California Democrats need more spine to stop the socialists

The only way for Democrats to stop the socialist takeover of their party is for party leaders to take a stand.

But California Democrats are still confused.

On the one hand, California Democrats voted to endorse Ben Allen over Jane Kim for insurance commissioner, in an important race that pits two Democrats against each other.

Kim had been the favorite. She is a former San Francisco supervisor, and enjoyed the endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, whose minions are winning Democratic primary races everywhere.

Typically, the candidate from Northern California has the edge. That’s where the power and money are.

And Kim finished comfortably ahead of Allen in the June primary.

But Kim had a hilariously bad interview last month in which she struggled to list her qualifications and to provide any idea of what she would do as insurance commissioner.

Her own hometown paper called her a “disaster,” citing her plan for a socialist-style, state-run home insurance system. (As if the existing “California Fair Plan” could be any worse.)

California Democrats decided that Kim was a bridge too far, pushing Allen past the 60% threshold for the party’s official endorsement — a rare achievement, and a strong statement of support.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has opposed Proposition 40, the so-called “billionaire tax.” Getty Images

Aspiring replacement Xavier Becerra has also vocalized his stance against the bill, despite its popularity among Democratic socialists. AFP via Getty Images

On the other hand, the California Democrats voted to endorse Proposition 40 — the so-called “billionaire tax” — despite the fact that both Gavin Newsom and aspiring replacement Xavier Becerra have come out against it.

Newsom and Becerra aren’t putting much effort into opposing Proposition 40, which would impose a 5% wealth tax on the state’s billionaires. 

But Sanders and the socialist activists within the party have embraced the idea with feverish enthusiasm. They won’t take “no” for an answer; at the party’s conference, the participants narrowly failed to put Proposition 40 over the 60% threshold. 

So they voted three times until they achieved the result they wanted. (This is what democracy looks like, apparently: You vote until the “correct” side wins.)

The very idea of the billionaire tax has caused some of California’s richest entrepreneurs — and biggest taxpayers — to flee the state.

It’s a socialist scheme cooked up by the SEUI United Healthcare Workers West union, supposedly to fund healthcare spending — and therefore to benefit its own members.

So California Democrats have not shaken off the socialists after all.

Democrats need to decide who they are. If socialism is the party’s future, California, and America, are heading for big trouble.

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