Why do the willfully ignorant mutate into the most intransigent ideologues? Obscurantism

"All the rationale in the universe is wasted on such people. Their favored response when confronted with facts and logic is this week's entry into the Ethical Lexicon: Obscurantism (ob*scu*ran*tism/ ob-skyoo-RAN-tiz-uhm) | noun.  The practice of deliberately employing vague and unintelligible arguments as a conscious strategy to obscure what is true."

 Rabbi Yonason Goldson 

"Why do the willfully ignorant mutate into the most intransigent ideologues? Because their ignorance makes them insecure and their insecurity drives them to lash out at any ideas that threaten to puncture the superficiality of their worldview."

"There's no place on earth like Israel: The history, the diversity, the tension of a culture divided by religion and regional culture while simultaneously unified by common ancestry and the threat of violence from a host of inimical neighbors.

This past Sabbath morning, I attended services held by a group of Chassidim who trace their traditions back to the Polish town of Bobov. I don't look like them, dress like them or speak their preferred language of Yiddish. Even so, they welcomed me warmly into their congregation. The majesty of their music and intensity of their prayers infused my own Sabbath experience with a feeling of spiritual transcendence.

All of which evaporated the moment I returned to my apartment.

A group of religious zealots, most of them teenagers, instigated a furious protest against a local cafe doing business on the Sabbath in violation of Torah law. Considering that half of Israelis claim little or no religious affiliation, most observant Jews quietly lament their brothers' and sisters' lack of spiritual awareness while directing their attention elsewhere.

But not these self-appointed guardians of the faith. They amassed in the adjacent courtyard, relentlessly spewing vitriol, accosting passersby and disturbing both the residents of the surrounding apartments and the peace of the Sabbath day.

The police — some religious, some secular — showed exemplary restraint trying to disperse the miscreants. After more than an hour of abuse, they finally got aggressive (although never violent) and dragged the ringleaders out of the area, only to have them regroup to continue their mindless remonstrations a few yards farther away.

A few people, including some deeply religious, tried to dissuade the protestors, explaining that they were accomplishing exactly the opposite of what they intended. Harassing the irreligious produces nothing but animosity toward the entire religious community.

Unsurprisingly, these arguments went unheeded. After all, what is a fanatic but someone doing what G od would want done if only G od understood as well as they do?

All the rationale in the universe is wasted on such people. Their favored response when confronted with facts and logic is this week's entry into the Ethical Lexicon:" . . .More...

The World Cup of Ink

 The American Conservative 

"If Alexander Pope were alive today, he would not write that the proper study of mankind is man; he would write that the proper study of man is tattoo. And in mankind, I include (for those who object to the word) womankind, for in one of the strange reversals of our time, more women are now tattooed than men."

"My interest in professional sport these days ranges from minimal to nil, but even I could not altogether avoid or evade the hysteria over the recent World Cup, which recurs every four years. It would have been easier to miss the outbreak of the Third (or would it be the Fourth?) World War. 

"As everyone now knows, Spain beat Argentina in the final, in a match more remarkable for its non-sporting qualities than for its display of skill. There was something of a brawl afterwards. The Spanish were clearly the better side, and while they played a clean game (or one as clean, at least, as can be expected from a professional soccer team), the Argentinians played dirty. 

"But I noticed another very important difference between the teams: The Argentinians were far more heavily tattooed than the Spanish. Indeed, desultory research revealed that, of the 26 players in the Argentinian squad of players, 20 were tattooed. Could this explain the inferiority of the Argentinians to the Spanish? 

"I had already observed that when the Germans last won the World Cup, their team was much less tattooed than their opponents. Could it be that, in the modern world, the prevalence of tattooing is inversely proportional to intelligence, and that, though skill at soccer is principally one of physical coordination, higher intelligence is nevertheless an advantage in any match? "Those who write on soccer often refer to “footballing intelligence,” as if it were a faculty of its own; but perhaps it is related positively to general intelligence as, say, musical ability is related to it, notwithstanding the populist demagoguery of Amadeus (the misleading film adaptation of the play of the same name).

"Despite the expansion in the proportion of the population that is tattooed, one would still expect, where a brawl breaks out as it did after the end of the World Cup final, that the tattooed were more likely to be the originators of it than the untattooed. And so it was in this case. 

