Jerry Brown and the Human Sacrifice Dilemma
Both candidates for governor, and especially Jerry Brown, face what might be called the Human Sacrifice Dilemma.
What’s that?
I first encountered the HSD while researching a book on Gov. Schwarzenegger. In looking through polling conducted by the governor’s political team in early 2004, it was clear that there was strong public support for an increase in the sales tax as part of a plan for getting the state out of its budget crisis. Even when arguments against such a tax increase were read to those surveyed, the sales tax remained popular. The data seemed to argue for Gov. Schwarzenegger to endorse such a tax.
Taxpayers Deserve a Better Return on Their Investment
Imagine
walking through a California public school and hearing the voices of
students singing "I am special" to the tune of "Frere Jacques." One
might look through the classroom window expecting to see kindergartners
about to enjoy Graham crackers and milk — or perhaps a more
politically correct snack.
Now back to real life, where singing choruses of self-affirming music,
such as "I Am Special" is part of the curriculum in a college course
called "Self Esteem" taught at CSU Fresno.
Students preferring to attend UCLA can enroll in a class on electronic
dance music that explores "the political and cultural implications of
the relentless hedonism of the dance floor." And at UC Berkeley, they
can take a course entitled, "Sex Change City: Theorizing History in
Genderqueer San Francisco" where they learn all about "the regulation
of gender-variant practices in public space by San Francisco’s
Anglo-European elites."
Off The Presses
Last
week, Off The Presses radio interviewed Meg Whitman’s policy advisor
Rob Stutzman and Fox & Hounds’ publisher Joel Fox. Click here to listen.
Stutzman presented some of Ms. Whitman’s policy objectives to reign in
state spending and improve the state’s business climate through
regulatory reforms.
He also drew contrasts between Whitman and Jerry
Brown along the lines of business management experiences and "career
politician" experiences, which will surely be a theme of Whitman’s ads
between now and Nov. 2. Plus, Stutzman is a witty guy and rolled with
the radio show hosts’ weird senses of humor.
California Jobs Initiative Will Protect Jobs, Save Billions of Dollars
If
you had a choice between paying several thousand dollars a year in
higher utility, fuel, food and other costs, and temporarily postponing
an ineffective global warming law until the economy improves, it would
be a simple decision, right?
Well, thanks to the 800,000 voters who signed petitions to put the
California Jobs Initiative on the November ballot, voters will actually
have a chance to make that choice.
The California Jobs Initiative is a common-sense proposition that will
temporarily suspend implementation of AB 32, the state’s global warming
law, until our unemployment rate returns to a level closer to where it
was when the law was originally adopted by the Legislature.