State of Gold

Jon Slavet | California Politics
  • 4.5 (24)
  • Government

Restoring the California Dream One Bold Idea at a Time California was once a beacon of prosperity, hope and innovation – symbolized by the Gold Rush, Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Today it’s the least affordable state in the nation and plagued by poverty, homelessness, and sky-high taxes. How did we get here, and how do we turn California around? State of Gold is a media platform and citizens’ movement dedicated to restoring the California dream. Host and longtime real estate and tech executive Jon Slavet combines practical wisdom and insurgent energy, as he sits down with voices from across the spectrum.  The show will examine and promote the best ideas from any corner to solve the state’s most pressing issues. State of Gold cuts through the noise to explore what’s gone wrong in the Golden State – and what it’ll take to make things right. www.stateofgold.com

  1. 2d ago

    It's No Mystery Why CA Energy Prices Top the Nation | Greg Wallis

    Guest Greg Wallis, CA State Assemblyman (47th) Guest Bio Greg Wallis represents California’s 47th Assembly District, a stretch of Riverside and San Bernardino counties that includes Palm Springs, the Coachella Valley, Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree. A Republican in a district where Democrats hold the registration edge, he first won the seat by 85 votes out of about 170,000 cast. He serves on the Budget Committee, belongs to the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, and was ranked by CalMatters as the Assembly’s top “maverick” voter for breaking with his party. Before taking office he was district director for former Assemblymember Chad Mayes. Show Summary Host Jon Slavet sits down with Assemblyman Greg Wallis, who rallied 61 lawmakers from both parties against a proposed Yosemite land swap, and explains why federal park cuts hit tourism towns like Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms. He walks through his reelection fight in a district he first won by 85 votes, and contrasts his record with his opponent Leila Namvar’s, pointing to $24 billion spent on homelessness while the homeless population kept growing. He defends breaking with his party on wildfire prevention, describes how overgrown forests turn into tinderboxes, and lays out why gas prices keep rising as the state loses refineries. Wallis closes with a warning about cap and invest, which he says passed before lawmakers could get a fiscal analysis. Chapters 00:00 – Yosemite Is Not for Sale: 61 Lawmakers Push Back 01:48 – Federal Park Cuts and the Tourism Economy 03:31 – Won by 85 Votes: Holding a Democrat-Leaning District 05:27 – Leila Namvar and California’s Spending Problem 07:16 – Prop 40 and Protecting Prop 13 07:55 – Breaking With His Party on Wildfire Prevention 09:26 – How Unmanaged Forests Become Tinderboxes 11:16 – What’s Really Driving Gas Prices 13:46 – Climate Goals and Rising Utility Rates 15:23 – Proving Clean Energy Can Be Affordable 16:36 – Cap and Invest Without a Cost Analysis 17:02 – Good Policy Needs Good Process Connect with Greg Wallis X: https://x.com/AsmWallisFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AsmGregWallis/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asmgregwallis/Official Assembly Website: https://ad47.asmrc.org/Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast Connect with State of Gold X: https://x.com/realjonslavetInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/stateofgoldpodcast/?hl=enWebsite: www.stateofgold.com

