5 Reasons California Went From A $42 Billion Deficit To A Surplus

[vinny9698]

http://www.nationalmemo.com/the-5-best-ideas-from-californias-progressive-resurgence/
1: Independent Redistricting Commission
2: Reinstating Majority Rule On The Budget
3: Online Voter Registration
4: Asked Voters To Raise Taxes
5: A Massive Turnout Effort

"With a little democratic reform and a lot of civic participation, California made change happen fast. And the fact that the Golden State often sets trends for the rest of the nation must terrify Republicans."

Now if we can repeat this success in other states.

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Shouldn't #1 be "no Republican governor" ? nt

[SunSeeker]

2. Exactly! He's the one who pushed for the tax increase and the rest of the stuff on that list! nt

[Jack Rabbit]

14. #1 should be the complete marginalization of the state GOP

After 2012, the Republicans did not have even a third of the members in either house of the state legislature.

Even now, the Democrats hold a 26-14 majority in the Senate and 52-28 in the Assembly. Not quite as good, but I'm not complaining.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Despite all the California bashing

here in the Southwest,they are doing it the right way and the rest of these Neo-Con Tea Bagger States are getting their lunch handed to them . Yes,Tesla relocated to the Reno area,but they were given a free ride at Nevada Tax Payer Expense. And they needed basic hands on assembly line workers and we have tons of them. And it is location location location,Rail and Truck routes with in a few yards.

[n2doc]

10. Well I guess they need it more

Nev. Unemployment rate for september = 6.7%
Cal. Unemployment rate for september = 5.9%

http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

[Wellstone ruled]

12. California lost out on the Tesla deal strickly

due to the Tax Payers giving Tesla ten years of freebies. I got a hunch EPA issues had a lot to do with this and the proximity to Lithium Mines. Mr. Brown was not about to give away the store,he knows full well what the needs of California is and he will make it happen.

Our unemployment is driven by the depressed commodity meaning world mineral crash. Sad as it might sound,our usable labor force is ill prepared for the twenty first century. Poor Education systems,lack of skill sets to fill many job openings.

[Jon Fogerty]

4. Governor Jerry Brown should get all the credit

After the Schwarzenegger's Dark Ages which either nothing changed or got worse, I was really pleased to see Governor Brown turn CA completely around. He showed the nation the fallacy of a Republican fiscal governance versus pragmatic and even-handed Democratic leadership. What he accomplished in CA can viewed as a miracle, considering how fossilized the state government and the two rival parties had become.

[cprise]

9. He could have made a great president

But being longtime governor of California is almost more influential than the vice president.

If the electorate hadn't turned so reactionary (to the point of electing Reagan) he could have influenced the whole world for the better.

[BlueMTexpat]

15. Perhaps not all the credit, but

without his being in the state house, I don't believe that the others could have happened.

Please make no mistake, I am a great fan of Jerry Brown and among those who believe that he would have made a great US President.

[dinkytron]

5. And this is after totally getting screwed over by Enron for a few billion

[cprise]

7. Indeed, the whole 2000 energy debacle

was a lesson in what happens when people let capital have its way.

[cprise]

6. The elite's vaunted intellegence

and discerning ability to rule is vastly overrated. A widely-educated public that is connected to the Internet has consistently chosen more responsible and (dare I say?) moderate positions than paid-for oligarchs.

[frazzled]

8. I hate to say it, but you neglected one of the biggest reasons

They "reformed" the pension system 3 years ago, which purportedly will save "billions." Illinois has tried to make similar, even more modest adjustments, but because of a constitutional amendment that was passed back in the 1970s, the state Supreme Court has had to keep striking the plans down. It's essentially why the state is in such terrible financial shape. Just to say, the reason California is doing better has to do with things that are not so "progressive."

The state Legislature on Friday approved a package of changes to California's public employee pension system that is expected to save taxpayers billions of dollars, even as Republican lawmakers said much more needs to be done to fix a system with massive liabilities.

The main pension bill, AB340, passed 49-8 in the Assembly and 38-1 in the state Senate. Gov. Jerry Brown negotiated the reforms with the Legislature's Democratic leadership.

The legislation will increase the retirement age for new employees, cap the annual payout at $132,120, eliminate numerous abuses of the system and require workers who are not contributing half of their retirement costs to pay more.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/01/california-pension-reform_n_1849076.html

[musiclawyer]

11. Stopping abuses was good.

But now the pensions are so meager relative to cost of living in CA and low starting wages that public employers now have a hard time finding qualified employees. When your assessments are off or your local cop is an idiot, or your animal service person can't tell a dog from a wolf hybrid you'll know why. Nothing is free.

[bemildred]

16. That was good, but it was more a consequence of the cleanup than the cause.

It began with Jerry Brown and the re-districting fight.

[frazzled]

19. Many here would argue it wasn't good at all

Cutting public pensions is a third rail in general. And yet when a purportedly "progressive" governor does it, you don't hear complaints. There is a lot of selective outrage about these kinds of difficult, compromise government actions.

[jtuck004]

13. So there are no hungry kids in CA? And everyone who wants to is gainfully employed

at a job with a living wage, and there is no inequality in wages, no bridges are falling down?

Else there is no surplus of anything except propaganda.

[lostnfound]

17. It's only been 4 years, give them a break. Anyway 70% voter turnout is awesome accomplishment

All by itself

[jtuck004]

18. No, I will wait until the work is done. I know some don't care, as long as they get applause.

Too bad people don't get as offended about hungry kids and people in want as they do about not getting all the acclaim they think they so richly deserve.

Trading hungry children and families in need so people can crow about their growing pile of cash is something that ought to strike a whole lot more people as wrong, since it leaves them to fight on their own.

Then again, that's sort of become a national pastime.