Democrats can defeat MAGA by governing better

Before Democrats can take back the White House, they need to show they can competently govern.

LA Times

Donald Trump got to the White House by exploiting hot button issues such as transgenders in sports, illegal immigration and homelessness in big cities. These were issues in which Democrats were extremely vulnerable.

But as I’ve said before, Trump doesn’t care about these things. There are only two things Trump cares about: money and women for himself and his family.

Politically, his goals have been made clear in his first 100 days: enact crippling tariffs, dismantle the federal government and abolish the income tax.

If Democrats want to take back Congress and the White House, they need to show they can govern effectively in big cities across America, which frankly, are in horrible condition. I would argue it’s a big reason Democrats are losing elections. This is my unwanted political advice of the week.

Our cities are dirty, rundown, outdated and swarming with homeless people. Here in Los Angeles, Democrats face the startling reality of overly compassionate policies and the unwillingness to safeguard taxpayer dollars.

Beginning in 2017, Los Angeles County voters have pledged an unprecedented amount of money toward combating homelessness. Measure H, a quarter-cent sales tax, raised approximately $355 million annually.

And now, the recently passed Measure A and and the city’s ULA is expected to raise a whopping $1.5 billion annually through a half-cent sales tax. Until 2027, both measures will be in effect.

The new measures built into them a complex safety network of oversight and accountability. But will it succeed?

Democrat voters have a lot of faith in how government spends tax dollars, a trust it seems is completely misplaced based on recent data. Maybe LA County voters don’t care if their money is wasted and abused, but the rest of the country is taking notes.

How Democrats perform in big cities across America, in my opinion will determine their fate in the national elections to come. Because as it stands now, they aren’t doing very well, and I believe this is a large reason why.

Consider at this very moment, a criminal task force with the US Attorney’s Office in LA is investigating potential fraud and corruption related to the county and city homelessness funds.

The results of the investigation have not come out yet, but the public got a first look at the wide ranging issues through a court-ordered audit earlier this year.

The review found that services provided by the city of LA and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority lacked the proper oversight to monitor compliance, opening the door for waste and corruption.

This would explain why in 2020 the LA Daily News found that costs per housing unit under LA City’s Proposition HHH in 2016, had ballooned from around $400,000 estimated to as much as $700,000 per unit. More than half of the living spaces were expected to exceed half a million dollars each.

Now five years later, the county has dismantled LAHSA. It’s chief executive resigned. And officials are pledging renewed oversight.

We have a massive problem in Los Angeles with people living on the streets suffering from drug abuse and mental illness. The city and the county need to deal with this essential human health problem.

They need to stop trying to build affordable housing for the marginally homeless and deal with the most acute issue. The nation is watching.

Until Democrats show they can effectively spend taxpayer dollars without fraud and abuse, they don’t deserve to govern. It’s stories like these that gave fuel to Elon Musk and DOGE, and now look at what’s happened.

It’s imperative that if Democrats want to keep the nation’s trust, they must show they can get results. There’s no better place to begin than in Los Angeles.

Thanks for reading.