California AG Rob Bonta has sued for peace in his fight with Paramount’s David Ellison, making Bari Weiss this week’s biggest winner. David says Republicans are poorly positioned to counter the Democrats’ affection for socialism. Will says California Dems finally have former Union general and abolitionist John C. Fremont right where they want him. Harry and Meghan join the California exodus. 

Bonus: Cal Policy’s Lance Christensen says Gavin Newsom got it right — four times! Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:

• Oregon QB Dante Moore leaves field on cart, in neck brace after late hit from USC's Desman Stephens
• David's Capital Record: A Choice, Not a Socialist Echo
• Gov. Gavin Newsom touts California climate response as Super El Niño approaches
• Rob Bonta Sued Paramount to Counter Political Influence, Then Fell Victim to It
• City of Sacramento announces top pick for renaming Cesar Chavez Plaza
• Newsom administration proposes removing explorer John C. Frémont’s name from state park, citing his violence against Native Americans
• Prince Harry And Meghan Markle’s Con Was Never Going To Last Forever

Bonus! Lance Christensen: Where Newsom was Right 

• Veto: Gives teachers unions another tool to kill charter schools (AB 84) 
• Veto: Costly pension enhancements (AB 1054)
• Signed: Make inter-district school transfers easier for parents (SB 1082)
• Veto: Costly pension enhancements (AB 1383)

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Guest Jon Fleischman helps Will break down the news of the week, including Gavin Newsom’s remarkably weird interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, his AI alarmism, and his surprise legislative vetoes. Yet another major battery fire has climate activists wondering who to blame when “clean” energy goes awry. The city of Long Beach responds to the Soviet submarine in its harbor. And we remember the Siege of Los Angeles, September 22, 1846. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:
Jon Fleischman, So Does It Matter Substack
Gavin Newsom tells CNN's Jake Tapper he won't run for president if Kamala Harris runs in 2028
Newsom signs bill barring other states from sending National Guard troops to California
Governor Newsom issues executive order to accelerate independent oversight and advance the creation of an AI kill switch
Who Pays When AI Causes Harm? The “Kill Switch” Is Liability
Newsom vetoes bill to loosen work-from-home rules for state workers
Republicans Help SEIU Defy Gavin Newsom’s Return-to-Work Order - WTH?
Newsom vetoes bill closing CEQA manufacturing exemption
Newsom cites pension crisis as he vetoes bill to enhance retirement for police and firefighters
I Was Wrong About Gavin Newsom And AB 1383, The Public Safety Employee Union Sponsored Pension Spiking Bill
LAUSD struggles to decide between refurbishing and retrofitting or closing schools
LAUSD Ignored the Warnings. Now the Bills Are Due.
New fire breaks out at Moss Landing Power Plant in California; shelter-in-place order issued
How do you dispose of an abandoned Russian submarine? Long Beach is on the hook to find out
 

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In Gavin Newsom’s California, artificial intelligence is apparently dangerous enough to require an expanding apparatus of government regulation, but, in the hands of the state, trustworthy enough to answer your questions about government itself. In other news, Inglewood bails on its SoFi Stadium debt, Ro Khanna embraces race hustling, and David learns about Star Trek's cultural ties to SoCal’s scientific community. Music by Metalachi.
 

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Show Notes:

• ‘Star Trek’ premieres
• The New Generation of Defense Wizards
• Governor Newsom signs first-in-the-nation AI safeguards to protect Californians, calls on the federal government to do its part
• Government, made easier. Governor Newsom introduces AskCA, a new AI-powered tool for Californians
• Better Future AI
• David Sacks on X: “Pace the frontier”
• California wealth tax proponent threatened labor officials, law firm’s report finds
• Ro Khanna, Race Hustler
• The deal that helped bring SoFi Stadium to Inglewood isn’t legally valid, judge rules
• Huntington Beach Approves Police Raises Amid Budget Deficit Projections

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California’s state employees swear an oath to protect the United States Constitution — so what’s up with the university professors calling for armed revolution and the liquidation of Democrats? Newsom visits with South Carolina Democrats but can’t outrun his failures back home, including high unemployment and a new audit showing that the tiniest high-speed rail system in the world has run off the tracks. Bonus: If you missed David and Will’s discussion of November’s 14 ballot measures, listen to Will’s conversation here with political analyst Jon Fleischman. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:

• California Profs Endorse Violence, Forget Constitutional Oath (Listener Steven A.)
• California drivers could pay for Gavin Newsom's personal security when he's out of office (Listener Kathy)
• Gavin Newsom will leave office in January. In South Carolina, he previews what could come next
• Newsom’s Minimum Wage Whitewash (Listener Eric O.)
• California’s ‘groundbreaking’ fast food council lacks a leader, hasn’t met in over a year
• Inspector General slams latest high-speed rail plan
• Judge dismisses Justice Department lawsuit challenging California transgender sports policies

