They'd Better Get Their Act Together: Poor Pro-Active Response by Los Angeles Democrats Could Endanger the Dems Chances 2026 Mid-Terms.

Democrats have a choice. They can either rally around Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and let the party's chance of re-taking the House in 2026 go up in smoke.

Or they can take a clue from angry Southern California voters.

Bass has to go. And Dems shouldn't wait for a Republican to take her on. They need to coalesce around a worthy candidate by this spring, not when it's too late. Otherwise, voters anger at Bass could be directed at all Democrats, enough to cost them House seats that could make the difference in control of the House.

Breaking a pledge not to travel internationally as mayor during her campaign was bad enough. Add to that being in Ghana while officials were issuing "red flag" warnings is pretty inexcusable.

But blaming the Los Angeles Fire Department chief for lack of water pressure and unusable fire hydrants? That's the
coup de grâce.

And then before even getting into the fact there's a 117 million gallon reservoir near Pacific Palisades that wasn't usable due to a small tear in its roof that the city's Department of Water and Power let go unrepaired? For 11 months!

And then there's the more than half of the Fire Department's fire-fighting trucks down for maintainence because of budget cuts?

For sure, most of the City Council should be booted out, too.

Would replacing them all with COMPENTENT officeholders have stopped a fire fueled by hurricane-force winds? No. But would the level of damage (and perhaps loss of lives) been less? Absolutely!

And lets not forget the Altadena Fire. Altadena is an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County. The County has five supervisors. Their roles should be scrutinized as well. And what role did the power company Edison play in the fire starting?

Gov. Gavin Newsom is far less responsible than local officials. Yet he will be a target by MAGA Republicans. Why the hell they are worried about Newsom's presidential prospects is like the answer to the question how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The world will never know.

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laotzu92 · M

What is so bad about electing Republicans? An honest question.
Can any Democrat go far enough to do what is needed?

Today's Wall Street Journal:
Newsom Has a Permitting Epiphany
The Governor waives environmental rules to assist rebuilding from the wildfires. Why not for everyone?
By
The Editorial Board

Updated Jan. 14, 2025 5:41 pm

California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tour the downtown business district of Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles on January 8. Photo: Eric Thayer/Getty Images
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday waived the state’s environmental laws in areas affected by the fires to expedite rebuilding. Wonderful, but that raises a question: Why not ease regulations for all projects if the rules are such a barrier to development?

More than 12,000 structures in the Los Angeles region have been destroyed by the past week’s fires. At California’s glacial pace of permitting, it could take years for new homes and businesses to rise from the ashes. Rebuilding will cost multiples more than original construction owing to more stringent building codes, high permitting fees and inflation.

That explains Mr. Newsom’s executive order on Sunday waiving the state’s Environmental Quality Act and Coastal Act. He directed his administration to identify other burdensome permitting and building code requirements that can be eased. This is an admission that state regulations increase costs and delay projects, if they don’t stop them entirely.

Green groups and unions exploit the state’s environmental laws to tie up projects for years in court. Developers often settle lawsuits by making concessions—for example, setting aside land for conservation or using union labor—that increase project costs.

Local governments impose excessive permitting fees and other requirements to mitigate a project’s impact. The Supreme Court’s landmark County of El Dorado ruling last year requires such fees to be commensurate to a project’s impact, though local governments can still tie developers up in red tape to force them to make costly concessions.

A 2021 University of Southern California survey of California developers found that it typically took 18 to 45 months—yes, months—for a project to be approved. Half said they had abandoned projects owing to government fees, and 45% said they were required to substantially reduce a project’s density. More than half reported that lawsuits had scuttled projects, and 37% said legal settlements equaled at least half a project’s worth.

Unnecessarily burdensome building codes also balloon costs. New homes in California must comply with efficiency standards that add tens of thousands of dollars to the price. California also mandates solar panels on new homes. Onerous licensing requirements restrict the supply of general contractors and increase labor costs.

All of this explains why “affordable” housing units can cost $1 million to build and the state has a severe housing shortage. The Los Angeles metro area’s population is larger than that of Dallas and Houston combined, but the latter together permitted more than five times as many new homes last year. This is why the median home in Los Angeles County costs $1 million.

California’s environmental laws also delay and inflate costs of needed public works, when they don’t kill them. A new large reservoir hasn’t been built in the state for 50 years. The California Coastal Commission in 2022 nixed a proposed desalination plant in Huntington Beach. Even Mr. Newsom’s Delta water tunnel project and bullet train have been snagged by green tape.

Ditto fire prevention since permits and habitat mitigation are required to clear brush, widen fire access roads and create fire breaks on public lands, especially along the coast, such as where the Palisades fire is burning. If Mr. Newsom agrees that the state’s environmental laws are a problem, why doesn’t he at least try to reform them?

The reason is Democrats in Sacramento are beholden to the green lobby, which opposes most development and uses the laws to extort businesses. It’s nice of Mr. Newsom to ease permitting so L.A.’s affluent can rebuild. Perhaps he’s worried they might leave if it takes too long or costs too much to rebuild. Moonscape neighborhoods wouldn’t look good if he runs for President in 2028, or when the Olympics comes to town the same year.

But what about all the others who are leaving the state because they can’t afford its astronomical housing prices?

beckyromero · 36-40, F

@laotzu92

The Los Angeles metro area’s population is larger than that of Dallas and Houston combined, but the latter together permitted more than five times as many new homes last year. This is why the median home in Los Angeles County costs $1 million.

Many canyons and forests in Dallas and Houston?

One of the reasons why these fires were so devastating is because areas were zoned for building that shouldn't have been.

That explains Mr. Newsom’s executive order on Sunday waiving the state’s Environmental Quality Act and Coastal Act. He directed his administration to identify other burdensome permitting and building code requirements that can be eased. This is an admission that state regulations increase costs and delay projects, if they don’t stop them entirely.

Gov. Pete Wilson cut red tape after the 1994 Northridge earthquake that got the damaged parts of I-10 back up far earlier than it otherwise would have.

So, Newsom's order is in that spirit. Nothing wrong with that in dealing with an emergency.

The reason is Democrats in Sacramento are beholden to the green lobby, which opposes most development and uses the laws to extort businesses.

That's true to some extent. As far as dams and critical infrastructure is concerned. But housing development is out of control out there.

Unnecessarily burdensome building codes also balloon costs. New homes in California must comply with efficiency standards that add tens of thousands of dollars to the price. California also mandates solar panels on new homes. Onerous licensing requirements restrict the supply of general contractors and increase labor costs.

There's nothing wrong with better building codes. For California, they'll help homes and business cope with earthquakes and save lifes. The solar panel laws, though, should have allowed for homeowners to KEEP and STORE the power they generate. Imagine if Texas had such a law a couple years ago. Maybe even Ted Cruz wouldn't have gone to Cancún. Licensing requirements ensure more compentency in plumbers, builders and electricians.

Moonscape neighborhoods wouldn’t look good if he runs for President in 2028, or when the Olympics comes to town the same year.

WTF is it with Republicans and Newsom? Just because HE wants to be president doesn't make it so. He would be THEIR dream opposition candidate, in many ways like McGovern was for Nixon.

But what about all the others who are leaving the state because they can’t afford its astronomical housing prices?

Hopefully, they are Democrats - moving to Arizona, Nevada and Texas.