In good fun and for political levity I give to you a west coast appraisal garnered from east coast knowledge of what to expect should Meg Whitman become governor.  What better a time than after the first debate between Jerry Brown and Whitman to really start addressing the folly of supporting a corporate cheerleader with dollar signs in her eyes for herself and business.

In many ways California must look ass-backward to the rest of the country.  There is no upstart Tea Party candidate in any major political race that is causing the GOP and Dems to sweat it out against the anger and angst of a nation under financial siege.  We keep yelling about the environment while poverty skyrockets across the nation (and of course like all good GOP cheerleaders have blamed it on President Obama).  Last but not least are wonderful state in ’08 / ’09 was competing with New York State for the title of most dysfunctional legislature.  Backward as F!*CK.

I question our own sanity when after eight years (yes eight!!!) of GOP governorship where by all intents and purposes it looked like the “Terminator” wanted to sell of our public schools, parks and spaces in some strange ideology that believes private is better than public we again look to the GOP for answers.  How else can you explain Mr. Venice Beach’s attempt to slash all funding from everything public?  Once we have no money what’s the next step?

This whole idea of public vs private, regulation vs deregulation, taxes vs spending all stirs up the bowels as misinformation and accusations get played out in every aspect of our lives as fact.  If you doubt me remember the debate over healthcare?  So without further ado I give you my appraisal of the NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg of the west coast – Gubernatorial Candidate Meg-berg Whitman:

Whitman touts deregulation, deregulation, deregulation!!!  Well, in terms of the recent devouring of our economy by Wall Street deregulation we can safely say whoa their Meg-berg.

Or, maybe just say wow is that a fact Meg!  Maybe we should deregulate energy in the state to allow for private companies rather than state regulated utilities to produce energy, that way they can manipulate the market and rip-off the state.  Oh wait that was Enron.

Or let’s talk about the more recent Prop 23 and the attempt to stem off further regulation by these same large Texas energy providers.  We should all vote no against Prop 23 just for what they pulled back in 2000 with Enron.  Meg-berg won’t speak out in support of Prop 23, she instead says to vote no, but then goes to propose how we should still suspend our forward thinking climate legislation in basically the same way.  Wow Meg … really great Jedi mind trick.

In general what Meg-berg wants to deregulate is a mystery as she is vague about what her whole plan in general entails.  The same can be said for Jerry Brown, both seem unwilling to commit to any actual plan.  I just finished searching for specifics on the Internet … nothing.  Maybe she wants to deregulate the insurance industry so they can do whatever they want.

In general if we deregulate business, housing regulation, etc, we get BP, gas pipe explosions in San Bruno, Wall Street meltdowns, toys from China with lead, and in general more pollution – possibly of everything from the environment to airways.  Hell maybe we should allow the cigarette companies to advertise to kids again.  Instead of deregulating Meg-berg why don’t you try tax incentives to grow business for those who practice innovate and follow regulations.

As for the argument that business will leave if she doesn’t step in like superwoman, Meg-berg … corporations already left for Mexico and China where they can employ kids for less than a dollar a day, so no worries there.

For the east coast perspective, Mr. Bloomberg is and was all about deregulation of the financial markets.  Thanks Mr. Bloomberg, I wonder how much you lost in the financial meltdown, obviously not your house and business or political position.

Bloomberg still champions the deregulation of housing markets in New York City, even as one of his buddies is faced with the largest foreclosure possibly in the history of the city.  Deregulation of housing allowed people to gamble on their loans of large-scale apartment complexes that ultimately failed as they just couldn’t deregulate fast enough.

This same deregulation that was championed so that real estate giants could up there profits lead to long-term residents losing their homes, despicable lending practices, predatory equity and in general gentrification that turned Manhattan into Disney Land.  Let’s ask someone who is losing their home what they think of housing deregulation in New York City Mr. Bloomberg.

In general before we go deregulating, let’s look at Bloomberg’s real interest in housing.  Bloomberg’s endorsement of his buddies housing deal nicely conflicted with Bloomberg’s own business interests.  Wayne Barrett at the Village Voice nicely points out:

“And it’s stunning that the mayor himself boldly endorsed the biggest real estate acquisition of all time—the $5.4 billion purchase of Stuy Town—even though the 20 percent owner of Bloomberg LP at the time, Merrill Lynch, was one of the buyers and he was legally barred from doing anything in his official capacity to aid Merrill.”

So will #Meg-berg be ending deregulation for the average working person in California, or for her own buddies pockets, which are also her pockets as she is obviously in bed with big business, if not wearing the same pants.