Student Governor (Schwarzenegger) Needs to Buckle Down and Work

Los Angeles Times ^ | November 15, 2004 | George Skelton

[calcowgirl]

It's time again to grade the governor. Wednesday will mark one year in office for Arnold Schwarzenegger — one full year of learning on the job. How's he progressing?

There is only one fair way to go about this: Split the grade in two.

• One grade for politics. Give him a solid A.

• A second grade for policy. He gets a generous C.

A tougher grader would have given the guy a D in policy — or categorize it as substance, all that serious stuff a governor is supposed to do to solve state problems.

The one problem that overrides all others — the destructive budget deficit that Schwarzenegger promised to fix — still perplexes the governor because he refuses to look at it realistically.

If there is a "girlie man" in Sacramento, it's Schwarzenegger for not having the courage to raise taxes or significantly cut spending — or, more wisely, negotiate a combination of both.

Instead, he has borrowed billions, much of it from the next generation, and fallen into his predecessor's pattern of punting: using gimmicks and cooking numbers to fictitiously "balance" the state books.

[calcowgirl]

Annual Report Ping

[calcowgirl]

More Reviews


BILL BRADLEY COLUMN

Arnold’s Missing Vision Thing
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/11422291p-12336468c.html

A year after his inauguration and not quite two weeks after an election in which his bipartisan incarnation did much better than his partisan incarnation, where is Arnold Schwarzenegger going with his governorship? He has parachuted into the midst of great crisis - which clearly animated him during our talks last year as he was deciding to run - and has made strides in managing an out-of-control fiscal and political crisis. But now what?

JOHN SEILER COLUMN

The Early Reviews
http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2004/11/15/sections/commentary/article_309347

A year ago was an extraordinary time. An unprecedented recall brought down unpopular Gov. Gray Davis, who had brought the state budget to the precipice of bankruptcy, and replaced him with a Hollywood action figure. On Nov. 17, Arnold Schwarzenegger was inaugurated as the first governor elected under the state's recall procedure. He promised, "Action, action, action." How has Arnold done in his first year in office? It's been mostly positive, but he could have done much more.

DANIEL WEINTRAUB COLUMN

Arnold, Year One
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/11422287p-12336471c.html

The biggest surprise in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's first year on the job is that he turned out to be maddeningly competent. His first 12 months were neither as revolutionary as his supporters had hoped nor as disastrous as some of his critics had warned they might be. While Schwarzenegger has stumbled at times, he hasn't fallen on his face. Neither has he swept through the Capitol as a dramatic agent of change.

[tubebender]

Is there a non liberal paper in Calif?

[calcowgirl]

I think the OC Register is about as far right as they go.

I think the content of Skelton's piece (putting the leftist jabs aside) fairly describes the fiscal mess we are still in. The deficit hasn't gone away, and we are continuing to spend, spend, spend when we need to CUT, CUT, CUT!

[Barney Gumble]

Arnie doesnt have the gall to cut spending and face the liberal attacks. I do partially agree with the article. He's a showman who's too busy try to amend the constitution so he could run for president.

[Angry Republican]

I'll bet Skelton still wishes that Gray Davis was still the governor.

[Carry_Okie]

Here is my current report card:

• He has appointed members of La Raza to the State university regents.
• He supported a Sierra Nevada Conservancy that Gray Davis vetoed, authored by a socialist from Santa Cruz.
• He has a appointed member of the Sierra Club heirarchy to the CalEPA.
• His hydrogen fuels program is a thinly veiled corporate agricultural scam.
• He didn't lift a finger to stop gay marriage and has signed "domestic partners" legislation that violates in spirit, if not in letter, Proposition 22.
• He continues to negotiate with Cedillo on drivers' licenses for illegals.
• The prison guards rolled him completely for a pittance now in return for more later.
• He "negotiated" minute concessions from the universities in return for more money later.
• He grabbed revenues from cities and counties with a promise to return it later.
• He "negotiated" a minute reduction in workman's comp premiums when all he had to do was copy Arizona's plan and put it on the ballot.
• He signed SB 50.
• He's raising more money than Davis ever did, INCLUDING from the tribes he swore he would never solicit. In return for that he got a pittance compared to his the amount of gambling revenue he was boasting he would get. My bet is that the revenue won't even offset the direct cost of State social programs to deal with the results of gambling. Instead, he is well on his way to implementing organized gambling statewide.
• His planned "deregulation" of electrical rates has totally ignored the illegal contracts Davis' people negotiated under a conflict of interest.
• He used his popularity to foist a constitutional amendment that makes it possible for the State to balance a budget by borrowing and called it "cutting up the credit cards."
• He opposed Prop 54 (Racial Privacy),
• He didn't support SaveOurState,
• He rolled over on the spending cap.
• Supported open primary proposition
• Promoted $3 Billion Embryonic Stem Cell Research proposition
• He is currently co-opting Ted Costa's effort to give California a just reapportionment system with one of his own.
• He appointed a person who advocates tracking every mile you drive and charging you for it as head of the DMV.

