Showing posts with label wildfire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wildfire. Show all posts

Thursday, January 16, 2025

January, 2025, Part 7, Political Class Insanity: Hochul Drives More Residents Out Of State, Homeless American Kids Abound Across The Country and Karen Bass Lied

 Every month we devote posts to just general political class insanity that is running rampant through the country. The members of the American political class continue to show that they are incapable of efficiently operating any level of government in this country.


Even their best efforts are almost always ineffective at resolving any problem facing Americans. They spend a great amount of time not trying to improve the lives of their citizens but continually ensuring their reelection and enriching themselves, their families, and their friends in the process, all at taxpayer expense.


1)We have often made the case that Kathy Hochul, governor of New York state, is a prime reason why so many New Yorkers are fleeing the state for other, less taxing, less costly, and better quality of life locations. Her actions, along with her fellow politicians in the state, have put her state at the top of  our top list of states that are likely to get to bankruptcy court first.


As more and more people leave a state like New York, the tax base of residents and businesses gets smaller. Most of the time, politicians do not reduce spending in reaction to a dwindling tax base, they just raise taxes on those that still remain within the state’s borders. These higher tax burdens drive more people out of the state, further reducing the tax base, and the financial death spiral is on.


Hochhul made the situation even worse with her attitudes towards New Yorkers that do not agree with her views politically. It is one thing to continually raise taxes on your residents, but when you disparage them, and encourage them to leave the state because their political leanings do not agree with hers, that is just pouring gas on a financial fire.


Side note: New York residents on average can pay up to 15% of their income on just state and local taxes in New York. Combine that with a top marginal tax rate of 37% for Federal income tax and many New Yorkers are paying over 50% of their income in taxes. 


And apparently she did not learn her lesson. As we have previously discussed, she has initiated a “congestion toll” tax on people driving into Manhattan during certain hours and certain days of $9 per vehicle. While it may be called a toll it is a tax on commuters. And in all likelihood, this additional tax will  drive more  taxpayers out of her state.


And the vultures in other states are ready to willingly accept former New Yorkers to their states and cities:


  • Boca Raton, Florida mayor Scott Singer, apparently is one not to miss an opportunity to  make his city better.

  • He recently made an offer to those residents and businesses thinking of getting out from under Hochul’s thumb:“#NYC commuters are paying another tax just for the privilege of driving on congested roads. How many more reasons do you need to move your business to [Boca Raton] where our business climate is as sunny as our real climate with our low tax rate!”

  • Since Florida is the number one destination of ex-New Yorkers according to the Census Bureau, he has a pretty good shot of getting productive residents and businesses to come make his city better.

  • But Mayor Singer has some competition since New Hampshire state representative Joe Sweeney is making a similar pitch for his state:“Are you a New Yorker upset about congestion pricing? New Hampshire 100% Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Interest & Dividends Tax, Sales Tax, and Congestion Pricing FREE.”

  • Even some New York politicians are smarter than Hochul, considering what Queens City Council member Bob Holden recently stated: “The government’s job is to make life easier for its residents and businesses, not to drive them away. With Tyrant Hochul and the lunatics in Albany pushing policies like the congestion scam tax and crushing businesses with high taxes, it’s no surprise cities like Boca Raton are offering a better deal.”

With economic ignorance like Hochul’s, along with her disdain for residents who do not share her political views, New York still remains firmly in the race to be the first state to go bankrupt as residents and businesses flee.

2)Before we do the next political class disaster, keep in mind that Biden just released another $500,000,000 to be sent to the endless war between Ukraine and Russia:


  • According to a recent report from HUD, there are 2,235 homeless kids in Seattle attending city public schools.

  • That is a 20% increase over the previous year which was on top of a 30% increase in homeless kids from two years ago.

  • Reasons for the whopping increase in the homeless kid population include inflation, rising home rental rates, and the diversion of taxpayer wealth to take care of the illegal immigrant invasion caused by Biden’s failed immigration policy.

  • But the problem is not restricted to the city schools since across the whole liberal state of Washington there are currently about 41,000 homeless kids which is up from 35,000 the year before.


And yet, millions of illegal immigrants get daily shelter, food and medical care courtesy of American taxpayer wealth. Really bad priorities of the American political class, in Washington and elsewhere. 


3)And the Seattle/Washington homeless kids problem is not restricted to  the northwest. California currently has 246,000 homeless kids going to their schools. And yet, Governor Gavin Newsom and the state government of California just set aside $50,000,000 to protect illegal immigrants in California from deportation once the Trump administration takes over


This comes out to about $200 per homeless kid. Not much, but enough to get some good meals, new clothes or a couple of nights’ shelter in a hotel for these kids. Another set of politicians but the same bad priorities.

4)Karen Bass is the mayor of Los Angeles, the current site of some of the worst wildfires ever. We have discussed her incompetence in previous posts, how she cut the LA Fire Department budget by $17 million and wanted to cut the budget by even more, how she diverted some of that money to stupid social programs like transgender cafes and social justice art. Fire hydrants did not work, reservoirs were empty.


As a result, over two dozen residents are dead, thousands of structures  have burned down, thousands of acres are burned to ash. And despite dire warnings earlier this month that predicted some very dangerous weather and high Santa Ana winds were very conducive to destructive fires, the good mayor decided to fly halfway around the world to Ghana, Africa. For such ego-centric world trekking, she is being severely crucified.


But it would not have been a problem if she had listened to the promise she  made to LA residents in a New York Times interview on  October 17, 2021. She promised that if elected as mayor she would only travel to major U.S.  cities and not travel to foreign countries during her term: “[N]ot only would I of course live here, but I also would not travel internationally — the only places I would go would be D.C., Sacramento, San Francisco and New York, in relation to L.A.,” 


But like many American  politicians,  she  lied. Not only did she visit Ghana, public records indicate she has traveled outside the country four times in just the past year, all at taxpayer expense. She went to Mexico and traveled THREE times to Paris for the 2024 Olympics.


Another politician,  another  liar.

That will do it for today: not unexpectedly, American politicians are still liars, still treat illegal  immigrants better than  suffering Americans, and are still so ignorant when it comes to economic and tax policy.


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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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Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

Sunday, January 12, 2025

January, 2025, Part 2, By The Numbers: The Horror That Are The Los Angeles Wildfires

 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



**********************


Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at: