Sunday, August 30, 2026

August, 2026, Part 2, Political Class Insanity: A California Rail Project May Finally Die, A Teachers' Union That Does Not Care About Teaching, and Food Poisoning On the Menu In LA

 We have spent a  lot of blog time recently on trying  to figure out which state or city government will go bankrupt first and the massive amount of criminal fraud that exists within many government programs. However, that does not  mean that other, regular political class insanity has stopped:


1)We have often written  about the total fiasco known as the California bullet train project. It was supposed to create a high  speed rail line to run from the northern part of the state to the southern  part of the state and deliver fast, efficient train  service. It should have been completed years ago but it is  nowhere close to being  completed despite billions of dollars already being spent.


And it appears that this political class  dream is finally going  to die forever:


  • According to a report from the  state’s office of the  Inspector General, the unfinished project “will  exhaust its current  funding  resources  as  soon as  December 2027 if it does not secure funding.”

  • The  report went on to say the project faces an almost $10 billion funding gap over the next five years and there is no plan right now to find that funding  in the state government  budget

  • Furthermore, there were "significant concerns" regarding the transparency and ever slipping completion date of the project.

  •  Not surprising since the current completion date estimate is 2034 and  there  is nothing in  the history of the project that says this is a hard date.

  • State politician Vince Fong, long an opponent of the project, called it for what it  is:  “California’s High-Speed Rail is the quintessential example of government mismanagement. I’ve called it out since day 1. Californians were promised a completed rail 6 years ago. Today we’ve spent billions and billions, for a total of zero trains. Gavin Newsom owes us an explanation. And an apology. It’s beyond time to shut this down.”


Another failure for the American political  class: lofty goals, massive budget overruns, grossly missed implementation dates, non-transparent disclosures, etc. This one had it all.


2)We have  often discussed the overall failure of the  public education  system in this  country:


  • Our discussion on  how a Baltimore high school  graduating class had  about 70% of its members reading  at only the third grade level or below.

  • How the  U.S. kids rank behind dozens  of  other countries’ kids when  it comes to education  proficiency.

  • How over  90% of Detroit public school  eighth graders were NOT proficient in  math and reading.


Given  the  sorry state of  most of  the public  education  complex in this country ,one  would expect and hope teachers  and  their union to be laser focused on  improving this dismal performance. But that hope  is probably not going to happen,  given  the latest from the teachers’ main union:


  • Randi Weingarten  is  the leader  of the American Federation  of Teachers.

  • One would hope that she  would be the leader  in improving school performance.

  • However, she has other priorities including badgering the Target  department store company for not kowtowing to  her demands  relative to illegal immigrants.

  • She is urging parents not to shop for back to school needs because Target has not condemned ICE actions against illegal immigrants, many of whom are rapists, murderers, drug  traffickers,  sex traffickers, and child abusers.

  • Specifically:  “We gave Target ample time to stand with the communities in which they operate and help their neighbors, but its silence about federal immigration abuses has been deafening, We wrote letters, passed resolutions and reached out to management in good faith but have yet to see any meaningful movement. The issue could not be more pressing. Seven months since the murders of Alex Pretti and RenĂ©e Good, masked ICE agents are still in our streets, our schools and our communities, terrorizing families in the name of Donald Trump’s illegal and immoral assault on immigrants striving for their American Dream. That’s why we’re urging our members to avoid Target and patronize more ethical shopping alternatives this back-to-school season.”


Seriously, your job  is to  educate  kids, and you are doing a very bad job at that,  and yet you are wasting time and energy and priorities to address an issue the union  has no reason to address? ICE is enforcing the law of the land relative to illegal immigrants. Renee  Good and Alex Pretti were illegally and violently  interfering with that obligation  and law enforcement. 


Ms  Weingarten,  stay in your lane and  do  what you have failed to  do: properly educate American  kids.


3)So many times  we have discussed the role that the government should play in our lives  with the utmost primary goal being  to protect the lives and property of the citizens of any government entity it serves. Most of the time we have discussed this basic tenet in the context of police and judicial protections. 


But there are also other  government functions that should be used to protect citizens’  lives. One of those would be public health  functions  that make sure that food, water, and  other common life necessities are safe  for consumption  and use via a board of health  duties


But apparently the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen  Bass, does not  understand that a basic  function of her  administration  is board of health functions and  safety relative to the selling of food and meals  in the city:


  • Most rationally run  cities have a  formal board  of health function that makes sure that restaurants and other food servers  comply with  hygiene and health  code rules and regulations  to ensure the safety of the citizens consuming that food.

