For Jerry, the chickens are coming home to roost. Jerry is responsible for biggest debt owed by the California taxpayers - over $500 billion in underfunded pension plans - most CALPERS and the Teachers Union. Jerry was the dude who signed the Dill Act in 1978 which allowed the state workers to unionize, thus putting a huge burden on the State of California. He now has to "fix" his problem. This puts him in a huge dilemna. The public sector unions in California "put" Jerry into office - they spent millions to get him elected. Jerry is now in debt to them. Califorina's state budget is $20 billion in the hole. There is $40 million a day going to unemployment benefits, tax revenue has tanked due to the fact that the homes in California are worth crap and thousands of people are petitioning the counties/cities/state to get their property taxes reduced. 500 people a day are leaving California - the bulk of them are middle class and the wealthy - the producers. If Jerry goes to Obama for a bailout, well good luck on that one. Jerry will lose. It will be great to see the child of the 60's fail. Just like the 60's are failing now. Good Luck Governor Moonbeam. You know the saying "you can't fix stupid" well you can't fix California neither.

What a great portrait. He has that postmodern confusion in his eyes, and the complete lack of joy. The next one should be even better!

I have a couple of grammar school artists in my house who wouldn't mind accepting that commission and would probably do a more commendable job.

Thinking about this is the first time I have truly missed Roy Lichtenstein. Does Michael Ramirez ever work in oils?

"What will the next one look like?"

He'll probably look older. (??)

I am quite surprised that collective bargaining for public employees did not hit the town in California until 1978. Are you sure the act you reference created collective bargaining rights de novo and not merely extend them to new categories of public employees?

My recollection is that California had considerable budget surpluses during the Brown Administrations. Is my memory playing tricks on me. I have seen accounts of his recent stints as Mayor of Oakland that incorporated measured and plausible praise.

Foisting Rose Bird on law and people of California was cruel and his recent performance vis a vis Judge Walker's freebooting has been appalling. However, of the 19 candidates who have placed in presidential balloting in the Democratic Party in the last 30-odd years, he is one of three (the others being Jimmy Carter and Jesse Jackson) who was willing to question the moral legitimacy of this country's regime of abortion law. You had several instances of Democratic politicos opportunistically abandoning or modifying anti-abortion positions for presidential politics (RIchard Gephardt, Albert Gore, and Jackson being examples, not to mention Ted Kennedy's shifting with the progressiste wind). Brown is it as far as prominent Democratic pols moving in the other direction (though admittedly only to a small degree).

He has been willing to take on crappy jobs in the past (again, Mayor of Oakland) and could, at age 72, be enjoying a period of retirement. This guy is about the best you can do among Democratic pols outside the South whose prominence has extended beyond local jurisdictions. The libertarian Gov. Schwarzeneggar proved a failure at grappling with California's wretched political society. It is poetic justice for liberals to be compelled to clean up their own mess, and E.G. Brown, Jr. is as likely as anyone to be able to manage it.

If you don't believe that the Dill Act of 1978 signed by Gov Moonbeam allowed public workers to unionize, then google it and be enlightened. You will see that that is exactly what it did courtesy of Gov Moonbeam.

Brown gladly accepted the help of the union attack dogs for his recent campaign for governor, which they gladly accepted and spent millions of public worker's union dues to do so.

The recent California Democratic Party Convention in LA was sponosored by none other than public sectors unions.

Are you connecting the dots yet?

California had considerable budget surpluses when Brown was in office because of his predecessor Ronald Reagan. The huge budget deficits California now has came AFTER Brown due to his stupidity.

Your paragraph on abortion has nothing to do with Brown's inability to run a state.

Oakland California is still a mess - Brown did not do much of anything to help the city. He supported the building of a military academy to which thousands of parents in Oakland are to get their children enrolled to escape the crappy PUBLIC schools in Oakland run by the Teachers' Union that Brown supported. Go figure.

If you don't have time to google the internet and educate yourself on the Dill Act of 1978, here is a link from the very very liberal Stanford University on public section pensions:

https://www.stanford.edu/group/siepr/cgi-bin/siepr/?q=/system/files/shared/GoingforBroke_pb.pdf

The CA State Leg and Governorship is bought and paid for by the public sector unions - Thanks to Gov Moonbeam.

