California Governor Jerry Brown has shed his “Governor Moonbeam” moniker.
Riding the wave of voter confidence for his tax increase that was approved by the majority of California voters, Gov. Brown used humanist logic, biblical parables and his sharp wit to convey a state of the state address that consolidated the strong endorsement of the voters for putting the framework for recovery in place for California.
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/24/opinion/la-ed-brown-20130124
Gov. Brown dug deep into his seminary training to articulate the story of Joseph using his supernatural gift of dream interpretation from God to advise Pharaoh of preparing for a famine to come from a dream the ruler of Egypt had about seven fat cows ascending out of the Nile River followed by seven lean sickly cows that eventually began consuming the fat ones.
The comparison of what happened to California was apparent as over spending and over committing financial resources during the bountiful years resulted in deficit spending and over committing the financial resources for California. Over spending in employee compensation became a curse for California and many other states and city municipalities.
In a huge political gamble, Gov. Brown appealed to the voters to allow a tax increase that would generate about six billion dollars in revenue. The budget of California would have been devastate by the rejection of the new tax increases. Gov. Brown inherited the tax and spend philosophy of his political party which dominated California politics for decades.
To reel in the run away spenders, Gov. Brown declared that many of his party lived in a Fantasyland where their economic savvy was sadly lacking logic and a sustainable outcome. Brown’s plan to get the out of control budget back in control involved cutting back in spending, something many of the business as usual career politicians refused to acknowledge.
Brown’s sound policies resulted in an unanticipated $2 billion dollars in revenue the state of California did not plan on. This added windfall is an indicator that the Golden State may finally be on the right track and will position itself for better financial news in the future.
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2013/1/23/california_sees_revenue_bump_after_tax.htm
Without a doubt Gov. Brown has been pressing the right buttons and pulling the right levers in his approach to get the state’s shaky financial position back on track.
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