State Government – As It Should Be
Year in and year out, it seems like our state faces the same predicament: An historic deficit; a deadlocked legislature; budget negotiations hijacked by a few hard-liners making unreasonable demands, and stalled by a two-thirds rule that impedes progress and weakens our ability to govern.
A few weeks ago – after the defeat of a series of measures designed to soften the blow of our budget shortfall – a coalition of mayors and city officials came together to call on our state representatives to follow a different path; to take responsibility for the public purse; to find a better way to navigate the choppy economic waters before us and lay the foundation for a stronger, more stable financial future.
Yesterday, we went back to our state capital to reiterate that same message – not as another special interest group and not to complain about circumstances, shrinking revenues, and a recession beyond our control. We returned to Sacramento as productive partners and concerned colleagues; as public servants ready to work together and offer viable solutions that ensure our financial stability and chart a course toward more responsible fiscal stewardship.
Would a Constitutional Convention Be Open to the Public?
The answer, as far as the Bay Area Council-backed convention is concerned, is almost certain to be yes. While a measure to call a convention has not been filed, my sources tell me that the convention would be a public meeting. The sessions might even be broadcast.
That’s wise. Permitting the convention to operate in secret would create an enormous political vulnerability for the effort. It’d be easy for opponents to defeat the idea of calling a convention – or defeat the convention’s recommendations — if they could argue that such a meeting would take place in secret.
But I do wonder if a secret convention might produce a better constitution. The difficult steps that would be required to make dramatic changes in the constitution would be easier to achieve without public and interest group pressure.
After all, the constitutional convention that produced the U.S. constitution met under a rule that the deliberations would be kept secret. No reporters or members of the public were permitted to attend. The rationale for this? They wanted a free, frank exchange of ideas.
Northrop on Defense
You’d think this would be a great time for Northrop Grumman and other big defense contractors, what with two wars lingering, Kim Jong Il fomenting nuclear mischief, and the deepening worries about Iran and Pakistan.
But not so much. The stock of Northrop Grumman – L.A.’s fourth biggest company – has somewhat underperformed the major indexes over the last year, and a few weeks ago it got slapped with a “sell” rating by an influential analyst.
The reason: Despite the world troubles, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has gone all Lizzie Borden on the defense budget, giving it at least 40 whacks. He and the Obama administration have signaled they intend to chop even more, especially big-ticket military hardware. Northrop, of course, specializes in those very things – war ships, fighter planes and such.
California Needs More than Sunshine
Today, 2 million Californians are unemployed; 843,000 more than one year ago. To overcome our current economic crisis, Sacramento lawmakers must do more than balance the budget; they must develop a new commitment to job creation and business growth. If we fail to grow new jobs in California, we will be plagued with a never-ending budget crisis.
The private sector is where this economic crisis hit first, and it’s also where our recovery must begin. Over the past few weeks, we have heard nonstop about how budget cuts will impact state services and workers in state government —- both very important issues. But we have heard very little about the need to put 2 million private sector employees back to work.
Chief Executive Magazine recently released its 2009 “Best and Worst States” report. In it, they asked 543 CEOs to grade all fifty states on criteria including taxation and regulation, workforce quality and quality of life. California ranked dead last. One survey respondent summed it up this way: “Michigan and California literally need to do a 180 if they are ever to become competitive again. California has huge advantages with its size, quality of workforce, particularly in high tech, as well as the quality of life and climate advantages of the state. However, it is an absolute regulatory and tax disaster.”