Lieutenant torper

My question Cowgirl, was whether this Dill act created a right to collective bargaining or extended it. You have had collective bargaining for public sector workers in New York since 1958 and in the federal government since 1961. Teachers' strikes were commonplaces where and when I grew up. It just surprises me that it was going on in my provincial hometown and not in L.A., as you imply.

IIRC, the budget surpluses were large for years after Gov. Reagan left office, but I may have that wrong. Gov. Brown departed office at the end of 1982, at a time when tax revenues were depressed due to the back-to-back recessions experienced during his last three years in office, so the presence of a budget deficit at that time would be unremarkable. Again, he left office 28 years ago, so it is rather de trop to hold him responsible for current fiscal problems (except in so far as he is culpable for the advent of structural spending causing current troubles).

When you evaluate a politician, you need to evaluate the effect of his contingent decisions, remark the baseline he confronts, and make an assessment of his capacity given institutional constraints to affect outcomes. I have news for you. Outside the South, public schools are run according to principles which please the unions and professional guilds made manifest in the teachers' colleges. (In the South, you still have the effects of the teachers' college curricula and aspects of the culture and history more adverse to academic life). Gov. Brown did not create these problems. He may have exacerbated them, done nothing, or improved matters marginally. I do not know. The defenses of Brown I have read were written by Mark Hinshaw, a town planner who does not write on education.

You occasionally find a case where a politician can effect a remarkable improvement (e.g. Mayor Giuliani in New York). As a rule, a town which is a mess at point A will be a mess at point B. Question, better or worse mess?

I am aware of the fact that the Democratic Party has decayed into an electoral vehicle for the teachers' unions, trial lawyers, and Hollywood. Still reality (aka the 'bond market') is due to intrude.

With all due respect. Again, Gov Moonbeam signed the Dill Act of 1978 which allowed FOR THE FIRST TIME, state workers to unionize. I am not sure how else to put this statement for your understanding.

This single Act has been devasting on the state of California. The state leg is owned and operated now and has been for the past 30 years by the public sector unions. The $500 billion deficit in the CALPERS and CATRS pensions funds are the responsibility of the CA taxpayers. Which means simply this - the taxpayers have to fund the Pension Fund - this was part of the DILL ACT of1978 which was signed by Gov Moonbeam so he is responsible for causing this disaster.

The average salary of a state prison guard is $100,000 per year. Once they reach the age of 55 then can retire with 90% of their salary plus free benefits - Again, (I am sorry if I am repeating myself, but you don't seem to grasp the concept here). This is unsustainable and is due the the Dill Act of 1978 which Gov Moonbeam signed into law.

There are over 2900 retired teachers who are collecting over $100,000 per year in retirement pay and benefits. Newly hired teachers in the CA schools are being fired in order to pay for the teacher's pensions. Eighty percent of CA education budget goes to Salaries & PENSIONS.

We have a ponzi scheme going on here in CA bigger than Dallas thanks to Gov Moonbeam and the Dill Act of 1978. By the way over half the cities and towns in California are experiencing the same issue - Oakland California laid off 82 police officers due to their high salaries/benefits - about $192,000 per year per officer. The money they saved by laying off these 82 police officers will go to funding penions for the City of Oakland.

Gov Moonbeam signed the Dill Act of 1978 allowing state workers to unionize. The fall out from this single act is not only destroying California, but proof positive that liberal/progressive ideology does not work.

I agree with you that collective bargaining for public employees is a superlatively bad idea. Among the opponents of it at a time when the idea appeared on the horizon was Fiorello LaGuardia.

I am not sure all of the ratios you reference would turn out to be correct if I investigated them.

but proof positive that liberal/progressive ideology does not work.

No, it is proof that permitting the epitome of rent-seeking behavior will send your political economy into collision with reality within a generation or so.

I am not sure all of the ratios you reference would turn out to be correct if I investigated them.

PRETTY PLEASE - INVESTIGATE THEM. I already gave you the link to the Stanford Report.

Sorry, but CA is the bluest state in the union - run by drugged out, sex, drug and rock and roll hippies. Their liberalism and progressive ideology is not working - I REPEAT it is not working.