The original story can be read here.
By
Newsom’s divisive Covid policies and Jennifer’s films/curricula arguably fueled the youth mental health problem
Open the Books has focused its government transparency and auditing attention on Governor and Mrs. Newsom’s pay-to-play schemes, which have been personally benefitting California’s first couple.
In one report, Open the Books reveal that large corporate campaign contributors gave campaign cash to Gov. Newsom and separately received significantly more in state payments – corporations gave $691,615 in campaign donations and received $1.9 billion in state payments. That’s a very nice return on investment – a $10.6 million investment for a $6.3 billion return.
Another report revealed that Open the Books had to sue and then had to file 442 California Public Record Act requests – one with each state agency – in order to obtain California’s line-by-line spending by state agencies, because California’s Controller, Betty Yee, rejected their sunshine request for state spending, claiming she “couldn’t locate” any of the nearly 50 million bills she paid in 2019.
The recent report in January found California’s First Lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom produces ‘Gender Justice’ films, and then sells them to the state’s public schools:
“Jennifer Siebel Newsom solicited state vendors and the governor’s campaign donors for large gifts to her charity, The Representation Project,” the Globe reported.
Siebel Newsom, through her non-profit The Representation Project, has released four films advocating gender justice. The films are leased for screenings to individuals, corporations, and schools, and come with their own lesson plans.
Open the Books notes that Siebel Newsom’s own companion curriculum allows that kids may need to see a school counselor after being subjected to some of the activities about social privilege, gender, etc.—and that they should be on hand. Aside from COVID lockdowns, this is another perverse layer to creating a problem and then “solving” it with funding for more school counselors!
Even more counterintuitively, Siebel Newsom has recognized that her films and curricula can trigger youth mental health interventions. In fact, the curricula provided for her movie The Mask You Live In warns teachers that the related lessons may lead children to seek the help of mental health providers and that therapists should be on-hand during curriculum activities.
Parents have complained about the pornographic content in Newsom’s films shown to 11-year-olds (such as an animated, upside-down stripper with tape over breasts) and 15-year-olds (nearly naked women being slapped, handcuffed, and brutalized in images taken from porn sites) — to view images, viewer discretion is advised.
Editorials have criticized the activities in Newsom’s film The Great American Lie as “emotionally abusive.” The activities ask students to publicly reveal personal information and force commentary on their relative “privilege” and “oppression.”
Just a little conflict of interest?
Over the weekend Open the Books dropped another chapter in the Newsom’s saga of political grift. This one exposes a “legalized” pay-to-play scheme in California: “the Newsom’s create problems, then ‘solve’ them, and cash checks along the way,” according to Open the Books.
“Since inception, Siebel Newsom’s office has received nearly $4.8 million in directed taxpayer funding. The Office of First Partner has grown from seven employees with a budget of $791,000, to nine employees with a budget of$1,166,000 proposed for 2023-2024.”
Here is what Open the Books found:
In the summer of 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom convinced the state legislature to provide $4.7 billion for K-12 mental health services, which, among other things, funded 10,000 new school counselors.
Gavin Newsom convinced the legislature because Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of the governor, convinced him. The biggest advocate for mental health funding within the K-12 California public schools in the Newsom administration was Mrs. Newsom, according to published accounts.
In fact, Gavin Newsom created The Office of First Partner so his wife could promote her policy agenda using taxpayer money. Since 2019, Siebel Newsom’s been armed with nearly $5 million and nine staffers within her subdivision of the governor’s office.
The Representation Project, that licenses “gender justice” films and curricula to 5,000 schools in all 50 states.
The year Gavin Newsom became governor, the California Board of Education adopted guidance that recommended her films and curriculum be licensed and used in classrooms.
Open the Books summarizes the Newsom’s pay-to-play schemes, as well as the devastating results on children, particularly after “Gov. Newsom’s Covid policies took away nearly every opportunity for kids to interact outside the home:”
Newsom’s divisive Covid policies and Jennifer’s films/curricula arguably fueled the youth mental health problem. However, by addressing it with nearly $5 billion and 10,000 school counselors, the Newsom’s generated a policy win for the governor and a business win for Siebel Newsom and her nonprofit, The Representation Project.
They deeply examine “the $4.8 million ‘Office of the First Partner’ Gavin Newsom established for his wife’s policy work, and how Jennifer Siebel Newsom used her position to impact social and political processes, cashing checks along the way.”
Click here to read the full article in the California Globe
The original story can be read here.
Photo from: Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters; Shae Hammond, CalMatters; iStock
