Hmm: California Governor Blames Trump for State’s Homeless Problem

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week that it was all the Trump administration’s fault that the state’s Democrats can’t get control of a rapidly-spiraling homelessness crisis. In remarks that make little sense from any perspective, Newsom failed to take responsibility for left-wing policies that have directly led to the rise of tent cities, ruined lives, and the fall of once-great places like San Francisco.

According to Newsom, California would be able to address this problem if it weren’t for those dastardly Trump officials, who are holding back “key information” that the state needs.

“California is making historic investments now to help our communities fight homelessness,” Newsom said. “But we have work to do and we need the federal government to do its part.”

As the Daily Wire points out, Newsom’s claims about the GOP and the Trump administration don’t really jibe with reality.

“The ‘very important material’ California is waiting on from the federal government is nothing more than an official Housing and Urban Development count of precisely how many homeless people live in the state of California. Newsom claims that, without those numbers, he can’t release more than $500 million earmarked to abate the systemic problem,” they report.

“California conducted those counts months ago, however, and merely sent the results to the government to certify,” they continue. “And, as Newsom said in his own remarks, he reserves the right to release the funding — or, at least to accept applications to spend the money — before the federal government issues any official numbers.”

We don’t doubt that there’s some truth to Newsom’s complaint, simply because anytime there are multiple government agencies working on a problem, stuff is going to move at the speed of sloth. So, yeah, there’s probably some red tape at HUD that’s making the agency drag its feet when it comes to getting California the numbers they need. And there is absolutely some stagnation inside California’s various agencies; hell, Los Angeles has been sitting on millions of dollars that the city’s leaders can’t decide how to spend.

But even when California does throw money at this problem, they do so in a wasteful way that doesn’t actually address the essential issues. Unless the state can gain control of spiraling problems like affordable housing and rampant drug addiction, homelessness will continue to be the public-facing symptom. And a failure to enforce (or even pass) laws prohibiting disgusting public conduct will turn these cities into loathsome trash heaps.

Everyone knows that Newsom has his sights set on the White House. But if he wants to make the leap from governor to president, he needs to start by adopting a “buck stops here” mentality. Whining and blaming are not treasured qualities in a politician (though they are unfortunately common).