California lawmaker slams Trump’s pick of RFK Jr for ‘spreading conspiracy theories’
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ASSEMBLY HEALTH COMMITTEE CHAIR SLAMS TRUMP HHS PICK
Former, and future, Presdent Donald Trump stunned many on Thursday when he announced his pick of anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his choice to succeed California’s own Xavier Becerra as the next head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump said in an official statement announcing his choice. “Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”
The announcement left many politicians and public health officials shook.
Kennedy has spread the false narrative that vaccines cause autism; he and his organization Children’s Health Defense played a role in one of the worst measles outbreaks in recent memory, according to FactCheck.org, when in 2018 Kennedy bombarded American Samoa with vaccine misinformation following the accidental deaths of two infants, leading to an outbreak that led to more than 5,700 people getting sick and 83 deaths, mostly small children.
Politicians, mostly Democratic, across the nation condemned the selection, including California Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, D-Alameda, who chairs the Assembly Health Committee.
In a statement, Bonta — who is married to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who will likely be challenging Trump’s policies in court — said that “Americans cannot afford for the incoming president to play games with their healthcare or treat the well-being of our citizens like a partisan game.”
She acknowledged, and said she shared, Kennedy’s goals of combating chronic disease, addressing toxic pollution and supporting access to safe food.
But, she added “Mr. Kennedy lacks the medical or public health background needed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Americans deserve better than someone who has only made a name for himself by spreading conspiracy theories and pushing back against some of humanity’s greatest public health achievements,” Bonta said.
As chair of the Assembly Health Committee, Bonta pledged to use her position to “ensure that our state will continue to rely on science and data to shape our public health policy.”
CONGRESSMAN CALLS ON LARA TO STEP DOWN AS INSURANCE COMMISSIONER
California Congressman John Garamendi has called on State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to either do his job or leave.
Garamendi, who served eight years as the state’s elected insurance commissioner, told ABC 7 News — in a video shared by Lara nemesis Consumer Watchdog — that he has been “very concerned” about Lara’s conduct since taking office in 2019, particularly when it comes to standing up to the insurance industry and the sky high premiums insurers are charging.
The Democratic congressman, whose district includes the area between Sacramento and the Bay Area, told ABC 7 News that “Over the last three years, I observed that this commissioner is not willing to take the hard task, and the necessary task, to stand up to the insurance industry. Now if the commissioner is not willing to do that, and there’s plenty of signs that he is not, then he’s not doing his job and he should leave.”
Lara’s office did not respond to The Bee’s request for comment by deadline. In the ABC 7 News video, Lara said he had no response to Garamendi’s remarks.
The embattled insurance commissioner has drawn praise from the insurance industry, but criticism from groups like Consumer Watchdog, for his plan to address the flight of insurers from the Golden State.
CALIFORNIA LEADS THE NATION IN HOUSEHOLD DEBT
Via David Lightman...
Think you’re drowning in debt in high-tax, high-priced California? You may be right.
California’s household debt was the second highest in the nation this summer, according to a new study from WalletHub, which analyzes financial data.
The increase in debt, $1,075 per household between the second and third quarters of the year, was also number two.
The average household in the state has $252,927 in debt during this year’s third quarter, the report found. Only Hawaii, where household debt averages $274,978, topped that figure.
Lowest such debt was in Mississippi, $75,563.
“California’s high cost of living and its housing market contribute greatly to rising debt. As home prices remain steep, many residents are forced to take on more mortgage debt, while the state’s reliance on credit for daily expenses and auto loans exacerbates the debt situation,” said Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst.
He found “the broader trend of debt accumulation suggests a growing reliance on credit in the face of inflation and rising costs of living.”
But Lupo also noted that the trend “doesn’t necessarily indicate widespread financial distress. It is important to consider factors like delinquency rates and residents’ ability to meet payments. Even with increased borrowing, the state’s diverse economy may allow many households to manage their debt levels,.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The fact that Texas is out-growing California is a damning indictment of the Democratic Party. This is just facts, whine all you want.”
- Samantha Hancox-Li, associate editor at Liberal Currents Magazine, via Bluesky.
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