The editorial page of the San Diego Union Tribune has quickly become a ‘must read’ page for the well-written, provocative opinions that are written there.  Certainly no small part of this success comes from the addition of Chris Reed to the editorial board (Chris immigrated to the U-T from the OC Register).

Here is a choice piece from today’s paper:

Slick vs. oblivious:  No wonder Democrats are unenthusiastic
San Diego Union Tribune Editorial
(read it online here)

The Democratic gubernatorial primary campaign has been raucous and revealing – but not in a way the leading candidates should like.

Early on, state Controller Steve Westly sounded just like the sort of independent Democrat that California lacks. In citing his background as an executive with innovative eBay and in denouncing calls for tax hikes, he seemed the prototypical liberal technocrat – someone who wanted a state government that was both activist and business-friendly.

But as he rolled out his TV ad campaign and honed his stump speech, Westly came to seem less like a Bill Clinton-style New Democrat and more like a hip version of Ross Perot, touting “it’s-that-simple” answers for California’s biggest problems. Consider his grand idea for reducing the state’s multibillion-dollar structural budget deficit: hiring more auditors to “wring the inefficiency” out of state programs. To quote John McEnroe, Mr. Westly, you cannot be serious.

And in a state accustomed to campaign hyperbole, Westly offered the biggest whopper heard in years: The claim that he was responsible for the state’s success in harvesting billions of dollars in a crackdown on tax cheats. He both exaggerates the program’s accomplishments and fails to mention the minor point that it wasn’t his idea.

But while Westly may be disappointing, at least he appears to have been awake the past 30 years. By contrast, state Treasurer Phil Angelides seems like a refugee from a 1970s faculty lounge, oblivious to how recent history has discredited his big ideas.

On education, Angelides has vowed huge increases in funding beyond the two-year, 16 percent hike that’s now under way. But unlike virtually every education expert not in the hire of teachers unions, he would not link new funding to reforms. If merely increasing funding meant better schools, then why has American public education made such tiny gains over the last quarter-century as inflation-adjusted spending has gone up 60 percent?

The education debate inspires sharp partisan rhetoric. But politics aside, here’s what throwing lots more money at schools without hard guarantees of accountability amounts to: grossly incompetent public policy.

On taxes, Angelides blithely calls for socking it to the most affluent taxpayers – often self-made small-business owners – and to corporations. Once again he ignores a quarter-century of history – California‘s, ‘s and Europe‘s. High taxes cripple economic growth. Economic growth is by far the best way to create and sustain long-term gains in tax revenue. And as confirmed by the business exodus in the Gray Davis years, economic mobility is greater than ever. But Angelides, trapped in his time warp, seems to think rich folks and corporations will just grin and bear it as he takes their billions.

No wonder that polls show little enthusiasm or excitement among Democrats. One candidate is overtly slick and calculated. The other is like an ornery reincarnation of a naive Eurosocialist.

The (very, very small) consolation here: At least the winner who advances to take on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in November will present a sharp contrast for voters.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 1st, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.