So Long, Jerry
[guest post by JVW]
Yesterday marked the start of the final week of the governorship of Edmund G. Brown, Jr., known to one and all as Jerry (or, from prior days “Moonbeam”). He is now the longest-serving governor of the Golden State, having been first elected as the successor to Ronald Reagan back in 1974 (Gerald Ford was President and “Angie Baby” by Helen Reddy was Billboard’s Number One Single when he was first inaugurated) and then making a return to office after the ignoble close of the Arnold Schwarzenegger experiment.
Jerry Brown’s first term as governor, coming as it did during the mid-70s recession, was a rather mixed affair. Only 36 when he took office, he blended a general fiscal pragmatism with aggressive social liberalism, a mix that proved popular in California despite Brown also developing a reputation as a vacillating flake due to his penchant for self-promotion and his ability to flip-flop on key issues such as support for Proposition 13, an initiative to limit property taxes and require a higher hurdle to enact tax increases which Brown first opposed and then, after its passage, came to embrace. (People forget that Arthur Laffer of the Laffer Curve fame was behind Brown’s flat tax proposal when he ran for President in 1992.) Though Brown left Sacramento in 1982 to mixed reviews — and having suffered the double indignity of losing his Senate race to Pete Wilson and seeing one of his harshest critics, George Deukmejian, succeed him as governor — he had done well enough so as to not foreclose any chances for future office.
And, of course, that’s how we ended up with him again eight years ago, after the dismal end to the Schwarzenegger years. Brown came into office facing a potential $27 billion deficit to what was then a $87 billion general fund budget and immediately imposed spending restraints on the Democrat leadership in the state legislature while also convincing the people of California to raise sales and income taxes with a 2012 ballot initiative (thereby keeping a promise that taxpayers would have to approve tax increases) and bring more revenue into the state. Brown and the state benefited greatly from the boom in tech companies during the aughts, which helped fill state coffers, kept the budget in balance despite a rather reckless increase in spending, and even set aside $14 billion in a “rainy day fund,” an idea promoted by Brown to help mitigate the effects on the budget of a future recession.
But contrary to Brown’s valedictory lap on his way out the door, he leaves behind some only barely-hidden problems that are sure to rear their heads probably sooner rather than later. He has done very little to prepare the state for the coming pension reckoning, other than supporting efforts to have the courts agree that pension promises can be scaled back to reflect economic reality. The fact that a Democrat governor with an overwhelmingly Democrat legislature was unable to cut a pension deal with public employee unions isn’t exactly a profile in courage, though it is certainly preferable to his successor who has vowed to protect the ridiculous promises even if the court rules that pensions can be cut. After keeping his party’s predilection for extravagant spending in line during the first four years of his second go-around in Sacramento, Brown largely capitulated to the big spenders and under his watch the budget’s general fund (i.e., expenses not paid for by issuing bonds) increased from $87 billion in 2011-12 to nearly $139 billion for 2018-19, with the total budget including bond revenue and expenditures now topping $200 billion. The growth in the general fund represents an increase of 60% at a time when the combined inflation rate and population growth over that same period came in at about 18%. Even accounting for exiting from a recession, that’s an irresponsible rate of growth. Ironically enough, Brown seems to understand that it is not sustainable, but he lacked the courage to end his second attempt at governing with the same budget sensibility with which he began it.
Along with his surrender to the big spenders, Brown’s weird obsession with the grossly mis-managed high-speed rail project and his refusal to ditch or even scale-back the project is likely to hurt his legacy, as will his inability to promote meaningful water storage legislation and wilderness fire abatement legislation, both of them hampered by his slavish devotion to the hardcore environmental movement. And, as even the NPR article acknowledges, California under Brown accelerated the rate at which middle class families were priced out of home ownership, and California under Brown’s watch remained the state with the highest percentage of residents in poverty when adjusted for cost of living, even as overall wealth in the state rapidly grew.
Oddly enough, though, we’re going to miss him. Despite the warnings from Brown and the ominous storm clouds gathering, Gavin Newsom seems determined to pursue progressive trophies such as single-payer health care, expanded public housing options for the indigent and mentally ill, rent control, government-mandated high wages, and business regulation that even Brown thought was unwise (more on Newsom later). With Democrat control essentially strangling the state, we can expect economic opportunity to retract while government primacy expands in every corner from Crescent City to Chula Vista, and from Tahoe to Tiburon. If it’s true that the measure of a successful politician is whether or not his or her successors continue with the same agenda, I fear that Jerry Brown will go down as a rank failure.
