Kashkari goes homeless in bid for governor’s mansion

August 1, 2014
Neel Kashkari

Neel Kashkari

The former U.S. Treasury official who administered the federal government’s bank bailout program recently spent a week living as a homeless man in Fresno. [LA Times]

Multimillionaire Laguna Beach resident Neel Kashkari is the Republican candidate for the California governorship. In his bid to unseat Governor Jerry Brown, Kashkari is trying to convince voters that the incumbent has not delivered the economic recovery that he has boasted about.

Accompanied by two videographers, Kashkari rode a Greyhound bus from Los Angeles to Fresno on July 21 with just $40 in his pocket. He also brought a backpack with a change of clothes and a toothbrush.

Kashkari said that the week he spent in Fresno was the most difficult of his life. He tried to find work but did not succeed and resorted to sleeping on park benches and finding meals at a homeless shelter.

“’California Comeback!’ is the favorite slogan of Governor Jerry Brown and other Sacramento politicians cheering a temporary budget surplus provided by a roaring stock market, Kashkari wrote in a Wall Street Journal piece on his experience. “But California also has the highest poverty rate in America at 24 percent. Is California really back?”

Kashkari currently trails Brown by about 20 points in polls and has far less campaign money to spend.


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I made a comment that I don’t think Kashkari has a chance and therefore I think it would be a waste of time to support him. In the same post I voiced my support for a woman who is obviously pro business since her current job is an economic development director. This generated four responses all dislikes. I am very curious as to their motivations. Are they conservatives who didn’t like me stating the obvious or are they liberals who are against a pro business woman candidate? Please weigh in, I am dying to know!


Typical right-wing cheap trick.


I go to the store and the price of meat is up, fruit, dairy etc. I go to places like Home Depot and general supplies for houses like lumber, plumbing, wiring etc is up. I fill my vehicles and gas is up and YET all the politicians say inflation is in check!!? Yea typical right wing cheap shot? Maybe he doesn’t believe Brown when he says it’s all rosy and wants to check for himself, for a lot of the same reasons I stated but hey go ahead and have another sip of the koolaid provided to you by your politicians that tell you……………don’t worry we have this under control.