Point of View January 8, 2025 – Hour 1 : The California Left Coast Survivor’s Guide

[00:00:04] Across America, Live, this is Point of View, Anderson.

[00:00:20] Thank you for joining me, it is a Wednesday edition of Point of View and we're going to be talking about the state of California, a couple of reasons.

[00:00:26] First of all, those wildfires out there right now have got our attention, but we're going to be talking about this book that I mentioned yesterday, The California Left Coast Survivors Guide.

[00:00:36] And it's very reminiscent of some of the material that we've mentioned in the past on the politically incorrect guide to the Bible, politically incorrect guide to Islam, whatever it might be.

[00:00:47] And so it has something to do with that. Also reminds us a lot of the Babylon Bee.

[00:00:52] By the way, the lead story today in the Babylon Bee, the guy who said Facebook was not suppressing free speech announces Facebook will stop suppressing free speech.

[00:01:01] So those of you that love again Babylon Bee will certainly love our conversation.

[00:01:06] But whether you live in California or not, many of the things we're going to be talking about with Tim really are relevant to your situation as well.

[00:01:16] Because as we've said, they oftentimes make the case that what happens in Las Vegas stays in Vegas.

[00:01:22] But what happens in California spreads across the nation and whether you live in a blue state or red state,

[00:01:28] or maybe even in a red state have a blue city, many of the things we're going to talk about certainly are happening in your community.

[00:01:36] And if nothing else, this is a cautionary tale.

[00:01:39] Tim Anaya is the vice president of marketing and communications for the wonderful organization out there in California, the Pacific Research Institute.

[00:01:48] It's really had kind of a front row on California policy making for the last quarter century.

[00:01:52] He also is the co-host of the next round podcast.

[00:01:56] We have information about Pacific Research Institute and the podcast there as well.

[00:02:01] Has worked around the state capital as a communications director, work for a variety of individuals, some that you would recognize.

[00:02:07] The future House speaker Kevin McCarthy even was a speech writer for at that time the governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[00:02:14] So, Tim, welcome to point of view.

[00:02:18] Kirby, it's great to be with you.

[00:02:20] Actually, I was going to eventually get to wildfires, but I realized in some respects, well, that's really your second chapter.

[00:02:27] So let's get there because we are already having people say, you know, yes, a wildfire in California is something that is a natural phenomenon.

[00:02:38] But there are things we can do with fire management.

[00:02:41] We can even maybe spend less time, as one individual said, talking about diversity and trying to make sure we have enough water in the reservoirs.

[00:02:48] So in some respects, your left coast survivor's guide is really a way to dip into some of the issues in the news right today, isn't it?

[00:02:58] That's right.

[00:02:59] That's right.

[00:02:59] And, you know, what was scary was coincidentally yesterday my colleague and I were down there.

[00:03:05] We were doing some filming in the Venice area, which your listeners aren't familiar with the geography of greater L.A.

[00:03:12] You know, that's kind of when you see Muscle Beach and the famous, you know, kind of beaches of L.A., that's right there.

[00:03:19] And that's maybe five or six miles from where the fires broke out.

[00:03:23] So we we actually we went to a coffee shop.

[00:03:26] We were killing time in the morning before we did our filming.

[00:03:29] And literally within the half hour of when we were went into the coffee shop, we saw the fire break out.

[00:03:37] And it was I took a little video of it on my phone.

[00:03:41] I've never seen anything that big grow that fast.

[00:03:45] And so when you when you hear them say it spread like wildfires, now I know what they mean.

[00:03:52] You know, we really could see it with our eyes.

[00:03:54] And it was an eerie day down there.

[00:03:57] We could hear all the, you know, the the sirens in the background.

[00:04:02] You could hear I don't know if they have them across the country, but in California, you know, you get these emergency alerts on your phone that Blair, they were going off all throughout our filming.

[00:04:13] And flying home, we flew home last night.

[00:04:16] You know, it was 100 mile an hour wind gusts.

[00:04:19] I've never been on a plane.

[00:04:20] And we were at LAX.

[00:04:22] I've never been on a plane where the plane was shaking at the gate.

[00:04:27] Wasn't even moving.

[00:04:28] Well, it was probably the worst 10 or 15 minutes taking off I've ever had on a flight.

[00:04:34] But but you're exactly right.

[00:04:36] You know, when you talk about policy, policy didn't cause the fires.

[00:04:43] But government policy and what Gavin Newsom calls the California way, it's making them worse.

[00:04:49] And it probably is going to make the recovery worse as well.

[00:04:53] Well, even so, I've grown up in California.

[00:04:56] Matter of fact, born in Berkeley and lived in the California area when it was still the golden state.

[00:05:01] My father ran for California Assembly on two separate occasions.

[00:05:04] And things turned around, interestingly enough, in 1966 when this guy by the name of Ronald Reagan won governorship.

[00:05:10] But up until that time, it was very different.

[00:05:13] But having worked, for example, with PG&E, you even have a section here about power lines and the rest.

