Let’s talk a moment about Los Angelesthe city of angels, dreams and, apparently, shattered windows and in flames. Recent protests against the ICE (the immigration agency) have not only made a few mess, have burned millions of dollars of ownership and left the budget of the city reduced worse than a gruvine. And guess who pays the bill? Spoiler: they are certainly not those politicians who facilitated that this would happen.
First of all, the damage is not some scratches here and there or a broken window. We are talking about beyond 300 million dollars of total costs. Of these, 32 million had to pay the city just to try to maintain order: extraordinary for the police, repairs to public buildings and all the chaos that unleashes when a city goes on fire. Then there are i 134 million spent by the federal government to send thousands of soldiers of the National Guard and Marines to try to quell the revolt. Taxpayers’ money, eh, not manna from heaven.
And the businesses? Have been devastated. The Apple Store, Adidas, Jordan Studio 23, all sacked and vandalized. And small activities such as Bargain2perfumes and Heart Fashion, managed by local entrepreneurs have been swept away. (Strangely not even a library was stormed) Think about losing all your warehouse in one night, without knowing how to start again. They are not face -free multinationals, but dreams, lives and reference points for the community that go up in smoke.
In the meantime, the city, back from the fires of a few months ago, must already deal with a hole of 32 million dollars in the budget. And what do our “big” administrators do? 1,600 municipal employees fall, including 400 policemen and 41 firefighters. Because there is nothing better for the public security to cut those who should protect us during fires and revolts. And in order not to miss anything, the city council approved a budget of 4 million dollars to take lawyers to be used against Trump’s federal policies on immigration (to break the golf balls the money is always there). So, while the firefighters take well, millions of dollars are spent in legal battles instead of defending the city.
Let’s clarify: It is not only bad financial management, it is pure malapolitics. Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass spent time minimizing, defining these revolts “mostly peaceful protests” while the shops burned and entire neighborhoods they lived in terror. They refused the federal help until it was too late, and now the city sinks between debts and chaos.
Who pays in the end? Taxpayers. The little entrepreneurs who have lost everything. Municipal workers who remained without work. And the citizens who now have to deal with more slow response times and a city less capable of protecting them.
It is not just an economic disaster, it is a foolish political choice! Democrats who govern California seem more interested in making war on Trump’s federal government than managing a city on the brink of the abyss. All masked by goodism, because I assure you that the good heart here does not hit anything! If this is leadership, you need a change of scene. Because now Los Angeles is paying the price of a policy that puts propaganda over common sense… And then they wonder why a real exodus from California is being verified.
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