I Was Wrong Re: CA Governor Jerry Brown

[privateinvestor]

If his low-cost flight from Sacramento on Southwest Airlines didn't make the point, then Gov. Jerry Brown's no-frills address Thursday to a powerhouse business crowd, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, brought it home Thursday: In deficit-racked California, every penny will count.

"I'm going to level with you. I'll tell it to you straight," Brown said in an 11-minute dinner speech to the sold-out crowd of 1,500 business leaders at the JW Marriott near Staples Center. "This is a real challenge. ... I don't want a one-party plan; I want a California plan."

The governor urged the business leaders to back his call for a special election to extend tax increases and warned that as California struggles to shrink its $25.4 billion budget deficit, painful cuts will be needed and "what we need to avoid is evasion and obfuscation."

Brown's means of travel to the glitzy event - he flew solo, declined to pay $16 for "business select" seating and took advantage of the airline's senior discount - was all the buzz among the chamber crowd.

Old days are over



www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/11/MN2V1HLLDE.DTL


I believe that Governor Jerry Brown is doing a lot better than some of us skeptics thought when we voted for him last November rather than Meg Whitman who is an empty Pants Suit and ought to stick to business and not politics IMHO

[sesfw]

Maybe Jerry Brown learned a few things since his last stint as Governor of Calif. Can only hope so.

[wyouser]

Trying to ride a tiger maybe changes your perspective?

[privateinvestor]

He is a 100% improvement from Schwarzenegger and Davis.....IMHO but will he be successful with the Republicans in Sacramento CA is still unknown...he will need their support if he wants to extend the tax increases and fees so who knows??

[deziloooooo]

Feb 11, 2011 11:55:39 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

He is a 100% improvement from Schwarzenegger and Davis.....IMHO but will he be successful with the Republicans in Sacramento CA is still unknown...he will need their support if he wants to extend the tax increases and fees so who knows??

Your going to have a tough ride for the next four years , are the Californians up to it, and it's their call as they are the ones with the wants..all those programs, and if they keep sending back to Sacramental the same type of legislatures, a newly invented Gerry Brown is not going to be able to do much..just more of the same ..

Good luck..it's going to hurt.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

I'm actually very open minded and cautiously optimistic about Jerry Brown's tenure as governor. He could be Arnold in reverse. The opposite of what people expect.

[privateinvestor]

Feb 11, 2011 12:17:40 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

I'm actually very open minded and cautiously optimistic about Jerry Brown's tenure as governor. He could be Arnold in reverse. The opposite of what people expect.

So far Brown is receiving favorable ratings by the Californians but he is trying to tackle pension reform again and that is going to be a tough road to hoe with the Unions out here.

Also crime by illegals in northern California is the worse that many of the police have ever seen...especially by the Mexican drug cartels who seem to be running around with impunity because of the lax rules and laws for illegals in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and San Jose..

[wyouser]

is he still looking at going directly to the voters with his tax proposals? I thought I saw or read where he was having trouble with both parties in the legislature. Again my reference to him trying to ride a tiger on the budget issue

[safeharbor37]

Governor Brown has one big advantage. It won't be hard to be an improvement.
Actually, I think that he is a free thinker and not a doctrinaire liberal. "Governor Moonbeam" Also he has the history [including that of his father] to give him credibility with those who don't trust "conservatives" so that he can do what needs to be done, if he chooses. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating [and, possibly, the bellyache].

[Deleted]

I believe that Governor Jerry Brown is doing a lot better than some of us skeptics thought when we voted for him last November

On the other hand wouldn't he do something like that (& point it out to the press) if he were thinking of running for President?

To me the BEST way to find out what a person really thinks or stands for is to look at their history. Wasn't Jerry Brown a CA governor in the past? Back then, how was his spending? Find that out & then you know how he will act in the future if he not trying to impress people.

[deziloooooo]

Feb 11, 2011 13:47:16 GMT -5 @oldtex said:

I believe that Governor Jerry Brown is doing a lot better than some of us skeptics thought when we voted for him last November

On the other hand wouldn't he do something like that (& point it out to the press) if he were thinking of running for President?

To me the BEST way to find out what a person really thinks or stands for is to look at their history. Wasn't Jerry Brown a CA governor in the past? Back then, how was his spending? Find that out & then you know how he will act in the future if he not trying to impress people.

