Mansion On The Hill: Jerry Brown's $2M Home

You have to love this: Jerry Brown - that would be the self-described self-abnegating ascetic who was educated by Jesuits (big deal, so was Bill Clinton) - lives in a $2 million mansion in the Oakland Hills. Brown Says $1.8 Million Home Is Part of His Frugality Message

Jerry Brown defended his ownership of a $1.8 million, five-story home with sweeping views of San Francisco Bay, saying Tuesday it does not undermine his gubernatorial campaign's message of frugality.

Instead, he says the house is consistent with his philosophy.

"Were we getting a no-down payment loan and buying a house that you can't afford, that would be a reflection on how the candidate spends money," he said Tuesday in response to a reporter's question.

"But when a couple buy their dream house with their life savings, I think that's the American dream and I'm very proud that I can do that," Brown said.

Last week, The Associated Press reported the Democratic candidate rarely mentions the home in the Oakland Hills while he is on the campaign trail touting a message of thriftiness.

Now, this may be a little unfair. Meg Whitman probably has fully furnished homes she's never visited that cost more than Brown's manse. But, Brown comes straight out of a political circle that thinks nothing of declaring when it is that a person has made enough money. We don't know what that point is, but I guess now we know you've made enough if you can buy a biggish house in the Oakland Hills. I patiently await the dramatic revelation of the type of car Brown drives.

BTW, kudos to Brown for one thing: there are very few among the state's progressive elite who would actively choose to live in Oakland, even in the relatively glamorous Oakland Hills. Oakland is the most left-wing major city in the state, and is run exactly the way Greens and Progressives demand that government be run everywhere, so credit Brown for putting his money where his mouth is (his property taxes are undoubtedly paying for a lot of "services"). Then again, Brown has to have noticed that Oakland is also the worst run major city in the state, precisely because it is a progressive's paradise. You'd think he's get a clue, but that's the thing about liberals; they are uneducable.