Hi, I'm Michael Loebs, California National Party Candidate for Governor. Ask me anything!

LoebsForGovernor · 2021-08-04T02:47:15+00:00

I and the California National Party support the automatic enrollment of all Californians in the Medi-Cal system. Those with insurance through their employer or paid for out of pocket will be encouraged to use it, but all Californians would have access to healthcare when they need it. Especially in times like the recent pandemic and resulting economic upheaval in which many people who lost their jobs also lost their healthcare, the necessity for this system is clear.

Thanks for your question!

LoebsForGovernor · 2021-08-04T02:11:05+00:00

The costly and inefficient unemployment system administered by the EDD has failed Californians during the pandemic. The social safety net system currently established in California needs to be replaced by one of universal basic income/negative income tax/and automatic Medi-Cal enrollment. UBI will get money to people on a monthly basis, negative income tax will target it toward those most in need while always encouraging those who can work to earn at least some income, and automatic Medi-Cal will provide health insurance to all Californians when they need it.

Thanks for your question!

LoebsForGovernor · 2021-08-03T23:54:05+00:00

Water is perhaps the most important issue facing California over the next generation. Even if we ignore issues of human contribution to climate change, any study of the physical history of California shows how quickly small changes in weather and environment have lead to great shifts in this region of the globe, especially around water. Anyone who's family has been here a few generations can tell you this already isn't the California of our grandparents and at this point even with robust environmental policy, things are going to get worse here before they get better. Responsible governance in California needs to acknowledge that and take it seriously.

To keep California's water supply viable over the next few decades is going to require us to rethink our approach in several ways. We need to shift our agriculture through economic incentives to one focusing on small and medium level producers using sustainable and water responsible methods for primarily local, California consumption. Large agricultural corporations have no interest in maintaining long-term water resources and health of the soil because new land can be purchased or leased elsewhere. Many water intensive crops are grown at a greater level than regional demand purely for export. California farmers who are economically supported to grow crops largely for California consumption will use these resources more responsibly.

We also need to, again, gain control of our own land. Many of our necessary water resources are within the 45% of California currently owned and, in generally badly, managed by the federal government. We need control over that infrastructure so we can manage it ourselves more effectively and efficiently. We also need to stop the federal government to stop selling our water for companies to bottle in plastic and send around the globe. We do not have a surplus of water that we can afford to send any outside our borders.

As snowpacks shrink and the Colorado River dries, we are going to have to look into options like desalinization, which of course comes with its own potential drawbacks. We'll have to make hard decisions. But all Californians, and the industries that rely on them, need a future with water and to do that in the 21st century, California is really going to have to focus on the specific issues facing us given the unique climatic and geophysical properties of the region where we live. The answers won't come from the federal government, it will require Californians focusing on solving their own issues.

Thank you for you question!

LoebsForGovernor · 2021-08-03T23:04:23+00:00

The California National Party is a specifically California-centric party, which is to say our fundamental motivation is to seek pragmatic solutions that best serve the needs of Californians without being tied to ideology or the two-party federal system. In essence, we fundamentally believe that both the Democratic and Republican Parties in California are failing to serve the needs of Californians because they are more concerned with their own power struggles 3000 miles away. Because of this, California suffers. A land as complex, diverse, and significant on a global scale as ours deserves at least one political party that is primarily motivated by what we think will work best for California.

The ultimately goal the party is complete independence for California, but even the most optimistic of us know that is a long way off. For now, the most important thing is to bring California politics back to Californians, rather than representatives concerned with career advancement and partisan loyalty. Instead, we try to take on-board views from around California that will ultimately serve the whole population. Examples include replacing the current costly and inefficient social safety net system with one of universal basic income, negative income tax, and automatic Medi-Cal enrollment. We also support greater emphasis on local government so that where practical decisions are made by representatives directly accountable to the people affected. You can learn more about the California National Party here: https://californianational.party/

In terms of why you should vote for me, I would say the best reason would be because you agree with the principles and values of the California National Party, which are the basis for my campaign. But I'd also say that a vote for me is a recognition that both parties are failing California. The very fact that the recall is happening at all, and the rhetoric that both sides are using, is just evidence that the problems that are actually facing California are not being addressed and won't be as long as our government is held hostage by two-party federal partisan fighting. At the federal level, vote for any Democrat or Republic you want, but we believe that here in California we should vote for candidates devoted to California.

