Schwarzenegger Says Won't Raise Taxes Davis,hand out $53 million in grants to environmental groups

By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With a veteran diplomat and a business legend at his side, Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Wednesday that as governor of California he would wrestle the state's mammoth debt into submission without raising taxes.

Emerging from a meeting in Los Angeles with 19 business and academic leaders, Schwarzenegger laid down his economic program for the first time since declaring his candidacy in the Oct. 7 recall, sounding notes of fiscal conservatism.

"I'm very much a believer that the people of this state have not been under-taxed," Schwarzenegger said, flanked by former Secretary of State George Shultz and billionaire Warren Buffett. "I am in principle against taxes because I feel the people of California have been taxed enough."

Buffett, a top Schwarzenegger advisor and a Democrat, drew a collective gasp from horrified Californians last week when he suggested that Proposition 13 -- the state's landmark, voter-approved measure limiting property taxes amid skyrocketing land values -- should be reconsidered.

But Schwarzenegger, who saw his first campaign turbulence over Buffett's remarks, said he had no intention of tinkering with Proposition 13 and joked that the so-called Sage from Omaha would be wise to adopt the same line.

"I told Warren that if he mentioned Proposition 13 one more time, he has to do 500 sit-ups," the actor said, tossing Buffett a friendly but menacing stare.

Schwarzenegger is one of 135 candidates vying to replace Gov. Gray Davis should voters decide to unseat him in the unprecedented recall election. Although he has never held public office, polls show the action film star among the top candidates.

His campaign appearance came as a federal judge in Los Angeles refused an American Civil Liberties Union request to delay the election, thus removing a major hurdle to the vote. ACLU attorneys had argued that voters in Los Angeles and five other counties would be disenfranchised because they would still be using error-prone punch-card machines.

Davis, meanwhile, appeared with Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in the Los Angeles beach suburb of Santa Monica, not far from Schwarzenegger's restaurant, Schatzi, to hand out $53 million in grants to environmental groups.

Davis took shots at Schwarzenegger's economic round table, saying: "When I had an economic forum two years ago I had a big tent. We need to seek advice and guidance from a number of people. Anyone who wants to take my job ought to have specific plans, not just sound bites or rehearsed phrases from old movies."

Schwarzenegger, who has come under fire from Democrats, the media and even fellow Republican candidates for offering only vague ideas of his platform amid promises to "clean house" in Sacramento, on Wednesday gave details for the first time.

The "Terminator" star said that if elected he would immediately order an independent audit of the state's finances, which he said were hopelessly tangled, quickly work to bring spiraling worker's compensation costs into line and call a special session of the legislature to work on the budget.

"We must have a constitutional spending cap and must immediately attack operating deficits head on," he said. "Does this mean we are going to make cuts? Yes. Does this mean education is on table? No. Does this mean I am willing to raise taxes? No. Additional taxes are the last burden we need to put on the backs of the citizens and businesses of California."

Asked by reporters how he would get cooperation from California's state legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, Schwarzenegger made joking reference to his wife, Maria Shriver -- a member of the Kennedy family.

"I've lived with a Democrat for the past 17 years," he said. "I'm trained to work with Democrats."

Buffett, one of the world's richest men, meanwhile said that one of California's most fundamental problems was its credit rating, saying that "a change was needed" in the state government to see it restored.

He said that credit was like oxygen in that "when you have it, you don't even notice it. But when it's gone, you can think of nothing else."

As for the summit, Schwarzenegger campaign spokesman Sean Walsh rejected any notion that it was a staged event. "Warren Buffett and George Shultz are not a photo opportunity. They are brilliant minds with decades of experience." (Additional reporting by Michael Kahn, Arthur Spiegelman and Gina Keating.)

Genes are a splendid thing. Of course, I am sure your clean living helps too

Well my Great Great great uncle Ben was born in 1805 and died in 1918. He taught my father how to hunt and live off the land when Uncle Ben was 107 years old. On his 110th birthday the local paper interivewd Ben. They of course asked to what he attributed his long life. He was quoted as saying,"Less Sodie pop and more Whiskey".

My wife passed away last winter, and my nephew understood my concern for longevity. He urged me to visit all the family graves from the early 1800s on. The average life span for scores of my family turned out to be 92 years and 8 months. I have quite a few years left.

I subscribe to the Strom Thurman school of recreational activities.

This actually happened to me. In retrospect it is very flattering. Night before last on my eveing walk a young lady and her boy friend stopped me. She demanded to know if I was her father. In an effort to give her a truthful answer I could only think to ask... who is your mother?

As far as my far out take on California is concerned I think Bustamante will likely win it. In federal elections it is always the same ... Democrats vote ... Democrats always vote. Republicans sometimes do and sometimes don't. I don't think Arnie can win if the turn out numbers are 45D ,15I, and 40R. We will have to see if the turn out numbers change.

I also think that the hard core support for Simple Simon and McClintock may very well be 12 to 15 percent. I don't think Democrats will vote for Arnie. If those two things are true then Arnie can't win. What I was saying is that if Simon and McClintock drop out, their hard core voters may not vote at all. When the far right does not have a candidate they tend not to vote. Here in my congressioanl district Geo Vonovich tried to run a pro abortion moderate Republican woman a few years ago. The hard right sat on their hands on election day. She got beat far worse than the more conseravtive candidate did 2 years earlier. The 10 or 12 percent that is far right will not vote for arnie. If Simon and mcClintock are way down or with draw that 10 or 12 percent may not vote at all.

Indenpendents are not ideological. Half vote for people they like (the man not party) or the other half for someone who will do something for them. Arnie is not offering anyone anything. He may very well only get a 50 percent turnout of the indpendents. If the party gets the far right candidates to drop out so their their loyal follwers will vote for arnie, those followers MAY NOT VOTE AT ALL. The assumption is that if Simon is not in the race then his voters will vote for arnie. I don't think that is true. I think they won't go vote at all. If the far right does not have a candidate to vote for... that is. if Simon and McClintock drop out, many of their followers may not vote. If 12 percent of the voteres from the right do not vote, then Davis does not get recalled. If the democrats vote for Bustamante, and the hard base for Simon does not vote and a few of the mcClintock base do not vote, then the percentages are 53 percent of the actual voters would be Democrats and 47 percent would be Independents and Republicans. If the Democrats all do as they likely will, vote against recall and then for Bustamante, it is possible Davis may not be recalled.

That was my point.

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.