  2. 6d ago

    Restorative Justice for Selling Children? | Shannon Grove

    Guest: Shannon Grove, California State Senator (12th) Guest Bio:  Shannon Grove is a Republican California State Senator representing the 12th District, which includes much of Kern County and the southern Central Valley. An Army veteran, she co-founded Continental Labor and Staffing Resources and still serves as its CEO. She served in the State Assembly from 2010 to 2016 before winning her Senate seat, and she later led the Senate Republican Caucus. Grove is known as Kern County’s loudest voice on oil and energy, the author of SB 237 to restart Kern drilling, and a persistent advocate for child safety and victims’ rights. With her Senate term ending in 2026, she is running for the State Board of Equalization, District 1. Show Summary “I don’t vote for tax increases,” says Senator Shannon Grove. Host Jon Slavet sits down with the California State Senator as she runs for the Board of Equalization in a race against Democrat Nelson Esparza. Grove explains what the BOE does, from overseeing county assessors to defending Prop 13’s two-thirds vote, and calls an $11.25 billion veterans bond a Trojan horse after $24 billion spent on homelessness. The two dig into the billionaire tax and why it could reach any taxpayer. Then the talk turns to energy: SB 237’s 2,000 Kern County permits a year, Valero’s Benicia closure, and why importing refined fuel from overseas makes no sense. Grove recounts a colleague pitching restorative justice for people who traffick children, the Safe Passage for Youth Act now on the Governor’s desk, and SB 1373’s fight over mental health diversion. She closes with Jay Leno crashing a press conference. Chapters 00:00 – Death and Taxes: Why the Board of Equalization Matters 01:31 – An 8,000-Vote Race: Grove vs. Esparza on Taxes 02:07 – Holding the Line on Prop 13 and the Two-Thirds Vote 03:16 – $24 Billion on Homelessness and an $11.25 Billion “Veterans” Trojan Horse 04:02 – The Billionaire Tax: A Door to Taxing Everyone 05:21 – SB 237: Why 2,000 Kern Drilling Permits Can’t Flip a Switch 07:21 – Refineries Closing: Importing Fuel from India and Japan 09:45 – Kern County, Energy Capital: 58% of California’s Renewables 11:34 – Restorative Justice for Child Traffickers? Inside the Legislature 14:15 – Safe Passage for Youth: Paris Hilton and Survivors on the Governor’s Desk 16:02 – SB 1373: The DSM-5 Loophole in Mental Health Diversion 17:47 – Leno’s Law: Jay Leno Crashes the Press Conference Connect with Shannon Grove X: https://x.com/ShannonGroveCAFacebook (Senate office): https://www.facebook.com/ShannonGroveCAFacebook (BOE campaign): https://www.facebook.com/ShannonGroveForCAInstagram (Senate office): https://www.instagram.com/ShannonGroveCA/Instagram (BOE campaign): https://www.instagram.com/shannongrove4caLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-grove-b17b4116/Campaign Website (Grove for BOE 2026): https://shannongroveca.com/Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast Connect with State of Gold X: https://x.com/realjonslavetInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/stateofgoldpodcast/?hl=enWebsite: www.stateofgold.com

  3. Oct 20

    UC Is Now Teaching College Kids MIDDLE SCHOOL Math | Gloria Romero

    Guest Gloria Romero, Candidate for CA Lt. Governor Guest Bio Gloria Romero is a former California State Senator who represented East Los Angeles and served as Senate Majority Leader. A longtime champion of school choice and education reform, she left the Democratic Party, and is now the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor of California. She is also endorsed by the American Independent Party and the Bakersfield Californian. Show Summary Host Jon Slavet welcomes back Gloria Romero, candidate for Lieutenant Governor, who says the biggest difference between her and Fiona Ma is education policy. Romero argues that K through 12 schools and the University of California have now collided, after 3,000 UC professors warned that students arrive unprepared and need remedial middle school math. Her fixes: bring back the SAT, tighten teacher tenure that now comes after just 15 months, pay for merit, and expand school choice. She rejects the claim that testing is racist and cites a striking figure: at current rates, a Black kindergartner in LA Unified would need 54 years to reach reading proficiency. Romero lays out her path to victory through the Republican base, independents, disaffected Democrats and the Central Valley, and tells voters Trump is not on this ballot. She closes with her day one plan for two extraordinary sessions, one to rebuild the budget from zero and one to go after waste, fraud and abuse. Chapters 00:00 – Gloria Romero vs. Fiona Ma: The Biggest Difference 01:18 – Education: The Issue That Eats Half the Budget 03:04 – 3,000 UC Professors Sound the Alarm 05:07 – Teacher Tenure After Just 15 Months 05:59 – Bring Back the SAT, Merit Pay and School Choice 07:17 – Is the SAT Racist? The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations 08:43 – 54 Years to Reading Proficiency in LA Unified 10:13 – The Math to Win: 200,000 LA Republicans Who Didn’t Vote 12:04 – No Flyover Country: Why the Central Valley Matters 12:46 – Trump Is Not on This Ballot 14:58 – Day One: Two Extraordinary Sessions on the Budget 16:55 – Going After Waste, Fraud and Abuse 18:23 – Not a Red State or a Blue State, a Golden State Connect with Gloria Romero Campaign website: https://www.gloriaromero4ltgov.com/X: https://x.com/gloriajromeroFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/gloriajromero.caInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/gloria_jromero/Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast Connect with State of Gold X: https://x.com/realjonslavetInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/stateofgoldpodcast/?hl=enWebsite: www.stateofgold.com

  4. Oct 16

    "You Can’t Have Sunlight Without the Sun": Does MAGA Survive Trump? | Victor Davis Hanson

