Imagine, God forbid, that a neighbor’s house — the house of a friend — was burnt to the ground.
Would you offer that neighbor help — shelter, food, clothing, whatever they need?
Yes, it’s likely you would. And expect nothing in return.
Now imagine that you live in a city where 12,000 homes and other buildings were destroyed by raging wildfires, forcing nearly 90,000 of your neighbors to evacuate their homes.
And imagine that dozens of people have died in the flames, with even more deaths likely to be discovered as crisis goes on.
Imagine there are 60 square miles of your city — an area two-and-a-half times the size of Manhattan — scorched by wildfires, with no end in sight.
There is only so much you could do for your neighbors in a disaster that huge; that all-encompassing. Would you turn to the federal government — in the White House and on Capitol Hill, where the power of the purse is held — to step in to help your city?
Probably so.
From NPR: See some of the most dramatic pictures of California wildfire devastation
But in the case of Los Angeles and the horrific wildfires in the hills and canyons that surround it, you will find a brick wall. A wall of Republicans in Congress and, as of Monday, Jan. 20, at noon, an administration in the White House that will only send help if certain strings — mostly unspecified — are met by the state of California.
Firefighters by the thousands in Southern California have been rushing toward the flames for nearly two weeks now — including crews from Canada and Mexico.
They rush toward the fire, but many Republicans lawmakers in Washington are rushing away.
One of them turning his back on Los Angeles is Rep. Warren Davidson of Troy, Ohio.
If you live in western Hamilton County or Butler County, Davidson is your congressman.
Last Friday, Davidson went on Fox Business with host Maria Bartiromo and said he has a “problem” with California policies and said disaster relief dollars should be withheld.
Davidson sounded off about his “problem” with California’s policies as he threatened to withhold disaster relief aid amid the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. (In the video, Davidson's interview starts at about 1m 15s).
“If they want the money, then there should be consequences where they have to change their policies,” Davidson said. “I mean, we support the people that are plagued by disaster but we have to put pressure on the California government to change course here.”
Davidson said his objection comes because of supposed weaknesses in California’s forest management policies.
“All these things that they’re doing are making it far easier for fires to grow and spread and be huge,” Davidson said.
Davidson is a leader among the House’s Freedom Caucus; and is as MAGA a congressman as exists on Capitol Hill.
The Ohio Republican always follows the lead of President-elect Donald Trump, who, shortly after the wildfire crisis began, started firing off Truth Social posts accusing California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, President Biden and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of all manner of mismanagement, all of it easily debunked.
From 2023: U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson rails against Trump indictments at town hall in Middletown
And, in typical Trump fashion, the soon-to-be 47th president referred to the governor with an insulting, childish slur, calling him Newscum.
In another post, Trump said Newsom “wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!)” and “he is to blame for this.”
But Davidson, in his Fox Business appearance, opened the floodgates for other Capitol Hill Republicans racing to the microphones to say they won’t send aid to California until their conditions are met.
This week, someone who actually has power on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson, joined the chorus.
“It appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty in many respects, so that’s something that has to be factored in,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. “I think there should probably be conditions on that aid.”
Florida Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz was one of many in his party who has pushed back against Johnson’s remark in a post on X.
“If you start this, it will never end," Moskowitz wrote. "When Dems retake the House, they will condition aid to Florida and Texas. Disaster Aid must stay non partisan. I would fight democrats should they try and do this. The Speaker can find many other ways to hold people accountable.”
Are there policies in place in California that may have been at the root of this present disaster?
Perhaps so. It is hard to say.
But holding up emergency aid to the largest state in the Union — not incidentally, a blue state won by Kamala Harris last fall — seems to be cruel and unusual punishment directed at the innocent victims of a natural disaster.
When the wildfires started spiraling out of control, Newsom sent President Biden a text asking for federal government help.
Biden immediately ordered that the federal government will pay for 100% of the firefighting needs for the next six months. But the chances of that order continuing once the Trump administration takes over are virtually non-existent.
LISTEN: President-elect Trump and his priorities for Day One
We tried to reach Davidson’s Washington office to give the congressman an opportunity to explain his position, but our messages went unanswered.
If there were a fire in your own home, how would you feel if the local fire department refused to put it out until you proved to them that it wasn’t caused by cooking in grease or smoking in bed?
That is what your congressman, Warren Davidson, is saying to Los Angeles.
Maybe it is time you, his constituents, tried sending a message to him.
