What a horrifying tragedy. I wish strength and hope to survivors.
Gov. Jerry Brown said he is requesting a major-disaster declaration from President Donald Trump that would make victims eligible for crisis counseling, housing and unemployment help, and legal aid.
We need to watch this. I wouldn’t put it past Trump to exercise this power to declare major disasters on a partisan basis.
Trumpp will declare it a disaster area, but I’m predicting this sequence:
- Trumpp says “we’ll take care of people but we are looking into getting California to change its mismanagement that allows these huge fires”
- Trumpp delays the declaration a few days
- Trumpp announces declaration, says he got California to agree to changes
- California says it agreed to nothing, repeats that most fires in Federally managed areas that lack adequate funding
–and, going for the triple bankshot here– - Trumpp nicknames Pelosi “Smokey” by the end of February, keeps it if it gets a good reaction.
Trump will eventually declare it a disaster but will not visit. He is a coward. After the catastrophic slide near Oso, WA, President Obama visited and met with relatives of slide victims, first responders, and rescue crews. Oso and Darrington are very conservative/libertarian leaning areas. Trump should pull on levis, roll up his sleeves and walk the hell scape of Paradise. He needs to feel the pain of entire town being left in ashes. He needs to feel the agony of relatives who lost loved ones in the inferno. He won’t because he can’t.
Um, I know where there are 5,000 deployable troops who could be helping save lives and control the fires. How 'bout it dotard?
Why is it that we continue to have these disasters in CA? There are really 2-3 reasons: 1) building into wooded areas 2) climate change 3) putting about 1 ton of highly flammable asphalt shingles on top of each and every house.
In Europe, they don’t use asphalt shingles. They use tile. Tile does not burn. Tile just sits there.