Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass promised in 2023 to end homelessness by 2026. Not reduce it. Not put a dent in it. End it. Well, 2026 is here, the tents are still everywhere, and even CNN is calling her out on it. When you've lost CNN, you've lost the narrative.
CNN anchor Elex Michaelson hit Bass with the simplest question in journalism: "How are you so off?" Bass promised 100% elimination. She delivered 17.6%. That's not a rounding error. That's a completely different universe.
"You promised that it would go away 100 percent, and it's only gone down about 17.6 percent. Why should people trust you?" Michaelson pressed, according to American Wire News. And Bass's answer was the kind of political word salad that would make a Vitamix jealous.
"Well, basically, when I said that, it was at the beginning of my term. I am very committed to achieving that goal," Bass offered. Translation: I made a promise I had zero ability to keep, but I really, really meant it at the time.
Then came the excuse we've all been waiting for. "I didn't anticipate some of the bureaucratic barriers that I would experience, but I am prepared to take those on now," Bass said. She didn't anticipate bureaucratic barriers. The mayor of Los Angeles — the second-largest city in America — didn't anticipate that government would be slow and complicated. Stunning.
This is the California governance model in a nutshell. Make a massive promise. Spend ungodly amounts of money. Achieve almost nothing. Then blame "bureaucratic barriers" like you just discovered that City Hall has paperwork.
But here's the kicker. When Michaelson pushed harder, Bass actually had the audacity to say, "Because, let me just tell you, for the first time we've had a decrease at all." She's taking a victory lap over 17.6%. She promised to end homelessness and she's celebrating that the number went down slightly. That's like a surgeon promising to remove your appendix and then bragging that he only nicked your liver.
Remember, Bass originally made this promise on CNN back in 2023, sitting across from Jake Tapper. She looked right into the camera and told the American people she would end homelessness in Los Angeles by 2026. It was a headline-grabber. It was bold. It was also, as we now know, complete fiction.
And what's her solution? She's running for reelection. That's right — the woman who whiffed on the biggest promise of her entire tenure wants another term to finish the job. "Give me more time" is the rallying cry of every politician who failed the first time and has no new ideas for the second.
This is what happens when you elect people who govern by press conference instead of by results. Bass got her CNN moment in 2023. She got her headlines. And three years later, the people sleeping on the sidewalks of Los Angeles are still sleeping on the sidewalks of Los Angeles.
The deadline she set is now. The receipts are due. And Karen Bass is bouncing checks.