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From the Desk of Lydia Kanno, CFRW President March 15, 2025
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Medi-Cal is Insolvent
Newsom’s big money problems can’t be fixed by his vanity podcast
By Katy Grimes, March 14, 2025 2:55 am
“I can’t be overdrawn – I still have checks left,” was my favorite dumb blonde bumper sticker in the 1980’s, and apropos in California today.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s new vanity podcast project is a diversion to keep attention on what he says rather than what he does. As I said when he announced the podcast, “Newsom is trying to distance himself from himself.”
His record as governor is contemptible. Newsom is so desperate to control the narrative and news surrounding his tenuous job and multiple crises, he admits it: “We need to change the conversation. And that’s why I’m launching a new podcast,” he said on X.
Newsom just confessed Wednesday that California’s Medi-Cal is insolvent. As California Congressman Kevin Kiley noted, “the cost of Newsom’s policy of giving free coverage to every illegal immigrant in the state has ballooned to $9.5 billion, and he’s now asked for a $3.4 billion “loan” just to continue making payments for this month.”
Newsom needs to borrow $3.44 Billion to cover the massive shortfall in Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid, free to low-cost health coverage for low-income individuals and families, “regardless of their immigration status.”
Gov. Newsom expanded Medi-Cal to cover all illegal aliens. The bills are coming due and Newsom is overdrawn – with no checks left.
“That’s the maximum amount California can borrow, and will only be enough to cover bills for Medi-Cal — the state’s Medicaid program — through the end of the month, Department of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer told POLITICO.”
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California and 19 States Sue Trump Administration Over Department Of Education Cuts
Linda MacMahon
U.S. Secretary of Education
Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Thursday that California will be joining 19 other states in suing the Trump administration over their proposed 50% to the U.S. Department of Education.
Since being sworn into office in January, President Donald Trump has continually threatened to either seriously reduce the size of or outright eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. Several states, including California, braced for such cuts. Earlier this week, the Department announced that they would be undergoing a drastic reduction in force, with around 50% of all staff, or around 1,300 employees, being fired as a result. This workforce reduction included a near elimination of the Department’s Office for Civil Rights, which is set to close at least seven regional offices, including those in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Dallas, and Cleveland.
The 1,300 employees affected are expected to be cut completely by March 21st. The cuts this week were also on top of the 600 employees that already accepted voluntary resignations or retirements since January. While the Department will still exist at least in the near future, with the Trump administration recently needing the Department to help investigate antisemitism incidents on dozens of colleges and universities, the latest cuts are an indication on where things are likely heading.
“Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on Tuesday. “I appreciate the work of the dedicated public servants and their contributions to the Department. This is a significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system.”
While the cuts were praised by some, with some offices and functions likely to be transferred over to other Departments, many others criticized the cuts. In California, the cuts were expected to be substantial. In addition to the closure of the San Francisco office, it leaves open questions into possible funding issues. About 13.9 percent of public school funding in California came for the federal government last year. While state and local takes care of most standard education, federal money goes to programs for low-income students (i.e. Title I), disabilities (i.e. IDEA), and for students learning English.
The administration said that the cuts would be largely internal, were legal, and would not “directly hit” students.
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California’s roads and bridges worsen, ranking next to last in the nation in condition and cost-effectiveness
A worker looks over a damaged section of the interstate 10 freeway in Los Angeles Monday, November 13, 2023. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
If California’s roads and bridges seem to be getting worse, you’re correct. California’s highway system now ranks 49th out of 50 states in overall condition and cost-effectiveness in Reason Foundation’s latest Annual Highway Report, dropping from 47th in the previous study. The state’s highways had been ranked 43rd in the nation for several years, indicating that California is heading in the wrong direction.
The Annual Highway Report assesses pavement conditions, safety, traffic congestion, deficient bridges, and the costs associated with roads and bridges across all 50 states in 13 categories. In the latest report, only Alaska—which is not connected to the contiguous 48 states and faces harsh winters and high costs—ranks lower than California.
California’s highways rank in the bottom 10 states in all key pavement condition categories. California’s roads are the worst in the nation in terms of urban arterial road pavement condition, 47th out of 50 in urban Interstate highway pavement condition, 46th in rural Interstate condition, and 41st in rural arterial pavement condition. With some of the nation’s highest gas taxes in the country, fixing potholes and resurfacing roads shouldn’t be too much for drivers to ask.
Miles traveled and traffic congestion are returning closer to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, and, unfortunately, California ranks 44th out of the 50 states in traffic congestion. The average driver in the state spends 60 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion, which wastes money and harms the environment. Ultimately, California’s poor roads hurt the economy, increase vehicle maintenance costs for families, and cause people to waste time and fuel stuck in traffic jams.
If you’re looking for anything resembling good news in the report, California is in the middle of the pack — 25th in structurally deficient bridges. But that’s about it. Regarding safety, the state is a disappointing 33rd in urban road fatality rate and 28th in rural road fatality rate.
The disappointing rankings in safety and pavement conditions are even more striking given that California’s highways are among the most expensive in the nation. In spending, California ranks 43rd, meaning it spends more than 42 other states, in capital and bridge disbursements, which cover the costs of building new roads and bridges and widening existing ones. In maintenance spending, California ranks 44th on costs like repaving roads and filling potholes. California’s administrative disbursements, which include office spending that does not contribute directly to road improvements, rank 35th nationwide.
A state can have above-average spending while maintaining a high-quality system. For instance, Utah ranks 47th in capital and bridge disbursement funding, worse than California. However, since all of Utah’s pavement conditions are in the top 10, the state’s overall ranking is a very good 8th in the nation. Neighboring Nevada ranks 36th in capital spending and 49th in administrative expenditures. Yet, because all its pavement conditions are in the top 20, Nevada’s overall ranking is 24th.