[00:05:18] And really, in some respects, the survivor's guide, although it's tongue well placed in cheek and you're having a lot of fun,

[00:05:25] it's also a tale of if you do go to California, you're going to have to pay attention to some things

[00:05:31] because a drugstore that you're hoping to go to might not exist because the crime rate is so high they've closed it down.

[00:05:38] You might want to go to a place where I used to grow up around Oakland and go to In-N-Out.

[00:05:44] Well, that's closed down because of crime.

[00:05:45] Or you may want to find a way to put gas in your car or to power up your electric car

[00:05:51] and find out there aren't as many of those stations.

[00:05:54] In some respects, as you work your way through this book,

[00:05:57] you recognize that obviously you're having a little bit of fun pointing out some of the policy problems.

[00:06:03] But it does make a visit to California a little more stressful than it would have been just a few years ago, don't you think?

[00:06:11] That's right.

[00:06:12] That's right.

[00:06:12] Yeah, certainly, you know, in some respects it's a warning for those of you thinking about coming to visit California

[00:06:19] or, God forbid, if you're the rare person who reverse out migrates and comes into California,

[00:06:25] there's a lot of things that you may not be expecting that you're going to have to deal with.

[00:06:31] But in many respects, you know, we kind of wrote the book, obviously we wrote it in the midst of last year,

[00:06:37] and Gavin Newsom, you know, going around the country on his road shows,

[00:06:41] counting the California way, right.

[00:06:44] And, you know, in many ways, the California way was inspiring politicians like Kamala Harris.

[00:06:49] And it's the book we really thought at the time, too.

[00:06:52] You know, it would be a preview of what would be a Harris administration.

[00:06:57] And I think people need to understand, you know, that just because President Trump was reelected,

[00:07:02] it doesn't mean you're out of the woods on these bad policies.

[00:07:05] You know, yes, a lot of these things are inspiring bad actions by the Biden administration and bad congressional action,

[00:07:12] but they're inspiring policy changes at city halls and state capitals across the country, too,

[00:07:18] and even in red states.

[00:07:21] That's why we wrote it in kind of the wilderness guide.

[00:07:24] It's like the old scouting manual, right?

[00:07:26] You know, we think we're in the policy wilderness in California.

[00:07:31] So not only did we want to, you know, give our California friends a good hand,

[00:07:35] but we wanted to give our friends across the country, you know, a little warning of,

[00:07:40] hey, these ideas are spreading across the Sierra.

[00:07:42] And, you know, it's not a boring book.

[00:07:44] It's not dense in any way we want to give you.

[00:07:49] You know, we want to entertain you.

[00:07:51] You can't be so serious.

[00:07:52] You've got to laugh at some of these things.

[00:07:54] They're so crazy.

[00:07:55] But it gives you in a very readable way, these are the ideas and nuggets and facts and research you need

[00:08:03] so that when these ideas are proposed in your state, you can stand up and say,

[00:08:09] California actually has already been there, done that.

[00:08:11] It didn't work there.

[00:08:12] And we shouldn't try these ideas here.

[00:08:14] Don't need to export it.

[00:08:16] Let me just mention, as we're going to a break, that first of all, we have information.

[00:08:19] The book's been out for many months, so you might be able to find it in your local bookstore.

[00:08:22] But we have a place where you can get it in hardback, paperback, or Kindle.

[00:08:26] And I think that would be the simplest way to go.

[00:08:29] If you'd like to know a little bit more about, of course, the organization that we're talking about today,

[00:08:33] Pacific Research Institute.

[00:08:35] It's pacificresearch.org.

[00:08:37] But, of course, we have that information.

[00:08:39] We'll come back and talk about, first of all, some of the environmental issues, energy sense, renewable energy,

[00:08:46] and what that has done to the state of California.

[00:08:49] We'll have more right after this.

[00:08:51] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:02] Yesterday, I talked about debanking, which occurs when an individual is denied banking services

[00:09:07] because of their political stance or business venture.

[00:09:09] What happens when this happens to a nation?

[00:09:12] We call this action financial sanctions and have seen many examples of that in the last decade.

[00:09:17] The U.S. and its allies were able to freeze Russian financial accounts

[00:09:21] and shut off the Russian central bank's access to hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign reserves.

[00:09:26] The IMF has been able to suspend the Taliban's access to various funds and financial instruments.

[00:09:32] As legitimate as these actions might be, punishing Russia for invading Ukraine

[00:09:37] or punishing the Taliban for terrorist activities, they concern other countries.

[00:09:42] Will the U.S. or other international agencies one day punish them for a policy they enact?

[00:09:47] That is why many countries are looking for another currency than the dollar,

[00:09:51] which right now serves as the world's reserve currency.

[00:09:53] That is why the BRICS nations have been talking about developing another currency.

[00:09:58] That is also why they and other nations are turning to Bitcoin.

[00:10:01] Harvard Ph.D. student Matthew Franti argues in his research paper,

[00:10:06] Hedging Sanction Risk, Cryptocurrency and Central Bank Reserves.

[00:10:10] These banks have begun to acquire gold and Bitcoin,

[00:10:13] but he warns they may not be able to collect enough gold

[00:10:16] and should consider the digital asset of Bitcoin to hedge the risk of sanctions.