  • That requires regular inspections of food processing operations and the  paying for permit  fees by those food providers.

  • Again, a very basic function of government, protecting the safety of its  citizens.

  • But Bass has prioritized illegal  immigrants’  welfare over the food safety of her  own U.S. citizens.

  • According to Breitbart reporting, Bass  ordered the LA Police Department  to  stop issuing criminal citations for  food vendors, many of whom are illegal  immigrants, in the streets of the  city for  not conforming to board of health  regulations and permitting rules.

  • Specifically:  “Street vending is a quintessential part of LA’s world-class food scene and a livelihood for thousands of hardworking Angelenos. Supporting LA’s street vendors is more important than ever given ongoing attacks by ICE.”

  • Thus, the hell with  public health, it  is more important to protect illegal immigrants from Federal law enforcement officers  enforcing the laws of the land, than public food safety.

  • Breitbart further reported that  there are about 50,000 food vendors in the city while the  city government has issued  only 700 active  board of health permits.

  • Those 700 food vendors pay fees, subject themselves to board of health inspections and  possible  fines, and comply with health code  laws and rules while tens of thousands of others get a free ride.

  • Thus, in addition to massive homeless encampments in  the city, there are thousands and  thousands  of illegal and unregulated food vendors  also  setting up  shop  on the  streets with no fear of being  arrested or fines, adding another dimension  to  the  zoo that is  LA.

  • These vendors may not always  comply with food sanitation rules  and common sense food storage and prep rules, endangering any consumers  of food from these unlicensed and uninspected food vendors.

  • Los Angeles County is following Bass’ lead on  dangerous food vending: “The Los Angeles County Health Department, citing immigration enforcement efforts by the Trump administration, last fall suspended all enforcement of thousands of noncompliant street food vendors who have proliferated with the massive influx of illegals under the Biden administration.”

  • Again,  the welfare of illegal immigrants at the county level is more important  than  the  food safety for citizens.

  • As a result  of  this negligence in enforcing  common  sense  board of health rules, the county reported almost 3,000 reported food poisoning  instances in 2025 with the feeling  being that the unreported instances of food poisoning never get reported is far greater  than 3,000.

  • Thus, on  average at least eight LA citizens  in the city and county  are getting  food poisoned every day.

  • One citizen on  social media pointed  out how ridiculous this  is: “You do everything legally, pay rent, employees, taxes, business licenses, and a street food vendor pops up across the street with no overhead, no license, cash only, and undercuts your business. L.A. city officials suck.”


Another example  of where Democratic and liberal politicians care more about  the welfare of illegal immigrants than their  own citizens. They give illegal immigrants free food, free  shelter,  free medical care, and other free services while Americans suffer from homelessness, food insecurity, and other unresolved problems.


And now in LA, illegal immigrant food vendors  are more important than legally run American citizen food establishments and operations, resulting in potentially massive health  harm by the unlicensed  and uncontrolled illegal immigrant  street food vendors.


Enough  insanity for  today: food poisoning  on the menu in LA, a teachers’  union that cares more  about politics than teaching, and a boondoggle project  may finally die.


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Vote Now!!!! Go to to the following link and vote  on which state  or city government you think  will go bankrupt first:


https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61592458935721


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If you agree that we need to deseat every member of Congress for their lack of success and accomplishment, then please consider going to the following petition link to help the cause:


https://www.change.org/p/deseat-congress-reset-freedom



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Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:


Wednesday, August 12, 2026

The Race To Bankruptcy Court: Seattle Is The New Leader

 Let’s take a brief break from our run of posts regarding the massive corruption and fraud in government programs along with our political class insanity thread and return to one of the hottest topics we have been covering over the past few years, coverage that has intensified recently: which major city or state government will get to bankruptcy court first?

Our primary cities in the race to bankruptcy include New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and newcomer, Seattle. The state governments that we think are soon heading into bankruptcy include New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and California with Washington state a newcomer to the race.


