Liberal: Newsom’s 2028 Problem
Gov. Gavin Newsom is the “undeniable front-runner” for the 2028 Democratic nomination, observes Ruy Teixeira at The Free Press, largely because of his uncanny “ability to be everything to — well, not quite everybody, but every Democrat.” He “reliably presents” the most effective message “at any given time to any given audience.” He has made himself “chairman of the anti-Trump resistance” but also signaled “that he is more moderate than the average Democrat.” But unlike message master Bill Clinton, Newsom “never had to run in a competitive election and beat a viable Republican.” Mass appeal to California Dems doesn’t prepare you to face “a general electorate that doesn’t share the basic assumptions of partisan Democrats. Just ask Kamala Harris.”
Fraud beat: Gavin’s Shady ‘Housing’ Pals
“For California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Democrats,” Shangri-La “stands for a hellish homeless housing nightmare” and “eye-popping fraud,” reports Real Clear Politics’ Susan Crabtree. Cody Holmes, the former Shangri-La Industries CFO, “is accused of embezzling more than $2 million in taxpayer funds slated for homeless housing construction.” “California housing authorities are also suing Shangri-La Industries for breaching contracts under Newsom’s signature Project Homekey homeless housing project,” which paid it “more than $100 million in state grant money.” Newsom won’t say if he’ll “return any of the funds Shangri-La employees have donated to his campaigns over the last decade.” The firm’s CEO “showered donations on state and local officials” and the LA County Democratic Party. “More arrests” are expected after feds found “‘massive’ fraud in California’s homeless services.”
Legal take: Church-goers Have Rights, Too
“Thanks to criminal indictments, the [Minneapolis] battlefront has moved from city streets to federal courts,” observes The Wall Street Journal’s William McGurn. “Yes, Don Lemon, arrested for joining agitators in a “coordinated takeover-style attack” on Cities Church in St. Paul had “a constitutional right to report” there. But the protesters “violated” the congregants’ right to the “ ‘free exercise’ of their faith” — a right “mentioned in the same amendment that protects” Lemon’s speech. “We’ll see how it all plays out in the courts,” but one “basic fact” is relevant: “The First Amendment doesn’t give journalists a right to disobey laws.”
Eye on the economy: Warsh Can Fix the Fed
“President Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh” to lead the Federal Reserve is “a welcome move,” cheers the TIPP Insights’ editorial board. He “understands that sustainable growth and price stability must go hand in hand,” and has often expressed “his long-standing concern that the Fed’s oversized balanced sheet has helped embed inflation.” Warsh “argues that the Fed should gradually roll back the massive support it provided to financial markets [starting in 2008], while still allowing interest rates to decline if economic conditions warrant.” He’d likely “push for a leaner, more rules-based Fed, less willing to intervene in markets, and more focused on price stability and long-term growth.” “As Warsh argues, restoring discipline at the Fed is essential. A golden age cannot be built on easy money. It requires sound money.”
Conservative: Don Kept His School-Choice Vow
When running for president, “Donald Trump promised to do what he could to expand educational choices, and as president, he has delivered in the first full year of his second term,” applauds USA Today’s Ingrid Jacques. The administration is offering families educational options “through a new federal school choice tax credit, created as part of the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The program does two things: Taxpayers can “reduce what they owe the federal government by contributing to scholarship-granting organizations” and families can “use these scholarships for an array of educational options, including private school tuition.” But “families can only access the funds if their governor opts in” to allowing these scholarships in the state. Plainly, govs should do “what’s best for the families in their states.”
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
