Oftentimes progressive politicians implement bad economic policies for the sake of justice or equality or equity or whatever the buzzword of the week is, yet they only hurt those they claim to be helping while advancing their own political agendas. career.
Here are three cases in point.
When Democrats in the California Legislature passed a farmworker-overtime bill in 2016, they argued that it was a matter of equality, that money isn’t everything.
But now, that will no doubt come as little relief to farm workers who are now earning less because of these progressive economies.
Why are farm workers not paid overtime wages? They, but have a higher threshold than other workers because the seasonal, feast-or-famine nature of farm work makes the industry unique and requires some flexibility for employers.
Opponents predict that increased labor costs will force farmers to cut hours to make ends meet. In 2016, the Western Growers Association released a survey of growers that found 80% of farms expected to have to cut hours due to overtime laws and the $15 minimum wage.
California progressives are having none of it.
“Maybe there are situations where people may believe that something will be lost in economic terms, but my father taught me that it’s more than money, it’s about who he is as a person and it’s about respect him to everyone else like everyone else,” said Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, according to the Associated Press.
“Sometimes, for that reason, you make that economic sacrifice,” Weber added.
As The Sacramento Bee reported this week, not only did the wave of overtime fail to materialize, but hours were slashed as a result. Many farm workers are in worse conditions than before.
“I have a family to feed,” farm worker Marco Mendoza told The Bee. “Honestly, we barely made it through.” Although this hurt the workers, Weber got a promotion with an appointment to the secretary of state of California.
Well that shows!
Then there was a war with Gov. Gavin Newsom on oil and gas. He and his progressive colleagues in the Legislature have for years tried to tax and regulate oil and gas from California.
Progressives chase ideological visions of a green future, but their goals are decades away and unrealistic and families are stuck paying for it all.
The energy industry has not completely disappeared, but the state has become more dependent on products outside the state and even abroad that are subject to volatile prices and are often produced with little concern for the environment and sometimes not good treatment. of employees.
All of these factors conspire against consumers, especially low-income consumers who can’t afford the higher costs, so Southern California homeowners are forced to pay even higher price to heat their homes this year as energy producers try to match progressives. make a law.
“California depends on other states for 90% of its natural gas, most of which comes from New Mexico, Wyoming, Texas and Alberta, Canada. California’s natural gas production continues to decline,” the Los Angeles Times reported this week. “Natural gas and oil production are closely linked, and California’s oil production is about two-thirds of what it was in 1985.”
Newsom blamed the higher prices on a “price gouging mentality,” and even called for a tax on energy producer profits – what do you think that would do to prices? – but it’s actually pretty straightforward.
The more you tax something and the more you regulate something, the more it costs consumers. In other cases, this can reduce consumption, except that consumers have fewer alternatives when it comes to energy. And one more thing we learned this week: Even though the state was drenched in rain, the lack of water storage caused millions of gallons of water to flow into the ocean.
But wait a minute, you say. Didn’t voters pass a $7.5 billion water bond in 2014 to pay for half a dozen water storage projects?
Yes, but progressives in California can’t agree on what kind of savings to allow so we don’t have any.
Many water storage projects, such as Sites Reservoir, have been held up because of bureaucratic concerns about fish or other relatively trivial issues, such as whether water projects have sufficient recreational value. The site, in Northern California, has gained more traction recently, but it’s also been in the works for 60 years, so don’t hold your breath.
We hear so much about fairness, about the existential threat posed by climate change, about the consequences of drought. Yet decisions in Sacramento continue to work against providing solutions to these matters. And worse, we run out of water when we don’t need it and threaten families with water restrictions.
So much for improvement!
Follow Matt Fleming on Twitter @FlemingWords
