Jerry Brown, tempered by years in the trenches as Mayor of Oakland, sounds like … us?

“”Development has its critics,” he acknowledges. “But blight is worse.”

… Brown finds himself caught between East Bay liberals who want to encumber developers with social responsibilities and developers who are quick to go elsewhere. Frequently, liberals end up complaining loudest about Brown’s priorities.

He fired the city’s planning director who demanded a setback on additions to the Sears’ building loft conversion — including the very apartment he ended up living in. “If it’s their property, they ought to be able to do it the way they think best.” Then he adds, “As long as it’s not ugly.”"

and

“…The down-and-outers of the city center wave, smile, extend a hand, even giggle — and most of them seem to cheer him on. He has nicknames for some. Others he views intolerantly. He fought for a controversial curfew to ban serious felony probationers from the city streets between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. To judges who threaten to stand in the way of some of his initiatives, he complains: “Most judges don’t live in neighborhoods where people sell dope. I do.”"

In the same vein, George McGovern, in a 1993 issue of Inc. magazine (excerpted here) said of his experience in the real world — in his case a failed foray into innkeeping –

“The second lesson I learned by owning the Stratford Inn is that legislators and government regulators must more carefully consider the economic and management burdens we have been imposing on U.S. business … I’m for protecting the health and well-being of both workers and consumers. I’m for a clean environment and economic justice. But I’m convinced we can pursue those worthy goals and still cut down vastly on the incredible paperwork, the complicated tax forms, the number of minute regulations, and the seemingly endless reporting requirements that afflict American business. Many businesses, especially small independents such as the Stratford Inn, simply can’t pass such costs on to their customers and remain competitive or profitable.

… if I were back in the U.S. Senate or in the White House, I would ask a lot of question before I voted for any more burdens on the thousands of struggling businesses across the nation.

For example, I would ask whether specific legislation exacts a managerial price exceeding any overall benefit it might produce. What are the real economic and social gains of the legislation when compared with the costs and competitive handicaps it imposes on businesspeople?

… what about the 60 people who worked for me in Stratford? While running my struggling hotel, I never once missed a payroll. What happens to the people who counted on that, and to their families and community, when an owner goes under?”

Remember the quote that is approximately “A man who is not a liberal at 16 has no heart; a man who is not a conservative at 60 has no head.” Well, it’s fake (or at least unattributed). But the meme has staying power because it’s true. No one would claim Brown or McGovern have evolved into conservatives — but how about realists? And that’s all we ask.

Technorati Tags: California, conservative opinion, politics

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 18th, 2005 at 10:25 pm by A Senior Administration Official and is filed under Brilliant, but uncategorizable. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.