Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, better known as Moonbeam, is (since 2011) the current Governor of California. He previously served as Governor from 1975 to 1983, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and mayor of Oakland, and ran for President several times. His aura smiles and never frowns.[1] He has a past reputation for New Age flakery, advocating "Buddhist economics," Buckminster Fuller's futurism,[2] and holistic medicine, endorsing the likes of the Peoples Temple[3] and Synanon, and travelling to Asia to separately volunteer for Mother Teresa[4] and study Zen.[2] During his Presidential campaigns he ran to the right on the tax revolt themes of a flat tax[5] and Balanced Budget Amendment,[6] but otherwise ran to the left on his New Age reputation.
He does talk a good left-populist game when out of office, but tends to swing rightward as soon as elected. He's currently defying that sentiment during his second two terms He eventually released many prisoners, mainly to county jails, to fulfill a Supreme Court order to reduce overcrowding in California's prisons.[7][8]
He replaced Der Governator who left the state a bit of a mess to clean up. Like his predecessor, Brown has been very keen to deal with climate change, although many would argue he hasn't gone far enough, namely allowing fracking to continue, refusing to ban fossil fuels, and allowing the agricultural industry use up a ton of water during a historic drought.
Unlike Rick Perry, he knows the difference between a burp and a fart.
[edit] Shenanigans
This list is not all-inclusive:
- Claiming to have balanced the state budget, but in reality, only having done so by taking funds the state had won in court meant to help families facing foreclosures
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ California Über Alles by the Dead Kennedys
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,957133,00.html
- ↑ http://www.salon.com/2012/05/01/jim_jones_sinister_grip_on_san_francisco/
- ↑ Jerry Brown: On a Quest for Change
- ↑ http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920401&slug=1484171
- ↑ http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Gov-Brown-proudly-signs-balanced-state-budget-4628307.php
- ↑ http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_23834194/gov-brown-again-asks-supreme-court-halt-inmate
- ↑ Gov. Jerry Brown's prison reforms haven't lived up to his billing