Brown honeymoon ends; Dodgers’ future

09 December 2010 |permalink | email article

The Gov.-elect’s unique budget forum, scheduled to last for hours, ended about noon on Wednesday, with the former chief executive again saying that Democrats and Republicans could cooperate to resolve California’s budget crisis. Taxes were repeatedly mentioned by Assembly Speaker John Perez but Brown, as the Sacramento Bee reported, who pledged during his campaign not to raise taxes without voter approval, “stayed mostly out of it.”

As KQED’s Capital Notes pointed out the confab offered a sobering look at the enormous hurdles that Brown faces as a he returns to the gubernatorial job he left 27 years ago – older and at 72 considerably wiser – with his “two hamburgers and a coke” era for lobbyists long gone.

Democrats asked questions to highlight their belief that the problem lies in too little revenue. Republicans fired back, with questions about what’s actually a spending cut and about the impact on revenues from what they deem excessive government regulation.

Sports Politic

The most compelling story at baseball’s winter meetings in Orlando, Fla. is whether uber-pitcher Cliff Lee will accept the $140 million offered by the New York Yankees. The most confusing story for fans on the Left Coast this week was a judge’s call confirming Frank McCourt’s former wife, Jamie, is again co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As the heavily leveraged owners fought all last year in court and in the media no final resolution of the issue seems in sight and could drag on for years – raising questions in the case which could force a Dodgers sale. The McCourts bought the Dodgers in 2004 for about $430 million, using short-term loans and other forms of leveraged debt, according to court documents, the Wall Street Journal reported.

T.J. Simers, the Los Angeles Times’ biting columnist, offered a humorous take on problems confronting the franchise which has long unnerved legions of Dodger fans:

“Do you think GM Ned Colletti called Jamie to pass on congratulations now that she’s a co-owner once again? What else to he have to do at baseball’s winter meeting? Do you think he called her collect? Do you think Jamie ever heard of Cliff Lee? How about Frank, or Ned for that matter?” Who’s better at hiding? Osama bin Laden or Frank?

 

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