[00:10:20] Why are nation states talking about acquiring Bitcoin?

[00:10:24] First, they see it as a digital asset.

[00:10:26] Recently, the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell referred to Bitcoin as digital gold.

[00:10:31] Second, they see it as a hedge against sanctions risk.

[00:10:34] You never know when a nation or an international organization would want to shut down your finances.

[00:10:39] I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

[00:10:46] For a free booklet on a biblical view of Israel, go to viewpoints.info.com.

[00:10:53] Viewpoints.info.com.

[00:10:58] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:11:03] The topic today is the California Left Coast Survivor's Guide,

[00:11:07] a Pacific Research Institute handbook to help the rest of America avoid making the wrong left turn.

[00:11:12] Let's, we can talk about a couple of issues.

[00:11:15] Energy and the environment.

[00:11:17] You have a chapter, obviously, about renewable energy.

[00:11:20] And as important as wind and solar power would be,

[00:11:24] it's pretty obvious that if you want to try to provide enough power for the most populous state in the country,

[00:11:32] you're going to need to do more.

[00:11:34] And yet there has been an attempt to eliminate anything from fossil fuel to nuclear.

[00:11:40] And that's an important issue that, again,

[00:11:43] maybe other states can learn from the experience there in California.

[00:11:48] That's right.

[00:11:49] You know, and, you know, we hear the left, you know, a term they like to use is intersectionality.

[00:11:55] And this is one where I think you have a lot of intersectionality at play.

[00:12:00] So there's, you know, one part of the equation, right, is we want to,

[00:12:05] and California has led the nation in a bad way, in having all of these green mandates.

[00:12:10] And they go from, you know, we're going to have a requirement that 100% of cars sold in California in 2035 have to be electric vehicles.

[00:12:19] We have, we're going to ban gas-powered lawn equipment.

[00:12:25] We're going to ban commercial gas ovens.

[00:12:28] You know, all of these things.

[00:12:29] We're going to ban actually gas connections in new residential construction.

[00:12:34] So you have all of these mandates, and it's the inevitable push for everything has to be electric.

[00:12:40] Well, that begs the question, well, are we generating enough electricity to meet the demand?

[00:12:46] And, of course, the answer is a big no.

[00:12:49] And the way that we're going, the other, you know, kind of simple solutions, you know, would have more nuclear power,

[00:12:58] the cleanest form of power, have more natural gas, which is one of the cleanest sources, actually, of generating electricity.

[00:13:05] We want to phase all these things out.

[00:13:08] And so what you're going to see and what PRI has shown in its research and what you're already seeing is, well, number one,

[00:13:15] if we get in 2045 when we have a mandate, 100% of all power produced in California must come from renewable sources.

[00:13:24] We are going to be 21% short of the power needed every day to run the grid just from the electric vehicle mandate.

[00:13:31] That doesn't count the gas.

[00:13:33] We're going to electric ovens and electric HVAC and all of those sorts of things.

[00:13:38] So we're going to be in the dark every day if we continue to go down this trend.

[00:13:42] And there's no shift.

[00:13:44] There's no realization of, gee, maybe this is unworkable, unrealistic.

[00:13:49] Maybe it will take us 50 years to get there.

[00:13:51] So there's that sort of the realism, right, of we're going to sit in the dark every day.

[00:13:57] But then there's the cost aspect.

[00:13:59] And so when you're looking at things like electric rates, we have the highest electric, residential electric rates in the United States.

[00:14:05] Our average energy burdens are hugely more expensive than the rest of the country.

[00:14:12] And it's both on, you know, gas to drive your car and it's electricity as well.

[00:14:17] And so then when you have, you know, when we're talking about, well, cost of living and quality of life is so important, well, that's a huge part of it.

[00:14:27] And then who's hurt the most?

[00:14:28] Who's hurt the most are working class people who can ill afford these expensive mandates.

[00:14:35] And they don't care.

[00:14:36] That's the thing.

[00:14:37] When you hear a Gavin Newsom, when you hear as allies in the legislature talk about these things, it's full speed ahead.

[00:14:44] There's no maybe a few of them that have a tough race might straddle the fence a little bit.

[00:14:50] But gas prices are continually going up.

[00:14:53] We have a new mandate that just came on board where gas prices could go up in over 47 cents a gallon, 47 cents a gallon.

[00:15:00] You know, but we're full steam ahead on these sorts of things.

[00:15:03] So it's a cost thing for sure.

[00:15:07] But it's just the lights may not come on come 2045 every day, you know, because of these mandates.

[00:15:15] Let's also talk about that since you're talking about the price of gas.

[00:15:18] You have a whole section here where you talk about all the taxes, most of which are hidden from the consumer.

[00:15:25] But when you look at the add-ons, again, first pegged at 51 cents.

[00:15:30] But then by the time you get the add-ons, $1.41.

[00:15:33] Then you just mention, of course, 40 cents, 47 cents more because of the Air Resources Board.

[00:15:40] And so it's no wonder that if you drive to California from another state,

[00:15:45] you go through sticker shock when you just try to load up your car with just a little bit of gasoline.

[00:15:52] So then you think, well, this is the state that really has been trying to mandate electric cars.

[00:15:58] And then if you turn over a few more pages, you point out that across the valley's immense 4,500 square miles,

[00:16:06] this would be what would be called California's Imperial Valley, which is just north, of course, of the U.S.-Mexico border.

[00:16:14] And you want to actually power up your electric vehicle.

[00:16:18] You're only going to find four fast-charging public stations.

[00:16:23] This almost looks like a joke, but if you're trying to even drive around in California, it isn't very funny, is it?

[00:16:32] No.

[00:16:33] And, you know, it brings up a point, too, about this is not just residential.

[00:16:37] You know, these mandates aren't businesses, too.

[00:16:40] We had a conference a few years back where the CEO of the Raley's grocery store chain spoke about the challenges he was facing.

[00:16:50] And, you know, they, hey, they're a business.

[00:16:53] If having green trucks works for them and improves the bottom line and is more efficient, they'll gladly go to that.

[00:17:00] They invested in all of these green trucks.

[00:17:02] He said we had to scrap them all.

[00:17:04] They don't have the torque to go over the mountains.

[00:17:07] So if you're putting these requirements where they don't work, they're not going to work for business, can't afford them, they're unworkable.

[00:17:14] Well, what are we gaining?

[00:17:16] Why are we doing this?

[00:17:17] You know, is this really, you know, is the hope that we're going to improve our emissions by basically having no economic activity in the state?

[00:17:26] You wonder that sometimes with how these things are going.

[00:17:30] Well, you can't export it either because I'm thinking right now of our listeners in Alaska or North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin.

[00:17:39] Of course, right now even in Texas we're at 20 degrees just the other day.

[00:17:42] These electric cars and trucks don't work very well in those situations.

[00:17:47] So it's just, again, a reminder that even if it's not working in California, it's going to work even worse perhaps than other parts of the country just in terms of the environment.

[00:17:57] But let me keep moving because there's a whole chapter on no-nos.

[00:18:00] And I was unaware, even though I've lived in California and my brother's still there, we have family there, banning plastic bags, banning gas-powered lawn equipment, banning generators when obviously you may not have enough electricity, banning natural gas.

[00:18:18] Yes, you could bake your own bread, but it has to be an electric oven, essentially banning gas stations, even banning hotel room plastics.

[00:18:27] You go through this list and you're going, what is allowed in the state of California?

[00:18:33] Yeah, you wonder that some days, right?

[00:18:36] The one on the hotel, you know, bottles, that to me is the silliest thing.

[00:18:41] That one got my wife.

[00:18:42] No one was clamoring.

[00:18:43] Yes, when I read that to her, she says, what?

[00:18:46] Go ahead.

[00:18:46] Yeah, no one's clamoring for this, right?

[00:18:49] It's, you know, there's no study that said this was a problem.

[00:18:53] There was no movement.

[00:18:53] And by the way, Marriott doesn't need government to enact a mandate for them to swap out what they provide in their guest room bathrooms, right?

[00:19:03] They can have, if they want to have the little dispensers in the showers, go for it.

[00:19:09] Well, didn't we learn from COVID, right?

[00:19:11] There's a lot of bacteria in those things.

[00:19:13] Are those the most sanitary things to do?

[00:19:17] But also, it's great for the economy, too, right?

[00:19:20] I don't know about you, but all the time you get to try out new products.

[00:19:24] Gee, I like that shampoo.

[00:19:25] I'm going to buy a bottle of that when I come home.

[00:19:27] That's out the window now, right?

[00:19:29] Yeah.

[00:19:30] So, you know, it's those.

[00:19:31] We have so many other problems facing the state of California, real and in often cases, policymaker created.

[00:19:39] Why are we spending time on things like we're going to ban little hotel shampoo bottles?

[00:19:45] I mean, it just is silly.

[00:19:47] Now, some of these, though, they're very serious.

[00:19:50] And when you talk about the gas-powered lawn equipment, that's not just a – yes, the technology is there for the residential side.

[00:19:58] Technology doesn't exist really on the commercial side.

[00:20:01] So, you know, your landscaping company is a huge undertaking to have to go to this, and will it even work?

[00:20:10] So there's that, but it's also – it is hurting entrepreneurship and primarily for Latino entrepreneurs who start their way up the pathway to the American dream by starting a lawn care business and hiring, you know, largely Spanish-speaking immigrants.

[00:20:29] You're taking away those opportunities for the American dream with this mandate, and there's no care, no awareness, no thought about it at all.

[00:20:38] It's the adherence to this, the jobs that are going to be lost, you know, who cares about that?

[00:20:44] The commercial gas oven ban in Southern California, it's forecast that's going to cost 4,000 jobs.

[00:20:52] And that's people – the commercial kitchens, right, are – they make the bread for restaurants and the cakes for restaurants and grocery stores and such.

[00:21:00] So those are real jobs, real small businesses, and a real inconvenience.

[00:21:07] You know, it's inconvenience, it's cost-based.

[00:21:09] These are people's livelihoods we're affecting.

[00:21:11] This isn't just a fad we're forcing everybody to do.

[00:21:14] These are people's livelihoods on the line.

[00:21:16] We're talking about the California Left Coast Survivor's Guide.

[00:21:19] When we come back, we'll talk about entrepreneurs, minimum wage, and maybe a little bit on the subject of education.

[00:21:25] All that coming up right after this.

[00:21:30] The Bible tells us not to worry.

[00:21:33] And yet there is a lot of worrying stuff in our world today.

[00:21:39] Thankfully, the Bible doesn't stop at telling us not to worry.

[00:21:43] God gives us a next step.

[00:21:46] He says we need to pray.

[00:21:48] But sometimes even knowing what to pray can be difficult.

[00:21:52] And that is why Point of View has relaunched our Pray for America movement,

[00:21:58] a series of weekly emails to guide you in prayer for our nation.

[00:22:03] Each week you'll receive a brief update about a current issue affecting Americans,

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[00:22:40] Let's pray together for God to make a difference in America.

[00:22:47] Point of View will continue after this.

[00:22:57] You are listening to Point of View.

[00:23:02] The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station.

[00:23:09] And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson.

[00:23:13] Continue our conversation with Tim and I as we talk about the book that he has co-authored with Kerry Jackson,

[00:23:18] the California Left Coast Survivor's Guide, the Pacific Research Institute Handbook to Help the Rest of America Avoid Making a Wrong Left Turn.

[00:23:27] There are actually about 16 chapters there.

[00:23:30] We also, of course, have a link to pacificresearch.org.

[00:23:33] Scroll down, you'll see there's an interview that is posted there that Lance Izumi has been on the program with us many times before,

[00:23:40] talking about the Great Classroom Collapse.

[00:23:42] One of the chapters here is something we'll get to in just a few minutes about not letting a great education system fall off the cliff.

[00:23:50] But, Tim, one of the things you were talking about is this issue of entrepreneurs.

[00:23:56] And this is not just a California issue.

[00:23:59] As a matter of fact, we've been following, for example, what has happened when we've raised the minimum wage very, very high in places like Seattle, Washington and other places.

[00:24:10] But in an attempt to so-called do good, what it ends up doing is affecting so many of the fast foods and so many of these entry-level jobs maybe at a supermarket.

[00:24:23] And it sounds good until you see the devastation that it has.

[00:24:28] And that's one of the chapters in your book as well, isn't it?

[00:24:32] That's right.

[00:24:32] You know, we're the epicenter of the push for minimum wage.

[00:24:37] Certainly California just enacted in recent months a $20 per hour minimum wage for fast food workers.

[00:24:45] And we've seen, you know, it's inevitable what's going to happen from that.

[00:24:50] You know, restaurants, it's very difficult to make a restaurant go.

[00:24:54] The profit margins are very thin.

[00:24:56] And they really take it from all sides, right, as far as cost pressures and regulatory.

[00:25:03] They're dealing with it all, energy, food costs, all of those sorts of things.

[00:25:08] And so we've seen that, you know, despite Governor Newsom bragging about it, you know, if you look at the seasonally adjusted labor figures,

[00:25:17] you know, California lost 5,000 jobs over the period, you know, when this law was first being enacted last year.

[00:25:26] And so why would we do that?

[00:25:27] That's opportunities for people to make a good living.

[00:25:30] Maybe it's a first job.

[00:25:32] Maybe it's, you know, someone making extra money.

[00:25:36] Maybe it's someone retired needs to make a few extra dollars.

[00:25:39] But, you know, why would we do that?

[00:25:41] Why would we go out of our way to not only, you know, take away opportunities for people to work,

[00:25:48] but you're also making, you know, a critical food source, food sold at fast food restaurants, very, you know,

[00:25:57] it's not quick and cheap and expensive anymore.

[00:26:01] The other thing, too, where California, I think, really has been a leader in a bad way

[00:26:07] and you saw it inspire national policy is the issue of entrepreneurship when it comes to gig work.

[00:26:14] We passed a law a few years ago that was called AB5, right?

[00:26:19] And my colleague and co-author Carrie Jackson called it perhaps the cruelest legislation ever enacted

[00:26:24] and it basically denied your opportunity to work as you wish.

[00:26:29] So much of work in California, so much of the future of work, right, it's creativity.

[00:26:34] It's not a nine-to-five job.

[00:26:35] It's not we're an employee clocking in.

[00:26:38] In many cases, it's not you're going to an office, right?

[00:26:40] You're working our office right now.

[00:26:42] We're in a co-working space.

[00:26:43] We don't have, you know, an office.

[00:26:46] There's creative people.

[00:26:47] Every one of my neighbors here is some creative person, right?

[00:26:50] It's not the old, you know, you're a union worker economy.

[00:26:54] And if that works for you, great.

[00:26:56] But that's the Newsom vision.

[00:26:57] That's the California way is that everybody has to be a nine-to-five union employee where the, you know,

[00:27:04] the whistle bell is going off for the break and lunchtime and five o'clock.

[00:27:08] And so that law has denied so many opportunities for people to work as they wish.

[00:27:15] We were talking about minority entrepreneurship earlier.

[00:27:18] It's been terrible taking away opportunities for minority entrepreneurs.

[00:27:21] And that has been one of the key things in the Biden administration that they've tried to take national.

[00:27:28] There was a law called the Proact of Proposal that they've been pushing in Congress.

[00:27:32] And then the Biden administration on the regulatory front.

[00:27:35] Now, all that's going to go out the window on January 20th.

[00:27:39] But those laws are being pushed in other states.

[00:27:42] There are several states where those are being proposed.

[00:27:46] So that's one of the things from my book that if you pay attention to one thing, pay attention to that entrepreneurship chapter because that law,

[00:27:56] that kind of line of thinking, that is spreading across the country.

[00:28:00] And that may be a proposal coming to your state or your city.

[00:28:04] And I think everyone needs to be vigilant about that because entrepreneurship is the American dream.

[00:28:09] It is the American economy.

[00:28:11] It is how we climb the economic ladder.

[00:28:13] If you don't have a vibrant entrepreneurial society, you're not going to have a very strong country.

[00:28:19] Well, again, if you want to create jobs, most of them are created by entrepreneurs.

[00:28:25] And let's just stay on AB5 for just another minute or two because, first of all, who did it hurt?

[00:28:30] Well, bartenders, bookkeepers, construction workers, nurses, paralegals, pharmacists, on and on and on.

[00:28:36] But then it was unfair because who got off scot-free?

[00:28:40] Oh, that would be people that are involved in providing music or entertainment, home inspectors, brokers, media professionals.

[00:28:49] In other words, the ones that could get some exemptions there.

[00:28:52] So, first of all, it is unfair.

[00:28:54] But second of all, back to the point you're making, because you have a section here on AB5 is a thief stealing opportunities from what?

[00:29:02] Communities of color and from low-income workers.

[00:29:06] It also robs workers of their freedom of choice.

[00:29:09] And in some respects has even led to some of the trucks not rolling down the road.

[00:29:15] And that's the way we get our food and all of our services.

[00:29:19] So, the impact is even greater than I think some people would imagine unless they were to read Chapter 10 of your book.

[00:29:27] That's right.

[00:29:28] And people forget that.

[00:29:29] The big truck drivers, right?

[00:29:31] Most of those are independent contractors.

[00:29:34] And, you know, there's been huge and there continues to be litigation on truckers.

[00:29:40] And do they have to comply with the provisions of AB5?

[00:29:44] But that's exactly right.

[00:29:45] And all those industries, by the way, those people who were exempt from the law, those were people who they had a cozy relationship with the union and got an okay from the union to be exempted.

[00:29:57] In fact, the author of the bill, who now has become the president of the California Labor Federation, allegedly when people were coming and seeking changes to the language of the bill, they said they actually had slips.

[00:30:09] You had to get signed by the union leadership to be okay to put that – before they'd even consider putting those provisions in the bill.

[00:30:18] But you're exactly right.

[00:30:19] It's the politically connected, the politically powerful people who could spend a lot of money on lobbyists who were able to get themselves exempted from the bill.

[00:30:28] I think the other key point on this, too, is that bit about choice, right?

[00:30:32] Yes.

[00:30:33] It's, you know, government and a lot of – I think if there's another overarching theme of the book, right, it's government trying to dictate, you know, how you live your life, what kind of job you have, what are the desired industries that government wants in California.

[00:30:50] I think this is another way along those lines.

[00:30:53] But innovation isn't dictated by government.

[00:30:55] The next creative thing isn't dictated by government.

[00:30:58] And if you have all these, we're fitting all these people in a little square box.

[00:31:03] You know, you need innovation to make the green economy work.

[00:31:07] You know, in and of itself, having green things aren't a bad thing.

[00:31:11] But you're going to need more innovation to make it work.

[00:31:14] And you're not going to get that when you're hindering people's ability to work as they wish, create as they wish, innovate as they wish.

[00:31:22] The last thing I'd say about it, too, is remember when this law was enacted in California, it came at the worst time.

[00:31:29] It came on the onset of the pandemic.

[00:31:32] So not only was this taking away your opportunity to work as you wish, you needed to work at home in the pandemic because California was closed down for a year and a half.

[00:31:41] So not only is it, you know, stifling creativity and innovation, it really hurt people who needed to work, do gig work to provide for their families.

[00:31:52] I'm going to take a break.

[00:31:53] And when we come back, we'll get into the issue of education.

[00:31:55] But since you did mention the pandemic, that chapter is, again, a reminder of what was actually taking place in California and how many times during 2020 and 2021,

[00:32:08] but especially 2020, where we would see people being arrested for being out on the beach by themselves.

[00:32:14] And again, the tighter reins, as you point out, did not significantly improve outcomes.

[00:32:21] And at first, you could certainly be understanding the fact that we didn't know the nature of this infectious disease.

[00:32:29] So you could see why some of the draconian kinds of measures that were being proposed, not only at the federal level, but even in like the state of California, might have been justified.

[00:32:41] But the more the evidence came in, the more it was very clear that this was doing great harm to young people, which we'll talk about after the break in terms of what was happening in the schools,

[00:32:52] the harm that it did to businesses, but also just the way in which we sort of felt like we were living in this totalitarian state.

[00:33:00] And that, I think, is just another very sad chapter.

[00:33:04] But when we come back, I do want to talk about this whole educational system, because having grown up there and having at least some of my academic background in California,

[00:33:15] I remember when those particular educational performances and even the ability of students graduating from high school in California,

[00:33:26] usually were at the very top of the nation.

[00:33:29] And that's not the case any longer.

[00:33:31] And so how did this educational system in the state of California almost fall off a cliff?

[00:33:37] We'll talk about that right after these important messages.

[00:33:55] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:34:01] Okay, for a few more minutes, let me just mention the book again, The California Left Coast Survivor's Guide.

[00:34:05] If you'd like to know more about the Pacific Research Institute, you can go to the website.

[00:34:10] If you'd like to get this book on hardback, paperback, or Kindle, we have that there.

[00:34:14] You might be able to find it in your local bookstore, but we've made it very easy for you to find.

[00:34:19] And, Tim, I thought for just a few minutes we might talk about education, because as I mentioned in this article and this chapter on 12,

[00:34:27] it talks about the fact that really, at one time, California's K-12 schools and, of course, the public colleges and universities were the nation's best.

[00:34:37] And yet, as you point out, it has been taken over by political activists.

[00:34:42] And we've traded, if you will, the three R's, reading, writing, and arithmetic, for three different R's, racism, redistribution, and revolution.

[00:34:52] And we are not producing the same level of excellence from the schools in California.

[00:34:59] And that, I think, is, again, just a very sad commentary and a cautionary tale to listeners in other states around the country.

[00:35:10] That's right.

[00:35:39] We're on entertainment, on technology, science, biotech, all those things, right?

[00:35:44] Not only did we innovate those things here because we had that trained, skilled, creative workforce.

[00:35:51] And now you look at our schools, right?

[00:35:54] There's so much discussion of the politicization of curriculum, focus on all of the, you know, all these, you know, kind of extracurricular obsessions that politicians like Governor Newsom have.

[00:36:07] But the proof is in the pudding.

[00:36:09] And you look at it, we have among the worst reading test scores in the country.

[00:36:13] We have among the worst math test scores in the country.

[00:36:16] When we talk about, you know, we want to overcome, you know, past injustices, why don't we have enough African American students in UC and CSU?

[00:36:26] Well, listen to what Janet Napolitano, former secretary, former governor of Arizona, who served as the president of the UC system for a while.

[00:36:35] She said it's because California's public schools are failing to prepare students of color to meet the entrance requirements for CSU and UC.

[00:36:45] Well, the issue isn't lower standards.

[00:36:47] Let's not teach algebra in the eighth grade.

[00:36:50] Let's have a kind of equalization.

[00:36:52] We need to have more rigor.

[00:36:54] We need to make sure that the reading methods that we're using are effective.

[00:36:58] We need to make sure that we're teaching students math and teaching math early.

[00:37:02] And these aren't partisan issues, right?

[00:37:04] You see many Democrats across the country.

[00:37:06] There's a debate over what we call the science of reading, which is the proper way to teach reading, more phonics-based, proven scientifically.

[00:37:16] You're seeing Governor Hochul in New York and many Democrats across the country are embracing these methods because they know we need to have our kids read.

[00:37:25] We need to have our kids know how to do math.

[00:37:27] We do need to close the achievement gap.

[00:37:29] And it's not political correctness and all of these kind of PC woke ideas that are going to do it.

[00:37:36] It's the tried and the true.

[00:37:38] So when we have all these debates and hear all these debates on, you know, kind of these cultural issues and woke issues that are creeping into the classroom,

[00:37:47] really all the discussion should go back to, well, what have you done to help your students succeed?

[00:37:54] What have you done to help your students achieve?

[00:37:56] And if you're not doing your basic job teaching your kids to read and write and be able to do math and understand scientific concepts, what are you doing?

[00:38:08] And I think you're seeing Californians and people in other states with the growth in homeschooling, with the growth in people choosing other school choice options.

[00:38:20] They're voting with their feet.

[00:38:21] They're saying, and they saw in the pandemic how bad it was.

[00:38:24] They saw Zoom school.

[00:38:25] They saw the crazy things their children were learning.

[00:38:28] And, you know, yes, it violated their values.

[00:38:31] But it also was you're not teaching our kids to be able to get a job, to be able to succeed in life and whatever they want to do.

[00:38:39] And as you point out, they're voting with their feet.

[00:38:41] They're voting with their pocketbook.

[00:38:43] And so in some cases, if they remain in the state of California, they're looking for educational options.

[00:38:47] But also one section of your book, California's most competitive industry, moving vans.

[00:38:55] And that is, unfortunately, horrible.

[00:38:58] And again, this comes from Los Angeles Times.

[00:39:00] Whole swaths of residents are considering packing up and leaving.

