California Fires - Politics of Blame & Trump water claims

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Ramrouser said:
No question natural disasters occur and there's only so much you can do about it. In this case, the unusually high winds - which changed directions repeatedly spreading new fires in all directions. But, is it your contention that the local and state officials handled matters appropriately? They had several days to prepare and it's not like this is the first wildfire they've had to fight in SoCal. My point is that the local residents will decide whom to hold to account and what changes need to be made.
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Is it your contention that state and local officials didn't handle this correctly? What does "correctly" even mean in this case, what does "incorrectly" mean? What multi-year set of decisions do you see as creating an environment where this was handled incorrectly?

Humans often learn from events. Human often prepare for what they know and what they think they know, they rarely prepare for things they never thought of. This rush to assign blame reeks of our human desire to control (and where convenient, to score some political points). Why didn't we know about that asteroid? Why didn't we know about that undersea earthquake that created a tsunami, why didn't we handle covid perfectly, why did we use DDT? Where to put the blame??????
 
rodoheel said:
Here's an article about it:

wlos.com

Thousands in Western NC may lose FEMA housing aid as winter storm looms

Thousands of Western North Carolina families may be without housing as the winter storm approaches.
wlos.com wlos.com

If FEMA is incorrectly applying the regulations and ending support for people who should be continuing to receive assistance, then that would be a problem. But if FEMA is correctly applying the rules that govern the program, perhaps your complaint should be to legislators to (1) increase FEMA's funding (rather than constantly seeking to decrease it, as Republicans have done) and/or (2) change the rules around how long aid can be provide
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I'm pretty far from a bleeding heart, but kicking folks out of their hotels (after a disaster) in 14 degree weather seems a bit harsh. We treat "migrants" better than that by putting them up in Manhattan hotels and giving them debit cards.
 
rodoheel said:
Here's an article about it:

wlos.com

Thousands in Western NC may lose FEMA housing aid as winter storm looms

Thousands of Western North Carolina families may be without housing as the winter storm approaches.
wlos.com wlos.com

If FEMA is incorrectly applying the regulations and ending support for people who should be continuing to receive assistance, then that would be a problem. But if FEMA is correctly applying the rules that govern the program, perhaps your complaint should be to legislators to (1) increase FEMA's funding (rather than constantly seeking to decrease it, as Republicans have done) and/or (2) change the rules around how long aid can be provided?
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FEMA has also offered extensions to those who otherwise qualify if they reach out to renew their applications.
 
sringwal said:

More than half in WNC hotels through FEMA program to be forced out this weekend​


www.bpr.org

More than half in WNC hotels through FEMA program to be forced out this weekend

A FEMA review found 3,500 families living in government-paid-for hotel rooms weren't eligible for the hotel program and must leave by Jan. 11.
www.bpr.org www.bpr.org

FEMA says the reasons a person might be ineligible for ongoing hotel assistance include:

  • Their home is considered habitable.
  • They declined an inspection of their residence to verify it was damaged.
  • FEMA has been unable to contact the applicant to update their housing needs, despite multiple attempts.
FEMA said representatives have tried to contact people as many as eight times before labeling them ineligible.

"It’s important for survivors to keep in touch with FEMA, provide regular updates on housing status and update contact information so their recovery process is not delayed," FEMA spokesperson wrote in an email to BPR.
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Yeah, but you looked it up. That wasn’t fair.
 
Ramrouser said:
I'm pretty far from a bleeding heart, but kicking folks out of their hotels (after a disaster) in 14 degree weather seems a bit harsh. We treat "migrants" better than that by putting them up in Manhattan hotels and giving them debit cards.
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I mean it's going to be that cold in the mountains for a few weeks; do you suggest people who aren't entitled to aid continue to receive it for weeks more until the weather is warm again?

In any event, I suspect anyone who is actually getting "kicked out" of a hotel (if that's even happening) has probably already received several communications about it beforehand. It doesn't sound like (and I would find it hard to believe that) FEMA is just showing up out of nowhere with jackbooted thugs and throwing people out on the streets,
 
rodoheel said:
I mean it's going to be that cold in the mountains for a few weeks; do you suggest people who aren't entitled to aid continue to receive it for weeks more until the weather is warm again?

In any event, I suspect anyone who is actually getting "kicked out" of a hotel (if that's even happening) has probably already received several communications about it beforehand. It doesn't sound like (and I would find it hard to believe that) FEMA is just showing up out of nowhere with jackbooted thugs and throwing people out on the streets,
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My hunch is that the majority of folks who are being threatened with termination of services are folks who didn't follow through on the process and it's likely they never submitted an application to continue services, didn't respond to attempts to contact them, or they didn't follow through with getting an updated inspection on their permanent property.
 
