Gov. Jerry Brown has been signing a slew of bills designed to make Democrats happy--not just in California but nationwide. From protecting illegal aliens from deportations for minor crimes, to allowing non-physicians to perform abortions, he has checked every box on the blue social agenda. (He did veto a bill that would have let non-citizens serve on juries, but many reluctant jurors might describe that as doing them a favor.)
At the same time, however, news about California's economy remains alarming. On Wednesday, the non-profit Tax Foundation ranked California 48th out of the 50 states (again) in its "business tax climate"--the worst west of the Mississippi River, and ahead of only New Jersey and New York. Like other low achievers, California has "complex, non-neutral taxes with comparatively high rates," according to the foundation report.
That is the real news being drowned out by liberal applause. Democrats tell themselves that Brown has done more than enough to turn the state around, having balanced the budget by raising taxes and shifting funds over from the state's underperforming carbon auctions. But the reality is that the state's economy continues to be hollowed out by the liberal gentry's utopianism, the public unions' greed and the underclass's needs.
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