I had at one point expressed wishful thinking that Gov. Jerry Brown might do a few unpredictable things. Indeed he vetoed a couple of really bad union laws and offered a handful of encouraging veto messages, such as when he vetoed a card-check bill and suggested that requiring helmets for skiers was too Nannyish. But as he finished up the year with many signings and vetoes it became clear that Brown was the best investment the public-sector unions ever made. Even the Los Angeles Times acknowledged the obvious with this story, "Gov. Brown is giving unions most of what they seek": "When the dust settled on Gov. Jerry Brown's
first legislative session in nearly three decades, no group had won
more than organized labor, which heralded its largest string of
victories in nearly a decade."
What this overly regulated, overly taxed, economically struggling, pension-debt-laden state needs more than anything else is someone to take on the muscular public sector unions. Instead, they have a lackey in office, albeit one who occasionally throws everyone else a bone. Things are going to have to get much worse before they get better here.
What this overly regulated, overly taxed, economically struggling, pension-debt-laden state needs more than anything else is someone to take on the muscular public sector unions. Instead, they have a lackey in office, albeit one who occasionally throws everyone else a bone. Things are going to have to get much worse before they get better here.
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