Minnesota’s Tim Walz and the Somalians are rank amateurs

January 7, 2026

Andy Caldwell

OPINION by ANDY CALDWELL

A few observations and predictions having to do with the fact that no state in America is governed by, as it has been said before, “a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”

As Katy Grimes reports for the California Globe (the best news website in California), “because the cost of living in California is so high, Democrat lawmakers think increasing the minimum wage to $16.90 per hour will help hourly workers afford a $900,000 home – the median home price in the Golden State. Even if that hourly worker put in a full-time year, they will only make $35,152, which is less than $3,000 monthly, which barely covers the median cost for a studio apartment.

“Currently, the average rent in California is $2,155 for studio, $2,284 for  one bedroom, $3,240 for two bedroom, $4,147 for three bedroom, and $5,103 for four plus bedroom, according to Rentometer. California’s absurdly high cost of living will not be offset by a $16.90 minimum wage. It just makes Democrats feel better about themselves.”

Yet, what is the rest of the story about helping hourly workers?

Gavin Newsom indicated that California will not mirror Trump’s big, beautiful bill that cuts federal taxes on tips and overtime by similar cuts to state taxes. The key to this puzzle? Our state government will only give away other people’s money to virtue signal.

Speaking of other people’s money, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), will change its name to align with its mission. The new name?  The Socialist Employees International Union, this after decades of self-serving politicking in the State of California and beyond.

The latest effort is to create a billionaires’ tax on wealth, not income. The difference being the wealth the billionaires retain may have already been taxed, but that matters not to these government employees who want this money available to supplement their own salaries and pensions.

Of course, at a minimum, this will lead to even more capital flight of the worst kind since California is inordinately dependent upon taxing the rich who have been leaving in droves, taking the jobs they helped create with them.

Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps, being the genius prodigy that she is, has figured out that if the county makes government-owned land available to developers, then the cost of housing should be cheaper because there will be no land costs associated with the development.

Unfortunately, she is cutting off her nose to spite her face, because all local governments are funded by way of property tax dollars and because the new development will be owned by the government, it won’t have to pay property taxes. Hence, the new development will be a drain on government services because the housing won’t be paying any tax bills.

Perhaps, if the state were to give the public some tax breaks, they too could build affordable housing? Nonetheless, my prediction here is that these housing projects will soon be on the county’s deferred maintenance list as it relates to the supervisors’ unwillingness to maintain the assets (roads, buildings, and parks) the county already owns, meaning this debt will soon hit $500 million.

The nanny state of California has passed a whole lot more stupid bills this year including one that will require some “children” under 16 years old, especially those who are on the short side, to ride in booster seats while traveling in a car. But wait, what about short adults? And can a 15 and a half year old with a learner’s permit still sit behind the wheel regardless of being height-challenged?

Perhaps, it would be safer if our nanny realized the safest position of all is being in a car seat that faces towards the rear of the car, such as that used for infants, since they love treating us like infants?

As the state of California watches the fraud investigation going on in Minnesota, they have decided to reach out to their fellow dems in that state to show them how to up their game. Namely, California has perfected the art of waste, fraud, and abuse to the tune of a couple hundred billion dollars, meaning the dems and Somali tag team in Minnesota is amateur hour.

Examples of various forms of fraud including unemployment insurance paid out during the COVID era (estimated at $30 billion to $50 billion); hi-speed rail, a make-work project for unions that will never run (estimated at over $100 billion); over $33 billion given to schools during COVID that is unaccounted for; some $25 billion for the homeless with no records of accomplishment or ability to trace the money; Gavin Newsom’s $1 billion dollar COVID mask deal that is untraceable; billions in bond monies allocated for dams that have never been built, and billions more on failed climate change initiatives.

The list goes on and on and on.

Did you hear about the tortilla legislation in California? Doesn’t this sound a bit racist, as the new law assumes corn tortillas infused with folic acid are the key to maternal health for Latinas.

According to Cal Matters, “State data show that, between 2017 and 2019 – the latest years for which state data is available – about 28% of Latinas reported taking folic acid the month before becoming pregnant. White women took the vitamin at a higher rate, with 46% of them reporting consuming folic acid,  according to the California Department of Public Health.”

Since most white women aren’t getting their folic acid either, should we have them eat cake, er, cake laced with folic acid?

Andy Caldwell is the executive director of COLAB in Santa Barbara County and host of The Andy Caldwell Radio Show, weekdays from 3-5 p.m. on  FM 98.5, FM 99.5, AM 1240, AM 1290 and FM 96.9.