"Of course, one would also not expect there to be a one-to-one correspondence between tattooing on the one hand and low intelligence and bad behaviour on the other. Perhaps the greatest player in the history of the sport—certainly one of the greatest—is the Argentinian, Lionel Messi, and he has a hideously, totally tattooed forearm, but is neither stupid nor badly behaved. But generalizations may hold while individual instances seem to contradict them. 

"I was somewhat alarmed, therefore, to see that several of the winning Spanish team had either had promised or resolved to have the face of their trainer tattooed on themselves if they won the cup. This, I surmised, would be the beginning of the end of the predominance of the Spanish in world soccer, not having lost in their last 38 games in international competitions. If I were their trainer, I would strongly advise them not to have themselves tattooed, and this quite independently of aesthetic considerations (what is called body art is really, and invariably, body kitsch)." . . . More...

Mamdani’s reparations logic does not add up

 Washington Examiner

"New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani floated cutting checks to black New Yorkers to atone for the city’s involvement in slavery. But transforming the descendants of immigrants into historical perpetrators, and millions of black New Yorkers into victims, would be historically incoherent and legally perilous.

When asked whether he would support cash reparations for those affected by slavery if recommended by the New York City Commission on Racial Equity, Mamdani said New York was “very complicit” and that he looked forward to the commission’s “critically important” findings.

It has become a rite of passage for progressive public officials to establish racial-reckoning commissions. They propose relief for black people, whom they view as victims of systemic racism, often in the form of cash payments or housing grants.

California was the first state to form an official reparations task force. The body released a 500-page report charging the state with systemic racism, as demonstrated by disparate outcomes between white and black Californians. Illinois, Maryland, and New York state have done the same, with little follow-through.

Evanston, Illinois, was the first municipality to follow through on reparations promises. Black residents and their descendants who faced housing discrimination between 1919 and 1969 can receive $25,000 in unrestricted cash payments.

New York had the largest enslaved population among northern states in 1790, and 42% of the state’s households enslaved at least one person in 1703 — a rate second only to Charleston, South Carolina. The Empire State’s outsize figures were perhaps a consequence of the government-sanctioned slave market New York City established near Wall Street in 1711, as Mamdani mentioned in the interview.

Unsurprisingly, Southern states eclipsed New York’s enslaved population of 21,324 in 1790. Enslaved people accounted for 43% of the population in South Carolina, 39% in Virginia, and 35% in Georgia, compared with 6% in New York." . . .  More...

Why Can't You Be Normal?! The Dems Are Nominating Total Freaks for Office.

 Matt Vespa

"These degenerates have no business running for elected office, let alone influencing actual policy decisions. The American people are waking up to their lunacy and will reject these sick freaks in November."

 

"In Maine, Nazi Graham Platner was booted after a rape allegation was lobbed against him. He was replaced by Troy Jackson, a Democrat with reported anger issues and someone who married his second cousin. Is it illegal or election-killing? No, but it does feed into the disturbing trend among Democrats: they can’t find normal people to run for office. 

"It’s a true parade of horribles."

• James Talarico, the Democrats’ Lone Star hopeful for the U.S. Senate, has an unusual fascination with trans kids, believing that God is nonbinary, and has raised millions in campaign donations from Reid Hoffman, a Jeffry Epstein associate. 
• Joanna Mendoza, Democrat running in AZ-06, had a weird 16-day marriage to a Syrian national.
• Randy Villegas, running in CA-22, rehired a known pedophile when he served on the board for the Visalia Unified School District.
• Manny Rutinel, CO-08, has a slew of weird social media posts, but also killed a bill providing mandatory jail sentences for child sex predators.
• Sarah Trone Garriot, running in Iowa Three, officiated a satanist wedding. 
• Adam Hamaway, NJ-12, has ties to the World Trade Center bombing and al-Qaeda. 
• Gabe Vazquez, New Mexico-02, had a fake wedding and an intra-office romance. 
• Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), running for reelection in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, reportedly beheaded a chicken in college. Yet, for now, she couldn’t handle a simple NPR interview about her socialist ties within the Democratic Party.

. . . " More...

