CA: Governor postpones heavy lifting in his budget plan

Sac Bee ^ | 6/27/04 | Bill Bradley

[NormsRevenge]

As he considered running for governor last summer, it was clear in conversations with me that Arnold Schwarzenegger was motivated at least in part by the drama of parachuting into the midst of the state's crisis and not only bringing order from chaos but also moving California forward on a great new agenda.

What exactly that agenda might be was a little unclear, not surprisingly, since he had been focused last year on the global launch of one of the biggest action movies in history and had been intending to run in 2006, not 2003. His quickly cobbled together campaign agenda was highly effective but makeshift nonetheless. He has done much to manage the state's crises but is just getting started on the great new agenda. His proposed budget makes the most sense when viewed in that light.

There has been a great deal of accomplishment in seven months. Most of it is in the vein of crisis management, but the first rule of crisis management, as Schwarzenegger notes, is "stop the bleeding." And he has mostly done that.

While it's seen as a definite improvement, his budget plan is also seen by many, including Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill, as a buy-now-pay-later approach that achieves many reductions today in exchange for future spending tomorrow, bets big on an economic revival and defers some hard choices to the future. Although it may be balanced this year, many analysts see it as unbalanced in the future, not getting rid of the structural deficit that emerged from the state's continuing to spend heavily even after the collapse of the dotcom boom.

[NormsRevenge]

.

[IPWGOP]

Here’s a Schwarzenegger v Kerry fuppet you can print out and wear to annoy liberals. (A 'fuppet' is a finger puppet). They also can be used ‘free-standing’ for desktops. Just copy, paste and print. It should automatically printout the right size:

click here for more FUPPETS

[Amerigomag]

Although it (Schwarzenegger's proposed 2004/2005 budget) may be balanced this year

One would guess that Bradley assumes we're all Mexican nationals with a primary grade education.

Don't know about Mr. Bradley's personal budget but mine isn't balanced if I'm forced to borrow money at high interest rates to purchase groceries because I spend most of my salary to make the payments on a car I bought two years ago while on a spending binge.

[NormsRevenge]

That's OK.

Supposedly he reached a deal over pension reform but appears to have locked in all the excessive spending gains of the last 5 years in so doing.

CA: Governor, unions cut deal on pension reform

He's a reformer, yaknow. ;)

[Amerigomag]

Yes, I read your earlier post without surprise.

My initial reaction to this reports and other's involving Schwarzenegger's "solutions" is that Schwarzenegger is moving on before the house of cards collapses. My gut is probably wrong however because closer examination reveals the timing to be very risky. The cat will be out of the bag before January 2007.

Which leads to the theory of just plain old desperation and salvaging a very large ego. With the Legislature beyond his grasp, Schwarzenegger can do little to "reform" the core problem.

I have long held that Schwarzenegger's biggest contribution would have been to hold the line, force the state into a quasi bankruptcy, and use his personal skills to shift and focus the blame on the Democrats in the Legislature. That would give the state some relief by 2006.

Schwarzenegger's present tact will keep the state in financial limbo for a lot longer, perhaps as long as 15 years if policies aren't changed by following administrations.. Simple math shows that if the pace of unregulated immigration doesn't diminish, the state can't remain financially solvent, even in a vibrant economy, beyond the next generation if the public saftey net is avaliable to all who choose to use it, something Schwarzenegger appears unwilling to change or even publically address.