Tag: los angeles

Los Angeles is Broke – City Declares Fiscal Emergency

The city of Los Angeles declared a state of fiscal emergency amid a $1 billion deficit. The council approved of the emergency declaration unanimously in a 14-0 vote. This comes after Mayor Karen Bass approved a $14 billion budget for the fiscal year that began on July 1. The city is a prime example of what happens when socialist policies are allowed to run rampant at the expense of the people.

Bass approved of raising the budget from $12.9 billion in FY2024-25 to $14 billion in 2025-26 despite the looming $1 billion deficit. Unsurprisingly, overspending is the main culprit for the deficit, and yet, lawmakers have every intention of spending more. Over 600 public sector workers will be let go as a result of fiscal mismanagement, and although small government is usually applaudable, the city plans to fire 248 LAPD employees, 44 sanitation workers, and 41 firefighters. LA is experiencing a significant uptick in crime, but plans to defund the police to appease the mobs.

California Governor Gavin Newsom boasts of California’s robust economy but fails to acknowledge that it’s a state basically living “paycheck-to-paycheck,” with the payee being the taxpayer. Read the state’s plan to cover its budget deficits – endless taxes. Spending growth from 2025-26 to 2028-29 is 5.8%, above the average of 3.5%. Growth over the same period is just above 4%, “lower than its historical average, largely due to policy choices that end during the forecast window. Taken together, we view it as unlikely that revenue growth will be fast enough to catch up to ongoing spending.” Even residents who choose or are forced to leave the state will incur taxes to cover government thievery. Los Angeles is one of countless examples of how the public sector will virtue signal to rob Peter, not to pay Paul, but to pay themselves, as they are not hiding the corruption.

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Baywatch Pay Watch: Half-Million-Dollar Checks, Six-Figure Overtime For LA lifeguards

If it wasn’t clear that the city and county of Los Angeles are in dire need of spending resets, taxpayers can look no further than the county lifeguards paid to watch over its pools, lakes and ocean.

OpenTheBooks.com reported on outrageous overtime spending on the LA police, fire and particularly overpaid employees in the city’s Department Water & Power amid out-of-control wildfires in January, and the anti-immigration riots in June.

Lifeguards, too, enjoy big overtime payouts and generous benefits. The top-paid lifeguard in LA county was compensated more than $500,000 in 2024; and over the past 5 years, a single lifeguard was able to pull down $702,000 – in overtime alone!

BY THE NUMBERS

We reported that in 2021, the top-paid lifeguards earned up to $510,283 — back then, we found 98 lifeguards earned at least $200,000 including benefits.

Now, out of over 1,500 lifeguards, 134 of them earned at least $200,000 including benefits. Thirty-four of them had $300,000 or more in their compensation package.

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Trump administration sues Los Angeles over sanctuary policies that ‘impede’ ICE operations

The Trump administration is suing the city of Los Angeles, alleging that the policies interfere with federal immigration authorities from doing their jobs.

“Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News in an exclusive statement.

“Jurisdictions like Los Angeles that flout federal law by prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens are undermining law enforcement at every level – it ends under President Trump,” Bondi added.

The lawsuit says that the city is discriminating against federal authorities by treating ICE differently than other types of law enforcement.

The Department of Justice argues that the Supremacy Clause in the U.S. Constitution prohibits this, so they are asking a judge to block the enforcement of the policies.

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Customs and Border Protection Raid Human Smuggling Hub in Los Angeles Linked to Iranian Terror Suspects

A massive human smuggling ring with Iranian terror ties was busted up by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), raising more concerns about potential terror sleeper cells in America as the Iran-Israel war continues.

The CBP revealed on Friday night that it had executed a federal search warrant at a human smuggling hub in Los Angeles tied to national security threats from Iran.

During the operation, two people were arrested thanks to a combined effort from the CBP’s Special Response Team, Border Patrol tactical units, and Air and Marine Operations.

CBP noted that seven Iranian nationals were arrested at the same address earlier in the week. These included ones on the FBI Terror Watchlist and associates of an Iranian human trafficking network.

The agency also said that the house has been repeatedly used to harbor illegal aliens linked to terrorism.

This news comes as the Trump Administration made a massive nationwide bust just a few days ago, which sent shockwaves across the Internet.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday arrested 11 Iranian nationals found to be living in the country illegally, including individuals with suspected terrorist ties and significant criminal histories.

These individuals were apprehended from eight states, including Minnesota, Mississippi, Alabama, California, New York, Colorado, and Texas.

