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- [00:01]
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- [00:40]
Kennedy
Hello and welcome to this episode of Kennedy Saves the World. So, as you know, as Jimmy Faila and I have talked about many, many times, for the last, I don't know, 23 years, we've had a massive 4th of July party in Pacific Palisades with all of our friends and neighbors. Uh, it's been the highlight of our year. Well, yesterday marked the six month anniversary of the LA wildfires in Pacific Palisades in Altadena. And obviously thousands and thousands of people are displaced from parades and rituals and family gatherings and all the things that marked the marking of Independence Day that has evaporated for people who have had to scatter through throughout Southern California and throughout the country because their homes have been either destroyed or they have been compromised so people can't live in them. And you know, it's, it's a sad situation because there are so few permits that have been issued and you know, a lot of people thought by the time the six month mark came around that more people would be in the process of revenue rebuilding and you know, not only rebuilding their homes, but also their communities. And sadly, because the government, state and local, because you know, every government agency has failed so many people. And I'm talking about everything from FEMA assistance to SBA loans that people were promised when their homes were destroyed or damaged. Uh, those have been practically an impossibility for most people to access and forget about insurance coverage. And a lot of these insurance companies should be ashamed of themselves because you know, where they claim to be there in a pinch. For all of the people who have invested years and years paying their dues and premiums to the company, companies, plural, they have utterly failed people who have no idea how and when to rebuild because they are fighting day in and day out with these insurance companies. So you can't file a permit application unless you know that you will be able to pay for the rebuilding or remodeling of your home. And people just don't have that because they have been backed into the corner by the insurance companies. And you Know, a lot of people have just taken the first offer that their company has given them and they've abandoned their property. And, you know, they, they went through with a fine tooth comb as much as they could in order to find anything salvageable from these burned out lots. And, you know, since it is becoming pretty bleak, people have decided that they're going to leave the communities that many of them have, have either grown up in or raised their families in, or been a part of for decades or generations. And now they feel that, you know, they're better off dispersing from their neighbors, their churches, their schools. Many of those things have burned down in these places, especially in Pacific Palisades, where I can speak from personal experience. And there's no home to go back to because as we all know, home is really your community. It's, you know, your favorite checker you see at the grocery store, it's the guy at the gas station who's going to help you top off your fluids and not charge you anything extra. It's the bank that you can go into if you're in a pickle and look someone in the eye who is going to assist you in maybe your small business. When those things burn to the ground, the rest of Southern California becomes very, very faceless and you become a number. Whereas, you know, in these communities, you were a person, you were a part of it. And, you know, there were so many people that I had met through my daughter's schools, and those schools are now gone and those families have unfortunately fled. And it. I've seen videos of people going and trying to file to obtain building permits. And they say, like, oh, we've cut all the red tape. It feels like they put up more red tape because they really don't care. Because Karen Bass, who's the mayor of Los Angeles, and Gavin Newsom, obviously the governor of California, who wants to be president in 2028, they don't care. They will blame anyone but themselves. And they are not creating avenues for people to rebuild. They're just, they're. They're lying to everybody when they say they're trying to make it as easy as possible. If it were as easy as possible, you'd see thousands of building permits, you know, but now you have just a few dozen. But the California has no problem taxing you. Like your property taxes. You will still have to pay those. They've. They've only come down with reassessments a little bit. So you still have to pay that, you know, a mortgage on a still smoldering lot. You have to pay that as well. And the insurance companies are going to put off paying anything for as long as they possibly can and they're not being held accountable. So it makes you wonder, are these insurance companies buying access to, you know, politicians in order for state legislators and even, you know, people in Congress to write more favorable laws? So they continue screwing people out of settlements and out of assistance like they're supposed to, because that's what we pay for. Don't go anywhere more. Kennedy Saves the world right after this.
- [06:39]
Will Kane
It's the Will Kane Show. Watch it live at noon Eastern Monday through Thursday on foxnews.com or on the Fox News YouTube channel. And don't miss a show. Get the podcast five days a week at FOX News Podcast or wherever you download your favorite podcasts.
- [06:53]
Kennedy
So it has been incredibly frustrating and sad that we have reached the six month mark with no end in sight. And you know, I, I've been back to Pacific Palisades several times to check on my home and my neighbor's homes and driving through, you know, they, they have put up American flags and, and this is a part of the city which is very patriotic and very civic minded and usually embraces the Fourth of July. But they can't do that this year. And you know, I think we were all hoping but that by the time we got six months in, we would have turned a corner and we would have seen a glimmer of light, something to grasp at that gives us hope that our communities will rebuild. You look at the community in Maui and Lahaina and you know, that was years ago and still you have much of that area that has not been rebuilt. And also part of that is because of the two US Senators from Hawaii and the governor. And it seems like when these things happen, they pay a lot of lip service in the beginning. But when people really need it, when they need permits, when they need a ramp to rebuilding that is snatched away from them by incredibly callous and cruel self serving politicians who are really just looking out for themselves. And again, the consolidation of power, it's sad, it's inhumane. I don't know where we go from here because every time I talk to a new neighbor they have relocated to, you know, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, pretty much anywhere but Southern California because taxes are too high. And you know, you never know like which faceless entity is going to snap up these lots. And you know, instead of cute and eclectic neighborhoods, you will have cookie cutter soulless homes and dwellings just churned out without any regard for the communities that have been built over decades. So am I optimistic? No. But I'm going to still keep pushing and praying that people come back, that there is somehow some good news, that this impasse that we all find ourselves in, we are able to navigate it and the burdens will be lifted so people can build and they can thrive and they can slowly, once again regenerate the community that we all so desperately need. So if you're in Southern California and you are feeling hopeless, I am fighting for you and I will call people out by name. So, you know, it's like we have to fight the good fight together and really challenge the politicians who have stood in everybody's way, putting their own needs above the community that they have no problem milking for as many tax dollars as they can get and then abandoning them in this dire hour of need that at this point feels interminable. But we'll get there somehow, some way. Despite the best efforts of state and local government to thwart us, we will ultimately, somehow succeed. This has been Kennedy Saves the World. I'm Kennedy. Listen ad free With a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts and Amazon prime, members can listen to this show ad free on the Amazon Music app. Oh, go ahead and leave me a review while you're there. I'd love to hear what you have to say. You've been listening to Kennedy Saves the World on the following FOX News podcast network. Following fox's initial donation to the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund, our generous viewers have answered the call to action across all Fox platforms and have helped raise $7 million. Visit Go Fox TXFloodRelief to support relief and rebuilding efforts.