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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 12m

...this was not a "stupid" question for someone who wants to govern 39 million people.

Katie Porter gained notoriety for grilling greedy corporate execs. She should be able to answer every question and follow-up she gets from a journalist. Period.

Jordan Grimes @cafedujord.bsky.social · 15h

Laughing at stupid questions is the appropriate reaction to them and more politicians should respond that way

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 33m

California has been hit especially hard as oil refineries close nationwide. The state has so far offered a $30 million pot of money to help refinery workers transition out or train for new jobs. But it'll be hard to match the lucrative gigs they've had for years calmatters.org/economy/2025...

Oil refinery closures leave workers searching for a job that ‘just doesn’t exist’

As two more oil refineries prepare to close in California, workers who are laid off face limited job opportunities.

calmatters.org

Reposted by Yousef Baig

Kate Wolffe @katewolffe.bsky.social · 1d

New investigation from me into the new Republican Leader of the CA Assembly, Heath Flora.

I dug into Flora's voluminous campaign finance records and drove down to his legal address to see who lives there (not him!)

Read more here (gift article): www.sacbee.com/news/politic...

Top CA Republican vowed to cut waste, corruption. His spending says otherwise

An investigation by The Bee raises questions about the new leader’s registered address, his travel stipend and his personal conduct.

www.sacbee.com

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 23h

Utility regulators are formally reviewing a complaint that PG&E and Edison are failing to meet mandated deadlines for connecting solar installations to the grid as much as 73% of the time @malenacarollo.bsky.social calmatters.org/economy/2025...

Regulators know PG&E, Edison are slow to hook up solar. Why are there no penalties?

PG&E and Southern California Edison are routinely late to hook up new solar panels, squeezing owners financially. Will they be punished?

calmatters.org

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Reposted by Yousef Baig

Ben Christopher @frombenc.bsky.social · 2d

Here's why the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a low-tax advocacy group, seems intent on making Los Angeles' “mansion tax” the face of their statewide tax-capping ballot measure campaign.

calmatters.org/housing/2025...

California is about to have a massive fight over taxes. Here’s why Los Angeles is the frontline

A low-tax advocacy group seems intent on making the Los Angeles “mansion tax” the face of their statewide tax-capping ballot measure campaign.

calmatters.org

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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 2d

"Giving L.A. a veto over state policy would doom California to more of the same — rising costs, worsening displacement and endless obstruction." calmatters.org/commentary/2...

Opinion | Los Angeles housing permits are tanking, yet leaders want Newsom to veto a major reform

Signing SB 79 should be an easy call, despite pressure from L.A. Newsom should know better than to let L.A. dictate state housing policy.

calmatters.org

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 4d

The discourse around the Riyadh Comedy Fest is so annoying.

Reposted by Yousef Baig

Levi Sumagaysay @levisu.bsky.social · 4d

Important story by my colleague @ab-ibarra.bsky.social

CalMatters @calmatters.org · 4d

Immigration raids are straining mental health among children and school communities across California, a state where about 1 million children have a parent who is undocumented and about 300,000 students are undocumented themselves. https://cal.news/4gWGsss

📸 Zaydee Sanchez

The playground at Juan Lagunas Soria Elementary School is empty on a rainy day, on Sept. 18, 2025. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez for CalMatters/Catchlight

Quote: “Can you imagine taking a lesson of geometry when a part of your brain is tracking and texting your parent every once in a while?...That’s really, really difficult to do.”
Maria Jarquin, a therapist who directs school-based mental health centers on behalf of Venice Family Clinic. She estimates that schools refer about 10 to 15 students to her mental health center each week. As many as a third of those referrals are prompted by stress and anxiety over ICE activity, she said.

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Reposted by Yousef Baig

Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 5d

In case it wasn’t clear, the anti-DEI crusade has never been about merit. Zero news experience. Never been a reporter. Elevated to Editor in Chief of CBS News, one of the most storied news institutions in the nation. www.mediaite.com/media/news/p...

Paramount Officially Acquiring The Free Press and Making Bari Weiss CBS News Editor in Chief: Report

Paramount Skydance will be officially acquiring The Free Press and hiring its founder Bari Weiss as editor in chief of its CBS News division, with the deal to be announced this coming Monday, accordin...

www.mediaite.com

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 5d

It’s hard to take the No on 50 ads seriously when it says in big yellow font that KEVIN MCCARTHY paid for it. Any politician that voted against certifying the 2020 election has zero credibility, especially when trying to claim you care about the will of the voters. He helped fuel an insurrection!

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 5d

Co-published with @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social: The insurance industry’s playbook for offloading California's disaster risk is the same as it was when the FAIR plan was created after the Watts riots: hike prices on consumers and devise instruments to offload losses calmatters.org/commentary/2...

