Bill Maher thinks California could very well turn red if certain things don’t turn around.
On “The Adam Carolla Show” Tuesday, Maher contributed his opinion on the future of the state.
Around 33 minutes into the show, host Adam Carolla broached Maher’s “solar panel saga,” which Maher chronicled on his HBO show in 2021. Maher and Carolla went on to discuss rules and policies that restrict California natives, as well as issues that demand solving.
“First of all we know there’s been an exodus from this state,” Maher began. “That’s partly because of high taxes and it’s partly because fire season is all year round. But it’s also because people can’t f—ing do anything.
“I just read that the cost of building a single unit for the homeless has now risen to $837,000,” Maher said. “I just don’t think people understand the level of graft that is built into the system, the level of corruption, and that’s what I was getting at when I made that crusade about my solar.”
The conversation returned to solar panels and the challenges with their installation.
“Can you imagine the level of corruption, but level of bureaucracy that I was ranting and raving about this on the air for over a year and they still couldn’t get it done?” Maher went on. “I have a picture of 11 people at my house that finally showed. Eleven people. To turn on a lightbulb, basically, I had to build a shed to house the thing. I had to build its own home. Which could probably house the homeless, people could probably live in that shed.
“All the regulations that, I mean, I don’t know if it’s Orwellian, or Kafka-esque, or both of them, but it’s just strange. Very strange,” he continued. “The hoops you had to jump through to do something that the state was advising you to do. Solar power was something – I thought I was being a good citizen trying to hook up.”
When Carolla described his own experience attempting and then abandoning the project after realizing how complicated state and county regulations can get, Maher picked up on Carolla’s decision to “f— it.”
“‘Fuck it’ is what so many people say about so many things out here [in California]. Eventually what they are going to say is ‘then f— it to the Democratic party’,” he said. “This is an achilles heel to this party that they have to come to terms with. I mean, they couldn’t build a railroad, they tried, from L.A. to San Francisco. Same thing with the housing- the homeless thing.
“There are just too many people with their hand out. There are too many people who are unnecessary in this equation,” Maher continued. “This is kind of beyond politics and it will get hung on, deservedly so, the Democrats.
“It’s not like the Republicans are great on this either, but they don’t run the state right now,” Maher finished. “The Democrats do.”
You can watch the full video here.