Adding Up The Finance Appointee's Record (Watch Out For The Lamentations Of Liberals Alert!)

Los Angeles Times ^ | 11/04/03 | Evan Halper

[goldstategop]

In California, Arduin is taking on a state budget shortfall that could easily balloon past $25 billion, thanks to a chronic imbalance between spending and revenues and legally dubious borrowing.

Campaign strategist Mike Murphy first suggested that the new administration consider Arduin, whose work he knew from Michigan, where they both had jobs in the early 1990s. Schwarzenegger's transition chief, Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas), was impressed by rave reviews of Arduin, and then by conversations with her.

"She likes to say this is the Super Bowl of budgeting, to deal with the kind of challenge California faces," he said.

Arduin took a leave from her Florida post last month to perform what Schwarzenegger called an "audit" of California's books. The work in progress is more a study of state spending to help set budget priorities.

"We're looking through the books, working with staff around Sacramento and asking questions about fiscal policy, fiscal management, data gathering," Arduin said recently. "We plan to show him the best practices from other states."

Repeat Audits

Some officials question whether much more light will be shed on the books since the team assigned to work with Arduin — 10 or so GOP legislative fiscal specialists — already did their own audits during the last budget season. Those efforts concluded that balancing the budget without new taxes would require major reductions in higher education and social programs that most voters do not want cut.

Arduin, however, is confident that the audit will be valuable.

"Sometimes you just have to know what to ask," she said. Arduin declined to share any of what has been uncovered to date, and staffers for Schwarzenegger said her report might not even be made public despite the governor-elect's campaign pledge on the day he appointed her to "open up the books and let the people look inside." They said the findings would be reviewed for Schwarzenegger by former Controller Kathleen Connell, former Treasurer Tom Hayes and Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, a conservative think thank. ...

A common refrain among Florida Republicans is "Thank God this is not California

[goldstategop]

"Thank God this is not California."

Which is exactly why Donna Arduin is perfect for the job in California. Its easy for the government to spend other people's money. Its more difficult for the government to live within its means. If there's any one who can tame the ravenous spending beast in Sacramento, its Arduin. And be prepared to watch out for the lamentations of Democrats.

[HarleyD]

"Those efforts concluded that balancing the budget without new taxes would require major reductions in higher education and social programs that most voters do not want cut.

They're already lamenting.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Never saw an article which didn't use the subject's first name. Very curious.

[DoctorZIn]

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