedom to make their own decisions also extends to parents making choices about their children&#8217;s education and health care.
As a proponent for funding students over school systems, Lee also discussed how Tennessee became a pro-school choice state for families and why lawmakers are working on legislation for parents to moderate the content taught in the classroom and shared in the libraries.
&#8220;The Left says we&#8217;re attacking this or attacking that,&#8221; Lee said. &#8220;What we really are doing . . is we&#8217;re just protecting and preserving.&#8221;
Lee commended Daily Wire host Matt Walsh for his exposé on Vanderbilt University Medical Center&#8217;s transgender treatment of minors, which led to lawmakers demanding an investigation into the Nashville pediatric gender clinic.
&#8220;Whenever we can expose and make transparent things that are going on that people don&#8217;t know about — that&#8217;s a good thing,&#8221; he said, adding adults should not allow children to make life-altering decisions for themselves.
&#8220;It&#8217;s sad, and it shouldn&#8217;t happen.&#8221; Lee said. &#8220;It&#8217;s wrong on every level.&#8221;
Lee&#8217;s office also said he would contact state lawmakers about legislation regarding transgender care for minors after shocking videos showed a Vanderbilt doctor calling certain transgender surgeries &#8220;huge money makers.&#8221;
Gov. Lee also shared his optimism for the country&#8217;s trajectory ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, believing Americans &#8220;tend to stay on track when the country gets too far&#8221; on either side of the political spectrum.
With many Americans worried the country could fall apart without any uniting principle, Lee said Americans recourse to stand together rather than rely on the federal government.
&#8220;We make a course adjustment,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve done it for 300 years . . . and we find ourselves moving down the path of a more perfect union. And every time we make that adjustment, we become a little bit more of a perfect union.&#8221;
WATCH the latest Sunday Special episodes <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/sunday-special">here</a>.

Key Speakers At Conservative Political Action Conference

‘A Place That Values Opportunity, Security, And Freedom:’ Gov. Bill Lee Explains Why Americans Are Drawn To Tennessee

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