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Whitman, Brown continue to spar over money

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman and her Democratic rival, Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, continued to spar over a running theme of the campaign Wednesday: Money.

Appearing on KTLA, Whitman said that because her campaign was being financed mostly by her own money, she would have the independence to “stand up” to organized labor and win concessions to bring the costs of the state’s retirement system under control.

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By contrast, she said that while Brown has spent little on his campaign, he would be beholden to the unions that are advocating on his behalf.

“I don’t owe anyone anything expect for the voters, if they put me in office,” she said. “It’s very different from a career politician who owes political favors. Do you think Jerry Brown is going to stand up to the public employee unions if they’ve bought and paid for his entire campaign. I don’t think so.”

In a separate clip, Brown said the fact that Whitman has spent nearly $100 million on her campaign does not bode well for how she would manage taxpayer money.

“I was brought up to treat my money carefully. I treat my campaign money the same way I treat the people’s money,” he said. “Meg has a different philosophy. She flies around in a corporate jet, she paid herself $120 million her last year of EBay and they had to lay off 10% of the workforce.”

Whitman pushed back. “I am a fiscal conservative,” she said. “We are not spending taxpayer money effectively in Sacramento. No one will do better with making government do more with less and bringing out the waste, fraud, and abuse that exists in the state government.”

You can watch the interview with Whitman below.

-- Michael J. Mishak in Sacramento

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