State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil has wised up and left the Democrats to join the ranks of the Republicans. I wish more would.

And wow, are the Democrats being vindictive to her. They have punished her by stripping her of committee assignments – a big thing – and even took down her official website. They also expelled her from the Latino Caucus. And they claim to care about Latino people? Hardly; they are just a tool to their addiction for power.

She hit the nail on the head when she condemned her former partisans, saying, “How far will the Democrats go because they’re angry? I can take whatever heat is coming my way and fully recognize it comes with the territory of leaving a supermajority that operates like a mob. They can attack me all they want, but the people of California do not deserve to suffer because of political vendettas.”

We’ve seen time and time again what happens when you cross the Democratic thuggery. They seek to destroy. It’s no different than when Kari Lake left the TV news media because she couldn’t stand how colleagues were biased against Republicans in virtually every story. Then she became their target when she ran for governor of Arizona.

Alvarado-Gil has been welcomed by the Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) said “It takes courage to stand up to the supermajority in California and Marie has what it takes. Her record on tackling crime, protecting communities from sexually violent predators, and prioritizing her constituents speaks for itself. Senate Republicans are committed to addressing the real issues facing communities across the state and look forward to adding an eager spitfire like Marie to the cause.”

Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher had this to say: “These retaliatory actions are the latest example of Democrats abusing their power and just one of many reasons Californians are increasingly abandoning the Democrat party. Punishing a legislator’s constituents because of her party affiliation is unacceptable. The people of her district deserve to have their voices heard and their concerns addressed, regardless of the political affiliation of their representative.”

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So much has changed in America in my lifetime and not in a good way. Opportunities seem to have evaporated for most young Americans.

I was ridiculously young when I got married. I was 21. Our first home was a single-wide mobile home park, purchased for about $11,000 loaned from my grandmother – which I faithfully paid every month. Space rent was $125, if memory serves me correct. It served two people well for starting out in life.

Children came along starting in 1984 when I was 23. Successive children came in 1986, 1987 and 1988. They were a handful and all blessings to us.

We had to move out of the mobile home park when our first son was born because it was an “adults only” park and we were asked to leave. We sold the trailer and moved temporarily into my in-laws’ guest cottage. But that didn’t last long for we rented a brother-in-law’s duplex unit.

Because I was low-income, we qualified for a loan in which part of the mortgage was subsidized (it was paid back). In 1986 we found a small two-bedroom house for $46,000 on a huge lot – so huge that I was later able to add on three more bedrooms, doing labor myself.

My wife died at our home from leukemia in 2013 after nearly 32 years of marriage. I sold that larger house in 2015 for $232,000 and put the equity into a newer house that cost $325,000. Today the house is worth double, about $640,000.

I bring all this up because it’s sad that young people today don’t believe they can do what we did. Housing in California is off-the-charts expensive and the reason is simple: short supply and high demand. We’ve not been building fast enough for the populace. And for all you folks who don’t like new housing gobbling up farmland, let me remind you that as long as people have babies, we need to build more housing.

Consider too that Biden has allowed millions of illegal aliens to flood the southern border, bringing an influx of impoverished people who cannot afford a California that is not only expensive but lacks enough housing. So where are they living? Sharecropping inside relatives’ houses?

I’ve never been one to believe a person “can’t” do something if they are willing to work hard for it. For example, my youngest son (he will be 36) who lives in Texas finally decided to stop renting and buy in Austin two years ago. While he’s been financially stretched he has made ends meet by renting out a bedroom. He’s now in a house which is only appreciating in value.

My oldest son who in 40 and lives in Sacramento, will probably rent the rest of his life because of unwise financial decisions that landed him in debt. He waited as California home prices have inflated and so have the interest rates.

Things are definitely tougher today than the 1980s. Despite 75% of millennials wanting to buy rather than rent, three in four say they can’t afford a down payment.

• 77% say rent is too high to save for a home;

• 74% have debt inhibiting their savings: 54% credit card, 40% student loans, 26% auto loans, 16% medical debt;

• 48% can’t afford something nice enough to want to buy.

Even if they had the money right now, 58% don’t feel prepared to buy a home. But shockingly, many millennials can’t calculate or are unfamiliar with basic mortgage math. Of those surveyed, two in five overestimated their buying potential, and many dramatically underestimated the financial toll interest will have on their home’s cost over 30 years.

* * * * *

Things are no better at the opposite end of the age spectrum either.

A new survey (by badcredit.org) of more than 800 Americans aged 65 and older found that while 78% of seniors have retired, more than half do not have enough money to maintain their retirement. For those seniors still in the workforce, they don’t expect to retire until they’re at least 73 years old! Life expectancy for Americans is now 76 so that gives them three years until they die. Wonderful, huh?

Despite retiring at or before age 65, more than one in three don’t feel financially stable and a quarter of retirees have had to return to work because they lacked sufficient resources. 

Inflation and unexpected emergencies and associated costs are also wreaking havoc on seniors.

