Month: June 2021

DOJ Targets Crypto Crooks As Ransomware Investigations Elevated To Same Level As Terrorism

DOJ Targets Crypto Crooks As Ransomware Investigations Elevated To Same Level As Terrorism

The Department of Justice is set to announce the recovery of some $4.4 million dollars in cryptocurrency paid in ransom to hackers who prompted the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, according to CNN, which notes that “The ransom recovery is a rare outcome for a company that has fallen victim to a debilitating cyberattack in the booming criminal business of ransomware.”

Colonial Pipeline Co. CEO Joseph Blount told The Wall Street Journal In an interview published last month that the company complied with the $4.4 million ransom demand because officials didn’t know the extent of the intrusion by hackers and how long it would take to restore operations.
    But behind the scenes, the company had taken early steps to notify the FBI and followed instructions that helped investigators track the payment to a cryptocurrency wallet used by the hackers, believed to be based in Russia. US officials have linked the Colonial attack to a criminal hacking group known as Darkside that is said to share its malware tools with other criminal hackers. -CNN

    The Monday announcement is part of a new initiative by Justice Department to crack down on all types of federal cyber crimes – including botnets, money laundering and ‘bulletproof hosting,’ according to Ars Technica. The move will elevate ransomware investigations to the same level as that of terrorism.

    “To ensure we can make necessary connections across national and global cases and investigations… we must enhance and centralize our internal tracking of investigations and prosecutions of ransomware groups and the infrastructure and networks that allow the threats to persist,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Moreno in a Thursday memo first reported by Reuters.

    According to the Ars: The new directive applies not just to cases or investigations involving ransomware but a host of related scourges, including:

    • Counter anti-virus services
    • Illicit online forums or marketplaces
    • Cryptocurrency exchanges
    • Bulletproof hosting services
    • Botnets
    • Online money laundering services

    We expect crypto regulation to be a central focus, despite the fact that the role of digital currencies in illicit activity has basically bottomed out, while the fear-mongering crypto narrative has been thoroughly BTFO (by a former CIA director no less).

    The Biden DOJ’s push to target cybercriminals comes not only after the Colonial pipeline hack, but a May attack three weeks later at meat producer JBS, along with several other hacks across various industries – including Scripps Health, which continues to recover after taking their electronic health records offline for weeks.

    Meanwhile, US prosecutors charged a 55-year-old Latvian woman in a ‘Trickbot Gang’ case – the first test of the DOJ’s Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force according to a press release cited by cybersecurity professional Shah Sheikh.

    More via Ars Technica:

    By using an ad-hoc group to track cases centrally, Justice Department officials hope the move brings focus and consistency to the investigations it conducts and cases it brings.

    On Thursday, at least two new ransomware infections surfaced. The first struck Cox Media Group and, according to The Record, left the media company unable to provide livestreaming for TV stations and internal networks. The second hit UF Health Central Florida, which operates two hospitals. A spokesman for UF Health said that access to email and most other system platforms had been suspended. Staff in all hospitals and physician clinics are now using pen and paper to document and order care.

    We can feel the undoubtedly upcoming crypto regulations in our bones.

    Watch Live (stream will begin airing at 3:15 ET):

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/07/2021 – 15:05

    via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/34ZyfPY Tyler Durden

    Let Immigrants Take the Jobs American Workers Don’t Want


    sipaphotoseleven718167

    The country’s latest jobs report, released Friday, suggests that about 5.75 million more workers are sitting out of the workforce than before the pandemic. That’s in spite of a record 8.1 million job openings recorded at the end of March.

    American workers have not been quick to take these jobs for a variety of reasons, including child care considerations, concerns about disease risk, and a reluctance to give up unemployment benefits. But there are plenty of other people who could fill those positions—if only they were here.

    David J. Bier, an immigration research fellow at the Cato Institute, suggested that foreign workers be allowed to fill available roles and ease the labor shortage. The government can use the H-2B visa, he argues, to bring willing workers to the U.S.

    The H-2B program grants visas to temporary, non-agricultural laborers “if unemployed persons capable of performing such service or labor cannot be found” in the U.S. Around 40 percent of H-2B workers are landscapers or groundskeepers, followed by forestry laborers at 8 percent. Smaller shares perform recreation, housekeeping, construction, and restaurant jobs. These workers can be employed in the U.S. for up to nine months, with possible extensions of up to three years.

