Republicans say they want to put conditions on wildfire aid to California

[RicoSuave102954]

Except that California has the fifth (5th) largest economy in the world, and subsidizes the rest of the country.

You're welcome.

California also has a 73 Billion budget deficit which is rising by the hour.

Three years ago, they had a 100 Billion surplus.

Not only can't the current leaders in California manage a fire they can't manage a budget either.

 

[noStemsnoSTICKS]

California also has a 73 Billion with B budget deficit which is rising by the hour.

Three years ago they had a 100 Billion surplus.

Not only can't the current leaders in California manage a fire they can't manage a budget either.

Meh... depends who you read. Some say it's a budget surplus. Regardless, we're still the fifth largest economy in the world. Where's your state rank?

 

[RicoSuave102954]

Meh... depends who you read. Some say it's a budget surplus. Regardless, we're still the fifth largest economy in the world. Where's your state rank?

LOL - it's not a surplus you dumbass

 

[noStemsnoSTICKS]

LOL - it's not a surplus you dumbass

You didn't answer my question, little puppy.

 

[joelbc1]

California also has a 73 Billion budget deficit which is rising by the hour.

Three years ago, they had a 100 Billion surplus.

Not only can't the current leaders in California manage a fire they can't manage a budget either.

Semantics and bookkeeping…. Abd if your red or blue.
Now tell Reagan and Swartznegger didn’t battle budget issues in their time as Governor.

 

[RicoSuave102954]

Semantics and bookkeeping…. Abd if your red or blue.
Now tell Reagan and Swartznegger didn’t battle budget issues in their time as Governor.

Not surprised that Joel is at the throttle of the "Old Excuse Train" once again.

 

[Hans81]

Deplorable:

Leading congressional Republicans say they want to place conditions on aid for California’s wildfire victims, trying to force the state to fix what one lawmaker called “bad behavior” on policies ranging from taxes to land management in exchange for billions of dollars in federal help to recover from a natural disaster.


House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said Monday that “there should probably be conditions on that aid” and pointed to disagreements about California’s “resource management” and “forest management mistakes.”
Sen. John Barrasso (Wyoming), the No. 2 Republican in the upper chamber, also blamed the fires’ devastating outcome on “policies of the liberal administration out there,” during a Sunday interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“I expect that there will be strings attached to money that is ultimately approved, and it has to do with being ready the next time because this was a gross failure this time,” Barrasso said.

Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) said California and other Democratic-controlled states would need to atone for “bad behavior” if they wanted federal assistance.

“We will certainly help those thousands of homes and families who’ve been devastated, but we also expect you to change bad behavior,” Nunn said Monday on Fox Business. “We should look at the same for these blue states who have run away with a broken tax policy. We want to be able to help our colleagues in New York, California and New Jersey, but those governors need to change their tune now.”

It is too early, policymakers say, to determine how much help California residents and businesses could need after four wildfires ravaged the greater Los Angeles area. It could be more than $50 billion, by some estimates, and a full assessment probably will not be complete for weeks. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California), whose district has suffered some of the worst damage, told The Washington Post that rebuilding could cost more than $150 billion.

The death toll from the fires is up to 24, and thousands of homes have been destroyed. More than 100,000 residents have had to evacuate to flee the blazes.
Lawmakers typically approve federal aid after natural disasters without requiring states to change policies first.

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for the fires. Water policy experts, however, have disputed Trump’s claims of water shortage in Southern California. They say the fires are due to a combination of lack of rain and severe wind.
During last year’s campaign, Trump threatened to withhold federal aid from California unless the state changed how it approached water management.
“The question is, what are they linking it to? And we’ll see. But if the aid is not provided because Republicans are linking it — the country is with the [Pacific] Palisades right now. The country expects that the federal government will come in and help people,” Sherman said. “Look, I voted for aid for Hurricane Sandy and Maui and Hurricane Laura in the delta in Louisiana, and the idea that something my party wanted would be part of that, it didn’t occur to me. No, we just provided the aid.”


President Joe Biden’s administration has sought to emphasize a robust response to the fires, pledging enduring support to communities that have been devastated.
Biden approved a major disaster declaration for California on Wednesday, allowing local officials and residents to tap federal resources. Biden pledged to cover 100 percent of the response cost for 180 days, with Washington paying for things like debris removal.
Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris canceled planned travel out of the country to focus on the fires, and White House officials have highlighted some of the positive comments elected officials in California have made about Washington’s support.

“I asked for 90 percent, and he said, ‘No, I’m going to do 100 percent.’ It was a big deal,” Newsom said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Other federal support includes a fire management assistance grant to help cover firefighting costs, additional firefighters and equipment from the U.S. Forest Service, and troops from the Defense Department, officials said.
“At my direction, hundreds of federal personnel and unique federal aerial and ground support has been sent to California to support the firefighting efforts and help communities in need,” Biden said Monday in a statement. “My administration remains laser-focused on helping survivors and we will continue to use every tool available to support the urgent firefight as the winds are projected to increase.”

Conditioning federal natural disaster aid on state-level policy changes as some in Congress have proposed is highly unusual, especially if those policies have little to do with the underlying event.

In a wide bipartisan vote, Congress recently approved billions of dollars in new disaster funding for Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia after those states were struck by hurricanes Helene and Milton. All but one of those states is led by a Republican governor. Congress did not place conditions on that federal assistance.
“Am I to understand that Californians, American citizens who are in the state of California, some 40 million of us, somehow are below the status of a citizen from a Southern state?” Rep. Lou Correa (D-California), who represents a district near the fires, said in an interview. “California is a donor state to the federal government. We give more than we get back. Maybe, should we suspend the tax revenue we give to the federal government until we’re able to fix the damage from the fires? I think that would be an interesting twist.”

