For years, Democrats have insisted that reparations are a moral imperative. Now, however, the bill has come due and advocates in a Wednesday hearing confronted members of the California Reparations Task Force in asking “where’s the money?” Some are now demanding more than $5 million per resident as Reparations Board member Lisa Holder of the Equal Justice Society promised that the committee’s “recommendations will be breathtaking.” …

In the hearing on Wednesday, the growing expectation and impatience was evident among witnesses. Yet, some reparations advocates in cities with even smaller reparation programs admit that they do not know how cities will fund the payouts.

One witness described the payments of $5 million per person as “nothing” and “too little.” The correct figure was suggested as more like $7.6 million.

Reverend Tony Pierce asked “Where’s the money? Where’s the cash? Where’s the check?” “$5 million, San Francisco’s already made a move. $5 million is nothing.”

[Democrats are about to learn the consequences of raising irrational expectations. And in California, they’ll have no excuse for failure, since the party controls every aspect of public governance in the state. Or at least they will until they tell Californians to cough up $800 billion in reparations from people who never owned slaves to pay people who never were slaves in a state that never allowed slavery. That *might* be enough to crash the Democrat regime’s grip on power in California … but I’d bet first on an even more massive exodus first. — Ed]