Times change , when he was governor before I don't believe they had any deficits approaching what it is today, as many illegals, population was less, business was different..he dealt with th typical political things of the times..today..as the Obama faced..hugh problems from a States standpoint...also mandated payouts, their own type mandated have to be settled costs, interest on debt, payback to federal of unemployment funds borrowed, high pensions, union wages by contract, and not sure if any can be changed by Governors decree..Governors right to dictate changes.

[verrip1]

Actually Brown's personal choice of thrift is classic Jerry. First time he was governor, he had the governor's limo sold and he bought a used Chrysler. He also kept the governor's mansion empty and rented an apartment to live in to reduce the overhead.

But with that, his policies were classical leftie. Elimination of the death penalty via Rose Bird. Stopping highway construction via Adrianna Giannturca. Throw money at the K-12 and university systems. Talk about a statist - he even suggested having a separate California space program.

I admit that age has affected Brown's perspective for the better, but not enough that I'll think he will be a great governor simply based on his taking one cheap airplane flight.

[privateinvestor]

Yea but that was @30 years ago...since then he has been the mayor of Oakland and CA Attorney General and to his credit has done some good things in those jobs.. But so far I have been pleasantly surprised at how he is doing as our governor but then again anyone would be an improvement after the last eight years out here. But as I said before he has a tough road to hoe and may just fizzle out as another Dem who just wanted to raise taxes to pay for the CA overblown state pensions and past spending programs. I lived in CA when he was our governor before but was not into politics but do recall Brown was always campaigning for president and working in the fields with Caesar Chavez

[deziloooooo]

Feb 11, 2011 16:46:38 GMT -5 verrip1 said:

Actually Brown's personal choice of thrift is classic Jerry. First time he was governor, he had the governor's limo sold and he bought a used Chrysler. He also kept the governor's mansion empty and rented an apartment to live in to reduce the overhead.

But with that, his policies were classical leftie. Elimination of the death penalty via Rose Bird. Stopping highway construction via Adrianna Giannturca. Throw money at the K-12 and university systems. Talk about a statist - he even suggested having a separate California space program.

I admit that age has affected Brown's perspective for the better, but not enough that I'll think he will be a great governor simply based on his taking one cheap airplane flight.

I am thinking you are a native Californian, if notIknow "ed " is..if you are , or "ed"..or both..what do you think say top 10 or if that's to unfair, probably is..top 5 things a perfect Governor should propose as his first order of business..understanding that they also have to pass the legislative process in Sacramental.

In fact, I'll try to be easier on you...to propose something that just would not fly, you know your local/state politics , makes no sense. I don't.

A list of things you feel a perfect governor should propose and has a good chance of passing.

Any way you want to do it.

I am really not thinking of social changes..abortion, gay marriage, things along those lines..while important to many on both sides, your financial house is in such a mess, to me anything that is not dealing with that mess is just a skirting of the big problems ..the rest to me, while important to many is just fluff..to be handled after the big problems are solved.

Think Triage, save/stabilize the life then worry about the plastic surgery.

[privateinvestor]

Painful cuts
But the governor's warning of painful cuts has been taken to heart by many political insiders watching his moves.

"This is like couples counseling," said attorney Darry Sragow, a Democrat whose law firm is a member of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. "Everyone will be getting out on the table what it is they have to say, and figuring out how the pieces can be put together."

As tedious as that process may be, Brown is pursuing the strategy "because, not withstanding all the rhetoric about a polarized political environment, the vast majority of voters want collaboration and cooperation."


E-mail Carla Marinucci at [e-mail].

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle



Read more: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/10/MN2V1HLLDE.DTL#ixzz1Dh0CtveG

[SweetVirginia]

The problem is, Brown will not do anything about one of the biggest money drains, effecting CA. He has embraced the open border, illegal alien cause and he will do NOTHING to stop it. Whether or not people are willing to admit it, Illegal immigrants are a drain on CA's economy. Illegal aliens pay little or nothing in taxes, they have children who attend schools for free and use a lot of expensive services (ELD, Special Ed, etc...) Through their American born children, Illegals receive welfare checks, food stamps, section 8 housing, medi - cal, etc... Illegals make up a considerable percentage in our prison system too. Until someone has the courage to address this situation, I truly believe that CA will not be able to recover economically.

