Let's be clear about what's happening here. AI is absolutely going to reshape the labor market — probably faster than most politicians are willing to admit. That's a real problem that deserves real solutions. But a government-guaranteed jobs program? In California? The state that turned a $100 billion high-speed rail project into a monument to cost overruns and broken promises? Forgive us if we're not brimming with confidence.

The details of Steyer's proposal remain thin, which is par for the course in a competitive primary where vibes matter more than line items. What we do know is that Steyer has positioned himself as a tech-skeptic populist, and this pitch fits the brand. To his credit, he's at least acknowledging a problem that other candidates are tiptoeing around. AI displacement isn't hypothetical anymore — it's already hitting call centers, creative agencies, and back-office operations across the state.

But here's the tension: guaranteed jobs programs have a nasty habit of becoming permanent bureaucracies that serve administrators more than displaced workers. If Steyer is serious, he should be talking about retraining vouchers, private-sector partnerships, and sunset clauses — not open-ended state spending commitments.

Interestingly, Steyer's biggest campaign asset might not be his policy platform at all. As one San Francisco resident put it, noting PG&E's aggressive campaign against Steyer: "Anyone PG&E can't stand is immediately looked favorable upon by nearly everyone else in the state." Another local was even more blunt: "They certainly know how to get me to want to vote for Steyer." When your enemies are doing your campaigning for you, that's not nothing.

Still, good enemies don't make good policy. California workers deserve more than a billionaire's campaign-trail promise that taxpayers will be left holding the bag for. Show us the math, Tom.