AGENDA 21 RADIO

BY CHRISS STREET

Gov. Jerry Brown began spending political capital on Friday to stop the Prop 6 Gas Tax Repeal’s momentum in last days before the election, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Chronicle reported that Gov. Brown is risking his legacy by spending his political capital to campaign against the Proposition 6 Repeal of the Gas Tax. Although Brown has not been visible on TV advocating to save his regressive $5.5 billion a year spike in gas taxes and vehicle fees, the Chronicle revealed that Brown has been a major force in soliciting the $46 million war chest for the ‘No on Prop 6’ media blitz campaign.

Early poll numbers seemed to indicate that the initiative would fall short due to what the ‘Yes’ campaign blames on a deceptive ballot title assigned by Democrat California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and modest fundraising of just $4.8 million, or a tenth of the money raised by the ‘No’ campaign.

But Reform California and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers’ Association that sponsored Prop 6 have run a highly effective radio and grass-roots campaign to get the message out that passing Prop 6 will save average family of four $779 a year in gas taxes and vehicle registration fees. The ‘Yes’ campaign told Breitbart News that its’ internal polling shows that the vote is extremely close and the ‘Yes’ campaign has the momentum.

Despite being a lame duck governor, Jerry Brown is the most popular politician in the California with an approval rating among likely voters that has been at or above 50 percent for the last two years; while his disapproval rating has been in the low 30 percent range. That compares to a 43 percent approval rating for the state legislature; 39 percent for President Trump; and 20 percent for Congress, according to Public Policy Institute of California.

The main reason Brown has remained so popular as he heads for retirement in January, is avoiding spending his political capital to campaign for divisive issues, like his huge 2012 tax increases and the 2014 water-project bond initiatives.

Gov. Brown’s has stayed out of the battles to replace him as governor and avoided taking sides in the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and her California Democrat Party backed opponent Kevin de León. Brown’s office told the Chronicle the governor would also not be part of this weekend’s Southern California swing by Sen. Kamala Harris and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom to rally support to flip 4 key Republican U.S. House seats.

San Jose State University political science professor emeritus Larry Gerston told the Chronicle that Gov. Brown has been quiet during the 2018 mid-term elections: “But he’s pragmatic and uses his energy where it’s needed and when it’s needed.”

With the Prop 6 Gas Tax Repeal picking up momentum, Brown is moving from a stealth mode vacuuming up cash for the ‘No on Prop 6’ campaign to face of the ‘No’ campaign.

The Sacramento Bee reported that Brown showed up at a Palo Alto rally in a park near a heavily congested stretch of the 101 Freeway to give a blistering 90-second speech to union firefighters and construction workers attacking what he called “shady politicians” that are trying make Californians fools: “Prop. 6 is a scheme and a scam put on the ballot by some partisans, actually, they’re acolytes of Donald Trump.”

Brown went all-in for the ‘No on Prop 6’ campaign by participating in a television ad’s released on Friday and a recorded robo-call message that will run through Election Day on Tuesday.