Ascendant Gov. Jerry Brown faces challenges

Opponents hope to paint Brown next year as a product of the status quo who has failed to make necessary structural changes in state spending.

“He’s scratching the surface, checking a box and saying ‘Yep, I solved this problem, let’s move on to the next one,'” said Neel Kashkari, former U.S. Treasury official and potential GOP challenger to Brown. “But has he really addressed the unfunded pension liabilities? No. Has he really addressed education? No. Has he really addressed economic growth? No. But he can show a little bit of action on each of these, and then on to the next thing.”

A political spokesman for Brown, Dan Newman, called it “comical” that a candidate who helped lead the nation’s $700 billion bank bailout now is criticizing the governor who eliminated California’s massive deficit and put the state back on solid footing, “along with a litany of other accomplishments, which he seems to simultaneously acknowledge and dismiss.” The Troubled Asset Relief Program Kashkari helped lead eventually spent $422 billion.

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