Free Republic

HOW SELFISH of me not to have noticed. I had absolutely no idea that Arnold Schwarzenegger was so hard up. He's practically the Oliver Twist of governors. He's so needy that there's a charity devoted almost exclusively to helping him out. Thanks to that charity, the California State Protocol Foundation, our governor does not face the dehumanizing prospect of sleeping in a single at a Sheraton when he travels overseas. Instead, he can repose in a four-star, four-figure hotel suite. Nor does he have to suffer the torments of the damned by flying commercial to get there — he can...

Sacramento -- Legislators aren't the only ones around the Capitol whose travel to distant countries is financed, in part, by companies that have interests before the state. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's foreign trade missions are paid for by the California State Protocol Foundation. Though neither the governor's office nor the foundation will disclose the group's funding sources, tax records filed by other nonprofits doing business with the foundation show that it received $75,000 from agribusiness interests and banking. The foundation is led by two of the state's most influential business groups -- the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Roundtable....

LOS ANGELES (AP) - After a humiliating election loss, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this weekend jets to China and Hong Kong where he'll try to exchange his blistered campaign image for the role of celebrity statesman and retailer. Officially, the Republican governor's long-scheduled, six-day tour will take him to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong to promote trade along the Pacific Rim. He'll arrive Monday with a retinue of nearly 80 corporate and business executives eager to sell products from pharmaceuticals to chardonnay to Mickey Mouse in the world's largest emerging market. A business-connected foundation is picking up part of the trip's...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is benefiting from millions of dollars raised by a network of tax-exempt groups without revealing that the money comes from major corporations with business before his office. The groups are run by Schwarzenegger's closest political allies, who also represent some of California's biggest interest groups. Unlike the governor's many campaign funds, the nonprofits are not required to disclose their contributors and can accept unlimited amounts. One group controlled by a powerful corporate consultant pays the $6,000-a-month rent on a Sacramento hotel suite used by the governor, who is a multimillionaire. Others have funded media events...