Posted on 08/31/2025 6:03:16 AM PDT by MtnClimber
At City Journal Joel Kotkin observes the fate of Colorado, Oregon and Washington, formerly beautiful and prosperous states until they began to slavishly follow the California model in energy, housing and out of control regulation.
But that changed as these states began adopting the very policies—above all on energy, housing, and regulation—that many newcomers had fled from in California. Once politically purple, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have turned solid blue, embracing the same agenda that even the New York Times concedes has turned “the California dream” into “a mirage.”
More like a nightmare. Gavin Newsom’s one, indisputable achievement as a California politician has been to make every aspect of California life measurably worse. Running for president, Newsom has nonsensically suggested he’ll bring the glories he’s imposed on Californians to the rest of America. Should he succeed, there will be nowhere left to run, no red, free states to which to flee his brand of socialism. And there won’t be any gas to help Americans run:
Graphic: Oil refinery in Martinez, California.
California gas prices could jump to $8 per gallon in 2026 thanks to the planned closure of two oil refineries in the state, according to an estimate by the University of Southern California.
Valero’s Benicia Refinery near San Francisco and Phillips 66’s Wilmington Refinery near Los Angeles are both slated to close in the coming year.
In explaining the company’s decision to close its Benicia refinery, Valero CEO Lane Riggs said on an earnings call that California’s tough “regulatory enforcement environment” was the main factor driving the closure of the state’s sixth-largest refinery.
The April announcement came six months after regional and state air regulators fined the company $82 million for exceeding toxic emissions standards for more than 15 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
There will be no where to flee to.
Those “toxic” emissions were CO2 most likely so they closed rather than continued fines. Ain’t the Climate Fraud wonderful.
We in AZ are also affected.
Phoenix gets its gas from California.
So, despite that we have very low gas taxes, we, especially Phoenix, are paying quite a lot for gas.
And, likely, even more.
It’s easy. Just set the emission standards low enough they can’t be met.
How many failures before no one is left except the illegals and the homeless? Such a pity, a once vibrant and prosperous state, now a sh!t hole.
Maricopa County also requires a “special blend” which makes it next to impossible to import from elsewhere, and we get socked extra during what the rest of the country would call Spring and Fall.
“Newsom passes on gas”
Newsom passes gas every time he opens his mouth
There, fixed it
New-scum has been farting in our general direction for years. He is proof that evolution often does not go in a desired direction.
“Those “toxic” emissions were CO2 most likely so they closed rather than continued fines. Ain’t the Climate Fraud wonderful.”
Phillips attorneys should ask exactly where the CO2 is right now so they can remediate it. I would love to hear California’s answer to this.
They don’t need gasoline, they can just take the High Speed Rail ... oh, wait.
I don’t see anyone on the horizon who can beat Newsome.
Maybe like VP politician and RINO GHW Bush after Reagan in 1988, VP politician Vance may win in 2928 on Trump’s coattails.
But like Bush, Vance is primarily a politician and GOP politicians is what the Left eats for breakfast.
Most likely like Bush, politician and visionless Vance’s 4-year presidency will be mediocre at best and possibly disastrous.
Enter Newsom in 2032 and bye bye America.
That is why we need businessman Vivek in there, the ONLY national figure who has consistently called for serious, substantial, and permanent downsizing of the mostly unconstitutional federal gov’t - EXACTLY what is needed to extend and expend MAGA towards restoring America’s Free Constitutional Republic.
Vivek seems unpopular on FR but before you flame me to a crisp, offer your alternative supported by sound rationale of a non-politician who has shown a desire and ability to extend and expand MAGA towards restoring America’s Free Constitutional Republic past 2028 and into the next generation by dismantling the 80%+, $3+ trillion unconstitutional portion of the feds.
The answer is not in another short-sighted GOP politician who, like Bush and Pence, turns out to be another warmed over RINO more interested in his own political future than the future of America.
We’re back in 1776 250 years ago against an enemy more powerful than we, but like our forefathers, we must put our trust in the Divine Providence of God Almighty who miraculously birthed our wonderful nation and now will miraculously restore her Free Constitutional Republic.
Amen.
Vivek talks a lot. What has he done?
“de plan, de plan” - Tattoo
I remember when Washington noticed that the clam population was declining, so they passed a bill to limit the number of clams you could take. After several years, they noticed the problem had gotten worse and they couldn't figure out why. Then the lawmakers actually took the time to go to the beach, watch people dig up their limit but continue to look for bigger clams. When the found one, they would take one of the (now dead) clams out of their bucket, toss it on the beach, and put the new one into the bucket.
Ohio saw jobs leaving the State for less unionized southern states, so governor Celeste sign a law that required businesses that closed their doors had to deposit 6 months worth of wages with the state to cover unemployment and retraining costs. They were surprised to see that, several months later, no new businesses were formed in the state. To their credit, they revoked the law.
Just like chants "Tax the Rich!", "Tax the Corporations", and similar liberal slogans sounds good on the surface, they often backfire and caused the opposite, undesired, effect.
When was he ever given a chance to show what he can do? The Left is scared to death to give him a chance, since he, too, would gore the Deep State. I wonder if Vance-Vivek would survive the Left's smear campaign.
I wonder why Vivek got kicked out of the Trump circle.
I think he was selling the same plan and Trump saw him as a dilution. Even though he then supported Trump, I think the fear remained.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.