Posted on 08/29/2005 3:19:39 PM PDT by calcowgirl
Memo to Arnold: Don't take the conservative base for granted.
The Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, started out the program today with Hugh Hewitt, and in addition to the slate of proposition on reform the Governator wants to pass, lots of issues the base out here cares about were brought up. Here's how that interview went:
HH: We kick today off with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has thrown the California political map into a complete tumult with a special election coming up in November. Governor, good to talk to you.
AS: Hello, how are you, Hugh? This is great to talk to you.
HH: Thank you. It's always good to have you on, Governor. Before we go to the initiatives, and we've got to get through each of them, let me ask you. Your neighboring governors, Governor Napolitano, Governor Richardson, have declared border states of emergency in Arizona and New Mexico, respectively. Is that grandstanding?
AS: Well, I think that they have different issues than we have. They have real emergencies on the borders, they have livestock being killed, they have human trafficking, they have drug trafficking, and they have also the same problem we have, which is the flow of illegal immigrants coming in. But they have...I just recently came from a border Governor's conference in Mexico, and all of the Governors got together that are on the borders, and we talked about that. And we came up with a resolution about all working together to create more security on the border, and protect the borders and all that. So it's been a major issue, but they have an even bigger problem than we have.
HH: All right. Now I want to go on to the initiatives, because you made a roll of the dice here, and you've thrown California's political calculus, and thus, the country's, into a little bit of upheaval, especially with Prop. 77. I'm not sold on redistricting, Governor. Tell me why I should vote for this.
AS: Well, I think that what is important is that the last time we did redistricting, it was the politicians that drew the district lines. And when politicians draw district lines, that means that they are drawing it in a way that protects themselves. It protects the incumbent. So what they have done is they've built this little castle, and to protect themselves, not let anyone else go in, and not creating competition. And in order...instead of protecting the people, the voters, they've protected themselves. It was all about them, rather than about the voters, about the people out there that need to be protected. And so when I was elected, I said that I will be a Governor that will be the people's Governor, and I want to protect the people, not the politicians. So it is important that we redo that, and it is a panel of retired judges that have no vested interest in the outcome. They should draw the district lines so that it is fair, and is competetive between Democrats and Republicans. Because what they have done when they drew the district line is they have picked the voters. And that is the wrong way to go, because it has to be the voters that pick the politicians, not the politicians picking the voters.
HH: Now Governor, I know a lot of retired judges, and some of them are quite sweet, but there are many I wouldn't let change the oil in my car, much less my Congressional districts. How do we know we're not going to get bums?
AS: Well, because they will be selected, and it will be a good and fair selection and all that. I think that this is very important that we have...the question always is...with everything is, do you want to continue the old system? Do you want to keep the status quo? Do you really want to have the politicians draw the district lines that is in favor of them, rather than in favor of the voters? That's really what the issue is here. And I always said that I want to reform the system, and I want to make sure that the people are represented the proper way, because the people are working hard out there, it's the people that are paying the taxes, that live by the rules and all this. And they should really be fairly represented so that there is a competetive district, so that Democrats and Republicans can compete and go out there and campaign, rather than fixing the system the way it is right now.
HH: All right, Governor. Let's turn to public school teachers. Yesterday, we did a story on the Canton Timken Public High School in Canton, Ohio, which had sixty five pregnant high school girls out of a total of 490 girls. That school's obviously broken down. What's got you taking aim at the public school teacher's tenure?
AS: Well, I think that we always said that there is a huge problem we have in education. We are spending this time, I mean this year, we increased education spending by $3 billion dollars. It's the hugest increase. We are spending $50 billion dollars altogether in education. It's the most that we have ever spent in the history of California. And we are not getting what we are supposed to get. You know, the system has to be reformed, but at the same time, we need to make sure that we don't tackle all of the problems at the same time, and do it one at a time. The first thing I said is let's start with the teachers. It is unfair that after two years, teachers have lifetime guarantees for their jobs, and if they're good or bad, they stay in there. You can't get rid of bad teachers. And you cannot reward good teachers with bonuses, or recognition pay, which I have proposed. All of those things are just wrong the way it is done right now. So what I propose in my teacher's tenure is, let's increase that after not two years you get the lifetime guarantee for your job, but after five years. Let the teachers prove themselves, because there are so many talented and so many hardworking teachers out there. And they should get rewarded. But the ones that are not making it, we should be able to get rid of them, and I think we should do the weeding out early on.
HH: Now Prop. 76, the companion initiative, goes after state spending, and part of that is school funding. Are you proposing to cut school funding?
AS: No, no. We never want to cut anything. As a matter of fact, it's quite the opposite. We want to increase funding for education, because as you know, I'm an education Governor. I want to make sure that education gets a fair amount of money, but we have to also show accountability. People want to see accountability, that the money is spent wisely, and more that 65% go into the classroom. That's what we are shooting for. What is happening right now is the money does not go into the classroom. It doesn't go towards the teachers. It goes to many other things, and administrative costs. So we want to clean house there. We want to make sure that the parents get their moneys worth, because they are paying the taxes. And we want to make sure that the children get the best education possible. So teachers tenure is the thing to start, and then we're going to continue on and expand and create real reform in education. But the important thing is we have to increase education spending, pay as much attention to education as possible, and really treat the teachers the right way, with respect, and give them a merit pay, and increase their pay.