Yep…it’s called the “carrot and stick” method. Don’t just give out money willy, nilly without some promises to fix some underlying issues.

 

[noStemsnoSTICKS]

Retrumplicans talk tough about this, but I doubt they'll have the courage to follow through.

This could become a political disaster if they do.

 

[RicoSuave102954]

Yep…it’s called the “carrot and stick” method. Don’t just give out money willy, nilly without some promises to fix some underlying issues.

Get the promises in writing because the current group of California leadership is going to be short lived.

 

[Hans81]

Maybe.
If they refuse aid for drought prone areas California would no longer be a major source for fresh vegetables and fruits.
If they refuse aid for those in hurricane prone areas then where would all of you northerners retire?

Florida, Arizona, and Iowa. 😉

Meh... depends who you read. Some say it's a budget surplus. Regardless, we're still the fifth largest economy in the world. Where's your state rank?

lol - who says California has a budget surplus? 🥴

 

[Jerome Silberman]

Ya know, phuck cancer / cancer sucks. But sometimes, I wish I had a cancer gun.

You don't have an Iowa zip code?

 

[Jerome Silberman]

Retrumplicans talk tough about this, but I doubt they'll have the courage to follow through.

This could become a political disaster if they do.

It probably should be a mini political disaster for it to even be uttered, but it won't.

 

[Gimmered]

I can’t wait to see them backtrack after the next natural disaster to hit a GOP run state and the response isn’t perfect.

It will be different then, it always is.

 

[Firekirknow]

Another negative precedent set. MAGA

 

[Gimmered]

Yes and that statement was correct. Dems are terrible at money management. Just look at that 24 billion dollars that evaporated on homeless spending as homelessness exploded in the state.

As compared to the never ending farm subsidies?

 

[Doodads and Hoohah]

Except that California has the fifth (5th) largest economy in the world, and subsidizes the rest of the country.

You're welcome.

But we've been told by the geniuses on here that no one would ever want to live in or start a business in California.

 

[Doodads and Hoohah]

Many states fluctuate between surpluses and deficits.

 

[RicoSuave102954]

Many states fluctuate between surpluses and deficits.

California also has a 73 Billion budget deficit which is rising by the hour.

73 billion dollars in the red isn't an fluctuation it's a disaster.

 

[Rifler]

Embers were blown 4-5 miles by the 100mph winds. Explain to me how goats would fix that. Please be detailed in your answer.

Funny thing about goats, there are lots of them and they have the ability to walk,.. You do understand that in a thoughtful safety management plan the establishment and maintenance of a fire break perimeter would be an ongoing process,... Carried out day after day, year after year...

 

[Hammerhead02]

Yep…it’s called the “carrot and stick” method. Don’t just give out money willy, nilly without some promises to fix some underlying issues.

How Texas’ power grid failed in 2021 — and who’s responsible for preventing a repeat

In the state’s power grid, electricity and natural gas are co-dependent. Here’s how the winter storm last year broke the system.

www.texastribune.org

 

[BelemNole]

Funny thing about goats, there are lots of them and they have the ability to walk,.. You do understand that in a thoughtful safety management plan the establishment and maintenance of a fire break perimeter would be an ongoing process,... Carried out day after day, year after year...

So you're really sticking with a fuel break would have stopped this? Goats stripping back all veg in a, what, 5 mile buffer around neighborhoods?

I mean, goats are great, my city pays 7 figures a year to have them reduce fuels within city limits. But we're a small city and we're only reducing fuels in open spaces within the city. Not for a 5 mile buffer around it. Do you have any idea how many square miles of defoliation you're talking about?

 

[ft254]

Absolutely along with flood insurance. But honestly it’s important to note that some of these oceanfront properties are owned by very wealthy individuals who pay all cash and then self insure.

I saw damage in Florida to other than coastal property. Thousands of homes. I can't believe snowbirds can absorb continuing damage and loss which will occur since hurricanes will become more numerous due to warming ocean/gulf waters.

 

[joelbc1]

So you're really sticking with a fuel break would have stopped this? Goats stripping back all veg in a, what, 5 mile buffer around neighborhoods?

I mean, goats are great, my city pays 7 figures a year to have them reduce fuels within city limits. But we're a small city and we're only reducing fuels in open spaces within the city. Not for a 5 mile buffer around it. Do you have any idea how many square miles of defoliation you're talking about?

Charlie Finley used a couple of goats to maintain the hillside in right field between the right field fence and the outside border fence of old Municipal Stadium down on Brooklyn Avenue, Kansas City. The only hassle Charlie got for that was that he dyed the goat’s coat’s in green and gold (team colors). Damn animal rights activists!
Back in the ‘60’s ol’Charlie was referred to as “ a showman”….

 

[Jerome Silberman]

Funny thing about goats, there are lots of them and they have the ability to walk,.. You do understand that in a thoughtful safety management plan the establishment and maintenance of a fire break perimeter would be an ongoing process,... Carried out day after day, year after year...

Have you ever physically been to these places and taken in the scale?

 

[goldmom]

I saw damage in Florida to other than coastal property. Thousands of homes. I can't believe snowbirds can absorb continuing damage and loss which will occur since hurricanes will become more numerous due to warming ocean/gulf waters.

Of course there was damage inland and there always has been. I grew up here and recall Dora in 1964. Long before the climate issue was mentioned.