Bonus: California’s 14 Ballot Propositions Explained, With Recommendations! | Jon Fleischman & Will Swaim

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In 1999, the last time California boosted the benefits it pays government employees – earlier retirements, richer retirements – financial disaster followed quickly. Now, state lawmakers want Newsom to try it again. We fact-check Newsom’s claims on housing starts (terrible) and jobs (worse). Iowa’s AG sues California for blocking the Paramount-Warner merger. Now that he’s successful, Mark Zuckerberg says social media companies must be regulated. David and Will break down the Nick Shirley Act. Music by Metalachi.
 

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Show Notes:
David Bahnsen’s “Profit from the profit”
Ishi discovered in California 
Meta to Pay Up to $17.1 Billion in Landmark Settlement Over Social Media Addiction Claims
“Hardly any” AI regulations? Becerra should know better
Iowa Attorney General Says She’s Taking California to the Supreme Court Over Paramount-Warner Bros. Lawsuit
Gavin Newsom still doesn’t understand the limits of his power
California set to force big companies to disclose historic links to slavery
Kenneth Schrupp on Newsom’s jobs report
Newsom’s big housing claim is built on bad data
Lawmakers vote to let first responders retire earlier and with more money. Will Newsom sign on?
AB 1383 is a costly pension mistake in the making
AB 2624 signed into law, California rejects hated-filled (sic) misinformation campaign
Will’s work here would likely be illegal under the Act

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Since 1911, Californians have been allowed a direct role in legislation via the initiative and referendum process. This year’s November ballot features 14 measures, including the Billionaire Wealth Tax, two “affordability” programs that will make housing more expensive, and a bid to make the nation’s highest marginal income-tax rate a permanent impediment to prosperity. 

Bonus! David discusses the birth today of his fifth book, “Profit from the Profit.” Music by Metalachi.
 

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Show Notes:
David Bahnsen’s “Profit from the profit”
 

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Discussing this week’s news -- taxpayer-funded political campaigns, students learning about social justice from a rabid anti-Israel activist, DEI in college admissions, and Newsom’s enthusiasm for new automobile tire regulations -- David concludes with a general principle: “In public policy, every reductio ad absurdum eventually becomes an absurdum.” Bonus: Hoover Institute economist Benjamin Jaros offers his latest battlefield assessment of California’s wealth tax. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:

• Karen Bass ripped after viral video lays out taxpayer-funded match of campaign donations
• Outraged Palo Alto High parents sue school district over mosque field trip
• Mission High leads California schools in UC Berkeley admissions. But many don’t graduate
• Gov. Newsom supports California regulators' approval of new replacement tire rules
• Los Angeles Should Follow San Francisco’s Path to Recovery — Says Man Who Helped Set Back Both
• Xavier Becerra floats bizarre plan to slash Californians’ utility bills
• Xavier Becerra’s high-speed rail solution appears to be “sue and hope”

Hoover Institution’s Ben Jaros on the Billionaire Wealth Tax 

• Benjamin Jaros bio
• Misdiagnosing California’s Fiscal Crisis
• Don Newsom Refuses an Offer
• A powerful union, the billionaire tax and an alleged bargaining chip

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Los Angeles resident Kamala Harris visited New Orleans to celebrate the charter schools she condemns at home -- and to encourage schoolkids to fight Republicans. Gavin Newsom swerves out of his “moderate” lane and endorses Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race. This week in California history: Richard Nixon resigns, Buck Owens is born, and a San Francisco trans activist who sought political asylum in the Netherlands discovers there’s no place like home. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:

• David on Capital Record: The Common Good, Pornography, Gambling, and You
• Will on NPR’s Left, Right & Center: The ‘Socialist’ Brand Helps Some Democrats…For Now
• New Orleans students get advice from Kamala Harris at back-to-school rally
• How New Orleans Turned Around Its Failing Schools
• Congratulations @AbdulElSayed 
• Sacramento judge sides with Attorney General Rob Bonta in Prop 39 ballot title lawsuit
• California’s Medi-Cal has a bad case of fraud — and there’s only one cure
• Medicaid Expansion’s Growing Improper Enrollment Crisis
• Have an idea to fix San Francisco? You could win $50 million
• San Francisco dad questioned by park rangers for teaching his own kids tennis at public court
• Civil war breaks out in rich, white California town as activists from crime-plagued neighboring city demand it’s ‘canceled’
• Transgender American who fled US admits it was ‘the dumbest thing,’ returns home from European asylum center

