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Will Arnold Be Back After '06? - Schwarzenegger: Man has created global warming...
ABC News ^ | 4/23/06 | Ed O'Keefe

Posted on 04/23/2006 9:18:53 AM PDT by NormsRevenge

April 23, 2006 — - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., celebrated Earth Day by issuing a global warming warning, extolling the virtues of fuel-efficient vehicles and blasting "outrageous" oil prices at the pumps in an exclusive interview on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

"The science is in," the actor-turned-politician claimed. "The facts are there that we have created, man has, a self-inflicted wound that man has created through global warming."

As to the government's role in combating global warming, Schwarzenegger continued, "I think that the federal government is doing things. But I think that they are not aggressive enough. And I think that the whole world is not aggressive enough."

Schwarzenegger encouraged buying fuel-efficient vehicles and pointed to California's policies as an example for the nation, saying, "We want to inspire people that desire cars that are fuel efficient and also drive less, do more carpooling and so on. Because remember, the oil price is all based on supply and demand."

Regarding the issue of rising gas prices at the pump, Schwarzenegger said, "I think that's absolutely outrageous. And believe me, I am all for profit. I love when businesses are booming. But there is a certain point when you have a product that everyone needs and that everyone is relying on because of the situation that you have created. … We've got to protect the people."

Schwarzenegger did not overtly support a windfall profit tax, but did not rule it out entirely, choosing instead to focus first on combating "gouging" at the pumps.

In a wide-ranging interview with ABC News chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos, the governor rebuked some of his fellow Republicans for their stance on immigration reform. Schwarzenegger strongly rejected the idea of building a "wall" along 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border, an idea advocated by a number of prominent House Republicans.

"I think that it will be ludicrous to limit yourself to just building a wall," he said. "We're going back to the stone ages here. I mean, we are landing men on the moon and in outer space using all these great things. I think that other technology really can secure the borders.

"If I say, 'Yes, let's build the wall,' what would prevent you from building a tunnel?" he added. "How many tunnels have been built in the last ten years? I mean, we've detected tunnels left and right that people can drive trucks through. And they have air conditioning systems in these tunnels and water flowing and fuel supply and everything. I think that it is crazy to think that a wall alone will do it."

Schwarzenegger embraced "earned citizenship", a position espoused by numerous Senate Republicans, and dismissed any suggestion of amnesty. He also pushed back calls for mass deportation.

"How do you do this logistically?" he asked. "How does that work? You send 12 million people back. It would cost $500 billion. Who's going to pay for that? I mean, this is ludicrous to think this way."

On another federal-state issue, Schwarzenegger also had tough words on protecting California's levees in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

"I think the federal government has not learned these lessons," he said. "I think that they have failed terribly with Katrina. And I think there is a great potential there that they make the same mistake with California. I've been asking the federal government. I said, 'Look at the levees. They are soaked right now. They are so vulnerable. The only thing that keeps us from disaster right now are sandbags.' "

Schwarzenegger left no doubt as to whether the government is responsible for protecting the levees and, through them, the people and property in the state he governs.

"I think it is the number one responsibility of government … to protect the people," he said. "We have an earthquake-prone state. We have a state that is prone to all kinds of disasters. We have had the hugest fires, mud slides, rains, earthquakes. We have everything, levee breaks we've had in the past. We've got to protect the people."

But, come November, the people of California may no longer desire Schwarzenegger's protection. As both the governor and President Bush experience personal record lows in their approval ratings, Schwarzenegger told Stephanopoulos that he doubts the president would seek his advice. But the red Governor in a decidedly blue state refused to distance himself from the Republican president.

"He is making decisions based on what he thinks is best for the country," Schwarzenegger said of Bush. "That doesn't mean that it is in sync with my opinion. That doesn't mean it's in sync with your opinion or with someone else's. But I am sure he is doing his best job."

As for his own fate, the first-term governor expressed confidence and rejected the polls.

"You know something?" he said. "I don't really care about that at all. I don't look at it where a president's approval ratings are when I meet with a president and also, you know, when I lead. I mean, the people will judge me in November based on what is my performance, what I have done."