The reason for returning to this topic in the midst of our corruption series is because there have been some significant developments in the race to bankruptcy court. However, before reviewing the latest news and seeing which state or city is making the best progress towards government bankruptcy, let’s review how these cities and states got themselves into this financial death spiral position to begin with:


  • A government entity keeps expanding its budget, eventually putting pressure on the tax revenue stream it receives. 

  • At some point, rather than cut government spending or make its programs more efficient financially, the politicians in charge raise taxes to meet the ever growing government expenditures.

  • The raising of taxes causes some residents and businesses to leave the city or state for less tax burdensome areas, reducing the tax base and reducing the revenue stream.

  • Rather than cut expenses and become more efficient to match the reduced tax revenue stream, politicians in the above cities or states raise the tax burden even more.

  • This causes more residents and businesses to flee the city or state, further reducing the tax base and tax revenue stream.

  • At some point politicians panic and raise taxes more and start cutting vital government services (e.g. police, fire, education) in order to try and balance government spending against the shrinking tax base and revenue stream.

  • The reduction in quality of government services in particular and quality of life in general drives more residents and businesses out of the area.

  • Eventually, the expenses, costs and financial liabilities outstrip the reduced tax stream and bankruptcy occurs.

Okay that’s the process. Let’s see  what is going on  in the newest and possibly the  strongest contender  for bankruptcy court.


1)We have previously reported on how the mega-rich residents of  Seattle  have not  only moved themselves  but some have also moved huge chunks  of their businesses  out of  Seattle:


  • Amazon  co-founder and billionaire , Jeff Bezos, has moved  from Seattle to Florida.

  • Starbucks founder and  billionaire, Howard Schulz ,  has moved  from Seattle  to  Florida.

  • Zillow  founder and billionaire, Rich Barton,  has  moved  from  Seattle to Nevada.


A primary driver for  the  moves are pretty obvious: why stay in a city and state that constantly raises taxes on the  wealthy, and the not so  wealthy, when they can easily move their  lives to states like Florida that have  a much  lower tax burden:  no state income tax,  no  state or local capital gains tax, lower  gas taxes,  etc. And  when they move they not  only shrink  the  tax  base of cities  like Seattle,  they take  the economic impact and employees with them which reduces local economic  growth.


But  it is not just the  super rich who are fleeing Seattle:


  • Dave and Leigh Anne Clark started up a company named Auger when they lived in  Seattle.

  • He was a former Amazon exec so the  couple  probably are quite  comfortable  and  well off,  but certainly not in the Bezos/Schulz/Barton range.

  • They started up a supply chain  software company  and then they moved the company from Seattle  to Texas, a state with no  state income tax. 

  • The company has already raised $150 million in capital and  already has some Fortune 500 clients.

  • Their goal is  to build  a  $100 billion  company according to news  reports,  a company that will not  now reside in Seattle.

  • According to Clark:  “Seattle had a much richer network of technology infrastructure, so we started the team there, built the technology stack, and established our core development center there.But we knew when it came time to really start building out how we go to market and how we manage customers, we wanted to come back to Dallas.”

  • He went on to discuss the availability of tech talent in the Dallas, Texas area that will  more  easily help the  business  to expand.


Another day, another company  that has left Seattle, taking its present and future tax stream and economic impact with them.  Seattle politicians are  slow to realize that they no longer  have  cornered  the  market on  technology talent,  that talent  has migrated  to  Texas and  Florida. And once that out migration has  started and taken  hold outside of Seattle, it is next to impossible to  reverse that trend. 


In other  words,  the financial death spiral is alive  and gaining speed  in Seattle.


2)But it  is  not just giant tech  companies, smaller tech companies,  coffee companies, other large companies  that are moving  employees, operations, and  headquarters  out  of  Seattle. Consider the following story, in the words of  its  owner,  of why a small business in Seattle, The Pie  Bar, has  given up and has shut down its Seattle  operations:


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To everyone who reached out regarding my post a few days ago, thank you. Today, I want to have a very honest conversation about what it actually takes to survive as a small business owner in Seattle right now.


Over the last 13 years at Pie Bar, we haven't just been struggling with economic challenge we’ve been surviving on our own:


8 years ago: Assaulted outside our Ballard shop. Police arrived and told me their "hands were tied." The officers wanted to help, but city policies had handcuffed them.


6 break-ins & thefts: Had windows smashed, generators stolen, and my personal belongings taken. When I tracked my stolen computer, police were so spread thin it took 4 days for a call back.


Ballard closure: Between constant crime, customers and employees not feeling safe, we were forced to close our Ballard shop after 12 years.


The absolute final straw happened recently. 


As we were loading the Pie Bar food truck food for the biggest event of my career (2026 FIFA World Cup) a man physically assaulted me and my employee for turning on our generator. My employee had to pretend a pen in his pocket was a knife just to get him to back off. The attacker ripped out our generator cord and destroyed our electrical panel.


I called the assault line two times to press charges, and no one has been able to call me back because the department is stretched way past its breaking point.

We have moved a branch of our operations to Bellingham. Being in a safe city made me realize something heartbreaking: I had become so numb to the chaos in Seattle that I forgot what it feels like to feel safe as a business owner.


I want to be completely clear: I am not throwing our frontline Seattle police officers under the bus. These men and women are being hamstrung every single day by the policies of Mayor Katie Wilson and city leadership.  When city hall ties the hands of law enforcement and fails to support them, it isn't just the officers who suffer, it's the small business owners, our workers, and our neighborhoods who are left totally unprotected.


Small business owners pay high taxes, work 80 hour weeks, and put everything on the line. We are not replaceable.


Stop hamstringing our police, turn on the cameras, and keep the citizens of Seattle safe.  When Seattle was onstage for the World Cup you cleaned up the city and implemented safety protocols.  How do we come together as a community and make the Emerald city great again?


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“We are not replaceable.” What a great summary of what is happening  in Seattle and  other declining  cities around the  country:  businesses, big and  small, have decided it is time to get out, the  high  burden  of taxes and over regulation,  the declining and unsafe  quality of  life,  are too much. And as they leave  and are not being  replaced,  they take tax dollars and economic  power  with  them to other areas of the country where  life is easier, safer, and more financially sound.


3)How did Seattle, and other  faltering  cities, get so screwed up financially? A report  from Charlie Harger of the Seattle Morning News lays out the path  to the  financial death spiral:


  • The  city of Seattle’s budget has increased  by 40% since 2019.

  • That is an average of  about 5% a year, far higher than  inflation.

  • According to the Census Bureau, the median  Seattle household income  went up only 16% over that same period.

  • The  city government faces a $175  million  deficit this year despite the 40% increase in budget.

  • Half of a city tax (Jumpstart) that was supposed to support low income housing  is now used to plug budget gaps in the overall city budget,  an obvious stop  gap, short term  solution.

  • As a result, the city government is considering raising taxes even  more, which will likely drive more businesses and  residents out of the city and increase the budget gap.

  • One lone member on the  city  council proposed the following, reasonable fixes to the budget: budget from  the top priorities,  not just roll  over last year’s budget line  items and programs, question whether some city programs need  to be eliminated, and  rework  the  payroll tax  to prevent businesses from leaving  town.

  • None of his suggestions  got any traction.

  • The Tax Foundation  says Seattle has  the largest tax burden  of any major city in the country and  the  city government wants more taxation.

  • Bellevue , Washington is ten miles outside of Seattle and many residents and  businesses have fled  to Bellevue to escape Seattle  taxes, crime, and  homelessness.

  • According to the Downtown Seattle Association, property taxes in Bellevue have  fallen 16% since 2019 while  Seattle property taxes  have  risen 48%, a whopping 64 pint  difference.

  • Bellevue’s business office values have held steady over the past few  years while Seattle's business office values have dropped by almost 50%.

  • Payroll taxes in Seattle cost a business over $9,000 a year per  employee while the payroll tax in Bellevue  is $0.00


Mr. Harger gets  it: you  cannot tax your way out  of a budget deficit without decimating your tax base which,  in turn, creates a financial death  spiral. The numbers he lists  above are reality, something the Seattle politicians  obviously do  not understand or do not want to face. 


However, the numbers  don’t lie and the financial death spiral is in place and  accelerating in Seattle. Thus, it is now our  contention that Seattle is now in the lead in the  race to bankruptcy court and  will  go belly up  before the other prime candidates, i.e. New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.


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Vote Now!!!! Go to to the following link and vote  on which state  or city government you think  will go bankrupt first:


https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61592458935721


**********************

If you agree that we need to deseat every member of Congress for their lack of success and accomplishment, then please consider going to the following petition link to help the cause:


https://www.change.org/p/deseat-congress-reset-freedom



**********************


Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at: