Free Republic

Washington Governor's Election Certified, Showing Win by Democrat; Opponent Seeks New Vote OLYMPIA, Wash. Dec 30, 2004 — After three vote tallies and nearly two nerve-racking months of waiting, Democrat Christine Gregoire was declared Washington's governor-elect on Thursday. But her Republican rival did not concede and wants a new election. "Less than two weeks from today I will take the oath of office as your next governor of the great state of Washington," an ebullient Gregoire told supporters at a Capitol news conference. The Republican candidate, Dino Rossi, said he was exploring whether to contest the election in the courts...

November 29, 2004 Gregoire's illegitimate recount As Seth notes below, John Fund asks in today's WSJ Opinion Journal "Will Democrats steal the Washington governorship?" Well they're certainly going to try. I heard on KUOW this morning (can't find any report on line) that Gregoire will definitely ask for a hand recount this week. How should the Republicans respond? First, it's important to reiterate that Dino Rossi won two statewide counts; even after the Gregoire people won all of their legal and procedural fights to obtain certain unfair advantages; even after they were permitted to hand in questionable (and in...

<p>It is considered a key test of a newly elected leader: the first 100 days in office.</p> <p>And for California Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has never held public office, his first steps after taking office Nov. 17 will provide a critical reading of how he will lead the nation's largest state.</p>

LAS VEGAS — The worlds of bodybuilding and politics met Saturday night as California Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger handed out medals at the Mr. Olympia event, a competition he won seven times. Schwarzenegger's surprise appearance drew cheers and chants of "Arnold!" and "Governator!" from the estimated 6,000 people gathered in the arena at the Mandalay Bay Hotel-Casino. "Finally I feel at home again," a smiling Schwarzenegger told the crowd. "This is a terrific sport, and if it wouldn't have been for bodybuilding I wouldn't have any of this. It's a great foundation." Joe Weider, founder of the competition, said Schwarzenegger proves...

OCTOBER 24 - 30, 2003 The Fahntahstic Transition Arnold’s embrace of the right and the left is not that strangeby Bill Bradley The voice on the cell phone sounded somewhat familiar. But not so familiar that I didn’t ask who it was. “It’s Arnold,” he said. The action-movie superstar turned governor-elect of California had just come from the dentist. And he sounded a little tired. But no less ebullient than usual, allowing as how “the governor thing,” as I call it, seemed to be working out. “I’m going to do a book,” said Schwarzenegger. “How To Become a Governor in...

California governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger is slated to head to the nation's capital next week to meet with top officials before he takes the helm in Sacremento. On Tuesday the Terminator launches a two-day visit which will have the action star turned politician meeting with Capitol Hill leaders -- but which will not include an audience with Presidentr Bush, according to spokesman Rob Stutzman. Schwarzenegger is on record saying that he will ask for "a lot of help" for cash-strapped California from Washington. It is unclear what that help will be since Congress is not authorized to bail out one state...

Under one version, which Assemblyman John Campbell (R-Irvine) has proposed, surplus revenue collected during good economic times would go into a rainy-day fund that could be used to support state programs during downturns. That approach might require changes in the current state requirement that roughly 40% of all new state revenues go to public schools, although Campbell said the cap could be put in place without violating that rule. Campbell, who compared the rainy-day account to programs that withhold money from an employee's paycheck for retirement, said that Schwarzenegger is "in support of the concept" but that details are still...

<p>WASHINGTON – After taking a hands-off approach to Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign, President George W. Bush is embracing California's next governor, hoping an alliance will win him the state's pile of electoral votes next year.</p> <p>But the movie actor will bring his own political agenda to a meeting with Bush in Riverside on Thursday. Schwarzenegger campaigned as a Republican who could work with the White House and pledged to carry a list of demands to the federal government.</p>

A Wirtschaftswunder for California October 13, 2003by Jack Kemp Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger has a historic opportunity to create a Wirtschaftswunder - an economic miracle - for California just the way West German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard did in West Germany after World War II when, as finance minister, he decontrolled prices, eliminated rationing, lowered tax rates and deregulated commercial activity. But it really wouldn't be any more of a miracle in California than it was in Germany. It would simply be the predicable result of a free people unburdened by the state acting in their self-interest to pursue the American dream....

