Governor Brown is necessarily in the position of an embattled centrist, much
like his predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He has to command a working majority of legislators, not just Republicans
but also fiscally-minded Democrats who are willing to place the fate of the
state above the power of their party.
Now the Governor has doomed us with the prediction that the budget short-fall
weighing on California has almost doubled to $16 billion. With such sordid
accounting practices, no wonder that no one is jumping at the chance to donate
more of their shrinking paychecks to the coven of waste and fraud dominant in
Sacramento.
If Governor Brown wants to push a tax increase of any kind, then he must
also offer significant restrictions on public sector unions' collective
bargaining rights, as Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin did for Wisconsin last
year. The Governor should also mandate a cut in every public sector employee's
pay and pension package.
If the state of California really wants to end the waste and revenue losses
draining us to nothing, why not institute welfare reform that will discourage
illegal immigration and beef up the power of local governments to retain their
tax revenue. How many state offices are currently overseeing unimportant
concerns? How many licenses do businesses have to apply for before going into
business? I believe that by freeing up the power of school districts to evaluate
and terminate ineffective teachers, future educators would not have to spend
two-three semesters just to get a credential.
The high toll of regulation is squeezing wealth out of the state, and the
voters have every right for less government, more accountability, and more
power pressed back into their hands. Public sector unions will cry foul, but at
least the rest of the state will breathe a sigh of relief that less of their
money will be siphoned off into the big pockets of Big Labor.