[privateinvestor]

Feb 11, 2011 19:30:30 GMT -5 SweetVirginia said:

The problem is, Brown will not do anything about one of the biggest money drains, effecting CA. He has embraced the open border, illegal alien cause and he will do NOTHING to stop it. Whether or not people are willing to admit it, Illegal immigrants are a drain on CA's economy. Illegal aliens pay little or nothing in taxes, they have children who attend schools for free and use a lot of expensive services (ELD, Special Ed, etc...) Through their American born children, Illegals receive welfare checks, food stamps, section 8 housing, medi - cal, etc... Illegals make up a considerable percentage in our prison system too. Until someone has the courage to address this situation, I truly believe that CA will not be able to recover economically.

Nobody, and I mean nobody in CA politics has the balls to touch the "illegal" issue...When a few had the balls to speak out about the so called "Sanctuary" cities in Northern California they were destroyed by the Hispanic Community who has considerable power in Sacramento and other major cities in California. An illegal can be arrested for a crime and not deported back to Mexico or South America until he is found guilty in a court of law...and often that never happens. Illegals drive old clunkers without any insurance or a drivers license and when they are involved in an accident they just flee the scene of the accident including injuries and fatalities. Brown loves illegals and they love him..so nothing will change as long as he has anything to do with this issue....ICE is considered the enemy in California and local police will not get involved in the illegal immigration checks.. This whole thing stinks response from illegals is always "No Savy, Senior" when you confront them for running a red light and almost running into your car.

[deziloooooo]

Feb 11, 2011 19:30:30 GMT -5 SweetVirginia said:

The problem is, Brown will not do anything about one of the biggest money drains, effecting CA. He has embraced the open border, illegal alien cause and he will do NOTHING to stop it. Whether or not people are willing to admit it, Illegal immigrants are a drain on CA's economy. Illegal aliens pay little or nothing in taxes, they have children who attend schools for free and use a lot of expensive services (ELD, Special Ed, etc...) Through their American born children, Illegals receive welfare checks, food stamps, section 8 housing, medi - cal, etc... Illegals make up a considerable percentage in our prison system too. Until someone has the courage to address this situation, I truly believe that CA will not be able to recover economically.

If he is seriouse and in a non emotional way the true real facts , if they are true, not what you and others MAY feel, granted I am sure there are a cost, but possible the hugh extent and actual costs of it is in your and others minds not that important, and is calmly shown the real costs, as much as morally he is not for it, possible practically he might take a strong stand and use his reluctance morally but being practical on the problem, to go the other way and use that to get those who are on the fence on other difficult morally and philopophically decisions to vote for the common good of solving the problems.

[SweetVirginia]

Feb 11, 2011 19:41:00 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

Feb 11, 2011 19:30:30 GMT -5 SweetVirginia said:

The problem is, Brown will not do anything about one of the biggest money drains, effecting CA. He has embraced the open border, illegal alien cause and he will do NOTHING to stop it. Whether or not people are willing to admit it, Illegal immigrants are a drain on CA's economy. Illegal aliens pay little or nothing in taxes, they have children who attend schools for free and use a lot of expensive services (ELD, Special Ed, etc...) Through their American born children, Illegals receive welfare checks, food stamps, section 8 housing, medi - cal, etc... Illegals make up a considerable percentage in our prison system too. Until someone has the courage to address this situation, I truly believe that CA will not be able to recover economically.

Nobody, and I mean nobody in CA politics has the balls to touch the "illegal" issue...When a few had the balls to speak out about the so called "Sanctuary" cities in Northern California they were destroyed by the Hispanic Community who has considerable power in Sacramento and other major cities in California. An illegal can be arrested for a crime and not deported back to Mexico or South America until he is found guilty in a court of law...and often that never happens. Illegals drive old clunkers without any insurance or a drivers license and when they are involved in an accident they just flee the scene of the accident including injuries and fatalities. Brown loves illegals and they love him..so nothing will change as long as he has anything to do with this issue....ICE is considered the enemy in California and local police will not get involved in the illegal immigration checks.. This whole thing stinks response from illegals is always "No Savy, Senior" when you confront them for running a red light and almost running into your car.

Unfortunately, all this is correct. There are few if any politicians who have the courage to deal with this real problem. This is one of the reasons CA is suffering economically but no one will do anything about it. CA will simply continue to spiral out of control economically. If the open border, pro illegal organizations (including big business) have their way, this exact scenario will happen across the entire country. CA is already a lost state. I dont have a major problem with Gov. Brown, other than the fact that he will allow our state to be further run into the ground by the out of control illegal alien problem. Meg Whitman would not have been any better. She would have been on the side of the big corporations. Big corps love illegal alien labor. She would have talked tough but done Zero.

[privateinvestor]

An illegal immigrant and Gloria Allred were the reasons Meg Whitman lost to Jerry Brown last fall when Allred filed a legal action for back wages and for her client being fired after Whitman found out she was an illegal....Whitman was ahead in the polls and fell like a rock after that. She needed @ 40% of the Hispanic vote in CA to defeat Brown and only got @10% due primarily to her illegal worker issue.

[SweetVirginia]

Feb 11, 2011 19:59:43 GMT -5 deziloooooo said:

Feb 11, 2011 19:30:30 GMT -5 SweetVirginia said:

The problem is, Brown will not do anything about one of the biggest money drains, effecting CA. He has embraced the open border, illegal alien cause and he will do NOTHING to stop it. Whether or not people are willing to admit it, Illegal immigrants are a drain on CA's economy. Illegal aliens pay little or nothing in taxes, they have children who attend schools for free and use a lot of expensive services (ELD, Special Ed, etc...) Through their American born children, Illegals receive welfare checks, food stamps, section 8 housing, medi - cal, etc... Illegals make up a considerable percentage in our prison system too. Until someone has the courage to address this situation, I truly believe that CA will not be able to recover economically.

If he is seriouse and in a non emotional way the true real facts , if they are true, not what you and others MAY feel, granted I am sure there are a cost, but possible the hugh extent and actual costs of it is in your and others minds not that important, and is calmly shown the real costs, as much as morally he is not for it, possible practically he might take a strong stand and use his reluctance morally but being practical on the problem, to go the other way and use that to get those who are on the fence on other difficult morally and philopophically decisions to vote for the common good of solving the problems.

It is not just how I "feel" dezi. I am a teacher in a district where 90% of my students' parents are illegal immigrants. Our students receive a lot of "free" services. We provide ELD, special ed services, free counseling, free breakfast/lunch every week day, free P.E clothes, free school supplies, etc. It gets quite costly. And illegal immigrants pay little or no property taxes which go to fund public schools.

[deziloooooo]

Sweet you misunderstand me..I am sure it's a great expense..has to be shown, put on his desk, question ask him,


"Understand your feelings, very sympathetic to the plight of and feeling of new immigrants are possible liong term strength of the country , HOWEVER Mr Governer, you have a obligation to Californians, those who are citizens, we are in deep doo doo , you are asking for cuts , sacrifices, we can't afford these sums to those who are here illegally, and if you can't see that then all your pleas are going to fall on deaf ears, California will only sink deeper into debt and your time in office will be a waste."

Along those lines..by the way..I don't believe the illegals and cost of are the whole picture..a part of it yes..you have much more to deal with too.

[Deleted]

By my best board friend Sweet Virginia-- a dem to my pub self--
[The problem is, Brown will not do anything about one of the biggest money drains, effecting CA. He has embraced the open border, illegal alien cause and he will do NOTHING to stop it. Whether or not people are willing to admit it, Illegal immigrants are a drain on CA's economy. Illegal aliens pay little or nothing in taxes, they have children who attend schools for free and use a lot of expensive services (ELD, Special Ed, etc...) Through their American born children, Illegals receive welfare checks, food stamps, section 8 housing, medi - cal, etc... Illegals make up a considerable percentage in our prison system too. Until someone has the courage to address this situation, I truly believe that CA will not be able to recover economically. ]

....sigh, sweet... you saw Brewer sued over blahblahblah. You do own property here, you know. Claim AZ if CA becomes too impossible for you. A few more years, then out, right?? Have faith, my friend. I love you, good luck, hang in there, we will fight over other issues when we need to..

