Inaction! Inaction! Inaction!
I’ve been impressed by the first four weeks of Jerry Brown’s transition to the governorship.
“Huh?” you want to ask me. “He hasn’t done anything so how can you impressed?”
Exactly.
It’s all the nothing that impresses me.
Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger seem to agree on much in the way of policy, but they are men of vastly different temperaments, and strategies. Schwarzenegger promised “Action! Action! Action!” Brown and his people – on the rare moments when they can be bothered to comment – are promising “Inaction! Inaction! Inaction!”
This has flipped the usual dynamic of gubernatorial transitions on its head. Typically, one would expect the lame duck governor to do very little, while the incoming governor-elect is full of announcements and proposals. But California in the late 2010 is an upside-down place, with the hyperactive Schwarzenegger dominating the news with appointments and initiatives while Brown says very little.
The Bay Area to Los Angeles, Starting in the Central Valley
Do you know where construction began on our nation’s interstate system following the signing of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956?
The goal of that law was to spark the development of 41,000 miles of highway over a 20-year period, connecting the United States by automobile from end to end. At the time, it was the largest public works project in American history. Today, that interstate highway system is in large part responsible for our nation’s mobility and the strength of our economy. In fact, where it started is today irrelevant. What was finally achieved was astronomical.
We have a similar story unfolding this week in California. Due to funding awards from the federal government, our state’s high-speed train project is headed toward construction. It is a system that, in 10 years, will whisk passengers from Southern California to the Bay Area more affordably and more efficiently. In the near term, it is a system whose construction will put tens of thousands of people to work in our state. The question being put to the High-Speed Rail Authority’s board of directors: where should we start building it?
OCBC Weighs in on Obamacare: Facts vs. Hype
On
Nov. 09, the Register’s Opinion pages published opposing views on health care
reform ["Is it time to dismantle health reform law?"],
one of which mentioned Orange County Business Council research by Wallace
Walrod. OCBC’s report, cited in the piece by Daniel Zingale of the California
Endowment, was an initial assessment compiled to understand how health care
reform, its costs and benefits will impact California businesses, which can be
viewed [HERE].?
Like
the vast majority of the California business community, OCBC and its members
are still assessing the true impacts. Our research found that there may be
benefits, but there are still many questions, costs and concerns.??
OCBC
shares the concerns voiced by the author of the companion piece [HERE], Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research
Institute, about how reform will be implemented. For example, a primary concern
of the business community is uncertainty regarding employer insurance costs.
Early estimates of impacts range from moderate to severe.??