Washington ExaminerMay 11, 20262 min read

Newsom’s diaper program and California’s incestous relationship with nonprofits

The article employs strong polemical language ('desperate,' 'incestuous,' 'confiscating') and frames the diaper program primarily as political opportunism and cronyism rather than social policy. It centers the Pacific Research Institute (conservative think tank) and makes direct allegations about conflicts of interest involving Newsom's wife, while dismissing the program's stated purpose. The framing assumes bad faith (PR opportunity, cookie jar access) rather than presenting competing interpretations of the initiative's intent or effectiveness.

Primary voices: think tank (Pacific Research Institute), state government (Department of Social Services citation), nonprofit or civil society (Baby2Baby, California Partners Project)

This article does not address Baby2Baby's track record, effectiveness metrics, or independent evaluations of the organization's prior diaper distribution work.
This article does not present Newsom's or Baby2Baby's stated rationale for the new program or explain why it might differ from existing initiatives.
This article does not include response or context from the nonprofit partners or the governor's office regarding the conflict-of-interest allegations.
This article does not address whether similar public-private partnership models are used by Republican-led states or how they compare.

Framing may shift if independent audits of program efficiency, cost-per-diaper metrics, or legal review of conflict-of-interest claims emerge before the 2028 election cycle.

Think-tank-citedCharged languageDissenting framing

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is desperate to find things to hang his hat on for his eventual 2028 presidential run, but not desperate enough to shed the California model of funneling taxpayer dollars through allied nonprofit organizations.

Newsom announced that the California government is partnering with the nonprofit Baby2Baby to use taxpayer dollars to provide families with 400 “free” diapers for their newborns. This is the governor’s attempt to claim that he is making California more affordable for families, after years of his policies made the state far less affordable for families.

As an added bonus, Newsom is using it to criticize pro-life and pro-family conservatives, suggesting they are hypocrites for not cheerleading his ingenious plan.

In true California fashion, though, Newsom’s program is a half-measure at best. Only those who live in certain areas of the state will be allowed to benefit for now, and those families will receive enough diapers to cover about five weeks.

Not only that, but, as Matthew Fleming notes for the Pacific Research Institute, “According to the Department of Social Services, the state spent $30M over a three-year period to get approximately 144 million diapers to families in need through partner groups.” And the price tag for this new program will continue to rise, as the $12.5 million for next year only covers half of the project’s planned scope.

So California is creating a new taxpayer-funded diaper program despite one already existing. What is the purpose of that, aside from giving Newsom a new PR opportunity? It comes down to California’s incestuous relationships between nonprofit NGOs and Democratic politics.

One of Baby2Baby’s two CEOs is Norah Weinstein, who also sits on the board of the California Partners Project. The California Partners Project was co-founded by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of Gavin Newsom. The governor has helped his wife’s organization rake in millions since it was founded in 2020.

In other words, this new diaper program will funnel millions through an NGO run by a close ally of Newsom’s wife. There lies the point.

If Newsom actually wanted to help families purchase diapers, he would stop confiscating so much of their money through taxes that he uses to fund these bloated, inefficient programs. But Newsom’s political allies don’t get to have a hand in the cookie jar that way, and so every new spending program must be funneled through an NGO or two.

California’s spending is constantly increasing, leading Newsom to jack up taxes to cover the difference, leading to increased costs that Newsom calls on new programs to cover, leading to increased spending, and a never-ending cycle that only benefits the NGOs Newsom runs taxpayer money through.

Newsom’s diaper program and California’s incestous relationship with nonprofits

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