The symbol of Robin Hood, a fallen noble who steals from the rich and gives to the poor, has traditionally been associated with socialism and the political left. The socialists love to portray their style of governance as heroism, as aiding the downtrodden by redistributing wealth. The reality, however, in California and the country, is quite the opposite: the Democrat modus operandi is to extract as much wealth as possible from the working citizen, in the guise of heroic equity, and then distribute the spoils to fund their ineffective, corrupt policies (i.e., their friends in government and nonprofit sectors)

San Francisco and California have bloated government coffers ; State and non-profits command immense budgets and largesse. San Francisco alone has a higher budget than 17 states. We have the highest state income tax, and the fifth highest tax-burden in the country. Despite this, nearly an astounding third of Californians are at or near poverty levels. I can go on:

California ranks 43rd in economic well-being, 35th in education, 10th in health, and 37th in family and community, 42nd in public safety, 25th in health care access, and 34th in economic rankings.

https://www.ppic.org/publication/poverty-in-california/

https://edsource.org/2024/california-ranks-bottom-third-in-overall-child-well-being-per-new-report/713965 https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2024/12/01/how-the-50-states-rank-by-tax-burden/103495/

Back to Robin Hood. Let us not forget that his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham, was a tax-collector. The peasant’s revolt (14th century, following a plague pandemic no less), led by Robin, was to protest the burdensome tax-collection of the Sheriff, taxes that enriched the governors at the expense of the working yeomen. The elites imposed taxation and frivolous rules to only then limit access to resources (safety, healthcare, education, etc.). In an ironic twist, the left has embraced the unscrupulous tax-collector, who steals from the poor to provide for the rich. Robin Hood would today rebel against the Democrat tax-collectors, not support them.

As the rankings above demonstrate, treasures are lost: California spends over 30 billion a year funding benefits to illegal aliens, despite a budget deficit of 73 billion, while many Californians eschew healthcare simply to survive.

“According to an April 2024 report by the California Health Care Foundation, more than half of Californians report skipping care in the past year due to cost, while nearly half of those individuals say forgoing care has worsened their existing condition.”

https://budget.house.gov/press-release/dont-california-my-america-the-cost-of-california-policymaking

The modern left operates under the assumption that extracting as much wealth as possible from the citizenry, and redistributing that treasure to fund ideological causes, while hiring the right race or gender, will in fact lead to a healthy and functioning state. This form of governance, however, as empirically demonstrated, cannot keep you safe, will not educate your children, and cannot protect you from natural disasters. It is the opposite of sound governance. We demand better.

The symbol of Robin Hood must be co-opted by the right. The citizen yeoman must be prioritized. — President, SFYR

Urooj Rahman, a lawyer sworn to uphold the law, launched a molotov cocktail at a police cruiser in 2020. She texted “I hope they burn everything down … all police stations and probably the courts too.” She received 15 months, despite what could be described as domestic terrorism. Democrats and the Biden DOJ plead for leniency and intervened on her behalf. Similarly, almost half of the cases involving the Portland riots of 2020, including attacks on a Federal Courthouse (it was set on fire) and the police, have been dropped. Is setting a Federal courthouse on fire and attacking police an act of domestic terrorism? If not, as the Biden DOJ appears to believe, why is “parading on restricted grounds” domestic terrorism?

The media presented Jan 6. with hyperbolic exaggeration (claiming falsely, to this day, that police officers were killed). Their motive has been to send a message to Trump and his movement, rather than mete out even-handed justice. There are stories we hear of protestors being detained without trial for years; of being jailed under excessive sentences for the crime of “parading” — of being inside a building they were not supposed to be in, despite some claiming they were invited in; of grandmothers being hunted down by the FBI for attending a political rally. The Biden Administration has insisted that this is the number one threat the FBI should focus on, marshaling all of its immense resources to capture every protestor or rioter involved in this insurrection, despite no such insurrection charges being officially levied. We see, in New Orleans and Las Vegas, how Americans are mowed down by real violent extremists, and yet the FBI is helpless in preventing these attacks beforehand. Are their priorities wrong?

In such a biased and toxic millieu, it is impossible for the Jan 6 detainees to receive a fair trial, and the legal process has been tainted with the most undemocratic, un-American thing of all- unequal treatment before the law. Protesting is not a crime. Attacking the police is a crime, and must be punished.

During the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, the “official proceedings” were also interrupted by protestors, who paraded into the courthouse, yet these protestors were not accused of insurrection. We look forward to the Trump Administration reviewing the cases and correcting the hysteria where appropriate with many pardons. During the Salem Witch trials, those too close to the trials and too emotionally invested, had to be removed from the decision-making, and those outside Salem had to step in to bring order and correct obvious wrongs.

– SFYR President