[00:39:04] And so, again, we can lament how California was once the golden state and the land of opportunity that has certainly changed dramatically.

[00:39:14] But I know, Tim, you and Carrie wrote this in part not only to lament where California was, but to warn other states, other mayors, other governors, and even the nation about some of the failed policies.

[00:39:30] And so in some respects, whether you're in the state of California or not, or whether you're planning on visiting California and having access to the survivor's guide, in some respects, this is for everybody because you have just an incredible catalog.

[00:39:46] And we didn't even talk about the price of houses and homelessness and all sorts of other issues.

[00:39:51] These all sort of catalog what's been going on in California.

[00:39:54] And you need not take these same policies and implement them in your state or even in your city because we know what the consequences will be, won't we?

[00:40:04] That's right.

[00:40:05] And, you know, that's what I said earlier.

[00:40:06] You know, when these ideas come up, right, you have now with our book, you can, you know, the folks out there can say, hey, California's done this and it hasn't worked.

[00:40:20] And we don't want to bring these failed ideas here.

[00:40:22] Let's look at what's actually working.

[00:40:25] Let's focus on outcomes.

[00:40:27] We don't want to just throw money at something like Gavin Newsom is fond of doing.

[00:40:30] We want actually proven results.

[00:40:33] And so hopefully our book, you know, in some ways, we haven't given up on California.

[00:40:38] We want it to be, you know, hopefully we can inspire a turnaround, right, and that, you know, we look at these bad numbers.

[00:40:47] The shame that, you know, we lost population for three years in a row, that's something that every politician in this state should be taking as a mark of shame.

[00:40:59] And we should be, you know, saying what are we doing wrong?

[00:41:03] What can we do to turn things around?

[00:41:05] I think if you look at this book, these are the things that we need to stop doing.

[00:41:09] And it offers the ideas of how can we turn things around?

[00:41:13] How can we do things in a better way?

[00:41:15] Well, Tim, I appreciate you taking the time to join us for an hour today.

[00:41:19] I thank you for writing the book.

[00:41:20] And, again, if people want to know more about the Pacific Research Institute, we have a link on our website.

[00:41:25] So thank you for being with us today here on Point of View.

[00:41:28] I enjoyed the discussion, Kirby, very much.

[00:41:31] We're going to take a break.

[00:41:32] And when we come back, I'm pretty sure we're going to be talking about immigration because the House did pass the Laken-Riley Act.

[00:41:39] We'll talk about what that means in terms of now the vote going to the United States Senate.

[00:41:44] Let me just real quickly mention that we do have a link to the Pacific Research Institute.

[00:41:50] It's very simple.

[00:41:51] You just simply go to pacificresearch.org.

[00:41:54] You can find everything right there.

[00:41:56] Of course, we have information about the book, The California Left Coast Survivor's Guide.

[00:42:02] And just before we take a break, let me also mention that we'll be actually bringing to you in the next couple of days here a number of action items.

[00:42:09] And one of those we'll be talking about in the next hour that you can independently contact your two United States senators.

[00:42:17] But we'll certainly provide that later in the week.

[00:42:19] But also, let me hold this up.

[00:42:21] This is our brochure for our trip to Greece.

[00:42:24] I usually have been mentioning that in the second hour.

[00:42:26] But I know some of you don't necessarily hear the second hour of Point of View.

[00:42:30] So I thought I'd mention again.

[00:42:31] Due to some circumstances, we do have some open spots which are still available on the one bus that we take around.

[00:42:38] Then, of course, we're going to be on a ship as well.

[00:42:40] This is an opportunity to go to Athens and Corinth and Philippi and Thessalonica.

[00:42:46] But also, we're going to go to Ephesus and Patmos as well as some of the Greek isles.

[00:42:52] And if you are interested at all, just let us know.

[00:42:54] It will be taking place May 17th to the 27th.

[00:42:59] And so we would certainly like to have you join us in our trip to Greece as we follow the journeys of Paul and John.

[00:43:06] We'll take a break.

[00:43:07] Come back with more.

[00:43:08] Right after this.

[00:43:10] It almost seems like we live in a different world from many people in positions of authority.

[00:43:16] They say men can be women and women men.

[00:43:20] People are prosecuted differently or not at all depending on their politics.

[00:43:25] Criminals are more valued and rewarded than law-abiding citizens.

[00:43:30] It's so overwhelming, so demoralizing.

[00:43:33] You feel like giving up.

[00:43:34] But we can't.

[00:43:36] We shouldn't.

[00:43:37] We must not.

[00:43:38] But as Winston Churchill said to Britain in the darkest days of World War II,

[00:43:43] never give in.

[00:43:44] Never give in.

[00:43:45] Never, never, never, never yield to force.

[00:43:49] Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

[00:43:53] And that's what we say to you today.

[00:43:55] This is not a time to give in, but to step up and join Point of View in providing clarity in the chaos.

[00:44:03] We can't do it alone.

[00:44:05] But together, with God's help, we will overcome the darkness.

[00:44:10] Invest in biblical clarity today at pointofview.net or call 1-800-347-5151.

[00:44:18] Point of View will continue after this.