By Samuel Strait, Reporter at Large – October 17, 2021 – Picture credit to CalMatters.org Not everyone, but many are aware of the backlog of goods coming into California through the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. These two ports represent 40% of the nation's entire international flow of goods into the United States. After months of emptying shelves at retail outlets with little to replace the merchandise our vacuous leader in the White House finally realized he should do something, anything that made it seem like he had any measure of problem solving in his empty head. His solution, requesting both ports to open up twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. His belief upon learning that ships were queuing up to be unloaded in large numbers allowed him to think that the port's unloading capacity was not met during normal opening hours. One only has to view the ports to realize that this was not the problem and opening up 24/7 was not going to make any difference. Biden's fumbling response to the problem is yet another indicator that his cognitive abilities and those that advise him are not up to the task. So, how has our State government stepped up to the plate? Currently there is a bit of legislation, sure to be signed into law by governor "Empty Suit", prohibiting ships from anchoring off the coast in Southern California. Nice "save" by the State's legislators, after all we wouldn't wish for more environmental damage to the coast line by anything that might ease the product shortages here in the United States. Anything else in the way of solutions, and the silence is deafening.. Aside from the huge mounds of containers already bursting the capacity of both ports, it does not appear that there is much space for either port to put cargoes from ships waiting to be unloaded. HMMM… must be something else amiss here. Could it possibly be state and federal regulations? One would hope not… California legislators and our governor saw fit to pass AB5 which in effect will eliminate nearly 80% of California's independent truck drivers from operating within the State. Coupled with California's CARB regulations further reduce the available freight trucks which can legally operate in Southern California ports. No trucks or drivers, means not much leaves either port. How's that for geniuses at work in the State's legislative branch and the executive branch for failure to understand that the environment and climate change are going to have to go on holiday for awhile until someone smarter than Sacramento can figure out how to move goods without trucking. No heart, no courage, no brains When you combine these two failures of the Newsom government, with no remedy in sight, and couple those with inflation of diesel fuel prices, difficulties with spare parts for trucks, and increased operating costs, you have the perfect storm and the mess in the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Not only will this continue to plague California and the rest of the Country for some time to come, Newsom and his cronies in the Unions will be assured of making things worse as long as he is in office. Had enough "NO" voters, especially Democrats who have kept this train wreck in office. In order to at least temporarily ease the congestion at both ports it may be necessary to suspend the constraints of both AB5, that is if the Supreme Court doesn't do it first, and be more reasonable about California emissions with respect to freight trucks and other diesel powered equipment. Unfortunately, California's legislators and executive branch care more about the dollars flowing into their pockets than the citizens of this State. Be prepared for a rough ride going forward. Both the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are going to be bogged down for the foreseeable future.