California's 'Money-Saving' Tire Ban Just Got Worse, Including Threatening Reporters
Progressive policy ambitions meet practical realities as Americans weigh costs and consequences.
Basic economics says when you shrink the supply of something people need, the price goes up, not down. California's tire regulators apparently skipped that class. Cutting 70 percent of the tires sold in the state out of the market by 2033 isn't a savings plan, it's a shortage waiting to happen.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
Yesterday, we told you California enacted a ban on 70 percent of the tires currently sold in the state. That means by 2033, California consumers will have far fewer options for replacing their tires unless they drive out of state to Nevada or Arizona.
Democrats insist it will save drivers money, which shows how economically illiterate they are: limiting the supply of something never, ever makes it more affordable.
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
Basic economics says when you shrink the supply of something people need, the price goes up, not down. California's tire regulators apparently skipped that class. Cutting 70 percent of the tires sold in the state out of the market by 2033 isn't a savings plan, it's a shortage waiting to happen. Drivers in Sacramento or Fresno will eventually be looking at a drive to Reno just to replace a flat, and somehow that's being sold as a win for the consumer's wallet.
What makes this worse is the reaction to people pointing it out. When reporters started asking questions about the policy and its real-world effects, the response wasn't a better explanation of the math. It was pushback aimed at the reporters themselves. That's the tell. If a regulation actually saved people money, you wouldn't need to lean on anyone for describing what it does. You'd just show the receipts.
This is the pattern with so much of California's climate and consumer policy lately. A mandate gets dressed up in savings language, the actual economics get waved away, and anyone who runs the numbers gets treated like the problem instead of the messenger. Tires wear out. People need to replace them regularly, not on some ten-year horizon dictated by Sacramento. Telling millions of drivers they'll have fewer choices and calling it a discount insults their intelligence, and threatening the people who noticed doesn't fix that.
Californians deserve regulators who can do arithmetic, not spin. Until that happens, expect more of this: less choice, higher costs, and less patience for anyone who says so out loud.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.