Kudos to radar101 for finding that.
Posted on 02/26/2007 10:07:06 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger accused Washington leaders Monday of divisiveness and partisanship, chiding them to learn the lessons of California and start to cooperate.
"Politics is about compromise. It is about give-and-take. Doesn't anyone here in Washington remember that chapter from their civics book?" the Republican governor said in a speech to the National Press Club.
"How come Republicans and Democrats out here don't schmooze with each other?" he asked in prepared remarks, mentioning his cigar tent at the State Capitol in Sacramento where he lights up with lawmakers.
"You can't catch a socially transmitted disease by sitting down with people who hold ideas different from yours," said Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger, in town for the winter meeting of the National Governors Association, also announced agreement with the governors of Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington state Monday to lower greenhouse gases.
Schwarzenegger has urged setting timelines for bringing troops home from Iraq, a position he reiterated Sunday during an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation." That's the approach favored by many congressional Democrats.
But without mentioning either party by name, in his speech Monday he implicitly criticized the approach of both parties during Congress' recent debates on the Iraq war.
"What is the point of stirring up bitterness over non-binding resolutions? What is the point of each side preventing the other side from conducting a vote?" he asked. "The point, of course, is political advantage. It's certainly not to the people's advantage."
Majority Democrats in the House and Senate have advanced non-binding resolutions to oppose President Bush's troop increase plan for Iraq. The resolution passed the House this month but failed to reach a vote in the Senate when Republicans blocked an end to debate.
Schwarzenegger's popularity has rebounded in California after he began working with Democratic legislative leaders in the wake of his disastrous attempt to pass his initiatives on a special election ballot in 2005.
Last year Schwarzenegger and the Democratic-led Legislature won successes including getting voters to approve $37.3 billion in public works bonds and imposing the nation's first mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
"I'm not a person to get all introspective about my failures, but I do know when something doesn't work. Dividing people does not work," Schwarzenegger said.
"But division is what Washington has come to represent. For too long, this town has been about divide and conquer. Find an issue that splits the country in half, then crack it just enough so you can come out ahead."
Schwarzenegger also used the speech to promote his $12 billion plan for universal health coverage, which is meeting resistance from Republicans and Democrats in the California Legislature.
And he urged Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform including a guest worker program and path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country.
"It is time we reintroduced the concept of the mainstream back into American political life - and the place to start is with immigration," he said.
Cooperating with Democrats is like cooperating with a rapist. You still get raped, just a bit more gently.
Kudos to radar101 for finding that.
Why doesn't Arnie just say he is a demorat and be done with it.
"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 Palelologus
Exactly so! I want a divided govt. As long as they can't get anything done I know that my freedom and money will be safe. As soon as they agree on anything, both freedom and money begin to evaporate.
Sit down Arnold and shut up.
"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 Palelologus
"There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil."
AYN RAND
/s
An appeal to "Post partisanship" = a demand that Conservatives surrender.
Arnold has heard the polls and the polls supposedly tell him that as to California voters: "They show fiscal conservatism, social liberalism and strong feelings on the environment.''
When these type of deluded voters speak of "fiscal conservatism" they DON'T mean an end to tax and spend liberalism -- they simply mean finding ways to undertake the socialist program more economically.
When they say "socially liberal" they DON'T mean leaving people alone -- they mean more social engineering.
When they say "environmentally progressive" they DO mean putting government in charge of everything that could 'harm' the environment and that is, well, everything.
The end result of the above can only be one thing: bigger and more intrusive government.
"The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum.
Whenever evil wins, it is only by default:
by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles."
AYN RAND
Yes you CAN Arnie. It's a sexually transmitted disease you can't catch...unless you shake hands.(/sarc)
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