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Los Angeles Votes for $30 Minimum Wage

Los Angeles lawmakers have advanced a measure that would make the city home to the nation’s highest minimum wage, approving a plan to raise hourly pay to $30 for tens of thousands of tourism workers by 2028, the year the city is set to host the Olympic Games.

The Los Angeles City Council voted 12-3 on Wednesday to approve the proposal, which applies to hotels with more than 60 rooms and businesses operating at Los Angeles International Airport.

Why It Matters

The tourism industry is one of the top five employers in Los Angeles County, supporting more than 540,000 Angelenos, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA).

However, there have been growing concerns about the sector, which has not fully rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, Los Angeles only saw 79 percent of the number of international visitors it had in 2019, according to the AHLA. The association warned that “slower-than-anticipated pandemic recovery” coupled with other factors, including the wildfires, have massively impacted the tourism industry.

Industry groups argue that the wage plan will add pressure to businesses already struggling with staffing and a drop-off in tourism.

The measure would result in a 48 percent wage increase for hotel workers and a 56 percent rise for airport employees over the next three years.

The minimum wage for large hotel workers is currently two dollars higher than the standard minimum wage in the city, at over $18.

The wage increases would be brought in gradually, starting with $22.50 per hour in July 2025, increasing to $25 in 2026, $27.50 in 2027, and finally $30 in July 2028.

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California vice mayor calls for GANGS to defend their ‘hood’ from ICE

The vice mayor of a Los Angeles County city is reportedly under federal investigation after posting a video to social media in which she called on gang members to defend their “turf” from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Cynthia Gonzalez shared the video to social media late last week, Fox News reported, in which she said, “Not for nothing, but I wanna know where all the cholos are at in Los Angeles. 18 Street, Florencia, where’s the leadership at? Because you guys are all about territory and this is 18 Street and this is Florencia, you guys tag everything up claiming hood and now that your hood’s being invaded by the biggest gang there is, there ain’t a peep out of you.

“It’s everyone else who’s not about the gang life that’s out there protesting and speaking up. We’re out there, like, fighting our turf, protecting our turf, protecting our people, and like, where you at,” she continued.

“I’m like, dude, they’re running amok all up on your streets, on your streets and in your city, and peep when the big gang guns come in, nothing but like, quiet. And we’re out here, the regular ones that have never been jumped in, out here calling things out, out trying to organize people, trying to do the thing. So don’t be trying to claim no block, no nothing if you’re not showing up right now, trying to like, help out and organize. I don’t want to hear a peep out of you once they’re gone, tryna claim that this is my block. This was not your block, you weren’t even here helping out. So whoever’s the leadership over there, just f*cking get your members in order.”

The video was reportedly deleted shortly after it was posted. Federal sources told Fox News that she was later visited by FBI agents at her home and is now under a federal investigation. The sources said that she went back on social media to say that the FBI had come to her home and she needed a lawyer. 

The Department of Homeland Security called Gonzalez’s comments “despicable,” adding, “She calls for criminal gangs – including the vicious 18th street gang—to commit violence against our brave ICE law enforcement. This kind of garbage has led to a more than 500 percent increase in assaults against our ICE law enforcement officers. Secretary Noem has been clear: If you assault a federal officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

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City of Pasadena in Los Angeles Cancels Swim Lessons and Other Programs in the Parks to Stop ICE From Making Arrests

The City of Pasadena canceled swim lessons and other activities in local parks to stop ICE from making arrests.

Pasadena is located northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

According to KABC, two men were ‘snatched off the street’ on Saturday while buying tamales in Villa Parke, so the city decided to shut down activities to stop ICE from making more arrests.

Federal agents were also spotted near an apartment complex in Pasadena making arrests on Saturday.

“The City of Pasadena is cancelling programming, including swim lessons and other programs at Villa Parke, Robinson Park and Victory Park today, Saturday, June 21, out of an abundance of caution after seeing social media posts of what appears to be federal enforcement activity at Villa Parke this morning and the potential escalation of conflict that unannounced federal enforcement activity causes,” the City of Pasadena said.

“The city is not being informed. They just showed up and took people right off the street. They did not identify themselves, showed up in unmarked vehicles, wielding serious weaponry,” Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo said.

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Los Angeles Riots Cost Taxpayers Over $30 MILLION, Including $1.4 Million in Clean-Up/Public Property Damage – Leftist LA City Controller Blames ICE: “Raids Have Now Cost LA Taxpayers $32 Million”

New data from the City of Los Angeles’ Controller shows that anti-ICE riots across the city had cost taxpayers over $32 million between June 1 and June 17. 

LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia tried to spin numbers on X, attributing the massive cost to the city to “ICE raids.”

“$29.5 million or 92% relates to LAPD’s response to protests against ICE, including citywide tactical alert costs,” he said, failing to mention the violence by so-called protesters that spurred police responses.

Police have arrested at least 561 people since the riots started earlier this month.

He also mentioned the “$1.4 million relates to clean-up / public property damage,” but somehow, it’s ICE’s fault that leftist rioters and illegal aliens caused over one million dollars in damage.

The total, roughly $32 million, “does not include potential lawsuits,” Mejia said.

ICE agents have faced a 500% increase due to Democrats like Mejia lying to the American people and defaming law enforcement like this.

It can be recalled that Governor Gavin Newsom sued President Trump for exercising his authority as President to federalize the National Guard and prevent the riots from becoming even more violent and costing more money. Trump had sent in 4,000 National Guard Troops to help quell the riots.

After winning a leftist federal judge in San Francisco ordered President Trump to return control of the National Guard to California, the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court unanimously sided with Trump, allowing him to keep the California National Guard deployed.

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REVEALED: Governor Newsom Attended Luxury Wine Tasting in Napa Valley While Anti-ICE Rioters Burned Cars, Assaulted Law Enforcement

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) attended a luxury wine tasting in Napa Valley amid the violent Los Angeles riots.

Newsom was literally sipping wine as LA burned.

According to the City Journal, Newsom attended the “Vineyard Vibes” event at the Odette Estate Winery which he co-founded on June 7.

The City Journal reported:

As riots engulfed Los Angeles and mobs vandalized public buildings, incinerated vehicles, and assaulted law enforcement officers, California governor Gavin Newsom was enjoying a swanky wine-tasting party in Napa Valley.

The wine-tasting was held on the afternoon of June 7, 2025, at the Odette Estate Winery, which Newsom co-founded in 2011. Dubbed “Vineyard Vibes,” the event was a fundraiser for the PlumpJack Foundation, founded by Newsom’s sister, and featured “contemporary yet sophisticated” wines, live jazz music, and locally made pizza and smash burgers. “It’s the perfect kick-off to summer fun,” read promotional language. “The fete will take place on the Winery Crushpad, where we’ll gather for music, food, conversation, and delicious wine!”

A source who photographed Newsom at the event expressed shock that the governor was in attendance, given that riots had broken out in Los Angeles the day before. “I couldn’t believe it,” the source said. “He was just walking around like this was an everyday occurrence.” Newsom was at the wine party for at least 90 minutes, according to the source, who said that when the governor finally left, he appeared to retreat to the inner rooms of his winery.

Typical Gavin Newsom.

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LA mayor once joined pro-Cuba communist group, now it’s part of CCP-linked network behind protests

The far-left “brigade” of pro-Communist Cuba activists which Karen Bass was a key member of years ago is currently embedded in the Chinese Communist Party-linked financial network that is behind the Los Angeles protests — some of which have turned violent — in the city where she is now mayor.

Decades ago, Bass was a member of — and was repeatedly identified as a leader in — the Venceremos Brigade (VB), a far-left activist group sympathetic to the Communist revolution in Cuba and which U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies as well as Cuban defectors have identified as being co-opted by Cuban intelligence services. The VB was also linked to violent groups such as the Weather Underground.

Nowadays, the VB is fiscally sponsored by a Manhattan-based Communist organization known as The People’s Forum, which is part of wealthy Marxist businessman Neville Singham’s broad financial network. The VB is also tied to other Singham-linked endeavors such as the far-left BreakThrough News as well as the radical revolutionary Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL).

The Marxist PSL has also been a key organizer of the protests in Los Angeles and elsewhere, which have sought to oppose the efforts by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) to crack down on illegal immigration.

The VB’s website says that it “is an entirely volunteer-run grassroots organization and we need the support of our friends, comrades, and supporters to continue this critical anti-imperialist work” and that “the People’s Forum (‘TPF’), a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is the Venceremos Brigade’s fiscal sponsor.”

The brigade’s website touts that “in the last 50 years, approximately 10,000 people from the US have traveled to Cuba with the VB, including elected officials, labor leaders, artists and entertainers, academics, activists, and social movement leaders.” In the 1970s, Bass — the activist turned congresswoman turned mayor — was one of them.

David Atlee Phillips, the chief of the Latin America Division of the CIA until 1975, penned an article in 1982 where he assessed that Communist Cuba’s Intelligence Directorate — Dirección General de Inteligencia or DGI — had a strong level of control over the VB.

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