HH: Now, there are a whole bunch of other initiatives on here that you did not put on, but I'd like your opinion on two of them. Prop. 73, which is a waiting period and parental notification for minors seeking an abortion. Will you vote for Prop. 73, Governor?
AS: Well, to be honest with you, I'm right now focuses only on our propositions. So we stay focused, so I don't go all over the place here, and talk about many initiatives, all of the initiatives. So this is why we always get involved with the other initiatives down the line. So maybe in October, we'll get involved with the other initiatives. But right now, it is important for us to talk about teachers tenure, to talk about living in our means, Proposition 76, and Proposition 77, which is the redistricting. And may I remind you, the key thing here is that when you talk about living within our means, is that the state stops spending more money than we take in. What created this huge mess, and why we had the recall election, was simply because our legislators could not keep control over their spending. They rung up a $22 billion dollar debt. That's what I have inherited. And they still today did not get the message. They're still spending more money than we have. This coming year, our structural defecit will be an additional $7.5 billion dollars. We cannot continue this way. And I simple reason why this is bad is that not only because we are not living within our means, but we never save enough money to really build an infrastructure, to work on our highways and freeways. We cannot afford all of these things. We need to build more schools. We need to build hospitals, emergency rooms. We need to create more nurses, more teachers. There's so many challenges ahead of us. If we continue always living in debt, we cannot afford what we need...
HH: That's absolutely true, but can you expect conservatives to get up and march, and you need them to march on this stuff, if you're not out there for say paycheck protection? I mean, that one's...that's the nuclear weapon that's been unleashed here. If the unions lose their stolen money from their people, they're going to be crippled. So are you going to be out there for Prop. 75?
AS: Well, again, like I said earlier, I'm not getting off...in principle, I'm for all of those things, but we are not going to get involved in endorsing any of the other initiatives. What is important is that we're using November 8th as the time for all of California to rally together and go to the polls and to vote, and to create real change. Because the legislators are incapable to create real reform in California, which we need so badly, in order to fix the broken system. I always promised the people that when I come into office, I will fix the broken system.
HH: Will you be appointing the new Justice on the California Supreme Court before the election?
AS: I don't think it will be before the election, but I mean...
HH: Are conservatives going to be happy, Governor?
AS: We are right now going through the process, and it is, as you know, it's always very important that we appoint the right person, the most competent person, the person that really has skills and experience.
HH: But it's got to be a conservative. I mean, Janice Rogers Brown was the most conservative member of that court, and if you come in with a moderate, aren't the conservatives going to sit on their hands for you, Governor, next year?
AS: You can count on it that we will do the right...we will pick the right choice, and that we will do the right replacement.
End of interview.
Geddoubtahere with that!!! Maria is the ONLY one that *MUST* support his steroid shriveled "package!"
It's hard to believe the mental and intellectual contortions you ran through in that rant... Whew!!!
He has left a debris field of good advice/advisors bigger than TWA flight 800!!!
He's an unmitigated disaster that just couldn't wait to happen all over CA and it's GOP!!!
He hath snagged defeat from the jaws of the historic Recall he snagged from the former conservative majority in the CAGOP just so he, Wilson, Riordan, Firestone, Parsky and the rest of the souless "moderates" could castrate the conservative dominance of the GOP!!!
He's all talk! He's never gonna reform ANYTHING!!!
Earth to newzjunkey... Earth to newzjunkey... hello???
The reason you didn't see any of that, was until your post there wasn't any mention of Arnie swooners, bots et al... at least not that I noticed.
Don't you find this type of thread a lot more productive when we focus on the 90% of what Schwarzenegger has done that is bad, rather than drift off into the 'I told you so neatherworld'?
I voted for Schwarzenegger. I was under no dilusion that things were going to be peachy under his rule. I stated up front there that would be some things we'd like, and a lot of things we'd detest.
I did not want Davis or Bustamante in there.
I did not like the idea of Schwarzenegger becoming governor. I don't think any 'conservatives' did.
If someone were to send Arnold two large globe shaped brass paperweights of "encouragement",
what words would you like to see engraved on them?
What lies between, must conform to the original spirit and the intent of these.
He's not looking around for "encourgement!" He thinks he's got it all figured out and doesn't need to listen to the rank rank-and-file! He thinks he's already got the best advisors (with the exception of Warren Buffet) possible to have in CA.
So the two words I would have enscribed on those two fake brass balls would be "BLEEP BLEEP!!!" I no longer see ANY possible redeeming social value to CA Conservatives, or even the danged CAGOP for that matter, through the auspices of the A.S. mal-administration!!!
