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Arnold Schwarzenegger approval drops to record low -- tied with Gray Davis dsiders@sacbee.com Published Wednesday, Jul. 14, 2010 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's job approval rating has fallen to a record low, matching that of former Gov. Gray Davis from 2003, the year he was recalled, according to a Field Poll released today. Registered voters held an even dimmer view of the job state lawmakers are doing. Though the Legislature's job approval rating ticked up three points from March, it remained a dismal 16 percent, according to the poll. With the state mired in yet another budget crisis, just 22 percent of...

LOS ANGELES — If the mark of a real independent is lack of friends, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the quintessential nonpartisan in American politics right now. His approval rating has not risen above 30 percent since May 2009. California remains in deep fiscal distress. He is despised by the state’s workers (whose pay he cut), Democrats (who loathe his aversion to new taxes and his desire to cut entitlements) and Republicans (who wish those respective aversions and desires were stronger), as well as college students, public school parents and people who hate the smell of cigars. As Governor Schwarzenegger prepares...

Dulles, Virginia -- Bowing before the politically correct lords of the environmental movement, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared this week that when it comes to the issue of climate change, “America has to lead, and [California is] doing so with or without Washington.” Schwarzenegger was explaining his decision to ratify a two-year environmental alliance between the state of California and the People’s Republic of China under the supervision of the United Nations. Frustrated with the Bush administration’s reluctance to embrace a global climate treaty that would place caps on greenhouse gas emissions, Schwarzenegger engaged the UN and China by making...

"I'll be back." That pledge from the Terminator traditionally has had special meaning in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown. But now — after the California governor refused to spare two convicted murderers in a row from their death sentences and showed no signs of relenting in another case up next month — the romance is over between Schwarzenegger and Graz, Austria's second-largest city. Acting on Schwarzenegger's orders two weeks after the Dec. 13 execution of former Crips gang leader Stanley Tookie Williams, city leaders Tuesday deleted all references to the bodybuilder-turned-governor on Web sites linked to Graz. Over the weekend, they also...

The following are excerpts from an AP story from Jenn Coleman today. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday told officials in his hometown in Austria to remove his name from a sports stadium and stop using his identity to promote the city. SNIP He asked that the lettering be removed by year's end. SNIP (Description of how Graz gave Arnold a ring) ``Since, however, the official Graz appears to no longer accept me as one of their own, this ring has lost its meaning and value to me. It is already in the mail,'' the governor wrote.

The execution of convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams sparked outrage Tuesday throughout Europe, which has a deep aversion to capital punishment sustained by the painful memory of state-organized murder during the Nazi era. The disappointment was particularly strong in Austria, native country of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, where many had hoped the former bodybuilder and film star would spare the 51-year-old Williams. Leaders of Austria's opposition Green Party even called for Schwarzenegger to be stripped of his Austrian citizenship _ a demand rejected by Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel as "absurd" despite his government's opposition to the death penalty. Capital punishment is illegal...

VIENNA (Reuters) - California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a citizen of both the United States and Austria, should be stripped of Austrian citizenship for allowing a convicted murderer to be executed, an Austrian politician says. Schwarzenegger rejected a clemency appeal by triple-murderer Donald Beardslee, which gave San Quentin prison the green light for California's first execution in three years on Wednesday. "The death penalty is unacceptable in Austria and Europe. No Austrian citizen is allowed to take part in or order executions," Peter Pilz, the security spokesman for Austria's Green Party, told the Austrian Press Agency (APA) on Saturday. Pilz, whose...

Politician wants Schwarzenegger to lose citizenship California governor 'not worthy' to be Austrian VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should be stripped of citizenship in his native Austria for approving the execution of a convicted killer, a leading Austrian politician said Saturday. Peter Pilz, a top official with the environmentalist Green Party, said the Austria-born Schwarzenegger no longer is worthy of citizenship in his homeland because he broke the law by clearing Donald Beardslee's execution on Wednesday. Capital punishment is illegal here, and Schwarzenegger -- who holds dual U.S.-Austrian nationality -- should be stripped of his Austrian passport...

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should be stripped of citizenship in his native Austria for approving the execution of a convicted killer, a leading Austrian politician said Saturday. The demand, by a top official from the environmentalist Green Party, had little chance for success, but it underscores how Schwarzenegger has lost popularity in his homeland over his support for the death penalty. Most Austrians - and many other Europeans - abhor capital punishment as cruel and inhumane. Peter Pilz said Schwarzenegger broke the law in Austria - where capital punishment is illegal - and is no longer...