National Review's Radio Free California Podcast

California AG Rob Bonta has sued for peace in his fight with Paramount’s David Ellison, making Bari Weiss this week’s biggest winner. David says Republicans are poorly positioned to counter the Democrats’ affection for socialism. Will says California Dems finally have former Union general and abolitionist John C. Fremont right where they want him. Harry and Meghan join the California exodus. 

Bonus: Cal Policy’s Lance Christensen says Gavin Newsom got it right — four times! Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:

• Oregon QB Dante Moore leaves field on cart, in neck brace after late hit from USC's Desman Stephens
• David's Capital Record: A Choice, Not a Socialist Echo
• Gov. Gavin Newsom touts California climate response as Super El Niño approaches
• Rob Bonta Sued Paramount to Counter Political Influence, Then Fell Victim to It
• City of Sacramento announces top pick for renaming Cesar Chavez Plaza
• Newsom administration proposes removing explorer John C. Frémont’s name from state park, citing his violence against Native Americans
• Prince Harry And Meghan Markle’s Con Was Never Going To Last Forever

Bonus! Lance Christensen: Where Newsom was Right 

• Veto: Gives teachers unions another tool to kill charter schools (AB 84) 
• Veto: Costly pension enhancements (AB 1054)
• Signed: Make inter-district school transfers easier for parents (SB 1082)
• Veto: Costly pension enhancements (AB 1383)

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Guest Jon Fleischman helps Will break down the news of the week, including Gavin Newsom’s remarkably weird interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, his AI alarmism, and his surprise legislative vetoes. Yet another major battery fire has climate activists wondering who to blame when “clean” energy goes awry. The city of Long Beach responds to the Soviet submarine in its harbor. And we remember the Siege of Los Angeles, September 22, 1846. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:
Jon Fleischman, So Does It Matter Substack
Gavin Newsom tells CNN's Jake Tapper he won't run for president if Kamala Harris runs in 2028
Newsom signs bill barring other states from sending National Guard troops to California
Governor Newsom issues executive order to accelerate independent oversight and advance the creation of an AI kill switch
Who Pays When AI Causes Harm? The “Kill Switch” Is Liability
Newsom vetoes bill to loosen work-from-home rules for state workers
Republicans Help SEIU Defy Gavin Newsom’s Return-to-Work Order - WTH?
Newsom vetoes bill closing CEQA manufacturing exemption
Newsom cites pension crisis as he vetoes bill to enhance retirement for police and firefighters
I Was Wrong About Gavin Newsom And AB 1383, The Public Safety Employee Union Sponsored Pension Spiking Bill
LAUSD struggles to decide between refurbishing and retrofitting or closing schools
LAUSD Ignored the Warnings. Now the Bills Are Due.
New fire breaks out at Moss Landing Power Plant in California; shelter-in-place order issued
How do you dispose of an abandoned Russian submarine? Long Beach is on the hook to find out
 

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In Gavin Newsom’s California, artificial intelligence is apparently dangerous enough to require an expanding apparatus of government regulation, but, in the hands of the state, trustworthy enough to answer your questions about government itself. In other news, Inglewood bails on its SoFi Stadium debt, Ro Khanna embraces race hustling, and David learns about Star Trek's cultural ties to SoCal’s scientific community. Music by Metalachi.
 

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Show Notes:

• ‘Star Trek’ premieres
• The New Generation of Defense Wizards
• Governor Newsom signs first-in-the-nation AI safeguards to protect Californians, calls on the federal government to do its part
• Government, made easier. Governor Newsom introduces AskCA, a new AI-powered tool for Californians
• Better Future AI
• David Sacks on X: “Pace the frontier”
• California wealth tax proponent threatened labor officials, law firm’s report finds
• Ro Khanna, Race Hustler
• The deal that helped bring SoFi Stadium to Inglewood isn’t legally valid, judge rules
• Huntington Beach Approves Police Raises Amid Budget Deficit Projections

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California’s state employees swear an oath to protect the United States Constitution — so what’s up with the university professors calling for armed revolution and the liquidation of Democrats? Newsom visits with South Carolina Democrats but can’t outrun his failures back home, including high unemployment and a new audit showing that the tiniest high-speed rail system in the world has run off the tracks. Bonus: If you missed David and Will’s discussion of November’s 14 ballot measures, listen to Will’s conversation here with political analyst Jon Fleischman. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:

