Gavin Newsom: Over and Out

Less than a month after an endorsement from former President Bill Clinton, Gavin Newsom officially dropped out of the California Governor's race on Friday. Mr. Newsom became a father (awww!) last month at age 42, and has cited his young family as well as his responsibilities at city hall as reasons he will not continue in the election. Forget the fact that Newsom had $1.2 million in his election fund at the end of the last reporting period to opponent Jerry Brown's $7.4 million, and I'm sure the twenty percent lead Brown had over him did not help either.

If you're uber curious to read his full statement: http://www.gavinnewsom.com/releases/statement_by_mayor_gavin_newsom, knock yourself out.

So who does that leave the Democrats to vote for in the primary? Jerry Brown or.... nobody. Sounds like June 8th is going to be a super exciting day to be a Democrat.

Although really, with all the problems facing California, I'm not really surprised that people seem to be shying away from running in the upcoming election. I mean, no sooner did we fix (hmmm... maybe "band aid" is a more appropriate term) the budget deficit, than we had another shortfall. That's right folks, only three months later we are already billions of dollars in the hole. By the time the fiscal year ends on June 30th, the new budget deficit for the current year will be approximately $7 billion. State Treasurer Bill Lockyer recently called the budget, "a train wreck" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/us/01calif.html), a phrase that I personally believe should be reserved for anything that Michael Scott does.

Oh, but don't worry, there is a plan for shoring up at least part of the budget shortfall. The state is getting an interest free loan! I know what you're thinking: Who on earth would give a state who's bond rating is in the tank an interest free loan? Obama? Nope, we are! The California taxpayer! Darn, that's awfully nice of us. Funny how I don't remember anyone asking if that was ok with me though. Starting today, anyone who has taxes withheld from their paycheck (presumably anyone who gets a paycheck) is going to find that their net pay is just a little bit smaller. Starting this week, the withholding tax rate is increased to ten percent. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-state-tax31-2009oct31,0,2028140.story?track=rss But don't worry, it's not technically an income tax increase, it's just a loan, so you'll get your money back after you file your taxes. That is, unless we have no cash again, in which case good luck with that I.O.U.

With issues like this, I'm not surprised that we seem to be lacking candidates for Governor of California, I'm actually surprised that anyone is running at all.