Laughing Bass on Homelessness: 17% Is A Passing Grade!

What does one call doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? In the rest of the world, it’s called insanity. In California, it’s called progress. Or more accurately, Progress. 

Four years ago, Karen Bass pledged to end homelessness by 100% in her first term as mayor. She reiterated that pledge on CNN three years ago after her election, as well as other platforms. Bass argued that her experience in Congress made her qualified and prepared to act immediately and effectively, fully capable of delivering on this campaign pledge.

Bass appeared on CNN again yesterday to account for her performance, where interviewer Elex Michaelson pointed out that she just barely missed her goal … by 83%. Bass laughed it off, blamed “bureaucratic barriers” in a state dominated by her own party, and said she deserves re-election with a score of 17%:

CNN Elex Michaelson to LA Mayor Karen Bass: “Your goal was to end street homelessness in LA by 2026. It’s now 2026. We haven’t ended it, and we’re not close to ending it. How were you so off?” pic.twitter.com/y6XQkQ698x

— MCBN (@MCBNNEWSS) May 20, 2026

‘So when you talked to Jake Tapper in 2023, you said that your goal was to end street homelessness in LA by 2026. It’s now 2026…’ Michaelson said. 

‘And we haven’t ended it,’ Bass interrupted while she appeared to laugh uncomfortably. 

Michaelson acknowledged that street homelessness was still a harsh reality for Angelenos and confronted the mayor with a tough question: ‘How are you so off?’ 

Bass explained that she had made that promise at the beginning of her term and remained committed to the goal. 

‘I didn’t anticipate some of the bureaucratic barriers that I would experience, but I am prepared to take those on now.’ 

The mayor cited her decision to fast-track 42,000 affordable housing units as evidence of her commitment to ending street homelessness. 

First off, I’d challenge the idea that homelessness has decreased measurably at all in LA, especially in the greater county and Southland area. The encampments continue to plague Angelenos, especially as fire hazards. The accumulation of trash creates a constant stream of fires that require city resources to fight; one homeless fire this month blocked the 110 Freeway for hours in both directions, paralyzing traffic on one of the most important arteries in the Los Angeles traffic system. 

The city council’s response wasn’t to deal with “bureaucratic barriers.” Instead, the council attempted to restrict backyard grilling and open-pit restaurants, neither of which has caused or contributed to wildfires or other significant fire events. You know who was AWOL for that debate? Karen “17 Percent Is a Passing Grade” Bass.

And let’s talk about “bureaucratic barriers” as well. Bass’ party has controlled the city of Los Angeles for decades, and the county for nearly as long. Democrats have had supermajorities in the state legislature for at least 30 years now, and California has had Democrat governors for the last 17 years – and with the brief and hardly conservative exception of Arnold Schwarzenegger, that stretches back to Gray Davis’ inauguration in January 1999. 

Bureaucratic barriers exist because Democrats are the party of bureaucracies. It’s why the SEIU and AFSCME organize so enthusiastically for Democrats in elections. Bass and Democrats don’t want to deconstruct these obstructions but make them even more impermeable. That is why the Democrat and progressive establishment attempted to demonize suburban grillers and steak restaurants for fires set by either the homeless or by radicals torching poorly maintained brush areas to score points for La Résistance, and then actively covered up the willful incompetence that led to turning an arson into a catastrophe. 

Bass has tried to shift blame for that onto “bureaucratic barriers” in the past, too. As if mayors have nothing to do with bureaucracies, or her party has done nothing but invest in their expansion for the last several decades. 

And worst of all, Bass laughs at the idea that she should be held accountable for her failing grade on what she herself described as the most important issue in the city. Bass wants voters to give her a Participation Trophy for her malign neglect and complete lack of political will and courage. She wants an attendance award while being AWOL from the Palisades Fire catastrophe, along with a pass for her leadership in the choices that contributed to it. Bass thinks it’s funny. 

And maybe it is in California, where voters keep electing progressive Democrats and expect anything to change … except for those who vote with their feet.

Editor’s Note: Hollywood, academia, and liberal elites are out of touch with the average American.

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