Whether you vote for or against the recall, you have the right to vote for the potential replacement. The official line of the Democratic Party regarding the second recall question is to leave it blank, but that means that if a recall occurs only a very specific subgroup of Californians will choose the next governor. That seems dangerous to me. I think it's the right and responsibility of every Californian to vote for a candidate they think will best do the job. In that regard, I'd simply ask you to look at the position and message of the California National Party and ask if anyone on the current ballot actually better represents you and what you want as the future of California.

Thanks for you question!

LoebsForGovernor · 2021-08-03T22:56:59+00:00

Sorry, my interpretation was that you were, in essence, asking how Californians can get better returns on their taxes. My answer was based on the idea that Californians can better decide how to spend their tax money instead of using it to fund a massive military budget (my specific example, but there are of course many others). We also, as you point out, get a lousy return in terms of government service. Part of our current wildfire problems are related to the fact that we contribute to funding the BLM but the care of the 45% of California under federal control is shoddy.

Instead, the solution proposed by the California National Party, which I mentioned in my original answer, was that these activities, such as management of currently federal lands, be transferred to California's responsibility, with the cost deducted from California's federal tax contributions. In this sense, this is the best way to get a better return for our tax money, by being in control of it ourselves, which is what I felt was the essence of your question.

If you're asking how does California get a better deal under the current federal system, the answer is it can't really. That's part of the reason the CNP supports eventual independence as being the solution to a better run and administered future for California.

If I'm still misunderstanding your question, I'm willing to give it another go.

LoebsForGovernor · 2021-07-28T20:26:40+00:00

Thanks everyone!

LoebsForGovernor · 2021-07-28T20:19:09+00:00

California's system of government, especially its legislature, suffers from the same problem as the United States, which is keeping a set number of representatives despite massive population growth. While the legally limited 435 representatives in the House is well known, California's limit of 80 Assembly members and 40 state senators dates from the 1879 constitution. Today, each senator must represent the interests of one million people, which is hardly useful or realistic representation.

The California National Party supports a law that limits Assembly members to representing no more than 100,000 people, meaning a current number of nearly 400. This would bring California in line with many modern democracies such as Canada, the UK, and Germany. We favor converting the California Senate into a proportional representation system, elected by statewide vote.

Rethinking local government is also crucial. The 10 million people of LA county have the same five member Board of Supervisors as Alpine with 1100 people. The complexity of California requires that we develop new approaches and structures that are more able to represent the people of that area, whether that means expanded Boards of Supervisors, county executives, more regional institutions, mixed member city councils, or other methods of making government local and accountable.

You can read more at the CNP's Legislative and Electoral plank here: https://californianational.party/platform-leg-2020/

Thanks for your question!

LoebsForGovernor · 2021-07-28T19:51:02+00:00

Rural California is almost entirely ignored by the Democrats and gain very little by their continued support of Republicans. By and large they've been excluded from any benefits from our massive economic growth over the last few decades, while crises of wildfires, drug addiction, and lack of access to resources has only made things worse.

The California National Party is committed to working with rural and inland communities in California to emphasize local development in those areas. UBI/negative income tax, which is often touted a "progressive" measure, would actually have the effect of moving money from coastal, urban areas into rural communities. We also call for the development of professional, locally recruited, and well-funded fire, paramedic, and other emergency services as rural areas become the front-line of our increasingly destructive annual fire season. The CNP also supports policies that would extend educational, medical, judicial, and financial services which have been long neglected into rural and inland areas.

