Daily Business Report: Tuesday, January 13
Voter Fraud Alarm: 449,000 Non-Citizens Reportedly Excused from Jury Duty in California, Raising Red Flags on Voter Rolls
by Megan Barth | California Globe
In a state already notorious for its lax election laws and ballooning non-citizen population, a resurfaced claim is reigniting fierce debate over voter integrity: Did nearly half a million Californians dodge jury duty by admitting they aren’t U.S. citizens—while somehow remaining on the voter registration lists?
The allegation, which has circulated for years but gained fresh traction on social media this weekend, points to a potential massive loophole in California’s “Motor Voter” system, where DMV interactions automatically register eligible voters but, critics argue, fail to weed out the ineligible.
The claim traces back to data from California’s Judicial Council, which reported around 449,000 individuals disqualified from jury service in a single fiscal year due to non-citizen status. Proponents of the narrative assert these same people were pulled from voter rolls for jury pools, exposing widespread non-citizen registration.
Newsom Tells Counties ‘No More’ On Homelessness Funding
By Nadia Lathan | Voice of San Diego
Gov. Gavin Newsom gave his final annual address to the Legislature this week, where he touted his administration’s efforts on homelessness, saying that the number of homeless people in the state dropped overall in 2025. On Friday, the finance department also released its preliminary budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which proposes to give $500 million toward the state’s principal homelessness program.
That’s half the $1 billion that has been allocated for the program annually since 2019, except for this fiscal year when it was gutted completely.
Darrell Issa Is Hollywood’s Worst Enemy, Stands Firm Against Netflix-Warner Merger
By Megan Barth | California Globe
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the Chair of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet, has drawn a clear line in the sand. During a Wednesday hearing, Issa forcefully rejected the notion that Washington should rubber-stamp yet another mega-merger simply because powerful executives and their lobbyists demand it.
Issa, of course, was addressing the proposed $87 billion tie-up between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery, which has become the biggest lobbying bonanza in the Beltway. If consummated, the merger would combine the world’s largest streaming company with one of the largest repositories of film and television content in history, creating an unprecedented concentration of power over what Americans watch, pay for, and ultimately hear.
Despite the spending and influence campaign surrounding the deal, Issa would have none of it. He pointed out that since 2011, Netflix has raised prices on consumers roughly ten times, far outpacing inflation. When a witness attempted to brush this off by claiming that “everyone” in streaming is raising prices, Issa sliced and diced the talking point.
