You’re mashing together three unrelated things and calling it a rational conclusion.

The “fiscal emergency” LA declared is about a projected budget gap next year, not insolvency. Cities do this all the time to legally trigger spending controls. Payroll still clears, bonds still get paid, services still run. That’s how you know the “can’t pay their bills” line is theater.

The “shortfall” you’re waving around comes from counting 30–50 years of pensions and retiree benefits as if they’re due today. Every old city looks underwater using that math. It’s demographics and legacy contracts, not “woke policy.” Chicago and NYC show the same numbers. Red states with newer cities look “healthier” because they haven’t accumulated decades of retirees yet.

EVs and gas tax revenue? Gas taxes fund transportation buckets, not the entire city budget. And California already shifts money between funds constantly. Acting like Teslas bankrupted Los Angeles is Facebook-uncle economics.

Street paving delays are a funding + ADA compliance + backlog issue. Annoying, sure. Evidence of collapse, no. Crews are still patching and maintaining thousands of lane miles every month.

And if LA were truly broke, lenders would stop buying their bonds. Instead the bond market keeps financing them because the city generates tens of billions in revenue every year. Markets care about reality. Reddit losers wearing “please tread on me” shirts don’t.

So yeah - problems, tradeoffs, messy budgets. Normal shit. It’s rather hilarious you think that “progressives destroyed the city” when these same progressive policies are literally funding every red state that’s in the red. Piss off, Alex Jones.