Free Republic

Schwarzenegger, Shriver Oppose Marriage Amendment Sunday, October 26, 2008 11:36 AM California's first lady says she is voting against a ballot initiative that would prohibit same-sex couples from getting married in California. Maria Shriver said in an interview with KNBC-TV in Los Angeles that she is voting no on Proposition 8. Shriver said, "I believe in people's right to choose a partner that they love, and that's a decision that I have come to, and I have felt that way for a long time." Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also opposes Prop. 8.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline)-A Wall Street Journal opinion article that claimed California Attorney General Jerry Brown had waged "war on the suburbs" continues to reverberate around rural and suburban towns in California. Critics of Brown's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow urban sprawl have another target, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who rekindled the debate when he signed pro-environmental bills earlier this month. Editors at the Sun-Herald in rural Colusa, Calif., which lies 90 minutes north of Sacramento, became the latest to rebuke the Republican governor for acting too much like the Democratic attorney general. "In his zeal to battle...

 Contact: Agency Contact, 877-405-4005, Campaign for Children and Families   SACRAMENTO, California, October 6 /Christian Newswire/ -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed three bills squashing moral values and religious freedom. By elevating the homosexual-bisexual-transsexual agenda above the rights of everyone else, Schwarzenegger has confirmed his legacy is being the most anti-family Republican governor in California history.   "There is no gay gene, but religious freedom is a God-given right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. So it's wrong and unfair to create new laws which make homosexual-bisexual-transsexual 'rights' superior to everyone else's rights," said Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children...

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed first-in-the-nation legislation Tuesday that takes the campaign to curb global warming to the streets. The complex measure includes a series of incentives and penalties aimed at encouraging cities and counties to be more aggressive in enacting land use policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming. Sen. Darrell Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat who carried SB 375, said the measure "will be used as the national framework for fighting sprawl and transforming inevitable growth to smart growth. This is a historic day for California." The legislation would use up to $12 billion in...

In an interview published Sunday with the German mag Der Spiegel, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he didn't miss going to the GOP national convention because it lacked "bipartisanship." He compared the "hard core" who run the national party to California's GOP leaders: "I have almost no contact with them – none. Because they're just so out there." That should help round up those GOP votes for his budget proposal …

Much has been written about the August budget put forward by Governor Schwarzenegger last week. At his press conference announcing his plan, the Governor said that his budget plan was "a fiscally responsible compromise" and will "put our state on the road to fiscal sanity." In reality, after spending some time looking it over, and discussing it with state policy experts .., the Governor's proposal will do nothing of the sort. It includes more borrowing and higher taxes on Californians... The Governor said that more borrowing in the budget is "not a wise idea and I will not do that."...

Some things never change in the Golden State. Weeks into the fiscal year, California still has no budget and faces a Pacific Ocean-sized $15 billion deficit. On Wednesday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger offered a "compromise" plan that kicks the legs out from his own party with a big new sales tax increase. "It's time to put ideology aside," he insisted. [Arnold Schwarzenegger] Now he faces a revolt from Republicans in the legislature who think this is precisely the time to be ideological. "Any tax increase plan won't pass with Republican votes -- absolutely not," a defiant Mike Villines, minority leader of...

A publicly funded, world-class research institute that would develop answers to the threat posed by climate-changing greenhouse gases is being crafted in the Legislature, and is among the last-minute proposals expected to come before the Legislature in the closing days of this year's legislative session. The plan differs sharply from the original blueprint proposed by California's top utilities regulator, state Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey. Legislation encompassing the new, estimated $87 million-a-year plan is likely to be completed within a few days. At time when public attention is focused on California's $15.2 billion budget shortage, the proposed California Institute...

A new survey of corporate executives considering relocating their firms provides fresh reasons to worry about California's economy. The Development Counsellors International survey found CEOs ranked California dead-last in attractiveness among the 50 states because of its high taxes and business-hobbling regulations. California's reputation is likely to grow even worse in the next few weeks when a 2008-09 state budget is finally adopted, given the probability it will raise taxes. But what is truly depressing to contemplate is what happens come January 2011, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger departs and is likely to be replaced by a Democrat. We have griped...

I supported and voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger for California governor over Tom McClintock. Not only that, I ridiculed McClintock and his supporters. If I knew then what I know now, I would have supported and voted for McClintock. I hereby openly apologize to McClintock and his supporters. I was wrong. How about the other people here who supported Arnold in 2003: Agree? Disagree?

