Wildfires and Sacramento Grifters

Anyone have a relative who is constantly asking for a "little loan" but drives a nicer car than you do?  I don't--except for my state Assembly, Senate and Governor.  Wildfires are a long-term problem in the state that have been ignored by our electeds for years--maybe decades.  It's easier to blame PG&E and the Feds than to do anything about it.

You might ask "why should we B'gamers care?"  I can think of two reasons.  First, with 20 of my neighboring Tahoe homeowners, I spent the morning clearing brush, pine needles and dead wood from the area around our Tahoe homes.  20 of us filled a 15 yard and a 5 yard dumpster in a couple hours and there is more to be done.  We cleared a space about the size of a single B'game lot--maybe two.  While we were cutting and raking it all up, my thoughts were on Mills Canyon and the vast expanses of Hillsborough that look like a fiery disaster-in-waiting.  It's easy to think about the Oakland Hills or Sonoma and say "it won't happen here" but don't bet on it.

The second reason to care is the grifters from Sacramento are dipping into in our pockets again.  The state has a $75 Billion, with a "B" surplus this year and another $25 Billion with a "B" injection from the Feds for "Covid relief", but get this; as reported in today's Comicle--the grifters are pushing

Among the bills being advocated by the fire-focused senators is SB45, which would place a $5.6 billion bond before voters next year.

Really?  None of these geniuses can figure out that sending "tax rebate" money to Californians who didn't pay any state taxes in the first place while mortgaging the state's future with new bonds that we could easily finance now just out of current "surpluses" is a bad proposition?  Really?  

Comments

[Get over yourself]

Oh no. Someone without any home might be getting some money!

Poor little multiple home owner. Do you need a tissue?

[Matthew 26:11]

Matthew 26:11. Refresh your memory.

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not achieve peace. - Buddha

[Winnie]

Joe, Thanks for summing up the issue succinctly. You are spot-on as usual.

[Joe]

@GOY, no. No tissue needed. I do enjoy when the millennial socialists with the useless, expensive college degrees show up though. Perhaps over time you might learn something here.

I'll be dead and gone when the kick-the-can-down-the-road state governance comes home to roo$t, so YOU better buy a Costco sized package of tissue because YOU will be the ones paying and suffering the degraded standard of living.

Now, back to the topic at hand. Newsom put a $500M drop-in-the-bucket line item into the obese FY21 budget for wildfire control. He hasn't a clue what it will be spent on, but we can be sure it will represent "equity". I suggest more homeowners get out there and rake.

I still have a couple N-95 masks from the pre-Covid days for when the sky turns orange. I'll be buying more but not from the fraudulent company Newsom gave a huge, no-bid contract to that had to be exited. Enjoy this blast from the past: https://www.burlingamevoice.com/2018/08/quelling-the-infernos.html

[JP]

The state issues bonds like I buy Starbucks. WTF?

[Christopher Cooke]

I agree we don’t need a bond to pay for fire protection, given the large budget surplus. But, why should the state government pay to clear brush off of private property? If you buy a house in a forested area, you have a responsibility to clear the brush or risk losing it in a fire. Also, for that matter, why should the state pay to provide fire or flood insurance to people who move to areas that have a high risk or fire or flood? And, I think PGE does deserve plenty of blame for the fires it has caused by years of neglect in trimming trees near its power lines.

[Joe]

Is the state paying for private property clearing, fire insurance or flood insurance? They aren't paying any of those costs for my complex. Maybe my HOA is missing out on some secret handout.