Cost of living is the name of the game in politics right now. Prices remain too high, household budgets are stretched thin, and voters are demanding a long-overdue reset. Yet California politicians appear to be operating in a different universe, one where the state’s high costs are not a warning sign, but a point of pride.
In an interview with POLITICO released Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta was asked whether the state’s heavy-handed environmental regulations conflict with voters’ desire for lower costs. Rather than acknowledge the obvious tension, Bonta delivered a word salad worthy of Kamala Harris. He boasted about California’s role as the world’s fourth-largest economy, its so-called protections for workers and consumers, and its environmental initiatives. Bonta’s argument, in effect, was that California is not out of touch, it is simply “leading.”
WATCH: California AG Rob Bonta dismisses concerns that California’s climate policies are at odds with voters’ concerns about the cost of living: “California is gonna be California...I don’t think we’re out of touch. I think we lead.”
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) September 28, 2026
REMINDER: California’s climate policies make… pic.twitter.com/0dhgNoJmZv
"Aren't you a little bit worried that your climate pursuits seem a little out of touch with everyday Americans?"
"California is going to be California," Bonta said. "And that means leading, that means pushing, that means being on the front foot, that means leading with facts and science. And California has always been a leader. We've led with being the fourth largest economy in the world. We've led with protections for workers and consumers. We've led with our environmental initiatives. We will continue to lead. And oftentimes, we go first and others follow."
"So leading to do something that's important to do and the right thing to do doesn't mean out of touch. It means you're leading. And it means you're inspiring and you're showing the way and you're shining light on a path that we need to go down together," he added. "So no, I don't think we're out of touch. I think we lead. And I think that the next governor of California will have his ability to put his mark on California. I don't expect him to be the same as Governor Newsom. He will be Xavier Becerra. And I look forward to partnering with him and advancing California's including protecting our natural resources and advancing our environmental goals."
In other words, so long as California can claim it is “leading,” whether in environmental mandates, regulatory ambition, or simply the cost of staying afloat, Bonta and the state’s Democrat establishment seem perfectly willing to make the tradeoff on the public’s behalf. Rising utility bills, housing costs, fuel prices, and grocery tabs are apparently just the admission fee for being governed by people who confuse expensive with successful policy.
California may indeed lead the nation in plenty of categories, but it is only a matter of time before the state’s Democratic supermajority squanders the very successes it so consistently cites as proof of its good leadership.
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