It took nearly five years, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger broke his no-tax pledge in an effort to break a budget deadlock.It was the right thing to do, even if we would have preferred a more progressive alternative to the governor's proposed temporary one-cent increase in the sales tax. But let there be no doubt: The $4 billion tax increase would have less of an impact on low-income Californians than a commensurate cut in state programs.Now the challenge will be for Schwarzenegger to persuade a handful of Republicans to break their own no-tax pacts that have all but frozen any meaningful...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a temporary one-cent increase in the state sales tax for the next three years in exchange for long-term fixes he believes would solve the state's perennial budget woes, several sources familiar with the negotiations said Monday. The governor's proposal comes as he and lawmakers are 35 days into the fiscal year with no approved spending plan.

California: What has changed since Golden State voters ousted Gray Davis and cast their lot with Arnold Schwarzenegger's star power? Not much — except for $41 billion in new spending.What's big, blue and red all over? The great, Democrat-dominated and profligate state government of California. At a point when most state lawmakers and chief executives have put their budgets to bed, neatly balanced, and taken off for some R&R, the Legislature and governor of California are still wrangling over a budget that is roughly $15 billion out of balance. This is nothing new. We've been hearing about these budget gaps,...

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he'd say yes if Barack Obama is elected president and offers him a position in his administration. "I'm always ready to help in any way I can the United States," Schwarzenegger said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "Because as you know, I've committed myself to be a public servant, because this country has given me everything. And so this is my time now." Schwarzenegger has endorsed fellow Republican John McCain for president, but he said he'd "take [Obama's] call now and I'd take his call when he's president, anytime. Remember, no matter who is president,...

Schwarzenegger: I'd be Obama energy czar By MIKE ALLEN | 7/13/08 10:23 AM EST California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in an interview aired Sunday that he would be open to the idea of serving as energy czar in a Barack Obama administration. Regardless of whether he takes that particular job, Schwarzenegger, a Republican, added on ABC’s “This Week” that he’s now committed to continuing public service even after he leaves Sacramento. Schwarzenegger endorsed John McCain at the end of January, and McCain has appeared with “the Governator” to praise his efforts to deal with climate change. A Schwarzenegger appointment would...

Last March, we received word that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was offsetting his jet travel demands by purchasing green credits. The cost of Schwarzenegger’s travel was to be “annually invested” in sustainable forest management projects. At that time, it was reported that the Governor was flying twice-weekly from his office in Sacramento, CA to his mansion in Brentwood, CA. We firmly believed then that the offsetting was, at best, a band-aid for a habit that in one hour would do more damage to the environment than a small car could inflict over the course of one year. Now, the LA Times...

OAKLAND, Calif. -- California is making it mandatory for cars to be labeled with global warming scores, figures that take into account emissions from vehicle use and fuel production.

Between Dave Brubeck's piano jazz, Quincy Jones' musical repertoire and Alice Waters' inventive cuisine, the California Hall of Fame can throw one heck of a party. Especially considering actor Jack Nicholson will have a front-row seat. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver on Wednesday announced the third class of California Hall of Fame inductees, which includes legends as varied as actress-activist Jane Fonda, author Theodor Geisel ("Dr. Seuss") and two-time Nobelist Linus Pauling. Also making the cut were sculptor Robert Graham, fitness guru Jack LaLanne, photographer Dorothea Lange, architect Julia Morgan and former Gov. Leland Stanford. The new...

Dulles, Virginia -- Bowing before the politically correct lords of the environmental movement, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared this week that when it comes to the issue of climate change, “America has to lead, and [California is] doing so with or without Washington.” Schwarzenegger was explaining his decision to ratify a two-year environmental alliance between the state of California and the People’s Republic of China under the supervision of the United Nations. Frustrated with the Bush administration’s reluctance to embrace a global climate treaty that would place caps on greenhouse gas emissions, Schwarzenegger engaged the UN and China by making...

Are you willing to pay 12 to 30 cents more a month on your utility bill for an institute coordinating energy and climate change technology research across the state? Actually, you don't have a choice. The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday unanimously approved the $600 million California Institute for Climate Solutions, which will be paid for by money from ratepayers' monthly electric bills, to the tune of $60 million a year. The institute aims to speed up research into cutting greenhouse gas emissions, such as auto exhaust, that contribute to pollution. This work is already under way at laboratories...