“Governor Moonbeam” is Back

STOCKTON, CA – Governor Jerry Brown takes his “tax hike tour” to Stockton today, where he will meet with local educators and community leaders in a private, heavily-scripted event to push his proposal to raise taxes during an economic downturn. Brown is apparently embracing his "Governor Moonbeam" nickname, given to him almost 40 years ago by Chicago columnist Mike Royko. "You can't be afraid to be called a moonbeam, weird, deviant, interesting, unexpected," Brown recently said in Milpitas, where he signed a renewable energy bill that the California Air Resources Board estimates will result in higher bills for California energy consumers by an average of 19%.