I didn't realize that the interview that is the subject of this thread was done by Dan Weintraub. The transcript gives a bit more context, although none of it encouraging.
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/insider/
I interviewed Schwarzenegger on KTKZ 1380 in Sacramento this morning and asked him if his reform proposal was his last shot at balancing the budget without raising taxes, as he pledged to do when he ran for governor in 2003. Schwarzenegger has said that Proposition 76 is a crucial piece of his plan to finish erasing the state's structural budget gap, which has shrunk from about $10 billion to $6 billion since he was elected. But he's never said what he would do if the voters decided they don't want to give him the tools he says he needs. I asked him about that possible scenario.
Here is a transcript of the exchange:
Governor: "I think we have to understand, there's only two ways to balance a budget. Theres only two ways to go. One is that we live within our means and that we only spend what we have, which is the way we should go, the responsible way. The other one is the way, the direction they are going right now, which is to spend more and more money and what they want to do is drive us into a corner so that they can raise taxes."
Weintraub: "You've put the solution out there, you've put your answer out there. If it is not adopted, won't you then be into that very corner and forced to consider --
Governor: "Absolutely. Absolutely. Then we have to look at raising taxes. Because this is the only option we have in order to create the money. This is why I tell people, vote yes on Proposition 76, and make sure that we do everything we can to pass this proposition so that we force our legislators once and for all to live within their means and not to continue spending money and to keep making promises to people that they can't keep."
Not encouraging at all, but quite consistent with what we have come to expect from Governor Do-Nothing.