– JVW
…Mr. Brown reduced freedom in the Golden State while enabling aberrant behavior from dopers and slackers. I love this state and am a native son, but have bought a home in Idaho and take my very generous state pension with me. Mr. Brown is an excellent politician. He built a one party state that will rapidly mimic the one-party progressive states elsewhere. Losers all. He reaped a windfall and Newsome will use it to buy votes through corruption. Mr. Brown is personally incorruptible but is an enabler of dependency and perversion. California is lost to honest folk.
Dave D. (7b1e67) — 1/1/2019 @ 3:37 pmI love this state and am a native son, but have bought a home in Idaho and take my very generous state pension with me.
Someday someone is going to do a very interesting study on how much money leaves the state via pension holders moving outside of California. There’s a lot of California money going to buy groceries, gas, and gear in states like Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, I would imagine.
JVW (54fd0b) — 1/1/2019 @ 4:10 pmand Illinois pensions in Arizona, Texas, Florida, and the trendy midsouth picks of Tennessee, Kentucky and NC. Wisconsin loses because of weather and taxation of retirement income, Indiana because of weather and….I’ll let DCSCA explain that one.
urbanleftbehind (8241bf) — 1/1/2019 @ 4:28 pmPoor California! Doesn’t anybody love her?
My daughter has already scoped out UCLA and UCSD to be included in her top choices for college. We have roots of a sort there. Her great-grandfather on her mother’s side was a lumberjack and then a saloon keeper in Northern California. He retired to Greece.
nk (dbc370) — 1/1/2019 @ 5:19 pm“mimic the one-party progressive states elsewhere”
Just think, if things had turned out differently, they could be mimicking the financial success of Kansas
Davethulhu (9a0ae2) — 1/1/2019 @ 5:23 pmSo long Jerry and welcome Mitt Romney.
Paul Montagu (c10e49) — 1/1/2019 @ 5:31 pmNo UC Irvine?
I’m hurt.
Dave (fef735) — 1/1/2019 @ 5:31 pmNk, take her to UCSB. I’ll meet you in Solvang. We can gorge ourselves on Danish pastries and sausages, and drink the many wines of the Santa Ynez Valley.
Chuck Bartowski (a2c25f) — 1/1/2019 @ 5:39 pmMitt throws down the gauntlet, I love it.
I imagine the Stormy Daniels wing of the party will disapprove…
Dave (fef735) — 1/1/2019 @ 5:48 pmNk, take her to UCSB.
She could go to school with Patterico’s daughter.
JVW (54fd0b) — 1/1/2019 @ 5:54 pmI will not call Romney a pussy-whipped loser on New Year’s Day.
nk (dbc370) — 1/1/2019 @ 5:54 pmI will not call Romney a pussy-whipped loser on New Year’s Day.
I will not call Romney a pussy-whipped loser on New Year’s Day.
I will not call Romney a pussy-whipped loser on New Year’s Day.
I will not call Romney a pussy-whipped loser on New Year’s Day.
‘Gallo’s’ humor: California whine.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/1/2019 @ 6:08 pmHey, JVW, I have a Jerry Brown story….
When I was in college at UCLA, he was thinking about running for President. He was also dating Linda Ronstadt.
So there was a big, big discussion session on campus, with TV cameras rolling.
I got called on to ask Brown a question. So I did.
“What’s it like to date Linda Ronstadt?”
His face got all funny, and he replied “Why do you want to know?”
I replied, “Oh come on, sir. Everyone wants to know.”
Lots of laughter. On screen. It made me happy.
I have never liked the man.
Simon Jester (984e98) — 1/1/2019 @ 6:13 pmHow to fix CA’s pension mess without direct cuts:
Plan A: A windfall tax on pension payments assessed on the payment. In keeping with Democrats’ obsession with progressive taxation, 25% on everything over 100K, 50% over 200K and 75% over 300K. Monies recovered to go back into CALPers.
Why? Not only are the aggressively generous statutory benefits unsustainable, but the wink-and-nod abuses known as “pension spiking” and some special cases like DROP abuse are very difficult to unravel. Much simpler to give a haircut the high end of recipients (which have a high density of abusers).
Plan B: Make it a felony, with attendant loss of all benefits, to continue to collect a pension based on “pension spiking” or other fraud. Give a one-year grace period for adjustments.
Plan C: To get around previous court decisions that guarantee recipients cannot have prospective benefits cut for FUTURE work (and thereby create a benefit ratchet delaying any fix for 30 years), mandate that any future public employee contract expressly waive any such rights going forward.
PLan D: (the likely one) Augur it in, and have the plans collapse, or have some court assess property-owners with lump sum payments to cover the shortfalls (repeat as needed until enough judges are replaced).
