California hikes new car fees 500%. But will it be enough to pay for all the torched Waymo taxis and police cruisers?

Photo above - a passenger with an unusual accent rides peacefully in a robo-taxi, and does not set it on fire, in the 1990 film "Total Recall".

Full disclosure – I’ve never been in Waymo taxi. I actually feel safer in a vehicle with a human driver, rather than alone in some machine cruising around after dark. The torching of numerous Waymo taxis by rioting migrant job seekers appears to validate my fears.

How much does a Waymo robo-taxi cost? Around $78,000. That would pay for a police SUV here in Florida. I’m going to guess that the Los Angeles County police cars which were torched are over $100,000 each. Because . . . California. Their new high school cost more than $1 billion. If you live in Los Angeles and have access to the confidential police budget details, please correct me if I’m wrong.

This isn’t the first time robo taxis have been set on fire or vandalized in California. Some people – who apparently are triggered by automation and affordable ride shares – have been at this for years. The first anti-robo-taxi trick they discovered was that you could disable one simply by placing a traffic cone or debris on the hood. Passengers were alarmed, and bolted immediately, not lingering to find out what the crowds had in mind next.

This post isn’t all about the money. Although this week's riots have cost millions of dollars in vehicle arson, store looting, and vandalism to government buildings. The riots are a litmus test about whether we, as a nation, can adhere to the principle of peaceful protest and redress in the courts when challenging government policies we disagree with.

CNN has been leading with exciting riot and arson footage, 24/7. They’re calling it the “language of the unheard”. Which is a more lenient assessment than they gave the January 6th rioters. I haven’t done a deep dive to see which protest cost more, but the ICE riots HAVE gone on for a week now and appear to involve many more rioters.

If Governor Newsom went on camera to urge the rioter to stand down, CNN must have missed that. So far the Newsomnator appears to be siding with anyone who thinks Molotov cocktails are the solution to felony arrest warrants. But then again, Newsom IS running for president. This may all be political theater. But clearly poorly scripted. And Newsom was doing so well, edging toward the political center, before all this happened.

Just to be fair and balanced, I turned on Fox too. But I wasn’t impressed. A bunch of tweets from X users shouting “lock ‘em up”. Any discussion of constitutional principles by people with diplomas appears to be absent.

Okay protestors – both this week and January 6th – we get it. The economy has been in a spiral for some time now. They only people making money are Wall Street and business oligarchs. Politicians don’t pay attention until things are set on fire. Everyone wants to avoid prison time for felonies. Housing is too damn expensive, and so are drugs.

Welcome to America. But you might want to keep a low profile. There are street cams everywhere, and they sync up with facial recognition programs. Look how those pics resulted in mass arrests after January 6th. And I don’t think Newsom will be mass pardoning everyone, in the runup to his 2028 presidential campaign. Voters probably don't want masked arsonists to become the baseline for political debate in America. Even if they disagree with Trump on a bunch of stuff.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

State Senators Overwhelmingly Vote to Raise Car Dealership Fees 488%