On a periodic basis we review the wasteful government spending via a continuing theme of “By The Numbers.” We review how poorly taxpayer wealth is being spent and wasted on stupid programs and projects and also how many government programs are being ripped off of billions and billions of dollars by fraud and criminal enterprises. Today is just another sad chapter on how politicians and government bureaucrats are pretty inept when it comes to safeguarding taxpayer dollars.
Unfortunately today we look at the horrific numbers coming out of the horrific wildfires in Los Angeles
1)The situation in Los Angeles has been unbelievably horrible, wildfires that are devastating the city and are still not controlled as of this writing. Our hearts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by this tragedy.
And it may be too soon to talk about the situation and the numbers associated with it but it is important to understand that this is another massive failure of the American political class. All too often we have pointed out that the number one priority of any government entity is to protect the lives and property of the citizens it governs. No matter how well they accomplish other deeds, if they cannot protect lives and property then they are a failure as a politician and public servant.
And the numbers show that Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, has failed miserably in executing this primary responsibility of government:
It is common knowledge that she pushed through a $17 million budget reduction for the city’s fire department during the previous fiscal year.
As a result, the fire department has been understaffed and short of equipment to adequately react to the wild fires.
But new news reports report that a government memo showed that she wanted an additional $49 million in budget cuts for the department.
The memo was dated January 6, 2025, one day before the wildfires exploded in the city.
Even though the current fire department force and resources have not been able to protect the city, her additional $49 million cut would have shut down an additional 16 fire stations, making the city even more dangerous.
Closing those 16 stations would have reduced the fire department workforce by over 700 firefighters.
Fire Chief Kristin Crowley had previously cautioned that the initial $17.6 million reduction would “severely limit the department’s capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires.”
The mayor wanted to continue to reduce the budget of an underfunded fire department but apparently had no problem allocating $170,000 for “Social Justice Art” and another $100,000 for “transgender cafes.”
It absolutely does not matter how successful social justice art and transgender cafes are, if a politician cannot protect lives and property they are a failure. And the numbers that Karen Bass has incurred mark her as a failure.
2)But it is not just the mayor who is at fault. According to state assemblyman, Bill Essayli, a number of failed environmental policies and laws made the current wildfires that much worse.
As proof, he cited the following numbers:
Decades ago, the state did a good job managing the forests and on average removed 6.0 billion board feet every year from the state’s forests.
This helped reduce the amount of combustible material and minimized wildfires’ impacts.
However, these days, the state remotes on average only 1.5 billion board feet each year.
Thus, 75% less combustible is removed from the state’s forest these days, leaving plenty of dead plant life to feed the wildfires: [the state government and laws] “failed to remove accumulated vegetation, leading to denser forests with increased fuel loads and forests have become tinderboxes, leading to devastating outcomes when a fire starts.”
Make stupid rules get fatal results.
3)How fatal and destructive have the fires been? As of January 11th:
At least ten people have died as a result of the five distinct LA fires.
The Palisades fire is only 8% contained, it has burned 21,000 acres, has destroyed more than 5,300 structures. and killed at least 2 people.
The Eaton fire is only 3% contained, it has killed at least 5 people, it has burned 14,117 acres, and has destroyed over 7,000 structures.
The Kenneth fire is 50% contained, has covered 1,052 acres, and was possibly caused by a possible arsonist that has been arrested.
The Lidia fire is 98% contained and it has burned through 395 acres.
The Hurst fire is 70% contained and has covered 771 acres.
The Archer fire is 0% contained and has burned through 19 acres.
Thus, over 36,000 acres have been destroyed by the wildfires.
Since there are 640 acres in a square mile, the fire have destroyed about 60 square miles.
It is too early to put blame on the specific politicians and government bureaucrats that helped make these fires so deadly. But given that the primary objective of any government entity is to protect the lives and property of the citizens it serves, the numbers show there is no doubt that the state and local government officials, politicians, and governments were totally inept, insensitive, and fatal.
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If you agree that we need to deseat every member of Congress for their lack of success and accomplishment, then please consider going to the following petition link to help the cause:
https://www.change.org/p/deseat-congress-reset-freedom
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