Ep. 279: Proposition Roundup (6, 4, 35)

[00:00:06] If you're a California conservative, a libertarian, a moderate Democrat, believe in common sense, or just the sane person, this is the political podcast for you. It's the California Underground Podcast.

[00:00:27] What's going on, everybody? Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the California Underground Podcast. I am your host, Phil. And as always with me, my trusty co-host, the best, the fastest researcher in the West. Camille, how are you doing?

[00:00:38] I'm good. How are you?

[00:00:40] I'm good. We finally made it. We made it all the way through the propositions as promised to our listeners. We have, I double check, double and triple check. I'm pretty sure we hit every single proposition.

[00:00:53] So for all those people asking questions about propositions or you don't understand, this is one of three episodes that we did specifically on propositions, discussing them, giving you our opinions, giving our thoughts, breaking them down what they exactly are.

[00:01:07] And tonight we have the final three, which is Prop 6, Prop 4, and Prop 35. Some interesting things here to talk about, some of big consequence. And yeah, we're going to get into all of it. But before we get started, and we haven't done this in a, because we had a guest last week. We had Jeff Gonzalez, who was amazing. I thought Jeff was great to talk to. What were your thoughts on Jeff Gonzalez?

[00:01:35] Oh my gosh. So I, I'm following him on Instagram and he is like out there daily doing things. He's like all over. And, um, I know, like we discussed like what I was like, tell me about Imperial County because for being a lifelong Californian, I'm like, I don't know anything about Imperial County, except that I know that that's where the Salton Sea is.

[00:01:56] Um, but you guys, you have to check them out if you're Riverside, Imperial County and stuff like, but he is literally out there like doing all these like free food events and just out there with the community and stuff. And I just, I really appreciate him. And I know you saw, cause I tagged you a story I put up is that we're always talking about like, where are the real men doing the real things? Like he literally joined Marines. Yes. Military. No, but I think Marine for like 21 years.

[00:02:25] He's been in Marines for like 20 years. Then he was a pastor. He, uh, married a woman who had kids from a previous relationship and he took them on as his own. And like, this is like the literal, where are the real men stepping up? Now he's stepping up to run because he sees the needs in his community. And it's like, I just feel like this is like such a, like, we always talk about where are the real men? What, what are they doing? Jeff Gonzalez, check them out.

[00:02:48] Yeah. Yeah. He was great. Yeah. He, he was, uh, we always appreciate a talkative or guests, uh, because it makes our job easier when, you know, they come on and they have a lot to say. And I think they really appreciate the fact that they get like a full hour to talk and expand on their ideas. Cause a lot of times politicians, they get on these two minute, like news bits and they have to like run through a quick update or whatever.

[00:03:15] So I think they appreciate the idea of, uh, being able to expand and he had a lot of ideas. I thought he had a lot of good ideas. Um, I liked his death by a thousand cuts kind of idea for fees and regulations for small business. That was really great. Um, there was nothing extreme about him.

[00:03:31] No. And I think that's what looking at it this way. And, and it kind of, before we get into everything else, looking at your local candidates coming into the election, which is now just a couple of weeks away.

[00:03:44] Um, look for people like a Jeff Gonzalez who understand the reality of what they're getting into. Um, he is, you know, he's not fooling himself into believing he's going to go in rah, rah, rah, and like overturn Sacramento and do all this stuff. It's incredibly hard to, for Republicans to get anything done in Sacramento, but he does understand there's a game to it, which is important.

[00:04:09] And that's sort of framed how he's going to go at solutions. And he's not trying to fool anybody by proposing stuff that's outside of Sacramento's jurisdiction or what they can do.

[00:04:24] Like we always talk about the fact that you can always tell like a candidate who talks about they're running for Congress and they want to fight the gas tax here in California.

[00:04:34] And it's like, okay, well, first off, you're running for the wrong office. If you're trying to fight the state gas tax here in California, that's not a Congress thing. Um, so I think that's important when you, when you see local candidates who are honest about what is happening in Sacramento.

[00:04:49] And they're realistic, give them, pay attention to them because they've done their homework and they know what's going on. They're not just running to, uh, to try and improve their street cred or their social media following or something like that.

[00:05:04] So just a little tip about coming up on these local candidates and all these local races, because there's a lot going on in Sacramento.

[00:05:10] So, um, anyway, as I was saying about, we haven't done it in a couple of weeks, we were doing our cringe moment of the week.

[00:05:19] Uh, we have a new cringe moment for a first time ever. Uh, Mr. Tim Waltz has, uh, made the cut for this week.

[00:05:27] Uh, so we have our cringe moment, um, our stinger to begin.

[00:05:32] You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?

[00:05:34] Uh, yep. Thank you, Kamala.

[00:05:36] Uh, so here is our cringe moment from the week from Mr. Tim Waltz.

[00:05:46] It never fits quite right.

[00:05:47] It never fits quite right.

[00:05:48] It's not quite right. How do you get it back?

[00:05:52] Governor, what kind of gun is it?

[00:05:53] This is a Beretta A400.

[00:05:56] I brought, I bought it when I was shooting a lot of, uh, traps because it has a patented thing, a kickoff.

[00:06:03] So when you get old, it doesn't hurt your shoulder as much.

[00:06:07] So if you're an audio person, um, what is happening on here is Tim Waltz is out there dressed like a hunter.

[00:06:16] Cause he keeps talking about, I'm a hunter.

[00:06:18] I'm a hunter.

[00:06:18] I'm, you know, I love the second amendment.

[00:06:20] I'm a hunter.

[00:06:21] That's not what the second amendment is for.

[00:06:22] Second amendment wasn't written for people to hunt because if that's the case, then there wouldn't be hunting in the UK or something like that.

[00:06:29] Uh, but he's trying to load his shotgun and it's very awkward and he can't figure out how to load his own shotgun, which anybody who's handled firearms before, at least the shotgun knows.

[00:06:41] Shotguns are damn easy to load.

[00:06:43] You just take the shell, put it right in.

[00:06:47] That's it.

[00:06:47] Like, it's not complicated.

[00:06:49] They are made to be very easy to load for a specific reason.

[00:06:53] Uh, he was fumbling.

[00:06:55] I mean, he had it like upside down.

[00:06:57] He was trying to put the, the, the shell in the other way, which doesn't make sense why you would try and put it up like upside down like that.

[00:07:05] So it's just very awkward.

[00:07:07] Uh, and I also want to say this, I don't know if it's just because it's the election and they know they have to win swing States like Pennsylvania, Minnesota and all this.

[00:07:15] Because when did the, the Democrats love, like now all of a sudden they're like gun toting, like two way supporters.

[00:07:22] You have Kamala Harris who's on, uh, what is it?

[00:07:26] Stephen Colbert.

[00:07:26] She's talking about her gun and her Glock and stuff like that and how she carries.

[00:07:31] And oh yeah, I carry.

[00:07:32] It's not a big, you know, uh, SNL made a big skit about how Kamala Harris keeps a Glock in her glove box and stuff like that.

[00:07:39] I'm like, wait, well, when did Democrats all of a sudden become gun toting, like two way supporters?

[00:07:45] But that's what happens every four years.

[00:07:47] Democrats all of a sudden begin to love guns.

[00:07:50] Um, any thoughts?

[00:07:53] You did send me another video, which is actually, I think a perfect encapsulation.

[00:07:57] Do you want me to show that first?

[00:07:58] Yeah.

[00:07:59] But it was that first video not giving you a Dick Cheney, Cheney fives.

[00:08:04] It's like, weren't you just waiting for him to accidentally shoot someone?

[00:08:07] It was so.

[00:08:07] Oh my God.

[00:08:07] Yeah.

[00:08:08] Like that's how I felt watching it.

[00:08:10] I was actually worried that someone was about to accidentally get shot or he was just going to accidentally set off the shotgun in general.

[00:08:16] And I was just like, this, this is going to end badly.

[00:08:20] And then I think that'd be much bigger news.

[00:08:23] I think it'd be everywhere.

[00:08:24] Got the five second clip for it to run around social media.

[00:08:27] And then they probably took the gun away from him and they were like, okay, the gun store owner only lent us this for 30 minutes.

[00:08:33] Got to get it back.

[00:08:34] Got to get it back.

[00:08:35] Yeah.

[00:08:36] Yeah.

[00:08:36] I think it'd be much bigger news if he like swirled around and like blasted a reporter right in the face or something like that.

[00:08:42] And it's like, Tim.

[00:08:44] I'm not going to see.

[00:08:45] I will seriously not be surprised if it comes out in a few months, few weeks that he actually only just purchased that gun.

[00:08:55] Like if we find out like.

[00:08:57] Probably.

[00:08:59] Someone's going to leak the information.

