I agree that the fraud needs to be confronted - vigorously. With serious incarceration for those that commit fraud. Having said that, don't all of the readers, many who are Christians, and want to help those in real need? One issue I have had with MAGA, and the sometimes less than careful thinking, Christian backing is that we may be forgetting our Christianity. I am not accusing Chris, or anyone specifically of this. But this issue is useful to point out what I suspect is the view of many Christians. Namely, we find fraudsters disgusting. And I think they should receive severe punishment. Why? Because, they lead many people, including well-meaning Christians, to turn their back on what a potentially good a program might do - if we could get rid of the scummy fraudsters!
You have it precisely backwards. "Forgetting our Christianity" is relying on government programs to help those in need, rather than doing it ourselves. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors. He does not tell us to design systems that forcibly tax our hardest working, most productive neighbors in order to provide benefits to those in need. People directly helping other people is orders of magnitude more beneficial than any "potentially good program" will ever be. The only way to reliably get rid of fraud is when the benefactor and beneficiary are directly connected, with no sticky fingers in between them.
Ok Dude, but why not have taxes we are paying anyway to go to good causes? I think you are thinking of the best possible world, which likely includes purple skies and candy corns as rain. I am trying to be a little realistic. God Bless.
Instead of trying to make sure our taxes don't go to fraud, just let people keep more of THEIR money, and spend it whatever way, Christian or not, that they see fit.
JD Vance who was recently appointed to investigate fraud should prioritize the investigation of this fraudulent scheme and make public this fraud that is enabled by Gavin Newsom.
This is the tip of the iceberg of what goes on in California....And this is one who wants to be President!!!
Good analysis. Many family members care for elderly or ill relatives in their home. I was glad to hear they could get a small wage from the Government who would otherwise by paying an outside provider. Of course supervision is needed. As an RN, I used to do this job in rural Oregon.
There is a pattern to virtually all the widespread government fraud. 1. The government funds a program. 2. The beneficiaries, whether unions, non profits or contract recipients, make campaign contributions to the people in charge of funding and enforcement. 3. Rinse and repeat. It is the Democratic Party’s go to strategy, and we’re just beginning to get a sense of the scale of this fraud. What distinguishes this from a criminal enterprise?
Chris, your articles and the ones on City Journal are timely. I live in this state, and I had NO idea the fraud here was SO out of control, while the government and Newsom keeps deflecting responsibility and more taxes are introduced. This is financial abuse of our taxed money. This is the ugly truth a lot of people don’t want to accept. Can I make a suggestion? Some graphs or visualizations of the fraud estimates overlapped with other state spending, tax revenue, and money provided by the federal government. I think people here in California simply don’t understand the magnitude because it’s hard to track with comparing numbers in your head. But once you introduce some visualizations comparing scale, it helps you understand the problem. And even compare this with fraud in other states. These are also things that can be shared on social media. Thank you.
Great article but very frustrating. Is Newsome really "embroiled" in this? It seems like he eludes any type of accountability. Waltz seemed to have been shut down for his dirty state but CA seems to roll on with this mafia machine. It just amazes me how much has been there. Does anyone have an overall estimate of how much grift has been lost, say since Newsome became governor? I have lived here my whole life and don't want to leave, but this is unstainable. I heard the comparison to South Africa, where people were looting copper from power plants. At a certain point the momentum is too much.
I think the comparison to South Africa is off.. but I share your sentiment. It’s a beautiful state, and in many ways it works well for us, but the government here is bewildering.. team blue seems either gaslit into ignoring it and believing anything Republican is the bad guy.. or there just seems to be too much apathy to make a shift. I’m thinking there’s so much fraud at all levels, there just isn’t any incentive to change, lest one’s own fraud be exposed or the money valve be shut off.
Curtis Yarvin to the rescue (it’s not even that they are stupid, it’s worse):
“If we want to know what a darwinian system, such as the California government will evolve we have to look at the selective pressures on its organisms.
What is California’s cathedral selecting for?
The selective advantage of an idea may not be driven solely by the quality of that idea . When an idea goes arwy, becomes perverse, it must be because of the pattern of selective advantage in this marketplace of ideas.
A dominant idea is an idea that validates the use of power . There is no market for recessive ideas, recessive ideas invalidate power or the use of power. A dominant idea is an idea that tends to benefit you and your friends.
