By Morgan Deane:
California can’t seem to catch a break. For years, they have suffered under a drought that many scientists considered the worst in the last thousand years. This winter, they have received heavy rains and snow which have packed the peaks of Northern California with snow. As such the dams and reservoirs are reaching near capacity with risks of flooding across the state. Unfortunately, this risk has only increased because of poor priorities and leadership among Californian politicians.
Over the past several weeks, California’s problems have crested. In early February, the Oroville Dam rose over 50 feet in just a few days. After a crack formed in the primary spillway, officials began using an emergency spillway. This was its first use, unfortunately, and it quickly turned into a massive collapse, erosion, and a series of andslides that threatened the entire area. The collapse of the primary spillway would have resulted in a wave of water almost 20 feet high flooding rivers, levies, and cities down stream. Over 200,000 people were evacuated in the middle of the month before a stretch of dry weather lessened the threat. But heavy rains have continued throughout the end of the month, causing flooding of the 101 highway, and massive evacuations in San Jose, as well as warnings, high water, and evacuations throughout the state.
California is one of the highest-taxed states in the country, and shoulders the steepest regulatory burdens and standards. And yet it still fails to adequately protect its citizens from both violent felons and floods. This is a result of politicians that focus on pet projects and advocating for their political beliefs in contrast to a humble focus on good governance. Instead of focusing on improving infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and schools, they have wasted money on a variety of vanity programs that neglect basic functions of government. A great deal of government efforts go toward school funding, which sounds good in theory, but as I wrote the other day, winds up enriching bureaucrats and making politicians look good instead of solving problems. Pensions, corrections spending, health care costs, and welfare payments take up a good deal of money to the point that California is constantly cash-strapped. Even money devoted to infrastructure is often wasted on boondoggles like high speed rail, bike paths, and initiatives to increase the use of green cars or public transportation.
In short, they care deeply about combating racism (though they must often conflate issues or invent dog whistles), environmental concerns, and even the dangers of Happy Meals and salt. They are also quite heroic when they preen about the moral superiority of liberal policies. But when it comes to keeping criminals off the street or even the mundane functions like inspecting dams for safety, politicians are noticeably absent. As early as 2005, the state was informed of possible dangers in the dam, and there was an additional inspection in 2013, but it wasn’t until a wall of water almost came tumbling right into residential neighborhoods that officials got serious about fixing the problem. Instead of focusing on advancing liberal ideologies like additional taxes, combating micro-aggressions on college campuses, and making it tougher to do business in the state, they should focus on basic governance: good roads, sound dams, and safe streets.
Morgan Deane is an OpsLens Contributor and a former U.S. Marine Corps infantry rifleman. Deane also served in the National Guard as an Intelligence Analyst.
