CA Gov Jerry Brown's Economic Miracle & GOP Gov Brownback's Economic Debacle

Gov. Jerry Brown: Pulling California back from the brink

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The New Year has brought change and new faces to much of our political landscape, not least on Capitol Hill, where Republicans took control of the Senate this past week. From out of the west, though, a different sight -- a familiar face on the Democratic side taking the oath of office yet again . . . many years after his political debut. John Blackstone reports our Cover Story.

Six years ago, the sun appeared to be setting on the California Dream. Plummeting home prices and soaring debt were robbing the Golden State of its luster.

As we reported on "Sunday Morning" back then, plenty of Californians were ready to give up hope:

"Is the California dream kind of dying?" Blackstone asked.

"It's not dying -- it's dead," said Harvey Schwartz of 20th Century Props (which closed its doors for good in 2009).

It was a crisis, to be sure. But in politics, "crisis" is just another word for "opportunity."

"The state was in massive debt, $27 billion," said Gov. Jerry Brown. "There was great uncertainty. Over a million people had lost their jobs. Well, that was then. Now, California's coming back."

"Is that your doing?" Blackstone asked.

"It's in part my doing, certainly," said Brown.

Gov. Jerry Brown with correspondent John Blackstone.

 CBS NEWS

It's hard to imagine who would have wanted to become governor of a state that was in such a sorry state, but in 2010 Jerry Brown certainly did. And last November, voters rewarded him for leading California back from the brink, electing him to an unprecedented fourth term as governor.

The state once again boasts the world's eighth-largest economy -- bigger than Russia's -- and it even posted a budget surplus last year.

The governor regularly receives foreign dignitaries, befitting California's status as a high-tech superpower.

The secret to Brown's success? Raising taxes while cutting spending -- policies that have angered his fellow Democrats nearly as much as Republicans.

"You had to push Democrats in California to accept a lot of the cuts that you proposed," Blackstone said.

"I still have to push Democrats, and Republicans," he replied. "There's endless desires. The way I say it is, first, you have a desire, and then you make it a need, then you make it a right, and pretty soon you got a law. Then as soon as you got a law, you got a lawsuit.

"You've got to be able to say, 'No.' Because this government is not something you just milk forever."

"I don't like to spend money. But that's not because I'm conservative -- it's just because I'm cheap!" - Jerry Brown, in a 1976 speech

For decades Jerry Brown has always charted a unique course in politics. His father, Pat Brown, was elected governor of California in 1958. Edmund Brown Jr. was hardly the heir apparent: at the time, he was studying to become a Jesuit priest.

But politics proved to be his true calling, and in 1974, Jerry Brown won his father's old job.

"It is a unique experience at the age of 36 to find myself elected governor of the largest state in the union," he said at a 1975 press conference.

He encountered a political landscape that's all-too-familiar today...

"An election is not an end, rather it's a beginning," Brown said then. "It's fair to say people want a new spirit, but they don't want to pay a lot of money for it!"

Famously frugal, Brown dispensed with the limos and private planes of his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, favoring blue Plymouth sedans.

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Brownback’s economic failures start to look even worse

11/11/14

By Steve Benen

It’s been quite a while since Gov. Sam Brownback (R) appeared on msnbc to talk about his economic plan, which cut taxes far beyond what his state could afford. “We’ll see how it works,” the Republican governor said. “We’ll have a real-live experiment.”

 

As Kansas’ Associated Press reports, the experiment continues to fail (thanks to my colleague Robert Lyon for the heads-up).

A new Kansas revenue forecast says the state will face a $279 million budget shortfall by July and an even bigger gap to close in the year after that. […]

 

The state officials and university economists also issued the first projections for the fiscal years beginning in July 2015 and 2016. They said revenues would be $5.8 billion in the next fiscal year, then just shy of $5.9 billion. Officials said after closing a $279 million gap in the current budget, the state still would have another $436 million shortfall by July 2016.

By any fair measurement, this is a state facing a genuine crisis of its own making.

 

And really, the measurements keep piling up. As we talked about last week, after promising great results from Brownback’s “experiment,” Kansas’ economy is falling short on every possible metric, growth to job creation to revenue. And because the state’s finances are in shambles, Kansas’ bond rating was downgraded, and then downgraded again.

 

Given the latest data, another downgrade would hardly come as a surprise.

 

I realize Brownback has an “R” after his name, but the fact that Kansans actually re-elected this guy, despite the option of a credible and experienced challenger, and despite the disaster of his signature issue, is kind of amazing.

 

Of course, let’s not forget Art Laffer, the Republican economist who helped shape Brownback’s plan, who’s perhaps best known for his “Laffer Curve” which says tax cuts can pay for themselves. He, of course, feels vindicated, not because the Kansas plan is failing, but because Brownback won re-election regardless of his performance.

 

Paul Krugman’s column from last week continues to ring true: “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet midterms to men of understanding. Or as I put it on the eve of another Republican Party sweep, politics determines who has the power, not who has the truth.”

 

Update: Brownback’s budget director said the administration “has no intention of revisiting the state’s tax policy.” No, of course not.