Kevin M (cb624b) — 1/1/2019 @ 6:20 pmI love this state and am a native son, but have bought a home in Idaho and take my very generous state pension with me.
The state has no problem taxing money earned by people living in other states. I sold a CA house while living in New Mexico and they want every dime of their income tax. Do NOT assume your pension is untaxable in CA.
Kevin M (cb624b) — 1/1/2019 @ 6:22 pmmittens has no effing backbone.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/1/2019 @ 7:07 pmMy daughter finally left Dana Point 7 months ago – moved to rural Pennsylvania and has never been happier. She was tired of the I me me mine entitled b.s from all the spoiled millennials and the parents that enabled them.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/1/2019 @ 7:13 pmHe just (accurately) called the most powerful
Dave (1bb933) — 1/1/2019 @ 7:44 pmmanchild in the world a dirty, lying scumbag, and you say he has no backbone?So what’s his answer in Afghanistan, after 17 years are we going to vanquish the Taliban with 17,000 when we couldn’t do it 150,000
Narciso (78c5dc) — 1/1/2019 @ 7:52 pm“He just (accurately) called the most powerful man child in the world a dirty, lying scumbag, and you say he has no backbone?”
Dave (1bb933) — 1/1/2019 @ 7:44 pm
Because nothing illustrates backbone like thanking a dirty, lying scumbag for his support.
Munroe (e751f4) — 1/1/2019 @ 7:58 pmDave, if he’s going to talk that kind of ish, he better have that kidnap rescue team on ready plus bought some generals at a bare minimum.
urbanleftbehind (8241bf) — 1/1/2019 @ 7:59 pmWhen it mattered he let Obama’s henchman step all over him:
Narciso (78c5dc) — 1/1/2019 @ 8:02 pmhttps://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/01/free-mumia.php
Keeping a safe distance from Saudi embassies and consulates is probably a good idea too.
Dave (1bb933) — 1/1/2019 @ 8:31 pm“He just (accurately) called the most powerful man child in the world a dirty, lying scumbag, and you say he has no backbone?”
I read the WaPo article. Romney said no such things. Accurately or inaccurately. He would never have the guts to say such things. He expressed some mealy-mouthed passive-aggressive crap about mantles and offices and Trump using the kind of strong language that Romney’s womenfolk don’t allow around the house.
nk (dbc370) — 1/1/2019 @ 8:31 pmIf it floats their boat, let them pretend, mcmuffin clearly hasn’t gotten the job done.
Narciso (78c5dc) — 1/1/2019 @ 8:36 pmWell, what if Romney’s womenfolks read Dave’s comment without having read the WaPo article? Poor Mitt will have to sleep in the doghouse.
nk (dbc370) — 1/1/2019 @ 8:39 pmLet them polish their own yoyos.
Narciso (78c5dc) — 1/1/2019 @ 8:44 pmIt was the Mormon equivalent of “Bless your heart”.
Dave (1bb933) — 1/1/2019 @ 8:49 pmJerry brown has set this state back a generation, and yet there is no hope of a return to sanity, so I find the latest vapors about trump a little exaggerated.
Narciso (78c5dc) — 1/1/2019 @ 9:14 pmMy 2019 goal is to convince my remaining family in California to leave for more hospitable state(s).
SPQR (6f113d) — 1/1/2019 @ 10:37 pmHey how have you been?
Narciso (4c182e) — 1/1/2019 @ 10:45 pmYou can check-out any time you like, but…
Dave (1bb933) — 1/1/2019 @ 10:49 pmJust reminding you what a useless pos romney was as govna of the commonwealth of taxachusetts. Let alone giving up when he ran against Drunk Ted for the senate. Then showing his backbone against Candy effing Crowley of fake news central in the debate against the kenyan imposter. Spineless pos.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/1/2019 @ 11:33 pmmittens old man stabbed Goldwater in the back and opposed R.R. Pieces of sh!t run in that family.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/1/2019 @ 11:37 pmSo what’s his answer in Afghanistan
Nuking Kandahar on Sept 12th seems more and more like the better plan.
Kevin M (cb624b) — 1/2/2019 @ 1:24 amWhat Romney said was what 70% of the voters think. You Trump fanatics DO realize that you’re just a loud minority, don’t you? Most people who voted for Trump did so because Hillary was worse. Don’t count on the same lightning again.
Kevin M (cb624b) — 1/2/2019 @ 1:27 amTrump’s main problem is that he hasn’t been able to deliver on a damn thing. All hat, no cattle. Tweets may keep the True Believers happy, but most people can see the rank incompetence and lying for what it is. Trump may be able to beat a Harris or similar screamer, but if he’s up against someone unscary like Biden, he’s toast.