Opinion | California's insurer of last resort was meant to cover 'riot-prone areas,' not climate disasters

By leaning on insurance-based solutions to societal problems, California has put itself on a path toward repeating the mistakes of the past.

calmatters.org

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 6d

Union protections and respect for free speech are big reasons why California has seen far fewer teachers under fire for comments made after Charlie Kirk’s untimely death @carolynjones100.bsky.social calmatters.org/education/k-...

Charlie Kirk fallout hits California schools, where 20 teachers face discipline over posts

Some California teachers who posted social media comments critical of Charlie Kirk were disciplined, raising concerns about free speech.

calmatters.org

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 7d

you're welcome to pitch a guest commentary. Or should get in touch with @levisu.bsky.social who is closely following insurance. I'm biased but think @calmatters.org does a pretty decent job of covering it.

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 7d

The bureaucracy and economics that upend rebuilding, especially in more rural areas, also are sending a pretty strong signal that California needs to flood the zone with infill homes in urban areas if the type of growth that emerged in response to expensive coastal life is less & less possible.

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 7d

The inverse of this headline is equally, if not more, unsettling: 62% of destroyed homes haven't gone back up.

Los Angeles Times @latimes.com · 7d

Over the last eight years, wildfires have burned down more houses than at any other time in California history. The wreckage stubbornly resists recovery

https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2025-09-30/rebuilding-california-after-major-wildfires?utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky_

22,500 homes lost. Over five years later, only 38% rebuilt: What California fire survivors face

Just 38% of the 22,500 homes burned down in California's five most destructive wildfires from 2017 to 2020 have been rebuilt, The Times found.

www.latimes.com

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 8d

This conversation embodied a very real tension over the role journalists & public intellectuals play. I'm more with Coates on this, that we have to tell the truth plainly, period.

It is not our job to heal the nation or reach across the divide. That's a universal responsibility all of us share.

Ezra Klein @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social · 10d

Today’s episode of The Ezra Klein Show

Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps vs. Drawing Lines

Ta-Nehisi Coates joins the show to discuss how the left should think about the work of politics and persuasion in this moment.
open.spotify.com/episode/4jQE...

youtu.be/UaeoDlLNnok?...

Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ezra Klein Hash Out Their Charlie Kirk Disagreement

YouTube video by The Ezra Klein Show

youtu.be

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 9d

What a federal government shutdown could mean for California, with reporting from @ra-becks.bsky.social @gauchoesque.bsky.social @jeannereporter.bsky.social and others (who are not on bluesky) calmatters.org/politics/202...

What a government shutdown will mean for Californians, from Social Security to national parks

Critical benefits from the Social Security Administration and Medicare will keep flowing in a government shutdown. You could notice delays if it drags on.

calmatters.org

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Reposted by Yousef Baig

Brian Merchant @bcmerchant.bsky.social · 11d

This has been pushed to the background, but pay attention:

Right now, a stack of bills aimed at reining in AI companies and big tech sits on Gavin Newsom's desk in California. These are the bills Silicon Valley and the GOP tried to ban outright. Now they await Newsom's signature—or veto.

We're about to find out if Silicon Valley owns Gavin Newsom

A guide to the AI and tech bills that have passed the California legislature, and await the governor's signature — or veto.

www.bloodinthemachine.com

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Reposted by Yousef Baig

CalMatters @calmatters.org · 12d

California lawmakers started the year signaling they were ready to get tough on data centers, aiming to protect the environment and electricity ratepayers. Nine months later, they have little to show for it. https://cal.news/4pGZ43s

📷 Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Transfer switches take up space at One Wilshire, a high-rise office building almost entirely converted into a server farm or data center in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 10, 2024. Photo by Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

HED: California lawmakers wanted to get tough on data centers. Here’s what survived

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Yousef Baig @yousefbaig.bsky.social · 14d

After Calderon quit the Assembly, he still had as much as $230K in unused campaign funds (as of 2022: calmatters.org/politics/202...). The paperwork was actually filed for a lieutenant governor bid. I guess he saw the unimpressive guv field and thought 'why not'

CalMatters @calmatters.org · 14d

Former state lawmaker Ian Calderon is joining the crowded 2026 race for California governor, he announced Tuesday. He was 27 when he became the first millennial to be elected to the state Assembly in 2012. https://cal.news/42aOSq5

📝 @jeannereporter.bsky.social

Millennial Democrat Ian Calderon announces bid for California governor

"I've been living in the real world," Calderon says in a new ad featuring his wife and kids. Calderon left the Legislature to focus on his family.

cal.news

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Reposted by Yousef Baig

Pedro Rios @pedroconsafos.bsky.social · 15d

With the Supreme Court green-lighting racial profiling for immigration raids, it's a reality we know too well in the borderlands. With appreciation to all who contributed to this piece, here is my recent @calmatters.org commentary on the ruling:
calmatters.org/commentary/2...