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In a state where slavery was always illegal, California lawmakers continue their push for reparations, whitewashing the critical role of such black Californians as William Alexander Leidesdorff in the state’s founding. Bonus! What is Participatory Budgeting and why does California Policy Center senior fellow Mark Moses hate it so much? Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes

• David’s Capital Record podcast: The Real Story of Rent Stabilization
• David: Five Takeaways About the Common Good
• Will Swaim: California schools turn to child sacrifice
• California’s next reparations fight
• Oakland Approves $125 Million Coliseum Sale, Clearing Way for Irving Azoff Overhaul
• California Democratic Party endorses billionaire tax
• Newsom Expresses Concerns About State Antitrust Suit Against Paramount
• California launches next phase of state cybersecurity plan as AI changes threat landscape 
• Governor Newsom announces a first-of-its-kind partnership, providing Anthropic tools to state agencies and improving services for Californians
• His Wedding Guests Were Arriving—Just as His $45 Billion Fund Was Falling Apart
• Introducing Claude for Teachers
• Has Kamala Harris Been Hijacked by the DSA or Has the Progressive Mask Finally Slipped?
• Harris cites JFK, Obama among ‘most effective’ presidents, omitting Biden

Mark Moses on “participatory budgeting”

• The Municipal Financial Crisis – A Framework for Understanding and Fixing Government Budgeting (Palgrave Macmillan, January 2022)
• Participatory budgeting won’t save California cities
• We’re seeding PB across California!
• How Taylor Swift’s Wedding Became a Lesson in the Rule of Law

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Vanity Fair revisits Gavin Newsom's two-decade-old affair. SEIU president Dave Regan says he did not illegally bargain over his union's proposed wealth tax. California undermines national defense. We remember the California connections of U2 pilot Gary Francis Power. Bonus! In the wake of the Facuci diary’s release, CPC’s Lance Christensen joins Will to remember what it was like inside the state capitol during Covid. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes

• Gavin Newsom’s ex-mistress drops bombshell essay on affair that nearly destroyed him
• California wouldn’t be the right place to launch California Pizza Kitchen today, co-founder says
• We Still Need More Ships
• Exclusive: California Forever loses $3.2 billion shipyard contract as defense startup picks Texas
• California shouldn’t punish Coast Guardsmen for serving their country
• Rich Californians Are Finding Creative Ways to Get Ahead of the Billionaire Tax
• Medi-Cal And One Big Beautiful Bill: Federal Medicaid Reforms And The Fiscal Premise Of California's Billionaire Tax Act
• California House Republicans ask Trump administration to block state’s new tax
• A powerful union, the billionaire tax and an alleged bargaining chip
• 2026: 5 reasons the Dodgers should not go back to the White House again next year (Lopez) 
• 2026: Are the Dodgers tone deaf? White House visit is an insult to their fans (Plaschke)
• 2021: Dodgers celebrate World Series title at White House, then extend winning streak (Castillo)
• 2026: The Dodgers were right to go to the White House (Fleischman)
• Abuse and intimidation have taken over Sacramento City Hall meetings | Opinion

Lance Christensen on the Fauci diary and Newsom’s failure

• Fauci, in Private Diary, Reflected on Covid’s Origins and His Own Fame

National Review Institute Comes to San Francisco

• Regional Seminar: American Innovation

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She oversaw the burning of L.A.’s Westside last year. In April, Mayor Karen Bass turned to the city’s schools, backing the teacher union’s demand for the budget-busting pay hike that led to the announcement this week that the district is nearing bankruptcy. Bonus! We remember the 1973 premiere of American Graffiti, George Lucas’s love letter to California’s Central Valley. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:

• Housing Affordability and Housing Demand
• PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and the Environment
• Governor Newsom announces $20 million in grant funding matched by Google to support local journalism across the state
• State workers have returned to offices. What’s next in the fight for telework?
• LAUSD deadline looms to make painful cuts after county says board actions ‘erode confidence’
• RFC 441: Strike or not, Los Angeles Unified is on an unsustainable trajectory
• RFC 441: The price of LAUSD union peace will be $1.2 billion a year. Next up is paying for it
• RFC 441: LAUSD deal reached: Mayor Bass steps in to avoid LAUSD strike 
• Alameda County supervisors unanimously approve policy-driven reparations plan for Black residents
• Alameda County Identifies $55M in Budget Reductions, but Major Gap Remains
• As World Cup fans pour into LAX, long-awaited people mover train struggles with delays
• People Mover lawsuit
• LA blew $60M on homeless ‘fix’ — it housed just three units
• Katie Porter says she’s done with politics after failed governor bid as she teases next chapter  

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