    Guest Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution Guest Bio Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist, military historian and senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, and a farmer who still lives in his family’s 150 year old home in California’s Central Valley. He has written dozens of books on ancient warfare and modern politics. His newest, The Counterrevolution: The Fall and Rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement, is becoming a bestseller. Show Summary “You can’t have sunlight without the sun,” Victor Davis Hanson says, quoting a senior official on whether MAGA can outlast Donald Trump. Host Jon Slavet sits down with Hanson in his family home to discuss his new book, The Counterrevolution. They start with the midterms and why Republicans have failed to address affordability, then turn to the Iran war. Hanson argues it is not a forever war, citing 38 days of combat, 19 fatalities and a $40 billion cost, and he warns against negotiating with a regime he believes is near collapse. The conversation moves to the threat from within: Tucker Carlson, Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, the antisemitic fringe JD Vance must reject, and influence peddling around the White House. Drawing on Thucydides, Hanson explains how lawfare destroys the norms its users later need. He closes with the changes he says nobody talks about, from Latin America to NATO to military recruiting. Chapters 00:00 – Back at the Farm: A 150-Year-Old Home and The Counterrevolution 00:51 – Shaky Midterms: Prices, Affordability and Selling the Boom 03:40 – A Binary Choice: Democratic Socialists and a 50-50 House 07:00 – Is Iran Jacksonian? The War Seven Months In 08:37 – Cutting Off the Mothership: Hezbollah, the Houthis and Why Not to Negotiate Now 10:21 – “I Decide What’s America First”: Can MAGA Outlast Trump? 13:31 – Jilted Egos and the Groyper Problem: Why J.D. Vance Must Draw the Line 17:51 – Thucydides on Faction: Lawfare and Who Weaponized Justice 20:00 – The Critical 5 to 10%: Independents, Latin America and NATO 22:02 – The Undersold Wins: Military Recruiting and the Border Connect with Victor Davis Hanson X: https://x.com/VDHansonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/victor.d.hanson/?hl=en\Official Website: https://victorhanson.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast Connect with State of Gold X: https://x.com/realjonslavetInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/stateofgoldpodcast/?hl=enWebsite: www.stateofgold.com