[00:09:01] Because he's all like, oh, I shoot a lot of trap with this stuff.

[00:09:03] And it's like, and you still don't know how to load it.

[00:09:06] And PETA is going to come after him for that.

[00:09:09] Yeah.

[00:09:09] Now he's, he's hunting, you know, he's out there hunting.

[00:09:12] Like PETA should be upset, you know, meets murder.

[00:09:15] But anyway, you sent me this, which I think is a perfect encapsulation of what this feels like.

[00:09:22] And brings me back to my childhood days.

[00:09:26] It's not quite right.

[00:09:27] How do you get it back?

[00:09:29] Governor, what kind of gun is it?

[00:09:30] This is a Beretta A400.

[00:09:33] I bought it when I was shooting a lot of traps.

[00:09:37] Because it has a.

[00:09:41] So good.

[00:09:42] The dog was always the funniest part of duck hunt was whenever you screwed up and he laughed at you.

[00:09:49] Then people would cheat and they'd hold the gun really close to the TV.

[00:09:52] So good times.

[00:09:54] That was our cringe moment of the week.

[00:09:55] So tonight we have these three final propositions to talk about.

[00:10:01] We can get started.

[00:10:03] Let's start with the first one, which is probably the most.

[00:10:07] I would say.

[00:10:08] Could be out of the three that we're talking about tonight.

[00:10:11] This is probably the most debated one because it's.

[00:10:14] It's interesting.

[00:10:15] I'm going to get into poll numbers a little bit.

[00:10:17] So Prop 6 is going to limit forced labor in state prisons.

[00:10:23] Basically, it's going to get rid of the involuntary servitude except for punishment for a crime.

[00:10:29] So what would it do?

[00:10:29] Prop 6 would amend the California Constitution to prohibit the state from punishing inmates with involuntary work assignments and from disciplining those who refuse to work.

[00:10:39] Instead, state prisons could set up a volunteer work assignment program to take time off sentences in the form of credits.

[00:10:46] It would let county or city ordinances set up a pay scale for inmates in local jails.

[00:10:51] The measure's potential costs remain unknown and at a point of contention, though a related law says compensation will be set by the state corrections department.

[00:11:02] Why is it on the ballot?

[00:11:03] California wasn't a slave state, but it does have a history of forced labor.

[00:11:06] Lawmakers created a reparations task force and directed it to address historical inequities that harmed black residents.

[00:11:13] The task force recommended changing the state constitution to prohibit any form of enslavement as one of 14 key priorities.

[00:11:20] Legislators consider a similar measure in 2022, but support tanked after the California Department of Finance estimated that would cost about $1.5 billion annually to pay minimum

[00:11:29] minimum wage to prisoners.

[00:11:32] This year's amendment has the voluntary work program as a way to get around that issue.

[00:11:38] So this is really coming down to, so let's back up a little bit.

[00:11:43] There's the 13th amendment.

[00:11:45] Everyone knows the 13th amendment, which says it abolishes slavery, right?

[00:11:49] However, there is a caveat in the 13th amendment, which says accepting cases of punishment for a crime,

[00:11:56] which it also says in the California constitution that you can force people to work if they have been punished for a crime.

[00:12:04] So this has been sort of in our society for a long time.

[00:12:09] I think, you know, in movies, you've seen chain gangs and stuff like that.

[00:12:13] People were working on railroads or people were cleaning up garbage on the side of the street.

[00:12:17] Those are people who have effectively been forced into labor as part of their sentence when they're in prison.

[00:12:23] This also goes to the fact of like they work in the prison.

[00:12:26] So they use their labor like in the prison to do specific things, whether it's cleaning, cooking, all of this stuff.

[00:12:34] It's all part of this involuntary servitude that they get forced to work.

[00:12:41] Some make like 60 cents an hour.

[00:12:44] Some make like 40 cents an hour.

[00:12:46] It says here most of them earn less than 74 cents an hour, although inmate firefighters can earn up to as much as $10 per day.

[00:12:53] So they do use inmates to fight fires here in California, which I mean, to me, sounds crazy that you're going to people without training, I guess,

[00:13:03] are going to go fight wildfires or firefight.

[00:13:05] It's just but that's where we're at.

[00:13:07] That's sort of where this is coming from.

[00:13:10] Is they want to get rid of that involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime.

[00:13:16] So basically, it would just be no involuntary servitude, no matter what.

[00:13:21] Any thoughts right off the bat?

[00:13:23] Well, I have thoughts, but some of them are actually in the articles that you've sent.

[00:13:29] So let's go through those first.

[00:13:32] Okay.

[00:13:34] Just as a background of who supports this and who's against it, $1.2 million has been raised in support of it.

[00:13:44] ACLU.

[00:13:45] No surprise there.

[00:13:46] California Democratic Party.

[00:13:48] California Teachers Association.

[00:13:50] Once again, just they're just everywhere.

[00:13:52] Doesn't really matter.

[00:13:53] There.

[00:13:54] Has literally nothing to do with teachers, but California Teachers Association.

[00:13:57] No, we don't want to go.

[00:13:58] There, there, there.

[00:14:00] California Black Legislative Caucus.

[00:14:02] California Labor Federation.

[00:14:04] League of Women Voters of California.

[00:14:06] Opponents are Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the California Republican Party.

[00:14:10] And they've raised $0.

[00:14:12] There was an article, like you said, this is an editorial from the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

[00:14:19] And it says, no one California Prop 6 inmates slavery state proposition.

[00:14:25] California prisoners should not be subjected to abuse by their jailers, but inmates should be,

[00:14:30] should not be legally empowered to dictate what chores they're willing to do behind bars.

[00:14:34] Although our editorial board was split on this.

[00:14:37] In the end, we recommended voters should reject Proposition 6, a measure cloaked in language

[00:14:42] about slavery and voluntary servitude that's really about prisoners being able to turn down

[00:14:46] work assignments.

[00:14:47] The fundamental question here is whether inmates should be required to provide work

[00:14:52] that contributes towards their room and board.

[00:14:54] We believe they should, just as the rest of the outside who have not committed crimes must also do.

[00:15:00] That's why the state prison system relies heavily on inmate labor for its operations.

[00:15:04] The alternative is an even greater taxpayer burden to maintaining our jails and prisons.

[00:15:09] We talked about that already about the language in the Constitution.

[00:15:14] State Attorney General Rob Bonta put his partisan thumb on the electoral scale when he provided the

[00:15:17] ballot title for measures saying it eliminates constitutional provision allowing involuntary

[00:15:22] servitude.

[00:15:24] He could just have accurately said that it adds constitutional provision allowing inmates to

[00:15:29] refuse work.

[00:15:30] Remember, this is not just a change to state law.

[00:15:32] This is amendment to the state constitution.

[00:15:34] Not only is it bad policy to begin with, one can only imagine the potential litigation.

[00:15:37] That could ensue as inmates try to push the boundaries of what constitutes a work assignment.

[00:15:43] Might it include, for example, protecting inmates from being required to keep their own cells clean?

[00:15:48] Or could a court interpret the new constitutional provision as entitling inmates to a minimum wage

[00:15:53] pay, costing the state potentially billions of dollars for work that essentially maintains

[00:15:57] their own living facility?

[00:15:59] As it is, the cost of approximately $50,000 a year to house prisoners.

[00:16:03] This measure, however, well-intentioned, could potentially add to this cost any time of high-budget

[00:16:08] trauma in Sacramento.

[00:16:10] To be sure, work assignments should not be doled out arbitrarily as a means of unfairly punishing

[00:16:14] prisoners.

[00:16:15] But if there is a problem with abuse of jailers, it should be dealt with through targeted

[00:16:19] legislation, not a sweeping constitutional amendment that potentially enables inmates to legally

[00:16:24] engage in work stoppages that shut down prison facilities.

[00:16:29] So, that's the editorial.

[00:16:31] All right.

[00:16:33] Thoughts?

[00:16:33] So, I have a family.

[00:16:36] You know, I have a husband.

[00:16:37] I have four kids.

[00:16:38] And they're teenagers.

[00:16:41] And I'm always explaining to them, we contribute.

[00:16:45] We're blessed to have a home.

[00:16:46] We're blessed to have food.

[00:16:48] But we need to now, like, take care of these things.

[00:16:51] And we all contribute.

[00:16:52] We all have different chores.

[00:16:54] We all have our different, you know, parts to keep this running.

[00:16:59] And obviously, if we, if nobody does anything, we're eventually going to be overrun by my sliced

[00:17:07] cockroaches who, like, you know, the home has to be maintained in the sense of, like, I'm

[00:17:12] even talking about the structure of the house.

[00:17:14] Like, things have to be upgraded.

[00:17:17] You know, things break.

[00:17:18] They get replaced.

