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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow about some appreciation for the man as he rides off into the sunset
That man is Jerry Brown.
His 8 years as Governor of California (for a second time) has seen California rise from the disaster that was thirty years of pseudo-Republikkanism. He was able to persuade the voters to support sidelining prop-13, to raise taxes to fund badly needed improvements and to keeping voters from repealing the gas tax. California now has a budget surplus, that the republikkans have promised, if they got in control, to eliminate -- kind of like Georgia Bush II did in 2001 with the national surplus. California is now the 5th largest economy on the planet.
His time as Governor has not been perfect. But given he took over a state that was considered a basket case and ungovernable in 2010, he accomplished quite a lot in 8 years. He was aided by the super-majorities in the state legislature, of that there is no doubt; unlike Gov. Arnold's lack of assistance from the Nordquistan wing of the republikkan party when he was governor; remember when Arnold explained, with visuals, that California could not just keep cutting everything to get out of the budget crisis and the republiks still wouldn't vote for raising any state revenue?
Jerry will leave the state on much better footing than when he took office. The state has a lot to do to get people into affordable housing, protecting its most vulnerable, etc and here's hoping Govelect Newsom has as much success as the man he replaces.
Gov. Brown deserves a lot of respect from people. And if you want proof of his success -- faux spews almost never, never ever mentions anything about him because he has shown that taxes and protections (regulations) are NOT a hindrance to growth
Hekate
(90,619 posts)lapfog_1
(29,198 posts)and it's not just the fires.
It's going to be / already is... water.
Lower amounts of snow pack every year and a declining aquifer are going to make for some very uncomfortable choices (flushing your toilet may become a once daily event).
The central valley farmers show little sign of changing to low water consumption crops... the central valley is dropping a few inches every year because of the pumping of ground water.
Massive amounts of desalination may be required like Israel but larger scale.
I don't envy anyone having to follow Jerry Brown... he solved just a whole bunch of issues with pragmatic and sensible solutions.
IthinkThereforeIAM
(3,076 posts)... was discussing the fires in California with a friend earlier this morning, and how the, "200 year wet cycle for the southwest", was over about 8 years ago. There is a reason why throughout history, people have tended to not live in deserts.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)The Central Valley needs huge amounts as it feeds up to 25% of the nation's food. The Oroville Dam is also aging poorly as they try and repair it. After the fires, the lack of ground brush and parched ground lets it flow away and flood smaller waterways or just run off.
Had forgotten about Arizona. Food before Snowbirds...that's Arizonan for folks who come there to either retire or spend the winters from the northern states. They add nothing but their retirement money for consumption.
IthinkThereforeIAM
(3,076 posts)... eom.
dalton99a
(81,426 posts)calimary
(81,183 posts)He would have made a good President.
LuvNewcastle
(16,843 posts)Some people made fun of him then, but he made more sense to me than anyone else running. Clinton did a decent job considering the circumstances at the time, but I wish Brown had made it back then. I think this country suffers a lot because some of our best problem-solvers get sidelined by people who are only out for themselves.
jcgoldie
(11,627 posts)I was 19 and that was the first election I ever voted in. My Dad thought Reagan was the devil and he loved Bill Clinton... He passed away 10 years ago and I will never forget the awesome political debates we had that spring about the democratic primaries focusing on pragmatism and elect ability vs idealism and ideology.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,309 posts)There are a lot of folks not in California who look up to Governor "Moonbeam" and California. Don't think for a minute that Limbaugh and the deplorables are the majority.
Small-Axe
(359 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,309 posts)Small-Axe
(359 posts)Jerry Brown is the governor of California.
Cali is a city in Colombia.
Thank you.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,309 posts)Small-Axe
(359 posts)"Cali" is worse.
WTF?
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,309 posts)Even Linda Ronstadt used the nickname for Gov. Brown. Every Californian I've ever talked to (admittedly not a statistically significant number) was proud of "Moonbeam" and, at one point or another, referred to California as "Cali".
I used to think it was Ronstadt who came up with the nickname, but the NYT says it was coined by a writer:
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/weekinreview/07mckinley.html
Small-Axe
(359 posts)Please stop.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,309 posts)Small-Axe
(359 posts)Now you know.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,309 posts)Your objection could be region-specific. Those whom I've heard use it with no offense intended could likewise be a regional subset of Californians.
I worked in a service station during my high school years (about the time Jerry Brown was in college) and there were some customers who made an annual trip from California to that little shop for tires and vehicle check-up. (One couple were related to the shop owner and the others came by invitation, the first time). They were the first people from California I ever met. Their speech was strange to my ears, but they were very willing to share their experiences travelling that giant state. It was fascinating to me to hear first-hand tales of the variety of landscape and people it has. At the time, the farthest I had travelled was Cincinnati to Miami, and never as far west even as the Mississippi. These visitors pretty much destroyed the local view that California was just a land of hippies. (This was late '60s, early '70s).
In college and later work environments, I met more people from California from time to time, but, of course, none ever impressed like those first. Times change and so does objectionable speech. As I said earlier, "Cali" was used by these folks and none used it with intent to disparage the place or the people.
displacedtexan
(15,696 posts)But we love Governor Brown. We topped the UK for 4th strongest economy in May of this year.
Small-Axe
(359 posts)We love Jerry Brown.
And hate it when people say "Frisco" and "Cali."
Haggis for Breakfast
(6,831 posts)wrote the book, "Don't call it Frisco." It was a hoot.
Anybody who calls it "Frisco" has never lived there.
shanti
(21,675 posts)I'm a 3rd gen Californian and if someone wants to call it Cali, why the fuck not? I've even done so myself on occasion. This is petty.