The Case for Capitalism

John Stossel

Pictured below: what these three people and the generation behind them have not learned; they cannot create, they only take from better and wiser people than they. TD

. . . "Photography in the 1880s was expensive, complicated and available mainly to professionals.        Then George Eastman developed the Kodak camera, making photography simpler and cheaper.   "He created this global company and everyone became a photographer."         Loading cargo onto ships was slow, expensive and prone to theft. A North Carolina trucker, Malcolm McLean, grew so bored waiting for cargo to be loaded that he invented the shipping container.        "Sounds easy," says Forbes, "but the design took a lot of effort. The cost of shipping items fell as much as 95%. That made it possible to develop elaborate supply chains. That makes it possible for people to have supercomputers in the palm of their hand."        Capitalism, despite its occasional greed and excess, is the only system that lets people prosper." . . .

"I've failed!

        I make the case for free markets ... young people elect socialists!

        What are they thinking? Do they even think? Do they pay any attention to history? Or economics? Socialism always fails. Only markets create environments that let people prosper.

        "Getting the right environment -- this country's done it better than anyone else," says Steve Forbes in our full interview. "Give people a chance to be creative, experience liberty, and humanity moves forward."

   His magazine has made that point for years.

        "You and I are failures," I tell him. "We've tried to convince people about the benefits of free enterprise ... (Yet) they embrace socialism," believing "posts from people like actor Mark Ruffalo: 'Capitalism today is failing us, killing us, and robbing from our children's future ...'"

        "Capitalism has done just the opposite!" replies Forbes. "Deaths from famines are down 99% in the last 60 years. Standard of living, 10 times better than it was 50 years ago around the world."

        Progressives call capitalism "immoral."

        "Capitalism, free enterprise, free markets, whatever you call it," replies Forbes, "is a moral system because success comes from meeting the needs and wants of others... Go to the old Soviet Union, to Cuba, North Korea and compare opportunities. It's a reason people want to come here. They can flourish here whereas they get crushed by regulation elsewhere."

        Free markets are also moral, he says, because capitalists don't get rich by forcing people to hand over money. Only governments, employing police, tax collectors, etc. can do that. 

        Capitalists get rich only if customers voluntarily choose them.

        Unless, of course, government gets involved. If politicians grant favors or give handouts to politically connected companies (known as crony capitalism), the market system breaks down." . . .More...

Liberal Podcaster Breaks With Mamdani After Finding Himself a Victim of His Socialist Policies    "A prominent liberal is breaking with Mamdani over his new property database.

"Podcaster Scott Galloway says he discovered his own name and address were 'doxed' by the city's searchable database identifying affluent property owners.

"Galloway backed Mamdani's proposed pied-à-terre tax itself, but he argues publishing property owners' information turns a legitimate tax proposal into a "wanted poster." Galloway lamented that the New York City mayor was vindicating conservatives’ worst fears and "making it harder for all progressives."

Galloway made the decision to turn on Mamdani after he found himself doxxed by the database of property owners who could face a sharp increase in taxes meant to fund the lavish socialist policies pushed by the candidate he supported." . . .

Fauci’s diary details blooming outrage toward ‘far right,’ softness toward Biden and China

Our COVID-Induced Near-Progrom

"I don’t make this comparison to diminish the Holocaust.

"There are few moments in human history when the collective human soul was so thoroughly blackened as it was under Nazism, and nothing that happened during COVID approaches the industrialized extermination of millions of human beings. My comparison is about something different: the darker political impulse that precedes atrocities—the intoxicating belief that frightened people can be divided into the righteous and the unclean, and that government may do almost anything to the latter in the name of protecting the former.

"Watching Saint Anthony of Fauci’s dramatic reading of the Fifth Amendment before Congress reminded me how much of that spirit surfaced during COVID.

"Covid authoritarians had the want, even if they lacked the will, authority, or opportunity to carry it to its ugliest conclusion.

"Emails, internal discussions, subsequent testimony, and the changing public-health guidance showed something we should never forget: behind closed doors there was uncertainty, disagreement, evolving evidence, and debate. In public, however, uncertainty was too often converted into certainty. Scientific judgment became “The Science,” and questioning government policy became indistinguishable from questioning science itself.

"What disturbed me most about the COVID era wasn’t simply that governments made mistakes during the pandemic, it was how quickly supposedly free societies rediscovered the pleasures of coercion." . . .More...