    The jobs often taken by H-2B workers overlap heavily with the jobs that are now unfilled. March data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the largest increase in openings in the accommodation and food services sector, at 185,000 new jobs. Arts, entertainment, and recreation, another major H-2B sector, saw an increase of 81,000 positions.

    “Unemployed Americans don’t want to take seasonal manual labor jobs that H-2B workers are hired for,” Bier says. “Unemployed Americans want permanent jobs with good working conditions.” Though Americans on unemployment are often referred to H-2B-relevant jobs by state agencies, Bier says that workers who “might apply or show up for a day and then quit” are a persistent problem. Employers could save time and resources by hiring H-2B workers.

    Many argue that the unwillingness to return to work stems from low wages. But pay is rising across the understaffed sectors (and in the private sector more generally). In the leisure and hospitality sector, which includes restaurant, hotel, and bar jobs, wages are up nearly 9 percent over the past year. Nonmanagerial workers in those fields now earn an average of $15.87 an hour. People in all nonsupervisory private-sector jobs are making $25.60 an hour on average, up from $25.01 a year ago.

    Those wage increases haven’t been sufficient to lure Americans back into the labor market, but gains from H-2B employment could. According to Bier, H-2B workers help create better-paying jobs for native-born workers. “Economic research has repeatedly found that when immigrant workers come into an industry, U.S. workers shift to jobs with either better pay, better working conditions, or both,” he says.

    This comes in the form of complementary employment. Bier explored that idea in a February Cato policy analysis, which found that “H-2B workers increase firms’ productivity” and subsequently increase the demand for U.S. workers in more desirable positions. By filling lower-skilled roles with H-2B workers, firms can then create supervisory and administrative positions—jobs Americans might be more willing to take.

    Harnessing the program won’t require drastic changes to our immigration system, given that we’ve been bringing H-2B workers here since 1952. But political roadblocks may limit its potential. Though Congress has set the annual H-2B visa cap at 66,000, applications far exceed that number. For example, 98,000 workers sought the 33,000 visas allocated for the first half of 2021. The Department of Homeland Security released an additional 22,000 visas on May 25; by June 3, it had received enough petitions to reach the cap (excluding applicants from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, who count toward a different limit).

    After the disappointing April jobs report, Biden said that the economy’s comeback “wouldn’t be a sprint, it’d be a marathon.” Having campaigned on both immigration reform and economic recovery, the president should think about combining the two. A reluctance to raise the visa cap will keep recovery slow—and keep willing workers away from unfilled jobs.

    “It’s inexcusable with record job openings and a border crisis” to keep the visa cap low, says Bier. “Forcibly keeping H-2B jobs unfilled doesn’t create jobs for Americans who don’t want to do them. It does the opposite.”

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    Let Immigrants Take the Jobs American Workers Don’t Want


    sipaphotoseleven718167

    The country’s latest jobs report, released Friday, suggests that about 5.75 million more workers are sitting out of the workforce than before the pandemic. That’s in spite of a record 8.1 million job openings recorded at the end of March.

    American workers have not been quick to take these jobs for a variety of reasons, including child care considerations, concerns about disease risk, and a reluctance to give up unemployment benefits. But there are plenty of other people who could fill those positions—if only they were here.

    David J. Bier, an immigration research fellow at the Cato Institute, suggested that foreign workers be allowed to fill available roles and ease the labor shortage. The government can use the H-2B visa, he argues, to bring willing workers to the U.S.

    The H-2B program grants visas to temporary, non-agricultural laborers “if unemployed persons capable of performing such service or labor cannot be found” in the U.S. Around 40 percent of H-2B workers are landscapers or groundskeepers, followed by forestry laborers at 8 percent. Smaller shares perform recreation, housekeeping, construction, and restaurant jobs. These workers can be employed in the U.S. for up to nine months, with possible extensions of up to three years.

    The jobs often taken by H-2B workers overlap heavily with the jobs that are now unfilled. March data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the largest increase in openings in the accommodation and food services sector, at 185,000 new jobs. Arts, entertainment, and recreation, another major H-2B sector, saw an increase of 81,000 positions.

