Trust Arnold, but verify

OC Register ^ | 11/19/03 | Jon Coupal - Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.

[NormsRevenge]

As the celebratory atmosphere winds down in Sacramento following Arnold Schwarzenegger's inaugural, the stark realities of California's budget crisis will quickly take center stage. The scope of the problem facing our new governor is breathtaking. No adjective can adequately describe the budgetary hole dug by Gray Davis & Co.

[NormsRevenge]

Also from the OC Register -

5 things to tackle in his spare time

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By ALAN BOCK Senior editorial writer, The Orange County Register abock@ocregister.com

A governor who wants to be re-elected - and until we hear otherwise or a constitutional amendment is passed we have to suppose Arnold does - should have some long-range plans and themes. Not everything can be done quickly, but political/philosophical groundwork can be laid for the future. Here are some themes and projects Gov. Schwarzenegger should start developing now.

Really taking on various vested interests.

Sacramento is run mostly by tax consumers and those who benefit from big government - teachers unions, public employee unions, trial lawyers, businesses that depend on government contracts or favors, utopians (like environmentalists) who think a big stick is the way to accomplish their goals.

Develop a plan to explain and expose how these interests cost taxpayers money and subvert the real public interest in orderly, frugal government that lets the people decide their own priorities. It might start with a veto or with paragraphs in a State of the State address, but it should be a sustained campaign.

Looking at prison reform.

It won't seem characteristic for a Republican, but that will make it all the better. The prison guards unions, of course, are one of the most egregious special interest groups, but there's more. California imprisons a higher percentage of the population than virtually any entity in the world. The costs are enormous, both in money and in alienating and embittering people who will eventually get out. Start looking at the "three strikes" law and sentencing practices - and figuring ways, including privatization, to make prison more humane and less expensive. It really can be done.

Getting serious about drug-law reform.

Californians have already shown, by initiative, that they're open to allowing the medical use of marijuana and alternatives to incarceration. Cal-NORML estimates that legalizing marijuana would help the budget problem by up to $2 billion, through a combination of reduced enforcement and prison costs and increased tax revenue. You know, at some level of your consciousness, that the drug laws are not just bogus but harmful. Talk with Judge Jim Gray and the Drug Policy Alliance to develop a game plan to rid California of them - and strike a blow for states' rights.

Connecting freedom and the California Dream.

The climate and the natural wonders are only part of it. What has made California special is the sense of unlimited opportunity, as your personal story demonstrates. That means more freedom. We've gotten away from it in a sometimes well-intentioned desire to help everybody and make sure they do the right thing.

Talk about freedom and expanding options, connecting to regulatory reform, government reduction, bureaucratic reform, tax reform and simplification - and to the California Promise. Ronald Reagan ran for governor promising a Creative Society. Maybe the Opportunity State?

Learning about free-market environmentalism.

There's a host of solid research suggesting that market-oriented, property-respecting and voluntary policies are more effective at improving and preserving the natural environment than top-down command-and-control approaches. Talk to Fred Smith at the Competitive Enterprise Institute or Rick Stroup or Jane Shaw at the Political Economy Research Center in Montana - or attend a PERC seminar. There's nothing wrong with environmentalism that actually works and doesn't violate people's rights.

[NormsRevenge]

Got PERC 8-?

[NormsRevenge]

FRee-market enviromentalism Ping

[goldstategop]

Jon Coupal is right. We must cut spending, confine borrowing to paying off existing debt, and impose a spending limit to avoid taking on new debt. This should be accompanied by a restructuring of our tax and government delivery systems. Arnold should push for a flat tax and bring greater efficiency to government so it delivers services with the most value for taxpayer dollars. All of these steps are urgently needed to turn California around if we really want to end politics as usual in Sacramento.

[NormsRevenge]

PERC - The Center for Free Market Environmentalism is the nation's oldest and largest institute dedicated to original research that brings market principles to resolving environmental problems. Located in Bozeman, Montana, PERC pioneered the approach known as free market environmentalism, which is based on the following tenets. Private property rights encourage stewardship of resources.

Government subsidies often degrade the environment.

Market incentives spur individuals to conserve resources and protect environmental quality.

Polluters should be liable for the harm they cause others.

PERC's activities encompass three areas:

Research and policy analysis

Outreach through conferences, books and articles

Environmental education at all levels

[flamefront]

One day and already
Schwarzenegger modifies stand on driver license law.

Trust what?

[mirkwood]

California Applies for Ditech.com Consolidation Loan
(2003-11-19) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today went online to apply for a $15 billion debt consolidation loan for California from Ditech.com.

"I have heard that you can borrow up to 125 percent of the value of your property," said the new Governor, "We'll combine all of our monthly bills into one easy payment."

Mr. Schwarzenegger said that California would then go on a strict budget, setting up a system of manila envelopes for each category of expenditure -- public schools, highways, police.

"When we get money, we put it in the envelopes," he said. "When an envelope is empty, we can't have any more of that service until we get more money in the envelope."

The Governor also said he would cut up the state's credit cards.

[Amerigomag]

Borrowing money to buy groceries when you could move to a cheaper apartment is simply foolish.

Indebting productive Californians to continue the cradle to grave support of unproductive Californians is criminal.

Roll back the newly authorized increases in all departments, cut the existing budget allocations to meet the revenue stream and advise all state retirees that they are going to have to live on less until the budget is balanced.

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.

Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Arnold is going to need the sword from "Conan the Barbarian"!.