Republicans, in the peak of cruelty, are turning the L.A. fires into a political bargaining chip.
Summary
House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that federal aid for California's devastating Los Angeles wildfires, which have killed at least 24 and displaced nearly 200,000 people, should come with conditions, citing alleged failures by state and local leaders.
Johnson also hinted at tying aid to debt ceiling negotiations.
Other Republican leaders, including Senators John Barrasso and Ron Johnson, expressed similar views, blaming liberal policies for exacerbating the fires.
Critics denounce these positions as cruel, given the scale of destruction, with over 12,000 buildings lost and massive evacuation orders in effect.
That would be a very dangerous escalation. I love the idea of the red states finally finding out but that's not how that would go unfortunately. We're in this union for life for the worse.
The thing is that it is us, who pay the federal taxes. We would have to stop paying them and then redirect it to state government. The problem would be how California could change that?
Mexico takes the high road and helps after all they have said and done. It speaks volumes about the Mexican politicians and shows that our conservatives are the enemies they make everyone else out to be.
Johnson also hinted at tying aid to debt ceiling negotiations.
Aka "Something terrible happened to you and you need help, so this is my chance to force you to do what I want."
This is just dripping with psychopathy. This is why I could never become a politician or a billionnaire CEO: I just couldn't hold my breakfast in in the morning looking in the mirror.
The guy who represents one of the welfare states that takes a lot more money from the union than they give back... is doing this to one of the big blue states that gives to the union a lot more than they get back?
Fucking pathetic, greedy, immoral little shit. I hope his home gets wiped out in the next natural disaster that hits good state.
I guess California and other blue states should also tie federal taxes to things of their own. Maybe even leave the union altogether, alongside with other states.
Democrats: Please remember this moment and when it comes time to the elections constantly repeat this on loop as much as possible. We must never forget this.
Republicans: Fox news tells me California deserves it.
We live in the post truth world, what you believe to be true is predetermined and nothing means anything that comes from outside your chosen propaganda outlet. :(
I agree, but if Trump putting kids in cages and kidnapping them from their families didn't sway enough voters the first time around, this certainly won't either.
I don't think Democrats hammered this point hard enough. There must be relentless attacks against every bad thing Republicans have done. In addition Democrats must aggressively campaign for their vision with strong simple words.
I think it's important to understand how a lot of red Americans see California. It's similar to how a lot of the world sees America. They were once enamored by it thanks to it's cultural dominance but nowadays they're disillusioned and sick of its cultural dominance. Even I as a leftist moving west in a few months am sick and tired of orange county deciding what the Republican position is resulting in my gerrymandered legislature attacking locally popular things like Marijuana (say what you will about hillbillies, they do not like being busted for their homemade intoxicants and many grow pot).
So yeah in short, the cruelty is the point and I promise, having once lived in his district, Jim Jordan would gain votes for it
Pretty sure most Californians hate Orange county as well. Problem is that its built up enough that they can largely ignore nature telling them to fuck off. Mind you I may be somewhat biased though since I am an Inland Imperial and am obligated to hate everything west of Colton, except San Diego theyre chill.
Screw that. Political ppl need to start being publicly removed from office by force over this type of thing. Alive or otherwise. The American people need to start sending a message.
You know if I lived in California right now I'd be wondering real hard why even be a part of the union? California contributes more than it receives, has vastly different politics than the rest of the country, has a powerhouse economy.
I grew up in California. I can tell you it's a very big place with lots of different types of folks. Most of the state geographically is conservative. Even a few of the largest cities in the state vote Red. LA is just that densely populated.
The entire qon thing of "California bad" is just so very fucking stupid. It's clear they are very jealous of California, which is arguably our most important state.
Sure, go ahead. We'll stop paying Federal taxes. Let the red states crumble as they don't have our funds. You hold us hostage, we'll play by your games. You go low, we go low.
Maybe then we'll have some sort of progress as a nation for the first time in years.
Ya fuck these US annexation tweets, lets bring back Cascadia talks. The mountains divide us physically and culturally.
BC is tired of having our old growth forests raped, pipelines we don't want or benefit from rammed through our mountains against our will scarring the landscape, and our coastlines littered with trash from Alberta both literal and figurative.
The economy of the State of California is the largest in the United States, with a $4.080 trillion gross state product (GSP) as of 2024.[1] It is the largest sub-national economy in the world. If California were a nation it would rank in terms of nominal GDP as the world's sixth largest economy, behind India (4.27 trillion) and ahead of the United Kingdom (3.588 trillion).
And we are also a donor state. Even with all the RnD that we have.
California might as well be in the G7. So go right ahead Johnson, be petty and watch what happens when we stop paying federal taxes. You better believe we’ll be able to fund this kind of shit ourselves if we don’t have to share…
I honestly think this is going to be the start of hopefully cold civil unrest. GOP will block federal aid, California and maybe other blue states will stop paying federal taxes. Red states start imploding.
Yeah except Democrats are generally too cowardly to actually go that far. The most we'll probably see is lots of lawsuits against the federal government from blue states like during the last Trump admin.
The fucked up thing is that the blatant double standard ensures that Republicans will blame the left no matter what. You cannot teach them through cause and effect, because their propaganda is too fucking powerful and their brains are too rotted.
If the Democrats did something even slightly similar to this, like 10% the severity, they would be demonized and it would be taken by conservatives as an act of unprovoked aggression. It does not matter what the context is, or if it was a direct response to Republicans doing the same fucking thing. It just does not matter.
Johnson also hinted at tying aid to debt ceiling negotiations
Some of us here will be directly affected by Johnson’s debt ceiling concessions. How does it feel to be commoditised like this, to the point of your household becoming a bargaining chip?
You, personally, are worth no more to Johnson & co than the number of services Newsom is willing to cut (and thus how many citizens will be pressed) in order to meet Johnson’s demands.
That’s infuriating, and it flies in the face of humanitarianism. Slaps it right in the face.
After the east coast relief was swift and without condition, as it should be.
Remember the red states take more than they contribute, now on top, they will restrict access to the federal tax funds that California disproportionately contributes to keep this rotting corpse of a country afloat.
The Republicans are the bad guy from the 80s movie. They are hanging from the cliff about to die, the hero reaches out to save them, they climb up the hero's outstretched arm to safety and then immediately turn and kick the hero off the cliff with a boot to the back of the head.