Tonight, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who is running for president, and Governor Gavin Newsom of California, who is definitely not running for president, are set to debate.

The growth of public encampments in California is impossible to ignore. Newsom knows that. So what is he supposed to say if DeSantis brings up the fact that it has significantly increased under his watch?

Well, this is what he came up with.

California announced nearly $300 million in funding that is available to organizations to help clean up homeless camps.

Over just a four-year period, California has spent over $17.5 billion on homelessness. But for some reason, this is not a problem that money seems to be able to fix.

"We've got to move, people are counting on us," Newsom said in a news briefing on Monday, according to the Washington Examiner. "The public has had it, they're fed up, I'm fed up, we're all fed up."

Newsom said it is on top of $415 million that has been used to clear 5,600 encampments.

Question: does it count as “clearing” an encampment if they just set the tent back up again an hour later?

This is all so weird. Just the other day San Francisco was able to clean up their encampments overnight. Does it really take half a billion dollars to make a dent?

“Since day one, combatting homelessness has been a top priority. Encampments are not safe for the people living in them, or for community members around them. The state is giving locals hundreds of millions of dollars to move people into housing and clean up these persistent and dangerous encampments. And we are doing the same on state land, having removed 5,679 encampments since 2021.” Newsom said.

Just because you throw money at something does not mean you are giving it “priority.” And at the very least, we can definitely correlate that the more money officials spend on homelessness, only increases it. But at least he will be able to say it is his “top issue.”

Newsom said that those receiving the grant money will be held accountable in making sure the homeless are provided new homes.

"We're not just writing a blank check and hoping things get better. They actually have specific numeric goals, minimum expectations and standards that must be met," he said.

So I am assuming this means Newsom, the most powerful man in the state, will not be held “accountable” for the increase in homelessness under his watch.

According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 30 percent of the nation's homeless population live in California.

"The governor didn’t clear these homeless encampments; they just moved them down the street," said Senator Brian Dahle (R-Bieber. "California spends more tax dollars per homeless person than we do on our students. The homeless crisis is a national embarrassment. This governor needs to focus on real results instead of chasing presidential aspirations and gas-lighting Californians."

I think it is quite clear that the “housing first” approach only exacerbates the problem.

There are so many parts in California that the third world is not even subjected to. And at the very least, the evidence shows that housing will not fix much of anything.