    “Unemployed Americans don’t want to take seasonal manual labor jobs that H-2B workers are hired for,” Bier says. “Unemployed Americans want permanent jobs with good working conditions.” Though Americans on unemployment are often referred to H-2B-relevant jobs by state agencies, Bier says that workers who “might apply or show up for a day and then quit” are a persistent problem. Employers could save time and resources by hiring H-2B workers.

    Many argue that the unwillingness to return to work stems from low wages. But pay is rising across the understaffed sectors (and in the private sector more generally). In the leisure and hospitality sector, which includes restaurant, hotel, and bar jobs, wages are up nearly 9 percent over the past year. Nonmanagerial workers in those fields now earn an average of $15.87 an hour. People in all nonsupervisory private-sector jobs are making $25.60 an hour on average, up from $25.01 a year ago.

    Those wage increases haven’t been sufficient to lure Americans back into the labor market, but gains from H-2B employment could. According to Bier, H-2B workers help create better-paying jobs for native-born workers. “Economic research has repeatedly found that when immigrant workers come into an industry, U.S. workers shift to jobs with either better pay, better working conditions, or both,” he says.

    This comes in the form of complementary employment. Bier explored that idea in a February Cato policy analysis, which found that “H-2B workers increase firms’ productivity” and subsequently increase the demand for U.S. workers in more desirable positions. By filling lower-skilled roles with H-2B workers, firms can then create supervisory and administrative positions—jobs Americans might be more willing to take.

    Harnessing the program won’t require drastic changes to our immigration system, given that we’ve been bringing H-2B workers here since 1952. But political roadblocks may limit its potential. Though Congress has set the annual H-2B visa cap at 66,000, applications far exceed that number. For example, 98,000 workers sought the 33,000 visas allocated for the first half of 2021. The Department of Homeland Security released an additional 22,000 visas on May 25; by June 3, it had received enough petitions to reach the cap (excluding applicants from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, who count toward a different limit).

    After the disappointing April jobs report, Biden said that the economy’s comeback “wouldn’t be a sprint, it’d be a marathon.” Having campaigned on both immigration reform and economic recovery, the president should think about combining the two. A reluctance to raise the visa cap will keep recovery slow—and keep willing workers away from unfilled jobs.

    “It’s inexcusable with record job openings and a border crisis” to keep the visa cap low, says Bier. “Forcibly keeping H-2B jobs unfilled doesn’t create jobs for Americans who don’t want to do them. It does the opposite.”

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    Watch: Rand Paul Says He’s Getting Daily Death Threats For Questioning Fauci

    Watch: Rand Paul Says He’s Getting Daily Death Threats For Questioning Fauci

    Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

    Senator Rand Paul told Sean Hannity Friday that he is receiving death threats almost every day for daring to question the authority of Dr Anthony Fauci, as well as highlighting evidence that the coronavirus could have leaked from a Wuhan lab.

    “This week, I’ve had five death threats just for being outspoken on it,” Paul said, adding “I don’t know what the world’s coming to, you can’t ask honest, difficult questions that in the end have proved out that Dr. Fauci was not being honest with us.”

    Paul continued “As a repercussion, my family had white powder sent to our house, and five death threats phoned in.”

    Watch:

    Undeterred by the threats, Paul said Friday “There’s been no more prominent scientist in favor of gain-of-function research than Dr. Fauci,” adding “He still hasn’t backed off of that position. He still believes that it’s OK to take animal viruses and make them into super-viruses to infect humans. Even if a pandemic should occur, he says the research is worth it.”

    “There’s a host of other scientists in this field and they say it’s not worth it at all, that we haven’t learned anything” Paul added. “All we’ve done is put ourselves at risk.”

    “This is a bad one, this has about one percent mortality, 3.5 million people have died, but they’ve been experimenting with some viruses that have 15 percent mortality. That would be 50 million deaths right now,” The Senator further warned, adding “So this kind of research needs to not be funded by the US taxpayer … It’s very, very dangerous.”

    As we previously reported, Paul says that he never received any well wishes or sentiments from any Democrats after he was brutally assaulted in 2017, or after receiving the latest death threats, including when white powder was sent to his family home and discovered by his wife Kelley Paul.

    “Not one of them I don’t think ever said they were sorry for me being assaulted by someone and having six ribs broken and nearly dying and having my lung removed,” Paul said, adding “We have people on the left who think it’s just hilarious.”

