Quote (Goomshill @ Jan 11 2025 02:53am)

We're definitely going to see california regulatory mismanagement come to a head in the next year. This will be the proximate event that makes the broken system finally hit a wall. Rebuilding permits can take multiple years to acquire due to insane bureaucratic red tape even though mortgage payments are still due on destroyed properties, while the few insurance companies still forcibly held against their will in california by hostile regulations are paying out $1.09 in benefits for each $1.00 in premiums- not including overhead- and thats before this series of fires. The last stab by California wasn't to stabilize the insurance market with subsidization like the ACA did with taxpayer funny money, but instead grab them by the balls and squeeze by forcing them to cover 85% of wildfire areas, not factor in reinsurance hikes into premiums and put price controls on premiums and forbid california-only rate hikes. Basically might as well have passed legislation declaring the state of california has annexed the coffers of state farm and all premiums paid by residents of the other 49

The tighter the death grip, the more people will try to wriggle out. What happens when too many people all need to rebuild or relocate at the same time and theres no money, no approval, no functional governance?

Quote (ofthevoid @ Jan 11 2025 10:10am)

I was talking to some people at work the other day and I'm personally not a fan of federal bailout here. Average value of home in Pacific Palisades was ~3.3 million. Insurance companies should eat those costs and if they can't that's on them to work out. Living in the rust belt and seeing so many communities left for dead, why the fuck should a wealthy coastal CA get bailed out by federal funds while no one gives a fuck about middle America?

Maybe it's events like these that causes California real estate to reprice to more reasonable prices. The free market has a wonderful way of correcting course over the long term.

Quote (Goomshill @ Jan 11 2025 08:33am)

The insurance companies can't eat these costs in a capitalist system, they're being forced to by state regulations that make them unprofitable. Its simply the state of california stealing funds from other states, same as SALT. Why should a homeowner in Arkansas have to pay higher rates so a $3.3 million home in California can be subsidized? That's whats happening. It should be the feds stopping states from weaponizing regulations against each other like this and California has always been the #1 offender. They passed laws saying you can't raise California-only rates. You don't need that if your state isn't screwing everyone. If you're building multimillion dollar mansions in wildfire prone areas and then saying insurers are forced to cover wildfire prone areas and cap their maximum rates by law, all you're doing is bailing out local homeowners with money stolen from markets elsewhere. Their own FAIR plan backed by the state is absurdly unsustainable, looking at a net $24 billion in losses... which are then stolen from private insurance companies by law.

This is like the death spiral of socialism in action, right in front of us. You force people to work at a loss and steal their production and pay them in fake money. All we need now is for a black market insurance industry to pop up lmao

Quote (Handcuffs @ 11 Jan 2025 02:57)

I see. Well poor fire management and planning will greatly exacerbate this irrespective of whether it's arson, accidental negligence, or complications due to climate change. Truthfully, I think California wildfires are a clear and blatant nexus for terrorism, given the ease with which they can be started compared to the height of the damage. All a foreign adversary would need to do is to coordinate multiple fires started at the same time across the state and you'd quickly have a massive pay off with little resources needed.

Quote (MxVivianWulf @ Jan 11 2025 04:10pm)

Sure but then you have to think about what terrorism is supposed to accomplish... and in what way you could manage to forward a political objective simply by starting wildfires which are probably gonna happen anyway - albeit sporadically and not in a coordinated fashion.
Most terror orgs are not going to be looking to throw California into a turmoil which is already familiar and regular for the state.

Quote (Mondain @ Jan 12 2025 08:09am)

The California fires are more proof that you do not own your land or home.

People are not allowed to return to their burnt out lot (former home), 'for their safety'.

They paid property tax, city tax etc. Yet the city says it's a crime for them to return to 'their' property.