Now what?
Algernon Moncrieff
(5,790 posts)Neither Cali nor Frisco offend me. Frisco offended my mom, tho - she was a big fan of a tiresome columnist named Herb Caen (pr. Kane). He started all of the "please don't call it Frisco" nonsense. Cali is the new Frisco. Pay them no mind.
I think of Governor Moonbeam as trading more than insulting, and it really referenced young, 1970s Brown. There wasn't much that was wacky in his 2nd governorship.
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)I have no issue with 'Cali', though ... just a convenient shortening of the word.
But 'Frisco', OTOH is annoying ... and definitely the signature of an outsider.
Though even that particular affront pales in comparison to calling my alma mater 'San LOOO-EEY Obispo' ... you want talk about a HATED nomenclature?
Lol ...
Algernon Moncrieff
(5,790 posts)They'd call San Diego "Dago" - there seems to be an urge to shorten things.
My mom gets furious when I say "Frisco" - she's be less mad if I said the other F word. But there is a city in Texas called Frisco. I'll talk about it (a family member worked there) just to annoy her.
Back in the days when there was far more military presence in the Bay Area than there is now. It never bothered me like people calling Los Angeles La La Land doesn't bother me.
I always found simply saying Cal Poly was faster and easier.
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)This really is a case where the people there despise a certain pronunciation. If you're from there at all, you know it's 'San Loo-is', not 'San Loo-ey' ... Obispo. Regardless of whether the subject ... is the college there
Of course, to each their own ... but I think calling SF 'Frisco' pretty much marks you as a someone 'not from San Francisco' ... just as the SLO pronunciation thing does ...
Dyedinthewoolliberal
(15,562 posts)but I think you may have known that.........
Small-Axe
(359 posts)ProfessorGAC
(64,967 posts)Written by a guy who was born and raised in SoCal!
And I agree, the other poster knows that!
Small-Axe
(359 posts)Both by guys from New York.
Please stop.
Thank you.
ProfessorGAC
(64,967 posts)Snoop is from Long Beach
Need directions?
Been there dozens of times!!!
Check out the food at BBC!
Small-Axe
(359 posts)Where is Herb Caen when we need him?
oasis
(49,365 posts)Great American, one of our finest California governors, and a solid Democrat.
Liberty Belle
(9,533 posts)If Dems retake the presidency in two years.....he has a law degree from Yale and was Attorney General before his second stint as Governor. Or he could get appointed to another judicial seat, or be named U.S. Attorney General, or run for congress.
I have a hard time envisioning him just retiring and idlling away his remaining years.
I hope we can take back the Senate in 2 years along with the presidency, and make Rep heads explode with a Jerry Brown appointment to the Supreme Court!
byronius
(7,392 posts)As am I. I was going to vote for him in '92 but my wife talked me into Bill.
Quixote1818
(28,926 posts)So they stay there for 30 to 40 years like Republicans have been pulling.
sprinkleeninow
(20,235 posts)Gov. Brown--»»RESPECT!
BadgerMom
(2,770 posts)Thank you. Im proud to have your signature on my UC diploma.
Demovictory9
(32,444 posts)Silver Gaia
(4,542 posts)Jerry Brown is my hero! I will miss him! But he's been training Gavin Newsom to take over for him, and I think Gavin will do a fine job.
kentuck
(111,072 posts)I think he was running against Bill Clinton in the primaries?
VOX
(22,976 posts)He was on the CA primary ballot that year as well.
In a way, Im glad things worked out the way they did. Hes been a fantastic governor...both times!
Mr.Bill
(24,263 posts)is that Jerry Brown was never President of the United States.
And I wouldn't be so sure about him riding off into the sunset, either.
rpannier
(24,329 posts)Was disappointed as hell when he didn't win the nomination
Small-Axe
(359 posts)California_Republic
(1,826 posts)dhill926
(16,334 posts)Tikki
(14,556 posts)I wish he and his wife and extended family only the very best.
I remember the first time I voted for him and every time since.
To Sir With Love..
Tikki
2naSalit
(86,508 posts)He has been a good governor now and in the past. Most of my immediate family lives in California, I lived there during his earlier term(s?), was a while a go but I recall being relieved when I helped vote him into office.
One of the best governors ever, it's a yuge state and it's a hard one to steer.
wryter2000
(46,028 posts)He was also mayor of my city, Oakland.
Jerry Brown fixed this state. Others could learn from him.
drmeow
(5,015 posts)that my Mom dated him very (very) briefly before she dated and married my Dad.
Algernon Moncrieff
(5,790 posts)He solved a huge budget crisis. He can't get enough credit for that.
I miss the first time, when he was dating Linda Ronstadt.
I voted for him in the '92 Presidential primary. Some guy named Clinton best him.
His dad was a great governor who we all wish had gotten a 2nd term.
California AG. Mayor of Oakland. Overall, an excellent career.
My bone to pick was that he was always right fisted with UC.
regnaD kciN
(26,044 posts)I remember when he left the Governor's mansion the first time; less than a decade after hitting the national spotlight, and barely more than five years after his run for President (where, had he entered the race earlier than he did, he might well have grabbed the nomination from Jimmy Carter's grasp), he was a political laughingstock: derided nationally as "Governor Moonbeam" and as a past-his-prime celebrity, and defeated in his bid for Senate, it was assumed his time in the spotlight was over and that he'd retreat to a law partnership, political science chair, or ashram for a quiet future. Instead, he literally rebuilt his political career from the bottom up, this time without the glitz and glamor, slowly and steadily. And, in the end, his "second act" was far more a success than his first. Hail and farewell, Governor Brown!