In California, some radical far-left ideas don't seem to be drawing the applause they were expected to draw.
Which brings us to one state Sen. Ben Allen, a Santa Monica statehouse senator who put out a proposed law so stinky, so stanky, so vile, he skedaddled backward as fast as his little legs would carry him.
At a time when the County of Los Angeles has witheld rebuilding permits for all but seven of the 17,000 homeowners who lost their homes in the fires they caused, Allen's SB 549 authorized the state to go around buying up burned properties in fire-ravaged areas, including Altadena and Pacific Palisades, and converting those lots into crime-box high-rise apartment projects for the benefit of the homeless and the "justice-involved individuals."
It made sense from a leftist point of view. Many leftists have gone into low-income housing construction -- and could potentially benefit from construction of crime-box apartments to house bums and criminals who belong in jail.
That would be quite a reward for the bums, given that they set so many of these fires, and an incentive to them to set more fires, given that the prize is now beachfront property.
High-density housing, which is present in yet another bad bill likely to be scrapped, SB 79, described here, will ensure a dependent class that reliably votes Democrat, and thus, changes the character of the neighborhoods.
And the fact that Los Angeles neglected so much before the fires that it appears as though this was the plan all along.
Now he says he's had the bill "paused," after public input even though it had been expected to pass.
???? BREAKING: California state Senator @BenAllenCA just made the right decision to pause, until at least next year, SB 549, the bill that would have permitted governments to purchase & develop burned-out properties, under opposition/concern from local citizens & leaders like… pic.twitter.com/ee5Ilm2IUf
— Houman David Hemmati, MD, PhD (@houmanhemmati) July 17, 2025
The public response apparently alarmed him.
His phone must have been on fire.
Minutes after this column was published online, Sen. Ben Allen emailed to say he wanted to speak with me to clarify some aspects of his bill, SB 549.
— Susan Shelley (@Susan_Shelley) July 17, 2025
Then he said the bill has now been "paused" for the rest of the year, maybe longer. https://t.co/WMS1HGMjPw
Here is his groveling explanation:
My statement on pausing SB 549. pic.twitter.com/OXye2hsETp
— Ben Allen (@BenAllenCA) July 17, 2025
Here are some of the ugly details:
. @GavinNewsom lied.
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) July 17, 2025
He said he wouldn’t grab the land where homes burned down in the Palisades to build low-income housing facilities - but he and Karen Bass just did.
They are changing the character of the Palisades and Malibu to fit their woke agenda. They don’t care what…
All part of a bigger plan. There, I’ve said it. I had held back, but when Newscum announced the $101,000,000 plan to destroy the Palisades with crime box buildings, I just don’t care anymore.
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) July 15, 2025
Does anyone think this wasn’t planned to some degree all along? pic.twitter.com/tyzHJ2vOpq
The Malibu Daily says he's just regrouping:
SB 549 PAUSED… but don’t get too comfortable.
— Cece Woods (@cecewoodsmedia) July 17, 2025
Sen. Ben Allen hit the brakes only after community backlash exposed the bill for what it really was: a top-down power grab dressed up as “rebuilding.”
Meanwhile, Newsom just dropped $101M to push state-controlled density housing… pic.twitter.com/QubEJlJUC1
Others say he will slip in the details seen in his bill now on the back of some other bill when no one is looking.
That said, this is a major defeat for a monstrous idea, a double-slap in the face of those who had lost their homes based on city negligence -- failure to clear brush, failure to keep fire trucks and hydrants in working order, failure to fill the reservoir built to fight fires, and all the other positively criminal negligence coming from city and county officials, and now failure to issue rebuilding permits -- but who have grand plans to put bums and criminals first, getting them squared away before the locals are allowed to rebuild.
And don't imagine this isn't part of the plan -- they have yet to issue rebuilding permits to those affected, but still demand property taxes, two-thirds of which are based on the value of the land, on the burned lots, which is forcing many to sell even though they don't want to. What better a setup for nonprofit and homeless housing construction?
Everyone saw through it, and Newsom himself, who has presidential ambitions, probably told Allen to "pause" it.
It stinks. It stinks so bad even its sponsor has probably been forced to disavow it.
Image: X screen shot