Democrats love democracy. Just ask them.
Like vegans and CrossFit fanatics, they'll gladly tell you all about it.
But with all things Democrat, don't look at what they say, look at what they do.
In California, voters who were fed up with the Democrats' soft-on-crime policies put in the work to get Prop 36 on the ballot in November. I told you about it here, and this is what the AP had to say about Democratic objection the measure at the time (emphasis added):
Democratic lawmakers, led by Newsom, spent months earlier this year unsuccessfully fighting to keep a tougher-on-crime initiative off the November ballot. That ballot measure, Proposition 36, would make it a felony for repeat shoplifters and some drug charges, among other things. Democrats worried the measure would disproportionately criminalize low-income people and those with substance use issues rather than target ringleaders who hire large groups of people to steal goods for them to resell online.
That's a subtle way of calling Prop 36 'racist', which is ironic considering the coalition to bring it to the ballot was pretty darned diverse. But more to the point, the soft-on-crime policies Prop 36 aimed to repeal harmed minority communities the most. They are the ones who lose stores and income when roving gangs of shoplifters loot the local Walgreens.
Those things aren't happening in Gavin Newsom's neighborhood, as demonstrated by his condescending objection to the measure, saying he was 'wondering what state he's living in' as Prop 36 favorability polled at or above 70%.
Yet -- despite passing by a majority of voters -- California legislators are dragging their feet on how best to fund Prop 36:
California’s Newsom, legislature tussle over anti-theft measure passed by 68% of voters https://t.co/VgZWUWTV2p
— Just the News (@JustTheNews) March 3, 2025
After more than two-thirds of voters passed Proposition 36 last year, cracking down on drug and theft crimes, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the legislature have been at odds over funding the measure’s enforcement.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office says the governor’s budget may overfund prison costs but underfund courts and treatment, though it says treatment for behavioral and substance abuse issues is available through Medi-Cal, the Behavioral Health Services Act and other state programs.
With Prop. 36 now in effect, serial thieves and drug criminals can be prosecuted with felonies for what, until Prop. 36 and after Prop. 47 in 2014, had often been unprosecuted misdemeanors. Prop. 36 also created a new crime class called a “treatment mandated felony” that allows convicted individuals to complete necessary substance abuse or mental health treatment as an alternative to prison.
This is a clear pattern in California. In 2008, voters overwhelmingly passed Prop. 8, defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Like Prop. 36, Prop. 8 passed by a healthy majority -- which meant a diverse cross-section of California voters made their opinions known.
Democrats took that to the Supreme Court and had the will of voters in California and elsewhere overturned by the Supreme Court.
In 2014, voters overwhelmingly approved Prop. 1, which allocated billions of dollars for water storage and reservoirs.
You know, those things that would've come in very handy while Los Angeles burned late last year.
Eleven years after voters said they wanted this, not a single reservoir has been built.
Now it appears the California legislature -- with a Democrat supermajority -- is going to thwart the will of the people again by dragging its feet on funding Prop. 36.
There's no other way to interpret this. You know how I know? Because the California legislature wasted zero time passing tens of millions of dollars in legislation to help the state resist President Donald Trump and his agenda.
For as much as Democrats love democracy, they love to cosplay as the Defenders of Democracy even more. It's the worst superhero concept since the MCU's 'The Marvels.'
But when voters democratically decide on legislation the Democratic Party doesn't like, they find ways to make sure the will of the people never becomes a reality, whether through purse strings or the courts.
