Everyone knows that elections have consequences. Yet somehow the consequences manage to take those who voted for them by surprise:

Consumers in Los Angeles County were shocked Tuesday as a new quarter-percent sales tax, ostensibly to raise funds for services for the homeless, went into effect following a referendum in November.

L.A. voters passed Measure A, which replaced and increased an earlier county-wide sales tax for the homeless. That tax, passed a decade ago, failed to stem the growth of the homeless population and may even have encouraged it.

Throw money at homelessness, get more homelessness. California has proven this law to be reliable, even if where the money actually goes remains a mystery:

L.A. residents recently learned that $2.3 billion spent on homeless services in Los Angeles had been unaccounted for — and the money had come from the same sales taxes that referendums like Measure A had been designed to fund.

However, equitable utopia is never more than a few tax increases away, according to the liberal faith.

On a tip from ABC of the ANC.

Turns out it is possible for a DEI hire to get fired after all — provided another DEI beneficiary is desperate for a scapegoat.

From Daily Mail:

Flailing Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass brutally fired her female fire chief Friday as she seeks to pass the buck over wildfires that ravaged her city. …

Bass blamed [DEI-oriented LGBTQ+ LA Fire Department Chief Kristin] Crowley for allegedly sending home 1,000 firefighters instead of keeping them on duty the morning the devastating fires broke out on January 7 that wiped whole neighborhoods off the map.

Barked Bass:

“Furthermore, a necessary step to an investigation was the President of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after action report on the fires. The Chief refused. These require her removal.”

Speaking of investigations, no results yet from the one Bass announced to uncover why she chose to goof around in Africa while her city burned.

In other DEI fire chief news:

A veteran California Fire captain, who recently helped to lead the fight against the devastating wildfires that raged across southern California, was found dead with multiple stab wounds at her San Diego home. Now, police are seeking her 53-year-old wife, Yolanda Olejniczak, who is at large.

The victim’s name was Rebecca Marodi.

Some social media commentators said that US President Donald Trump had called her a DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) hire and blamed her for the Los Angeles wildfire.

Olejniczak served time in prison for fatally stabbing her husband.

At least hiring fire chiefs on the basis of being lesbian helps keep the news lively.

On tips from ABC of the ANC, Steve T, and Mr. Freemarket.

What do you expect? When one country invades another, it inflicts violence. Here’s what it looks like in downtown Los Angeles:

The Democrats running Los Angeles are on the side of the violent foreign mob.

More violence:

It will take more than the National Guard to fix what moonbats have made of Los Angeles — although calling it in to restore order would be a start.

On tips from Wiggins, Tlabia Majora, and KirklesWorth.

A few days ago, foreign invaders marching under a foreign flag burned our flag and took control of American streets, shutting them down to intimidate us from ejecting them from our country.

This was the scene in our second largest city:

Given a choice between American citizens trying to get to work and unlawful welfare colonists from the Third World, which side do you suppose Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass would take?

The answer:

Over 100 anti-deportation activists protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration policies were detained but then released without arrest after clashes with police in downtown Los Angeles. This comes one day after thousands of protesters blocked the 101 Freeway and caused massive traffic delays.

The invaders threw rocks and bottles at the police and even fired a rocket at a police helicopter. They don’t have to worry about consequences, because Democrats have their back.

We are under foreign occupation. The Democratic Party should be renamed the Quisling Party.

On a tip from Mr. Freemarket.

Los Angeles soaks up a lot of tax money. Its lack of preparation for the recent wildfires has caused some to wonder where all this money goes. The city’s Department of Cannabis Regulation helps answer that question:

The Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) is responsible for administering the commercial cannabis licensing and regulatory program established by the Los Angeles City Council.

Selling marijuana is a violation of federal law. But if Karen Bass et al. cared about federal law, LA wouldn’t be a sanctuary city for the illegal aliens that have been closing down its streets.

When liberals run the government, the issue is not the issue; the issue is bestowing privilege on favored groups. Unsurprisingly, the February 2025 CannaDispatch goes all out for Black History Month.

DCR offers free coaching, webinars, pro bono legal services, et cetera to aspiring drug dealers. It helps to be a Social Equity Individual Applicant (SEIA).

DCR expects to hold a SEIA Verification window in the upcoming months. SEIA Verification is a process where an individual may request to be verified as a Social Equity Individual Applicant based on the criteria set forth in Los Angeles Municipal Code section 104.20 to participate in the Social Equity Program.

A glance at the graphics reveals that the focus is on rewarding preferred skin color.

Why risk getting shot at on street corners by other drug dealers when taxpayers are eager to legitimize the occupation for those fortunate enough to qualify as Social Equity Individuals?

The government site keeps readers abreast of relevant news with headlines like these:

• L.A. City Council Debates Cannabis Equity: What Does This Mean for Local Entrepreneurs?

