Free Republic

California’s soaring cost for its dragged-out high-speed rail construction was inflated by another recent political embarrassment for the state: labor icon Cesar Chavez.

Calls are growing for California’s high-speed rail to be abandoned completely after revelations the estimated cost of completing Gavin Newsom’s fantasy train project has ballooned to a staggering $231 billion. The latest cost revisions for the project — revealed during a Senate Transportation Committee meeting — left lawmakers fuming after the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office flagged numerous concerns. State Sen. Tony Strickland, vice chair of the STC, said the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s plan continues to obscure true costs — and now he’s calling for the entire project to be scrapped.

California’s High-Speed Rail boondoggle is now estimated to cost taxpayers $231 billion, up from its original $33.5 billion price tag in 2008 when voters passed Proposition 1A. “Our country has never seen a fiscal disaster of this magnitude,” California Rep. Kevin Kiley said on X Monday. Voters were deceived by the original ballot summary and language in Proposition 1A from 2008, but the state’s lawmakers seem to find that fact inconvenient. And, the entire project is lacking in private, public and debt funding to complete even the most minor operating segment – nearly 20 years later. “If it is built,...

Democrat governors, many believed to be vying for the party’s 2028 presidential nomination, gathered on Thursday for a pricey Los Angeles fundraising event. The private gathering — where tickets cost as much as $100K a pop — was attended by top party members like Gov. Gavin Newsom, Arizona’s Gov. Katie Hobbs, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, among others, the LA Times reported. A ticket to attend the event, closed to the press, cost anywhere from $45,000 up to $100,00, with the money going to the Democrat Governors Association (DGA). The evening was expected to rake...

Two years and two weeks have passed since Gov. Gavin Newsom issued his first return-to-office order, which directed state employees to begin working from government offices two days a week. Newsom upped the in-office requirement to four days last year, but subsequently postponed that mandate after facing steep push-back from state employees and labor groups. In the intervening time, unions have filed lawsuits, lawmakers have introduced legislation and state workers have continued rallying, all to push back against the governor’s mandate.

The 2028 Democratic primary has already begun — and this time, the candidates aren’t trying to hide it. Potential contenders including former Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are openly embracing — or at least acknowledging — their interest in a White House run. It’s a departure from the political gamesmanship that once defined presidential politics, when would-be candidates sought to intentionally cloud their intentions out of fear that acknowledging them could backfire. It also reflects the wide-open nature of the race, with no clear front-runner — or anointed figure — for the first time in years....

KB Home, one of the largest homebuilding companies in the U.S., plans to relocate its corporate headquarters from Los Angeles to Arizona, marking the latest example of a major company shifting leadership operations out of California. The homebuilder announced it will move its headquarters from Westwood to Tempe beginning in spring 2027, transferring executive leadership and key corporate functions to the Phoenix metro area, according to a report from LA Magazine. Company leaders cited lower costs, operational efficiency and Arizona’s business climate as major reasons for the move. The shift reflects a broader trend in which some large companies have...

Just hours after a mass shooting that left eight children under the age of 15 dead in Louisiana, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is bashing the NRA “and their lackeys in Congress.” “This is an unspeakable tragedy. Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones suffering in Louisiana,” Newsom’s press office said on X. “Repeated horrors like this don’t happen anywhere else but this country.” Calling the mass shooting a “total moral failure,” Newsom’s press office said the National Rifle Association “and their lackeys in Congress are complicit in this madness.”

Hunter Biden critiqued the Democratic Party’s leadership as overly civility-focused and driven by a consultant class, arguing they lack the spine to counter a re-energized Republican opposition. He praised California Governor Gavin Newsom as the party’s “greatest warrior” and urged a shift toward aggressive advocacy and fighting in hostile terrain to redefine the party’s strategy. The remarks, linked to tensions with DNC elites and perceived disloyalty to his father, cast internal party dynamics in a light of loyalty challenges and vision gaps. Biden’s comments call for broader unity beyond party labels and signal potential implications for 2028 contenders. Analysts note...

A cousin of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is throwing his tech fortune behind two of the governor’s biggest critics. Siebel Systems founder Tom Siebel, second cousin of Siebel Newsom, gave $50,000 to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s bid for California governor and another $10,000 to Republican former Fox News Host Steve Hilton. Siebel sold Siebel Systems, an enterprise software firm, to Oracle to 2006 for approximately $5.8 billion, making him a billionaire with an estimated net worth of around $4 billion currently.

Last month, we received a report from a whistleblower who claimed that illegal aliens were staying in San Francisco’s homeless shelters. Following up on the tip, we visited numerous publicly funded shelters in San Francisco, and spoke to employees and residents about their policies, sometimes through a translator. We discovered not only that the shelters were housing illegal immigrants but also that they were apparently housing a population of male-to-female “transgender” illegal aliens, who had hoped to obtain “gender-affirming care.” And, to our shock, state and local governments apparently are providing it.

It’s not exactly a surprise. California has become the single most corrupt state in the country and the one that is most blatant about walling its corruption around with laws. California’s legislature hid FBI investigations and costs for politicians “in the public interest”. It passed a law hiding corruption. Its capitol annex project had everyone involved signing non-disclosure agreements to hide costs. And of course it was the one place that prosecuted a man for exposing the Planned Parenthood baby parts business. The moment Somali fraud became a national story, California politicians began issuing warnings. Not to the fraudsters, but...

Medi-Cal, unemployment and general welfare fraud are the three main sources, according to journalist Chris Rufo A journalist who claims that California has lost at least $180 billion due to fraud joined "Will Cain Country" to share the findings of his exposé entitled "Gavin Newsom's Empire of Fraud." Chris Rufo of City Journal co-authored the piece. He told host Will Cain on Tuesday that California's fraud stems from three main sources: Medi-Cal fraud, unemployment fraud and general welfare fraud. "And if you add these all together, under Gavin Newsom, experts and HHS officials estimate that California has lost somewhere between...

Gavin Newsom’s transport secretary has admitted criticism of California’s high-speed rail is justified — as estimates of the project show it will be a struggle to be completed. Officials now say it will cost an eye-watering $126 billion to finish the line from Los Angeles to San Francisco — which is more money than Amtrak has ever received from the federal government since it was established in 1971, a damning 60 Minutes report revealed. That’s and a huge uptick when compared to the $33 billion voters were told the rail would cost when it was announced way back in 2008....

California is a cash machine. The state collects some of the country’s highest income, business, and fuel taxes, and now spends more than $300 billion per year. And yet, everywhere you look, California seems to be falling apart. Mismanaged wildfires have turned neighborhoods into ash. Drug addiction and homelessness have metastasized, turning parts of Los Angeles and San Francisco into no-go zones. And the cost-of-living crisis is pricing middle-class taxpayers out of basic necessities like groceries and gas, even as the state spends billions on welfare programs that never seem to lift anyone out of poverty. Where is all this...

Independent journalist and YouTuber Nick Shirley is set to release part two of his California fraud investigation, this time targeting alleged childcare scams. In a teaser clip, Shirley examines a San Diego facility listed as serving 14 children, yet state inspectors had never seen the children, citing missing records and the absence of an official roster. In the brief clip, the woman Shirley question's becomes immediately confrontational, threatening to call the police and accusing him of targeting Somalis. https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2038740552158421088? - 2 MIN "Here is Hayden Serra Family Child Care," Shirley said. "This is a daycare right here. Apparently, they have...

As Kamala Harris uses California Highway Patrol officers as her security detail, Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration will not release records or provide information on how much it's costing taxpayers. As KCRA 3 first reported in February, dozens of CHP officers have been assigned to Kamala Harris and her international book tour. In response to a California Public Records Act request submitted by KCRA 3 earlier this month, the California Highway Patrol confirmed on Monday that it has records related to the situation, but will not release them, citing a section of state law that protects law enforcement and security-related records....

California Governor Gavin Newsom sits down with CNN's Dana Bash to talk about the future of the Democratic Party. He says the party should be "less prone to spending disproportionate amount of time on pronouns, identity politics. More focused on tabletop issues, things that really matter — the stacking of stress in terms of the electricity bills and childcare costs and health care and obviously housing costs."

Gavin Newsom is reflecting on the long-term grief he dealt with after witnessing his mother end her life through assisted death, also referred to as death with dignity. Newsom was a 34-year-old rising politician at the time and told the outlet that he felt guilty that his busy schedule kept him distant as his mom suffered from the disease. But when the day arrived, he and his sister Hilary were by Tessa’s side. “I hated her for it — to be there for the last breath — for years,” he said. “I want to say it was a beautiful experience....

70 hospice and home health providers in Los Angeles were cut off from federal funding in one week after being flagged for fraud by Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force, with officials indicating that additional providers are likely to be flagged as the review widens. Early findings point to a broader network of activity than the initial suspensions suggest. “As the task force to root out waste, fraud and abuse ramps up, we expect this number to grow exponentially.” As RedState previously reported, the GOP-led House Oversight Committee has now opened an investigation into what they describe as “rampant”...