  5. Oct 13

    Trump's Midterm Strategy Is Wrong and Karl Rove Knows Why | Karl Rove

    Guest Karl Rove, Republican Political Strategist and Former Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush Guest Bio Karl Rove is one of the most influential Republican political strategists in modern American history. Known as "The Architect" of George W. Bush's two presidential campaigns, Rove served as Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff in the Bush White House from 2000 to 2007. Before his government career, he ran Karl Rove + Company, an Austin-based public affairs firm that worked on more than 75 Republican campaigns across 24 states. He writes a weekly column for the Wall Street Journal, appears regularly on Fox News, and is the author of the New York Times bestseller Courage and Consequence. Show Summary "Authenticity matters," says Karl Rove, and he means it as a warning. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with the Republican strategist who helped put George W. Bush in the White House, to talk about what the GOP is getting wrong heading into the 2026 midterms, and what it would take to get it right. Rove argues that the current Trump-centric strategy is a mistake. If the president isn't popular, don't make him the issue. Let candidates like Mike Rogers in Michigan and Steve Hilton in California run as individuals. He points to Trump's biggest policy win, securing the southern border, and asks why the president never went to the border to celebrate it with the local (mostly Democratic, mostly Latino) officials who would have praised him on camera. The conversation moves to the Texas Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico, the 2028 presidential field (Rove is blunt about JD Vance: "How do you go from saying Donald Trump is Adolf Hitler to saying I'm honored to be his running mate?"), and a California voter ID ballot initiative that Rove says could start rebuilding Republican credibility in the state. He closes with the story of his great-grandfather Olaf Julius Rove, a Norwegian peasant who came to America with nothing and whose great-grandson ended up working in the White House. Chapters 00:01 – Welcome: Karl Rove, "The Architect," on State of Gold 00:16 – The Ideal Republican Candidate: Why Authenticity Beats Consultants 01:17 – The George W. Bush Playbook: Four Big Issues and One Nobody Expected 03:04 – Dan Schnur's Rule: Authenticity, Authenticity, Authenticity 03:35 – Trump's Midterm Strategy: Why Making the President the Issue Is Wrong 04:05 – Let Candidates Shine: Mike Rogers, Susan Collins, Jon Husted, Steve Hilton 05:06 – Message Discipline and Selling the Border Win 05:21 – The Border Success Trump Never Celebrated 06:52 – Too Little, Too Late: The Midterm Convention and the $5,000 Dividend 07:37 – Three Explanations for One Promise: Tariffs, Profits, or Reconciliation 08:08 – Trump's Billion Dollar War Chest: Why Holding Back Is Indefensible 09:24 – Super PAC Math: When $1 of Campaign Money Equals $10 of PAC Money 10:42 – Paxton vs. Talarico: YouTube Dominance and the Texas Senate Race 11:12 – Paxton's History of Running Behind the Ticket 11:43 – Austin, Travis County, and Why Talarico Went Left 13:14 – The 2028 Field: JD Vance, Rubio, Youngkin, Kemp, Cotton, Cruz 14:59 – Is Vance Authentic? Rove Says No 15:31 – Hillbilly Elegy vs. the Milwaukee Speech: Populism vs. Conservatism 16:32 – The Populism Trap: Why Grievance Politics Aren't Optimistic 17:03 – Lincoln's Lesson: "As Our Case Is New, So Must We Think Anew" 17:33 – How Republicans Win California: Quality Candidates and Wedge Issues 19:04 – Voter ID on the California Ballot: A Common Sense Reform Play 20:06 – Carl DeMaio, Reform California, and the Signatures to Get It Done 20:53 – Voter ID Doesn't Suppress Turnout: The Alabama Example 22:25 – The DSA Playbook: Force Democrats to Own Their Party's Fringe 23:10 – "Workers Deserve More": The Stump Speech for Every Republican 24:26 – America at 250: Rove on Resilience, History, and the Worst Times 25:30 – The Country That Keeps Stepping Forward 26:16 – Olaf Julius Rove: From Norwegian Peasant to the American Dream 27:32 – The Desk, the White House, and the Gift of Being American 28:33 – Reagan's Lesson: "We Can Be the Shining City on the Hill" 29:05 – Jon's Family Story: From Ukraine Through Ellis Island to California Connect with Karl Rove X:  https://twitter.com/KarlRoveFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/karlrove/Instagram:  https://instagram.com/karlrove/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlrove/Official Website: https://www.karlrove.com/Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast Connect with State of Gold X: https://x.com/realjonslavetInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/stateofgoldpodcast/?hl=enWebsite: www.stateofgold.com

  6. Oct 6

    Only 40% of LA Republicans Voted and They're Still Complaining | Roxanne Hoge

    Guest Roxanne Hoge, Chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Party Guest Bio Roxanne Hoge is the Chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Party, the largest Republican county party in the United States. A legal immigrant from Jamaica and a U.S. citizen, Hoge is a former business owner, actress, and SAG member who has run for California State Assembly and the LA County Board of Supervisors. She has appeared on Fox News, CNN, and OANN, and writes for the California Globe. She ran the LA County GOP's voter turnout operation through recent election cycles including the successful campaign to replace George Gascon with Nathan Hochman as District Attorney. Show Summary Only 40% of registered Republicans in LA County voted in the June 2026 primary. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with LA County GOP Chair Roxanne Hoge to ask why Republicans keep complaining about a system they refuse to show up for. Hoge makes a blunt case: Everything most people call voter fraud, from ballot harvesting to bloated voter rolls, is already codified in California law. The left has been building this architecture since 2011, starting with driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, then Motor Voter automatic registration, and now a system that pushes voter registrations to anyone who interacts with state government. She wrote to both Attorney General Rob Bonta and the Department of Justice asking for election monitors and got no response from Bonta, just hate mail. The conversation then turns to LA's taxpayer-funded campaign matching system, which has quietly grown from a voter-approved 1:1 match in 1990 to a 6:1 ratio today. Raise $100,000 and the city hands you $600,000. Hoge argues the system is nearly impossible to use without public sector union ground operations, and that Mayor Karen Bass made a political mistake by publicly touting it. Hoge also calls for outlawing public sector unions entirely, warning that unfunded pension liabilities are "coming like a train, unlike the bullet train, a train that will actually hit us." The episode closes on the LA City Council's push for non-citizen voting and why Hoge believes California's best-run cities share a common thread: Conservative leadership at the local level. Chapters 00:00 - Cold Open: "Voter Fraud Is an Excuse for Not Doing the Work" 00:16 - Welcome: Roxanne Hoge on Republican Voter Turnout in LA County 00:30 - Voter Fraud vs. Voter Apathy: The Real Reason Republicans Lose 01:17 - Charlie Brown and the Football: Why Conservative Wins Get Reversed 02:22 - Gascon Out, Hochman In: Proof That Turnout Works 02:56 - Ballot Harvesting, Motor Voter, and the Legal Framework of "Fraud" 03:42 - The Open Letter to Rob Bonta and the Unsecured Ballot Box on Skid Row 04:34 - Election Monitors and the DOJ: What Hoge Asked For 04:59 - Automatic Voter Registration and How It Harms Legal Residents 05:40 - 200,000 Missing Republican Voters: Fix Your Own House First 06:08 - The Basketball Analogy: Stop Whining About the Refs and Play 06:32 - LA's 6 to 1 Taxpayer-Funded Campaign Match: How We Got Here 08:24 - Karen Bass Broke the First Rule of Fight Club 08:40 - DSA-Backed Candidates and the Stakes for Non-Democrats 09:11 - The 88 Cities of LA County: Where Common Sense Still Wins 10:09 - Queen for a Day: Outlaw Public Sector Unions 10:50 - The Sword of Damocles: Unfunded Pensions Coming Like a Train 11:31 - Non-Citizen Voting: The LA City Council Push 11:54 - Incrementalism: From School Board Votes to Full Franchise 12:54 - Pre-Registering 16-Year-Olds and Boiling the Frog 13:21 - Would Non-Citizen Voting Pass? The Exodus Problem 14:28 - Support the LA GOP: lagop.org and Every Dollar Goes to Turnout Connect with Roxanne Hoge X:  https://x.com/RoxanneHogeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roxanne-hoge-42323193/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goplosangeles/Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LosAngeles.GOPYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GOPLosAngeles/videosEnjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast Connect with State of Gold X: https://x.com/realjonslavetInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/stateofgoldpodcast/?hl=enWebsite: www.stateofgold.com

  7. Oct 2

    The Billionaire Tax, Voter ID, and 12 Other Initiatives That Will Shape California's Future | Jon Fleischman

    Guest Jon Fleischman, political commentator and author of the "So Does It Matter" Substack Guest Bio Jon Fleischman is a veteran California political commentator, publisher of the "So Does It Matter" Substack, and one of the state's most respected voices on ballot initiatives, fiscal policy, and taxpayer advocacy. His voter guide covering all 14 November 2026 ballot propositions is a go-to resource for California voters looking for clear, principled analysis. Show Summary Jon Fleischman joins Jon Slavet to break down California's November 2026 ballot, which features 14 propositions, the most in recent memory. They cover six key measures: Prop 3, which would make the 13.3% top income tax rate permanent after voters were promised it was temporary; Prop 39, Carl DeMaio's voter ID initiative; Prop 40, the so-called billionaire tax that Fleischman warns is really an "everyone tax" because it gives the legislature unchecked power to levy wealth taxes on anyone; Props 41 and 42, counter-measures that would nullify the billionaire tax if either gets more votes; and Prop 43, the Save Prop 13 initiative restoring the two-thirds requirement for local special taxes. Fleischman explains how the California Teachers Association bankrolls the tax push, why even Gavin Newsom and Xavier Becerra oppose the billionaire tax, and how Hoover economist Joshua Rauh calculates it would cost the state $25 billion. The episode closes with which ballot outcome will send the strongest signal about California's future. Chapters 00:00 – Jon Fleischman on California's November Ballot 00:24 – 14 Ballot Initiatives Overview 00:57 – How Ballot Measures Reach California Voters 02:28 – The Attorney General's Ballot Language Bias 03:03 – Prop 3: Making the 13.3% Tax Rate Permanent 03:47 – How the Teachers Union Drives Prop 3 05:01 – Impact on Small Business Owners 05:31 – Prop 39: The Voter ID Initiative 06:18 – Will the Anti-Trump Campaign Kill Voter ID 08:04 – Prop 40: The Billionaire Tax 08:39 – Why Newsom and Becerra Oppose Their Own Party 10:20 – The Everyone Tax: Why All Californians Should Worry 11:38 – The $25 Billion Cost Nobody Talks About 12:33 – Props 41 and 42: The Billionaire Tax Poison Pills 14:46 – Prop 43: Save Prop 13 15:13 – The Howard Jarvis Deal That Made Prop 43 Possible 16:51 – Which Ballot Outcome Will Define California's Future Connect with Jon Fleischman  X: https://x.com/FlashReportLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-fleischman-0205024/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JonFleischman/YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/jonfleischmanEnjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast Connect with State of Gold X: https://x.com/realjonslavetInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/stateofgoldpodcast/?hl=enWebsite: www.stateofgold.com

