Earlier this week a new political action group was launched here in Sacramento. The new group, California Forward, is promoted as a “bipartisan” effort to “transform” California’s government. The Flash Report was invited to participate in the launch event held at the Sacramento Library on Wednesday and I attended on its behalf.

Co-chaired by Leon Panetta and Thomas McKernan (the CEO of the Automobile Club of Southern California), CA Forward is marketed as a “diverse group of prominent Californians” who will “develop and advance improvements to the state’s electoral and fiscal systems.” And because this is a bipartisan effort, CA Forward’s Leadership Council includes Bruce McPherson and Chuck Poochigian. The rest of the council’s members can be viewed here.

As mentioned on the front page of Flash Report today, there are five groups funding CA Forward: The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The California Endowment, and Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. These five foundations will commit $15.9 million in funding over the next three years, but in a statement to attendees, the foundations admitted, “this is a long-term undertaking that will require our sustained engagement beyond the first three years.” The first major project for the new group is to pass the California Voters First Initiative, the redistricting reform measure.

According to the packet of information handed out to attendees, CA Forward’s four main concerns are: smart revenue and budget systems, high quality public services, publicly responsive elected officials, and informed and engaged public—all laudable goals. But during the event, several buzz words bandied about and they should concern conservatives: “inadequate public programs,” “open primaries,” “fair revenue system,” and “social and economic equity.” Perhaps most startling was discussion of lowering the 2/3 requirement in passing the state budget. These are not the kind of “efficient government” terms or ideas you would expect from a truly bipartisan group.

During one of the event’s speeches, it was mentioned that regardless of the big government vs. small government debate, we can all agree that what government does, it should do well. True, but in order for government to do something well, it should stick to it original purpose. It’s when it veers from its essential services that we see government at its most inefficient. The question that kept coming to me during the event was, why does it take an outside entity to "reform" our government—shouldn’t it be reformed from within by elected officials held accountable to the public?

Perhaps most telling about CA Forward is the people it has recruited to join its cause. In the conversations I had with fellow attendees, the terms “fair” and “fairness in society” kept coming up as goals these attendees had for government. This begs the question, what is “fair” and according to who’s definition or standards? Does “fair” mean higher taxes on the rich, or a redistribution of wealth? Or does “fair” mean universal, socialized healthcare for every citizen? As any true conservative understands, there is a fundamental difference between fairness and equality.

As usual with big-government promoting organizations, CA Forward’s message is one of optimism, but lacking a clear plan. We all hope that such efforts will succeed in creating a more efficient and responsive government. But here’s the problem with these groups: as long as you believe that government is the solution to all of society’s problems, you are doomed to disappointment. The reason we have an inefficient government is that it has taken on too many responsibilities that should be handled in local communities. A bloated, bureaucratic government is synonymous with inefficiency.

The CA Forward founders should be applauded for their seemingly artless attempt to make the government “work” for its citizens. But as long as they work from the premise that government is the solution to society’s problems, it is doubtful that we will see any meaningful reform that truly benefits our state.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.