Free Republic

In 2004, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger barnstormed around the state for Proposition 58, using an oversized credit card as a prop and vowing that it was time for the state to "tear up its credit card." Now Attorney General Jerry Brown has concluded that Assembly Democrats' plan to borrow billions to help ease the state's $19.1 billion deficit could be deemed illegal under that ballot measure if challenged in court. "We conclude that a court could reasonably determine that the proposed transaction violates Proposition 58," the attorney general's office said in a letter to Schwarzenegger's legal affairs secretary. Assembly Speaker John...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders are crafting an aggressive campaign to remodel California that promises to go beyond the traditional bond-and-build approach to schools and roads. If approved by voters next year, their bond package of unparalleled scope could raise $50 billion or more to speed commuters home, quickly move imported goods from ship to store, modernize campuses, build power plants, provide affordable housing, make hospitals safe from earthquakes and repair aging levees that guard homes, farms and drinking water. "If we are not bold, how can we meet the challenges of the future?" Schwarzenegger told a...

Word has it that Gov. Schwarzenegger is seriously considering a $100-billion infrastructure bond, causing many to ask, “Can we afford this?” The answer is an emphatic no, even though California’s fiscal picture is slightly better than it has been in recent years. That can be attributed to a generally healthy economy funneling billions into state coffers. Structurally, however, California remains in poor condition as the state continues to pay for past mistakes such as spending sprees during the Davis era. This locked California into obligations that were only sustainable with the tremendous tax-revenue growth of the late 1990s. Predictably, the...