  8. Sep 29

    California Has One Governor's Debate and CNN Is Running It | John Phillips

    Guest John Phillips, KABC Talk Radio Host & OC Register Columnist Guest Bio John Phillips is a Southern California radio host, political commentator, and columnist for the Orange County Register. He has covered California politics for two decades and has been called the state's political historian by figures in the California political establishment. Phillips is a regular voice on the intersection of state policy, elections, and the consequences of one-party rule in the Golden State. Show Summary California has one gubernatorial debate this November, and CNN is moderating it with out-of-state hosts who have no stake in the issues destroying the state. Host Jon Slavet sits down with veteran California political commentator John Phillips to walk through the full landscape of the November 2026 ballot: the governor's race between Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton, the LA mayor's race between Karen Bass and Nithya Raman, 14 ballot initiatives including three major tax measures, and the homelessness crisis that no level of government seems willing to solve. The conversation closes on the LA mayor's race, the homelessness industrial complex, and a historical parallel that sticks: in the 1930s, when Upton Sinclair nearly won the governorship on a platform of government ownership of farms and factories, California's business elites (the Chandlers, Hearst, Louis B. Mayer) stepped in and stopped it. Today's elites, Phillips says, the Elon Musks and Peter Thiels, have the resources to do the same. Will they? Chapters 00:00 – Welcome: John Phillips on the State of California Politics 00:30 – One Debate, CNN Moderators, and the Issues They Won't Touch 00:59 – Homelessness, Insurance, the Bullet Train: California-Only Problems 02:46 – The Train to Nowhere: Waste, Fraud, and Uber Blacks to Sacramento 03:51 – Becerra 60, Hilton 38: The PPIC Polls and the Basement Strategy 05:30 – Embarrass Becerra Into Debating: Boyle Heights and the Cold Storage Fire 06:38 – 14 Ballot Initiatives and the Case for Direct Democracy 07:18 – Hiram Johnson, Southern Pacific, and Why Initiatives Exist 08:06 – The SEIU and CTA: The New 800-Pound Gorilla in Sacramento 09:39 – Prop 43: A Supermajority for Local Taxes (Currently Failing) 10:08 – The Billionaire Tax (Prop 40): How It Split the Labor Movement 11:19 – Will the AI Industry Leave California? The Catastrophic Risk of Prop 40 13:01 – Bass vs. Raman: The LA Mayor's Race Nobody Wants 15:13 – The Doctored Fire Report: Karen Bass Can't Learn from Failure 16:03 – Defund the NGOs: The Homeless Industrial Complex 16:51 – Enforce the Rules: Rehab, Treatment, or Prison 17:39 – Dr. Drew and the Missing Coordination Between City, County, and State 18:20 – Nothing Changes Until People Vote Differently 20:18 – Upton Sinclair and the Elites Who Saved California Before 21:29 – Today's Titans (Musk, Brin, Thiel) Won't Step Up. Yet. Connect with John Phillips X : https://x.com/JohnnydontlikeYouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@randywangradioEnjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast Connect with State of Gold X: https://x.com/realjonslavetInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/stateofgoldpodcast/?hl=enWebsite: www.stateofgold.com

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Restoring the California Dream One Bold Idea at a Time California was once a beacon of prosperity, hope and innovation – symbolized by the Gold Rush, Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Today it’s the least affordable state in the nation and plagued by poverty, homelessness, and sky-high taxes. How did we get here, and how do we turn California around? State of Gold is a media platform and citizens’ movement dedicated to restoring the California dream. Host and longtime real estate and tech executive Jon Slavet combines practical wisdom and insurgent energy, as he sits down with voices from across the spectrum.  The show will examine and promote the best ideas from any corner to solve the state’s most pressing issues. State of Gold cuts through the noise to explore what’s gone wrong in the Golden State – and what it’ll take to make things right. www.stateofgold.com

Information

  • Creator
    Jon Slavet | California Politics
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    108
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 State of Gold
  • Show Website
    State of Gold

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