• California Profs Endorse Violence, Forget Constitutional Oath (Listener Steven A.)
• California drivers could pay for Gavin Newsom's personal security when he's out of office (Listener Kathy)
• Gavin Newsom will leave office in January. In South Carolina, he previews what could come next
• Newsom’s Minimum Wage Whitewash (Listener Eric O.)
• California’s ‘groundbreaking’ fast food council lacks a leader, hasn’t met in over a year
• Inspector General slams latest high-speed rail plan
• Judge dismisses Justice Department lawsuit challenging California transgender sports policies

Bonus: California’s 14 Ballot Propositions Explained, With Recommendations! | Jon Fleischman & Will Swaim

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In 1999, the last time California boosted the benefits it pays government employees – earlier retirements, richer retirements – financial disaster followed quickly. Now, state lawmakers want Newsom to try it again. We fact-check Newsom’s claims on housing starts (terrible) and jobs (worse). Iowa’s AG sues California for blocking the Paramount-Warner merger. Now that he’s successful, Mark Zuckerberg says social media companies must be regulated. David and Will break down the Nick Shirley Act. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:
David Bahnsen’s “Profit from the profit”
Ishi discovered in California 
Meta to Pay Up to $17.1 Billion in Landmark Settlement Over Social Media Addiction Claims
“Hardly any” AI regulations? Becerra should know better
Iowa Attorney General Says She’s Taking California to the Supreme Court Over Paramount-Warner Bros. Lawsuit
Gavin Newsom still doesn’t understand the limits of his power
California set to force big companies to disclose historic links to slavery
Kenneth Schrupp on Newsom’s jobs report
Newsom’s big housing claim is built on bad data
Lawmakers vote to let first responders retire earlier and with more money. Will Newsom sign on?
AB 1383 is a costly pension mistake in the making
AB 2624 signed into law, California rejects hated-filled (sic) misinformation campaign
Will’s work here would likely be illegal under the Act

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Since 1911, Californians have been allowed a direct role in legislation via the initiative and referendum process. This year’s November ballot features 14 measures, including the Billionaire Wealth Tax, two “affordability” programs that will make housing more expensive, and a bid to make the nation’s highest marginal income-tax rate a permanent impediment to prosperity. 

Bonus! David discusses the birth today of his fifth book, “Profit from the Profit.” Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:
David Bahnsen’s “Profit from the profit”

This episode's advertising sponsor: California Center for Nonprofit Law

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Discussing this week’s news -- taxpayer-funded political campaigns, students learning about social justice from a rabid anti-Israel activist, DEI in college admissions, and Newsom’s enthusiasm for new automobile tire regulations -- David concludes with a general principle: “In public policy, every reductio ad absurdum eventually becomes an absurdum.” Bonus: Hoover Institute economist Benjamin Jaros offers his latest battlefield assessment of California’s wealth tax. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:

Hoover Institution’s Ben Jaros on the Billionaire Wealth Tax 

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Los Angeles resident Kamala Harris visited New Orleans to celebrate the charter schools she condemns at home -- and to encourage schoolkids to fight Republicans. Gavin Newsom swerves out of his “moderate” lane and endorses Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race. This week in California history: Richard Nixon resigns, Buck Owens is born, and a San Francisco trans activist who sought political asylum in the Netherlands discovers there’s no place like home. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:

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In a state where slavery was always illegal, California lawmakers continue their push for reparations, whitewashing the critical role of such black Californians as William Alexander Leidesdorff in the state’s founding. Bonus! What is Participatory Budgeting and why does California Policy Center senior fellow Mark Moses hate it so much? Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes

Mark Moses on “participatory budgeting”

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Vanity Fair revisits Gavin Newsom's two-decade-old affair. SEIU president Dave Regan says he did not illegally bargain over his union's proposed wealth tax. California undermines national defense. We remember the California connections of U2 pilot Gary Francis Power. Bonus! In the wake of the Facuci diary’s release, CPC’s Lance Christensen joins Will to remember what it was like inside the state capitol during Covid. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes

Lance Christensen on the Fauci diary and Newsom’s failure

National Review Institute Comes to San Francisco

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