During his "My Take," Tuesday, "Varney & Co." host Stuart Varney discussed Gavin Newsom's political future, arguing the governor seems like a popular politician in California, but the rest of the nation views his state as a "socially dysfunctional society."
STUART VARNEY: If you are the governor of a state, and you run for the presidency, your state had better be doing well.
Gavin Newsom is the governor of California.
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He's running for the presidency, whether he admits it or not, but California is not doing well.
In fact, things are getting worse. The formerly "Golden State" is in decline on Newsom's watch.
California's homeless problem is widely reported. The crime spree hits local news on a daily basis.
The country has an image of California as a socially dysfunctional society.
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In the extreme, that's a hard nut for Newsom to crack.
But look at the fundamentals, issues by which Newsom will be judged on a national basis.
California has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 5.3%. The national average is 3.9%.
Dig deeper, and you see there are not many jobs available in California.
Less than one per unemployed person. Elsewhere, there are 1.6 jobs for each unemployed person.
The deficit. Newsom says its $38 billion. State authorities say it will be $73 billion.
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Either way, by law, the budget must be balanced. So what is Newsom going to do? Raise taxes?
They are already the highest in the land. He faces cuts to services.
How's that going to go down across the country?
Out-migration. The population has declined in each of the last three years.
There are a lot of rich people leaving and taking their tax revenue with them.
Gavin Newsom is a skilled politician, and he seems to remain popular in California, but I just don't see how he gets around the state's problems.
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Does the rest of America want to look like California?
Does the rest of America want high taxes, high poverty, mindless climate rules?
There's a high level of Trump hatred in California, but not in the rest of the country.
Newsom-nomics will not fly east of the California-Nevada state line.
