In the most recent presidential election, it was apparent that the majority of voters were leaning towards providing Republicans with a unanimous control of the federal governance. This in turn seemed to demonstrate a dismissal of the far-left ideologies that are regularly promoted by politicians from California. Redistricting of majority votes across various states was achieved significantly due to the Republican campaign cleverly capitalizing on the remove ‘California-link’ Vice President Kamala Harris held.
A large contributing factor to this winning streak was an advertisement that skillfully used a snippet from a video where Harris supports sex-change surgeries for incarcerated individuals who identify as transgender. This specific campaign ad has been recognized by several political analysts as having had the most significant impact throughout the campaign period.
Moreover, the overwhelming focus that the Harris campaign laid on the issue of abortion rights didn’t appear to resonate with voters as expected. An evident trend amongst the voting majority of pro-Trump states was a common concern over matters revolving economic stability. Of particular interest was the skyrocketing cost of living, seen during the administration of Harris and President Joe Biden.
While the debate about who or what was the root cause of this rampant inflation continues, it serves as a distraction from the main issue. It’s more commonplace that voters show their disapproval of the current-state-of-affairs by pushing back against the political party holding power. Concerns about the rising cost of living were notably tied to the reason for California’s shockingly high rate of provisional poverty, 15.4%, as per the Census Bureau’s calculations.
On the same note, the Public Policy Institute of California, using a corresponding calculation method, speculated that come 2023, nearly a third (31.1%) of California’s population may be living at or very close to the poverty line. A reasonable deduction from such data is the lack of strategies addressing the bane of high living costs. Suddenly, and quite conveniently in the wake of the recently concluded elections, the now visibly startled Democrat party dominating the state governance appears to acknowledge this burning issue.
Subsequent to the resumption of the Legislature’s biennial session this week, the leaders have surprisingly declared that addressing the soaring living costs is now of high importance to them. However, ironically, there seems to be little leverage that Newsom and his fellow legislators can exert to tangibly impact the rising cost of living.
Conversely, the cost of a key necessity, gasoline, is expected to experience a dramatic surge. This is due to the change in fuel composition ordered by Newsom’s Air Resources Board aimed at mitigating greenhouse emissions. Further exacerbating the cost issue is the sharp rise in utility costs as efforts are in place to reduce wildfire disasters by burying power transmission lines.
While California’s political figures prattle eloquently about their newfound concerns over inflation, the jury is still out on whether anything substantial will come from their promises. Even as they cheekily feign concern about inflationary pressure, it is uncertain whether they can muster the competence or will to provide any significant relief.