Posted on 10/14/2006 10:54:47 AM PDT by SmithL
Arnold Schwarzenegger entered office on a bold mission to overhaul California government, and voters expected nothing less of an actor who obliterated everything in his path onscreen.
Schwarzenegger promised to "blow up the boxes" and "clean house." He described the job of governor as being "the leader of the legislators. You go in there and you tell them what you want to do." He made Sacramento the problem -- and himself the antidote.
Three years later, Schwarzenegger's ambitious plans and in-your-face attitude have largely succumbed to the Capitol's political culture.
"Sacramento really hasn't changed," said Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute. "So has it changed him? I think it's caused a more realistic approach in the governor's office in dealing with the powers that be."
Rather than use harsh rhetoric, the Republican governor now praises compromise and thanks the Democrat-controlled Legislature for sending him productive bills in an election year. Rather than threaten lawmakers with initiatives backed by a multimillion-dollar media blitz, as he did unsuccessfully in the 2005 special election, Schwarzenegger says he sees more value in solving problems in Sacramento.
The governor has tested so many different political methods that it's difficult to say how Schwarzenegger will lead the next four years if re-elected Nov. 7. But Californians clearly prefer the current version, giving him double-digit leads in polls that show him poised to win re-election to a full four-year term.
Schwarzenegger struck deals this year with Democrats to cap greenhouse gas emissions, lower prescription drug costs and increase the minimum wage, but Democratic challenger Phil Angelides insists the governor would drop his more moderate approach to both politics and policy after Election Day.
But another Democrat who tangled with Schwarzenegger suggested that the governor's zig-zag was normal for a political neophyte.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Arnold is a girly man.
Yes... I'm sure Burton loves that.
Signed AB 1835 Minimum Wage Increase Signed AB 2911 California Discount Prescription Drug Program Signed AB 32 Greenhouse Gases Signed SB 1368 Electricity: emissions of greenhouse gases. (Out of state purchases) Signed SB 1 Million Solar Roofs Signed SB 201 Sustainable Oceans Act Signed SB 107 Renewable energy Signed AB 2560 Public School Health Center Support Program . Signed SB 437 Health care coverage (expected to cover 94,000 additional children) Signed SB 1534 Public benefits (for illegal aliens) Signed AB 680 English language learners. Signed SB 1827 Taxation: domestic partners (homosexual agenda) Signed SB 1441 Discrimination: state programs and activities: sexual orientation (homosexual agenda) Signed SB 1654 Voting: absentee ballot (homosexual agenda) Signed AB 1160 Crime. - Gay Panic Defense - Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act (homosexual agenda) Signed AB 1207 Code of Fair Campaign Practices (homosexual agenda) Signed AB 2600 Vehicles: HOV lanes (Hybrids) Signed AB 1613 Vehicles: wireless telephones Signed AB 2251 Reproductive Health Care Svcs Confidentiality of Personal Info (for abortion enablers) Signed AB 2583 Dispensing prescription drugs and devices; refusal to dispense
Nothing wrong with rewriting the script. We were expecting him to still act in character. The old Conan didn't take prisoners. The new one is concerned about the environment and fostering a spirit of bipartisanship.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
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Gov. ARNOLD at his Freedom-loving best:
http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/photos/3165/
(Photo Essay)
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