Other than that, he's doing a great job.

I think I'm going to convert each line item into a link. It'll take time, but this thing is getting big enough that it may warrant the work.

[Parley Baer]

All you need to know is that it is a Los Angeles Times article. Not worth the paper it is written on. Regarding the Orange County Register only the editorial page is conservative/Libertarian. The front page and the rest of the paper is direct from the Boston Globe and the New York Times. Parley

[Carry_Okie]

All you need to know is that it is a Los Angeles Times article.

I could care less what the source of the article is. Read my list above. I've been compiling it since Arnold was elected from numerous sources. If you have an issue with any of it, say so.

It's news that even the MSM, which has been covering for Arnold bigtime since he was elected, had to cover their sorry butts.

[tubebender]

Bttt...

[NormsRevenge]

There are a few newspapers that have a conservative bent to their reporting and coverage of issues or at least try and be fair and balanced which in this state's political and business climate is no easy feat. ;-)

The OC Register, LA Daily News, Sacramento Union, San Diego Union Tribune come to mind.

[NormsRevenge]

California newspapers

http://dir.yahoo.com/news_and_media/newspapers/by_region/u_s__states/california/complete_list/

[NormsRevenge]

That's Ok, the Bible is biased against the infidels too.

Now that's not being very bipartisan, something the Gub seems to think is Job#1, is it? ;-)

[Amerigomag]

Schwarzenegger can't possibly be rated as a disappointment.

Not anyone with some bare understanding of California and the political process predicted Schwarzenegger would be other than he has proved to be.

What is alarming is that a fare portion of the California electorate feels our Austrian friend has done well.

God save us all if this naive, malaise pervades our politics beyond the next two years.

[tubebender]

Bookmarked...Thanks

[calcowgirl]

Another LONG Review

http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/local/20041114021642.shtml

‘Fantastic’ start for Gov. Schwarzenegger
Governor has had much success in his first 12 months

By Jake Henshaw
Desert Sun Sacramento Bureau
November 14th, 2004

SACRAMENTO -- For Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state that he would turn around, it’s been a dazzling year. From his stunning announcement on Jay Leno’s television show to his crucial last-minute "pumping up" of the GOP vote for President George W. Bush, he’s been an "action" figure.

As he approaches the first anniversary of his swearing in as governor, the one-time Hollywood mega-star has almost outdone himself in a one-man performance as bipartisan conciliator, partisan campaigner, Capitol insider and crowd-pleasing outsider.

Even California -- the mighty empire unto itself -- hasn’t offered the governor a big enough stage. He’s also found time to attend a groundbreaking for a museum of tolerance in Israel, represent the United States at a state funeral in his native Austria and this week visit Japan to promote trade.

(snip)

[calcowgirl]

Great list. Thanks!

[NormsRevenge]

You're welcome.

Not sure that many on the list fall in the category of conservative, but ..

One needs to remember that not all reporters and writers are democrats or leftists or socialists or greenies, altho a fair portion do allow their beliefs to come thru in their writings.

It is easy to impugn many of the leftist rags as nothing more than fishwrap, but they are still invaluable resources to glean items and info about issues and happenings that don't see the light of day on the flickering tubes across America.

It is very easy to discount any reports published on that basis alone, and that may well be part of the goal of the left as well, who knows.

We here at FR have the tools to set the record straight, and so far, are doing a damn fine job of challenging any and all news bearers and their works, irrespective of their slant and/or hidden agendas.

[iq_two]

I'd give him an F since he tired to pass a bill letting the pounds kill animals right away. My best friend's dog saved me from getting attacked by another dog and if that bill had been passed, it would be dead.