• From stoner chic to runway ready, cannabis couture is smokin’ hot

• Scientists Explore How Cannabis Affects Enjoyment Of Music Through New Study At Cannabis Lounge

It will not be easy to target the money flowing into LA in the aftermath of the fires so that it is not wasted on moonbattery.

On a tip from Mike B.

Conflagrations are exacerbated by moonbats, then exploited by liberal pols who have plans for the land. Sound familiar? Decoy Voice remembers the 2023 Maui wildfires:

If you liked what moonbats did to Los Angeles before letting it burn down, you will love Gavin Newsom’s Los Angeles 2.0.

On a tip from Jester.

Taxpayers give noisily lesbian Kristin Crowley $439,772 per year to promote DEI as chief of the LAPD. If you think that is expensive, consider the cost of having people like her in charge.

The New York Post reports:

Los Angeles fire bosses deployed just a fraction of its firefighters and trucks to the deadly Palisades Fire until it was already out of control — sending just five of the 40 available fire engines and holding back 1,000 firefighters, according to a damning new report.

A “domino effect of missteps” helped the crisis to become unmanageable.

Officials held off on ordering hundreds of available fire crews to remain on duty for a second shift last Tuesday, which would have doubled the manpower on hand, to help battle flames taking hold in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, according to internal fire department records…

Despite being available, no extra engines were readied in the Palisades region prior to the fire breaking out there, according to the logs.

It is too early to tally the final cost, but…

The Palisades Fire, along the coast, has been blamed for eight deaths as the wildfires continue to destroy the area. The fires across the region caused up to $250 billion in damages.

Just as the leadership crisis continues in Los Angeles and California in general, the largest fires (Palisades and Eaton) are still not under control.

On a tip from ABC of the ANC.

As mentioned earlier, Los Angeles burning down demonstrates that it is not feasible to live under liberal rule. Allysia Finley lists a few of the reasons.

One is that according to environmental radicalism, humanity ranks last among lifeforms — even below plants:

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in 2019 sought to widen a fire-access road and replace old wooden utility poles in the Topanga Canyon abutting the Palisades with steel ones to make power lines fire- and wind-resistant. In the process, crews removed an estimated 182 Braunton’s milkvetch plants, an endangered species.

The utility halted the project as state officials investigated the plant destruction. More than a year later, the California Coastal Commission issued a cease-and-desist order, fined the utility $2 million, and required “mitigation” for the project’s impact on the species.

Progressives will be pleased to hear that since the milkvetch requires wildfires to propagate, it should soon be flourishing.

Enviromoonbattery helps explain the shortage of water to put out the fires:

Smelt protections restrict the amount of water that flows from the state’s north to the south. This has led to billions of gallons of water being flushed out to the Pacific Ocean each year…

Speaking of fish, Mayor Karen “Largemouth” Bass has taken heat for cutting the LAFD budget. However,

In truth, the fire budget didn’t shrink since city leaders last autumn approved a new union contract that boosted pay and benefits by $76 million—about $20,000 per firefighter. Even before this raise, firefighters on average earned about $200,000, plus $90,000 in benefits. Many can retire at 55 with pensions equaling 90% of their final salaries.

DEI-compliant firefighters do not need to meet conventional requirements. Citizens who are incinerated because female firefighters are not strong enough to rescue them get what they deserve, according to LAFD Assistant Chief Kristine Larson.

Los Angeles spent $350 million this year on firefighter pensions and benefits. Much of that would have been better spent on fire prevention, which made up only 5% of the department’s budget.

Money is misallocated to pay moonbats to be lesbians rather than to protect the public from fires.

Then there are the homeless hordes that Democrats spend a fortune to grow, combined with the collapse of allegedly racist law & order:

Last year’s Park Fire—the fourth largest in state history—was allegedly ignited by a man with two prior felony convictions who was on parole for a DUI. The Los Angeles Times reported in early 2021 that 24 fires on average were breaking out each day in the city’s homeless encampments. A fire in an encampment shut down an L.A. freeway last November, the second time that had happened in a little over a year.

Looks like a homeless illegal alien authorities allowed to run loose despite having committed a felony might have started the Kenneth Fire. Then again, he says he was just using a blowtorch to smoke marijuana.

Los Angeles may not be rebuilt. Refugees are welcome only if they leave liberal politics behind.

On a tip from Varla.

The liberal policies of leaving the border open and facilitating homelessness have subjected California to hordes of illegal aliens and derelicts. Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva meets both descriptions:

A man was detained by residents near the Kenneth Fire in West Hills, California, after being caught with a blowtorch. The individual, identified as Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, has been confirmed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sources to be an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

LA being a liberal jurisdiction,

But officials later said they lacked the probable cause to arrest him on arson charges and instead arrested him on a probation violation.

If he is an illegal alien and he is on probation, he should not have been running around with a blow torch. He should have been in prison prior to deportation. Correct that; he should never have entered the country in the first place, because it should be the first priority of the military to defend the border from foreign invasion.

