The union behind the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act says it will generate $110 billion for public health programs, but Hoover Institution researchers calculate that it will actually cost California $25 billion. In the “Why Now Department,” Will and David consider multiple hypotheses about the timing of claims that United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez raped young women half a century ago. The legal case against Meta and YouTube asks us to believe that social media companies bear absolute responsibility for addictive use of social media. Will tells the true story of Ah Louis, a California Gold Rush-era immigrant who became the unofficial mayor of San Luis Obispo’s Chinatown. Bonus! Lance Christensen provides a first look at the year’s legislative Race to Absurdity. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Follow Us:
@DavidBahnsen
@WillSwaim
@TheRadioFreeCA

Show Notes:

• Read the Statement From Dolores Huerta on Cesar Chavez’s Abuse
• From streets to murals, the erasure of Cesar Chavez is fast underway in California
• The complicated legacy of César Chávez
• ‘I will miss them’: Khanna mocks tech billionaires threatening to leave California for wealth tax
• Kathy Hochul’s Seller’s Remorse
• The Fiscal Losses from California's Billionaire Tax Act
• Gavin Newsom’s $114 Million Butterfly Bridge
• Jury deliberations continue in landmark social media addiction trial against Meta, Google
• Social media use is tied to well-being, according to the new World Happiness Report

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The once-powerful, still-iconic founder of the United Farm Workers is now getting the old Me-Too makeover with his own union reporting allegations that he was the radical left’s Jeffrey Epstein. Also: Newsom’s hypocrisy on surging gasoline prices, Oscar-winner Jessie Buckley’s defense of family, population-alarmist Paul Ehrlich is dead, L.A. County’s fraud problem, the Silicon Valley's deeply flawed initiative to block the wealth tax, and more! Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Follow Us:
@DavidBahnsen
@WillSwaim
@TheRadioFreeCA

Show Notes:

• Cesar Chavez allegations jolt California’s labor movement
• Jessie Buckley’s Beautiful Homage to Mothers
• The End Is Still Near
• The sleeper initiative that could upend more than the wealth tax
• We visited “ground zero” for hospice fraud: Los Angeles, California
• Progressive lawmakers Bernie Sanders, Ro Khanna unveil $4.4T wealth tax targeting billionaires
• SEIU California Endorses Eric Swalwell for Governor
• You get an endorsement! You get an endorsement!
• Sable’s president in shining armor
• Governor Newsom blasts Trump for raising gasoline prices on Americans with no plan and no accountability

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

California Governor Gavin Newsom says taxpayers will spend $19 million on advertising designed to burnish his record in advance of his White House run. Will and guest Will O’Neill consider recent news stories that won’t make the final cut -- skyrocketing oil prices, gender transitioning in the state’s schools, the stabbing victim who died after his ambulance was stolen, and the governor’s own flirtation with antisemitism. Bonus! Remembering Edward Dickinson Baker, the first Californian to die in the American Civil War. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Follow Us:
@DavidBahnsen
@WillSwaim
@TheRadioFreeCA

Show Notes:

• Army Reserve soldier from Sacramento among six killed in Kuwait drone strike
• Newsom planning $19-million push to polish California’s national image
• In a Political Campaign, City Officials Can Spend Your Money Against You. They Call it 'Education'
• He was stabbed while charging his car. He died after his ambulance was stolen
• Newsom likens Israel to ‘apartheid state,’ questions future military support
• Newsom Digs in After SCOTUS Rebuke, Claims Teachers ‘Forced to Be Gender Cops’
• Amid angry backlash, serial child molester is rearrested the same day he was set to be paroled
• Here’s how Newsom’s spending binge outstripped revenues, creating California’s chronic deficit
• Marathon, Chevron, PBF Warn Governor Newsom of Widespread Refinery Shutdowns, Fuel shortages, Economic Collapse
• California’s economy faces threats with new energy policy changes
• Nevada governor fires warning shot at Gavin Newsom over oil crisis: ‘Real-world consequences’
• Fearing GOP upset, top California Democrat urges lagging candidates for governor to drop out of race
• California Unions May Decide Which Republican Advances In The Governor’s Race — And Which One Doesn’t
• Poll: Hilton’s rise could spare Dems from disaster in California gov’s race
• Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley files to run as independent
• A budget plot twist in Oakland: From ‘fiscal emergency’ to $17 million in the black

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Following a smashing victory in a San Diego federal court, attorney Paul Jonna describes the U.S. Supreme Court’s dramatic intervention to end California’s determination to hide student gender-transition plans from parents. Bonus! California attorney Michael McClellan lays out the conservative case for skepticism about artificial intelligence. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Follow Us:
@DavidBahnsen
@WillSwaim
@TheRadioFreeCA

Paul Jonna on Mirabelli and SCOTUS

• Paul Jonna, Limandri & Jonna
• Thomas More Society
• Court sides with parents in dispute over California policies on transgender students

Michael McClellan on AI

• Governor DeSantis Hosts Roundtable on AI Policy at New College of Florida
• 2028: The Consequences of Abundant Intelligence
• Gemini Said They Could Only Be Together if He Killed Himself. Soon, He Was Dead.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Iran war exposes California’s fragile oil supply, how the media transformed the death of nine skiers near Donner Pass into a case of “climate change,” and Attorney General Rob Bonta’s very bad week. Bonus! Attorney Andrew Quinio describes Pacific Legal’s lawsuit to block San Francisco reparations payments, and CPC senior fellow Mark Moses considers whether government exists to serve citizens -- or whether citizens exist to serve government. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Follow Us:
@DavidBahnsen
@WillSwaim
@TheRadioFreeCA

Show Notes:

• In Gov. Newsom’s California, It Makes Sense to Get Gasoline from the Bahamas
• When US Gasoline Has to Leave the Country to Move Within It
• Avalanche experts fear conditions that led to deadly Tahoe slide could become ‘new normal’
• Apple quietly removes environmental metrics from executive pay
• California bill would make fossil fuel companies help pay for rising insurance costs
• The Tangled Web of the Boulder v. Suncor Cert Grant: Pass me some aspirin. Attorney General Rob Bonta might want some, too.
• Judge Axes Exxon’s Defamation Suit Against Environmentalists
• The hypothetical nuclear attack that escalated the Pentagon’s showdown with Anthropic
• Merrill Kelly rejected Padres’ lucrative contract offer due to California’s ridiculous tax laws
• ‘Like an Uber Share’ but public: South Bay city to bring low-cost, rideshare-style public transit service

Bonus track! PLF attorney Andrew Quinio on San Francisco’s reparations program 

• Andrew Quinio bio
• San Francisco taxpayers challenge race-based reparations fund in court
• San Francisco mayor quietly signs reparations fund that could lead to $5M payments per person
• The Cost Of San Francisco’s Reparations Proposal: Nearly $600,000 Per Household

Public finance expert Mark Moses on the proper role of government

• Mark Moses bio
• The Municipal Financial Crisis – A Framework for Understanding and Fixing Government Budgeting (Palgrave Macmillan, January 2022)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In our bonus interview, CPC attorney Emily Rae unpacks the new U.S. Department of Education report showing how state officials use lawsuits, funding, and threats to force school officials to violate federal law regarding parent notification. In other news: Alex Padilla has missed another chance to thank federal officers who didn’t shoot him last June. Representative Lateefah Simon (D., Calif.) hates the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo but won’t leave California. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass threatens to punish property owners who welcome ICE agents. Republican gubernatorial candidates surge, Dems end their panicky convention with no clear endorsement. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Follow Us:
@DavidBahnsen
@WillSwaim
@TheRadioFreeCA

Show Notes:

• After State of the Union, Democrats say Trump did ‘what he does best: lie’
• The Padilla Incident and the Greater Peril
• H.Res.1056 - Calling for the annulment of the Monroe Doctrine and the development of a "New Good Neighbor" policy
• Mexican army kills ‘El Mencho,’ Mexico’s most-wanted drug kingpin
• LA Mayor Karen Bass announces plans to ban ICE from city properties
• Coalition rallies to defend Cypress Park day labor center amid disputed Home Depot eviction threat
• Newsom to Middle Class Whites: I'm Average Too
• Newsom Pardon Allows Illegal Immigrant to Remain in U.S. Despite Attempted Murder Conviction
• ‘I’m very worried’: California Dems confront possibility of an all-GOP governor race
• L.A. County pushes to change law that opened floodgates for billions in sex abuse payouts
• LAUSD borrowing $250 million to settle sex abuse claims — on top of earlier half billion
• Despite climate effects, beaches grew 500 acres

Emily Rae, California Justice Center, on U.S. Department of Ed report:

• Emily Rae bio
• U.S. Department of Education letter to California 
• Emily’s amicus brief in Littlejohn

