Posted on 01/06/2010 10:34:09 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers his seventh and last State of the State address at 10 this morning. Though circumstances suggest he should be melancholy, the governor likely will be his usual sunny self. But it is Californians who should be melancholy. There is little hope Schwarzenegger will use his final year in office to pursue the reform agenda that first got him elected and that characterized his first two years in Sacramento. Instead, the likelihood seems to be 12 more months of contradictions.
We are confident that the governor will be responsible and continue to oppose new taxes, which would devastate an already-reeling economy. We are hopeful that he will do so not just because the public has made its opposition clear but because state taxes are already very high. Contrary to claims from East Coast media and state Democrats that California is undertaxed because of destructive provisions in the state Constitution, the Golden State has among the nation’s very highest sales, income and gasoline taxes. Despite Proposition 13, per-capita property taxes are about the national average.
But we are certain that Schwarzenegger will continue to refuse to acknowledge that his determination to be remembered as an international environmental icon has driven jobs and investment out of the state – and that he is thus a reason revenue has plunged and unemployment tops 12 percent. Instead, the governor’s narrative holds that forcing California to impose unilateral burdens on its businesses somehow creates vast multitudes of “green jobs” while inspiring the rest of the world to follow suit. But even a recent study by Next 10, a group whose findings often tout the benefits of a “green” economy, said such jobs would only amount to a tiny fraction of total employment. And the negligible progress made at the recent Copenhagen climate summit make plain that the world does not take its inspiration or its marching orders from Sacramento.
So even if Schwarzenegger fights the good fight on the state budget, there is little reason to hope revenue or the economy will rebound – and every reason to anticipate that powerful public employee unions will use their hammerlock on the state’s dominant Democratic Party to keep in place the state’s dysfunctional status quo, which has benefited them immensely.
The combative, aggressive governor we had from 2003 to 2005 wouldn’t have hesitated to put the focus on union power. But we fear that circa 2010, Schwarzenegger simply no longer has the fire or the interest to fight the most important fight of all. He’ll be content to settle for a budget that can be depicted as balanced. And come January of next year, he’ll settle into his new role – global green giant – whether working for the Obama administration or independently, a la Al Gore.
California’s broken government and its troubled economy? For him, they’ll be distant memories.
he will be remembered as an 'epic fail' ..
and as just another big spender and promiser ..
and for the debt load left behind as his legacy.
It's enough to turn one green ..
in the face, that is.
Never had any guts in the first place, although from what I've seen of him lately, he isn't exactly in "fighting shape" physically either.
he will be remembered as a 'typical RINO' ..
he will be remembered as an ‘epic fail’ ..
and as just another big spender and promiser ..
and for the debt load left behind as his legacy.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Funny, you could post the same thing on a thread about the entire U.S.
“Does governor have stomach left for big fights?”
NOOOOO.
Of course, Arnold made a complete fool of himself by falling for the "global warming" scam and that sure didn't help, either. But what's head-shakingly worse is that Arnold is apparently STILL oblivious to the fact that the "global warming" scam came unravelled and has been thoroughly exposed as a fraud perpetrated by global socialists to get their hands on gazillions of US taxpayer dollars. ...He still acts like "global warming" is for real! What a moron!
California continues to lead the way, eh? ;-)
That being said, the state governments have morphed into nothing but satellite offices to their corrupt Federal corporate headquarters.
These guys love employees that think company benefits mean a 5 minute break.
I agree with you about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but having lived in So. Cal. for 40 years of my life, I do have a little insight.
Before Schwarzenegger became governor, the state was a mess. Businesses leaving, buying electricity from the highest bidder, et cetera. The only thing that’s left is some movie industries, and gawd knows how they cheat. They’re not putting much money in the coffers.
Then I met Cyber in Jan. of 2001. Couldn’t believe the difference. Ummmm, before we were married on June 14, 2001, he failed to mention the HEAT in the summer. Oh, my gawd, does anyone know how it feels to be over 115 degrees for days on end. The low at night was over 90. But I love it here (except for McCain).
Our freeways are beautiful. Oh, there are Indian overlays on the freeways. We even have a freeway that was called Superstition, but the idiot Napolitano renamed it illegally. I can handle that. She’s now gone, and all of us have the idiot, and she can’t come back.
When Cyber and I were dating the 400 mile dating thing, a week here and a week in Laguna, my electricity had vamoosed, and I had to reset everything. Wasp nests were growing under my eves. My roses got overwatered because of all the resetting of the electricity.
The first thing Cyber bought for me was a gorgeous hutch. I had one, but he didn’t care for the style. While the workers were putting it up, I said “Stop. You have to wire the hutch to a beam.”
He said, “No. There are no earthquakes here.” I was astounded. Everything that was up high in my home was wired to a beam. It was a necessity. I even had put in a some kind of a ball thing in my gas meter which would protect me and the dogs from fire. I have bad hands and wouldn’t know which way to turn the danged gas line, but I did have a wrench next to the water heater in case. LOL!
So I do believe Schwarzenegger aka Kennedy is not totally at fault. I do believe he has given up, though.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.