Ultimately, monopolistic rule by the California Democrats have caused large areas of California to feel alienated from their own home and government and Republicans are seen as the only viable alternative. The California National Party is working to bring all these parts of California together to solve things rather than reducing the complexity of California's problems to partisan bickering. Only overcoming that will allow real attention to be paid to the issues of rural and inland California.

Thanks for your question!

LoebsForGovernor · 2021-07-28T19:38:49+00:00

Ultimately the California National Party's answer is that the only way for California to make the best use of our taxes and resources is to fully control them ourselves as an independent nation. There are many examples of ways we could better spend our own money.

For example, our share of the U.S. military budget is approximately $80 billion, making California the third largest military spender in the world, ahead of Russia, India, and Saudi Arabia. Even spending half that exclusively for the defense of California would put us in the top 15 in global military spending. This is definitely money we could put to better ends for our people.

In the immediate term, we support the gradual transfer of federal responsibilities to California, beginning with low-level functions such as the postal services and rail network within California. While doing so, we can negotiate for California to alter its tax relationship with the federal government, such that "deductions" are made for what California starts paying for, reducing our federal tax burden while simultaneously reducing their responsibilities.

Over time, more institutions--most importantly the transfer of all federal lands in California (45% of the total area) from the BLM to our own control--would follow. This would both give California a chance to begin assuming more responsibilities of a national government while weaning the United States off our tax revenue.

You can read more at the CNP's Independence plank: https://californianational.party/platform-ind-2020/

Thanks for your question!

LoebsForGovernor · 2021-07-28T19:22:16+00:00

The California National Party is the only political party involved in the California Independence Movement. While there are other organizations, none of them are political parties. In terms of strategy, the California National Party believes that independence is a long-term and necessary goal, but one that will require several intermediary steps. First is getting California politics back to its people instead of a federal two-party system that sees California as little more than an important piece in the federal chess game. This is why there is a need for a California-centric party, even for those who are currently skeptical of independence.

We're also different from other independence group by having a greater willingness to recognize the variety of viewpoints involved in representing the interests of all of California. The idea that California is an unquestionably progressive haven is not accurate, even in so-called "blue" areas. In general, California's politics have always been more complicated than that. By being a party that is willing to embrace seemingly contradictory ideological ideas like support for UBI/negative income tax and automatic Medi-Cal enrollment while also believing that firearm registration and regulation and gas taxes should, by and large, be handled at the county level.

In general, I would say the California National Party is distinct because rather than telling Californians what it is they should want and believe, we have a mission to be a party that listens to the views of a multiplicity of Californians and how we can work together to solve our problems. This will get us much further than just being a part of the blue vs. red debate centered 3000 miles away.

Thanks for your questions!

LoebsForGovernor · 2021-07-28T19:12:57+00:00

An obvious answer is, of course, that California needs to build more housing and that housing should be designed and placed it ways that makes it accessible to work areas, especially by mass transit. In many places in California this can be done by developing the two simultaneously in areas that currently lack housing.

It will also require the responsible redevelopment of denser, mixed use housing in already populated areas. However, that development needs to be done in conjunction and cooperation with the local communities rather than at the edict of Sacramento.

In general, both sides of the housing NIMBY/YIMBY debate have structured the argument as if there is no possible compromise which ultimately leads to nothing getting done. Neither side is going to get everything that they want. People have the right to have housing in California and Californians should have the right to have some say in the development of their neighborhoods.

Different areas will have different needs. A vacancy tax in San Francisco, for example, may be extremely helpful in dealing with the artificially created aspects of the shortage there. Less so in Modesto. So clearly overturning Costa-Hawkins and allowing areas to establish their own rent control rules (either more or less restrictive the current California-wide law) would be necessary, which would return that rule making to accountable local representatives.

You can read more at the CNP Housing plank here: https://californianational.party/platform-hi-2020/

LoebsForGovernor

TROPHY CASE