In California Democrats Including Gov. Jerry Brown Show How to Achieve Fiscal Stability

Expect Conservatives to Ignore the Results – They Contradict Conservative Views

Many observers including this one thought that maybe California was ungovernable and unfixable.  After tossing out a Democratic Governor, Gray Davis and installing an actor pretending to be a Governor, Arnold Schwartzenegger,  the state experienced massive deficits, declining services and became an overall economic and fiscal disaster.  There seemed to be no hope.

In 2010 the voters turned the state over to the Democrats, electing former Gov. Jerry Brown to another term in office and throwing out so many Republicans that they gave control of the state to the Democrats.  Conservatives howled that this would lead to even worse conditions, with rising taxes and massive economic problems.  Instead here is what is happening.

Assemblyman Robert Blumenfield (D-Woodland Hills) said he’s thrilled about the state's budget surplus. “We’re not framing the debate around what to cut,” he said. “We’re making choices about what kind of investments we want to make.” (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press / July 5, 2012)

SACRAMENTO — California has been flooded with revenue this tax season and is on track to finish the fiscal year with asurplus of billions of dollars, according to officials.

State coffers contain about $4.5 billion more than expected in personal income tax payments. Nearly $2.8 billion of it arrived April 17, the third-highest single-day collection in California history, according to government figures.

Business taxes have also rebounded and are likely to be $200 million ahead of projections.

How can this be?  California raised taxes and that was supposed to be the death knell for the state, with businesses and high income people leaving the state.  Instead the economy has rebounded, as evidenced by the large increase in income tax revenues.

So what will Conservatives say, the ones who condemned Mr. Brown and his policies?  They will say nothing.  That’s all they can say.  Of course had Mr. Brown been a Republican all the Very Serious People (as Paul Krugman has designated them) would be gushing their praise for his fiscal management.  So the problem with Mr. Brown is not his policy, it is his party.