[00:17:19] We need to keep our clothes clean.

[00:17:22] We do laundry or just, just clean.

[00:17:23] We cook, you know, food.

[00:17:25] We clear off the table.

[00:17:26] Like, we all participate in doing these things.

[00:17:30] And that's, that just comes with being functioning people.

[00:17:35] Like, that's just within the home.

[00:17:37] That's not even in the outside world.

[00:17:38] And so, I agree with the sentiment of, like, just as anybody outside of a prison needs to

[00:17:44] participate in basic necessities.

[00:17:49] And so, California, I don't know if it's just California, but politicians have this, like,

[00:17:54] they come up with these ideas of there's things that need to be redone.

[00:17:58] There's, there's, like, I get that.

[00:18:01] Well, I get that I don't know anything about the prison systems, but we hear, you know,

[00:18:06] X, Y, and Z goes on and there needs to be reform.

[00:18:08] And I'm not disagreeing with that.

[00:18:10] But then they just come up with these wild ideas that where they don't think about all

[00:18:13] the little things that get unfurled under it, such as where they brought up, well, does

[00:18:17] this mean that they can just refuse to clean their cells?

[00:18:21] I know that in prisons, they do, the inmates, you know, have to participate in the cooking

[00:18:26] and cleaning of the general areas and the food and the meal prep and all that.

[00:18:31] And I don't, like, they don't outline these things.

[00:18:34] They just, it's a broad thing, like, oh, we need this reform.

[00:18:37] And so, let's do this.

[00:18:38] And people are like, yeah, prison reform sounds like a great idea.

[00:18:42] These prisoners are in there being abused, but they don't think about, like, what does

[00:18:45] this actually mean?

[00:18:48] And while, no, they didn't choose to go to prison, they did choose to commit a crime that sent

[00:18:53] them to prison.

[00:18:54] And now you do need to be paying for your room and board somehow, some way.

[00:19:00] This shouldn't be on all of us to just fund their room and board.

[00:19:05] Yeah, and any job they're going to demand a minimum wage, whether it's federal or state

[00:19:13] minimum wage, because I think now they're increasing the state minimum wage.

[00:19:17] It is 16.

[00:19:18] Now they're trying to increase it again.

[00:19:22] It's going to fall on us, the taxpayers.

[00:19:24] So we, in a way, get punished for people who commit crimes because we end up paying for

[00:19:31] them to work for themselves, in a way.

[00:19:35] Like, and that article does bring a good point that this is the constitution they're changing.

[00:19:41] This isn't like a little slice of law that they're going, hey, we can't force them to

[00:19:46] go into these jobs if they don't want to.

[00:19:48] Okay, that may be a little bit more targeted, probably the more prudent.

[00:19:53] Obviously, it this is, again, one of those feel good democratic bills where they go, hey,

[00:19:59] we ban slavery altogether in our state.

[00:20:02] Like, there's no more involuntary servitude.

[00:20:04] We ban slavery.

[00:20:06] But when it turns out, it's going to cause billions of dollars to pay all the inmates

[00:20:11] who want to work.

[00:20:12] And there may be people who argue, okay, well, if they don't have to work, then they're not

[00:20:18] going to work.

[00:20:19] Right.

[00:20:20] But if they know that they can also make $16 an hour, they probably would work because

[00:20:28] everything else is really paid for in sense of like, it's all money they get to keep in

[00:20:34] their pocket.

[00:20:34] So why would you not be incentivized to work if you wanted to sign up for a job and get

[00:20:40] a bunch of money, like make money while staying in prison?

[00:20:42] I'm not saying a bunch of money.

[00:20:43] But if you have no disposable income, nothing to spend on, no bills or anything.

[00:20:48] Okay, well, then it is incentive for more people to work.

[00:20:54] It is probably a child's fort.

[00:20:58] Yeah, sure.

[00:21:00] But again, that's that's always handled.

[00:21:02] I'm sure there's something that handles that a different way through the legal process.

[00:21:07] If you're incarcerated and then it might be put on hold, like it's there's probably a

[00:21:12] legal ram of like legal protections already, but that it's eventually going to fall on the

[00:21:17] taxpayer if we have to pay them a minimum wage.

[00:21:22] You know, there's a lot of rights you obviously give up when you I mean, that's the punishment

[00:21:27] for when you commit a crime is you give up a lot of legal rights.

[00:21:31] That's your punishment.

[00:21:33] Your punishment is you've given up a lot of legal rights because you've committed this

[00:21:37] crime.

[00:21:38] Our society and the way we've set it up is that we either punish you monetarily or we

[00:21:43] punish you in terms of taking away liberties and stuff like that.

[00:21:49] And at the end of the day, if all they're asking is, well, you now live in prison.

[00:21:54] We're just asking that you help contribute to the actual running of the prison or the well-being

[00:22:00] of the community.

[00:22:02] I mean, I think it seems to me like gone are the days of really hard forced prison labor

[00:22:13] like that.

[00:22:14] I think that's long over like they don't have that anymore as far as I know.

[00:22:19] Right.

[00:22:19] It's not like the movies where they're working on the railroads or they're you know, it's

[00:22:23] always the cartoon in like the Looney Tunes or something where they're chipping away or like

[00:22:27] taking a pickaxe to rocks for some reason.

[00:22:30] Like I think those days are like long gone.

[00:22:33] And like what they're talking about is like these jobs that you cook in the kitchen, you

[00:22:37] do the laundry, you do stuff like that.

[00:22:39] Like I don't think those are necessarily grueling, punishing jobs, but we'll see what people say.

[00:22:48] But this is what's interesting about this.

[00:22:50] So in California, where it is obviously uber progressive, obviously a deep blue state,

[00:22:56] they polling that came out is actually dead even.

[00:23:02] And this is what is fascinating to me.

[00:23:04] And this was taken, you know, it's taken a couple of weeks ago, but still it says 46%

[00:23:11] of people would likely vote yes.

[00:23:14] And then 50% say no with 3% undecided as of a couple of weeks ago.

[00:23:21] So Californians are not inherently sold on this idea.

[00:23:25] And I haven't seen any ads.

[00:23:28] I haven't seen any commercials or anything about Prop 6.

[00:23:31] Um, so it's interesting that it is down to 50 to 46.

[00:23:35] This is something that because it sounds nice and it sounds like they're doing this big thing,

[00:23:42] I would have expected the polling numbers to be a lot bigger of people being like,

[00:23:47] well, yeah, of course we want to ban slavery or ban involuntary servitude.

[00:23:51] That doesn't make any sense.

[00:23:53] I guess people are learning about that.

[00:23:55] It's about, you know, prison labor and specifically this.

[00:23:59] So, um, like labor, like, like you just said, it's not like they're out with the pickaxe

[00:24:06] of the rock and the railroads and stuff like that.

[00:24:08] And it's just the way they describe it.

[00:24:11] Like, I don't, I know labor is a broad term, but I don't feel like my kids doing the dishes

[00:24:15] is labor.

[00:24:17] No, okay.

[00:24:19] Go, you know, go do your laundry.

[00:24:22] This forced labor mom.

[00:24:24] Like, no, I actually had an incident yesterday, not an incident, but.

[00:24:29] A conversation, if you will, where, so all of my kids have cell phones and no, my house

[00:24:34] is not very big.

[00:24:35] And it's a single story home with the exception of, we have like a bonus room, an office and

[00:24:41] a bedroom upstairs.

[00:24:42] So when the kids are up in the bonus room, um, they can't hear me like holler for them.

[00:24:49] So I'll text like, Hey, all kids come to me.

[00:24:53] When I get ignored, I get very annoyed.

[00:24:56] Like we pay for your cell phones so that we can get ahold of you.

[00:25:00] Yes.

[00:25:01] There's like the fun, you know, you also get to contact your friends and cousins and all

[00:25:06] that, but we got you these cell phones specifically for us to be able to get ahold of you.

[00:25:11] And so I get very annoyed when I get like, uh, um, you know, I feel like I'm ignored.

[00:25:18] And then I called each of them.

[00:25:19] Nobody answered.

[00:25:20] Like someone just went straight to voicemail.

[00:25:21] They were, they were like playing on their computers or whatever.

[00:25:24] I don't know.

[00:25:24] They weren't flat out ignoring me, but they're, they don't see.

[00:25:27] And I'm just like, so I brought them down and I lectured them.

[00:25:30] I'm like, here's this happens often.

[00:25:33] And I'm like, here's how this is going to go.

[00:25:36] You are either going to pay for your cell phones by yourself now, or you don't get a cell phone

[00:25:45] because we got you these so that we can get ahold of you.

[00:25:48] If we can't get ahold of you, then there's no point in us paying for these phones for you.

[00:25:53] And it's just like my oldest two work.