The cathedral cannot tell us whether an idea is good or bad because it will always select for the dominant idea. Our institutions cannot hear, think, know, learn, understand or teach ANY recessive ideas : that is any ideas that would damage or delegitimate the powers that be.
I don’t trust anything Gavin Newsom touches. $24 billion on homelessness, with nothing to show for it. A high-speed rail project that never came to be. $100 million for a fire aid concert, which was distributed to nonprofits, like his wife's. And COVID rules for everyone except him. He's a shyster and anything with his name attached is corrupt and toxic.
Outstanding report by Ch.R., as all his previous reports on other issues. I’ve been following his writing for a while, amazed by his clear thinking and articulation, exhaustive research and personal courage
How would faculty or students on a public policy program analyze this instance? If it is clearly a textbook case of being ripe for fraud, how did it get approved by CA? Where is the broken part of the governing apparatus?
It does make you wonder how much "off the record" type of stuff is going on, or just plausibly deniability when one claims "get me more votes!". I wonder the same, who or what exactly is the core of this criminal enterprise? I think it may be an open secret in this state, and people are willing to look the other way because it keeps the one party power dynamic happening. Sadly I think a lot of these folks were taught to have only one political persuasion from the colleges. The kind that Herbert Marcuse advocated for: "Liberating tolerance, then, would mean intolerance against movements from the Right and toleration of movements from the Left". - so in a way, the end justifies the means.
I agree that the fraud needs to be confronted - vigorously. With serious incarceration for those that commit fraud. Having said that, don't all of the readers, many who are Christians, and want to help those in real need? One issue I have had with MAGA, and the sometimes less than careful thinking, Christian backing is that we may be forgetting our Christianity. I am not accusing Chris, or anyone specifically of this. But this issue is useful to point out what I suspect is the view of many Christians. Namely, we find fraudsters disgusting. And I think they should receive severe punishment. Why? Because, they lead many people, including well-meaning Christians, to turn their back on what a potentially good a program might do - if we could get rid of the scummy fraudsters!
You have it precisely backwards. "Forgetting our Christianity" is relying on government programs to help those in need, rather than doing it ourselves. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors. He does not tell us to design systems that forcibly tax our hardest working, most productive neighbors in order to provide benefits to those in need. People directly helping other people is orders of magnitude more beneficial than any "potentially good program" will ever be. The only way to reliably get rid of fraud is when the benefactor and beneficiary are directly connected, with no sticky fingers in between them.
Ok Dude, but why not have taxes we are paying anyway to go to good causes? I think you are thinking of the best possible world, which likely includes purple skies and candy corns as rain. I am trying to be a little realistic. God Bless.
Instead of trying to make sure our taxes don't go to fraud, just let people keep more of THEIR money, and spend it whatever way, Christian or not, that they see fit.
How about a CA ballot measure to phase out state taxes? That ought to fix it.
Feds, States,Locals all need to make it at least a bit tougher by both process & individual official responsibilities to access our tax money..
Anything less is Fraud by both the crooks and the officials.
Yeah, well. Let's hope.
Think anyone can do something about voter ID with something like 80% support?
JD Vance who was recently appointed to investigate fraud should prioritize the investigation of this fraudulent scheme and make public this fraud that is enabled by Gavin Newsom.
This is the tip of the iceberg of what goes on in California....And this is one who wants to be President!!!
If JD doesn't do something on this, he'll have no chance to win the nomination.
Good analysis. Many family members care for elderly or ill relatives in their home. I was glad to hear they could get a small wage from the Government who would otherwise by paying an outside provider. Of course supervision is needed. As an RN, I used to do this job in rural Oregon.
I pray the government in Washington goes after these corrupt unions etc!
What you view as fraud, Newson views as success
There is a pattern to virtually all the widespread government fraud. 1. The government funds a program. 2. The beneficiaries, whether unions, non profits or contract recipients, make campaign contributions to the people in charge of funding and enforcement. 3. Rinse and repeat. It is the Democratic Party’s go to strategy, and we’re just beginning to get a sense of the scale of this fraud. What distinguishes this from a criminal enterprise?
What distinguishes this from criminality, good question.
Hum, I feel the need to really nail it!
Hum, criminality what is different 🧐?
They have power. (I was hoping to be funnier.)
Chris, your articles and the ones on City Journal are timely. I live in this state, and I had NO idea the fraud here was SO out of control, while the government and Newsom keeps deflecting responsibility and more taxes are introduced. This is financial abuse of our taxed money. This is the ugly truth a lot of people don’t want to accept. Can I make a suggestion? Some graphs or visualizations of the fraud estimates overlapped with other state spending, tax revenue, and money provided by the federal government. I think people here in California simply don’t understand the magnitude because it’s hard to track with comparing numbers in your head. But once you introduce some visualizations comparing scale, it helps you understand the problem. And even compare this with fraud in other states. These are also things that can be shared on social media. Thank you.
Great article but very frustrating. Is Newsome really "embroiled" in this? It seems like he eludes any type of accountability. Waltz seemed to have been shut down for his dirty state but CA seems to roll on with this mafia machine. It just amazes me how much has been there. Does anyone have an overall estimate of how much grift has been lost, say since Newsome became governor? I have lived here my whole life and don't want to leave, but this is unstainable. I heard the comparison to South Africa, where people were looting copper from power plants. At a certain point the momentum is too much.
I think the comparison to South Africa is off.. but I share your sentiment. It’s a beautiful state, and in many ways it works well for us, but the government here is bewildering.. team blue seems either gaslit into ignoring it and believing anything Republican is the bad guy.. or there just seems to be too much apathy to make a shift. I’m thinking there’s so much fraud at all levels, there just isn’t any incentive to change, lest one’s own fraud be exposed or the money valve be shut off.
Walz may be the next Democratic presidential nominee
Excellent summary of an obviously seriously compromised state, associations, institutions, governor and politicians.
Wow, $6 billion in waste/fraud/abuse….
That’s three Kushner-Arab funds.
Or five days bombing Iran.
Maybe Senator Rick Scott, our foremost expert in Medicare fraud, can be of assistance?
MAGA is cooked.
This deflection is small potatoes.
Why? Why such inanity when it is so obvious.
Curtis Yarvin to the rescue (it’s not even that they are stupid, it’s worse):
“If we want to know what a darwinian system, such as the California government will evolve we have to look at the selective pressures on its organisms.
What is California’s cathedral selecting for?
The selective advantage of an idea may not be driven solely by the quality of that idea . When an idea goes arwy, becomes perverse, it must be because of the pattern of selective advantage in this marketplace of ideas.
A dominant idea is an idea that validates the use of power . There is no market for recessive ideas, recessive ideas invalidate power or the use of power. A dominant idea is an idea that tends to benefit you and your friends.
The cathedral cannot tell us whether an idea is good or bad because it will always select for the dominant idea. Our institutions cannot hear, think, know, learn, understand or teach ANY recessive ideas : that is any ideas that would damage or delegitimate the powers that be.
I don’t trust anything Gavin Newsom touches. $24 billion on homelessness, with nothing to show for it. A high-speed rail project that never came to be. $100 million for a fire aid concert, which was distributed to nonprofits, like his wife's. And COVID rules for everyone except him. He's a shyster and anything with his name attached is corrupt and toxic.
Outstanding report by Ch.R., as all his previous reports on other issues. I’ve been following his writing for a while, amazed by his clear thinking and articulation, exhaustive research and personal courage
Thank you!!
How would faculty or students on a public policy program analyze this instance? If it is clearly a textbook case of being ripe for fraud, how did it get approved by CA? Where is the broken part of the governing apparatus?
It does make you wonder how much "off the record" type of stuff is going on, or just plausibly deniability when one claims "get me more votes!". I wonder the same, who or what exactly is the core of this criminal enterprise? I think it may be an open secret in this state, and people are willing to look the other way because it keeps the one party power dynamic happening. Sadly I think a lot of these folks were taught to have only one political persuasion from the colleges. The kind that Herbert Marcuse advocated for: "Liberating tolerance, then, would mean intolerance against movements from the Right and toleration of movements from the Left". - so in a way, the end justifies the means.
Maybe this post, https://daveguarino.substack.com/p/diagnosing-government-incapacity
“meaningful change is seeing the recurring feedback loops, changing them, and adding new ones.”
Can we please summon Dave Guarino to weigh in here.