California Libertarian response to state of the state address

The Libertarian Party of California offers the following statement in response to Governor Jerry Brown’s 2012 State of the State address.
The Governor generally tried to deliver an upbeat tone in the face of “declinist” arguments – something an enterprising Californian would expect – and even claimed that California is “on the mend.” However, we must temper his enthusiasm a bit to address what we feel are issues that adversely affect the short- and medium-term outcomes that threaten our long-term prosperity in California.
Essentially, the Governor’s address advocates more government spending – and consequently higher taxes – instead of suggesting any meaningful spending cuts in the face of looming economic instability.
Businesses and new jobs are still leaving California.
The governor mentions clean tech investments, but included in that figure is the wasted Federal support of Solyndra. The solar bubble is bursting because of a glut of overinvestment.
(BusinessWeek article)
Further, Governor Brown’s address made no reference to a problem that will negate any supposed solutions described in the address. Issued- and yet-to-be-issued bonds threaten to further complicate any economic recovery in California. There’s no long term solution in borrowing money that will increase California’s debt load, which will have to be repaid down the road.
Looming even closer on the horizon, the pension crisis threatens to swallow so much of California’s projected income that there won’t be enough left for California’s future operations, and while the Governor invited input into his plan, meaningful pension reform seems distant with the current makeup of the Legislature.
These two issues alone will make permanent the Governor’s “temporary” tax initiative that he proposed for the November ballot. Balancing the budget in the short term while ignoring higher orders of magnitude problems perpetuates the disastrous penchant of Governor Brown’s predecessors to “kick the can” down the road.
Instead of relying on large infrastructure projects to provide jobs, the governor should focus on empowering California’s real job-creating engine by getting government out of the way of California’s businesses – large and small – and more than just creating a business adviser with direct input into his office. The governor rattled off a list of companies that started in California as proof of our state’s ability to attract innovators, but failed to mention that government doesn’t create jobs, these companies do. Businesses need legislative relief.
The Governor’s address touched on many more topics than last year’s address, which is an indication of the many problems that currently challenge California. We appreciate the Governor’s support for ending California’s redevelopment agencies months ago, but we believe he needs to apply that same smaller-state mentality to all the remaining problems we face.
We suggest the following bolder courses of action.

• Pull the “temporary” tax and stop relying on the voters to bail out the state all the time.
• Abandon costly publicly funded High Speed Rail, especially in light of the current poll that most voters would vote to repeal it today.
• Repeal laws that enable regulations to strangle businesses and commerce in California.
• Pass pension reform this year to prevent massive budget shortfalls ahead.
• Provide real education reform that goes beyond local control to full parental control.
• Allow authority for existing bonds to expire without issuance and stop going to the public trough to ask for more.

We hope to work with our Governor to make these solutions reality, which will help restore California’s lost reputation as the vibrant “Gold Mountain” that still draws talent and development from all around the world.