[00:25:56] They, they can contribute to the phone bill.

[00:25:58] The problem, the, the younger two, like, and it goes back to, I had this whole lecture with them.

[00:26:04] I'm like, we all are contributing here.

[00:26:06] I needed the house clean yesterday.

[00:26:09] It was like the extra deep cleaning.

[00:26:11] We got a dust.

[00:26:12] We got to scrub the cabinet fronts.

[00:26:13] You know, like I just wanted that stuff done.

[00:26:15] And yes, I can walk upstairs, but the point is, point is you didn't respond to me on these

[00:26:21] cell phones that I pay for.

[00:26:23] And so you, you're either going to get like, you're going to take care of yourself or there's

[00:26:28] going to be further punishments.

[00:26:30] Like, I don't know if I make, I don't, I feel like I'm not articulating my point here,

[00:26:33] but it's just like, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

[00:26:38] No.

[00:26:39] Yeah.

[00:26:39] I think that's exactly, you summed it up perfectly.

[00:26:41] Like, is that like this stuff comes from somewhere like food doesn't just magically appear in

[00:26:47] your prison.

[00:26:48] It, you know, laundry doesn't magically get cleaned.

[00:26:51] Someone's got to do it.

[00:26:52] So, you know, and I don't think it's terrible.

[00:26:56] I mean, maybe I'm completely in the wrong.

[00:26:58] Maybe people think I'm privileged because I haven't been to prison.

[00:27:02] Thankfully, I don't ever plan on going to prison.

[00:27:05] Um, but what's the old saying?

[00:27:08] Idle hands are the devil's playground.

[00:27:09] Like maybe keeping people busy when they're in prison is a better idea than letting them

[00:27:16] do nothing all the time.

[00:27:17] Like, I don't know.

[00:27:19] Yeah.

[00:27:19] That's not even good for their mental health.

[00:27:21] Right.

[00:27:22] Like, I don't want to go down that rabbit hole, but like, that's a hole or like, that's

[00:27:26] just not healthy.

[00:27:29] Yeah.

[00:27:29] Yeah.

[00:27:30] So it, this one is actually like the polling said, it's evenly split.

[00:27:34] Um, there was another article I was reading about how Californians are still evenly split

[00:27:38] on it and like, they're, they're not completely sure.

[00:27:41] I wonder if another reason why people are turning away from this, maybe not because of the prison

[00:27:48] labor issue is because people think it's unnecessary.

[00:27:53] Like, I wonder if people see this and they say, why are we voting and wasting time and tax

[00:28:00] dollars on banning involuntary servitude?

[00:28:02] Like they might just see the headline and go like, we've never been a slave state.

[00:28:06] We've never had slavery.

[00:28:09] Slavery is outlawed in the United States.

[00:28:12] So why are we going the extra mile and banning slavery?

[00:28:17] Um, I wonder how much of it is that people just read the, like this in the article, it

[00:28:22] says Rob Bonta put his thumb on the electoral scale.

[00:28:25] It may have actually ended up hurting them because a lot of people probably looked at

[00:28:29] it and went, why are we voting?

[00:28:31] This seems like a dumb California thing to do to like ban slavery or involuntary servitude

[00:28:36] when it's already been banned.

[00:28:37] Like this just seems like more California fluffing and stuff like that.

[00:28:42] Like it just, it doesn't make any sense.

[00:28:44] So I wonder if that plays a factor into it as well.

[00:28:47] Probably.

[00:28:48] I mean, the titles, they always do kind of lead you one way or the other.

[00:28:54] And so just to clarify, because often these propositions are confusing, voting no on this

[00:29:00] means we're not reforming the prison labor system.

[00:29:06] Voting yes is too.

[00:29:08] Okay.

[00:29:08] Yeah.

[00:29:09] Cause they always try to trip you up.

[00:29:11] Uh, if you vote no, then you are voting no, we are not going to amend the constitution,

[00:29:17] the California constitution to cut out that one line about involuntary servitude unless it

[00:29:24] except in the punishment of a crime.

[00:29:27] So if you don't agree with it, vote now.

[00:29:31] Um, all right.

[00:29:32] Prop four is the next one.

[00:29:34] And if anybody who is a dedicated listener already knows my golden rule, um, and how

[00:29:40] I'm probably going to vote on this prop four wants us to borrow $10 billion to respond

[00:29:45] to climate change.

[00:29:47] Uh, proving prop four would authorize $10 billion in debt to spend on environmental and

[00:29:53] climate projects with the biggest chunk, 1.9 billion for drinking water improvements.

[00:29:57] The bond prioritizes lower income communities and those most vulnerable to climate change and

[00:30:02] require annual audits.

[00:30:04] Repaying the money could cost $400 million a year over 40 years.

[00:30:10] A legislative analyst said me and the taxpayers could spend $16 billion, which is always the

[00:30:18] hidden cost of any bond is people don't always think about you have to pay bonds back with

[00:30:23] interest.

[00:30:24] It's like prop one that we just voted on.

[00:30:26] They said it was 8 billion.

[00:30:27] It's going to probably end up being closer to $10 billion by the time we actually pay it

[00:30:32] back.

[00:30:32] Um, for those of you who are not familiar with like what a bond is in the government or what

[00:30:38] they do, governments issue bonds.

[00:30:40] So basically they're saying, Hey, give us this much money and we promise we'll pay you

[00:30:46] back.

[00:30:47] Now bonds are usually lower interest because governments are typically trusted.

[00:30:53] It's a weird way to say it, but governments are trusted that you will pay them back.

[00:30:58] Um, money.

[00:30:59] They'll be like, Oh, that's a do.

[00:31:02] Oh, that's do.

[00:31:03] Um, or they can just ask for like a bailout from the federal government.

[00:31:06] Like it's when it comes to the government, like they're low risk.

[00:31:10] Usually they're part of your low risk part of your portfolio.

[00:31:14] Um, but yeah, the government will say, Hey, lend us $10 billion and we'll pay it back over

[00:31:19] exponential years.

[00:31:21] Um, it's over 40 years.

[00:31:23] Like that's, it's just insane to me.

[00:31:26] Like paying for, for this for 40 years.

[00:31:29] Um, I mean, I'm the age I'm at, I'll be like, I don't know.

[00:31:34] I'll be very, very old by the time this is getting paid off, which is a sad thing to think

[00:31:39] about.

[00:31:40] Um, so yeah, obviously when I, whenever I see a bond, I'm an immediate, no, that's just

[00:31:45] me.

[00:31:46] My golden rule is whenever I see a proposition that goes, this proposition will authorize

[00:31:51] the issuance of a bond.

[00:31:53] Nope.

[00:31:54] Automatic.

[00:31:54] No.

[00:31:55] Uh, so why is it on the ballot?

[00:31:57] Environmental groups and renewable energy advocates have been clamoring for increased spending

[00:32:01] on climate change and the environment in recent years, particularly after governor Gavin Newsom

[00:32:07] and the legislature approved a $54.3 billion spending package called the California climate

[00:32:14] commitment in 2022, only to scale it back to 44.6 billion.

[00:32:19] This budget plagued year, uh, about 3.8 billion would be spent on a water projects have to water

[00:32:27] improve water quality and the remainder on protecting the state from floods and droughts and other

[00:32:31] activities, including restoring river and lakes.

[00:32:34] The rest of the money would be spent on wildfire, extreme heat projects, natural lands, parks and

[00:32:39] wildfire projects, coastal lands, bays and ocean protection, clean energy projects, uh, agricultural

[00:32:45] and other agricultural projects.

[00:32:48] So for those for it, 985,000 has been raised.

[00:32:53] Uh, obviously supporters include the clean water action, national wildlife federation,

[00:32:59] California professional firefighters, California labor federation, and you guessed it, the

[00:33:04] California teachers association.

[00:33:06] Nothing to do with California, like nothing to do with teachers.

[00:33:09] Teachers.

[00:33:10] When are you going to get upset that your union dues going to the California teachers association

[00:33:14] has literally nothing to do with supporting what you need as a teacher.

[00:33:17] So next time you think about how your public school makes you buy all your supplies and

[00:33:22] they still take your fees and dues out.

[00:33:25] Think about that, how they're giving it all to politicians in Sacramento, uh, S E I U a

[00:33:33] union that has nothing to do with any of this, uh, California democratic party, uh, metropolitan

[00:33:38] water district of Southern California, California municipal utilities association.

[00:33:42] And of course, on the other side, uh, opponents, Howard Jarvis taxpayers, California Republican

[00:33:48] party, Senate GOP leader, Brian Jones and assembly member Jim Patterson.

[00:33:53] So, uh, sadly it looks like it's going to pass because it's California.

[00:34:00] And whenever you say fun stuff, like let's protect the environment, people usually hop on

[00:34:06] it.

[00:34:07] Uh, so right now the polling says in favor of it is 65%.

[00:34:12] Those not in favor is 33%.

[00:34:14] I, I feel like this one's actually complicated in the sense of it's a, it sounds like a pretty

[00:34:20] package.

[00:34:21] I am in orange County and orange County.

[00:34:26] Like typically I think most people, if you say orange County, they picture that TV show,

[00:34:31] the OC and the mansions on the beach.

[00:34:34] And like, that's what they think of orange County, which is sure that exists, but that's

[00:34:39] not, that's not all of us.

[00:34:41] Um, but orange County is a pretty, like people know, like there, there is a ton of money here.

[00:34:48] There absolutely is.

[00:34:50] Our tap water is disgusting.

[00:34:52] And I have not, I refuse to drink it for probably 20 something years.

[00:34:56] That's why you always see me with like a bottle of water.

[00:35:00] We have horrendous drinking water.

[00:35:04] Like it's now, it's not so bad that I won't shower in it, but I will not drink it.

[00:35:10] It's so bad.

[00:35:12] And so I can only imagine when they talk about these lower income communities that have even

[00:35:19] worse water, like, yeah, they, they need change here.

[00:35:26] Um, I've lived in California all my life.

[00:35:28] I've lived in orange County all my life.

[00:35:30] I grew up going to the beach and the beach was gross.

[00:35:34] The water, the ocean was gross.

[00:35:37] When I was a kid, it was Brown.

[00:35:39] You couldn't like, you know, you'd look at pictures of Hawaii and be like water like that

[00:35:44] exists.

[00:35:44] Oh my gosh.

[00:35:45] That seemed like such a fake fantasy, like only in movie kind of thing.

[00:35:49] But now the water is actually cleaner.

[00:35:53] Like their, their conservation efforts are paying off the, when I go to the beach now, it's,

[00:35:59] oh, it's so pretty.

[00:35:59] It's like, wow, it's, it's blue.

[00:36:01] It's, it's not Brown.

[00:36:02] It's not disgusting.

[00:36:03] It's we're not constantly being told don't go in that water.

[00:36:06] Cause like sewage spills or whatever, like it's cleaner.

[00:36:11] Um, so I like this, the sound of this.

[00:36:15] I do.

[00:36:16] I like the idea of like more parks and trees, but, but I've also lived in California long

[00:36:23] enough to know these propositions never go the way that they say they're going to go.

[00:36:28] And then money never goes really to where they say it's going to go.

[00:36:32] They're just going to inflate somebody's salary or hire a bunch of new government employees.

[00:36:37] And the majority of the money is going to go there and they may or may not clean up one

[00:36:41] community.

[00:36:42] And then how much did you say?

[00:36:46] 14 billion.

[00:36:47] What did you say?

[00:36:48] 10 billion.

[00:36:49] 10 billion gone.

[00:36:51] Just like that for, for nothing.

[00:36:55] Yeah.

[00:36:56] And I'll end up probably being 16 billion.

[00:36:58] Like I love the idea of this.

[00:37:02] I mean, I hate the taxes idea.

[00:37:03] I love the idea of, if like they were truly going to do all this and, but, but I know that's

[00:37:11] not going to happen.

[00:37:11] I'd like, I 100% trust nothing about this.

[00:37:15] Yeah.

[00:37:15] And 40 years is a long time for that money to be sitting out there.

[00:37:22] And today's idea of like where that money is going to go to in 20 years is probably not

[00:37:30] going to end up going to where it is.

[00:37:32] Like.

[00:37:34] Just like all the water storage that they haven't built.

[00:37:37] Right.

[00:37:38] The money.

[00:37:39] We've paid for that.

[00:37:40] You guys, we have literally already paid for that.

[00:37:43] Yeah.

[00:37:43] That was a, as Brian Jones had brought that up.

[00:37:48] He wrote this op ed in Cal matters, uh, saying, you know, obviously in opposition to it.

[00:37:55] And he brought up that exact point, which in 2014, California voters passed a bomb measure

[00:38:00] that would provide billions of dollars specific for water storage.

[00:38:04] Nearly a decade has passed.

[00:38:05] And despite all that funding, not a single drop of water has been stored.

[00:38:10] Uh, the promises made to voters have gone unfulfilled.

[00:38:13] Leaving many wonder why Democrat politicians are asking for even more funding now with prop

[00:38:17] four.

[00:38:17] If they can't deliver on their commitments from a decade ago, why should taxpayers believe

[00:38:21] that another loan result in anything meaningful?

[00:38:25] Yeah.

[00:38:26] I mean, that was 10 years ago.

[00:38:29] That's only 10 years ago.

[00:38:30] And we approved that to, to, for water stores where we said, Oh yeah, well let's broken ground.

[00:38:37] Like literally no shovel has got like nothing, nothing.

[00:38:41] Nope.

[00:38:42] Yeah.

[00:38:43] And, and we've had a couple wet seasons in the past couple of years.

[00:38:48] Um, and something like tens of millions of gallons of water have just gone rushing out

[00:38:53] to the Pacific ocean.

[00:38:55] Um, and anybody who lives in California knows it's, it's boomer bust.

[00:38:59] It feels like it's either wet season or dry season.

[00:39:01] And we could be storing a lot of this and creating sort of like a water savings where we have

[00:39:09] a ton of water just waiting to be used in dry seasons.

[00:39:13] Or the fact that they've just neglected for 10 years to do anything.

[00:39:19] Like what makes you think that this bond is going to accomplish anything?

[00:39:24] And what you can't, um, sadly, what you can't figure out because the state does not open their

[00:39:31] public checkbook.

[00:39:33] Where, where is this money going?

[00:39:35] Like we spend all, we, we approved this money 10 years ago.

[00:39:38] They're obviously doing something with it.

[00:39:41] Like they're not just, it's not like they approved it and they just forgot about it.

[00:39:45] Like they're doing something with it.

[00:39:47] No, I think it's just sitting there.

[00:39:49] You think it's just like, they just haven't done anything with it.

[00:39:51] I have heard over the years, like I've read articles that says the money's there.

[00:39:56] It's sitting there.

[00:39:57] But they're just not doing anything.

[00:39:59] It's not doing anything.

[00:40:00] And this is, again, having lived in California my entire life.

[00:40:04] Um, my mom, I remember like the first rainy season of my life.

[00:40:10] Well, not the first, but like that I can remember.

[00:40:12] I was like eight years old and it poured rain.

[00:40:15] Like it flooded, like we've seen in recent years.

[00:40:18] And, um, and it was so fun.

[00:40:19] And my mom telling us girls, like, this is, this is how cool California is.

[00:40:24] Every, like, we'll have about five to seven years of dryness.

[00:40:27] And then we get a couple of years of just this extreme rain.

[00:40:29] And, but she would drive us around the city and be like, and the government's doing nothing,

[00:40:34] nothing to collect this.

[00:40:36] And it would just be like all this water is just like, you know, you'd see the drains

[00:40:39] are, there's so much water that the drains can't even keep up.

[00:40:42] It's like coming out.

[00:40:44] Like, it's like, there'd be like almost like these like geysers coming up from the drains.

[00:40:47] And she would just like, they literally, I remember eight years old and she would like,

[00:40:51] they're doing nothing.

[00:40:53] They're doing nothing to store this.

[00:40:54] Only there was a political platform out there that talked about saving water for five years,

[00:40:59] just in case of just in case, just in case.

[00:41:02] I wonder if that political platform exists out there.

[00:41:08] Yeah.

[00:41:09] It's pretty package, but nothing.

[00:41:11] Yeah.

[00:41:12] That's my opinion.

[00:41:14] Yeah.

[00:41:14] So Brian Jones in his article, he did point out is one thing I do want to point out.

[00:41:20] He said prop four will spend millions on so-called infrastructure in quotes for farmers markets,

[00:41:27] things like pop-up tents, restrooms, and hand-washing stations.

[00:41:30] It will also fund workforce development to help mitigate unemployment, which of course

[00:41:36] is completely unrelated to infrastructure and climate.

[00:41:39] To top it off, the bond also includes grants for exhibit galleries at the zoos, at zoos and

[00:41:44] museums, and even van pull vehicles for low-income workers.

[00:41:49] What?

[00:41:50] I mean, not infrastructure.

[00:41:52] So, and that's what's scary about a lot of these bonds is like, you have to read the fine

[00:41:59] print and the top line thing sounds great.

[00:42:03] Sure.

[00:42:04] We, you know, California is a beautiful state.

[00:42:06] It's got a great ecosystem.

[00:42:08] We want to preserve as much of it as possible.

