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Larry Kudlow in the California fires

The political failure of the left is destroying California and that is a matter of debate. First and foremost, the a nightmare in California it is a natural disaster. No one can control the Santa Ana winds. My brother and his wife, who live in Hollywood, had to leave their apartment.

Thankfully, the Hollywood fire has been put out and they are back 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 a lot of evidence to suggest that the left-wing politics of California’s politicians caused this disaster.

Officials failed to properly fill the reservoir and, as a result, there was no water in the fire extinguishers of several locations. Previously, the mayor’s office actually cut the Fire Department’s budget. Governor Newsom apparently cut off the flow of water that never made it to Southern California to save an obscure fish called smelt. Hear from President Trump about smelts:

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES URGES FEDERAL TIGHTENING, STATE LAWS HINDING MITIGATION EFFORTS

TRUMP: “Well, it’s very sad because I was trying to get Gavin Newsom to let the water come in. You would have amazing water if you sent it to the Pacific because they’re trying to protect a small fish, in some places, in a way, called smelt and, because of the smelt, they don’t have water.

Again, this is a natural disaster nightmare in California. Lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed, and I’m no expert on all of this, but if the lakes are empty, or if the water is flowing into the Pacific rather than being piped into a fire hydrant – that the government first order error. Many people told me that California’s infrastructure, especially pipelines and power, had been neglected for a long time – in part because all the money was going into so-called climate projects by green politicians.

Perhaps if Governor Newsom, Mayor Bass, and others had spent more money on water and power infrastructure and dam management, another disaster in Southern California could have been mitigated.

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

There is also a financial angle to this story. Early estimates from one of the biggest banks suggest a loss of $50 billion – of which $20 billion will be insurance money losses. The state of California has a big problem here as well. Some of the largest home insurers, such as State Farm and Allstate, are exiting.

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

They have shareholders to answer to and California state insurance regulators won’t let insurance companies charge premiums high enough to cover natural disaster risks, and yes, those premiums keep going up, but that’s the only way insurance companies can make payments. living without them going out and disappearing.

In addition, California’s state insurance regulator called FAIR Plan will benefit greatly from wildfire money, and is about to audit a large number of private insurance companies, which are not private. companies in most cases he just can’t pay.

California was already in a home insurance crisis before the latest disaster – and this could be the costliest fire in US history. It’s nothing like the hurricane disasters in Florida. Some property values ​​in these hard-hit areas will fall even if premiums rise significantly. I find that the citizens of southern California are more concerned about their survival than they are about dollars and cents right now.

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One fact is certain that the state with the highest taxes in the country could do much better in managing its vital pipelines and its power systems and its dams and its forests and its insurance system, than we have done.

I’ll say what most people are thinking: Left-wing politics, too, have failed. If you want to help the people and businesses of California, how about less money for left-wing climate activists, and more money to improve basic services and fatten the wallets of ordinary working people. That’s the wrap.

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening remarks on Jan. 9, 2025, edition of “Kudlow.”


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