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Life under Democrat rule is getting very scary
Opinion

We live in some truly frightening times. I’m not talking about COVID because as far as I’m concerned that’s over.

I’m talking about the cost of living under Joseph Robinette Biden.

I overheard a diesel customer at a Circle K in Turlock ask for the receipt for his pickup. The clerk asked, “For $164.81?”

I just about choked.

“Diesel,” the clerk told me.

On May 9 I gassed up with the lowest grade unleaded at $5.29 and it came to $98. That tank lasted me two weeks and on Monday I fueled up at the same pump and gas was $5.75 and the fill up was $98.29 for 17.06 gallons.

The Daily Mail reports: “Gas stations in Washington reprogram pumps to prepare for $10-a-gallon fuel as Bidenflation sends average price soaring to $4.57 - almost twice the $2.41 during Trump’s final month.”

The move by 76 comes as the nation’s average gasoline price soars to $4.57 per gallon, almost twice the $2.41 average during Trump’s last month in office. 

A spokesperson for ‘76’ gas stations confirmed said it’s reconfiguring pumps to “make room” for the possibility of double-digit prices.

Some gas stations in Washington have begun running out of gas as supplies become crunched.

I still believe this is all by design to force the radical climate change agenda. But what it will do is stun the leaders in charge when it comes to election time.

The high cost of living is what happens when folks thumb their nose at good times because they don’t like “mean tweets” from the “Orange Man.”


* * * * *

Sheriff Jeff Dirkse made a post on Facebook that ignited some outrage, as it should. Under a photo of a suspect in a jumpsuit with his face blotted out, Dirkse wrote: “This guy should be in prison. He will be again soon. Today he was arrested for kidnapping, rape, sodomy and felony battery. None of this should have occurred because he should still be in prison. In 2019 he was sentenced to four years but was released early, preying on another victim. How many times does bad policy in our state have to victimize someone? I’m proud of the team for their dedication and professionalism today. Job well done!”

Some were peeved that the suspect’s face was erased. Don’t blame the sheriff for that. Blame the Democrats in Sacramento who passed a law signed by Gov. Newsom that forbids law enforcement from posting photos or mugshots of criminals on social media.

I wrote about this last August. State Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), wrote AB 1475 that prohibits a police department or sheriff’s office from releasing booking photos of a suspect arrested on suspicion of committing a nonviolent crime unless specified circumstances exist.

Predictably, Newsom signed the bill. He has built his career on protecting criminals.

Low doesn’t think you have a right to know. He doesn’t believe in the free dissemination of information. He feels when mugshots are released without waiting for a conviction or for charges to be formally filed, “then the internet mobs rush to judgment.” Sometimes judgments are a good thing and essential to survival.

Low, who proudly notes on his website that he “was the youngest openly LGBTQ+ mayor in the country at age 26,” is apparently concerned that mugshots are “often unflattering” and “posting these images often is to shame and ridicule suspects.”


* * * * *

Be very careful when you set up meetings online for the exchange of goods in a sale. You may not have heard what happened on Thursday evening, April 28 in downtown Ceres. During a “sale” encounter at 9:52 p.m. the pretend buyer whipped out a handgun in the 3000 block of Fourth Street to steal, not buy the items. The incident was captured on camera and a BOLO was issued to neighboring agencies for the suspect and vehicle.

A short while later in Lathrop the CHP found and arrested Robert Collins, 31, of Stockton and booked him into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of robbery, exhibiting a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Remember, drug addicts will do drastic things to get their fix – including setting up innocent citizens for a robbery at gunpoint.

I’m not so sure meeting late at night around closed businesses was a wise thing for the seller to do. Maybe next time think about a more secure place to transact items – like outside of the Ceres Police Station.


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Our state leaders just don’t get it. To be clear, I’m talking about Newsom and any Democrat who thinks like he does.

On May 18, Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) blasted the governor’s budget adjustment (called the May Revise), calling Newsom’s budget surplus spending “ineffective and unsustainable.”

“The governor’s newly revised budget completely missed the mark for what Californians need most right now and the LAO (Legislative Analyst Office) agrees that his priorities are downright irresponsible. Not only did the LAO confirm what Republicans have been saying for months that the most effective way to help curb the cost of gas is by suspending the gas tax, they also pointed out that the governor’s grand plan to provide tax rebates for zero-emission vehicles does absolutely nothing to help provide Californians with relief at the pump.”

The state has the largest budget surplus in history, and the Newsom’s frivolous wish list offers no real help to overtaxed Californians struggling with inflation and inexcusable gas prices.

According to Gallagher, the governor’s proposals set California up for a fiscal cliff in 2023 “as he refuses to allocate sufficient resources to the state’s rainy day fund. I’m struggling to decide which is worse – the governor’s failure to provide immediate relief to Californians or his unwavering determination to spend every penny and drive the state into deeper debt.”

Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-Kern County, attacked how Newsom did not propose funding for aboveground water in this year’s budget.

The state has not approved permits for water storage projects like Sites Reservoir – after almost a decade of voters’ approval of Proposition 1, a $2.7 billion bond dedicated to build water storage. These empty promises come on the heels of the California Coastal Commission’s rejection of a desalination plant in Southern California. Who appointed most of these commissioners? Newsom, of course.

Fong notes that as Californians face the third year of a devastating drought Newsom refuses to invest in aboveground water storage in this year’s or next year’s budget.

Newsom’s answer is to conserve our way out of a drought, which honestly won’t work.


 * * * * *

The Bible has some interesting things about depraved hearts and dark thinking and what we see today with people’s refusal to acknowledge reality.

Take abortion activist Aimee Arrambide who testified before the House Judiciary Committee in a hearing on the topic of “Abortion Access and Care.” Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C asked Arrambide, “What do you say a woman is?” She answered: “I believe that everyone can identify for themselves.” Arrambide was asked, “Do you believe then that men can become pregnant and have abortions?” to which she answered in the affirmative.

One of my favorites in Congress, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., mocked Arrambide’s line against the leftist talking point that men shouldn’t express any opinions on abortion because it’s an exclusively female issue.

“So I guess men can have an opinion on abortion after all. Thanks for clearing that up,” she tweeted.

The undoing of the Left will be their utter ridiculousness in the face of reality.


* * * * *

Coming out of the pandemic I wanted to check the extent of COVID in Stanislaus County by checking out the COVID dashboard. On Friday all hospitals in the county had admitted 41 COVID patients with 36 ICU beds available.

Since the pandemic, 1.39 million COVID tests (not including home kits) have been performed with an 8.8 percent test positivity.

If you believe the numbers – and I don’t because far too many deaths have been miscategorized for financial reasons – then 1,653 total COVID-related deaths have occurred in Stanislaus County. That’s out of 119,396 confirmed cases. That means COVID had a survivability rate of 99.98 percent in Stanislaus County.

We destroyed our way of life for this?


* * * * *

You can tell a lot about candidates by their mailers, which have been flooding our mailboxes. You can also get a read on who is threatened by whom.

Chad Condit of Ceres sent out an attack piece on fellow Democrat Jessica Self, portraying her as someone with LA values trying to represent the Valley. Both are running for the 22nd Assembly District. I do happen to think Condit's views are more conservative however. Republicans in the race are Juan Alanis, Joel Gutierrez Campos and Guadalupe “Lupita” Salazar. The top two candidates will go on to the November primary.

Jeff McKay, a Ceres native now living in the exclusive Del Rio community north of Modesto, has sent out at least two pieces attacking George Radanovich, labeling him as a career politician. The two Republicans are running for the newly created 4th state Senate race. Others running are Democrats Marie Alvarado and Tim Robertson; and Republicans Steven C. Bailey, Jolene Daly, Michael Gordon and Jack Griffith.

With more candidates, voters have a tougher job choosing.

There are a host of local offices where only one candidate is running and it makes for a very boring election. Running unopposed are Stanislaus County Assessor Don Gaekle, Auditor-Controller Kasmir Gil, Clerk-Recorder Donna Linder, District Attorney Jeff Laugero, Sheriff-Coroner Jeff Dirkse, County Superintendent of Schools Scott Kuykendall and Treasurer-Tax Collector Donna Riley.


This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com