[00:42:11] But then you get down to the nitty gritty and it's like, oh, we're also going to hand

[00:42:15] out grants to zoos and museums and we're going to have all these social programs wedged in

[00:42:19] there.

[00:42:19] It's like, wait, well, hold on.

[00:42:20] I thought you were doing this for the climate.

[00:42:22] It's over.

[00:42:23] Don't forget the constitution does say science.

[00:42:26] Yeah.

[00:42:28] The according to Bill Nye, the constitution does say promote science.

[00:42:32] Just take that and don't look at the rest of the context around what that means.

[00:42:37] But yeah, these are, and this is again, probably why my golden rule is always whenever I see,

[00:42:44] you know, California wants the voters to approve the issuance of a bond.

[00:42:49] I'm immediately a no because you can never trust them.

[00:42:52] They're always going to raise all this money, not spend it on what they're actually going

[00:42:57] to do.

[00:42:59] And then years later, they're going to come back and ask for more.

[00:43:01] And then you go, we just gave you $10 billion.

[00:43:04] Where did that go?

[00:43:05] And I go, I don't know, but we need more of it.

[00:43:08] So please give it to us.

[00:43:11] So that's just me.

[00:43:12] I mean, I, I don't like to tell people how to vote, but I'm going to tell you right

[00:43:16] now, I'm a no on this one.

[00:43:17] That's for sure.

[00:43:18] I'm no on probably a lot of propositions just because I think propositions are mostly,

[00:43:23] mostly kind of silly.

[00:43:24] They don't really address big issues.

[00:43:26] That's the one thing we haven't done.

[00:43:28] We haven't done our own little commentary.

[00:43:30] We should see if we can do like a lightning round at the end and give our, our, our picks

[00:43:35] on like, yes, no, yes, no.

[00:43:37] I think we don't do that because we're not trying to tell people how to vote.

[00:43:40] Right.

[00:43:41] Yeah.

[00:43:41] Again, we're not telling people how to vote, but I'd give you my two cents of how I would

[00:43:47] vote.

[00:43:47] I mean, it's not like a voter guide.

[00:43:49] I'm not telling you like you should vote this way.

[00:43:51] Um, all right.

[00:43:52] Anything else on prop four besides the fact that it's going to put us more in debt that

[00:43:56] we don't need?

[00:43:56] No, we can move on to the next one.

[00:43:59] Okay.

[00:43:59] This one, this one's a little confusing.

[00:44:03] I actually had to read into this a little bit more because I was like, this is, I'm confused

[00:44:08] at this one.

[00:44:08] Thankfully, the good people over at Cal matters have a wonderful explainer video to explain

[00:44:14] like, what the heck is this?

[00:44:17] And what is going on?

[00:44:18] Because at first I was like, I don't really used that.

[00:44:21] I'm not still confused.

[00:44:24] But last night, I think I had a little, like, I know what they're doing here.

[00:44:29] Like, can I give my really quick summary and then you'll go into it, but yeah, California

[00:44:35] has actually been pushing for, or at least I think new Democrats have been pushing for,

[00:44:40] they want their own, um, like health insurance.

[00:44:45] They, you know, they're trying to get, and they want to require everyone, uh, in California

[00:44:51] to be on that health insurance.

[00:44:53] And I think that this is just one step in that direction.

[00:44:56] That's what, in summary, that's what I feel like this bill is supposed to do.

[00:45:01] Like they may not be able to necessarily get everyone on board with that, but slowly but

[00:45:06] surely through propositions, they can just kind of like, Oh, and here we are now we're all

[00:45:11] required to be on this California health insurance plan.

[00:45:15] Now you can go into this.

[00:45:18] No, I, I, I like that you quit in Tarantino, Tarantino and like, I hadn't thought of that.

[00:45:24] Like, that's actually an amazing point of if we can't, cause they've tried, they have

[00:45:30] tried to get it passed numerous times to the legislature to go to single payer in California.

[00:45:36] They try every single year.

[00:45:38] Someone always introduces single payer healthcare.

[00:45:40] It always gets shot down even by Democrats.

[00:45:43] Democrats are like, this is too radical.

[00:45:44] We're not doing this.

[00:45:45] Um, but you may be onto something that this is just kind of like frog in the boiling water

[00:45:51] where people vote for it and they're like, Oh yeah, this is a great idea.

[00:45:55] And then slowly, but surely the next proposition comes around.

[00:45:57] They're like, Hey, you're paying more for medical taxes anyway.

[00:46:02] Why don't you get the benefit of it?

[00:46:04] And it's like, okay.

[00:46:06] And then they open up medical.

[00:46:08] And then before you know it, it's like, you know, you're right.

[00:46:11] Like maybe it's just slowly, but surely getting people into this a little bit more.

[00:46:15] Excellent point.

[00:46:16] Um, but so this is a video from Cal matters and it kind of gets, it gives a little one

[00:46:22] minute explainer, which helped me figure out what the heck they're talking about here.

[00:46:26] This one needed a breakdown.

[00:46:28] So every few years, lawmakers renew a tax on certain health insurance plans.

[00:46:36] It's called the managed care organization or MCO tax.

[00:46:40] The money generated is used to get an equal amount of revenue from the federal government

[00:46:44] to support healthcare.

[00:46:46] Lawmakers have relied on this tax for many years to maintain the state's expansive public

[00:46:50] insurance program known as Medi-Cal more than 14 million low income Californians use

[00:46:56] Medi-Cal.

[00:46:57] So if this tax already exists, how would the statewide ballot initiative change it?

[00:47:01] I'm Kristen Wong, health reporter for Cal matters.

[00:47:03] And this is prop 35 in a minute.

[00:47:07] Over the past decade, California lawmakers have drastically expanded Medi-Cal low income

[00:47:12] people, regardless of citizenship are covered and benefits include things like hearing aids,

[00:47:17] dental care, and doulas, but payments to the doctors that take Medi-Cal have not kept up

[00:47:21] with program expansion or inflation.

[00:47:24] California's reimbursement rate falls in the bottom third nationally, according to the Kaiser

[00:47:28] Family Foundation.

[00:47:30] This makes it hard for Medi-Cal patients to find a doctor.

[00:47:32] Prop 35 would take that existing tax we talked about and earmark the money to increase certain

[00:47:38] Medi-Cal payments, including primary and specialty care.

[00:47:42] It would also prevent lawmakers from using the tax money for other purposes.

[00:47:46] Earlier this year, Governor Gavin Newsom sought to do just that by eliminating Medi-Cal rate

[00:47:51] increases to decrease the state deficit.

[00:47:53] Supporters say without better pay, low income patients will continue to struggle to find a doctor.

[00:47:59] There's no registered opposition to the measure, but policy experts caution that initiatives like

[00:48:04] this make it difficult to balance the state budget.

[00:48:06] California currently faces an estimated $56 billion deficit over the next two years.

[00:48:12] So vote yes if you want to ensure this tax money is spent on Medi-Cal.

[00:48:15] Vote no if you want to keep things the way they are.

[00:48:18] All right, so that is a breakdown.

[00:48:23] And I thought that was actually very helpful.

[00:48:26] She wrote the full article that we're going to talk about in a second.

[00:48:30] So as I understand it, and we are political nerds and we dive into this stuff, and it's

[00:48:38] still very confusing, is that right now they're not paying enough from Medi-Cal to entice doctors

[00:48:48] to take Medi-Cal.

[00:48:51] So Medi-Cal claims are obviously not going to be as good as private insurance.

[00:48:57] So if you have private through Kaiser or Aetna or Blue Shield or something like that, or Sharp,

[00:49:02] it's not going to be as good as that, and Medi-Cal is not going to pay as much.

[00:49:06] So obviously as a doctor, you're going to go, well, I'm going to take private insurance.

[00:49:08] I'm not going to take Medi-Cal.

[00:49:10] So I guess the proposal is we're going to tax.

[00:49:15] We're going to make sure this tax goes to Medi-Cal payments so we can increase the payments.

[00:49:22] Therefore, they give more access to more doctors, which, okay, that sounds like a good thing

[00:49:31] that people who need help always sounds like a good thing that people who need doctors,

[00:49:37] like low-income individuals who need doctors, can get more doctors.

[00:49:41] But I think it's a little bit more confusing than that.

[00:49:45] I'm not quite sure if the polling, did they release the polling on this?

[00:49:49] I can also see how then doctors' rates increase yet again, kind of like with school bailouts.

[00:49:59] Mm-hmm.

[00:50:01] For those, just as a background, $51 million has been raised in support of this.

[00:50:09] Supporters include the California Medical Association, Planned Parenthood of California,

[00:50:16] California Hospital Association, California Dental Association, California Primary Care

[00:50:20] Association, California Democratic Party, and the California Republican Party all support this.

[00:50:26] So interesting, it's bipartisan.

