Alright, alright, alright. Lemme set the table on this one. 

California's own Randall Flagg-lite, oleaginous governor Gavin Newsom, has been playing fast and loose with the state's budget since, well, basically, he was the mayor of San Franciso. Only as governor, he could write his fantasy ticket on a state budget instead of having to disrupt one. He has not disappointed. 

It seems as if the unctuous poseur has indulged every Green grifting scheme and consequent mandate known to man, forced reams of growth-choking regulations on the businesses and industries who used to happily populate what was once truly a Golden State while promoting victim and grievance classes to the detriment and abuse of the remaining regular citizens. Those beaten down souls remaining who fund the special programs and protected status the various groups all now enjoy.

Now, he has had a couple of reality checks on the way to bankrupting the state and putting his citizens in a perpetual and hugely expensive brownout. Newsom had to scramble to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant operational after making a huge fuss about boldly shutting their last remaining reliable energy source down. And then there was a last-minute reprieve for three natural gas-fired plants on the coast that literally keep the juice on when all his Green whirlies and shiny desert can't hack the load.

The man's flexible like Gumby in his volte-faces - always looks smashing and sounds smooth in retreat.

Another of his chief indulgences has been non-citizens, particularly if they're in the state - and country - illegally. There haven't been too many benefits formerly only for AMERICAN citizens that Newsom and the supremely supine progressively permissive CA legislature haven't been willing to consider forking over to the uninvited and illegal among them. All while blithely dumping the tab on the taxpayers of CA.

This past February, in a state with a brutal - lemme double check the figure now - projected $73B budget deficit, the legislature passed, and Newsom signed the bill that wrapped all those illegal bodies into the state Medi-Cal system.

...This very same February - the one with the $73B deficit - the state legislature plunged ahead as if they were benevolent gods of yore handing out favors from an infinitely stocked treasure cave...or at least Oprah with a Medi-Cal card for darn near the whole audience.

On Monday, California became the first state in the nation to offer health insurance to all eligible undocumented immigrants. Beginning January 1, immigrants of all ages will be eligible for the state’s health insurance program for low-income people, known as Medi-Cal.

But what's money? The legislative geniuses and their leader have no interest in such earthly concerns as they go about spreading largesse like Lord Bountiful and his princely retinue.

They'll just tax more stuff.

There is a time when a certain amount of caution creeps into the big plans. Newsom's carefully greased coif covers a brain that does not do responsible pecuniary calculations but "political cost analysis" ones.

This is what happened with the recent plan to award everyone at a certain income level, regardless of residency status, AKA illegals included, the shot at up to $150K for a down payment on the humble CA abode of their choice.

The gov talked it up, the toadies in Sacramento passed it, and then? Well, California's prog former DA, now VP, Kamala Harris, Border Czar, was anointed Dem presidential nominee, and immigration exploded across the landscape as damn near gripe number one with the American public.

Click click click went the gears in Newsom's brain, and he shivved the bill at the last second, vetoing it in a calculated move to keep the temperature down on the immigration front.

The legislature kept working on a project they'd had in the fire for a while - since the spring of 2023 - ensuring that illegals were eligible for unemployment benefits.

Now, the language to be eligible for these unemployment things is pretty straightforward.

Existing law authorizes the payment of unemployment compensation benefits and requires that they be made in accordance with regulations of the Director of Employment Development. Existing law generally requires the Employment Development Department (department) to promptly pay benefits if claimants are eligible or to promptly deny benefits if they are ineligible. Existing law prohibits payment of unemployment compensation benefits for services performed by a person who is not a citizen or national of the United States, unless that person is an individual who was lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time the services were performed, was lawfully present for purposes of performing the services, or was permanently residing in the United States under color of law at the time the services were performed, as specified.

When they began deliberations last year, the California Globe pointed out some problems from the get-go.

The California Legislature is proposing a program to provide unemployment benefits to illegal immigrants coming to and residing in the state.

...Perhaps even more horrifying, this program would be administered by the Employment Development Department and implemented upon appropriation by the Legislature of sufficient funds to carry it out.

Currently, the state’s employers pay for unemployment insurance.

This is the same EDD the massive fraud was perpetrated against during the pandemic. “The current estimate is that the EDD lost about $40 billion to illegitimate claimants, including prisoners (and not just from California prisons), garden variety local scammers, and international fraud rings, all of whom simply walked right into the department’s completely unprotected system,” the Globe reported.

And that the requirements to apply were, well...pretty loosey-goosey.

