Los Angeles Daily News: By Laurie Davies –It feels like every day there is a new catastrophe facing Californians: More than 70 cargo ships are piled up at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports with no docking date in sight; a jobs report showed that more than 300,000 less jobs were created than what was projected; not to mention the thousands of gallons of oil washing up on Orange County shores. Democrats are failing Californians.

First, shipping delays in the Long Beach and Los Angeles Harbors have been caused by extreme demand, a labor shortage thanks to President Biden and Governor Newsom, and COVID safety precautions for cargo ships. Many ports have limited the number of ships allowed in at a time, which has created problems across the world.

This live map shows the boat traffic of nearly half a million shipping containers that can be waiting to dock for up to 4 weeks.

From truck drivers missing pickup times because of insufficient storage at drop off locations to warehouse workers unable to unload deliveries because all equipment is in use, every aspect of the shipping process is impacted.  Even if ports were working 24/7, it probably still wouldn’t be enough to catch up to demand.

Some goods being shipped are taking twice as long to get to their destination as they did before the pandemic. Delays of this magnitude can have devastating effects on businesses. Is it any wonder small businesses are fleeing California en masse?

Next, the problem of staggering unemployment. Under the Biden administration, the U.S. has lost 180,000 workers in September, women have lost 26,000 jobs last month, and September marks the second consecutive month with less than half of the expected jobs added to the economy. The one statistic President Biden touted, that unemployment is down from 5.2% to 4.8%, is even a farce. The Hill reports that “the steep decline is largely due to millions of jobless workers remaining on the sidelines.” Yet President Biden calls it steady progress?

Many small business owners have been struggling to replace employees that were laid off during the pandemic. Hostile working conditions coupled with unemployment benefits that continuously roll in, provide little incentive to get people back to work.

Then there are the workers who have been going nonstop since the pandemic started who face extreme burnout and have health concerns of their own. Fewer and fewer workers are left to run entire warehouses and hardly find time in their shift to break for lunch.

Something must be done to supplement the work of these dedicated people while incentivizing the rest of America to get back to work.

Additionally, President Biden’s appointment of Pete Buttigieg to Secretary of Transportation is more evidence of his complete ignorance toward good policymaking. Buttigieg has no experience except that his town was overrun with potholes when he was mayor and he has proven ineffective in his new role. When pressed about whether the delays would be cleared up in time for the holidays, Buttigieg responded that it will take “years and years to address.” The delays are unlike any seen in history and prove that Buttigieg is just punching the clock and hoping that no one notices how much of a failure he’s been as Secretary of Transportation.

The Golden State is suffering because of Biden’s unnecessary mandates and terrible economy. The continuous rise in prices on nearly every daily expenditures is simply unsustainable for the future. Each of these crises have had detrimental effects on our communities and without a significant leadership overhaul, they will continue to ravage our state.

  • Top Feature Photo: Freight shipping containers moving through Long Beach Harbor, Tuesday, Long Beach, CA/USA. July 6, 2021 – Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer