Another year of sure-fire predictions

It’s time for the editorial board’s New Year’s predictions. Sad to say, we weren’t entirely correct with last year’s effort, especially our guess that New York fabulist George Santos would replace U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. McCarthy did in fact leave, but so did Santos. Our bad.

We did peg one prognostication with chilling accuracy. When California enjoyed a $97.5-billion budget surplus, Gov. Gavin Newsom spent as much money as possible. When that surplus morphed into a $24-billion deficit, Newsom and his legislative allies assessed the situation — and continued to spend as much money as possible.

Now that California heads into the new year staring down a $68-billion deficit, we can safely predict that the governor and Legislature will carefully and diligently assess the dire fiscal situation and … spend as much taxpayer money as humanly possible. Here are our other predictions, although please don’t hold us accountable for any misfires.

Attorney General Rob Bonta will continue to ignore a key campaign pledge to hold accountable misbehaving police officers, just as he did in 2023. That’s a given. But this year he’ll also set up a new task force to clamp down on the newest California crime wave: Smugglers who drive to Nevada and Oregon and bring to California gasoline-powered lawnmowers and leaf blowers, which no longer may be sold here as of Jan. 1.

Meanwhile, Bonta, the Legislature and governor will initiate another wave of meetings, hearings and studies to figure out why smash-and-grab robberies and shoplifting are out of control. They’ll ponder the reasons, ignore the most-obvious conclusion (thieves aren’t being arrested) and congratulate themselves for a job well done even as retailers raise prices or shut their doors.

As a new law takes effect that boosts fast-food wages to $20 an hour, the state will face a massive loss of fast-food jobs. That’s not actually a prediction, as it’s already happening in anticipation of the hikes. However, Bonta and Newsom will hold press conferences decrying corporate greed and vow to get to the bottom of the problem. The Legislature will respond with a new law raising wages even higher.

More home and auto insurers will flee the state, the result of insurance regulations that limit the ability of insurers to charge a market rate for their products. Again, that’s news — not a prediction. But we do predict that Bonta and Newsom will hold a press conference blaming corporate greed and vow to punish those companies foolish enough to keep writing policies here.

California gas prices will hover far above national levels, just as in 2023. But in 2024, Newsom will hold even more press conferences decrying Big Oil’s greed. The Legislature will call another special session to figure out why oil producers are greedier here than in every other state since it obviously has nothing to do with our high gas taxes, special fuels formulation and policy to shutter refiners.

In 2024, Newsom absolutely, positively will continue to not run for president. And, sorry to say, he will continue to lecture other states about California’s “freedom” policies even as our population continues its free fall. But this year he’ll hold a press conference about it. However California politics plays out in 2024, we wish our readers the happiest new year.