[00:50:30] I'm no surprised that all these medical unions also support it because why not?

[00:50:34] You're going to get more money and you're going to get more customers.

[00:50:38] This is actually pretty interesting.

[00:50:40] In an opposition, Governor Newsom indicated that he opposes the measure,

[00:50:45] even though his own party endorses the measure.

[00:50:47] He argues restricting how the tax revenue is spent hamstrings future legislators

[00:50:52] and governor's ability to balance the state budget.

[00:50:55] Yeah, okay, I was going to say something like that.

[00:50:58] Backing up, we're already paying this tax.

[00:51:03] What is this tax?

[00:51:05] I'm confused about that.

[00:51:07] The managed care organization tax is offset general fund spending on Medi-Cal.

[00:51:14] Managed care health plans pay a tax to get a dollar-for-dollar matching amount of money

[00:51:19] from the federal government.

[00:51:20] Health providers who serve Medi-Cal patients argue that the tax revenue should be used for

[00:51:25] new investments in Medi-Cal rather than supporting the state's general fund.

[00:51:29] Supporters also state that the measure leaves some money unrestricted to give lawmakers flexibility.

[00:51:33] So here's the, I guess, the big picture of what's going on is they're saying,

[00:51:42] we already pay into this tax.

[00:51:46] Via like those of us with private health insurance?

[00:51:49] That's where I'm confused.

[00:51:50] Okay.

[00:51:51] Okay.

[00:51:52] Okay.

[00:51:52] I think as part of like your, like, yeah, they pay through, I don't know if your income

[00:51:56] tax, I think your income tax pays into it as well.

[00:51:58] Or like your paycheck pays into it.

[00:52:01] Okay.

[00:52:02] Um, so when they raise these taxes, it was previously going to the general fund of Sacramento.

[00:52:11] And when anything's in the general fund, they can just go, oh, well, we can borrow from this and we can take from this and we can move the numbers around.

[00:52:20] So this is not specifically earmarked for Medi-Cal.

[00:52:24] No.

[00:52:25] And I think that's what they want to change.

[00:52:27] They want to change it.

[00:52:28] So all the money that's raised for this will go to Medi-Cal, which Governor Newsom is looking at it going, well, you know, the next time we get in a bit like a budget crunch and the governor needs to do some shady backroom dealings.

[00:52:43] How am I going to find extra money?

[00:52:45] And if I can't poach and pillage Medi-Cal, then that's less money I can kind of use to cover up the gaping holes in our budget.

[00:52:54] Or you could fix the budget.

[00:52:55] I don't know.

[00:52:56] That's a novel idea.

[00:52:57] If your argument is we won't be able to poach money raised for your program to cover budget shortfalls, it's not a good starting argument as to why you oppose this.

[00:53:09] Right. So like him opposing this makes me want to be for it, but there's always the fine print.

[00:53:20] That's where I'm still confused on this one.

[00:53:25] Let's see.

[00:53:27] This is from the same girl who did that video.

[00:53:29] She wrote the whole article on it.

[00:53:31] Opponents represented by a small coalition of community health advocates, seniors and activists for good governance say the details of the proposition put the state at risk of losing billions in federal funding.

[00:53:40] That's because the federal government under both the Biden and Trump administration has warned California that its tax on health plans to fund Medi-Cal services takes unfair advantage of a loophole in federal regulations.

[00:53:54] The federal centers for Medicare and Medicaid services intends to close that loopholes.

[00:53:59] Regulators wrote in a letter to California officials late last year.

[00:54:04] Quote, this is the fatal flaw of this initiative.

[00:54:07] We can all have opinions on how to spend the money, but we have to raise the funds first.

[00:54:11] Yes. Duh. Thank you.

[00:54:16] So the managed care organization tax, this is what we're talking about.

[00:54:20] The NCO tax generates revenue for Medi-Cal by taxing health insurers that serve both Medi-Cal and commercially insured patients, which is private and Medi-Cal.

[00:54:30] Now, the federal government gives California a dollar for dollar match to whatever funds are raised.

[00:54:35] For Prop 35, that's an estimated $7 billion to $8 billion annually through 2027.

[00:54:40] However, California has historically placed the majority of the tax burden on Medi-Cal insurers and not commercial insurers.

[00:54:46] In its letter to state officials, the federal regulators said Medi-Cal plan represents 50% of all insured people but bear 99% of the total tax burden.

[00:54:56] This is at odds with the spirit of law, which was meant to redistribute revenue from commercial insurers to Medi-Cal plans.

[00:55:03] It gets more confusing.

[00:55:04] Governor Newsom has not taken a formal stance on the measure, although he said at a press conference in July he's concerned about how it would lock in tax revenue for a single purpose.

[00:55:11] The state budget he signed that month shifted most of the tax revenue from the tax on health insurers into the general fund to pay for the Medi-Cal program.

[00:55:19] So, of course, that's why he's against it.

[00:55:24] I did pull this up, and this is a couple years old, but I did want to pull this up.

[00:55:29] We need to take a quick look at it because this is really confusing.

[00:55:34] This was not an easy one to kind of break down and be like, man, this is a dumb feel-good one.

[00:55:39] I don't like this.

[00:55:40] So, this is a fact sheet.

[00:55:44] Let me see if I can pull this up.

[00:55:46] So, this is Medi-Cal explained fact sheet, Medi-Cal explained in Medi-Cal financing and spending.

[00:55:54] Medi-Cal is an important source of health insurance coverage.

[00:55:57] So, this is from them themselves.

[00:55:59] This is their fact sheet.

[00:56:00] It is an important source of health insurance coverage for millions of Californians and their families.

[00:56:04] In fiscal year 21 to 22, the Medi-Cal program spent $121.9 billion of federal, state, and local funds providing a wide range of core health benefits, including primary, specialty, acute, and behavioral care services, prescription drugs, and long-term care for nearly 15 million Californians with low income.

[00:56:25] We might want to look at why 15 million Californians are low income out of a state of 40 million.

[00:56:31] That's kind of shocking.

[00:56:33] And no one's picking up on that as well.

[00:56:35] It's a state of 40 million people and almost half of them are low income.

[00:56:40] But I guess that's for another episode.

[00:56:42] Why half of California is low income.

[00:56:47] Maybe, I don't know, is the definition off or something?

[00:56:49] Or maybe it's just that hard to live.

[00:56:52] Right.

[00:56:53] I mean, I guess we'd have to look up what the low income numbers, like the threshold.

[00:57:00] And this is what I really was focusing on was, so out of that $121.9 billion, it was financed 70% by the federal government.

[00:57:10] 21% from the state general fund, which, again, so that's the general fund, which is they're now arguing if this goes into effect, it won't be part of the general fund.

[00:57:23] It'll be part of their own fund.

[00:57:24] Right.

[00:57:26] Right.

[00:57:28] California's Medi-Cal and what they're trying to do with Medi-Cal for all eventually is funded by the federal government.

[00:57:38] So.

[00:57:38] I'm looking so big up.

[00:57:40] I didn't just check out.

[00:57:42] I'm just like, oh, we're here texting friends.

[00:57:44] No.

[00:57:45] Camille's texting her kids up in the bonus room.

[00:57:47] Yeah.

[00:57:48] They're up in the game room and I'm like, hey.

[00:57:50] Just seeing if they're paying attention.

[00:57:53] Let's see.

[00:57:54] This is what they've been talking about.

[00:57:57] Medi-Cal can understand if you know what it's a.

[00:57:59] Sorry, there's a lot of information here.

[00:58:02] Okay.

[00:58:03] So this is what I was looking up because this is where, because Planned Parenthood supports this bill.

[00:58:09] Yep.

[00:58:09] And now this is a decade old, but this is while I don't have time on this podcast to go down this rabbit hole.

[00:58:16] In the 2014 to 2015 fiscal year, about 43% of Planned Parenthood's revenues came from government reimbursements or grants.

[00:58:24] Oh, wait.

[00:58:25] In 2019 to 2021, Planned Parenthood received about $1.78 billion in federal funding, which averaged out to $592 billion per year.

[00:58:35] They get reimbursements from Medi-Cal and Medicaid, which are two separate things.

[00:58:40] Because, you know, we always hear, like, we talk about, okay, they want abortions, but why are we being forced to fund abortions?

[00:58:47] And so I've always been like, well, where exactly is that money coming from?

[00:58:50] Apparently, this is part of it.

[00:58:53] It's a whole lot of money.

[00:58:54] A whole other topic.

[00:58:56] Just throwing it out there.

[00:58:58] It's definitely confusing.

[00:59:01] And a rule of mine, whenever it gets this confusing and you look into it and you read it and you don't understand it, I vote no.