[SweetVirginia]

Feb 11, 2011 21:04:09 GMT -5 @krickitt said:

By my best board friend Sweet Virginia-- a dem to my pub self--
[The problem is, Brown will not do anything about one of the biggest money drains, effecting CA. He has embraced the open border, illegal alien cause and he will do NOTHING to stop it. Whether or not people are willing to admit it, Illegal immigrants are a drain on CA's economy. Illegal aliens pay little or nothing in taxes, they have children who attend schools for free and use a lot of expensive services (ELD, Special Ed, etc...) Through their American born children, Illegals receive welfare checks, food stamps, section 8 housing, medi - cal, etc... Illegals make up a considerable percentage in our prison system too. Until someone has the courage to address this situation, I truly believe that CA will not be able to recover economically. ]

....sigh, sweet... you saw Brewer sued over blahblahblah. You do own property here, you know. Claim AZ if CA becomes too impossible for you. A few more years, then out, right?? Have faith, my friend. I love you, good luck, hang in there, we will fight over other issues when we need to..

Hi krickitt. We dont really "fight" over other issues, but we do disagree at times. I dont mind it when you have a different opinion than I do. I actually want to discuss it with you even if we totally disagree. I know that no matter what, I will never offend you and you will never offend me. We can disagree in a civil way.

As far as my moving to AZ... I wish it was sooner than later, but I just got permanent status at my school district. I have 11 years in. I will probably have to stay here for another 12 to 15 years in order to get a decent retirement. Meanwhile, I will visit as much as I can. I have a 3 day weekend next weekend and I and my two sisters will be headed to AZ/Laughlin for a girls' weekend. Cant wait!

So many of my progressive friends here think that AZ is a hateful, racist state. They don't really understand just how bad the problems of illegal immigration, Immigrant gangs, Mexican drug wars, etc are effecting those of us who live in the border states.

AZ is a gorgeous state, the people are awesome, and I wish more Americans would travel there to experience it for themselves.

Hope you are well my friend.

[verrip1]

Dez said - "I am thinking you are a native Californian, if notIknow "ed " is..if you are , or "ed"..or both..what do you think say top 10 or if that's to unfair, probably is..top 5 things a perfect Governor should propose as his first order of business..understanding that they also have to pass the legislative process in Sacramental."

Yep, I'm a native. That doesn't give me omniscience as to what a perfect governor would do. I would like to see the current governor's first priority to be budget control. Secondary priority (but in parallel) is getting staff into place to implement.

1. Create an across the board budget cut for all departments' annual budget.

2. Identify departments which should be eliminated.

3. Identify capital projects currently underway which could be delayed until the budget can afford them.

4. Identify laws on the books which create activities that we cannot afford and push the legislature to eliminate those laws.

5. Give incentives to managers and employees to give plans to reduce their own department cost and give some sort of benefit/incentive/reward for providing that savings plan.

6. Identify and prioritize actions necessary to reduce future costs, especially overhead costs, such as pension spending, worker's comp costs, overtime costs, long term leases.

7. Identify activities/functions which might be contracted out. That would include consideration of privatizing certain functions and contracting outside labor for continuing state functions. Particularly consider where to contract out maintenance activities.

8. Impact new legislation which would create new costs to the state or mandated costs to local agencies. Use the bully pulpit to identify specific pieces of legislation under consideration which would unnecessarily result in new spending. Use the veto if the legislature does not meet expectations.

9. Create a panel to identify the multitude of small spending items which might be cut. Prioritize and implement.

10. Require that all proposed capital projects include viable estimates of long term costs for maintenance, labor, overhead, depreciation and upgrades, and require that the proposal have budget approval for all those long term costs before the project can be approved.

[deziloooooo]

Virrip l..you put some thought into that,,thanks...I like #5 real well.., if any one would know were waste was would be that manager and if done..he/she is entitled to a finders fee..#9 too..all seem to make sense..you should print out my question and your answer and send to Jerry..bet you get a reply.

[privateinvestor]

Consistency has never been a great worry of Gov. Jerry Brown, but his reversal of conviction on the value of redevelopment is breathtaking even by his own standards of political adaptability.


Brown might not be governor today had he not been able to use redevelopment law as mayor of Oakland to advance his vision of creating specialty charter schools and adding thousands of housing units to bring life and commerce downtown.

"It would not be a stretch to say that every significant positive accomplishment he achieved as mayor of Oakland had redevelopment funding," said



Read more: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/12/INVJ1HKA2J.DTL#ixzz1DsWM1H53



www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/13/INVJ1HKA2J.DTL