This should not be news to anyone, but Governor Gavin Newsom does not know how to spend money responsibly. In fact, it seems that no Democrats understand the concept of fiscal responsibility or transparency.
In the most recent case in a long string of mishaps, Newsom has released a new budget plan that spends almost every dollar of projected surplus while putting almost nothing back into the reserves. This is an awful idea, to say the least.
It means that in the case of a recession, which experts have been forecasting for years, the state would be completely unprepared to deal with the fallout. Governor Newsom’s new plan would leave just about $20 billion in the reserves to deal with a potential recession, while a recession would cut revenues by at least $25 billion every year for several years.
With Newsom’s increased spending, especially in the area of education, this could spell disaster for California. Experts say that financial resilience is far more important in the long term than this new spending spree. To be clear, one need not be an expert to understand the obvious.
Governor Newsom constantly brags about the success of his progressive policies and the balanced budget of California, but a recession could cripple the state’s economy, welfare programs, and even Newsom’s chances at re-election. Being “progressive” and making “positive change” is not an excuse for irresponsibility with the state’s budget.
As C.S. Lewis eloquently explained, “We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”
This new wave of progressive, borderline socialist politics in California and across the nation reveals that Democrats are more willing to spend money on outlandish plans than ever before. If this continues, it will be a disaster not only for California, but the entire country.
