Rep. Mike Garcia: Exporting California's worst ideas – Democrats want to take radical policies nationwide
High tax, anti-worker legislation is making California unlivable for everyone except the wealthy
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The politicians running Washington, D.C., are trying to take California national. Unfortunately, it is not the year-round sunshine and ocean breeze they are seeking.
Those in charge of our federal government are taking the worst of California and inflicting it on the rest of America via ugly twin legislation in Congress.
Under the reign of progressives who have a stranglehold on Sacramento, California has become the test tube for some of the most radical, far-left policies imaginable, and the results have been near catastrophic for families, small business owners and anyone trying to have some semblance of a life.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}SEN. RAND PAUL: A MOUNTAIN OF DEBT, 'FREE MONEY' IS NOT THE ANSWER TO OUR PROBLEMS. HERE'S WHAT IS
High tax, anti-worker legislation is making California unlivable for everyone except the wealthy and even many wealthy people are heading for the door.
Since its formation as a state, California’s population has only grown – until now. Californians are leaving in such large numbers that, for the first time, the state will lose at least one seat in the House.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Voters are speaking up and fighting back.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom is now staring down a potential recall in a state where four congressional seats flipped from Democratic to Republican just a few months ago, including the Democratic-leaning seat I now represent.
This reckless disregard for taxpayers is why I ran for office; to stop progressive Washington politicians who are hell bent on enacting the very same policies California voters are resoundingly rejecting.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}For every bad policy in California there is a near identical one being moved through the current Congress.
The House agenda this week includes a bill called the Pro Act. California workers know this as AB5, legislation making independent contractors (read: Uber drivers and kids delivering newspapers) full-time employees of their respective employers.
AB5 cost tens of thousands of California jobs. Overturning it was a central theme of my race for Congress, and voters elected me not once, but twice, in a district Joe Biden carried by 10 points. In November, while Biden won California with 63.5%, voters via referendum overturned the disastrous bill with 59% of the vote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If it’s happening in California, there’s an ugly twin sitting in Washington being pushed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and progressives.
House Democrats recently shoved through their view of election reform via H.R.1. This sweeping bill looks like it was written in Sacramento, stripping states of their ability to enact voter ID laws, nationalizing the infamous act of ballot harvesting where anyone can go door-to-door collecting voters’ ballots, and enacting public funding for political campaigns. A politician’s dream come true.
Taking another page from the California playbook, the radical left in D.C. is doing their very best to push through an increase in the national minimum wage to $15. California hit $14 per hour this year on its way to $15. It seems Washington is turning a blind eye to the myriad small business owners throughout the Golden State who are downsizing their workforce to meet increasing payroll costs.
The sky-high taxes in California are a primary reason people are leaving, but that hasn’t stopped those in Sacramento from pushing higher property taxes and even higher income taxes. Not to be outdone, Democrats in Washington snuck in a tax on gig workers to pay for their behemoth $1.9 trillion stimulus and continually seek higher taxes they can raise on small business owners.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Despite sitting on some of the largest energy reserves, California is the only state that is not energy independent. The careless use of public power shutoffs whenever the wind blows has put Californian’s access to necessities like power, water and fuel at the mercy of the state. These shutoffs are not just unnecessary, but they can be life-threatening to people with medical needs that rely on power for life-saving treatments.
California’s laser focus on passing radical climate change policies continually results in higher energy costs, rolling blackouts and a disregard for the forest fires that ravage the beautiful hills and towns across the state. In D.C., California’s war on energy is being uploaded in the form of the Green New Deal.
The list goes on forever: caving to teachers unions that are keeping schools closed, immigration policies that prioritize illegal immigrants and law enforcement reforms that put the men and women in blue in danger.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If it’s happening in California, there’s an ugly twin sitting in Washington being pushed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and progressives.
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California was once the state people flocked to for a shot at the American Dream. But now it is collapsing under the weight of disastrous policy, and Washington progressives want to impart those same failing acts onto the entire country.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The American people deserve better – and we must fight to protect them from what California has become.