Free Republic

Just weeks after he shelved his plan to overhaul the state's public pension system, Gov. Schwarzenegger is expected to stump for his remaining reform measures Wednesday morning at an invitation-only town hall meeting at a Fontana steel plant. About 500 people, including some steel workers, will be on hand for Schwarzenegger's visit at the 950-employee California Steel Industries, said Brett Guge, the company's vice president of administration. "Our employees will be the primary ingredient of the audience but the governor's office has put together a list of area people that they are inviting," Guge said. "We're honored that the governor...

SACRAMENTO - With just four weeks remaining until the high-stakes November election, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has turned his attention from the hundreds of bills that were before him to the campaign trail. His first stops this week are in Orange County and San Jose, where he kicks off a series of town hall-style appearances meant to rally opposition to Propositions 68 and 70. Defeat of these gambling measures will protect the governor's deals with Indian tribes that operate casinos. Schwarzenegger will tell guests at his ``Ask Arnold'' events that the initiatives are ``a jackpot for the special interests,'' said Todd...

CLOVIS, Calif.— Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested at a question-and-answer forum with supporters Monday that he might eliminate the state's environmental protection agency, but a spokesman later said he meant only to reduce duplication in functions among the local, state and federal governments. During an "Ask Arnold" event at a company that manufactures security cameras in this Fresno suburb, Schwarzenegger was asked by a man identifying himself as a farmer why the state needed Cal/EPA when the federal Environmental Protection Agency regulates many of the same things. "What you just talked about is the waste — overlapping agencies. They cost a fortune,"...