Kevin M (cb624b) — 1/2/2019 @ 1:31 amThe fact that a (so-called) Republican president could make Joe freaking Biden look serious and statesmanlike pretty neatly summarizes just how effed-up things currently are…
Dave (1bb933) — 1/2/2019 @ 1:53 amI just happen to be one that hates mittens more than Trump.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/2/2019 @ 3:42 amHow’d that pos ryan do against slow joe in the debate? slow joe beat him like a red headed step child.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/2/2019 @ 3:43 amTrump lost repeatedly in debate to Hillary. All he did was scream like a 3-year-old in the WalMart candy aisle.
Kevin M (cb624b) — 1/2/2019 @ 4:36 amObservations from Romney’s assessment:
1. The exodus of all of the adults from the administration….in favor of sycophants and neophytes….even scares some of the true believers that I know. McMaster, Kelly, Mattis, and Hailey gave the sense that, despite Trump’s policy ignorance, nothing rash would be done. Now who is the great stabilizing force? Mulvaney, Shanahan, Pompeo, Mnuchin, Barr, ….Heather Nauert(!)? When is a good time to get a little worried?
2. Trump remains the great dis-unifier….hurling insults like a chimp hurling feces. We’ve lost the expectation that the President….the only office elected by all of the country….should inspire…should rise above the raw politics of Congress…..and yank us away from the self-destructive ideological madness. Trump is no leader….in any sense of that word…..and bleating on about Obama or Hillary…or Paul Ryan (!?)…does not change that charge. It’s hard to call out either side on its rhetorical excesses when the President is the ring leader and most guilty. We are witnessing mutually assured destruction….and giggling like school girls.
3. And this is not just our own private lap dance….the world gets to see us rationalizing and defending the indefensible: Walking away from the Kurds, laying tariffs on our European allies, incautiously calling out NATO, desperately trying to salvage some sort of Muslim travel ban, abandoning any influence at the world’s climate change table, and all the while fluffing the Russian bear. We ARE losing respect around the world…..and for what? Why aren’t we collectively embarrassed? Has social media SO changed our character?
AJ_Liberty (165d19) — 1/2/2019 @ 6:36 amof course failmerica is losing respect
we’re primarily represented in the world anymore by a filthy CNN Jake Tapper fake news cabal, by our sleazy corrupt military, by a bunch of low-t douchebag social media oligarchs, and by Taylor Swift
not a good look
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/2/2019 @ 6:44 am— The exodus of [] McMaster, Kelly, Mattis, and Hailey
— Ain’t nothing special about them. Just some other power-hungry remoras who attached themselves to Trump.
— Walking away from the Kurds,
— The Kurds are no different than any of the other militant groups in that part of the world.
— laying tariffs on our European allies,
— If they’ve been engaging in unfair trade practices against us, why not?
— incautiously calling out NATO,
— De minimis.
— desperately trying to salvage some sort of Muslim travel ban,
— Yes, that was pretty much a failure. Lack of competence on the part of his lawyers, and lack of will on the part of Trump.
— abandoning any influence at the world’ climate change table,
— Seriously?
— and all the while fluffing the Russian bear.
nk (dbc370) — 1/2/2019 @ 6:54 am— I agree. He should have already nuked them.
The Matriarchy is not happy with Romney:
I blame Dave.
nk (dbc370) — 1/2/2019 @ 7:33 amgod love her
she’s a neat lady
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/2/2019 @ 7:59 amActually that very modest pause, was in keeping with statute, Its o’douls.
Narciso (0de495) — 1/2/2019 @ 8:48 amNATO drills with wooden weapons and half grounded equipment, and that is of its economic powerhouse.
Narciso (0de495) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:01 amDid I tell you that the Girl Scouts’ “Samoans” cookies are sold by Keebler as “Coconut Dreams” and are on sale at Jewel for $1.88 per package of 18?
nk (dbc370) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:01 amWell said at #1, Dave.
Jerry’s greatest sin, and our ruination, was the law he signed om his last day of Term 1 requiring all public employees pay a fair share union fee, thus diverting billions of taxpayer dollars to Dem campaigns. This enabled all the shenanigans of the past 25 years that turned the state into one-party banana republic status. Import millions of people who like that sort of thing and you have the pathetic state we have now.
Patricia (3363ec) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:10 amNiece Ronna new. She works for the big spending country club limousine riding republicans.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:10 amthat’s a very good value
i’m gonna use the jewel in andersonville more this year
probably mostly for fish though
cookies are still off the list cause they’re a sometimes food
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:10 amYeah everything is excused….because you know….the media is mean….and so are those Democrats.