    *  *  *

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    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/07/2021 – 14:48

    via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/34YyquR Tyler Durden

    Semi Shortage To Last Until “Mid-To-Late 2022”, World’s Third Largest Electronics Manufacturer Says

    Semi Shortage To Last Until “Mid-To-Late 2022”, World’s Third Largest Electronics Manufacturer Says

    It still looks like we are nowhere near the end of the ongoing global semi chip shortage. Even worse, more manufacturers are confirming that the shortage could last “for at least another year”, catalyzed by sharp post-pandemic demand for automobiles and electronics. 

    Flex, the world’s third-biggest electronics contract manufacturer, offered up the “gloomiest” forecast for the crisis yet to FT this week. The company has more than 100 sites in 30 countries and works with major names like Dyson and HP. 

    Lynn Torrel, Flex’s chief procurement and supply chain officer, told FT: “With such strong demand, the expectation is mid to late-2022 depending on the commodity. Some are expecting [shortages to continue] into 2023.”

    Revathi Advaithi, chief executive of Flex added that the shortage has prompted the company’s multinational customers to “take a far more serious look at restructuring their supply chains than the trade war between the US and China ever did”.

    Adavaithi commented: “Most companies won’t make a decision to regionalize just on tariffs. They know it could be a short-term thing but things like the pandemic and escalation of shipping costs that impact the total cost of ownership drives regionalization.”

    Flex’s pessimistic forecast follows that of Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger last week, who we pointed out said that the shortage could last “a couple years”. 

    Gelsinger said that the pandemic-inspired “work from home” trend caused a “cycle of explosive growth in semiconductors”, according to Reuters. 

    “But while the industry has taken steps to address near term constraints it could still take a couple of years for the ecosystem to address shortages of foundry capacity, substrates and components,” Gelsinger commented. 

    Gelsinger also reiterated Intel’s plans to expand: “We plan to expand to other locations in the U.S. and Europe, ensuring a sustainable and secure semiconductor supply chain for the world.”

    Intel is trying to keep pace with Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor – both of which also have plans to expand, including into the U.S. – to increase semi production. 

    We noted in mid-May that TSMC had plans of “doubling down” and vastly increasing its investment for production in Arizona. The chipmaking giant said at the time it was “weighing plans to pump tens of billions of dollars more into cutting-edge chip factories in the U.S. state of Arizona than it had previously disclosed”.

    The company had already said it was going to invest $10 billion to $12 billion in Arizona. It now appears to be mulling a more advanced 3 nanometer plant that could cost between $23 billion and $25 billion. The changes would come over the next 10 to 15 years, as the company builds out its Phoenix campus.

    In May we noted how automakers were being forced to leave some high tech features out of new vehicles as a result of the semi shortage. Days before that, we pointed out “thousands” of Ford trucks sitting along the highway in Kentucky, awaiting semi chips for completion of assembly. 

    Intel’s CEO, speaking on 60 Minutes last month, had already suggested it could be a while before things are back to normal.

    He said then: “We have a couple of years until we catch up to this surging demand across every aspect of the business.” Days prior to Gelsinger’s initial statements, we wrote that Morgan Stanley had also suggested the shortage could continue “well into 2022”. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/07/2021 – 14:27

    via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3w3NH9H Tyler Durden

    Gov. Gavin Newsom Clings to COVID-19 Emergency Powers


    GNewsom_1161x653

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with a controlling, micromanaging leadership style that few other governors can match. Even as other states have lifted a lot of COVID-19 restrictions for those who have been vaccinated, following the guidance of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the California Democrat is ordering the state to re-open on his terms, not easing up the rules until June 15.

    And even though Newsom has declared that the state will be “reopening” that day, he announced Friday that he won’t be declaring an end to the emergency and—the big issue here—won’t be surrendering his emergency powers.

    California’s Emergency Services Act grants the governor extremely broad powers when he declares an emergency: “complete authority over all agencies of the state government and the right to exercise within the area designated all police power vested in the state by the Constitution and laws of the State of California.” The act is explicit that when these emergencies are declared, the governor’s orders “shall have the force and effect of law,” albeit with some restrictions—he cannot suspend the Constitution or confiscate legally owned firearms.

