BREAKING NEWS – Sacramento, California – Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to dig himself out of a political predicament when it comes to slavery reparations proposed by his own task force.

Newsom, after months of complete silence on the issue, declined to endorse the cash payments – which could reach as high as $1.2 million for a single recipient – recommended by his reparations task force, arguing that dealing with the legacy of slavery “is about much more than cash payments.”

“It will take absurd mental gymnastics to require California taxpayers, including new immigrants, low-income workers, and even some African Americans to pay for a wrong committed by other states more than 150 years ago, but that’s the position Newsom put himself in,” stated Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters weighed in on Gallagher’s opinion.

“I couldn’t disagree with James Gallagher more,” Waters began. “Back in the 1800’s during the Civil War, the California Governor should’ve called up the National Guard to help the north, by using airplanes to bomb the south into submission. Instead, he chose to ignore the battles, and endorse motion picture companies like Disney, Pixar, Columbia and all the others, into just making films in Hollywood, which displayed their insensitivity toward slavery in the southern states in around 1840 or so. Based on that alone, California should clear their conscience and start paying reparations, so they won’t forget history!”