Free Republic

WASHINGTON – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used a national television interview Sunday to promote his plan to spend $222 billion on a massive public works building program in California. In Washington for an annual meeting with fellow governors, Schwarzenegger interrupted as Tim Russert, host of NBC's “Meet the Press,” characterized the proposal as “spend, spend, spend.” “No, it's invest, invest, invest, Tim. You're wrong,” Schwarzenegger said. “Those people that are criticizing my infrastructure deal and my strategic growth plan are people that are a little bit confused about the difference between spending and investing,” he said. Some of the people most...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $222 billion infrastructure plan came under attack Thursday from one of his chief political opponents and from environmental groups for what they said are its failures to direct more money to public transportation, parks and open-space projects. State Treasurer Phil Angelides, a Democratic candidate for governor, criticized Schwarzenegger's plan as promoting sprawl, shortchanging mass transit, locking out public investments in open space, failing to promote conservation and underfunding efforts to clean up air pollution linked to port traffic. "As we look to spend billions of public dollars to invest in our infrastructure, we're here today to say...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is learning that getting a major program such as his $222 billion public works plan through the Legislature isn't as simple as the "action, action, action" mantra he is fond of reciting. That's particularly true during an election year and after his popularity nose-dived in 2005, when voters rejected all four of his initiatives during the November special election. Democrats and Republicans have criticized at least some parts of the plan, and administration officials concede it will face changes. "We know there will be dialogue (between the Legislature and governor) that will change the...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambitious plan to spend $222 billion on a series of public works projects relies on several financial and political assumptions, potentially complicating his efforts to rebuild the state's freeways, transit systems, schools and levees. Much of the money would come from sources outside state government - including the federal government and private investments that are all but certain. The governor also will need a two-thirds majority of the Legislature to approve the proposal, where dissent already is evident, even within his own party. And he needs voters to approve $68 billion in bonds over...

SACRAMENTO – If voters reject Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $15 billion fiscal-recovery bond measure in March, his administration said yesterday, a backup bond plan would be smaller than originally thought and would leave a larger budget gap. The governor's top budget aide, Donna Arduin, notified legislators yesterday that the amount of the backup bond, if it survives a court challenge, would drop from $10.7 billion to $8.6 billion. Arduin said the amount of the bond is determined by the deficit at the end of the fiscal year last June, and the deficit has recently been recalculated to be about $2 billion...

<p>WASHINGTON - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $15 billion bond plan "is a necessity, unfortunately," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.</p> <p>"It's not a good option," Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said during her weekly news briefing. "It's a bad option among many bad options."</p>

<p>A Senate committee voted Wednesday to send a deficit bond proposal to the full Senate that differs significantly from the one presented by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.</p> <p>The Senate's version calls for the $15 billion bond to be paid off in about seven years, instead of as long as 30 years in Schwarzenegger's plan.</p>