“…California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom asked nonprofits to donate at least $610,000 to groups that call for defunding or abolishing law enforcement since 2023 before distancing himself from such stances.

Immigrant Defenders Law Center (IDLC) and Immigrant Legal Defense (ILD) received $500,000 in 2023 and $110,000 in 2025, respectively, at Newsom’s request, according to state records first reported by The Washington Free Beacon. IDLC has advocated for defunding the police and worked to free illegal immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while ILD “prioritizes abolishing immigration detention and reimagining the U.S. immigration system entirely,” the group’s website says…”

Related:

California’s Bullet Train Is a Model of Progressive Governance

“…This first leg should have been relatively easy since the state’s rural Central Valley is lightly developed and populated. No need to raze strip malls and housing developments. A private company built a 235-mile high-speed train from Orlando to Miami in 11 years for about $6 billion. Yet it has taken California more than a decade merely to bulldoze permitting barriers and clear lawsuits.

If all goes according to Mr. Newsom’s plans, the first leg might be done by the end of his second presidential term in 2036. Might. The state last week sued to restore the federal funds, which could mean years of litigation and more delays. “Trump wants to hand China the future and abandon the Central Valley,” he declared. “We won’t let him.”

Under the Chinese economic model, the government spurs unproductive growth by subsidizing wasteful investment, whether it be in real estate, electric vehicles or public works. China has borrowed some $1 trillion to build nearly 30,000 miles of high-speed rail lines, many of which connect lightly populated towns and carry few passengers.

That’s the future of Mr. Newsom’s bullet train to nowhere. Companies routinely cancel and write off bad investments. Why won’t Mr. Newsom and his Democratic Legislature? Because they fear voters will realize they were conned…”