At the moment, a recurring role in Sacramento may be a tough sell even in Schwarzenegger's own home. The governor dismissed the notion that Maria Schriver, his wife and a member of the famed Kennedy political family, would ever run for office and admitted his Democratic partner might not love his current job.

"She grew up in a political family," he said. "I think that she is not as much into this whole thing. She loves serving the people. She loves being first lady. But for her, the most important thing is to raise the children and for us to be together as a family. She doesn't like the job that I have now. She doesn't like the idea that I'm running again. [But] she's supportive."

When asked by Stephanopoulos whether or not Schriver had asked him not to run again in 2006, the former actor cautiously chose his lines.

"I wouldn't say that she said I shouldn't run," Schwarzenegger said. "I think that she maybe is very clear that she would rather have me at home. She didn't say, 'Don't run'. She puts it in a different way. She would just say, 'I need you to be at home. I love you to be at home.'"

But, Schwarzenegger explained, duty calls.

"I told her I cannot walk away from this job," he said, "not because I need the job, but I am a person that likes when I start something, I want to finish it."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: arnold; arnoldlegacy; california; created; globalwarming; schwarzenegger; stephanopoulos
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To: ElkGroveDan

Why don't you just compare Arnold with Westly and Angelides?

Will you be able to look at yourself in the mirror if you help Angelides or Westly get elected?


21 posted on 04/23/2006 11:50:19 AM PDT by FairOpinion (Dem Foreign Policy: SURRENDER to our enemies. Real conservatives don't help Dems get elected.)
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To: FairOpinion
Why don't you just compare Arnold with Westly and Angelides?

I have. The only difference I see is that the two of them don't have the clout to sway Republican votes in the legislature. Neither of them would have been able to get a Republican Senator (even a liberal one) to sponsor a bill to raise the minimum wage.

Will you be able to look at yourself in the mirror if you help Angelides or Westly get elected?

If they do, it won't be my fault. It will be his own fault. I will, on the other hand, at least be glad that he is no longer pulling the strings in the state Republican Party. We can then get to work electing leaders who actually SUPPORT the key planks in our platform.

22 posted on 04/23/2006 12:11:29 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan (California bashers will be called out)
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To: infidel29

He definitely claimed he was a fiscal conservative. He's more conservative socially, then he is fiscally.


23 posted on 04/23/2006 12:19:17 PM PDT by nickcarraway (I'm Only Alive, Because a Judge Hasn't Ruled I Should Die...)
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To: infidel29; NormsRevenge

Oh, well. He's a statewide officeholder in Califnrnia, after all, so I guess you can't have everything. For all his faults, he's preferable to the opposition.


24 posted on 04/23/2006 12:49:22 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued (Bob Taft for Impeachment)
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To: infidel29
I never heard him claim to be a conservative.

Schwarzenegger speech at RNC Convention, September 2003

"Let me tell you what being a conservative means to me. I'm a conservative because I believe communism is evil and free enterprise is good. I'm a conservative because Milton Friedman is right and Karl Marx is wrong. I'm a conservative because I believe government serves the people, the people don't serve the government. I'm a conservative because I believe in a balanced budget, not budget deficits. I'm a conservative because I believe money that people earn is their money and not the government's money. And when you look at the drivers' license outrage, I am a conservative because I believe in the rules of the law, not political pandering."

25 posted on 04/23/2006 2:00:28 PM PDT by calcowgirl
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To: FairOpinion
Arnold doesn't look anything like the way he is depicted in the pix on the right -- that's a cartoonists photoshop exercise. ...
The point is that he is taking CA in the right direction ...

I think you need help.

26 posted on 04/23/2006 2:12:25 PM PDT by calcowgirl
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To: calcowgirl

Fair enough, like I said I never heard it, I didn't say he never said it.


27 posted on 04/23/2006 2:14:31 PM PDT by infidel29 ("We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." --Benjamin Franklin)
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To: calcowgirl
We're all liberals now. Problem solved. Now if only we could get the Left to stop being angry at us and gather round the fireplace and sing "kumbaya." What more do people want? We've surrendered everything, including our principles and our opponents are still not happy. Sheesh...

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

28 posted on 04/23/2006 2:21:47 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: calcowgirl

There you go again, falling back to personal insults.

