Posted on 05/23/2009 7:01:21 AM PDT by kellynla
While politicians debate whether this week's rejection of various spending initiatives in California marks the beginning of an antitax insurgency, I can't help but wonder what might have been had Arnold Schwarzenegger immediately pushed for reform upon taking office in 2003.
The Arnold of the state's recall election was the Barack Obama of the 2008 presidential election. He was a man of wealth and privilege, restyled as a populist outsider and overhyped by a fawning media, who came into office with a window of opportunity to achieve most anything his heart desired. For Mr. Schwarzenegger, that window remained open for about a year.
Sacramento Democrats recognized that taking on the celebrity governor was a fight they would lose. But Mr. Schwarzenegger failed to seize the opportunity. He needed to make entrenched lawmakers an offer: Either work with him on budget and government reform so everyone can have a nice bipartisan bill-signing, or expect a knock-out fight at the polls over a set of ballot initiatives.
Had he done so, he might have gotten some of the good ideas that the state needs -- such as setting up a serious rainy-day fund and creating an honest spending cap -- enacted into law.
Would the Democrats who control California's legislature have rolled over that easily? We'll never know, but the threat of taking the issue to the voters is how the governor got workers' compensation reform through the legislature within six months of taking office.
Mr. Schwarzenegger did offer a plan to revamp state government during his honeymoon phase in 2004. But his approach -- the "California Performance Review," or CPR -- was a metaphor for his political failure. It involved a 275-member task force that produced a 2,500-page proposal.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
“McClintock could never have been elected in California?”
Oh reeeeeeely...something I learned a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnng time ago...”never say never”....
And just in case you were in a coma 9/2003.
“If the choice were between Cruz Bustamante, the Democrat and Tom McClintock, the Republican, who would you be more likely to vote for: Cruz Bustamante or Tom McClintock?”
Registered Voters
2003 Sep 25-27
Bustamante 42%
McClintock 49%
Probable Voters
2003 Sep 25-27
Bustamante 37%
McClintock 56%
USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll Results 9/2003
http://www.usatoday.com/news/polls/tables/live/2003-09-28-recall-poll.htm
I apologise for voting for Arnold.
I love it when people answer an argument selectively to continue with an unsupported point in the face of the threat of evidence:
Here is the last USA Today/CNN/GALLUP poll before the recall.
"6. If the choice were between Cruz Bustamante, the Democrat and Tom McClintock, the Republican, who would you be more likely to vote for: Cruz Bustamante or Tom McClintock?"
September 25-27
Registered Voters
McClintock 49%
Bustamante 42%
Probable Voters
McClintock 56%
Bustamante 37%
No need to apologize...we all make mistakes...
I just wonder if you voted for him again in 2006?
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Braille and Talking Book Library * California Building Standards Commission * California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education * California Bureau of Automotive Repair * California Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair * California Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation * California Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine * California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services * California Bureau of State Audits * California Business Agency * California Business Investment Services (CalBIS) * California Business Permit Information (CalGOLD) * California Business Portal * California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency * California Cal Grants * California CalJOBS * California Cal-Learn Program * California CalVet Home Loan Program * California Career Resource Network * California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau * California Center for Analytical Chemistry * California Center for Distributed Learning * California Center for Teaching Careers (Teach 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He supported McClintock until RINOld entered the race and as quick as you can “traitor”, Hewitt stabbed McClintock in the back!
I haven't listened to or read a word of his since.
I hope folk don’t beat themselves up too bad over the votes they cast in 2003.
Que sera sera .. Q Factor sucks sometimes, the election wasn’t about the issues as much as it was a staged media event..
And it was a lost opportunity for folk to rise above voting for the cool candidate and elect someone actually willing to cut cut cut from day one. aRnie read the script tho and avoided debates. THe Ca GoP creamed all over itself in its glee at actually winning something in California.
Just as with Obama, no one vetted aRnie. Well, maybe
Buffett and a Rothscild or two took a good looky see, and obviously being a Kennedy helped too.
To give him credit, I think Arnold does disasters extremely well.
No one can say we didn't try to prevent them...
I just wonder how many FReepers made the same mistake in 2006.
Well, after the mess RINOld will leave us because of his incompetence & liberalism; it'll be at least a decade before the CA GOP can get a dogcatcher elected to statewide office much less a governorship...
I respect the right of folk to believe as they will.
The lessons of 2006 and 2008 already seem lost at both the state and federal level.
Looks like the 2010 general may be setting up to be a repeat, at least here in California.
Some lessons come hard.
any interesting recording projects lately?
Plus Arnold LIED!
Look, if you live in Ca. as I do, one knows that the youth, the gays, the feminists, the MSM, the unions, the teachers, the minorities were not,not going to elect Tom(who I personally know.) Sorry, but that is a myth. The conserv vote is so low here now that the only thing that can be hoped is the fair re-districting(which Dems oppose) will occur to give some Pubs a shot at securing an office. There is no silent majority here in Ca. that is conserv. Those days are gone. Now, there are alot of wussy Indies who might be converted as the fiscal state sinks into even more dark waters. That is the GOP’s chance. I have no idea if Meg will win the nomination. I know Tom will not run because it would destroy his House seat chances and the GOP’s to hold that seat. So, it is Meg or whoever vs the mayor of LA, Brown, or any other leftist Dem. That is the fact. Wishing will not make it less so.
He seized the opportunity to take advantage of his celeb popularity.
Unfortunately, he used it to do the exact opposite of what he promised. He immediately pushed for $15 billion in borrowing followed by massive increases in spending.
Arnold was/is nothing more than a Trojan Horse, representing "bipartisan" big-government liberals.
blah, blah, blah...If RINOld had stayed out of the race; McClintock would have been governor today. FACT! Elections in 2003 were turned by the registered Independent vote and the majority of probable voters were NOT going to vote for “Gray Davis Lite”, Bustamante, after recalling the problem. MCCLINTOCK HAD THE ELECTION WON until RINOld stuck his nose in it! PERIOD
You can cite meaningless polls all day. McClintock comes across as a Crab-Ass and Crab-Asses don’t get elected to state wide office when they are running on the ticket as a Republican. The majority of Californians are leery of Crab-Ass right wingers. I wish it weren’t true. I didn’t make up the rule.
Independents went to the polls to vote for the Guvenator. I doubt the recall would have passed if Arnold would not have been on the ticket, but just like your claims, this is all speculation. We will never know what would have happened.
Life is great. Lots of interesting stuff going on.
I voted for the p***k during the recall, I didn’t want to but the devil made me do it! Actually, I thought he might be decent, he sure talked a good game. I did NOT vote for him when he came up for re-election, it took about a month of him in office for me to see that he was full of sh**. I didn’t really know much about McClintock in the recall, so voted for the name recognition, something I usually don’t do. I am ashamed I voted for the terminator but have worked to get his butt thrown out every since. I have always vetted my candidates but failed in this instance. You, and all CA residents, have my sincerest apology.
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