Why should I value what he has simply squandered foolishly??? He's just been peeing into the wind!!! (and all over even fiscal conservatives)
You're just going to have to accept that these folks think Davis or Bustamante would have been better, then move on.
There's not much to defend Schwarzegger over, and at this point it's his own damned fault.
When Wilson et al decided to run Schwarzenegger, it was a complete sellout of the conservative movement in the state.
Let's be frank about this. California has essentially been jetisoned from the union by our federal officials. No amount of devistation from the onslaught of illegal immigration will be recognized as impetus to address the open border situation.
When it comes to national elections, Bush has been MIA in California.
With more electoral votes than any other state, California isn't even contested by the national figure-head of conservatism.
You can't blame conservatives for being PO'd to the max. Did Bush show up to help McClintock? Did he show up in a meaningful way to back Simon?
I don't blame these folks for thinking conservatism in California has currently reached rock bottom. It has.
Hey! Are you tryin for the "Knot-Head of the Decade" award with that first paragraph?
Furthermore, conservatism in CA is alive and well but currently being frustrated by the dubious, duplicitious and devious actions of the muddle-headed moderates from the Wilson, Parsky, Sundheim, Firestone, Riordan puss head gang.
Just as soon as we can purge this putsch from the CAGOP, you'll see a conservative revolution rush through the Republican Party and then through CA that'll be hard to believe in it's swiftness and power!!!
Given the right set of issues, packaged by a big thinking conservative leadership and a candidate that exudes sincerity, we'll sweep CA off it's leftist feet!!!
Bravo!
Hey! Are you tryin for the "Knot-Head of the Decade" award with that first paragraph?
For a movement to be viable, it has to place people in office or move it's agenda forward by other means.
Not to seem pious, or preachy, but I think that we have the power to achieve our goal without taking a blind dive with another 'charismatic' politician, If we turn to prayer, both on an organized and on a personal basis. When this country was great, that was the foundation, and greatness cannot return without that foundation being restored.
When we turn to men for our solutions, we get what men have to offer. Reagan was not charismatic, he was devoted to the Lord.
I know what you mean. I recognize that charismatic is a problematic descriptor. IMO Reagan would have been toast if it hadn't been for his ability to 'connect' with the populace. Most people would have been toast when they cut off the microphone. Ronald Reagan was able to turn the tables on the powers that be. Just about anyone else would have come off harsh and brittle, not Reagan. I attribute that to his charisma.
I don't discount his religious component. I don't discount his message either, but good messages do not always a winner make. Reagan was able to parley a good message into something more. Once gain, I think it was his charisma.
I think of Reagan as a charismatic, but not in a bad way. He was able to connect to the average Joe, left and right. That takes a certain tallent that many don't have.
Thanks for the comment.
Agreed.
I want to defend conservatism, not Arnold.
It's the very heart and soul of love and freedom and everything of enduring value. It's the substance of individuality and self-worth and the only thing that makes sense .
It's the opposite of crazy because it's real.
Socialism says, "You can't do it on your own, and it's selfish to try. Only gov't can save you."
Conservatism shines the beam of hope and says "You can do it - let me show you how."
The genius of conservatism is ingenuity, and it doesn't come from government.
It will only be as strong as the individuals who practice it.
Looking at the horrendous devastation of Katrina on TV, California's problems seem so small by comparison.
I really like your "engraving" idea, Doughty One. Thanks.
Much classier than what I had in mind.
His rhetoric resonated with their Judeao/Christian "better natures" in ways that are more mystical and magical than mere "Chrisma!" His Americans followed his dream of building that shining (exceptional)city on a hill that beamed it's light of freedom to inspire other nations and nationals to emulate it in their own realm and it happened!!! (even in the USSR!)
He didn't do it through gradualism, or by collaborating with leftist in government, but by collaborating directly with the people through their TV! He moved the ball down the field even when the left kept moving the goal posts as they are prone to do!
When it came time for him to "cut, cut, cut!" He did it!!! When it was time to "blow up those boxes... He did it!!! When he was a Democrat, he spake as a Democrat. But when that Party veered left... he became a Republican and spake as a Republican and made being a Republican as worthwhile as it had been since Lincoln!!!
Like I said: We're not looking for Chrisma to swoon over! We're looking for sincerity and purposeful leadership that can do more acting than blustering and bring about implementation of considerate conservative principles in THIS decade, then again in the next!!!
LOL Understandable.
Ok, I'll do that when there is some but I won't hold my breath.
lol Fair enough!
Hugh Hewitt is a David Dreier buttboy who has always opposed tightening the border. He's not about to follow up on the issue, and wouldn't address it at all if the grassroots weren't making things hot for RINO yuppies of his sort.
Your hat is safe. Good rant.
Arnold was being groomed for Governor by that "New Majority" faction of big money RINOs. The recall caught them by surprise, but they had the money and Arnold the name recognition to win easily. If Arnold fails as Governor the silver lining may be that the New Majority will fail in their bid to control the Cal GOP and pull it further to the left.
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