California Gov. Gavin Newsom is desperate to find things to hang his hat on for his eventual 2028 presidential run, but not desperate enough to shed the California model of funneling taxpayer dollars through allied nonprofit organizations.
Newsom announced that the California government is partnering with the nonprofit Baby2Baby to use taxpayer dollars to provide families with 400 “free” diapers for their newborns. This is the governor’s attempt to claim that he is making California more affordable for families, after years of his policies made the state far less affordable for families.
As an added bonus, Newsom is using it to criticize pro-life and pro-family conservatives, suggesting they are hypocrites for not cheerleading his ingenious plan.
CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE GAS CRISIS THEY CREATED
In true California fashion, though, Newsom’s program is a half-measure at best. Only those who live in certain areas of the state will be allowed to benefit for now, and those families will receive enough diapers to cover about five weeks.
Not only that, but, as Matthew Fleming notes for the Pacific Research Institute, “According to the Department of Social Services, the state spent $30M over a three-year period to get approximately 144 million diapers to families in need through partner groups.” And the price tag for this new program will continue to rise, as the $12.5 million for next year only covers half of the project’s planned scope.
So California is creating a new taxpayer-funded diaper program despite one already existing. What is the purpose of that, aside from giving Newsom a new PR opportunity? It comes down to California’s incestuous relationships between nonprofit NGOs and Democratic politics.
One of Baby2Baby’s two CEOs is Norah Weinstein, who also sits on the board of the California Partners Project. The California Partners Project was co-founded by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of Gavin Newsom. The governor has helped his wife’s organization rake in millions since it was founded in 2020.
In other words, this new diaper program will funnel millions through an NGO run by a close ally of Newsom’s wife. There lies the point.
CALIFORNIA’S ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION PROBLEM
If Newsom actually wanted to help families purchase diapers, he would stop confiscating so much of their money through taxes that he uses to fund these bloated, inefficient programs. But Newsom’s political allies don’t get to have a hand in the cookie jar that way, and so every new spending program must be funneled through an NGO or two.
California’s spending is constantly increasing, leading Newsom to jack up taxes to cover the difference, leading to increased costs that Newsom calls on new programs to cover, leading to increased spending, and a never-ending cycle that only benefits the NGOs Newsom runs taxpayer money through.