West Coast Fire Thread

[JohnH]

Biden is giving California fire victims, a measly $770.00. But funding the Ukrainian war, he gave billions.

Another tidbit of information Gavin Newsom and California Democrats reached $50M in an attempt to Trump-proof the state. Maybe they should have made sure the water supply was adequate to fight the fires.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/1 ... s-00197784

Unbelievable

[JohnL]

Biden is giving California fire victims, a measly $770.00. But funding the Ukrainian war, he gave billions.

Another tidbit of information Gavin Newsom and California Democrats reached $50M in an attempt to Trump-proof the state. Maybe they should have made sure the water supply was adequate to fight the fires.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/1 ... s-00197784

Instead of trying to “Trump-proof” California they should be trying to fireproof the state.

[Bootstrap]

Biden is giving California fire victims, a measly $770.00. But funding the Ukrainian war, he gave billions.

Another tidbit of information Gavin Newsom and California Democrats reached $50M in an attempt to Trump-proof the state. Maybe they should have made sure the water supply was adequate to fight the fires.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/1 ... s-00197784

Unbelievable

And that should tell you something. Many unbelievable claims are not true, or are misleading. The $770 is initial individual assistance payment, the money you get when a disaster hits under FEMA's normal rules. I do think Congress should increase that, but it's only one form of aid given to fire victims. For instance, during the 2021 California wildfires, FEMA approved over $4.9 million in Individual Assistance, including housing assistance and other needs. These fires are worse, I think we will see a lot more individual assistance.

The federal government has committed to covering 100% of the disaster response costs for the initial six months, it's beyond what state and local governments can do.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency in California, which gives Medicare and Medicaid flexibility and funding to help with medical needs for people affected by the wildfires.

As for the water supply, easier said than done. California has had water crises as long as I can remember. Any fix to that problem is going to be enormously expensive - and it is urgent. Would you be willing to see more federal tax dollars help with that problem? Do you think California has the funds to solve it on their own?

[JohnH]

California has immense wealth and also really high taxes. They certainly can fund and solve these problems on their own.

Their current budget priorities seem to be billions of dollars in free healthcare for illegals.

[ken_sylvania]

As for the water supply, easier said than done. California has had water crises as long as I can remember. Any fix to that problem is going to be enormously expensive - and it is urgent. Would you be willing to see more federal tax dollars help with that problem? Do you think California has the funds to solve it on their own?

I have an idea where California could get about $50MM to get started working on the problem at any rate.

[Jazman]

California has immense wealth and also really high taxes. They certainly can fund and solve these problems on their own.

Their current budget priorities seem to be billions of dollars in free healthcare for illegals.

Can you cite some proof of those claims?

[Ken]

California has immense wealth and also really high taxes. They certainly can fund and solve these problems on their own.

Their current budget priorities seem to be billions of dollars in free healthcare for illegals.

Can you cite some proof of those claims?

California's tax system is more progressive than most.

So, for example if you are middle class or working class your tax burden is likely higher in Texas than in California. But if you are wealthy then taxes will be lower in Texas. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/think-te ... 59267.html

Much was made of the so-called tech exodus from California to lower-tax Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic. But a new report finds it's not quite as good of a deal as many think.

Though Texas has no state-level personal income tax, it does levy relatively high consumption and property taxes on residents to make up the difference. Ultimately, it has a higher effective state and local tax rate for a median U.S. household at 12.73% than California's 8.97%, according to a new report from WalletHub.

Californians also pay more than their share of Federal income taxes. It is a net donor state (pays more Federal taxes than it gets back in Federal spending). In fact, Los Angeles alone pays more Federal income taxes than all but four states. So it is rather unseemly for Republican Senators to start talking about attaching unrelated strings to Federal aid for California fires.

[Bootstrap]

I wonder if this thread could be about the West Coast Fire? This is not in the political forum. It would be good to have some threads that don't belong there.

[R7ehr]

I wonder if this thread could be about the West Coast Fire? This is not in the political forum. It would be good to have some threads that don't belong there.

Great idea

[JohnH]

California has immense wealth and also really high taxes. They certainly can fund and solve these problems on their own.

Their current budget priorities seem to be billions of dollars in free healthcare for illegals.

Can you cite some proof of those claims?

sure

https://wclp.org/california-becomes-fir ... -barriers/

The January 1 expansion will cost the California Health and Human Services Agency $835.6 million in funding between 2023 and 2024 and $2.6 billion annually, but Torres Casillas believes these costs are worth the well-being of immigrants. “We need to invest in our immigrant community’s well being, and this is a huge step for them to feel supported and part of our country’s health care system,” he said.

Today, DHCS’s website contains basic information on public charge and assures people that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) do not consider health, food, and housing services as part of the public charge determination. “DHS strongly encourages these populations to access any and all services and benefits available to them without fear of a future negative impact,” states the DHCS website.

interesting that they define being completely dependent on welfare as not being a "public charge"