Once the moonbats in charge let him loose again, he will go back to starting fires:

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are planning to place a detainer request on Sierra-Leyva, but they do not expect it to be honored due to California’s sanctuary state law, Bill Melugin reports.

As Los Angeles demonstrates, it is not feasible to live under liberal rule.

The city may never rebuild. God help the USA if those escaping the mess they made of it spread their moonbattery throughout the country.

On tips from Chris Neilson and Tlabia Majora.

There has been a problem with dry fire hydrants as Los Angeles burns. Governor Gavin Newsom won’t answer why — possibly because government personnel is why.

They say you get what you pay for. This does not hold true for bureaucrats like Janisse Quiñones:

The Los Angeles City Council [last May] confirmed longtime Pacific Gas and Electric executive Janisse Quiñones as the next general manager of the Department of Water and Power, at an annual salary of $750,000 — nearly twice as much as her predecessor.

She was nominated by none other than Karen Bass of the African junket. Her duties include making sure water comes out of the fire hydrants.

Janisse hails from Puerto Rico, earning her extra diversity points. Her pay tops even LGBT-certified Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley:

Crowley’s 2023 pay was an absurd $439,772 — $412,493 base pay and $27,278 “other” pay.

Let’s hope Los Angelenos are enjoying their DEI government. They pay plenty for it.

On tips from R F, Htos1av, Tlabia Majora, taxpayer22, David Kight, and seaoh.

Evidence accrues that DEI has played a part in the unpreparedness of LA bureaucrats to deal with predictable fires. It isn’t just Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley. Consider LAFD Assistant Chief Kristine Larson:

Larson was lauded as the first black woman to be hired on as an LAFD chief.

“You want to see somebody that responds to your house, your emergency, whether it’s a medical call or a fire call, that looks like you,” said Larson in the video [below].

Actually, most people want to see someone who can rescue them and put the fire out. Yet Larson dismisses non-DEI qualifications to be a firefighter:

“‘Is she strong enough to do this?’” she said in the voice of critics. “‘You couldn’t carry my husband out of a fire.’”

“Which my response is, ‘He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.’”

In other words, let him burn. Rescuing people who might be disabled and putting out fires are not important. Only moonbattery is important.

Americans will likely die so that liberals can shove this down our throats:

Had enough yet?

On tips from ABC of the ANC, DCGere, and WDS 2.0.

On a tip from Wiggins.

As noted in a discussion of the Los Angeles Fires and DEI, Mayor Karen Bass took off on a junket to Ghana despite having ample warning regarding the onrushing catastrophe. Sky News provided her with an opportunity to explain herself to the public. But the cat got her tongue:

Maybe Bass has nothing to say because she cannot comprehend how wildfires could still be a problem even with Joe Biden in office, in light of what Gavin Newsom said back in 2021:

On tips from Tlabia Majora, Anonymous, ABC of the ANC, and Mr. Freemarket.

Los Angeles is engulfed in wildfires, forcing even normally supremely comfortable Hollywood leftists to flee their homes. In this time of crisis, residents must be reassured to know there are competent people in control. Or maybe not.

Daniel Greenfield quotes from a KABC story that has since mysteriously disappeared:

Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley is used to shattering glass ceilings. She isn’t just the first LGBTQ+ person to the lead the department, but also the first woman. …

Crowley is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community and says the LAFD has come a long way in terms of inclusion adding there’s a ways to go. Crowley believes the more diverse the LAFD, the better the department is at serving a city as diverse as Los Angeles.

In other words, straight white males need not apply for jobs at the fire department, because the deck is stacked against them. This discriminates against most people who are good at fighting fires.

Crowley made her focus on DEI clear from the beginning:

“The LAFD is fully committed to creating positive change,” said Fire Chief Kristin Crowley. “With the new DEI Bureau, the Department will develop and drive forward key diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and initiatives to enhance the LAFD’s work environment and performance. We will maximize our efforts to build and promote a culture where our diversity is truly valued [yadda yadda yadda].”

Good thing Crowley isn’t the only one in charge. Los Angeles has a mayor, after all. Oh wait:

Via Daily Mail:

Furious Los Angelenos have blasted their mayor for traveling to Ghana while the city burns, despite having ample warning about ‘critical’ weather conditions in the days before. …

To make matters worse, a litany of failures by LA city officials appear to be fueling the out-of-control blaze, which has forced tens of thousands of people to flee some of the city’s ritziest enclaves as homes and businesses burn to the ground.

Then there is this:

[Bass] cut nearly $20 million from the city’s budget for fire services for the current fiscal year — and proposed even higher cuts.

This frees up taxpayer money for more pressing concerns.

Don’t be too furious, Los Angelenos. You voted your way into this.

On tips from WDS 2.0 and Wiggins.