Los Angeles under Mayor Karen Bass is rapidly turning into a cautionary tale about what happens when progressive priorities collide with fiscal reality. After botching the city’s wildfire response earlier this year, Bass now finds herself grappling with a staggering budget deficit of nearly $1 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. In classic Democrat fashion, her administration is blaming “economic uncertainty” and natural disasters while conveniently ignoring the reckless spending, massive public employee payouts, and obsession with DEI programs that helped drive LA straight into this crisis.

At a March 19 city council meeting, LA’s administrative officer Matt Szabo sounded the alarm loud and clear. He warned that closing the deficit will require “extremely difficult cost-cutting decisions,” including the potential layoff of thousands of city workers. “We are not looking at dozens or even hundreds of layoffs, but thousands,” he told city leaders. It’s a sobering admission from a city that’s spent the last several years throwing taxpayer money around like confetti at a Pride parade.

Szabo claimed that Mayor Bass is “absolutely committed to preserving as many jobs and city services as possible,” but the numbers don’t lie. The money simply isn’t there. And now taxpayers are stuck holding the bag while City Hall scrambles to fix a mess it helped create.

Bass blames the budget disaster on wildfire relief costs, pointing to the devastating blazes that ripped through Southern California in January, killing 29 people and destroying thousands of homes. But critics note that LA was already playing with fire—literally and financially—before the first ember hit the brush. The city cut $17.6 million from the fire department budget in 2024, even as it poured money into DEI initiatives and bloated labor contracts.

In a move that may end up defining her tenure, Bass was overseas attending the inauguration of Ghana’s president when the fires first erupted. Despite pledging during her campaign not to travel abroad if elected, she was halfway across the world while Angelenos were evacuating their homes. When pressed by a Sky News reporter upon her return, she offered no apology. Not even a scripted one.

And the missteps didn’t stop there. Fire hydrants reportedly ran dry during the Palisades Fire, and Bass later fired LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley—who herself had been publicly pushing DEI policies within the department. The city’s emergency response failures weren’t just logistical—they were ideological. The obsession with social engineering came at the cost of basic preparedness.

Meanwhile, the city is bleeding cash on legal liability claims, including a shocking $320 million this fiscal year alone. Between lawsuits for police misconduct, sanitation department accidents, and other bureaucratic blunders, the legal bills are piling up. And that’s just the start.

In 2024, the city council approved labor contracts that will total over $1 billion by 2029, including a four-year $203 million deal with the LAFD union. Last year, the city gave employees a 22% pay raise and upped sick leave benefits from 50% to 100%. LA also greenlit generous raises for police and civilian workers, even as revenues dipped $13 million below projections.

Now, state lawmakers are begging Sacramento for a $2 billion bailout, and Governor Gavin Newsom is asking Congress for another $40 billion in wildfire aid. This is California’s playbook: spend irresponsibly, ignore reality, then demand federal help when the whole thing collapses.

John Moorlach of the California Policy Institute hit the nail on the head. “The wildfire, that’s a convenient excuse,” he said. “It’s some of these pensions and other post-employment benefits that are coming home to roost.” Translation: this crisis isn’t about natural disasters—it’s about financial recklessness and political cowardice.

LA is living proof that when you prioritize woke politics over core services, you get chaos. Diversity officers get hired, but fire hydrants don’t work. Bureaucrats get raises, but taxpayers get pink slips. And when the bill comes due, the people in charge either dodge responsibility or look to Washington for another bailout.

Mayor Bass’s budget is due by April 21. Don’t expect anything bold, responsible, or sane. Expect more excuses, more spin, and more pain for working-class Angelenos. The city isn’t just facing “challenges.” It’s facing a slow-motion collapse—and every bit of it was predictable. And preventable.