Sophia Miller on the easy target of the incompetent Gavin Newsom.
Newsom has, almost single-handedly, ruined the very fine economy of California.
Now Newsom stands by while companies leave, but says he has "no apologies" for instituting the most draconian legislation in the United States. Legislation which strangles businesses, like Tesla.
Tesla has moved to Texas, taking its 15,000 jobs with it.
Elon Musk has compared this regulatory tangle to the Lilliputians who tied up Gulliver. Each of their tiny ropes did nothing. But their sheer number of ropes tied him down like a strangled hog. (Elon has suggested that there be a policy: no new laws until at least 3 or 4 or 5 existing laws are repealed. And make every new law enacted have a sunset period).
Elon has said that there are so many regulations in California, that basically building things there has become illegal. Because one or other of the many dozens of regulations is going to find your project non-compliant.
When he had SpaceX there, Elon complaine that they could build a whole new rocket more quickly than the bureaucrats could pass a piece of paper from one desk to another....
Sophia Miller at around 15:45, et seq:
California now has to pay higher interest rates to borrow money. This means the state's debt costs go up, which leaves less money for schools, roads, and public services. That leads to more cuts, which in turn causes more people and businesses to leave. The spiral continues.And here's the kicker: the governor's office has spent the last year trying to spin this as a temporary setback. They've called it a "market correction." They've blamed federal policy, corporate greed, and even climate change. But they haven't taken responsibility for the policies that caused it.In a press conference in April 2025, the governor was asked directly whether California's regulatory environment played a role in Tesla's departure. His response: "We make no apologies for holding corporations accountable to the highest environmental and labor standards." In other words, we'd do it all again.But here's the reality check: accountability without competitiveness is just economic suicide. You can have the highest standards in the world, but if nobody can afford to meet them, you don't get clean industry—you get no industry. And when you have no industry, you have no jobs. When you have no jobs, you have no tax base. And when you have no tax base, you can't fund the very programs you claim to care about. It's not complicated. It's math.So where does this leave us? Let me recap the chain of events, because it's important to see how each piece led to the next:California imposed a complex, slow, and expensive regulatory system on manufacturers. Tesla tried to navigate that system and found it financially unsustainable. Tesla moved operations to states with simpler rules and lower costs. Other manufacturers followed. California lost jobs, tax revenue, and economic momentum. The state responded by raising taxes and cutting services, which accelerated the exodus. The fiscal crisis deepened. The spiral continues.And through it all, California's leadership refused to admit that their policies were the problem.Here's the broader warning: what happened in California is not unique. It's a case study in how ideologically driven policy—disconnected from economic reality—can destroy prosperity in less than a decade. Other states are watching. Other countries are watching.The lesson is clear: if you want to attract investment, create jobs, and build a sustainable economy, you have to make it possible for businesses to succeed. You can't regulate your way to utopia. You can't tax your way to prosperity. And you can't ignore the trade-offs.
