Brown, Dem Leg ignore aftermath

Sept. 10, 2012

By Katy Grimes

What could anyone say to California’s Democratic lawmakers to make them stop destroying the state?

Faced with 700 new bills of potential laws and regulations on his desk, Gov. Jerry Brown can be part of the problem, or part of the solution.

Brown likes to remind voters that he is 74 and an experienced politician. But at 74, Brown may also have the same defeatist attitude as many like-minded people his age have; they no longer care about the consequences of their careless actions because they won’t be around to suffer the aftermath.

Bogus state of the Golden State

On CNN’s State of the Nation this weekend, host Candy Crowley interviewed Gov. Jerry Brown. The California Governor made it abundantly clear that  he is a centralized planner, and believes that only government can save what ills this state.

Ignore that strong economic freedom draws workers and businesses. Those aren’t the jobs Brown wants.

“We need to invest in the kinds of things that take government,” Brown said. He talked repeatedly of government-built infrastructure. “Roads, bridges and high-speed rail–those are the best investments.”

Brown told Republicans to “get out of the way  and let the stimulus and investments go forward.”

Brown claimed that California has historically created more jobs than any other state in the country, but failed to recognize that the jobs California is famous for are private-sector jobs, created through innovation and private investment back when state government allowed this.

This is the governor with 700 new bills on his desk awaiting signature.

The worst of the worst

California Democrats have become self-appointed nannies, headmistresses, police, parents and omniscient central planners, all rolled into one dangerous Legislature.

Of the 700 bills on Brown’s desk, nearly all are by Democrats. The few Republican bills which manage to get through usually have no teeth, and offend no Democrats.

Of bigger concern is that as Brown begins consideration the 700 new bills, he will be doing so while simultaneously romancing support for his tax-increase initiative, Proposition 30, on the November ballot.

Labor unions spent millions to get Brown into office. And they spent millions to help Brown get his tax-increase initiative on the ballot.

Many of the bills awaiting Brown’s signature were also sponsored by the same labor unions pushing for passage of the tax-increase initiative. There is no denying the unholy relationship between this governor and California’s labor unions. The question is: How do voters stop him?

Bad bills, worse bills, unconstitutional bills

By the end of the legislative session, the Legislature had passed 700 bad bills, some which may even be unconstitutional.

Californians have had their rights and liberties trampled on by the lawmakers sent to the state Capitol. And they are being paid handsomely to do this.

And while members on both sides of the political aisle can be accused of not having a clue about the working man, the Democrats lay claim to this most often. Unfortunately, the clue they do have is spoon-fed by union leaders.

Democrats are in control of California, and it is clear that most are comfortable with the idea of legislating from high up in their ivory office, away from the peasants. This includes Brown.

“We need to take the money from those who have more than they imagine,” Brown said during the CNN interview. “I’ll manage it well.”

Crowley asked Brown why he thinks that raising taxes in the state with the highest sales tax, and very high income tax, will help. “You’re not growing the economy with the highest sales tax,” she said.

“Out economy is doing better than the rest of the nation,” Brown said. “We’re getting 50 percent of all new venture capital investment, and renewable energy investments.”

But Crowley wasn’t buying it. “How come you’re so in debt?” she asked Brown several times. Brown did what President Barack Obama does–he blamed his predecessors.

California’s unemployment is 10.7 percent, higher than  the national average. Brown claims that this is good–better than the 11.1 percent we did have.

But the numbers are manipulated by the government reporting them.

As CNBC recently reported, “The government’s most widely publicized unemployment rate measures only those who are out of a job and currently looking for work. It does not count discouraged potential employees who have quit looking, nor those who are underemployed — wanting to work full-time but forced to work part-time.”

The government also releases a separate number called the “U-6,” rarely reported, which provides an accurate look at how many people are really unemployed.

According to the U-6, California has a 20.3 percent real unemployment rate.

Who says your vote doesn’t count?

How do you get government-loving centralized planners to step aside?

How do taxpayers and voters stop the state government from growing even larger?

Perhaps the only answer is to work harder to get better people elected, which wouldn’t take much, after watching this shallow Legislature churn out another 700 destructive bills.

We now know what a Democrat-led and -controlled state looks like. We can only imagine what the impacts of these 700 new laws and business-killing regulations will be. But on January 1, 2013, we will start to have a better picture.

In the meantime, voters need to get busy.