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Dan Walters: Schwarzenegger's reforms will fly when pigs do
Sacramento Bee ^ | 1/7/10 | Dan Walters

Posted on 01/07/2010 7:59:51 AM PST by SmithL

Arnold Schwarzenegger began his last State of the State address Wednesday by describing how two pets, a pony and a pig, jointly filch dog food from a sealed container.

"So one lesson to draw from the pig and pony story is what we can accomplish when we work together," he told state lawmakers, describing 2009 as "a pig and pony year."

Schwarzenegger quickly followed that upbeat metaphor, however, with a litany of California's ills, ranging from a recession-wracked economy to continuing budget deficits, and laid out an agenda of reforms whose enactment is about as likely as his pet porker's taking wing.

There was a "when pigs fly" quality about the entire speech – a lame-duck governor taking his last stab at reforms he has unsuccessfully promoted for six years, such as limiting state spending, creating emergency reserves, cutting prison costs, curbing costly public pensions and overhauling a boom-and-bust tax system.

He could have been talking about all his long-stalled reforms when he once again urged lawmakers to adopt tax system changes proposed by a blue-ribbon committee – a proposal he said had mysteriously vanished.

"Maybe the pig and the pony have taken it," he mused.

"The commission proposed major, radical reforms," he said. "Now, some people right away said they are too bold and thus they would be too hard to enact. Now what do they mean 'too bold'? Bold is what we do in California."

Schwarzenegger has failed because changing the status quo gores powerful interest groups, especially public employee unions, that have spent millions of dollars to oppose him.

(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: blowingupboxes; deficit; goldenstate; lamerino; schwarzenegger; unionthugs; whenpigsfly
The time to effect reform was long, long ago. When elected, he promised to "blow up boxes in Sacramento."

Now, it's too late for our Lame RINO governor.

1 posted on 01/07/2010 7:59:52 AM PST by SmithL
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To: SmithL

2 posted on 01/07/2010 9:20:38 AM PST by FormerACLUmember (The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule. - H. L. Menken.)
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To: FormerACLUmember

That’s is a brilliant advertising campaign!


3 posted on 01/07/2010 9:55:21 AM PST by DarkSavant
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To: DarkSavant
Lots more from Nevada alone!


4 posted on 01/07/2010 10:40:00 AM PST by FormerACLUmember (The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule. - H. L. Menken.)
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To: FormerACLUmember

I wish to point out that Nevada is much more than Las Vegas....

A business and it’s employees can have all of these benefits in the Reno—Carson City— Minden area without all the corrupt influence of the Harry Reid clan in Las Vegas....

We have all the same state laws up here, folks.

Brand new Industrial park about 15 miles east of Reno along I-80, and Lance Gilman is very business friendly. Even has it’s OWN power plant!


5 posted on 01/07/2010 10:43:37 AM PST by ridesthemiles
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