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‘Burn the witch,’ and slap a mileage tax on the blue wave

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Wires, P. (2026, November 5). ‘Burn the witch,’ and slap a mileage tax on the blue wave. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/11/04/opinion/burn-the-witch-and-slap-a-mileage-tax-on-the-blue-wave/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-11-05 · by Pirate Wires

Quick Summary

The article discusses Republican losses in various U.S. elections, including the House, Senate, and several gubernatorial races, which were accurately predicted by polls and prediction markets. It mentions a shift toward more progressive policies, such as DC voting to ban foie gras and states like Texas going blue. The piece also touches on the impact of voter perceptions regarding cost of living issues, starting new wars, and corruption on election outcomes. Additionally, it critiques California Governor-elect Xavier Becerra’s proposal for a mileage tax on electric vehicle drivers shortly before the elections, highlighting concerns about surveillance implications and existing high taxes in the state.
Written by AI on 2026-11-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In the U.S. midterm elections on November 3, 2026, Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, marking a significant shift from Republican dominance during President Donald Trump's second term. The victory shattered records and exceeded expectations, handing Democrats a mandate for substantial policy changes. Despite Trump's deep unpopularity, Republicans faced unexpected challenges in retaining their majority. Key races, such as Maine’s Senate seat and Texas governor's race, saw decisive Democratic victories. The results indicate voter dissatisfaction with economic pressures linked to the Iran war and trade policies.

Written for “Democrat's Win Control Of House And Senate” on 2026-11-05, grounded in this article and the 599 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence medium 1 quote(s) discarded as not found in the article
Leaning: leans left for article 130516 (medium confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-11-05

Story

📰 Democrat's Win Control Of House And Senate
Politics · 600 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Bluenami Same event
Reason
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 41 claims Outlet record 67/100
The Intercept
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 5 of 223 claims Outlet record 97/100
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 9 of 96 claims Outlet record 61/100
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 6 of 36 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 2 of 30 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Bulwark
Hedges 1 of 7 claims
“Article A discusses expectations and opinions about upcoming midterm elections, while Article B reports on the actual outcomes of those elections.”
Mother Jones
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 5 of 61 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles describe different days and varying focuses within the broader context of election results.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 53 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss the election results in Texas and other states on November 4-5, 2026, they describe different aspects of the event and do not focus on the exact same specific incident or outcome.”
Zeteo
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 1 of 3 claims
“While both articles discuss Democratic wins in the midterm elections, they describe different aspects and perspectives on the election results.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
600
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 17168 article(s) · 36 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 36 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Pirate Wires
5 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Politicians used to at least hide their evil tax regimes until after the election, or at least dodge questions / pinky-promise only the rich would pay.
🔮 Finally, say NO to Prop. 40, the wealth tax endorsed by devil-spawn Ro Khanna, whose face droops like our GDP will.
🔮 , Jeff Bezos doubled down on his prediction that AI would create a labor shortage in an interview with Fox’s Bret Baier.
🔮 At least, that was the interpretation of several midterm-conscious Democrats in the state: Gavin Newsom called Trump’s words “deranged and dangerous” (kinda like his state’s homeless residents?), while Karen Bass said the comments could “potentially compromise” LA’s safety (ah yes, Skid Row, famously safe).
🔮 Streets for All, a “public transport nonprofit” backing socialist Nithya Raman in LA’s mayoral election, has declared war on an iconic fixture of the Los Angeles skyline, with a new social media campaign arguing: Palm trees are a scam.
Also by Pirate Wires
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

California Californians House Republicans Senate

Subjects

Becerra PERSON · 4× California GPE · 2× Californians NORP · 2× Daddy Trump PERSON · 1× House ORG · 1× Kansas GPE · 1× Republicans NORP · 1× Senate ORG · 1× South Carolina GPE · 1× Texas GPE · 1×

Narrative

At the end of the day, when a main message of your presidential campaign was fixing the cost of living, and the cost of living is not good, and voters think you started another dumb war, and also that you’re corrupt — your party tends to lose “big league,” to borrow Trump’s language.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-05
🔮 Politicians used to at least hide their evil tax regimes until after the election, or at least dodge questions / pinky-promise only the rich would pay.
2026-11-05 · New York Post
‘Burn the witch,’ and slap a mileage tax on the blue wave · assertive framing

Claims (20 extracted, 0 hedged)

This week, Republicans lost, well, everything, including the House, Senate, and many competitive gubernatorial races, meaning unfortunately, you’re not getting those $5,000 checks from Daddy Trump. asserted
you → lose → Trump
Kansas, South Carolina, and Texas, where all six genders agreed with James Talarico that God is non-binary, went blue. And my home, DC, voted to ban foie gras. asserted
home → agree → gras
And AI was on people’s minds, but not seemingly driving their votes. asserted
AI → drive → votes
At the end of the day, when a main message of your presidential campaign was fixing the cost of living, and the cost of living is not good, and voters think you started another dumb war, and also that you’re corrupt — your party tends to lose “big league,” to borrow Trump’s language. asserted
party → fix → language
Practically speaking, my advice: Put those pronouns back in your bio, hire a lawyer, and pray that God shows his/her/their mercy. asserted
God → speak → mercy
Like everyone else in San Francisco, I checked out the Liz Holmes doc over the weekend, the allure of which I think was just like: Is this crazy circus freak lying to us, or is she only weird? asserted
she → check → us
The film was masterful, and I commend all four stars (Liz, her husband Billy, the director Nate, and actress Amanda Seyfried) for courageously inviting us to examine their integrity. asserted
I → commend → integrity
But now, while somewhat beside the point, tech leaders have resumed a discussion on this canonical “singular evil fraud” story … for obvious self-serving reasons. asserted
leaders → resume → reasons
Holmes was a witch, burned for behavior that was certainly bad, if greatly distorted by the public, in such a way as it absolved many other founders for uncomfortably similar behavior. asserted
it → burn → behavior
Now, there’s a big difference between “faking it until you make it” and wire fraud. asserted
you → ’ → it
But, gentlemen, it’s OK to introspect a bit — are you sure you’re on the right side? asserted
you → ’ → side
A Sacramento local news station conducted an interview with California Gov.-elect Xavier Becerra before the election. asserted
station → conduct → election
Asked whether he’d tax EV drivers (many of whom switched to escape high gas prices / save the environment) Becerra answered, “Absolutely!” adding that “everything,” including a mileage tax, “should be on the table.” asserted
everything → ask → table
Never mind that a mileage tax means annual mileage checks or tracking tech (hello, surveillance state). asserted
tax → mind → state
Never mind also that Californians already pay the country’s highest gas tax while our highways rank 49th nationally. asserted
highways → mind → 49th
Arguably the craziest part is Becerra’s sheer audacity — advertising exciting new ways to torture Californians DAYS before the midterms. asserted
part → advertise → midterms
Politicians used to at least hide their evil tax regimes until after the election, or at least dodge questions / pinky-promise only the rich would pay. asserted
rich → use → questions
Becerra didn’t even bother, because he knew his uniparty would win in California regardless. asserted
uniparty → bother → California
Elon, please work faster on those flying cars … before this guy tries to tax compressed air. asserted
guy → work → air
Pirate Wires offers the wildest stories in technology, politics and culture. asserted
Wires → offer → technology
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