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SnoopRob said:
My hunch is that the majority of folks who are being threatened with termination of services are folks who didn't follow through on the process and it's likely they never submitted an application to continue services, didn't responded to attempts to contact them, or they didn't follow through with getting an updated inspection on their permanent property.
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Right and if you let those people stay in hotels and a bunch of them turn out to not have been eligible then six months from now the MAGA crew would be screaming about fraud in the system and how the government doesn't track how the money is spent. There's no winning with a group whose primary objective is to tear down the government at all costs.
 
Ramrouser said:
First, for the record, I was born and grew up in WNC so I have a frame of reference.

I read where individuals' FEMA hotel stays have ended and they're forced to sleep in their cars in freezing weather. I read where people are still living on their properties in tents with portable gas heaters. I read about the lack of FEMA trailers. Twitter is full of these stories and pleas for help. I refuse to believe its all "misinformation." Are you saying none of this is true?
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If you really grew up in WNC, surely you still have friends or family up here. What are they saying? You don't have to rely on the increasingly garbage-filled twitter. What are your personal experiences with FEMA in WNC?
 
rodoheel said:
What do you think would have prevented these fires or prevented them from spreading? It's always entertaining to hear conservatives rail about taxes and getting the government out of our lives then something like this happens and it's all "why didn't the city spend an additional $200 million on massive upgrades to the city's water infrastructure"?
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It's the Republican way - use whatever argument works at the time to attack Democrats. It's literally a no-win scenario with them - Democrats use government power and get attacked, they don't use it and get attacked. Very neat system for them.
 
WaynetheDrain said:
No, we actually don’t.

Stay off of X. Its poisoning your cognitive functioning.
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NYC to spend millions on new round of pre-paid debit cards for migrants​

July 3, 2024

New York City officials are dramatically expanding a controversial program that gives debit cards pre-loaded with cash to migrant families staying in taxpayer-funded hotels across the city.

council.nyc.gov

NYC to spend millions on new round of pre-paid debit cards for migrants

New York City Council
council.nyc.gov council.nyc.gov

NYC plans to keep housing migrants in hotels through at least 2025​


cnycentral.com

NYC plans to keep housing migrants in hotels through at least 2025

The city is soliciting bids to use 14,000 units over a large number of hotels in the New York City region to house migrants.
cnycentral.com cnycentral.com
 
ZenMode said:

NYC to spend millions on new round of pre-paid debit cards for migrants​

July 3, 2024

New York City officials are dramatically expanding a controversial program that gives debit cards pre-loaded with cash to migrant families staying in taxpayer-funded hotels across the city.

council.nyc.gov

NYC to spend millions on new round of pre-paid debit cards for migrants

New York City Council
council.nyc.gov council.nyc.gov

NYC plans to keep housing migrants in hotels through at least 2025​


cnycentral.com

NYC plans to keep housing migrants in hotels through at least 2025

The city is soliciting bids to use 14,000 units over a large number of hotels in the New York City region to house migrants.
cnycentral.com cnycentral.com
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Buncombe County and the City of Asheville can choose to house climate immigrants however they see fit. I fail to see what NYC choices have to do with federal government FEMA rules.
 
BoonetheAiredale said:
Buncombe County and the City of Asheville can choose to house climate immigrants however they see fit. I fail to see what NYC choices have to do with federal government FEMA rules.
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Probably nothing. I think he was just making the point that "we", as a country, will spend billions to house non-Americans in expensive NY hotels, while kicking Americans out of hotels.
 
ZenMode said:
Probably nothing. I think he was just making the point that "we", as a country, will spend billions to house non-Americans in expensive NY hotels, while kicking Americans out of hotels.
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You’ve been provided the reasons someone would be kicked out of the hotel. It doesn’t appear difficult to maintain eligibility for government provided housing if the person has such a need.
 
ZenMode said:
Probably nothing. I think he was just making the point that "we", as a country, will spend billions to house non-Americans in expensive NY hotels, while kicking Americans out of hotels.
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But we as a country are not NYC. I fail to see how North Dakota gets dragged into agreeing with housing immigrants in "fancy" NYC hotels.
 
ZenMode said:
Probably nothing. I think he was just making the point that "we", as a country, will spend billions to house non-Americans, in expensive NY hotels, while kicking Americans out of hotels.
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riiiiiight. he's definitely not taking anything out of context and he would never criticize people using various forms government assistance in other situations. because he's not a dishonest hypocrite. lmao.

multiple people have shared more information on this thread about the cancelled hotel stays - FEMA is cancelling accommodations for people who are refusing to cooperate with their surveys / follow-up and people who are clearly abusing the system.

i thought y'all were all about accountability and curbing welfare abuses? DOGE? only when it actually suits the narrative?
 
lawtig02 said:
If you really grew up in WNC, surely you still have friends or family up here. What are they saying? You don't have to rely on the increasingly garbage-filled twitter. What are your personal experiences with FEMA in WNC?
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None of my family and friends were directly impacted. I’m from the foothills not mountains of WNC.
 
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