...The Senate Committee on Labor bill analysis explains that SB 277 Prohibits the EDD, in administering the program, from taking any of the following actions:

1. Requesting, orally or in writing, an individual’s nationality, place of birth, or eligibility or ineligibility for a social security number.
2. Compelling or requesting an individual to admit in writing whether they have proof of lawful presence in the United States.
3. Contacting an individual’s current, former, or prospective employer for any purpose, including to verify employment status. However, does not prohibit the department from using other means to verify past employment.
4. Recording an individual’s immigration or citizenship status.

The bill also authorizes an applicant to self-attest to being eligible for the program and requires them to submit documentation with a value equal to at least four points to establish proof of work history. (emphasis ours)

TRUST ME - I'M ELIGIBLE

Sold!

A year later, the fools in Sacramento have actually passed this abomination, calling it "A Safety Net for All," and it's sitting on Newsom's desk.

Of course, there's a money issue involved without even mentioning the obvious. The state unemployment fund from which these benefits are paid - separate from the budget deficit - has its own "issues."

Radical California Democrat lawmakers are trying to give unemployment benefits to illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, under their failed “leadership,” California’s unemployment fund is $20 BILLION in debt and our state has a $62 BILLION deficit. We cannot afford any more gifts to… pic.twitter.com/W1dANuE2ww

— Brian W. Jones (@SenBrianJones) September 16, 2024

It's only money, and so I think it still would have had a good chance for Newsom to sign.

Harris wasn't doing great, but she hadn't imploded. 

If only something hadn't happened to raise the whole ugly specter of illegal immigration to the forefront again.

A seismic eruption occurred that has yet to subside.

My musical tribute.

They're eating the dogs now,
They're eating the cats
The people came in now
They're eating the pets...

Video: @xcitizenjournal #TrumpisaDementedWeirdo #theyreeatingthedogs #Debate2024 #theyreeatingthecats #petslivesmatter pic.twitter.com/zusJ2nkyaM

— Baron von Klar Esq ✠🛩️ *Atlas Network Approved (@BaronvonKlar) September 12, 2024

THEY'RE EATING THE CATS - THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS

 THEY'RE EATING THE PETS OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE

Oh, dang it. Now everyone is talking about immigration again.

So much so that media outlets like Bloomberg, who had basically laughed at Trump, dismissing his words out of hand after the debate, are now wondering if he isn't crazy like a fox, having created the debate's "enduring meme."

Trump’s Pet-Eating Rant Was an Effective Act of Misdirection

The former US president knows how to get everybody talking—for better or worse.

...But Trump is showing that even these guardrails can’t prevent him from dictating news coverage, even if much of it is unflattering or openly critical. Democratic strategists point out that Vance was amplifying claims about Haitians eating pets before the debate. One researcher who tracks misinformation noted that on the night of the debate, Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons, shared artificial intelligence-generated images of a tough-looking Trump surrounded by cats and geese, with the hashtag #PetsForTrump—raising the question of whether Trump’s claim was preplanned and not a gaffe.

In an emailed statement, a Trump campaign spokesperson said the former president is seeking to raise awareness of immigration issues in Ohio. She cited rising rent costs, strains on public health and education services, and threats to public safety, but she did not address Trump’s claims about pets. “The media continues to try and distract the American people from the very real problems plaguing the residents of Springfield,” she wrote.

Ergo Newsom faces another political conundrum. Harris is desperate to court Hispanics, who have been drifting toward Trump but she cannot afford to fight off renewed scrutiny of her miserable and indefensible record on the border and immigration in general.

Besides her well-documented insistence that an "undocumented immigrant is not a criminal."

“Being an undocumented immigrant isn’t a crime…” -Kamala Harris.

I believe there are THOUSANDS of families that beg to differ 🤨 pic.twitter.com/BMk0nESjdf

— Heatherheather007 (@LibertyValkyrie) August 29, 2024

Does the governor let this $300-week giveaway languish on his desk so as not to add to her self-inflicted wounds, or does he sign it to pander to yet another CA-created victim class?

 Please note: none of his concerns include the CA taxpayer, mind you. It simply doesn't - never has, never will.

The remaining taxpayers are the trough he and the legislature feed at, although the slop available to them inside is shrinking daily.

That may or may not enter into his thought processes...but I doubt it.

Nah. 

Whatever comes out on top will be a coldly determined plus or minus for Newsom's Democratic party trajectory and nothing else.

He's that kinda guy.