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Does Jerry Brown Understand the Magnitude of CA’s Problems?

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The problems California faces are not just the failure of our politicians in Sacramento to balance the budget — particularly given the exorbitant cost of public employee pensions.  We also have an economy that is moribund, with many employers seeking opportunities elsewhere  — or moving their operations (and with them jobs) overseas and to neighboring states.

In her recent column on the (once-)Golden State’s woes, Debra J. Saunders builds on this point, reminding us that “fixing the budget may be the easier half of  [Governor-elect Jerry] Brown’s job“:

Brown has a reputation for talking to people who disagree with him. That’s good, because I didn’t hear a word from Brown on Wednesday that made me believe he understands what he has to do to staunch the flow of jobs, businesses and people with assets from the Golden State.

If he wants dynamic growth, Brown might want to talk to [his vanquished Republican opponent Meg] Whitman, who told me in March that if she had to start eBay all over again, she’d probably locate in Texas.

CNBC recently ranked the Lone Star State as the best state to do business.  In the same survey, California ranked 32nd, yet 49th for business friendliness.  The Tax Foundation ranked California the 2nd worst state to do business.  We need do something to make it a better state to do business, to prevent employers from moving jobs out of the state.  We’ve lost nearly 600,000 jobs just since Congress passed the “stimulus.”

I do hope I’m wrong about Jerry Brown.  And, to be sure, some aspects of his tenure as Mayor of Oakland show that he is aware of the benefits of pro-business policies.  It would be nice if he could talk enacting reforms designed to keep businesses here in California, reforms which would make the Golden State shine once more.

Comments

  1. Um, Dan. There is NO WAY CA is moving up from 49th, I bet you Next Year, unless NY passed a worse law than US not rescinding Prop 23, we will be DEAD LAST!

    CA is the # 1 State in Unions and State Employees, so I don’t believe it will change. Look at the people who were elected/re-elected.

    Brown,
    BoTaXer
    GAVIN NEWSOM for LT GOV!!! Geez Louise. If Brown were to die, he takes over as GOV!

  4. It’s funny that progressives deride the idea of American Exceptionalism but seem to embrace Californian Exceptionalism wholeheartedly. There seems to be an attitude that California can enact poisonous anti-business regulations and brutal tax rates because… well, because California is so exceptional that businesses will choose to operate there and people will choose to live there regardless.

    Also, and probably related, is an entitlement mentality that California is so wonderful the other 49 states should bail out just for the privilege of having California as part of the union.

  7. Thanks, V the K for asking about the “Strawman Question” thing. I have noticed that the both “straw man” fallacy and “QED” are used frequently in comments in ways that demonstrate the user is just savvy enough to have heard of them, but not educated enough to have the least idea of what they mean or when to use them.

    It would be interesting to look into the maze between Countervail’s ears and see just how he has trained the mouse to roll a pea from point A to point B without eating it first.

    Does Jerry Brown Understand the Magnitude of CA’s Problems?

    There is no room for a straw man to hide in a simple “yes” and “why” or “no” and “why” answer.

    That said, I suspect that Jerry Brown is such a creature of government and so schooled in the art of politics that he has no fresh or revolutionary reactions to the crisis that besets California.

    His life is measured out in terms of office. He has a few years of tread left on his political tire and he is merely rolling down the road on a wing and prayer.

    I would be delighted if he has an epiphany and takes the state’s problems to the lion’s den and wrestles them to a successful recovery. But I expect him to be more of the showman who plays with lions and ends up getting mauled in the process. That would be a terrible waste of precious time for California.