Are We Ready for the Big Budget Deal?
Is it time for a big deal to solve California’s budget problems? Yes. But is there time to put a big deal – in this case meaning a restructuring of the California’s budget and tax system — in place for a potential special election in the Spring or Summer? That is much more problematic.
The Los Angeles Times reports this morning that Governor-elect Jerry Brown is considering a plan to offer to the state’s voters that will give them a choice of supporting more revenues or fewer government services so that we will live within our means, as candidate Brown promised. The article states that Republican Senate leader Bob Dutton said that revenue hikes accompanied by complete structural reforms could be the basis for a discussion.
There are many reforms out there offered by numerous commissions over the years – I sat on a number of commissions in the last two decades selected by Republican Governors and Democratic Assembly Speakers. There is much to choose from.
What The Wikileaks Cables Say About California
The most significant California-related news in the
Wikileaks cables are the Chinese hacking attacks on Google. That story has been
well covered. But California also appears in a dozen different places in the
cables. Among them:
-Bulgarian organized crime in LA. A July 2005 cable from the
U.S. ambassador in Sofia, Bulgaria, warns that organized crime was the
country’s most significant problem, and it notes that it’s a problem that
affects the U.S. because of "significant drug trafficking organizations run by
Bulgarian nationals in Los Angeles."
– A key member of the Afghan President Karzai’s government –
the economic minister Haji Abdul Hadi Arghandewal – is seen as being a moderate
that the U.S. can work with. Among his ties to the country: he used to live
here and still has family in California, according to a 2010 cable.
– Swedes and climate change. Swedish companies in
alternative energy are desperate for funding from California venture capital
firms, according to 2007 cables from the U.S. embassy in Stockholm. The State
Department even seemed to have a role in a meeting at Stanford between Swedish
firms and venture capitalists.
Lobbying 101: The First Squirrel Sighting of the Season
With the travesty in mismanagement at the City of Bell,
Sacramento budget disasters, government regulations choking business at every
level of our lives, under-funded public pensions, and a sluggish economy
that-shocking-can’t seem to recover, we now hear the words: "And what we need is more transparency in
government!" Sheesh.
Frankly, what we need is LESS government, LESS regulation,
LESS red tape, but I digress.
Recently the OC Grand Jury decided that OC needed an
ordinance regulating lobbyists because "everyone else has it; why shouldn’t
we." Well, sure. We have about 15 honest-to-goodness
professional OC "lobbyists" in the traditional definition of the word: those who promote or secure the passage of
legislation by persuading public officials.
In Los Angeles and San Diego-bastions of transparency and good government–they
have formal lobbying ordinances requiring registration and reporting of all
lobbying activities.
Don’t Forget About Big Business
Small business is continually referred to as the “economic engine in California”. According to a California Department of General Services study in June 2009 small businesses are responsible for 99.2% of all employer firms in California. However, not to be forgotten are large companies. The other half of U.S. workers are employed by the 0.1% of businesses that are considered “big businesses.” While public policies have recently been focused on strengthening smaller companies I would argue that we must not forget about big business.
Demography vs. Geography: Understanding the Political Future
Demography favors Democrats, as the influence of Latinos and millennials grows. Geography favors the GOP, as the fastest-growing states are solid red. A look at America’s political horizon.
In the crushing wave that flattened much of the Democratic Party last month, two left-leaning states survived not only intact but in some ways bluer than before. New York and California, long-time rivals for supremacy, may both have seen better days; but for Democrats, at least, the prospects there seem better than ever.
That these two states became such outliers from the rest of the United States reflects both changing economics and demographics. Over the past decade, New York and California underperformed in terms of job creation across a broad array of industries. Although still great repositories of wealth, their dominant metropolitan areas increasingly bifurcated between the affluent and poor. The middle class continues to ebb away for more opportune climes.