Hector and Mike Experience

04/21/2026

Farmworker Pay Was Cut By The CA State Legislature.

The central reason farmworker incomes have declined in recent years is policies enacted by the California State Legislature.

In 2016, California passed Assembly Bill 1066. The measure was promoted as a historic step toward fairness, promising to extend overtime protections to farmworkers. Supporters claimed it would increase pay and bring equity to the fields.

Instead, it had the opposite effect.

Agriculture doesn't follow a fixed schedule. Harvests rely on weather, crop ripening, and short production windows. When crops are ready, work must begin immediately. For decades, California recognized this and allowed longer workdays during peak harvest times so workers could earn more when jobs were available.

AB 1066 ended that system.

See my article here: https://californiaglobe.com/fl/gubernatorial-rivals-agree-california-got-this-farmworker-law-wrong/
U.S. Department of Agriculture California Globe Senator Shannon Grove California Farm Bureau Western Growers

04/09/2026

California continues to celebrate rising graduation rates, but those numbers are misleading. A diploma no longer guarantees readiness. Today, only about half of high school graduates complete the A–G coursework required for admission to a UC or CSU.

That gap is not minor. It is structural. Students can graduate with a D average, yet colleges require a C or better. The result is a system that pushes students forward without preparing them, quietly limiting their access to higher education and economic mobility.

At the same time, California is spending nearly $150 billion on K–12 education, more than $27,000 per student. Spending has increased significantly, but outcomes have not. The question is no longer about investment. It is about accountability.

Graduation should mean something. Right now, it does not.

California Hands Out Diplomas, But Only Prepares a Few California is set to spend nearly $150 billion on K–12 education, more than $27,000 per student By Hector Barajas and Lance Christensen, April 8, 2026 11:35 am 08 Apr 2026 11:35 am California’s education system keeps highlighting a key figur...

04/06/2026

James E. Thorne, Chief Market Strategist at Wellington-Altus Private Wealth and a former chief economist and chief capital market strategist, provides a sharp analysis of the situation around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz is where energy, sea power, and political will collide, and for decades, the United States has guaranteed its stability while much of the world benefits. That arrangement, Thorne argues, has allowed allies to structure their economies and policies around an assumption that American protection is automatic.

What has changed now is not the capability but the choice.

Thorne explains how the U.S. is deliberately stepping back from resolving tensions immediately, forcing Europe and the UK to confront their dependence on American hard power. If global energy flows are vital to their economies, then the responsibility for securing them cannot be one-sided.

Thorne notes that it’s not just about a chokepoint in the Middle East; it’s about whether the current global system, in which the U.S. bears the main burden while others gain, can continue. Thorne’s analysis is worth reading fully for anyone trying to understand where energy, security, and geopolitics are heading next.

“The old thesis was simple: the US guarantees open sea lanes in the Gulf, and everyone else structures their economies and politics around that free insurance. Europe and the UK embraced ambitious green policies, ran down hard‑power capabilities and lectured Washington on multilateral virtue, secure in the assumption that American carriers would always appear off Hormuz. The political class behaved as if the American security guarantee were a law of nature, not a contingent choice. Their conduct today is closer to Chamberlain than Churchill: temporising, issuing statements, hoping the storm will pass without a fundamental reordering of their responsibilities.”

Thone’s comments on X:

03/14/2026

Over the past few weeks, as gas prices keep climbing, Californians have been hearing a familiar debate unfold between the Governor’s Office, the White House, and the oil industry.

Governor Gavin Newsom has argued that the current spike is mainly caused by national and global forces, citing President Trump and Iran.

Yes, global events influence oil markets. When instability threatens shipping lanes or crude supply, prices rise everywhere.

But if global factors were the only cause, California gas prices would look pretty much the same across the country.

They don’t.

The national average for gasoline is $3.63 per gallon (March 13, 2026). In California, it’s $5.41 per gallon. That $1.78 difference isn’t caused by Iran, Washington, or international markets. It’s the result of policies made right here in California.

Over the past 8 years, California has intentionally reduced its in-state production and refining capacity. In the 1980s, the state had roughly 40 refineries in operation. Today, only seven remain, with two more having recently shut down.

However, demand has not gone down; it has gone up.

Today, 80 percent of the oil used in California is imported.

With the shutdown of the Bay Area refinery, the San Pablo pipeline that carried crude oil from Kern County to the Bay Area has not moved oil since December 1, 2025. Instead, more than 100 trucks now haul oil north every day, with another hundred returning south to reload. At the same time, oil tankers continue to arrive at California ports to fill the gap left by the shutdown of oil production.

All of that comes with a cost, and we pay for it at the pump, through higher food prices, increased housing costs, and on anything else that requires materials or goods to be shipped.

Full Disclosure: My firm works with members of the oil and energy industry to help explain these issues, including those whose jobs and families depend on the sector. But regardless of where someone stands, the math behind California’s fuel prices deserves a serious conversation.

Energy markets are complex. Policy narratives are often simple.

If Californians want lower, more stable energy prices, the discussion must go beyond slogans, memes, or fingerprinting and focus on the policies that shape the system we rely on every day.

I explore this issue in my latest article:

$5 to $6 Gas Is No Accident: California Drivers Are Paying for Political Decisions Energy experts and industry groups warned elected officials and regulators that they were dismantling the infrastructure that protects the state from global shocks By Hector Barajas, March 11, 2026 1:34 pm 11 Mar 2026...

03/12/2026

A major investigation by Los Angeles Times reporters Melody Gutierrez and Taryn Luna revealed something that should concern every California taxpayer: a proposed $19 million taxpayer-funded campaign to “polish” California’s national image.

