Another Rough Patch for Jerry Brown
Black Lives Matter chants, rascally Republicans, and medical marijuana.
California Governor Jerry Brown has hit a bit of a rough patch.
The first bump: A tense visit from groups who usually have the support of progressives like Brown.
Occupiers from Black Lives Matter and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) descended upon California’s capitol Wednesday by the hundreds, demanding state legislators pass a new bill on racial profiling, and calling on Governor Jerry Brown to sign it.
Senate Floor Analysis notes that the bill, AB 952, would require peace officers conducting “stops” to begin reporting the “perceived race or ethnicity, gender, and approximate age of the person stopped.”
One of the chants used by the activists even drew a comparison to ancient Egyptian tyrants: “This is what a Pharaoh looks like!”
The second bump occurred while promoting his newest proposal for road repair. After contending with the latest flavor of progressive nuttiness, Brown was poised to market a plan featuring the implementation of new taxes:
Gov. Jerry Brown has ramped up his efforts to reach a deal on funding road repairs, dispatching a top administration official to present a new proposal to Republican leaders on Thursday morning..
The proposal would provide $3.6 billion annually for transportation and includes a new $65 fee for vehicle owners, an 11-cent increase in the diesel tax and a 6-cent hike to the gas tax.
However, it appears the state’s Republican representatives may have found their missing backbones:
Assembly Republican Leader Kristin Olsen of Modesto said the plan rightly includes many of the reforms her party has called for, including improved hiring at Caltrans to eliminate waste. But, she added, the GOP doesn’t agree with “more than doubling the vehicle registration fees and raising the price of fuel on all Californians.”
“Funds exist to fix our roads,” Olsen said. “It’s up to the majority party to recognize this.”
Republican support is critical, because two-thirds approval is required for raising taxes. Shockingly, the state’s Republican representatives have resisted efforts to generate more funding with taxes or fees…so far.
It is good to see that Sacramento hasn’t completely lost its collective mind. Despite the seemingly rosy employment news being touted, analysts now recognize the prevalence of “labor underutilization,” which means that the California employment situation is far weaker than has been reported. Raising taxes on struggling citizens seems unwise.
Given all the turbulence, perhaps it is understandable that another of Brown’s proposals focuses on something slightly more soothing. Brown’s team is trying to end nearly two decades of clashing interpretations and court battles over the state’s medical marijuana rules.
With the Legislature scheduled to leave town next week, Brown’s office is said to be bearing down on the details of a compromise medical cannabis measure, legislation that would have implications for the push to place a recreational marijuana legalization initiative on the 2016 statewide ballot.
While Brown’s office is not commenting, legislators and groups with a stake in the issue confirmed over the last week that the Democratic governor’s administration has stepped in to help develop a bill. Last week, legislative leaders stripped the contents of several medical marijuana-related measures and linked them with boilerplate language, establishing a new entry point for Brown’s aides.
I foresee the recreational pot measure would be a landslide winner if it gets on the ballot. Who would want to remain in California completely sober?
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Comments
“This is what a Pharaoh looks like!”
Oh, that’s going to piss Obama off.
He likes to think of himself as Pharaoh, likes to stand in front of those fo-gold curtains.
I had no idea what that meant, but this is what came to mind… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgTPH5y1-ZI
I’ve read several times (but forgotten the sources, perhaps someone can chime in) that deterioration of the roadways is an avowed goal documented in numerous leftie policy playbooks. Instead of maintaining state roads, money is concentrated on city public transit. Among the benefits: racial justice as country-side people and suburbanites are punished to the benefit of city folk. Lots of Dem public employees get jobs driving nearly empty buses and trams around the town all day while paying union dues that go to the Dem Party. Major opportunities for crony graft to Dem donors in large projects like high speed rail, light rail systems, etc. By making it more and more expensive and more and more difficult to have “independent transportation” (a personal car), policy makers feel they are helping to combat global warming.
And so on.
Unless someone provide concrete evidence of this, I have to call BS.
I’ll be glad to retract that once real evidence -as opposed to rumors- appears.
I’d bet the state gas tax here in Pennsylvania is as much or maybe higher then in California. It was supposed to be used to repare the road and bridges. I haven’t seen much if any improvements and that tax has been with us for awhile now. I’d bet some of that extra tax is now being used to fund government pensions.
Yeah, our gas tax is “only” fourth highest so it’s entirely possible that PA is the “winner” on this one.
