CA: Tongue twister - What did the governor mean to say?

IMO Arnold knew exactly what he was saying. Maybe he was testing the waters and found them to hot. Too bad, we can use a politician who talks straight and means what he says.

He is now irrelevant and the only thing he can do now, and he's too big of a coward to do it, is use his line-item veto power.

By the way you make things sound, you are nostalgic for the good ol' times of Gray Davis and Bustamante. You really think Arnold is "finished?" That sounds like a stretch at best, but we'll wait and see. Maybe we could get Gary Coleman to come in for the rescue.

Securing the border is a federal issue. Arnold is stirring the pot trying to put pressure on the feds to do their job. He is going about it the right way, albeit with occasional faux pas. Arnold is up front about fixing California and about bringing issues to the voters. He is up against a liberal legislature and of course the liberal media. Arnold is not perfect, but he has done well as governor so far. The Teacher's Union coming out against him tells me he is on the right non-PC side of things.

We all know the borders are the fed's responsibility but since W refuses to do his job then all Ahnold would and should do is pick up the phone, call W and say "Mr. President, if you don't secure the borders then I will be forced to call out the CA National Guard", and you can bet that W would "get 'er dun!"

Only problem is the GOP has turned into the "Geldings of the Party"...

He should have said, "Close the borders to illegal immigration". He should go around saying that every chance he gets.

By the way you make things sound, you are nostalgic for the good ol' times of Gray Davis and Bustamante. You really think Arnold is "finished?" That sounds like a stretch at best, but we'll wait and see. Maybe we could get Gary Coleman to come in for the rescue.

Given that spending in 2004 under Arnold was higher then what Davis proposed, I can't see the difference between the two.

He's not saying anything different than he said two years ago--mumbo jumbo so he can spin it whichever way the wind is blowin'. Remember his interview with O'Reilly in September 2003? He wants to "negotiate", get more money from the feds, have a guest worker program, and, oh yeah, not have his feelings hurt.

Transcript
SCHWARZENEGGER: I definitely would rescind the driver's license, because I think it is unfair to the rest of the people of California. They have now driver's licensing required of people from all over the world that can come and get driver's licenses without any background check. I think it is ridiculous. It's unsafe for the state. It creates big security problems here. The law enforcement community is against that. The federal government is against that. The attorney general of California, Bill Lockyer, is against that, and I am definitely against it. I think, like I said, it will create serious security problems.
O'REILLY: OK. Now, one of the reasons you have that problem to begin with is the border is a sieve from San Diego right out to Imperial County. People can come into California. Are you going to do anything about the border? If so, what?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, the first thing I would like to do is, is when I become governor, work together with other governors of neighboring states and of states that are next to Mexico to really work on those problems and immigration problems, you know, I think including New York. Because I think if you talk to the federal government, we have to close the borders, make them tighter, especially...
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: Yes, but how do you do that? I mean, it's been going on now for 20 years, how do you do it?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Negotiate with them. I think we have to get together as governors and really go there and lobby heavily and just really let them know that we cannot continue with this policy, because, you know, people will continue coming in.
O'REILLY: Yes, I know, but do you have any ideas that you can offer the other governors or the president of the United States? All of them seem to be confused about the issue. Do you have any ideas on how you can control the borders?
SCHWARZENEGGER: I think we just have to -- I think we just have to bring leadership there and really make sure that the -- explain the case, that how bad it is for the state and how bad it is for the country to do that. Because it sends the wrong message to other people that are filing officially for immigration, to get their green cards and their visas here and all that stuff.
We have to work on those kind of issues together, the border states, because...
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: Would you be opposed to militarizing the border, putting the National Guard in California down there, to back up the border patrol? Would you be opposed to that?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I'm not opposed to that, but I'd really have to check it out and really become much more an expert on how to protect the borders in order to make the -- to stop that from happening.
But also, I think, there's a lot of money that we can get from the federal government to help us with the costs of the undocumented...
O'REILLY: Maybe...
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: They're broke too. They don't have any money either.
SCHWARZENEGGER: I know they're broke, but remember one thing, that during the last year they cut out $400 million from the after-school programs, the federal government. I went there and started negotiating and working with the White House and with the legislators, and we got the $400 million back.
O'REILLY: Yeah, you got it back.
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: You've got to have a plan to ...
SCHWARZENEGGER: But Bill, let me tell you something, Bill, I never accept no for an answer. It doesn't exist. Anything is possible. I am absolutely convinced that we can work together with the federal government and slow down the flow of illegal immigrants.
And the other thing we have to do is, we have to solve the problem with the visas. I think that people that are undocumented, we have to come up with a way, like John McCain just recently talked about a visa, you know, working permit of some sort, for foreign workers. They get a special permit to work...
O'REILLY: A guest worker permit, right?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Exactly. When you make it legitimate ...
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: It's all possible ...
(CROSSTALK)
SCHWARZENEGGER: It needs leadership. It needs leadership.
O'REILLY: OK. But it also needs courage, because you have to stop the flow, and to stop the flow, you have to take, as you know, you used the word before, you have to have discipline.
Now, you were dis-invited to a Mexican-American parade because you're not -- you know, you're telling them stuff they don't want to hear. No licenses. Tough border policy. How did you think about getting dis-invited to that Mexican-American parade?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I think it hurt my feelings, that I was dis-invited. You know, it was -- politics got in the way of that. But you know what I did, I went the same day, a few miles away from that parade, I went to East Los Angeles and I worked on the inner-city games and after-school programs. I went to a softball game. I reached out to the Latino community and all that stuff, so it was no problem at all.
But my feelings were hurt by getting dis-invited. There's no two ways about that.
O'REILLY: Do you think Mexican-Americans in California will support you, or are they going to go the Democratic way?
SCHWARZENEGGER: I think that some of them will go, you know, with Bustamante and with the Democratic way and others will support me. For me, the key thing is just to let them know that I am not anti-immigration or anti- immigrant, that I am all for it. I am a true immigrant myself. I went through the struggles in the beginning coming here, trying to get a temporary working permit, then get a permanent working permit, then wait 10 years to get my citizenship, which this month is my 20-year anniversary to have my American citizenship.
So I went through all these struggles. I can relate to the whole thing, that people from around the world want to come here to California, because this is the Mecca. This is...
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: But you came legally.
SCHWARZENEGGER: It's the most beautiful place.
O'REILLY: You came legally.
SCHWARZENEGGER: Yes, absolutely. I'm just saying, I can relate to immigration problems ...
O'REILLY: Yeah, I know.
SCHWARZENEGGER: And also to that people want to come here. We just have to encourage now people to do it the legitimate way.
O'REILLY: Would you cut entitlement spending to illegal immigrants in California?
SCHWARZENEGGER: That's an issue that has been addressed already by a federal judge. It was ruled unconstitutional. I want to stay with the law. I want to continue the way it is done right now, where people get services.
O'REILLY: OK. Now, when we come back, we'll talk about the media and whether they're giving you a fair shake.
We'll be back with Mr. Schwarzenegger after these announcements of interest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ping to above - flashback (SOS)

"it needs leadership?"

Yea, "it needs leadership" alright!
Leadership we haven't gotten from Sacramento or DC!

Looks like I'll be volunteering for the "Undocumented Border Patrol" when they come to CA.

Semper Fi,
Kelly

yeah. I'm not from CA, but I find it disturbing too. Personally, i thought the excuse was incredibly lame. Yeah, he has an accent, but he's lived here for decades. He knew what he was saying. Secure, close, whatever. Pick one and stick with it.