Which Jerry Brown is running for governor?

Let’s see, there was Liberal Jerry who advanced alternative energy and environmental protection. Then we met Conservative Jerry who piled on to support Prop. 13 when the political winds changed. There was Democrat Jerry until he became Independent Jerry when the political winds shifted again. Now it looks like we’re about to meet Libertarian Jerry, a guy who looks at a survey of corporate lawyers (surely the best source of data on whether corporations are over-regulated) then declares that corporations are over-regulated.

LegalNewline.com interviewed Libertarian Jerry after he gave a speech to the 7th Annual General Counsel West Coast Convention for corporate attorneys decrying the burden of regulation on California businesses. (What more promising venue for a guaranteed friendly audience and potential campaign contributions could there possibly be?) You can read the article here.

Makes me wonder just which regulations Libertarian Jerry would eliminate and which new regulations he might veto. Let’s consider some of the benefits that accrue with lax or no regulation. A quick look at the attached picture shows the quality product delivered by private, laxly-regulated water companies to the happy citizens of Maywood, California.

And who could argue with the cost savings enjoyed by the previously under-regulated goods shipment industry operating out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach that only cost the lives of 2,400 people a year? They’re mostly kids and old people anyway. Just think of what regulation might do to the cost of tennis shoes or corporate profits.

So Libertarian Jerry, would you roll back the regulations that have dramatically improved air quality since in the years since you were Governor? How about the regulations that make California the lowest carbon emitter per capita of all the states? Would you have vetoed AB 890 by John Perez that requires the Maywood water companies to test and report on the water they deliver to their customers?

How about that pesky Coastal Protection Act that prevents toll roads being built through coastal parks and keeps our coast accessible to all Californians? Would you undo those burdensome regulations that prohibit agribusiness from spraying whatever poison is cheapest without regard to the presence of workers or schools or neighborhoods?

Californians await your answers.