WASHINGTON -- California governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger must explain the substance of his private May 2001 meeting with Enron chief Ken Lay, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights wrote in a letter to Schwarzenegger Tuesday. FTCR, which was the state's most vocal critic of Governor Gray Davis' handling of the energy crisis, said that if the governor-elect did not recount the meeting by the time of his inauguration, the group would ask state lawmakers to open an investigation to uncover the substance of the meeting, including any information that might further the state's efforts to return billions of dollars that...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) - After taking a hands-off approach to Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign, President Bush is embracing California's next governor, hoping an alliance will win him the state's pile of electoral votes next year. But the movie actor will bring his own political agenda to a meeting with Bush in Riverside on Thursday. Schwarzenegger campaigned as a Republican who could work with the White House and pledged to carry a list of demands to the federal government.</p>

<p>Energy market strategy outlined Some say the new governor will wait to tackle power issues. By Dale Kasler -- Bee Staff Writer Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 14, 2003 Two years after energy deregulation left Californians with soaring electricity prices, rolling blackouts and a bankrupt utility, Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to give free markets another try. Some consumer advocates and Democratic lawmakers say the former actor's plan could mean a remake of the energy crisis. But Schwarzenegger says the best way to ensure low prices and encourage new power-plant construction is to "make markets work," according to his energy policy statement.</p>

<p>For a man who ran as an outsider vowing to shake up Sacramento, Arnold Schwarzenegger's first moves as governor-elect are making him look like very much the insider.</p> <p>Two nights after celebrating his election with a promise to end "politics as usual," Schwarzenegger jetted to Sacramento for a cocktail party with lobbyists, legislators and longtime fixers -- including Willie Brown, the former Democrat speaker of the state Assembly.</p>

<p>Andrew Ferguson is a columnist for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.</p> <p>Who Is Governor Arnold? George Shultz's Hunch: Andrew Ferguson Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Former U.S. Treasury Secretary George Shultz, sitting in serene retirement in his office on the campus of Stanford University, likes to tell this story about Arnold Schwarzenegger.</p>

from the October 14, 2003 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1014/p03s01-uspo.html Schwarzenegger's tough to-do listHis bipartisan team has drawn praise, but the test of his celebrity leverage will come in Sacramento, on the car tax and other issues.By Daniel B. Wood | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor LOS ANGELES - When President Bush lands in California this week to scout out the state's giant lab experiment in voter reform, he'll find gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger receiving high marks for slipping on his smock quickly. In short order, and well before he formally takes office next month, Mr. Schwarzenegger has tapped a...

<p>A BILLIONAIRE homebuilder, the movie producer of "Animal House," a pair of big-city Democratic mayors, and a flame-throwing anti-tax leader -- you can't get much more inclusive and California-flavored than Arnold Schwarzenegger's 65-member transition team.</p> <p>But how influential this crew will be is unknown. Are they window- dressing or a real kitchen cabinet?</p>

"There's a bill that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has introduced that I think is terrific. It gives temporary working permits to immigrants so they can come in and out of this country, out of this state, and also, you know, there's another idea. Undocumented immigrants who come here before August 2003 can apply for visas especially if they don't have a criminal background. And if they have a job right now, they can apply for that visa. So there are different programs I want to push in that direction to help undocumented immigrants."

California Governor-elect Schwarzenegger plans to reduce the deficit by eliminating administrative costs. One method is to combine the Dept. of Fish & Game with the Highway Patrol under one leader. The merged agency will be known as Fish & Chips.

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - Though Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigned against "special interests" and "politics as usual," one of his most formidable tests will come as he juggles the demands of powerful California home builders, commercial developers and real estate interests that lavished money on his campaigns.</p>

KTVU.com Davis Ignores Schwarzenegger Request; Signs Bills POSTED: 6:33 p.m. PDT October 12, 2003UPDATED: 7:32 p.m. PDT October 12, 2003 SAN FRANCISCO -- Wielding the influence he still has in the waning days of his administration, Gov. Gray Davis signed four bills Sunday broadening the reach of Indian casinos in California. Two of the measures ratified agreements the Davis administration had already negotiated this summer with Indian tribes that want to open new gambling facilities in Southern California. One, the Torres-Martinez Band of Desert Cahuilla Indians of Thermal, plans to install 350 slot machines at an Imperial County truck stop...