High spending alone is not California’s problem. The problem is that higher spending is not improving pavement quality, reducing traffic congestion, or fatalities.
Evaluating its overall performance and cost-effectiveness against other large and similarly populated states is concerning. California falls significantly behind in cost-effectiveness and road conditions compared to Florida, which ranks 14th in the Annual Highway Report, and Texas, which is 25th overall. Even New York and New Jersey, often near the bottom of the Annual Highway Report’s rankings, now perform better than California.
When it comes to improving in the road condition and performance categories, the state should take immediate steps to improve pavement conditions. It also needs to find a way to reduce urban traffic congestion by adding new capacity and better managing existing highways.
While California may never be able to dramatically lower its road construction and maintenance costs to levels of the average state, it can do a lot more to reduce administrative costs and improve the condition and safety of its highways and bridges. Fixing potholes, smoothing pavement, modernizing deficient bridges, and lowering traffic fatalities are reasonable expectations for drivers and taxpayers.
Shawn Steel: Congress Must Prioritize National Voter ID Law
Republicans in Congress must act now to mandate a national voter ID law
by Shawn Steel 12 Mar 2025
You need it to buy cold medicine, donate blood, or attend a Kamala Harris rally.
Just don’t ask for ID when deciding who has control over the nuclear codes. At least, not in California.
That would be racist. So says Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
In her 2012 speech to the Democratic National Convention, “Karen Bass spoke out against voter ID laws that have been criticized for disenfranchising minorities.”
“Today, one of the darkest shadows of the past century is creeping into this one: one of our most basic rights—the right to vote, a right that we fought for and won—is under attack,” Bass, then a member of Congress, said of efforts to require voter ID.
Voter ID laws aren’t about racism. They’re about preserving Democrats’ power in solidly blue states like California. According to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, 36 states require some form of identification at the polls. If states are just too provincial, how about international data? At least 170 countries have voter ID laws.
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Gavin Newsom responds to claims he secretly helped fund his own bronze bust: 'Free tinfoil hat'
Newsom was mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011
Gavin Newsom was mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011. (AP Images / San Francisco Art Commission)
By Lorraine Taylor Fox News Published March 13, 2025 4:00am EDT
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has responded to claims that he secretly helped fund a nearly $100,000 bronze bust of himself that sits inside San Francisco City Hall, calling them “categorically false.”
“To imply the Governor personally funded or proposed this effort is categorically false,” a spokesperson for Newsom said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “As is customary in the city, the effort was independently proposed by a nonprofit and funded by private donors — not taxpayers… This was reported at the time and isn’t news now.”
A new book, written by Susan Crabtree and Jedd McFatter, and titled “Fool’s Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All,” claims Newsom used something called “behested payments” – or contributions from donors that politicians ask them to make on their behalf – to help fund the statue.
The book claims two companies owned by Newsom donated about $10,000 to a non-profit to help pay for the bronze bust on a black granite base that is meant to commemorate Newsom’s time as mayor of the city.
The Democrat was mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.
“Businesses tied to the Newsom family made a modest contribution to the privately funded initiative and raised funds for the effort as reported publicly at the time,” Newsom’s office said. “The contributions were not in any way ‘secret’ as falsely claimed by some now.”
Back in 2015, San Francisco news outlet SFGate reported that Newsom called the bust a “strange thing,” and quoted him as saying, “I’m just awkward about it… But now the word is out.”
Newsom told SFGate the bust was the brainchild of his supporters and that it would be paid for with private funds. According to the outlet, Newsom said he did not even know who the supporters and fundraisers were.
The outlet also reported that Newsom sat for the bust with artist Bruce Wolfe multiple times. The work was finished in 2018, according to the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Newsom’s office went on to blast the book itself, telling Fox News Digital, “This publication should come with a free tinfoil hat, a lifetime subscription to InfoWars, and a VIP dinner with Elvis Presley and Bigfoot. The authors seem allergic to basic facts — especially the kind you can confirm with a 10-second Google search, like how many children the Governor has.”
Crabtree, one of the authors of the book, told Fox News Digital that the book never claims that Newsom organized the bust and that they stand by their reporting on the project.
“Team Newsom is afraid of the shocking revelations in FOOL’S GOLD—which is backed by more than forty-five pages of endnotes containing more than 1,000 open-source reputable and verifiable citations with zero anonymous sources—and that is why they are trying to smear this book,” Crabtree said.
According to the San Francisco Arts Commission, the bust includes a bronze plaque with the following quote from Newsom:
“If you distill the essence of everything, what life is about, every single one of us is given a short moment in time on this planet and we all have one universal need and desire, and that is to love and be loved.”
Newsom’s office also pointed out that his bust sits next to several other busts of former city mayors, including Willie Brown, Dianne Feinstein and George Moscone.
Not surprisingly, the internet erupted with reactions to the bust – with many blasting Newsom.
“Who commissions a bust of themself? Gavin Newsom who clearly thinks very highly of himself,” one user wrote on X. “That’s just kind of sick from a politician’s head. Look at me and see how great I am!”
“Gavin Newsom’s new bust is the perfect symbol of his time as governor,” another user wrote. “Expensive and ultimately [u]seless for the people of California.”
“San Francisco needs a Bust Reduction! $97K Newscum Vanity Project,” another user remarked.
Newsom has emerged as somewhat of a darling for the Democrat Party. He served as a surrogate for then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris during their 2024 campaigns. He is considered a top contender to run for president in 2028.
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