California is in the midst of an ideologically driven economic suicide, and the state’s treatment of Paramount is on the verge of being another brutal blow against the state’s economy.
California is one of several Democrat-run states holding Paramount hostage, attempting to block a merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. The impetus behind the Democratic antitrust lawsuit is clear: Paramount Chairman and CEO David Ellison is perceived (accurately or not) as a right-wing type, thanks to his father’s association with President Donald Trump and to Ellison putting New York Times exile Bari Weiss in charge of CBS’s 60 Minutes. Democrats are primarily concerned that Ellison and Paramount will slightly moderate one of their favorite propaganda channels, CNN (which is under the WBD banner), just as they did with CBS.
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California is so willing to go to the mat to ensure that CNN continues to be a left-wing cesspool that it is willing to drive Paramount out of the state in the process. The results, according to one report, would be a decline in annual economic output ranging from $10.6 billion to $21.2 billion. The state would also see a permanent loss of some 28,990 to 57,980 jobs, both in the entertainment industry and in other industries that benefit from having a major film and television studio in the area. Those economic benefits would, of course, end up in Texas, or Georgia, or any other GOP-run state that has already benefited from California’s population and business exodus.
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Without a hint of irony, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has accused Paramount of “blackmail” with its threat to move out of state. But aside from California attempting to sabotage Paramount’s merger, the reality is that California has continued to become more hostile to businesses as the years have gone by. That is why major film and television productions have increasingly moved out of Los Angeles to Georgia, to Canada, or overseas. The costs, driven by excessive regulations, have made California inhospitable, even to major corporations such as Paramount.
Regardless of the real or perceived politics of the dynamic, Paramount’s leaving California is a natural progression of the economic and regulatory model California has built. California politicians continue to boast that the state is fine because of its massive gross domestic product number, but the departing businesses and job losses continue to pile up. The California model is simply unsustainable, and dragging its biggest businesses to court to try to protect the Democratic media machine is not going to win over new businesses any time soon.