    “We’re still in a state of emergency,” Newsom said Friday. “This disease has not been extinguished. It’s not vanished. It’s not taking the summer months off.”

    Many diseases have not been extinguished or vanished, but it would be absurd for a governor to take near-complete control to respond to all of them. New COVID-19 cases and deaths in California have plunged to levels that can be managed without the governor’s intrusive involvement.

    Two Republican members of the California State Assembly, James Gallagher and Kevin Kiley, have been attempting to challenge the extent of Newsom’s emergency authorities in court, arguing that the delegation of lawmaking power to the governor violates the state’s constitution. The state’s 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento upheld the law last month. Gallagher and Kiley are currently asking the California Supreme Court to take up the case.

    Distressingly, the pushback against Newsom’s move has fallen along partisan lines. Two Republican lawmakers introduced a bill in December that would limit the duration of a governor’s emergency orders to 60 days, after which the governor would need to seek lawmakers’ approval for each new regulation. The bill went nowhere. A Senate bill to terminate Newsom’s original emergency declaration, also introduced in December, has similarly gone nowhere. The eight senators co-sponsoring that bill are all Republicans.

    In other states, such efforts haven’t been quite so partisan. In Kentucky, Ohio, and New York, lawmakers in both parties have been concerned about abuses of executive power.

    The Los Angeles Times adds some useful context demonstrating the problems with giving the executive branch this much control. The state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is recommending rules that will allow workers to be maskless only if their coworkers are all vaccinated and would require workplaces to maintain vaccination records for their employees. If any employee is unvaccinated, everybody has to wear masks. These rules are stricter than the CDC’s recommendations, and infectious disease experts say they could be looser. But because of Newsom’s emergency powers, the legisltors’ ability to force changes to these rules is limited.

    Newsom is facing a recall in the fall, so the voters will get an early opportunity to decide whether he has abused his authority. The politicians who have been calling the recall an attempt to “undermine democracy,” as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) put it, should stop and take stock of what Newsom is doing here: He is deliberately excluding legislators from their constitutional role in crafting the state’s laws. Who exactly is undermining democracy here?

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    Trannies, Traps, & Trouble Ahead

    Trannies, Traps, & Trouble Ahead

    Authored by Sven Henrich via NorthmanTrader.com,

    Following up on The Trap which suggested recent market strength may turn into a bull trap.

    Last week again we saw the tiniest dip in markets instantly reverted and markets again closed at the weekly highs on Friday, near all time highs as a matter of fact. Indeed, the historical backtest scenarios outlined in The Trap permit for marginal new highs. And in keeping with observing the set up develop we can note that during this renewed run higher last week we saw something we haven’t seen since the last major top.

    Transports diverged in a fairly pronounced fashion and we’re seeing this divergence again this morning:

    As you may recall transports didn’t buy the finally rally in early 2020 either.

    It’s a warning signal we’ve seen repeated throughout the years: 2007 and 2015 come to mind as transports suddenly refused to make new highs while the broader market still made new highs before getting clocked.

    The context here of course being more extreme than ever on many historic measures.

    Take Morgan Stanley’s market timing indicator:

    ..while markets remain the most disconnected from the economy ever at 200% market cap to GDP:

    With a historic regression analysis showing markets being also the most disconnected from their long term trend ever making even the 2000 bubble look like child’s play in comparison:

    The end result: $VTI, the all market ETF, is entirely outside its upper quarterly Bollinger band, another “never seen before” market event:

    Whether the sudden divergence in transports is another key warning signal will only be known in hindsight. However this market remains historically way overdue for a larger correction if only to reconnect with some of its basic moving averages. A correction back to the quarterly 5 EMA for example would just represent basic normal historic market functioning.

    In this market just a reconnect with the upper quarterly Bollinger band however may be viewed as a life time buying opportunity. We shall see, but the good news for bulls may be that transports, as much as they may be giving a warning signal on the daily chart, on the monthly chart we can observe that in recent history larger tops have come on monthly divergences, and none is visible as of yet:

    But even this chart does not preclude a steep correction first before the a final high yet to come months following a larger correction.

    First things first. This market remains uncorrected still, and it also remains the most valued, extended and above trend and disconnected from the economy ever. And that may make it also the most dangerous market ever. At least this is what all of history suggests, including the monthly transport chart above. Radically ascending markets in steep trends with little corrective activity relying on vast technical disconnects to no longer be relevant tend to realize that things can change quickly. Watch the transports. If they can regain strength and make new highs the divergence may disappear, but if it doesn’t The Trap may still snap shut.

    *  *  *

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    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/07/2021 – 14:05

    via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3g02U61 Tyler Durden

    Gov. Gavin Newsom Clings to COVID-19 Emergency Powers


    GNewsom_1161x653

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with a controlling, micromanaging leadership style that few other governors can match. Even as other states have lifted a lot of COVID-19 restrictions for those who have been vaccinated, following the guidance of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the California Democrat is ordering the state to re-open on his terms, not easing up the rules until June 15.

    And even though Newsom has declared that the state will be “reopening” that day, he announced Friday that he won’t be declaring an end to the emergency and—the big issue here—won’t be surrendering his emergency powers.

    California’s Emergency Services Act grants the governor extremely broad powers when he declares an emergency: “complete authority over all agencies of the state government and the right to exercise within the area designated all police power vested in the state by the Constitution and laws of the State of California.” The act is explicit that when these emergencies are declared, the governor’s orders “shall have the force and effect of law,” albeit with some restrictions—he cannot suspend the Constitution or confiscate legally owned firearms.

    “We’re still in a state of emergency,” Newsom said Friday. “This disease has not been extinguished. It’s not vanished. It’s not taking the summer months off.”

    Many diseases have not been extinguished or vanished, but it would be absurd for a governor to take near-complete control to respond to all of them. New COVID-19 cases and deaths in California have plunged to levels that can be managed without the governor’s intrusive involvement.

    Two Republican members of the California State Assembly, James Gallagher and Kevin Kiley, have been attempting to challenge the extent of Newsom’s emergency authorities in court, arguing that the delegation of lawmaking power to the governor violates the state’s constitution. The state’s 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento upheld the law last month. Gallagher and Kiley are currently asking the California Supreme Court to take up the case.

    Distressingly, the pushback against Newsom’s move has fallen along partisan lines. Two Republican lawmakers introduced a bill in December that would limit the duration of a governor’s emergency orders to 60 days, after which the governor would need to seek lawmakers’ approval for each new regulation. The bill went nowhere. A Senate bill to terminate Newsom’s original emergency declaration, also introduced in December, has similarly gone nowhere. The eight senators co-sponsoring that bill are all Republicans.

    In other states, such efforts haven’t been quite so partisan. In Kentucky, Ohio, and New York, lawmakers in both parties have been concerned about abuses of executive power.

    The Los Angeles Times adds some useful context demonstrating the problems with giving the executive branch this much control. The state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is recommending rules that will allow workers to be maskless only if their coworkers are all vaccinated and would require workplaces to maintain vaccination records for their employees. If any employee is unvaccinated, everybody has to wear masks. These rules are stricter than the CDC’s recommendations, and infectious disease experts say they could be looser. But because of Newsom’s emergency powers, the legisltors’ ability to force changes to these rules is limited.

    Newsom is facing a recall in the fall, so the voters will get an early opportunity to decide whether he has abused his authority. The politicians who have been calling the recall an attempt to “undermine democracy,” as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) put it, should stop and take stock of what Newsom is doing here: He is deliberately excluding legislators from their constitutional role in crafting the state’s laws. Who exactly is undermining democracy here?

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    Is California Over?


    THUMBNAIL

    For well over a century, California was synonymous with the American dream. By the early 1960s, it had become the most populous state in the country. Now its population is declining for the first time in recorded history.

    The reasons behind California’s decline aren’t hard to fathom.

    California ranks 8th in combined state and local tax burdens, forcing residents to kick in an effective rate of 11.5 percent of their income just for being alive. What do they get in return? Public schools that rank 37th in the country, insanely expensive housing, rolling blackouts, and power shortages. An above-average violent crime rate and the nation’s highest poverty rate.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a recall election in the fall partly due to his hypocrisy regarding his own stringent lockdown rules. Rather than grapple with his state’s sinking status, he has chosen instead to deny reality.

    As California loses a congressional seat, Texas is picking up two; demographers predict it may become the most populous state by 2045. Texas may not have the beaches, the forests, the celebrities, or the glamour. It’ll just have the jobs, the companies, the forward momentum, and the people.

    Produced by Regan Taylor; written and narrated by Nick Gillespie. 

    Music Credit: “You Wanted so Much More Than That—Instrumental,” by Assaf Ayalon

    Photo Credits: Daniel Lee on Unsplash; Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times/Polaris/Newscom; Matthew Lejune on Unsplash; Paul Kitagaki Jr./TNS/Newscom; Casey Horner on Unsplash; Alessandro Porri on Unsplash; Josh Duke on Unsplash; Brian Lundquist on Unsplash; David R. Frazier Danita/DanitaDelimont.com /”Danita Delimont Photography”/Newscom; Daniel Angele on Unsplash; Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash; Gerson Repreza on Unsplash; Vlad Busuioc on Ubsplash; Joel Mott on Unsplash; Randa Bishop/ DanitaDelimont.com / Danita Delimont Photography/Newscom; Reginald Mathalone/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Todd Kent on Unsplash; Robert Holmes/ DanitaDelimont.com /”Danita Delimont Photography”/Newscom; Joel Mott on Unsplash; Lance Anderson on Unsplash; Jon Tyson on Unsplash; Florian Wehde on Unsplash; Oz Seyrek on Unsplash; Chris Henry on Unsplash; Brian Jannsen on Unsplash; Kevin Ku on Unsplash; APEX/MEGA/Newscom; Image of Sport/Newscom; Jim Ruymen/UPI/Newscom; K.C. Alfred/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Brittany Murray/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Reńee C. Byer/ ZUMA Press/Newscom; Rishi Deka/Sipa USA/Newscom; Kvnga on Unsplash

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    Is California Over?


    THUMBNAIL

    For well over a century, California was synonymous with the American dream. By the early 1960s, it had become the most populous state in the country. Now its population is declining for the first time in recorded history.

    The reasons behind California’s decline aren’t hard to fathom.

    California ranks 8th in combined state and local tax burdens, forcing residents to kick in an effective rate of 11.5 percent of their income just for being alive. What do they get in return? Public schools that rank 37th in the country, insanely expensive housing, rolling blackouts, and power shortages. An above-average violent crime rate and the nation’s highest poverty rate.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a recall election in the fall partly due to his hypocrisy regarding his own stringent lockdown rules. Rather than grapple with his state’s sinking status, he has chosen instead to deny reality.

    As California loses a congressional seat, Texas is picking up two; demographers predict it may become the most populous state by 2045. Texas may not have the beaches, the forests, the celebrities, or the glamour. It’ll just have the jobs, the companies, the forward momentum, and the people.

    Produced by Regan Taylor; written and narrated by Nick Gillespie. 

    Music Credit: “You Wanted so Much More Than That—Instrumental,” by Assaf Ayalon

    Photo Credits: Daniel Lee on Unsplash; Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times/Polaris/Newscom; Matthew Lejune on Unsplash; Paul Kitagaki Jr./TNS/Newscom; Casey Horner on Unsplash; Alessandro Porri on Unsplash; Josh Duke on Unsplash; Brian Lundquist on Unsplash; David R. Frazier Danita/DanitaDelimont.com /”Danita Delimont Photography”/Newscom; Daniel Angele on Unsplash; Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash; Gerson Repreza on Unsplash; Vlad Busuioc on Ubsplash; Joel Mott on Unsplash; Randa Bishop/ DanitaDelimont.com / Danita Delimont Photography/Newscom; Reginald Mathalone/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Todd Kent on Unsplash; Robert Holmes/ DanitaDelimont.com /”Danita Delimont Photography”/Newscom; Joel Mott on Unsplash; Lance Anderson on Unsplash; Jon Tyson on Unsplash; Florian Wehde on Unsplash; Oz Seyrek on Unsplash; Chris Henry on Unsplash; Brian Jannsen on Unsplash; Kevin Ku on Unsplash; APEX/MEGA/Newscom; Image of Sport/Newscom; Jim Ruymen/UPI/Newscom; K.C. Alfred/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Brittany Murray/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Reńee C. Byer/ ZUMA Press/Newscom; Rishi Deka/Sipa USA/Newscom; Kvnga on Unsplash

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