Unless they parachute in Michelle Obama from Martha's Vineyard or roll the dice with cackling Kamala Harris, I'd put money on California Gov. Gavin Newsom (pictured). He's got the movie star looks and progressive fire in his belly that animates the Democrats' base in Hollywood, San Francisco, Chicago and New York. Left-wing billionaires can't get enough of him.
But Mr. Newsom isn't waiting until he reaches the Oval Office to radically transform America, as President Obama promised to do. California is imposing its perverse and extreme worldview on the rest of the nation. This includes climate hysteria, sexual anarchy and miseducation.
When he was mayor, Mr. Newsom backed illegal immigration, declaring San Francisco a sanctuary city in 2007 and offering free housing to the homeless. This put in motion the reckless surge that has turned the City by the Bay into a nightmare of tents and soiled sidewalks. It was a precursor to the lawlessness that encouraged the current flood of millions over our southern border.
On Wednesday, Mr. Newsom aided the abortion and transgender industries in California by signing eight bills, at least one of which affects other states.
SB 345 shields abortionists and medical staff who provide euphemistically termed "gender-affirming care" from criminal or civil liability for serving clients from states that have banned such procedures for minors.
People who live out of state can contact a California provider through telehealth or videoconferencing and have abortion pills or puberty blockers shipped to them by a California pharmacy.
"In so many ways, California is trying to 'radically transform' America the way Barack Obama promised to do from the Oval Office. Only Gavin Newsom's trying to do it from the governor's office in Sacramento." (Robert Knight, in an interview with AFN)
Another law signed by Mr. Newsom, SB 1720, cleverly criminalizes the use of ultrasounds in crisis pregnancy centers.
In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a California law that forced crisis pregnancy centers to inform clients about how to get abortions. Undaunted, the California abortion mafia led by Newsom is bent on removing the most effective pro-life tool.
The new law specifies that ultrasounds can be used only in licensed settings by licensed medical personnel. Volunteers won't be allowed to show women the new life in their wombs and perhaps change their minds about having an abortion.
The same folks behind this law oppose requiring abortion clinics to have routine medical standards to protect women.
The Newsom administration also has filed an amicus brief joined by 19 other liberal states against an Indiana law blocking minors from the mad science of "gender-affirming care," such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and genital or breast removal surgeries.
Mr. Newsom is also kowtowing to climate extremists who want to destroy America's fossil fuel industries. About 40% of goods shipped through America's ports come into California and are shipped all over the nation.
In 2024, California will require all trucks at the state's ports that are purchased after January 1 to be zero-emission. The big rigs must be battery-heavy plug-ins, a wildly expensive switchover with limited charging stations. Right now, trucking firms are spending a fortune buying diesel rigs while they legally can.
A diesel-powered Cascadia big rig sells for around $139,000, while electric versions can cost two or three times as much, according to Autoweek. More than 30,000 diesel tractor-trailers work the state's ports. Only about 150 are zero-emissions. By 2035, all diesel rigs will actually be banned at the ports.
What a great way to run smaller firms that can't afford expensive upgrades out of business. The same thing happened to thousands of small companies and mom-and-pop restaurants during the COVID lockdowns. It's almost as if someone wants everything brought under centralized control. If you think prices are high now, wait until the California Effect kicks in.
Mr. Newsom's government has also ordered an end to the sale of gasoline-powered cars by 2035. Along with EPA mandates, this rule is driving Detroit into a premature electric car frenzy despite stiff consumer resistance.
California already has brownouts and blackouts because of the Democrats' war on gas, coal and nuclear electric plants. Unfortunately, what's ruined in California doesn't stay in California. A bill approved by the state Senate requires all companies doing business in California to disclose their CO2 emissions.
"This would include the emissions of their suppliers, customers, contractors and even commuting workers," according to the Wall Street Journal, which added, "Almost any medium-sized business with a single worker in California would have to report its emissions."
Government agencies are exempt from the reporting requirement. Of course.
Last Tuesday, Mr. Newsom signed a law imposing an 11% tax on the sale of guns and ammo in the state. The feds already tax sales, but California will be the first state to do so.
He also signed bills requiring schools to have all-gender restrooms and to train teachers to affirm LGBTQ-identifying students. Another new law punishes schools that "ban
books" that many parents find objectionable.
Curiously, Mr. Newsom vetoed a bill that would have forced courts to take a child's self-perceived gender identity into account when awarding custody and another bill making kindergarten mandatory.
This indicates to me that he's notching a couple of things to help the media make him seem moderate when he goes for the brass ring.
This article appeared originally here.
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