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In his tour of the Munich Security Conference, Governor Gavin Newsom held himself up as a global leader on policies most European nations abandoned decades ago. David and Will also discuss: the impact of the U.S. EPA’s announcement that it will no longer follow the Obama-era “endangerment finding” on carbon emissions, San Francisco skier Eileen Gu’s decision to represent China in the Olympics, State Senator Scott Wiener’s failure to keep up with climate science, and how Newsom’s Prop. 50 may silence at least one of the brightest conservative voices in the U.S. House of Representatives. Bonus: Lance Christensen breaks down Newsom's attempted takeover of the state Department of Education. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Follow Us:
@DavidBahnsen
@WillSwaim
@TheRadioFreeCA

Show Notes:

• The Bahnsen Group Opens News Silicon Valley Office
• Will on NPR: Texas Dems are stuck on identity politics with Senate race at stake
• CPC hiring: Director of development 
• We Need to Tax the Rich. Are Unions Going About it the Right Way in California?
• Nobody wants to step on the gas (tax)
• Sam Darnold’s insane California tax bill stunningly exceeds Super Bowl winnings
• California Jock Tax Calculator 
• Boomer Esiason suggests barring California from Hosting Super Bowl
• VP Vance to lead California anti-fraud task force: report
• Munich Security Conference: Governor Newsom reinforces climate partnerships as Donald Trump abandons long-standing American allies
• Lee Zeldin’s EPA Liberates American Industry
• Donald Trump declares the Republican Party the pro-pollution party
• Wiener Watch! New bill aims to allow California AG to sue oil companies for disaster costs
• SoCal Edison files lawsuit over Eaton Fire, alleging LA County, other utilities are also to blame
• Judge clears way for mega lawsuit blaming LA and California for deadly Palisades Fire
• Eileen Gu’s Terrible Choice
• Kiley says he’s weighing challenge to McClintock. He’s already launched an opening salvo.

Lance Christensen: A Strangely Good Few Weeks in Education

• State Superintendent Tony Thurmond on the power struggle over public schools | California Politics 360
• Number of the Week: Teacher strike votes are rising
• Teachers Unions Get Desperate
• Teachers email parents demanding they don’t homeschool kids – as San Francisco strike grinds into a third day
• US Secretary of Ed Linda McMahon: Teachers shouldn't have to bankroll unions
• Understanding SFUSD’s $1.4B budget: How teachers and the district come up with different numbers
• LAUSD will vote on layoffs amid budget challenges, declining enrollment 
• UTLA planning documents appear to advocate for use of school resources as ‘form of resistance’ against ICE
• Gen Z are arriving to college unable to even read a sentence—professors warn it could lead to a generation of anxious and lonely graduates
• UC San Diego Finds One In Eight Freshmen Lack High-School Math Skills
• The tide goes out on youth gender medicine

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has emerged with new false claims about the success of his high-speed rail project -- and a creepy legislative proposal to classify as secret any rail-project document that might “harm the interests of the state.” Bonuses! Freshman State Assemblyman David Tangipa tears into the Newsom budget, and Red State editor and investigative reporter Jennifer Van Laar reveals the next chapter in Fresno’s secret Chinese bio lab. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Follow Us:
@DavidBahnsen
@WillSwaim
@TheRadioFreeCA

Show Notes

• California job market ranks among the weakest of the weak nationwide
• Labor leaders blast Gavin Newsom over AI, demand more regulation
• Jonathan Turley: Grandstanding Newsom will stop at nothing to ride the rails to glory in 2028
• State leaders propose to keep some California high-speed rail information secret
• A top Democrat wants to know if California laws are working. Lawmakers get to pick which ones
• Throw everything at the wall, see what sticks
• Gun-wielding LA protester aims at feds then vanishes under pepper-ball fire
• Federal workers face daily harassment by ruthless agitators in DTLA: ‘War zone every day’
• Coalition rallies to defend Cypress Park day labor center amid disputed Home Depot eviction threat
• New twist in mayor’s race makes election a referendum on L.A.’s future
• Pension costs make tax- and fee-hike frenzy at City Hall the new norm
• Overtime costs were skyrocketing. San Diego police say they have reined it in.
• An ex-Fresno Arts Council employee is under investigation in $1.5 million embezzlement case, city sources say
• A Bay Area downtown faces a reckoning as tides rise
• How bad was California’s ‘Great Flood’ of 1862? It was a torrent of horrors

Assemblyman David Tangipa on the state budget

• Official website

Jen Van Laar on the worst Airbnb in America 

• Illegal Chinese Biolab Used As Airbnb, Made Several Deathly Ill; Defendant Owns Multiple Homes in NV, CA
• Feds Seize 1000 Samples From Illegal CCP Biolab in Las Vegas Owned by Defendant in Reedley Case

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In his forthcoming autobiography, Gavin Newsom beats his critics to the punch with a deep dive into his troubled personality. Bonus track: attorney general candidate Michael Gates. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Follow Us:
@DavidBahnsen
@WillSwaim
@TheRadioFreeCA

Show Notes:

• Shawn Bell, “Exploring California’s Historic Landmarks”
• Will on NPR’s “Left, Right & Center”
• Who Funds the Groups Harassing ICE Agents in Minnesota? The Left's Premier Foundations and Dark Money Networks Have Given Millions, Records Show.
• The Public-Sector Union Behind L.A.’s Immigration Agitation
• Where do Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton stand on public sector unions?
• 50 people arrested hours after hundreds gathered for another anti-ICE protest in DTLA
• Reid Hoffman: Silicon Valley can’t be neutral any longer
• Native American tribe that owns land under Billie Eilish’s LA mansion has message for virtue-signaling singer
• Ellen DeGeneres shops for new mansion same day she calls for ICE buying boycott
• Hundreds of Sacramento high school students walk out of class to protest ICE
• SB-955 Pupil attendance: excused absences: civic or political events.
• LAUSD teachers union members authorize strike, ratcheting up pressure on contract talks
• San Diego teachers plan first strike in 30 years over issues with staffing and services for special education
• San Francisco school workers are the latest California educators to authorize a strike
• Twin Rivers Unified teachers vote for a strike. Here’s when it could happen
• Neighbors say a machete-wielding man is terrorizing their local park. S.F. has no idea what to do about it
• Gavin Newsom Is Setting His Own Rules
• Gavin Newsom opens the oppo book in his new memoir
• California Republicans oppose mileage-based fee proposal
• Reason Foundation’s 2025 report on US state road conditions
• Epstein files reveal emails between Ghislaine Maxwell, L.A. Olympics boss Casey Wasserman. He expresses regret

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In Minneapolis, Trump walked into a trap designed by California union activists and perfected in their bloody showdown with the Los Angeles Police Department in 1990: Provoke law enforcement into violent behavior, broadcast the images, and win political concessions. In other news: Trump uses his bully pulpit to beat up Newsom on gasoline prices and wildfire relief. The Atlantic concludes Newsom’s record of failed governance won’t work with a national audience. Bonus tracks! Lance Christensen reviews Newsom’s record of failure on K–12 education, and Edward Ring says the U.S. Drought Monitor’s California reports have been wrong for 25 years. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Follow Us:
@DavidBahnsen
@WillSwaim
@TheRadioFreeCA

Show Notes:

• When police beat janitors -- but janitors won justice
• They'll always have Davos: When Donald Hung Out With Gavin
• Gavin Newsom’s Record Is a Problem (The Atlantic)
• Trump signs executive order for feds to take over LA’s ‘nightmare’ wildfire rebuild in huge boost for victims
• Trump vows to drive down California’s sky-high gas prices to $2.50, blames Dems for tacking on enormous taxes
• Gavin Newsom’s Big Ambulance Scam
• Newsom plans no new journalism funding despite $175-million funding deal with Google
• The California Post heralds a new era for The Golden State — we will fearlessly tell you the stories that really matter
• Kamala Harris’s Presidential Campaign Was Run by a Bunch of Lunatics
• Josh Shapiro Writes That Harris Team Asked if He Had Ever Been an Israeli Agent
• Scott Wiener changes course, calls war in Gaza ‘genocide’ as House race kicks off
• California husband sues McDonald’s after ‘vagrant’ kills his wife in drive-thru
• L.A. homeless services fraud suspect spent millions on luxury lifestyle, authorities charge
• Rick Caruso, a Los Angeles Billionaire, Will Not Run for Office This Year
• California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta opts against running for governor. Again
• Don’t Be Fooled: San Jose’s Matt Mahan is No Moderate
• Tom Steyer gets a spark

Lance Christensen and Sheridan Karras on Newsom’s education failures 

• Newsom’s Education Legacy: Rising Costs, Declining Performance
• Insolvency by summer still threatens Sacramento school district, budget chief says
• Sacramento: Charter school renewal denied by Sacramento school district. What comes next?
• Entrance exams to end for Sac City elementary schools after mandate from state

Edward Ring and Marc Joffe on the U.S. Drought Monitor

• Statistical review of the United States Drought Monitor
• California is free of all drought, dryness for first time in 25 years. Inside the remarkable turnaround
• Gavin Newsom on the Drought Monitor’s report

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.