William Haupt III: Nancy Pelosi’s home district is a progressive nightmare
“Nancy Pelosi’s district in California has rapidly become one of the worst anywhere in the U.S. when it comes to the homeless and crime. It has gotten so bad, so fast.” – Donald Trump In the 1960s, America’s boomers rebelled against authority and the Vietnam War. They pursued sexual liberation, experimental drugs, communal living, and civil rights. This counterculture lived by the motto “sex, drugs, rock and roll.” In 1967, thousands of hippies and flower children made their way to Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco for what was billed as the “Summer of Love” – and many never left. Haight-Ashbury soon eroded into an enclave for dropouts, addicts, and the homeless. In the late 1970s, the area was targeted for gentrification, and investors began cleaning it up. By 1990, Haight-Ashbury was among San Francisco’s most affluent and expensive neighborhoods. But today, it is home to tent cities with trash-ridden streets ravaged with violent crime, and it is a Mecca for drug users and sellers. Conditions are worse than slums in almost every other U.S. city. How can the most expensive place to live in America also be one of the worst places to live in the U.S.A.? While San Francisco has been the most progressive city in America for years, this liberal utopia has not always been a harbor for addicts, the homeless, criminals, and social derelicts. “It’s an odd thing, but anyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco.” – Oscar Wilde In the 1960s, liberal strategist Phillip Burton saw the potential of growing the Democratic Party by pandering to the hippies, minorities, and gays. With their support, he was elected to the U.S. House in 1964, where he served until his death in 1983. His wife Sala Burton held this seat until 1987. In a special election, Nancy Pelosi seized this coveted progressive prize in 1987 and won’t give it up. With the election of far-left liberal Gov. Jerry Brown in 2010, San Francisco became a progressive paradise. In 2014, Brown financed Prop 57, which helped free thousands of California inmates from prison. Voters also approved Prop 47, which reduced most nonviolent crimes, including theft under $950 to misdemeanors. Both were pushed by Lt Governor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco district attorney George Gascón, the San Francisco Democratic Party, and the Harvey Milk LGBT Club. In 2016, voters approved Prop 64, giving municipalities the power to ban or sell weed. But many cities and counties did not react. A 2011 federal court had ruled that local governments trying to regulate the sale of weed would violate federal law. But it was welcomed by all San Franciscans. By 2019, the deregulation of crime, release of thousands of inmates, legalization of cannabis, and declaring California a sanctuary state enabled new Gov Gavin Newsom, the former mayor of San Francisco, to clone the entire state of California into a progressive twin sister of San Francisco. San Francisco has declared the NRA a “domestic terrorist organization,” banned fast-food joints that include toys in children’s meals, outlawed plastic bags and straws, raised the minimum wage from $9.79 to $15.59 an hour, and refuses to prosecute anyone for nonviolent crimes. While these policies appeal to the far left, they also encourage the homeless and derelicts to venture up north. How bad are things in San Francisco? According to a KGO news report, in 2011, the Bay City spent $157 million on the homeless. By 2016, it was up to $242 million. In the 2021 budget proposal, it is now over $364 million. The consensus estimates the homeless population is at least 17,500. “As mayor of San Francisco, I witnessed its greatest cultural and social transition.” – Gavin Newsom Progressives insist the stark contrast in wealth and poverty is the result of the failure of capitalism to provide for the needy. But while politicians preach “compassion,” their policies have resulted in record-high levels of homelessness, drug addiction, and a rapid increase in violent felonious crime. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the city’s policies have created an “influx of about 450 homeless people a year who migrate to places like the Tenderloin District. This is a sanctuary for people hiding out from the law who do not want the government to know where they are living. In reaction to the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests and riots, along with outrage by activists against police, San Francisco elected progressive Chesa Boudin as district attorney of San Francisco in 2020. He was endorsed by Angela Davis, Bernie Sanders, and Ibram X. Kendi. Boudin, the adopted son of radicals Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, quickly reduced the use of cash bail and restrained the power of the police. He quit prosecuting misdemeanors. He then did the unthinkable and started charging police officers with felonies who used force during arrests. “I will move away from the draconian, tough-on-crime, three-strike super-rhetoric hype.” – Chesa Boudin According to Stop Crime, the Bay City is experiencing a dramatic increase in serious crime under Boudin. Burglaries are up 42%, and homicides have increased 30% compared to the previous year. Motor vehicle thefts have risen by 71%, and arsons have jumped over 35% since he became DA. Recently, a local ABC News reporter witnessed a shoplifter sweeping entire shelves of products into garbage bags inside a Walgreens. He mounted a bike and rode past a security guard out the door. Other retail stores are reporting the same problems in every neighborhood in San Francisco. “This rise in crime is a result of Chesa Boudin’s soft-crime policies.” – Frank Noto, Victim’s Rights It’s been said that “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” All good intentions of Prop 47 and Prop 57 have been undone by Chesa Boudin’s leftist extremism, pandering to criminals, and punishing the police for doing their job. What’s happening in San Francisco is proof of how quickly perjured progressive idealism can turn an economically prosperous city into a living hell on earth. It is hard
Hillary Clinton aims to raise just-right amount for ’16 campaign
The stars are out to raise money for Hillary Rodham Clinton: Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett at the Plaza Hotel, Jon Bon Jovi at home in Jersey. So, too, are the Democratic Party’s wealthiest donors, from a Facebook co-founder to the heiress of a brewing fortune. Yet even as Clinton picks up the pace of fundraising this month, the front-runner for her party’s presidential nomination is holding back in some ways — a “just enough” strategy that her supporters say will pay off over time. The goal when she files her first fundraising report next month is to post a number that reassures Democrats she will have the resources to compete with the eventual Republican nominee, but doesn’t chase away the small-dollar donors who would make up her strongest base of support in the general election. “Her approach has been smart, disciplined and focused on the long-term,” said Chris Lehane, a Democratic strategist who worked with hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer on one of Clinton’s first fundraisers this year. Lehane said the 100-person reception sold out within 24 hours. “They easily could have put on a far bigger event of 1,000 people or more.” Clinton’s supporters have tried to tamp down the expectations for the fundraising totals her campaign will disclose next month, when she and the other declared candidates for president will report how much they have raised through the end of June. Unlike in 2008, Clinton is collecting money only for the primary contest, an amount capped at $2,700 per individual. If Clinton wins the Democratic nomination, she can return to her donors to ask for another $2,700 for the general election. Since announcing her candidacy in mid-April, Clinton has raised at least $17 million, based on the number of people her campaign says have attended 49 fundraising events through Tuesday night. She held fundraisers Tuesday in Chicago and in St. Louis, where she raised money at Grant’s Farm, a historic home owned by the Busch family, at an event hosted by beer heiress Trudy Busch Valentine. Clinton is focused primarily on raising money for her actual campaign. Others have emphasized super PACs, which can accept donations of unlimited size but are prohibited from coordinating directly with the candidates they support. Republican Jeb Bush spent six months raising money for a super PAC before beginning traditional campaign fundraising. That approach has helped him amass as much as $100 million already. Most of Clinton’s fundraisers have also been smaller events at private homes, with audiences of no more than 250 people each giving the maximum. While backers says she could draw much larger crowds, many of the events have been half that size, putting the former secretary of state into what supporters say is her comfort zone. “She was phenomenal,” said John Morgan, a Florida lawyer who held a 220-person reception last month at his home near Orlando. “She took a photo with every single guest.” Many of the biggest Democratic donors have already feted Clinton, or plan to in the next few weeks. Among them: billionaire Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes and Chicago media billionaire Fred Eychaner. And she’s relied upon celebrities, too. “Spiderman” star Tobey Maguire held a backyard event last week that raised $500,000. Next week, Bon Jovi will perform at his New Jersey home for Clinton and some of her donors. Among small donors — those who give $200 or less, usually online — Clinton has competition. The campaign of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has suggested it has raised $8 million, with an average contribution amount of $40, through mid-June. Yet Clinton is also applying some of the best practices of President Barack Obama, who raised almost 65 percent of the $33.2 million he collected in the first three months of his re-election campaign from small-dollar donors. Her campaign this week has been promoting a raffle to attend dinner with Clinton. She is hawking cutesy souvenirs such as $30 red T-shirts that look like her go-to pantsuits. And the campaign has an array of $20 happy hours planned, including one Friday at Union Cafe in Columbus, Ohio. Kiki McLean, a former 2008 Clinton campaign adviser, headlined a happy hour Tuesday night in Washington. McLean said she has no official role with the campaign, but said small events such as hers encourage involvement. “I want to make sure they are up to speed on what they can do as volunteers,” McLean said, “just like me.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
