California: Jerry Brown delivers anti-Trump manifesto

CA Gov. Jerry Brown used his State of the State speech to warn of “the battle ahead” with Trump admin - https://t.co/kFa0kNs9W0

— Reid Wilson (@PoliticsReid) January 24, 2017

Jerry Brown delivers anti-Trump manifesto https://t.co/NdpnB7nJcp via @politicoca pic.twitter.com/Ohs2TQdCKw

— POLITICO (@politico) January 25, 2017

Jerry Brown lauds California's 'comeback,' urges caution in State of the State speech

◼ Gov. Jerry Brown said today that California is continuing its "comeback," with a budget surplus and an improving economy, but he urged the Legislature to restrain spending. - Sacramento Bee

...Brown largely avoided an issue on which Republicans have been hammering him in recent months, giving only passing mention to California's nation-high poverty rate.

...The speech was Brown's 11th State of the State address. Brown, who surpassed Earl Warren as California's longest-serving governor last year, did not deliver a State of the State speech in 1975, his first year in office.

◼ Read Jerry Brown's State of the State speech, as delivered - Sacramento Bee

The Divided And Troubled State Of California

◼ It’s a New Legislative Year. That means it’s time for California Governor Jerry Brown to give his “State of the State” address. - Tom Del Beccaro/Forbes

Undoubtedly, Brown along with his California Democrats and their supportive media will claim that California is in good shape. The truth, however, is that California is facing real problems and is deeply divided economically and politically.

When we consider the state of the state, you might ask what is the core mission of government? Keeping its citizens safe? Educating its youth? Taking care of its roads and water supply? Or perhaps fostering economic prosperity? Most people would count those among the most important. On each of those counts, however, California is in real trouble and government policies are to blame.

...Democrats...like to crow that the state now has a balanced budget. The price for that success? California now has the highest tax rates in the country, with over half of the income taxes being paid by less than 145,000 people....

“Two years ago, when I first stood here as your new governor, Wisconsin was facing a $3.6-billion budget deficit, property taxes had gone up 27 percent over the previous decade, increasing every year, and the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent.”

◼ Walker hits familiar themes in State of the State - Lakeland Times

Today, he observed, Wisconsin has a $342-million budget surplus, while property taxes on a median valued home have declined in each of the last two years, and the unemployment rate has dropped to 6.7 percent....

Walker said that, unlike the message coming out of Washington, he believed in putting more money in the hands of people instead of the government, and a critical way to do that was to create jobs.

He cited an improving business climate, greater employer confidence, and recent jobs announcements by various companies. But at the top of the jobs’ list was an iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin.