Is There a Deal to be Made on the Special Election?
If tax extensions make it onto a special election ballot, they will probably have lots of company from reform proposals. At least that’s a scenario that is suggested by a varied cross section of state political observers.
At the beginning of last week, I wrote the governor and legislature put it “all on the ballot,” meaning besides taxes, the voters should decide on spending limits and pension reform.
A few days later, Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton said a way to get taxes on the ballot is to address what Republicans want to see: “Offer a spending cap, regulatory streamlining and relaxation of workplace rules, along with Brown’s deep budget cuts. Toss in more public pension reform.”
On the same day, conservative commentator Andy Caldwell wrote, “I would offer to swap Gov. Jerry Brown five years of temporary tax hikes he is asking for — not because I believe they are necessary but because he and his fellow Democrats are holding all the cards — in exchange for pension reform and five years of serious regulatory relief from the laws….”
Reading Jerry’s Mind
The folks at DC headquarters have
been hogging the think tank’s mind-reading machine (for use on Bill Daley and
John Boehner), but I finally got a little time with the contraption.
Previously, I’d used it on Gov. Schwarzenegger,
but decided this time to probe the mind of new Gov. Jerry Brown, for a change.
Or at least I thought it was a
change.
Here’s what the machine spit out
when it was aimed at Brown’s mind.
"It’s amazing that no one has
figured this out yet. The ‘Gov. Brown’ in the governor’s office is peddling all
the same stuff from the last 7 years, about bringing the two parties together.
I mean, who does that sound like?
"Yes, it’s Arnold in here."
Memo to the Governor: “All politics are still local”
Governor Brown stepped into one heckuva political firestorm with his proposal to eliminate redevelopment in California. Days before being sworn in, the Governor’s office floated a trial balloon to check the temperature of local city council members and mayors on taking their communities job creating money to solve the states ongoing financial mess.
He found their temperature boiling.
Duh.
The Governors office made a tactical error on two fronts: first he pushed cities to obligate redevelopment monies immediately – which effectively took them off the table for the state to grab and balance his budget, but second and even more importantly he may have alienated the most important constituency he needs to get the state back on track as well as the cornerstone of his budget fix done – mayors and council members.
A Train to Nowhere: Not A Train Through Nowhere
Cross-posted at NewGeography.
In expressing its opposition to the California High Speed Rail line, Washington Post editorialists noted that critics of the now approved Borden to Corcoran segment have called the line a “train to nowhere” (“Hitting the breaks on California’s high speed rail experiment“). The Post call this:
…a bit unfair, since some of the towns along the way have expensively redeveloped downtowns that may now suffer from the frequent noise and vibration of trains roaring through them.
What the Post missed, however, is that a “train to nowhere” is not a “train through nowhere.” There is no doubt that the high viaducts and the noisy trains have potential to do great harm to the livability of the communities through which it passes. This is one of the reasons that the French have largely avoided operating their high speed rail trains through urban areas, except at relatively low speeds. Stations, except for in the largest urban areas, are generally beyond the urban fringe and towns are bypassed. Yet, one of the decisions not yet made in California, for example, is whether the town of Corcoran will be cut in half by the intrusive, noisy line.