Lockyer for treasurer
Bill Lockyer is a Democrat, but he has been a voice for compromise in Sacramento. His tirade against partisan intransigence during last year's budget debacle -- which skewered his fellow party members as much as it did Republicans -- will live on in our YouTube hall of fame.
Even so, nearly four decades in public office has actually mellowed Lockyer, at one time considered a possibility for governor. In years past, he was known to have a short fuse. But these days, he's taken on an avuncular persona of composure, maturity and reason. Things don't get done in the corridors of power without that kind of openness, and that's why we should elect him to a second and final term as treasurer.
Lockyer's influence led to legislation that clamped down on potential lobbyist corruption related to CalPERS, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, and he cautioned Democratic leaders against attempting to borrow their way out of a $19 billion deficit last year.
His opponent, state Sen. Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel, has hitched her wagon to the conservative Americans for Tax Reform group and pledged to resist any attempt to raise taxes. We're not champing at the bit for more taxes, either, but no treasurer should be rejecting options out of hand in this economic climate.
Lockyer's grasp of the realities of the situation makes him the more attractive candidate, and his reputation for straight talk is refreshing.
When asked about the economic ideas of Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown, candidates for governor, Locker replied: "Neither of them has a plan that I've read that makes any sense."
Not partisan posturing there. We don't expect to hear any from Lockyer after he is re-elected state treasurer, either.
