Title 42 is a government health law used by the CDC to rapidly eject illegal aliens attempting to breach our southern border. It was enacted to control the spread of COVID-19 in border facilities, protect U.S. agents from the virus and preserve medical resources. Biden wants to end Title 42, allowing the nation to be flooded with needy, destitute people who want U.S. taxpayers to pay their way in life.
More than 1 million parents and children traveling as families have entered U.S. border custody during Biden’s presidency, compared to 25,790 during the time when Trump enforced Title 42.
Gov. Newsom said the end of Title 42 could “break” California. Newsom said Biden is dumping “more and more” migrants into California because the state is “taking care of folks.” Funny that he is complaining about the “disproportionate” burden placed on California when he is the one who has been offering all kinds of free bonuses to attract migrants here. Now he’s saying that he fears “people will end up on the streets.”
It’s Newsom policies and his stance against a border wall that have made California a mecca for illegal aliens.
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The steel has been going up on the new courthouse in downtown Modesto and it is a monster at $340 million. It’s being constructed on the entire block bounded by G and H streets between Ninth and Tenth streets. Old-timers will remember that was the same block as the old Greyhound bus station and Turner’s Hardware store. By the way, a very young Merle Haggard – he was just 14 – was involved in an assault outside of that bus depot.
The new courthouse is long overdue. The present county courthouse may have been fine for the 1960s Stanislaus County but woefully inadequate today. The new courthouse of eight stories will serve the community for many decades into the future.
If you have a chance, go down and watch the iron workers crawling all over that giant structure, welding beams together and clanging metal. It’s quite a sight.
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Homelessness made the news again last week but it’s not news to us in California. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development detailed that 30 percent of the entire country’s homeless population is in California. If you want a number that’s about 172,000. Consider that California is about 12 percent of the U.S. population.
And according to HUD, California had the largest rate of increase in its homeless population in the country at 6.2 percent.
I won’t blame the entire homeless problem on the single party that rules the state but let’s face it, Democrat policies are driving up the cost of everything here – from fast food to gas to housing. Regulations, minimum wage, environmental restrictions, turning a blind eye to illegal aliens and taxes all are making life here too expensive for many in the Central Valley in particular. We aren’t building enough homes in California. And before you say you don’t want Ceres to build more homes and apartments as long as people keep reproducing we must build more housing.
True, homeless is up in every state. I would say the vast majority of persons end up homeless because of drug and alcohol abuse and because folks have made poor decisions in life. Some are homeless because of the sins of others – such as women who have escaped abusive relationships.
State efforts are not working. As long as Sacramento doesn’t acknowledge that their legislation is contributing significantly to the problem, California will continue to lead the nation in homelessness. And I certainly hope that when our insanely egotistical governor has the gall to run for president in 2024 or 2028, that his opponents stress what an abysmal failed leadership he offers.
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I remember walking into fast-food places in the 1960s and 1970s and the places were packed. Go in one today. Carl’s Jr. on Mitchell Road is pretty much a ghost town – but no wonder when you consider that a large soft drink is $4.32!
I went into Wienerschnitzel last week and for a basic hamburger, medium fries and medium drink and it came to over $12. If you are a fan of minimum wage – where the government dictates that someone earn more money per hour than their skill sets call for – consider that the minimum wage is actually just another cost foisted upon the consumers by Democrat lawmakers.
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All of you who are concerned about crime and who unwisely re-elected Newsom for another four miserable years, how do you like the fact that the state is closing more prisons. Apparently lawmakers have an aversion to building more prisons like they do building dams.
Newsom closed Deuel Vocational Institute in Tracy in September 2021 and now the state wants to close the prison in Susanville next June. The Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Riverside County will close by March 2025. The medium-security male facility holds 2,039 inmates, 17.3% above its designed capacity. Also to close are the women’s section of Folsom State Prison in and parts of Pelican Bay, the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo, the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, the California Institution for Men in Chino, and the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi.
This is what happens when liberals take over. There is a mindset that people shouldn’t go to prison for breaking laws. There are groups that support this mindset, including a group wrongly named Californians for Safety and Justice. Its executive director, Tinisch Hollins repeats the same old worn-out lie that “over-reliance on incarceration … does nothing to actually prevent crime in the first place.” Locking up habitual criminals surely does prevent crime because they are not free to go out and do it again.
How many people have been murdered by felons released from prison early? A lot. It’s happened recently in Modesto!
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Are you a happy person? I’m asking because studies indicate that to be happy relationships with others is key.
Riverside Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky says that there are things we can do to become happier, such as socialization, even talking to strangers! Doing acts of kindness – such as paying it forward – also brings on feelings of happiness.
I enjoy my social interaction at church – in person, not watching online.
At a time when Americans feel the most alone as ever and not happy, church attendance is at an all-time low. In-person church attendance dropped by 45 percent during the government lockdowns of the pandemic and now at least a fifth of all Americans embrace no religion. About 18 percent do not believe in God, an all-time high in our country. That is disturbing and sad.
Church membership in America was steady at around 70 percent of the U.S. population from the 1940s through the 1990s. Now it’s under half.
Interestingly, church membership is higher among college-educated Americans than those who didn’t go to college.
I only share all this because, well, we’ve all strayed a bit from God and need to get closer – especially in the New Year of new beginnings. If you don’t have a church you attend, I know of a church full of great and loving people led by a great pastor. I’m speaking of Valley Christian Church of Ceres and Pastor Chris Henry. And, no, I don’t attend there. There are other great churches in Ceres so any of them would be a great place to start.
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It’s good to see a full council for a change after the 2021 resignations of the Channce Condit and brother Couper Condit and the March 2022 resignation of Linda Ryno.
It was an interesting experience witnessing who showed up for the swearing-in of three members of the Ceres City Council on Dec. 12. Of course there were family members of the newly-elected officials present but there was a large contingent of liberal Democrat activists – who don’t have any interest in Ceres – rallying around Rosalinda Vierra. Among them were Liz Talbott, a liberal Democrat who occupies a seat on the Waterford City Council and former Modesto City Councilman Tony Madrigal who was soundly defeated by Terry Withrow in his bid for the District 3 race in the June primary.
Let’s hope liberal points of views like defunding police don’t worm their way into a nonpartisan local office and decision making.
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
