espuelas

Jerry Brown thinks that he can fix it. 

But can California really be fixed short of a constitutional convention that fundamentally changes the way the government works?

I think that the answer is that no future governor, even an experienced figure like Jerry Brown, can meaningfully impact the chronically dysfunctional government in Sacramento without an A to Z reform of the basic governmental structures.

Jerry Brown is a compelling candidate.  He is right when he says that he understands the machinery of government better than most.  Yet the machinery has proven itself over and over again to be broken, unable to deal with a California in the midst of a serious crisis begging for adult leadership and solutions.

Brown's not too subtle dig at Meg Whitman will resonate with voters who feel they made a mistake by electing a politically inexperienced Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Some people say that if you've been around the process you can't handle the job, that we need to go out and find an outsider who knows virtually nothing about state government. Well, we tried that and it doesn't work. We found out that not knowing is not good."

But his insider's status is also a potential weakness. 

The California political class has proven itself to be ineffective, sometimes corrupt and often more interested in self-promotion than good governance. 

While Jerry Brown has generally received high marks as Oakland Mayor and later Attorney General, he could easily be seen as part of the same group of politicians that have seriously damaged the state.

In the end, Brown's call for a "leaner and more efficient" government will have broad appeal in a state horrified by the rampant venality of elected officials at all levels of government.

But the question remains: can he fix it?

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The 71-year-old Mr. Brown is bidding for a third term as California governor and is unlikely to have any serious rival in the Democratic primary. Although the state has imposed a two-term limit on the office, Mr. Brown served from 1975 to 1983, before term limits were passed. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is leaving office in January at the end of two terms in Sacramento.

Mr. Brown faces a far more troubled California than the one he managed a generation ago. The state has had chronic budget deficits in recent years, resulting in budget cuts—including to the once-vaunted higher-education system that Mr. Brown's father, Edmond G. Brown Sr., helped build as California's governor from 1959 to 1967.

Here's Jerry Brown's campaign announcement explaining why he's running for Governor again:

Charles Rangel has been one of the most powerful members of Congress for decades.  Representing the historic epicenter African-American culture, Harlem, he was one of the most visible, voluble and influential senior Democrats in the party.

Now after the House of Representatives Ethics Committee has found that Rangel violated House ethics rules, he is stepping down, or more precisely, "taking a leave of absence", from his uber powerful post as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee - the tax writing committee of the House.

Rangels ethics problems have become a major issue for Democrats just a few months before what is expected to be a perilous mid-term election. 

Upon assuming the Speakership, Nancy Pelosi promised transparency and high ethical standards after the Republican era of Jack Abramoff scandals and myriad corruption by GOP Congressmen across the country. 

Rangel's ethics violations threaten to tarnish Democrats in the same way that the Abramoff scandal undermined the GOP's hold on Congress.

FoxNews reports:

Embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel announced Wednesday that he plans to temporarily step down as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee amid a wide-ranging ethics probe. 

The announcement came as Republicans readied a formal resolution to strip the Harlem Democrat of his chairmanship, and as several Democrats began to peel away and call for Rangel to step down from his leadership post. 

The New York Democrat made clear that he initiated the move. He said he sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday morning asking her to grant him a "leave of absence" until the ethics committee investigation into his activities is completed. 

Rangel spent the last week defying calls for him to step down. He adamantly denied reports Tuesday that he was planning to step aside, telling reporters who asked whether he would stay in his position, "You bet your life on it. And I don't lie to the press." 

Rangel said Wednesday that he turned around "in view of the fact that my chairmanship is bringing so much attention to the press, and in order to avoid my colleagues having to defend me during their elections."

The New York Times reports:

...The ethics committee admonished Mr. Rangel last week for violating Congressional gift rules by accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008, even in his own party support for him had started to evaporate this week...

The ethics panel is still investigating more serious accusations regarding Mr. Rangel’s fund-raising, his failure to pay federal taxes on rental income from a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic and his use of four rent-stabilized apartments provided by a Manhattan real estate developer.

Here's Rangel announcing that he is taking a "leave of absence" from his powerful committee chairmanship:

Steve Poizner is desperate.

Poizner, California's Insurance Commissioner,  is running for Governor -  and trailing badly in the polls to both his main Republican primary rival, Meg Whitman, and the likely Democratic nominee Jerry Brown.

So what to do?

Bash Latinos!

While the tradition of blaming a minority group for problems in a society is a long-used, if disgusting tactic, Poizner's first state-wide campaign ad is an eye-popping appeal to the racist right.

Everyone knows that California is facing its worse crisis since the Great Depression.  Bad governance, by both parties, across the state and at all levels of government, is legendary. 

A recent poll by California's Field Poll organization measured voter approval of the state legislature at a pathetic 16%.  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger did marginally better - but still clocked in at a 27% approval rating.

The state is facing myriad and complex problems - but clearly, immigrants are not the cause of dysfunction in Sacramento. 

Blaming "illegals" for society's ills has become an increasing and alarming national problem.  According to a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center:

The relentless demonization of immigrants by hard-line nativist groups was punctuated by murder last year, when the leader of Minuteman American Defense (MAD) and two followers were accused of shooting a Latino man and his 9-year-old daughter to death in Arizona. The crime set off a firestorm of mutual recriminations among nativist leaders — but it did nothing to slow the movement’s growth.

The double murder took place near the town of Arivaca last May, when MAD leader Shawna Forde and two of her confederates allegedly stormed into the man’s house before being driven away by shots fired by his wounded wife, who reportedly later identified Forde as one of her attackers. Officials say that Forde wanted money to finance her group and believed her victims were cash-rich drug dealers.

These horrific murders represent the most egregious behavior by nativist extremists in 2009, a year in which the groups’ in-your-face tactics were repeatedly used against immigrant communities. On the California border, Minutemen armed with rifles, night-vision goggles, thermal-vision scopes and body armor held regular sundown-to-sunup reconnaissance patrols. Minutemen from across the country joined hands with antigovernment “Patriot” extremists in “Operation Spike,” a September border watch event held in Cochise County, Ariz. Day laborers continued to be targeted, as the largest hard-line nativist group, the Federal Immigration Reform and Enforcement (FIRE) Coalition, held regular protests against day laborers, often sending videographers to day laborer centers to intimidate contractors and workers alike. The videos were then posted on anti-immigrant websites.

Poizner's decision to stoke anti-immigrant feelings is a pathetic electoral ploy.  His anti-immigrant stance may win him the votes of the far right, but it certainly will not resolve California's real and pressing problems.

And should Poizner actually survive the Meg Whitman juggernaut, it will almost guarantee that Jerry Brown will get the vast majority of Latino votes in the general election.

Considering the increasing importance of the Latino electorate in California, Poizner's stance is both desperate and dumb.

Here's Poizner's anti-Latino ad: