Larry Kudlow talks about the California wildfires

Leftist political failures are ruining California and that’s what the uproar is about. First of all, 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 vacate their apartment.

Fortunately, the Hollywood fire was contained and they returned home. When it comes to catastrophic fires like these, there are no heroes. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of evidence that the left-wing policies of blue-state California politicians exacerbated the tragedy.

Officials failed to refill the tank properly, and thus, there was no water in fire hydrants in many neighborhoods. Earlier, the mayor’s office cut the fire department’s budget. Governor Newsom apparently cut off the flow of water that never reached Southern California in order to preserve a mysterious fish called the smelt. Listen to President Trump on scents:

California wildfires prompt scrutiny of federal and state rules hindering mitigation efforts

Trump: “Well, it’s very sad because I’ve been trying to convince Gavin Newsom to let the water in. You’d have a tremendous amount of water if they sent it into the Pacific because they’re trying to protect a very small fish, which is a very small fish.” In other areas, by the way, they are called sahira, and because of the sahira they have no water.”

Once again, this is a tragic nightmare of a natural disaster in California. Lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed, and I’m no expert on all of this, but if the tanks are empty, or if the water is flowing into the Pacific Ocean instead of being piped into a fire hydrant – it’s dangerous. government First degree error. Many people tell me that California’s infrastructure, especially its pipelines and power systems, has been neglected for some time – in part because all the money has been funneled into so-called climate projects by green politicians.

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

At this point, I’m sure people in the Los Angeles area are more worried about their safety than they are about the blame game, but it would be helpful at some point to do an autopsy and look at what went wrong and what can be done better to mitigate this. Natural disasters?

There is also a financial angle to this story. Initial estimates by one major bank indicate losses worth $50 billion – of which $20 billion will be insured losses. California has a big problem here too. Some very large home insurance companies, such as State Farm and Allstate, have pulled out.

State Farm discontinued home insurance last spring. I’m not an expert here either, but you have to wonder if they’re looking at the same infrastructure problems and assessing the same risks as everyone else – and these insurers have decided they don’t want to risk blowing up their balance sheet or going bankrupt. The entire company.

They have shareholders to answer to, and California insurance regulators won’t allow insurers to charge premiums high enough to cover natural disaster risks, and yes, those premiums continue to rise, but it’s the only way insurers can make a living unless they fold completely.

In addition, California’s insurance regulator, called the FAIR plan, will take a huge hit from wildfire damage, and is about to assess private insurers at a massive sum, which the private sector will charge. Companies In many cases they cannot pay.

California was already suffering from a home insurance crisis before the latest disaster – perhaps the costliest fire in US history. It’s not all that different from hurricane disasters in Florida. Some property values ​​in these hard-hit areas will decline even as insurance premiums rise. I understand that the citizens of Southern California are much more worried about their survival than they are about dollars and cents right now.

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One fact is certainly that the state with the highest taxes in the country could do much better at managing its vital pipelines, energy systems, reservoirs, forests, and insurance system.

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

This article is an excerpt from Larry Kudlow’s editorial commentary on the January 9, 2025 edition of “The Kudlow.”