“Who would want to remain in California completely sober?”
Good one!
Who?
Those who own homes here – prices climbing again, nearly 5% in LA this year.
Those who like ocean fishing: today’s count: Channel Islands Sportfishing Center 259 Anglers 10 Boats 1333 Rockfish, 138 Lingcod, 6 Sheephead, 187 Whitefish, 226 Bonito, 2 Halibut, 97 Yellowtail, 37 Calico Bass
Those who like to visit world class wine country within driving distance.. And Armenian bakeries. And high quality Japanese food. And avacados in your back yard. And tequila shots at sunset at the Dana Point Marina. Etcetera.
You obviously missed the key word: SOBER. After all, you point out tequila shots and the wine country.
*facepalm*
None of the attractions of California you mention are provided by the state – they have little to no relation to the lunacy that passes for government there and are arguably hindered thereby with excessive regulation and taxation. Imagine how grand California could be if the State would get the hell out of the way.
….couldn’t happen to a “nicer” guy….
All those Hollywood types are fleeing CA, selling off their huge estates, because CA has basically made it near-impossible to do business in the state without going broke.
And Hollywood, despite their ideological bombast, deep-down are money-loving capitalists…….but they want to shut out the little guys, their competition – i.e. crony capitalists.
California has ruined its economy with undoing decades of water diverting and other water-related aid – all for a smelt and some eco-hysteria. They are imploding, destroying themselves.
All that will be left are those feeding off the government teat – and our federal government will be asked, over and over, to bail them out…….
Crazy.
Eco-hysteria has little to do with California’s water problems, which are almost entirely due to mismanagement of existing resources. This should be no surprise.
In fact, if Moonbeam hadn’t spent his first term canceling all the water projects proposed by his father and furthered by Reagan, and not diverted water to save bait fish, they would have plenty of water to get through any drought.
All Californians should subscribe to the HJTA email newsletter for Prop-13 and tax related news. Some background on the Repub resistance to new taxes for roads. Similarly to the original Amnesty deal (amnesty now, fence later, later, then never), Dems shafted Repubs with a “new taxes now, your priorities later”.
http://www.hjta.org/california-commentary/fool-me-once/
Here’s a few snips:
“… there is very little traction for a deal involving how we address the huge problem of California’s deteriorating roads and highways. … Why?
First, Republicans have a natural aversion to tax hikes. California already has the highest income tax rate and the highest state sales tax rate in America and its gas tax is fourth highest. … Second, we are told we have a budget surplus of at least $6 billion. … Third, California’s level of waste, fraud and abuse when it comes to transportation spending is as legendary as it is shameful. Fourth, California is not even dedicating earmarked transportation dollars for transportation. Until that changes, Republicans will be in no mood for tax hikes.
… For Republican legislators who were around in 2009 and 2010, the failure of Democrats to fulfill a major promise on a spending limit measure still burns fresh in their memories. Here’s what happened:
In 2009, Republicans and Democrats in the state legislature reached a bipartisan agreement to balance the state budget in which the Republicans agreed to support significant increases to the state’s income, sales and car taxes and the Democrats agreed to put before voters in June of 2012 an initiative limiting state spending increases and increasing the state’s rainy day fund. But on the last day of the legislative session, the Democrat controlled legislature – in an 11th hour “gut and amend” maneuver – passed a union-backed bill that would delay any public vote on the initiative until November of 2014. Indeed, that spending limit proposal that the Democrats agreed to place on the ballot in 2012 never made it on the ballot. Ever.
Several years ago Gov. Brown allowed Unions to organize Public (Gov.) Employees. That opened the door for all Gov. employees to Unionize. This is all wrong, When Gov. Employees do not produce a product, So Unionizing them in a Not For Profit Business, Makes no sense. Arnold S. got Calif. nearly out of debt. The Democrats ( Unprogressives ) get the state back into debt. I have read that many wealthy people are selling out & moving to other states like Texas.
“Senate Floor Analysis notes that the bill, AB 952, would require peace officers conducting ‘stops’ to begin reporting the ‘perceived race or ethnicity, gender, and approximate age of the person stopped.'”
Checking my well-worn copy of The Lberal/PC/Social Justice Playbook, isn’t that racist/sexist/genderist/ageist?
Governor Brown has a fairly simple solution available: dump the idiotic high-speed rail initiative and route any funds then available to real transportation infrastructure.
Not holding my breath, though.