 Washington Examiner    Key takeaways

• Far-Right Criticism: Fauci repeatedly criticized the far right, describing their attacks as conspiracy theories and saying they left him "stressed beyond the limit." He dismissed concerns about Wuhan lab research as politically motivated.
• Biden Administration Support: Fauci highlighted strong backing from President Biden and Vice President Harris, noting no pushback on media appearances and personal encouragement, including Biden telling him he was "behind you 1000%."
• China & COVID Origins: Fauci expressed willingness for a good faith partnership with China to investigate COVID-19 origins, stating it was unlikely China was hiding substantive information, though U.S. political toxicity made collaboration difficult." More...

Fauci's Body Language At That Hearing Said Everything His Mouth Didn't

. . . "As I watched Dr. Anthony Fauci appear before the Senate, the hearing was clearly political. Some senators challenged him directly, while others defended him and used their time to criticize political opponents. My focus, however, was on Dr. Fauci’s changing body language as the questions became more pointed." . . .More...

Seattle WNBA Owner And Out Of Control Fan Harass Teenage Girls Over Supporting Sophie Cunningham

RVIVR 

"Two young girls go to a WNBA game to support what’s right. Men should not play women’s sports, a concept that is an absolute no-brainer. Yet they are attacked by none other than a co-owner of the home team and a lunatic from Nordstrom.  This is the voting base of the Democratic Party."

"California is the nut case state in America, and Seattle is a chief supplier of those nuts. The newly elected mayor is part of the DSA, which means she’s a communist hiding behind a different name. Seattle is also the home of alternative lifestyles on steroids. If you are gay, lesbian, or want to pretend that you are something else, anything else, then Seattle is your town.

"Alternative lifestyles are called alternative for a reason. They are not accepted as mainstream for century-old reasons. That said, society does not have to approve, nor should it approve everything that people can be delusional about.

"In my opinion and the opinion of many others, those people who believe that they can become a different sex, just because they “think” they are a different sex, are suffering from a specific type of mental illness. These individuals need to be treated for their dysphoria, but it should never be accepted or encouraged, and absolutely it should never be facilitated.

"Still, some people take their delusion to dangerous and destructive levels. Biological males who claim they are now female and want to play on women’s sports teams are an abomination, and the people who allow them to do so are even worse.

"The fact that there are those out there who endorse this farce are committing a dangerous disservice to women everywhere and to women’s sports specifically.

"Recently, Sophie Cunningham went on record supporting keeping biological men out of women’s sports. She basically said that it’s only common sense that men should not compete against women.

"She’s right. It is common sense that men shouldn’t be allowed to play in women’s sports, but as they say, there is nothing common about common sense.

"To emphasize that point, when her team, the Indiana Fever, played the Seattle Storm in Seattle, all hell broke loose because two teenage girls wore T-shirts and brought a sign to support Sophie Cunningham." . . .  More...

The Socialist Monster Awakens in New York

Socialist Takeover: Three Win Big — Victory Party Chants Demand Jeffries’ Head, This Is the Mamdani Party Now (Video) 

 "Jeffries has faced growing pressure from the left flank of the party. Critics argue he spent too much time appeasing groups like the Squad while refusing to engage constructively with Republicans on issues that could benefit the country. That approach, they say, has driven moderates and more centrist voters away."

Democratic discontent with Mamdani mounts in New York City’s outer boroughs    . . . "Since Mamdani’s ascension there, local elected Democrats have been hard pressed to publicly blast him and his hard-left base. The mayor’s approval ratings remain strong and the DSA has emerged as a serious political force in the city. So Richards’ X post — which was referencing the DSA’s majority white membership nationally — hinted at a potential turning point.

"His attack also points to a more broadly felt symptom: Growing discontent with Mamdani from Democratic politicians in the city’s outer boroughs." . . .

The Socialist Monster Awakens - Victor Davis Hanson

. . . "Almost every weaponized scam and national hysteria in the last two decades was amplified and spread by mainstream Democrats: the farcical claim that the Wuhan-lab-hatched COVID virus came from pangolins or bats; the Duke Lacrosse and Covington Kids hoaxes; the Jussie Smollett scam, the "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" lie; the deification of George Floyd, often portrayed with wings and a halo; Fauxcahontas Liz Warren, touted as the first Native American Harvard law professor (thanks to her grandfather's high cheekbones); the radical diminution of in-person voting; the canonization of Trayvon Martin and Karmelo Anthony as blameless model children; and the mythology of a 1619 national founding.