Promoting California is not the problem. The question is why this is happening now.

California is facing major fiscal pressure, including projected deficits and roughly $21 billion in internal borrowing just to manage cash flow. At the same time, families are dealing with some of the highest housing costs, gas prices, energy bills, and taxes in the country. Poverty remains the highest in the nation, businesses continue to leave, and homelessness and crime remain visible failures of public policy.

Against that backdrop, a $19 million taxpayer-funded advertising campaign aimed at improving the state’s reputation raises serious questions.

Government communications should inform the public about services, policies, and emergencies. They should not become taxpayer-funded reputation management during the closing months of an administration.

Credit to the Los Angeles Times for serious journalism that brought this issue to light. Now the public deserves transparency and accountability about how taxpayer money is being spent.

When budgets are tight and families are struggling, every public dollar should go toward solving real problems, not managing political narratives.
Read the full article here:

Gov. Gavin Newsom at press conference 3/2/2026. (Photo: x.com/GovPressOffice/status) A ‘Young Man in a Hurry’ to Spend $19 Million Running From His California Record California doesn’t need an image campaign if those in charge are doing their jobs By Hector Barajas, March 10, 2026 7:30 am 10 M...

03/10/2026

Imagine walking your child to school and passing people injecting drugs on the sidewalk. Some are unconscious. Some may not even be breathing.

Children ask questions that no parent should have to answer

“Is he dead?”
“Are we safe?”

At the same time, California has spent about $37 billion on housing and homelessness programs since 2019. Yet the number of people experiencing homelessness has increased by about 30,000, reaching more than 181,000 statewide.

Something is clearly not working.

Part of the problem is that the state has not consistently tracked how money is spent or whether programs actually work. Another issue is the cost of building housing. In California, local development fees average about $30,000 per unit, compared with about $800 in Texas. Those costs make it far harder to build the housing people need.

We can care deeply about people struggling with addiction and homelessness while also demanding better results from public policy.

What do you think needs to change?

Sacramento homeless guy passed out near Sacramento City College and a restaurant. (Photo: Katy Grimes for California Globe) A Second Grader Should Not Have to Ask, ‘Is He Dead?’ Our kids should not grow up stepping over needles on the way to school By Hector Barajas, March 3, 2026 11:06 am 03 Ma...

02/02/2026

Sometimes the problem is not bad intentions.

It is failing to ask what happens next.

California shut down local oil production after pressure from environmental activists. Oil demand did not go away. It was replaced with foreign imports, crude from the Amazon Rainforest, more oil tankers, 100 to 200 more trucks on our roads every day, higher prices, and higher emissions.

The result is the exact opposite of what was promised.

I wrote this piece to explain how we got here and why slogans without consequences lead to bad outcomes.

https://californiaglobe.com/fr/jane-fondas-climate-agenda-left-california-dirtier-and-more-expensive/
California Independent Petroleum Association The American Petroleum Institute Phillips 66 Gas California Globe Lucas Oil Jane Fonda Jane Fonda Climate PAC

01/30/2026

Car theft near the border has become predictable, organized, and largely unchecked.

Vehicles are stolen in California, driven into Mexico, and disappear from the reach of law enforcement, even when their exact location is known. This is not a mystery. It is a gap in enforcement and cooperation.

When governments fail to work together, criminals exploit the seams. The result is higher insurance costs, financial stress, and growing frustration for working families.

01/27/2026

The Helicoide Torture Prison in Venezuela

Under Nicolás Maduro, dissent was criminalized, and fear became a governing tool.

El Helicoide functioned as a warning to anyone who protested, organized, or questioned power.

Survivor testimony, international reporting, and UN findings tell a consistent story. This was not abuse by accident. It was policy.

01/20/2026

The fear of being priced out is real. But California’s rent debate keeps pointing fingers instead of fixing the problem.

Rent control sounds like action, but voters just rejected Proposition 33 for a reason. AB 1157 would have repeated the same mistake by tightening caps instead of expanding the housing supply. That bill failed last week, and it should have.

When supply is constrained, prices rise. When supply grows, pressure eases. The same logic applies everywhere. Gas costs about $2.81 nationally and around $4.23 in California. Same country. Different policy choices.

If we want real relief for renters, we need to build more housing and remove the barriers that make it harder and more expensive to do so.
Read the article here:
👉 https://californiaglobe.com/fr/scarcity-not-landlords-is-driving-californias-rent-crisis/

San Francisco: proposed Affordable Housing. (Photo: HUD.gov) Scarcity, Not Landlords, is Driving California’s Rent Crisis California can choose abundance or permanent conflict By Hector Barajas, January 19, 2026 2:45 pm 19 Jan 2026 2:45 pm California’s rent debate is often reduced to a simple st...

01/14/2026

Grieving parents stood at the Capitol with a simple message: stop treating street racing like a nuisance.

Illegal street racing and takeovers are organized, repeated, and deadly.

Cities are left to deal with the consequences while families bury loved ones.

Real accountability works. Seize vehicles. Charge organizers. Escalate penalties for repeat offenders.

They stressed that every delay ensures another tragedy.

01/12/2026

Let’s stop pretending California’s gas prices are random.

When you reduce refinery capacity, block maintenance, and idle pipelines, you get higher prices. Every time. That cost lands on families first and hardest.

This is not about resisting change. It is about managing reality.

An unmanaged collapse of energy infrastructure does not reduce demand. It exports jobs, raises prices, and shifts control out of state.

Policy choices have consequences. Californians are paying them now.