Republicans and conservatives need to learn from history. Just look at Perot, look at the recent elections in Italy and Hungary, in both places conervatives lost because they were so focued on fighting each other, so the socialists united and won.

I am tired of people claiming to be conservatives promoting divisions among conservatives, which will result in the Dems winning.


29 posted on 04/23/2006 2:23:36 PM PDT by FairOpinion (Dem Foreign Policy: SURRENDER to our enemies. Real conservatives don't help Dems get elected.)
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To: FairOpinion
Schwarzenegger did not overtly support a windfall profit tax, but did not rule it out entirely, choosing instead to focus first on combating "gouging" at the pumps.

Do you think there is some concerted conspiracy to gouge at the pumps FO, or is Arnold just throwing some bones to the masses?

30 posted on 04/23/2006 2:27:42 PM PDT by Torie
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To: FairOpinion

Denying facts and reality are signs of more serious problems.
When one does not acknowledge that the emperor has no clothes, they need help.

It was intended as sincere advice--not an insult.


31 posted on 04/23/2006 2:29:12 PM PDT by calcowgirl
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To: Torie

"Arnold just throwing some bones to the masses"

===

Bush said the same thing -- I think that is exactly what's going on. They have to say something, otherwise people start "demanding" that they do "something".

They can't just tell people to go buy stock in the oil companies -- after all "big oil" IS owned by the people.


32 posted on 04/23/2006 2:31:07 PM PDT by FairOpinion (Dem Foreign Policy: SURRENDER to our enemies. Real conservatives don't help Dems get elected.)
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To: calcowgirl

"Denying facts and reality are signs of more serious problems. "

==

That statement seems to fit you and your "ilk" far better.


33 posted on 04/23/2006 2:32:27 PM PDT by FairOpinion (Dem Foreign Policy: SURRENDER to our enemies. Real conservatives don't help Dems get elected.)
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To: NormsRevenge; FairOpinion

See Norm, I bring out the best in FO. :)


34 posted on 04/23/2006 2:33:05 PM PDT by Torie
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To: NormsRevenge
I think that the federal government is doing things. But I think that they are not aggressive enough. And I think that the whole world is not aggressive enough.

Don't do anything. That piece of land I own in Deadhorse, AK is getting more and more valuable every day.

35 posted on 04/23/2006 2:49:03 PM PDT by edpc
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To: NormsRevenge
Schwarzenegger encouraged buying fuel-efficient vehicles and pointed to California's policies as an example for the nation, saying, "We want to inspire people that desire cars that are fuel efficient and also drive less, do more carpooling and so on. Because remember, the oil price is all based on supply and demand."

This from a man whose car(s) of choice is the Hummer and commutes from Los Angeles to Sacramento on a private jet. Oh.... I get it--he is encouraging the peasants to be more efficient. Thanks Arnold.

36 posted on 04/23/2006 3:03:45 PM PDT by calcowgirl
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To: calcowgirl

Maybe he could jetpool with RFK Jr. and Arianna Huffington. ;-)


37 posted on 04/23/2006 4:32:40 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi)
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To: FairOpinion

I am tired of people claiming to be conservatives promoting divisions among conservatives, which will result in the Dems winning.


--

I am tired of people claiming to be moderate Republicans promoting divisions among conservatives, which have resulted in the dems getting much of their liberal agenda solidified in place and additional debts placed on us, all in the name of "neo-conservatism" and letting those who did the bulk of the damage off the hook and actually working with them to do even more towards assisting their end game.


38 posted on 04/23/2006 4:37:54 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi)
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To: FairOpinion

You are hardly one to be able to claim to carry much weight when it comes to discussing facts or reality, imo.

You chose who you chose, now live with the realities of his efforts to "be his own man".

Need I recite the litany of his "acomplishments" and those who back him on his quest?

Actually, I don't need to look much further than his closest advisors and adult family members..

Have some of that (M)ilk with your cookies, why don'tcha..


39 posted on 04/23/2006 4:53:22 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi)
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To: NormsRevenge
Libs like Arnold should read more:
40 posted on 04/23/2006 5:56:08 PM PDT by Sybeck1 (Desoto county MS Freeper)
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