Posted on 07/31/2005 6:57:20 AM PDT by Jefferson2000
SACRAMENTO -- On July 11 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger scored his biggest victory of the year, signing a budget in which the Democratic-controlled legislature gave him almost everything he wanted in his effort to cure this debt-plagued state government.
But hard on the heels of that triumph, one of Schwarzenegger's aides told me last week, "Ka-chunk, ka-chunk. It was like getting run over by the front and rear wheels of a truck."
On July 13 news reports revealed that just before taking office in 2003, the governor had signed a multimillion-dollar contract with the publisher of two muscle magazines that rely on ads for nutritional supplements -- and then vetoed a bill that would have regulated some of those supplements. After 24 hours of brutal editorial condemnation of what another aide called "that $8 million mistake," Schwarzenegger gave up that income and scrapped another multimillion-dollar deal to promote a body-building festival in Columbus, Ohio.
Then a California court threw one of Schwarzenegger's key initiatives off the ballot in the November special election he had ordered -- a measure aimed at transferring the power to draw legislative and congressional district lines from the legislature to a panel of three retired judges. Those the governor had entrusted with qualifying the initiative had mistakenly submitted a title and description to the attorney general slightly different from the language on the petition forms signed by voters -- a big enough discrepancy for the judge to invalidate the petitions.
An appeals court has stayed that order, pending a review, but suddenly, a Republican who seemingly had brought an aura of invincibility with him from his Hollywood strongman days appeared to be stumbling and gasping for air.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Well, he's sooo much less than McClintock. I just can't quite jump on board.
McClintock wouldn't have beaten Bustamecha.
In a state with over 30,000,000 people, how can so many be boobs?
It's the weather.
Just wait 'til all the illegals start voting {as if they're not already}!
And the silicone!
This budget process went more smoothly than any budget process in the about the last ten years. The WP glossed over that little fact.
The special election has several items on it that are important. Whether you like Schwarzenegger or not, he deserves some support when it comes to them.
The Washington Post would love nothing more than to cut the legs out from under Schwarzenegger. Sadly some ignorant duffuses on this forum would love nothing more than to front for the Washington Post and it socialsist/democrat allies in their efforts to do so.
Make no mistake about it, Schwarzenegger hasn't been an exemplory governor by conservative standards. None the less, there are times when it's going to be necessary to support him and his causes, even if we don't like other things like big spending and other negatives.
It's amazing the things that being star-struck and fame-worshiping will blind one to!!
Can you be more specific?
Are you referring to the losers serving on the legislature? The boobs who voted for them?
Or the really stealth boobs who consider themselves "above the masses" and have a firm grasp of issues and maintain that the most important thing ever is to --- win?
Too many boobs to go around.
The problem with California's boobs (as it applies to republicans) rests with their leadership. California republicans are more than willing to vote for conservative issues and candidates, it's just that the leadership isn't there to help provide or support those issues or candidates.
It was the leadership that convinced Schwarzenegger to run. When they did so, it completely short-circuited the ability for conservative candidates to gain traction.
When Simon ran in the last general election before the recall, the GOP leadership in the state did not support him financially. Even so, he made a very good showing and came quite close to pulling it off. If the leadership had supported Simon in deed and with cash, it's very likely he would have won.
That would have made the recall unnecessary.
California's conservative voters are more often than not, manipulated by a leadership that seemingly would be more at home at the state level DNC office, than their own.
Silly me. I thought the impetus behind the Davis recall was precisely that!
Silly me.
I voted for Arnold and will vote for him again.
But things are not going too well. There is a general feeling of unease when the losers somehow manage to continue to wield power and control spending far out of proportion to their importance.
The LA Times and the SF Chronicle write Arnold's obituary practically every day. They publish hoked-up polls, they extoll the virtues of a plethora of Democrat tax-and-spend jackals, and yet the people know: Arnold is one tough sucker and like Bush means what he says.
I can't stand that almost every Governor we put in office has dreams of higher office and plays to that role. Even ineligible Arnold.
Here were our choices:
1. Sitting Governor that had taken us from a balanced budget to a (somewhere around) $37 billion bugdet deficit in five years and to the verge of fiscal collapse, and had signed a bill giving illegal aliens the right to driver's licenses.
2. A well qualified conservative state Senator that was about 10% in the polls.
3. A brown separatist Lt. Governor that was about as liberal as it gets.
4. Arnold Scwarzenegger, arguably a liberal by most standards, yet with possible bright spots here and there.
I know a lot of people like to think this was a case of being 'star struck', but there was only one option IMO.
We have to face the reality that California is a very liberal state.
I'm okay with Arnold being elected because that's the best we could get at the time.
Also, BETWEEN elections CA Consevatives brag that they can win if only.... Then we put-up lame candidates who go out and run miserable campaigns eg. Fong, Lundgren, Simon, Jones, etc., etc., etc....
I don't disagree with that at all.
The terminator has also lured jobs back to Colleafonia.
You got that right. Until the Republican party supports a McClintock it is crazy to think CA dems would. His own party abandoned him first.
Are the new jobs as real estate agents and mortgage brokers? (I am only half kidding) That is the engine driving my part of Califoria now.
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