Time to "Man Up" to the Fact that UC Funding is Not Governor Brown's Top Objective

Governor Brown received flak for a comment made on a San Francisco radio show last week in which he told the legislature to "man up" and make his proposed budget cuts. The remark triggered memories of former Governor Schwarzenegger's characterization of the legislature as composed of "girly men."

Actually, the radio interview - apart from the man-up soundbite - was interesting from the UC perspective because of what the governor did not mention.  Apart from a fleeting reference to his father's creation of new university campuses, which he cited only to justify his support for the proposed high-speed rail project, UC was not part of the story.  What the governor worries about these days is the state budget (which, it might be noted, features trigger cuts to UC), his failure last year to work a compromise with GOP legislative leaders, his pension proposal (which would override the Regents' action on the UC pension), and the above-mentioned high-speed rail.

Despite brave talk coming from UC leaders about some kind of deal with the governor, no sign of anything along those lines was mentioned in the broadcast.

Highlights of the interview are below: