Since I moved to Solvang, I avoid going to Santa Barbara as much as possible. It’s not the same city I grew up in. Granted, it’s a pretty place. Politically it’s always been liberal. Even when I was young, we used to say we liked the city except for the politics. Or course there’s the vocal side that love it for its liberal ideology and take to the streets if Trump’s eyebrows twitch funny.
However, I did trek down into SB recently to take my stepfather to the doctor. I had some time to kill and was jonesing for a Lito’s burrito. I took it to the beach across from the Hilton.
I made my way to the water intending to sit on a huge rusting pipe. As I approached, I took a step back. Hidden on the other side of the pipe was a pile of driftwood haphazardly pushed up against it. I noticed some blankets and trash. Looking closer I spotted a bobbing head. At first, I thought it was a male. However, scootching over a bit I was surprised to see it was a woman.
I sat on the pipe some twenty feet away eating my nice big warm burrito and kept looking over at the woman. It wasn’t right. The seagulls were driving me nuts and I tossed them my chips before I had the presence of mind to at least offer them to the woman.
I got up to leave but went back and gave her $20. She appeared clear headed and offered a warm smile of gratitude. I started to make for my car and turned back again.
I saw that the woman was Hispanic. I can carry a decent conversation in Spanish and told her I apologize for the intrusion. I asked if it was okay to ask a couple questions. She was all smiles. She was focused on playing with some seaweed or grass. That led me to believe she may have some mental issues.
I asked her if she had any family or any other place to live. In fairly decent broken English, she said everyone was in Mexico, but they were coming back. Once they did, she would move in with them. I asked if she had a job, but of course, her answer was no. The odd thing is she seemed happy. Had a gentle demeanor. She was laying on a bed of sand and covered in some worn blankets. The driftwood offered a little protection from the onshore wind. There was no overhead covering from the weather. I wondered how she had dealt with all the recent rains.
I reluctantly left and shook my head. Rooms across the street could go for $1,000 a night. Every day, only a few hundred yards away, people were enjoying expensive meals and sipping on cocktails. Then snuggle into their 600-thread sheets.
Califraudia Here We Come!
I’m all-in for closing the border and I support ICE 100% but I still have sympathy for human beings.
California is a wealthy “sanctuary” state. It preaches how they care about the underprivileged. That’s why they make the poor pay $5 a gallon for gasoline, pay outrageous rents, tax the heck out of everything, and steal billions of dollars that are supposed to help them. In return, Democrats bulge their pockets with tax dollars and munch on $1,000-a-plate dinners.
I love the new term, Califraudia. A succinct summary of the truth. A Republican-backed tip line has uncovered $250 billion in rampant fraud and waste from whistle blowers. Even if it’s half as much (though I think it’s much more) that’s still a crap load of tax dollars the Democrats and Newsom have stolen. Makes Minnesota look like the girl scouts. No offense girls.
If you don’t want to believe the whistle blowers, the California State Auditor released a report in December 2025 that showed close to $80 billion in fraud. And the liberal media didn’t even notice.
I don’t want to list the entire breakdown; it will make you want to puke. I’ll stick to what prompted this column; $24 billion was supposed to have been used for the homeless.
Nearly a quarter of all the homeless in America reside in California, close to 200,000. Probably many more. Where did that $24 billion go? Not on Luisa. I’m naming the lost woman after my dear deceased Mexican momma.
California, like fellow comrade Mamdani of New York, want to tax the rich again for the Democrats screwups and thievery. Why should anyone have to cover the asses of those responsible for stealing your money? All the while knowing they’ll steal it again.
I’m not letting Santa Barbara off the hook either. They’ve coddled the homeless using the same ideology of, “we care.” In truth, that philosophy caused more harm littering the streets with new wandering souls. While middle-aged white people march to keep the real murderers in their country, homeless are laying behind them going, huh?
As for people like Luisa, the kindest thing we can do for her is give her some spending money, a plane ticket, and send her home to her family. How she’s living now is cruel and the city should be ashamed of itself. The state should be ashamed of itself. Heck every blue state should get a beating.
Newsom wants to be president? He’ll make the corrupt Biden regime look like girl scouts. Oh yeah, I already used that one. Okay, cub scouts, sorry boys.
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Samuel (Mark Twain) Clemens would enjoy (as did I) your wit and humor while addressing an ongoing tumor of our society. While the homeless issues grow, our efforts to "fix" the problem dwindle. We misdirect funds (AKA Fraud) for pocket lining projects like trains to nowhere and homeless rehabilitation. As you know in your heart, many of our homeless are mentally "sick in some way". We need to begin building and staffing mental facilities to completely handle the load of homeless while being rehabilitated. Instead of a bullet train, let's build a place (plural) we can house, feed, and rehabilitate all those without hope. Thanks you Henry, for presenting this issue with caring eyes...Blessings ALL
24 Billion divided by 200,000 homeless is 120k per homeless. Where did all that money go?