Brown Wins by Picking his Enemies
In politics, it’s often more important to pick your enemies than to choose your friends.
Gov. Jerry Brown has known that for years, which is why he’s been so careful picking his fights in Sacramento.
On the budget, for example, it’s not that the Republicans in the state Legislature are evil, it’s that they’re in thrall to a "no vote, no taxes" pledge straight out of Washington, D.C., that’s "not American. It’s not acceptable and it’s not loyalty to California."
Brown’s got no problem putting Grover Norquist and his Americans for Tax Reform minions on an enemies list, but he still needs some votes from GOP legislators to get his budget plan on a June ballot.
Job Issue Key to Battle over Vernon
How do you insure the protection of 50,000 jobs? That is the task Assembly Speaker John Perez has set out for himself as he pushes his bill (AB 46) to see the disincorporation of the City of Vernon in Los Angeles County.
Vernon is an industrial city with only 91 residents but a work force of 50,000. City officials have been caught up in corruption focusing on huge salaries and pensions that rival those in the near-by City of Bell. Additional scandals are centered on the city’s governance. No elections were held in Vernon from 1984 to 2006 and when one did occur, the city clerk refused to count the ballots for six months. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca called Vernon a "rogue city" supported by voters who are picked by elected officials.
Ten Symbolic Budget Savings Measures
Cutting the budget for real is too hard. But making symbolic cuts that produce tiny savings but garner big press coverage is easy – and can be fun.
Now that the Brown administration has gone after employee cell phones and the cars and swag, the low-hanging symbolic fruit is hard. And with deadlines for getting a June special election upon, the Brown administration may have to accelerate symbolic cuts. A glimpse of what the future could be.
March 3 – An executive order requires all state departments must do all of their shopping at Costco. "If you can’t buy it at Costco or make it from something you buy at Costco, you shouldn’t be doing it," the governor said.