[00:59:11] Just because I'm like, if I don't understand what the heck you're talking about or what the heck this does, then no.

[00:59:18] Like, I'm not going to vote for something I completely don't understand.

[00:59:23] So this is like the food rule.

[00:59:25] If you can't pronounce the ingredients, you probably don't want that food.

[00:59:29] Yeah, it's actually a very good rule.

[00:59:30] If you look at the ingredients and a lot of them you can't pronounce or don't understand, maybe don't eat that food.

[00:59:36] So I wish we had a better, more conclusive statement about it.

[00:59:41] It's very technical on just where the tax revenue is going to go.

[00:59:47] Is it going to help people?

[00:59:49] It's yet to be seen.

[00:59:50] I mean, like.

[00:59:51] Newsom wants it to fund that annex, the capital annex that they have all the.

[00:59:57] Well, if you vote yes, they won't be able to use Medi-Cal money.

[01:00:00] So and I guess the federal government is closing loophole.

[01:00:02] I feel like I'm with Newsom on this one for different reasons, because I still feel like this is just one more step in the direction of like forcing us all onto the single payer health insurance.

[01:00:14] But yeah, it could be slowly but surely letting Medi-Cal take over everything.

[01:00:22] I mean, that's how it really works in politics is like you have said it a million times on this show.

[01:00:29] They throw out the most extreme idea knowing it's not going to stick.

[01:00:33] But then when they just get a little teensy bit of it in the next year, then they're like, OK, then they get, you know, the second part.

[01:00:40] And then all of a sudden we're like, how did we get here?

[01:00:43] We rejected that 10 years ago, but we didn't reject all the pieces of it.

[01:00:49] Yeah, we've already built the framework and all we need is one more thing and we're already there.

[01:00:54] So, yeah.

[01:00:55] All right.

[01:00:56] You ready to do a lightning round of yes or no?

[01:00:59] Yeah.

[01:01:00] Well, I have to pull up my notes so that I remember which one's which.

[01:01:03] Oh, I have them right here.

[01:01:06] Oh, OK.

[01:01:07] I came prepared.

[01:01:09] All right.

[01:01:10] All right.

[01:01:10] Obviously, disclaimer is we're not telling you how to vote.

[01:01:13] This is not the California underground official ballot voter guide proposition voter guide on what to do.

[01:01:22] We've just covered all of them.

[01:01:24] And I think people probably wonder, like, where would I vote or where would you vote?

[01:01:29] So we'll just go right down the list and we'll do a lightning round.

[01:01:34] If you have any quick comments, you can obviously add them, but we'll do a quick lightning round.

[01:01:39] All right.

[01:01:40] Prop 2 issue $10 billion in bonds to fund construction and modernization of public education facilities.

[01:01:47] Nope.

[01:01:49] Me as well.

[01:01:50] No.

[01:01:51] Prop 32 increases the state's minimum wage to $18 an hour.

[01:01:56] Heck no.

[01:01:57] Nope.

[01:01:57] No for me as well.

[01:02:00] Prop 3.

[01:02:00] Prop 33 repeals Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act.

[01:02:04] That's the rent control one.

[01:02:06] Nope.

[01:02:07] Nope.

[01:02:08] No for me as well.

[01:02:09] Prop 34 requires health care providers to spend 98% of revenues from federal discount prescription drug permit on direct patient care.

[01:02:19] Nope.

[01:02:20] These titles are so confusing.

[01:02:22] Nope.

[01:02:23] Prop 35 permanently authorizes a tax on managed care organizations to fund Medi-Cal programs.

[01:02:30] That's the one we literally just talked about.

[01:02:32] I'm so far, no.

[01:02:34] I'm going to have to go down this a little more, but no.

[01:02:36] No.

[01:02:37] Just because it's too damn confusing.

[01:02:39] I haven't really voted yet.

[01:02:40] I plan to this week, so I'm going to have to really figure this one out.

[01:02:44] But right now I'm-

[01:02:45] Prop 36 increases penalties for certain drug crimes.

[01:02:49] Yep.

[01:02:49] That's a yes for me.

[01:02:50] That's the big one.

[01:02:51] Prop 37 helps turn around Prop 47.

[01:02:54] Prop 3, repeal Proposition 8 and establish a right to marry.

[01:02:58] I don't know.

[01:03:00] Whatever.

[01:03:01] Doesn't really say.

[01:03:01] I have heard since we did the episode on it and I said, I don't care.

[01:03:05] This doesn't change anything.

[01:03:07] I have heard things, but I don't want to try to sway anyone.

[01:03:13] So just look it up and vote how you want to vote.

[01:03:16] But I'm a-

[01:03:17] Yeah, there's always the third option.

[01:03:19] You don't have to vote yes or no on everything.

[01:03:21] You could just say-

[01:03:22] No.

[01:03:23] You could just say I'm not going to check any box.

[01:03:25] And this one I might just go, eh, I'm just going to skip it.

[01:03:28] It doesn't affect me one way or the other.

[01:03:29] I'm not going to be on the yes or no side.

[01:03:32] So I think I might just abstain.

[01:03:34] That's the third option.

[01:03:35] I will abstain from voting on this one.

[01:03:38] Prop 4, which we talked about today, issue $10 billion in bonds to fund state and local parks.

[01:03:45] Nope.

[01:03:46] Nope.

[01:03:47] Sounds lovely.

[01:03:48] Nope.

[01:03:49] He's actually going to the zoos and museums.

[01:03:52] Yeah.

[01:03:53] Again, I hear bond.

[01:03:55] I say no.

[01:03:56] Prop 5, lower the voter threshold from two-thirds to 55% for local bond measures to fund housing projects and public infrastructure.

[01:04:04] I think I'm a no on that one.

[01:04:06] I'm a no as well.

[01:04:08] So I don't want, again, it involves bonds and debts, and I don't want to make it easier for the government to take out more bonds.

[01:04:14] Yeah.

[01:04:15] Yeah.

[01:04:15] So, and then finally, Prop 6, remove involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime from the state constitution.

[01:04:23] No.

[01:04:24] I think I'm a no on that one as well.

[01:04:26] All right.

[01:04:28] So that's it.

[01:04:29] We've covered all of them.

[01:04:30] We have done all of our propositions.

[01:04:33] Vote accordingly, of course.

[01:04:36] Do your research.

[01:04:37] Read them.

[01:04:39] Ballotopedia is great.

[01:04:40] Cal Matters is great.

[01:04:41] There's a lot of great sources out there where you can look this stuff up.

[01:04:44] Obviously, you can listen to these episodes again.

[01:04:46] But do your research.

[01:04:47] You know, just because we say we're going to vote one way or the other doesn't mean you have to vote one way or the other.

[01:04:52] We just always encourage people, do your research.

[01:04:54] You may come out different than us.

[01:04:56] You may disagree with us.

[01:04:57] You may say, you know, I disagree with you on Prop 6.

[01:05:00] Completely fine.

[01:05:01] That's the point of this is that people disagree and we don't all have to be one monolithic, you know, huge cult-like group.

[01:05:08] That thinks all alike.

[01:05:10] Voting is a privilege.

[01:05:12] Voting is a privilege.

[01:05:14] Take it seriously.

[01:05:16] Put time into it.

[01:05:18] You know, take it seriously.

[01:05:19] You only do it like once a year.

[01:05:20] So take time.

[01:05:21] If you can take an hour to just research these and figure it out, that's better than most people who just look at it based on the titles and go like, I'm going to check this or that.

[01:05:31] So, yeah.

[01:05:32] Any final thoughts before we sign off?

[01:05:36] No.

[01:05:37] No?

[01:05:37] Okay.

[01:05:38] No.

[01:05:39] All right.

[01:05:40] So that's all the propositions.

[01:05:41] Do your research.

[01:05:43] Coming up, a couple weeks.

[01:05:45] We'll be there.

[01:05:46] It's already that close, that time of the year.

[01:05:49] So, as we always like to say and finish off this episode, make sure you like, share, subscribe.

[01:05:53] A review helps with the algorithm, helps more people find us.

[01:05:56] And as always, the best thing you can do to support the show that is 100% free is share this with someone you know who might have some questions and be like, hey, what's Prop 6 about?

[01:06:06] Or what the heck's Prop 35 about?

[01:06:09] Well, and if they have an answer, please let us know because we're still confused.

[01:06:14] But, yeah.

[01:06:15] If anybody has any questions about props, send them one of these episodes.

[01:06:18] That's the best and free way to share and support this show.

[01:06:21] So, with that said, we'll see you on the next one.

[01:06:25] Later.

[01:06:35] Thank you for listening to another episode of California Underground.

[01:06:39] If you like what you heard, remember to subscribe, like, and review it.

[01:06:42] And follow California Underground on social media for updates as to when new episodes are available.