Welcome! Always glad you’re here. Today is Friday, Dec. 19, 2025.
Today in History:
1776: Thomas Paine publishes his first “The American Crisis” essay, beginning “These are the times that try men’s souls.” (Actually, the exact date on this is a little fuzzy.)
1932: The BBC begins overseas broadcasts.
1958: First radio broadcast from space, as President Eisenhower sends a Christmas message.
1960: Frank Sinatra’s first recording session with the now legendary Reprise Records.
2010: The “Miracle at the New Meadowlands,” when the Philadelphia Eagles trailed the N.Y. Giants by 21 points with eight minutes to play before scoring four touchdowns in the final seven minutes. (That’s been happening just about every week with the Buffalo Bills this season.)
Birthdays today include Admiral Sir William Edward Parry, Edwin Stanton, and Leonid Brezhnev.
__________
Ten-dollar gas in California? Let’s be more specific: $10 gas in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California? Yeah, that does sound a bit more likely, doesn’t it? But what has led to this pass?
According to reports I’ve seen, after 140 years or so of operating in the state, Chevron‘s CEO Mike Wirth decided to shut down operations in California. He texted the governor, saying, “I’d like to tell you about it before you read about it.” Common courtesy, right?
But, do you understand the depth of this thing? After 140 some-odd years, a $300 billion company, with thousands of jobs on the line, is throwing in the towel, deciding to leave the state. The consequences of this are enormous.
Newsom’s response? “I don’t need to talk about it. I’m good.”
Gas is already at or above $7.00 a gallon in some parts of Los Angeles. (I hasten to add that in California, about a buck and a half of that cost is at-the-pump taxes, of which about a quarter goes to funding the high-speed rail to nowhere, a subject worthy of a column unto itself.)
If you add in the Phillips 66 operation in LA County and Valero up in the Bay area, a total of three refineries are gone. History. Kaput. All the jobs, to say nothing of the tax revenue that came with them, are no more by the end of this month. That’s about 20% of the total gasoline supply in the state. That’s no small happening, and it will certainly not have a small impact on the already struggling people living in the state.
Newsom’s response? “I don’t need to talk about it. I’m good.”
According to other reports I’ve seen, up in the Bay Area, Valero was offered $200 million to remain operational in the state. The company declined, essentially indicating that it can no longer operate within the draconian laws, rules, and regs coming out of Sacramento, which make operating in the Golden State around 40% higher than anywhere else in the country. Understand, these multi-billion dollar companies would rather lose the business than put up with the openly hostile operating conditions that Gruesome and the flying monkeys in Sacramento mandate.
Newsom’s response? “I don’t need to talk about it. I’m good.”
Understand me here: Studies based on California’s own data suggest they’re headed for between $8 and 1$0 dollars a gallon by the end of 2026. Sacramento responded to this report with vitriol and an attempt to discredit those doing the study. There was no attempt to dispute the data. Just denial, and an attempt to shut down the people who did the study.
(Gee, where have we seen this kind of thing play out before? The Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, anyone?)
Now, I will remind you that California requires a special blend of gasoline that, at the moment, nobody outside California even makes. You can’t just go to other states to get that gas. So what’s the plan? Where is California going to make up for this shortage they’re causing? Apparently, they’re planning on shipping it in, in a refined state, from places like India, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
So the state government that claims to be trying to save the planet is shipping in their own special blend of gasoline from around the world, in trips that average about four weeks, in ships that generally burn the dirtiest fuel known to man.
We both know that’s not only counterproductive to the state’s cause of “saving the planet,” but it raises baseline pump costs and creates kinks in the supply chain that will raise costs even further. Picture a war, or a storm, or any of a thousand different mishaps, hampering the fuel’s passage. And picture the amount of effort needed to set up that supply chain. There’s bound to be some transitional issues there at the start. And what happens when one of these ships explodes? You know it’s bound to eventually. If any of that happens, California goes dark.
This is what laughingly passes for energy policy in California, under the Democrat party.
We’re talking about a perfect storm here. Long lines, stations shutting down, and if you can find any gas, prices in the $10-per-gallon range at minimum. Any kinks in that supply line, and $10 will seem cheap by comparison.
All while the Democrats running the state blame Donald Trump for not lowering gas prices. The hypocrisy is astounding.
The lack of refining capacity will also affect diesel fuel, aviation fuel, etc. So the trucks that bring Californians everything they have will need to charge more just to continue operating there. Costs related to air travel will similarly skyrocket.
Newsom’s response? “I don’t need to talk about it. I’m good.”
Related: Government Healthcare: Abject Failure
I think it was Byron Katie who pointed out years ago that there are two ways to be: At war with reality, or at peace. The policies we see in California are at war with reality. The consequences of that positioning are obvious. But the Democrats in California are good with it.
If there’s a positive in all of this, this may be it: This is not going to work well with Newsom’s presidential aspirations. The last person in California won’t need to turn out the lights; they will have long since gone dark with this bunch running things.
Here’s the thought for the day: Take care of those around you today. You’ll be amazed at how willingly they take care of you.
I’ll see you here tomorrow.
We’re coming up on Christmas. Like the line poles along the highway, dates like that go by faster than you think. VIP memberships at PJ Media are a great Christmas gift, but don’t forget to get one for yourself. Use promo code MERRY74 for 74% off your bill in both cases.
