Notes on the State of the State (Tom McClintock's Weblog)

Tom McClintock for Lieutenant Governor ^ | January 6th. 2005 | Tom McClintock

[GOPXtreme20]

Notes on the State of the State January 6, 2005

I have always believed that resolving the basic problems that confront California will not be done within the most liberal legislature in the country. Put bluntly, the legislature is the problem, not the solution. Ultimately, I have believed that California's only salvation rests with a direct appeal to the electorate through the initiative.

Nothing came through more clearly in Gov. Schwarzenegger's State of the State Address than that he has now reached the same conclusion. After a largely fruitless year of trying to work with the legislature, this year he set forward his agenda clearly and compellingly and gave the legislature an ultimatum to act within a month. Meanwhile, he has kicked off an initiative drive to bypass the legislature and take that agenda directly to the ballot.

It will be a nasty, brutal, unpleasant fight. But there comes a time in a society when basic problems can no longer be ignored and fundamental issues must be brought to a head and resolved. Normal times require compromise and patience. Crises require uncompromising leadership and action. And I believe the Governor's State of the State Address rises to the occasion.

In it, he identified four critical problems facing California and offered four solid proposals to deal with them. I'll be commenting a lot about them in coming days. But at their core they are simple and irreducible concepts:

. Government must live within its means

. Public Employees should receive the same pensions as private sector employees (whose taxes go to support public pensions)

. Our good teachers should be paid more than our lousy ones

. Politicians should not draw their own districts Obviously, these don't address all the problems facing us, nor are they necessarily the ideal solutions. But there is no doubt in my mind that they would result in a dramatic improvement in the affairs of California. Not a bad way to start out the new year.

[William Tell]

From the article: "Government must live within its means"

Not a bad list of guiding principles, but this one needs some work. High taxes do not justify high spending. It has been said that "that government is best which governs least".

We need a sharply reduced budget and reduced taxes. We won't be done until people in other states marvel at how low the taxes are and how intelligently the state's affairs are managed.

[Mount Athos]

I really think Tom McClintock had a major part in advising and yes even directing these major actions from the governor this year...

[antiunion person]

If the California government didn't have such high taxes for us who live here legally, how would they support all the illegals that they support coming across the borders to use all of our agencies?? I love the fact Arizona passed a bill to have people using government handouts to prove they are in fact legal citizens. The only problem with that is, now the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will rule it unconstitutional. 9th Circus Court of Idiots is a better title for those leftist judges.

[goldstategop]

Agreed. We can only hope for all our sakes most of this stuff becomes a reality. Especially the spending cap and rewarding good teachers rather mediocre ones. If I had choose two of them, these would be the items I think as being crucial to our state's future.