Gov. Newsom plays Californians for dupes, but they can see through his maneuvers | Opinion

Newsom plays us for dupes

I don’t know if Gov. Newsom believes Californians are the most gullible or the dumbest people on Earth. At every turn, he dumps more garbage on Californians in his ill-fated ploy to become president and to “correct” perceived ills of every other state in the nation.

California was once a leader of states. Now it’s a laughingstock.

For example: Newsome wants to penalize oil companies for what he says are excessive profits, when it is in fact state taxes that are adding almost $1.50 more per gallon than the national average.

He thinks Californians are so naïve that they will not recognize his attack on oil companies is nothing more than a pathetic effort to deflect blame for exorbitant gases prices away from himself and his legislative minions.

State taxes add 66 cents per gallon to the price of California gasoline. California’s cap-and-trade programs (smoke and mirrors) and low-carbon fuel standards add another 46 cents of price gouging. Another 10 to 15 cents are added for a special clean fuel blend.

Californians love their state and are proud to preserve its beauty and greatness, but they are tired of being played for dupes.

Here is how to win over this voter

Democrats want us to live our lifestyle in their way; they are not alone, the Republicans do the same. Don’t believe, look at the laws and regulations they pass or try to. Nothing but partisan nonsense; not one thing is passed the way the people want, it’s either watered down to half what’s needed or extreme hatred against others.

I got a request for all of you: Stay out of my life and let me live the way I want to; I don’t hurt anyone but me. I don’t tell you how to live your life unless I’m telling you to stay out of mine.

We can have a difference of opinions. That doesn’t make yours right for me, & I ain’t telling you how to live and what to do in your house, none of my business.

So to all you people who don’t want others telling you how to live, but still cram your crud down our throats: Knock it off and do the right thing.

From a independent voter to political partisans — you won’t get our votes like this.

Progressives have rights, too

I recently read a letter to The Bee entitled “Our great nation is being destroyed.” The author of the letter contends that this destruction is being brought about by labor unions (specifically teacher unions), Democrats, the Black Lives Matter movement and the LGBTQ community.

It seems that the author does not understand that the groups he maligns all have the same rights and standing in our country as he does per our Constitution. And thus, they have as much right as he does to shape the future of our country.

He goes on to state that he has the solution to his problem. He mentions his protections under the Second Amendment and then says he is willing to do whatever is necessary to protect his way of life. This appears to me to be a threat and a denial of the fact that in this great nation we decide what’s good for us based on the vote and not through violent action.

I don’t know about you, but I’m really getting tired of this MAGA segment of our population thinking that they can bully, threaten and intimidate the rest of us into living under their restrictive and hateful rule.

Keeping faith for health care

The problem of failing hospitals in the United States is not unique to Madera County. Hospitals across our state (Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia) face similar problems.

Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria invited her Sacramento colleagues, Speaker-designate Robert Rivas and Dr. Jim Wood, to Madera to see firsthand what we in Madera are faced with. Also invited were various local stake holders (city, county, hospital board members} to inform the representatives as to why Madera Community Hospital had to close its doors.

I will not repeat what others have said about reforming our heath care system. The reality is that Maderans are having to travel to Fresno to survive a heart attack. We have no idea frankly what health care in Madera will look like in 2024.Thank God for Camarena Health Care and other local clinics that provide urgent care by other methods.

Our faith in Central Valley representatives like state Sen. Anna Caballero, Assemblymembers Soria and Dr. Joaquin Arambula, is that they will do everything in their power to open a hospital/training facility in Madera to serve our residents. We need to partner with Madera Community College, UC Merced and others to provide quality health care in Madera.

Guns, knives & dangerous people

Pat Brown's letter of April 16, “GOP must bck gun laws for kids’ sake,” shows the belief that if you get rid of guns, children will no longer be murdered.

▪ ▪ September 2002, China: 43 schoolchildren were murdered, four hundred hospitalized, by deliberate poisoning of school lunches.

▪ ▪ May 2019, Japan: 17 children and two adults were attacked, one child and one adult killed, a knife was the weapon.

The list goes on and on. The problem is not guns — people will kill people. We already have all the laws we need. What we need are mental health programs.

Ranked choice is a good way to vote

The Bee prints opinions about third-party challenges to the Ds and Rs in 2024, but doesn't bother to ask why none have been successful since the Civil War. The major parties have rigged the system to prevent serious challengers.

Ballot access requirements are onerous, and were recently increased in several states. Campaign finance rules are designed to benefit the existing parties who have decades of donor information ready to plug into their forms. After Ross Perot's debate performance made him a serious challenger, the Ds and Rs took over presidential debates and set criteria that are impossible to meet.

But perhaps most insidious is the very structure of our elections. Our system, called first past the post, or plurality voting, puts voters in the quandary of wanting to support a third party, but knowing that doing so will help to elect their least favorite candidate.

The only way to fix this is to change how we vote to a system of ranked choice voting. This will allow voters to express their true preferences, while still holding a backup vote to thwart the lesser of two evils. All Californians should learn about this alternative. So says this Libertarian.

This story was originally published April 23, 2023 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Gov. Newsom plays Californians for dupes, but they can see through his maneuvers | Opinion."