Leftist political failures are ruining California and that’s what the riff is about. Firstly, the nightmare in california it’s a natural disaster. No one can control the Santa Ana winds. My brother and his wife, who live in Hollywood, had to evacuate their apartment.

Fortunately, the Hollywood fire was contained and they have returned home. When it comes to catastrophic fires like this, there are no heroes. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Unfortunately, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence to suggest that the left-wing politics of blue-state California politicians has exacerbated the tragedy.

Officials were unable to properly fill a tank, and as a result, there was no water at fire hydrants in several neighborhoods. Before that, the mayor’s office actually cut the Fire Department’s budget. Governor Newsom apparently cut off the flow of water that never reached Southern California in order to preserve an obscure fish called smelt. Hear President Trump on Odors:

CALIFORNIA FIRES EXPERIENCE STATE AND FEDERAL REGULATIONS HINDING MITIGATION EFFORTS

TRUMP: “Well, it’s very sad because I’ve been trying to get Gavin Newsom to allow the water to come in. You’d have tremendous water if they sent it to the Pacific because they’re trying to protect a little fish, which is in other areas, by the way, they’re called smelt and, for a smelt’s sake, they have no water.”

Once again, this is a tragic nightmare of a natural disaster in California. Lives lost, homes destroyed, and I’m no expert on all of that, but if the reservoirs are empty or if the water is flowing into the Pacific instead of being funneled into the hydrant, that’s a government first order error. Many people tell me that California’s infrastructure, especially the pipeline and electric system, has been neglected for quite some time, in part because all the money has gone to the so-called climate projects of green politicians.

Perhaps if Governor Newsom, Mayor Bass and others spent more on water and power infrastructure and reservoir management, some of the tragedy in Southern California could have been mitigated.

At this point, I’m sure people in the LA area are more concerned about their safety than the blame game, but it would be helpful at some point to do a post-mortem and look at what went wrong and what could be done better to mitigate these natural disasters.

There is also a financial angle to this story. Early estimates from one of the big banks suggest losses of $50 billion, of which $20 billion will be insured losses. The state of California has a big problem here as well. Some very large home insurers, such as State Farm and Allstate, are pulling out.

State Farm stopped insuring the home last spring. I’m not an expert here either, but you have to wonder if they were looking at the same infrastructure issues and assessing the same risks as others, and these insurers decide they don’t want the risk of blowing up their balance sheet or their balance sheet. the whole company

They have shareholders to answer to and insurance regulators in the state of California won’t allow insurance companies to charge premiums high enough to cover natural disaster risks, and yes, those premiums keep going up, but it’s the only way in which insurance companies can make a living unless they retire altogether.

In addition, the insurance regulator of the state of California called the FAIR Plan will take a big hit for wildfire damage and is about to assess private insurance companies a huge amount, which the private companies in many cases you cannot afford to pay.

California was already in a home insurance crisis before the recent catastrophe, and this may be the costliest fire in US history. It’s not entirely unlike the hurricane disasters in Florida. Some property values ​​in these affected areas will fall even as insurance premiums soar. I understand that the citizens of Southern California are far more concerned about their survival than dollars and cents right now.

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One reality is surely that the nation’s highest-taxed state can do much better than it has in managing its vital pipelines and energy systems, its reservoirs and forests and its insurance system.

I’m going to say what a lot of people are thinking: leftist politics has, once again, failed. If you want to help the people and businesses of California, how about a lot less money for left-wing climate extremists, and a lot more money to improve basic services and fatten the wallets of ordinary workers? This is the riff.

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening comment in the January 9, 2025 edition of “Kudlow”.