The contrast between the glitterati of the Ruling Class and the traditional Americans who dare to still believe in The Dream couldn’t be starker.

Presidential-candidate-in-waiting Gavin Newsom will face Ron DeSantis on FoxNews on Thursday, Nov 30th. Whether it will contrast the policies and governing of both states, or devolve into a food-fight remains to be seen. However, it is definitely a “debate we should be having.”

One man has made cutting carbon emissions his state’s top policy priority. The other has prioritized energy production.

One made his state the most welcoming sanctuary jurisdiction for migrants from all over the world. The other signed one of the nation’s strictest anti-illegal immigration laws ever.

One oversees a state higher education system that has abandoned standardized tests and embraced mandatory diversity, equity, and inclusion loyalty oaths. The other is fighting the higher education cartel and returning academic standards to classrooms.

The substantive policy contrasts between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis couldn’t be starker. Both men not only represent the future of their respective parties, but both also have track records guiding their states in new directions.

California is losing population as people who have the means to move, do.

Note here: that includes me. I was born in Los Angeles and lived my whole life in SoCal. But the last good decade of California being the place friendly to families and business was the 1980s. As the radical students who stormed the UC campuses in the 60s started moving into positions of authority in Cali’s public institutions, the state began its slide into a Potemkin state — great weather, beautiful wilderness areas, posh neighborhoods that were the wet-dream of PR producers. But it covers up a reality that is dirty, dangerous and depressing for anyone outside of gated-communities of the .01%. We took all our assets out of California (no, I didn’t move to FL) because the Socialist Democrats in the one-party state were casting their gimlet eyes on further eroding even the smallest bits of middle-class wealth to fund their latest forays in authoritarian control.

Florida has gained population (as has Texas) much of it from deep-blue dystopic states like California. Florida’s attraction is being a state welcoming of businesses and families. Of course, this success has led to both strains on infrastructure and services, but that’s pain from growing. Not the pain of tyranny that shows little sign of abating.

Newsom versus DeSantis is a debate our country needs right now. Do we keep mandating more expensive cars, homes, and appliances while also prohibiting energy production from record amounts of public land? Or do we let people drive the cars they want, build the homes they want, and produce the energy they need to make a good life affordable for all?

Watch for Newsom to offer a fact-free attack that both touts California’s sizeable, but sick, economy while railing against Ron’s pro-family stances that recognize that kiddie-pr0n doesn’t belong in the first-grade classroom and kindergartners shouldn’t be taught to hate each other as oppressed/oppressor via melanin levels.

A clue to Newsom’s approach can be seen when he decided to bask in the adoring, tongue-bathing reception he got on The View.

While California has “the 5th largest economy in the world” that is no indication that the economy actually working. For pity’s sake, the Soviet Union had the 2nd* largest economy in the world in 1990! Who actually believes the Soviet citizenry was better off than Americans?

It’s not just that Newsom presides over a one-party/one-religion People’s Republic. It’s that he is never challenged on it. Maybe Thursday’s debate should mention AB5.

Although Newsom’s list of bad policy decisions is long and growing longer, AB 5 ranks as the most destructive and reckless bill ever to become law in California. Signed by Newsom in 2019 and enacted in January 2020, the onerous law has shattered the careers of hundreds of thousands of Californians across a vast swath of professions — everyone from transcriptionists, pharmacists and forensic nurses, to translators, event producers, wedding planners, tutors, court reporters and independent owner-operator truckers, to name a few.

This burdensome law, with its strict ABC worker classification test, is also wreaking havoc on entire sectors including community theaters, indie filmmakers, nonprofit arts groups, and the wellness profession.

The law is so Byzantine that it appears Gavin Newsom, himself, violated it!

During his recent trip to China, Newsom likely violated his own AB 5 law when hiring former White House freelance photographer Charles Ommanney to take “presidential” glamour shots of the trip. According to Politico, Ommanney, who has been freelancing for Newsom for more than five months, receives no photo credits for his work with Newsom, and is directed when and where to shoot. Per AB 5, a freelance photographer must be able to set his or her own hours otherwise the arrangement violates the “control and direction” restriction of AB 5 and therefore misclassifies the independent contractor. Additionally, the individual cannot be restricted from distributing, licensing or selling their work product to another business.

If Newsom was treated like any other business owner in California, the Employment Development Department (EDD) would target him for misclassifying his freelance photographer. As the hiring entity, he would face an aggressive payroll tax audit resulting in robust fines, penalties, back taxes, wages and unpaid benefits. Additional civil penalties could include fines of $5,000 to $25,000 for willful misclassification. There’s also a $10,000 fine for failing to provide workers’ compensation coverage, not to mention potential fines and penalties imposed by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

As if French Laundry Newsom feels compelled to abide by his own laws. It’s good to be the King of California, eh, peasants?

Let’s hope that bon mot comes up Thursday.

featured image composite of Gavin Newsom via Wiki Commons and Ron DeSantis via Wiki Commons