"Who allowed not just one, two, three, or four million border-jumpers into the country, but over 10 million — illegal, unvetted, viewed as an assumed new political constituency, and instantaneously dependent on the welfare state?

"Who gave us three, four, five, or even more genders and biological males showering with teenage girls or female prisoners? Who sloganeered about "defund the police" and "no cash bail"?

"All this was about as radical as it gets.

"The Democratic establishment's unhinged hatred of Donald Trump mainstreamed radicalism even further and helped birth the socialist-cum-communist Frankensteinian monster that is now devouring its mad-scientist creators.

"'By any means necessary" was a Democratic mantra over a decade ago. By 2016, the Democratic leadership and the Clinton campaign were hatching the Steele-dossier farce to warp an election." . . .

Thanks to Mamdani, I won’t protest Netanyahu’s UN visit

 The Times of Israel  

"But whatever we do, we must do so on our own, unshackled and untainted by Mamdani’s unconcealed hatred not just for Netanyahu but for Israel both as a state and as an integral part of our Jewish identity."

"JTA — Watching a train wreck in real time, while mesmerizing, is never fun. It can, however, be educational.

"By encouraging New Yorkers to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he next comes to Gotham to address the UN General Assembly, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is preparing the ground for yet another opportunity to showcase anti-Israelism and antisemitism in their most radical forms.

"I’ve protested against Netanyahu’s previous visits to the city. But there is absolutely no reason for any of us who want to push for a more just Israel to collaborate in protests next month, and every reason to stay far, far away from them.

Many if not most lifelong liberal Zionists, myself among them, are outraged, bordering on horrified, by the disastrous policies of the Netanyahu government. Our commitment was and is to the simultaneously Jewish and democratic State of Israel envisioned in its Declaration of Independence. While recognizing Israel’s obligation to eliminate Hamas as an existential threat, we empathize with the continued suffering of the civilian population of Gaza. And we categorically condemn the violence perpetrated by Israeli — read Jewish — settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

"But for Mamdani, a good number of us would probably have wanted to express our anger publicly on Netanyahu’s next appearance in New York. We’ve done so before. On September 22, 2023, I was among several thousand Jews who rallied in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza to denounce the Netanyahu government’s crude legislative efforts to undermine the independence and authority of Israel’s judiciary.

"We did so out of a love for and commitment to Israel. We did so in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been protesting for months against Netanyahu’s autocratic disregard for democracy and the rule of law.

"Mamdani has made it impossible for me to do so again this year. I have not changed my mind about or my attitude toward Netanyahu, but I will not be drawn by Mamdani into standing alongside or anywhere near antisemites whose declared goal is the destruction of Israel. I suspect I am far from alone in holding these sentiments." . . . More...

Menachem Z. Rosensaft is adjunct professor of law at Cornell Law School and lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School. He is the author of Burning Psalms: Confronting Adonai after Auschwitz

Has Support for Israel Become Gen Z’s Scapegoat?    "As faith in family, church, and country declines, more young Americans are searching for villains instead of answers."

Far-left streamer Hasan Piker guarantees Democratic nominee in 2028 will be anti-Israel

The Mamdani Warning | The American Spectator

 . . .  Mamdani’s ambitions won’t end with the New York mayoralty. He is only 34 years old. He could run for president and gain a big voter turnout based on his “free stuff” campaign promises (if the party can somehow resolve his foreign birth). That’s a danger we don’t need to face right now but, eventually, we will if the Democrats aren’t smart enough to rid themselves of him. They won’t be."

Guthrie Ransom Notes Made Public in Bid for New Leads

 Newsmax.com

"We did not fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition. We never intended to hurt her; that was not our intention," it read.

"The Pima County Sheriff's Department in Arizona on Friday released the full text of two ransom notes tied to the February disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, urging the public to study the writer's word choice and phrasing in hopes of identifying the author.

The release comes six months into the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie. Investigators have received thousands of tips and recovered doorbell camera video but have made no arrests.

