Goerge Skelton in the LA Times writes: It’s time to grade Jerry Brown on his first year back as California’s governor. He certainly doesn’t rate an A.
But he hardly deserves an F either, even if he did fail in his most important task: forging a bipartisan compromise on taxes, spending and deficit reduction.
It’s a bear to negotiate with Republicans when they shrivel into a ball at the mere mention of taxes.
Grading Brown is a tough call.
What did he actually accomplish?
His biggest achievement is essentially overlooked: He didn’t screw things up worse.
That is a monumental feat, especially given some past governors in their freshman years. This governor, of course, is no freshman. He long ago learned to recognize pitfalls.
Brown heeded the admonishment of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates: “First … do no harm.”
In fact, Brown started the state on a slow mend to fiscal recovery.
The Democrat inherited a $25-billion deficit. Then he prudently dug the hole $1 billion deeper by canceling a terrible Arnold Schwarzenegger-negotiated sale and lease-back of 24 state buildings that ultimately would have cost taxpayers billions.
Brown and Democratic legislators attacked the deficit by slashing $16 billion in spending, including nearly $1 billion in cuts the governor imposed two weeks ago when tax revenue fell short.
Republicans essentially sat in the bleachers, booing and chanting that the deficit was the Democrats’ problem.
Bottom line: Brown soon is expected to project a new shortfall of around $12 billion through June 2013. That’s not miracle working, but it’s steady progress.