* * * * *

We can turn things around, of course, if we vote intelligently and educate ourselves and live within our means.

We must quit electing politicians who believe in Nanny State promising more and more freebies while taking more and more in taxes and running up the nation’s “credit card.” Quit depending on government for hand-outs and take control of your own life and soon the blood-sucking progressive parasites will eventually lose power and fade into history. Seriously, why does anyone believe that government is the answer when all we’ve gotten for their overspending is $31 trillion in debt and inflation that is causing many to lack basic necessities? 

* * * * *

Here’s an example where California voters will likely continue falling for more government control. The November ballot contains Proposition 33 which is a false solution to the high rents in California. Rent control doesn’t work and actually increases rents.

What would work in lowering house costs is to reduce regulations which drive up the cost of housing by hampering its production.

But let’s imagine that you are fortunately enough to buy a second house and want to rent it. You take the risk, maybe borrow to buy that home and expect to have the rental income pay for the mortgage and maybe put some extra money in your pocket. You set your rent according to the market but then government uses rent control to tell you what you can and can’t do with your property! When you undermine property rights, you drive away investors to other states and the supply of rentals drops.

Rent controls are in place in LA and San Francisco and the housing costs are still sky high.

Economists believe rent control is a bad idea because it is. It does NOTHING to increase housing supply which, because of its short supply, is the sole reason rents are so high.

Also when you cap rents, owners have less money to do maintenance and the quality of a unit decreases in time.

Bad idea. Vote against rent control.

* * * * *

Don’t fall for the scam of Proposition 5 which would water down Proposition 13. The Jarvis-Gann initiative passed in the late 1970s is what limited property taxes in California and was a godsend to homeowners.

Prop. 13 also set thresholds on passing new tax increases. A two-thirds majority vote is required for bonds for special purposes.

But listen how Democrats have packaged Prop 5: “Allows Local Bonds for Affordable Housing and Public Infrastructure with 55% Voter Approval.”

What this means is they are trying to make it easier for politicians to pass more ad-valorem taxes by dropping the minimum from 66 percent plus one vote to 55 percent.

The Latin phrase ad valorem means “according to value.” Ad valorem taxes are based on the assessed value of the item being taxed. Property ad valorem taxes (property taxes) are usually levied by cities, counties and school districts.

Another trick inside of Prop 5 is that it would simultaneously apply to the bond measures on the Nov. 5 ballot! It would lower the thresholds for the bond measures in Prop 2 and 4.

* * * * *

Prop 32 deserves your resounding “no” vote too.

Right now the wage is $16 and will rise to $16.50 on Jan. 1, 2025. Prop. 32 would raise the state’s minimum wage to $18 an hour. That may sound good but it will only result in MORE inflation to already high prices in California.

Of course, we all know what the $20 per hour fast-food minimum wage has happened to the cost of a meal at McDonald’s and seen how Taco Bell is cutting workers out of the picture. According to Stanford University, some 10,000 fast-food jobs have been cut since Newsom’s minimum-wage hike. Makes no sense.

The free market is best to determine how much workers receive for an hourly wage. Wage hikes should be based on merit and not mandates.

* * * * *

Arizona lawmakers want voters to prove they are U.S. citizens at the time they register to vote. It’s a great idea that would help restore faith in election integrity.

We must show an ID to get on an airplane and to pass a check. Why we should not have that same level of scrutiny to vote baffles me, unless your goal is make sure that everyone walking on U.S. soil – and that means illegal aliens – can vote.

This is 2024. Everyone should have an ID, right?

It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections but how many are casting ballots because there no proof of citizenship isrequired at the time one registers. So Republicans are pushing for a federal law that would require voters to produce documented proof of citizenship in order to vote in federal elections. 

Under a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the state must permit voters who registered without citizenship proof to cast ballots in federal elections, so Arizona has maintained separate rolls of so-called federal-only voters.

The Supreme Court of the U.S. is being asked to weigh in on the Arizona law.

* * * * *

A gentleman named Tony went before the Ceres City Council last week, asking why the city decided to ban fishing from the lagoon at the lower bluff of Ceres River Bluff Regional Park. He said he has been fishing in the pond since 2006 and enjoyed fishing with friends and grandkids and other seniors.

Before the meeting Tony spoke to Public Works Director Sam Royal who explained there was a concern about the fishing hooks snagging the pond liner. “I can’t understand that. The pond’s been there for 25 years.”

Mayor Lopez’s response: “Thanks, we’ll have Sam reach out to you again.” Once again the mayor offers no leadership, only passing off an issue to somebody who already gave Tony the spiel. What the mayor didn’t explain is that Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra got elected to the council in 2022, assumed office in December and asked for the restriction after seeing someone fishing at the lagoon. She decided hooks could be a problem and on March 27 fishing was outlawed in the lagoon. Royal went along with it.

And that’s how government works in California, folks. Ever increasing controls and less freedom.

 This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation.  How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com