The elder Guthrie remains officially missing, and authorities have not confirmed a claim in the second note that she died shortly after she was abducted.

The first note, delivered to Tucson's KOLD-TV on Feb. 2 and addressed to Savannah Guthrie, demanded $4 million in bitcoin by 5 p.m. on Feb. 5, with the price rising to $6 million if unpaid by Feb. 9 and a threat to kill Guthrie if the second deadline passed.

"We have your mother, Nancy. She is safe but scared," it read, according to KOLD, promising release within 12 hours of payment and warning, "You will not be able to contact me from here on out; there will be no negotiation.'" . . . More...

Related Stories:

• Ransom Note Suggests Nancy Guthrie Not in Arizona
• SWAT Detains 3 in Guthrie Case; One Later Released

What hath the Fauch wrought?

 Anthony Fauci proves why Republicans must win the midterms - American Thinker   "Anthony Fauci directed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for almost 40 years. Today, he stands as the embodiment of a bureaucracy that answers to no one."

. . . "Accountability ends if Democrats seize one or both houses of Congress this autumn. They will block Republican inquiries, shield blue officials who misled America, and champion elite immunity. GOP voters should see that showing up at the polls is vital. It is the only way to prevent a return to the Democratic system of deception and impunity that has already cost the nation so much." . . .

Fauci's 5th   . . . "Fauci repeated the phrase, “on the advice of my counselor…” no less than 111 times, each repetition digging himself deeper into ignominy. The peak was unquestionably reached with Sen. Josh Hawley, who treated Fauci with all the mockery and contempt he had coming with a series of questions that nobody but a fool could ever take as incriminating. “What color is your tie?” “What color is the carpet in front of you?” Each time, Fauci answered like a robot. Hawley concluded by telling him to his face that he deserved prison." . . .

The contemptible MSNOW used Hawley's questions to denigrate the Republicans as expected.

Fifth Amendment Fauci’s Narcissism Destroyed Faith in Scientific Methodology . . . "Consider the six-foot social distancing rule. When pressed on the empirical basis for closing schools, shuttering businesses, and putting one-way arrows on grocery store floors, Fauci admitted during sworn testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on January 24 that the rule “just sort of appeared,” with no rigorous clinical trials or controlled studies behind it. It was, in his own words, an empirical decision, not grounded in solid data. Millions of children lost years of developmental and educational progress. Small businesses went under. Families were torn apart — over a metric that had essentially been made up." . . .

Don’t Forget How Florida Defeated ‘Faucism’ and Vindicated Federalism

"I would know: I moved to Florida in 2021 in no small part due to the way Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) handled COVID-19."

. . . "One-size-fits-all bureaucratic governance from the nation’s capital is incompatible with American constitutionalism and the American way of life. As James Madison put it in The Federalist No. 45: “The powers … which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” Justice Louis D. Brandeis put it memorably in a 1932 Supreme Court dissent: “It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.'”  "That’s exactly what Florida under DeSantis did."

California's gas taxes keep climbing. Highway performance doesn't.

"Each gas tax increase asks Californians to pay more for a highway system that continues to underperform."

Reason Foundation.   

California’s Interstate pavement is also rough, ranking among the worst: 48th out of 50 urban pavement conditions and 47th in rural pavement conditions. 

"Californians already pay the nation’s highest fuel tax. On July 1, the state fuel tax rose again, by another 2.2 cents to 63.4 cents per gallon under a state law’s annual inflation adjustment.

"Inflation raises the costs of asphalt, steel, and labor, so a modest yearly adjustment to maintain and build roads and bridges is reasonable, in theory. Unfortunately, drivers aren’t getting their money’s worth in California. Despite annual increases in the state fuel tax, California’s highways are getting worse, not better.

"In California, roughly $1.15 of every gallon of fuel purchased goes to federal and state taxes, generating more than $14 billion for transportation in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. This is far more revenue than second-place Texas collects, even though it has a larger state highway network, and should be enough to maintain roads and bridges properly.

"Instead, California has the nation’s second-worst-performing, least cost-effective highway system, according to Reason Foundation’s 29th Annual Highway Report, which compares spending, pavement quality, road safety and other measures across all 50 states. California ranks 49th in overall highway performance and cost-effectiveness, only ahead of Alaska, which faces numerous weather and geographic challenges." . . . More...