Fortunately, nothing Trump says or does is ever “disappointing”….or “unproductive”. Otherwise, Ms. McDaniel’s comment may come across as supremely ironic or lacking serious introspection.
It’s good for at least a small part of the GOP to want to hold Trump to higher standards….especially since it remains even money whether the Trump administration implodes from scandal or policy train wrecks…and something will need to rise from the ashes. There’s nothing wrong with some voices questioning whether a reality-TV Presidency is a good idea….or that rationalizing bad behavior because of bad behavior is a productive approach. That nagging voice in the back of your head is not a secret MSNBC plant….
AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:12 amhello-mittens/gruber/2020-hello
mg (8cbc69) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:16 amWe need a second party in d.c.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:17 amRomney’s op-ed sounds like a press release he would read to reporters on announcing his candidacy for the 2020 Presidency. I don’t disagree with most of it — but I can’t help thinking there was not much concrete there. We have two more years of Trump’s term to go — how is Romney and the caucus of hand wringers going to deal with it?
Appalled (d07ae6) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:18 amMitch should keep him off any committee appointment.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:20 ammaybe rename the metro-the mittro
mg (8cbc69) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:22 amSo you were upset over 5 years in Iraq, but 17+ years in Afghanistan with no resolution is ok.
Narciso (0de495) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:25 amNah! Now that The Matriarchy told him what was what (I’m pretty sure that Ronna got her Aunt Ann’s permission first, you know, “good cop-bad cop”), Romney will toe the line.
nk (dbc370) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:26 amhaha that milquetoast Romney doesn’t realize that morals and the truth don’t matter anymore. Bill Clinton saw to that a long time ago. Now it’s our turn. Sorry Mitt. Enjoy the ride.
JRH (fe281f) — 1/2/2019 @ 9:29 am@17. But where? “Rural Pennsylvania” covers a lot of territory; big difference in lifestyles and how far you can stretch a dollar between sunny, warm, affluent and Pacific coastal Dana Point and the rural hamlets of snowy Meadville, Gettysburg, Allentown, the Philly suburbs and the Poccanos. A big-but-old, early 20th century house from the booming steel days, complete w/a coal bin, and an acre of land outside Pgh., runs about $70-$90K; even less around Scranton; similar scaled digs in Dana Point- a million bucks or more. W/a CA income that affords you affluence in Dana Point, California, you can live like a millionaire pretty much any where in ‘rural Pennsylvania’– and get reacquainted w/rain, ice and snow.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/2/2019 @ 10:24 am“how is Romney and the caucus of hand wringers going to deal with it?”
What do you think CAN be accomplished over the next two years with the House changing hands and hungry to use its investigative powers? If Trump is wounded over these next two years….by Mueller, Democrats, or self-infliction…the party does need a Plan B to avoid decimation in 2020. Come fall of 2019, It will be too late to plausibly distance themselves…and claim to be only “following orders”. An equally interesting question is what the Trumpaloopas will do if the Trump train derails…and they are forced to confront the harsh truth that siding with a reality TV star pushing nationalism…was less than stellar instincts/judgment. Romney may be playing a longer game of trying to reclaim the party. I can’t fault the impulse….though he will pay in the short term.
AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 1/2/2019 @ 10:27 amThere is a new post up for Mitt Romney discussion.
Dana (023079) — 1/2/2019 @ 10:43 amYou forgot the Pittsburgh Potty in the basement, DCSCA. How much is a row house in Harrisburg, S-W/B, or Lancaster? (Salena Zito Trigger Warning).
Disclaimer: the SE side of Chicago/NWI aint much different and mom’s and uncles bad news came from an iconic tower in downtown Pittsburgh as well.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 1/2/2019 @ 10:46 am@65. LOL Can never forget that; my grandfather had that sort of set up in Pleasant Hills, a Pgh., suburb– in the basement of a brick home built in the late 1950’s. It was… drafty.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/2/2019 @ 10:52 amWhat will happen when mittens throw the match again:
https://www.debka.com/trump-phases-arab-forces-into-syria-vs-iran-ahead-of-us-pullout-egyptian-uae-officers-on-the-scene/
Narciso (a305e8) — 1/2/2019 @ 10:56 amI think you meant to write “17+ years with no foreign attacks on the homeland,” and yes, that’s OK.
Dave (1bb933) — 1/2/2019 @ 11:28 amPatterico!
nk’s being mean to me!
🙂
Dave (1bb933) — 1/2/2019 @ 11:30 am