"Ahnuld the Governator" has f***** California

[steelmania75]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/us/17cali.html?_r=2&hp

According to the NY Times, California is almost broke, and has a projected 41 billion dollar deficit. I though Ahnuld was going to fix this?

If only the Dems could've used this as an attack ad on him back in '03.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaIWM2ruyK4&feature=channel

[Ian David]

1. He's an Economic Girlie-Man. n/t

[Raster]

2. Yep, I wonder how the good folks in Cali feel about Grey Davis now?

And Enron, how 'bout Enron?

[BlooInBloo]

3. More to the point: I wonder how they feel about *themselves*?

They're the ones who voted out Davis, and have NOT voted out ahnuld.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

9. Don't forget -

Darrell Issa was instrumental in getting that recall off the ground. For no good reason. The GOPigs really went after Davis.

And then, quite conveniently, Issa dropped out and in stepped that Austrian dick.

Congratulations are in order. Another GOPig success story.

[BlooInBloo]

12. The people voted. Once to remove Davis. Once (twice, actually) to put in ahnuld.

EDIT: Many criticize southerners for voting against their own interests. I'm one of them. It would be hypocritical in the extreme for me to withhold said criticism in this case.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

20. Yes, they did

They were sold a bill of goods.

They also voted to put Davis in office. He was railroaded, plain and simple.

You're right about voting against interests. I know what you mean. But what happened to Davis still bothers me.

[Raster]

19. Darrel Issa is a pig fucker, plain and simple.

I can't stand the SOB.

[Missy Vixen]

25. Dude.

Calling Darrel Issa a pig fucker is an insult to pig fuckers everywhere. ;-) :woohoo:

[K8-EEE]

29. Hey wait up not all of us did!! I voted against the recall and

FOR Cruz Bustamante in that stupid Arnie election.....

[BlooInBloo]

32. Yup. Not all.

[ContinentalOp]

33. Yeah, blaming Californians for Arnold is like blaming DU for Bush.

As if he were fairly and legitimately elected.

[K8-EEE]

43. If anybody watched "real housewives of OC"

That is what I picture the Arnie voters are like.....I don't know one person who voted for him!

[krabigirl]

37. Same here! I thought that recall was a grotesque event, and a huge waste or money.

[juno jones]

58. Same here.

I've always sorta regretted not voting for Angelique, but I tried to take my vote seriously even during that fiasco.

[WhiteTara]

55. actually, that was another stolen election

It was stolen on Riverside county touch screen vote machines.

[juno jones]

59. I seem to remember it one was of the first years they used 'em, too.

I've always thought that the machines might have been rigged in that one.

[Ian David]

I bet they wish they'd voted for Gary Coleman. n/t

[JSK]

53. The nine billion bucks that Enron stole

went a long way toward hastening this crisis. And we all remember that Aaahnold made a deal with Kenny-Boy (before he was elected) that he would not seek any kind of recompense, right?

No, nobody remembers. (nobody other than all of us here) American Idol's on tonite!!!

[WhiteTara]

56. it was the lawsuit to get the money back

that caused the railroading of Gray Davis (such an unfortunate name). Why he didn't shout that to the hilltops still stuns me.

[roguevalley]

57. I think a huge chunk of that 41b comes from getting California into

the stem cell business.

[rwheeler31]

4. Poop ex on screwed you.

[Mz Pip]

5. CA is ungovernable

It has been for a long time. It's just more obvious now.

[steelmania75]

7. True

"CA is ungovernable"

Good point.

[Mz Pip]

17. Arnold became Governor

because there were over 200 people on the ballot and his was the most recognizable name. There are far too many people here with the IQ of Cool Whip who thought it would be cool to have the Terminator for Governor.

Davis was recalled because he was boring and had the bad luck of winning a second term. Pissed off the conservatives in CA big time. Darrell Issa really really wanted to be Governor but he could never make it through the primaries so he funded the recall thinking he would be rewarded with the position.

Hah!

So we have Arnold, a socially liberal Republican who has found little support from the right wing nut bags who populate the Republican minority in our senate.

With a 2/3 majority needed to pass a budget here, the nut jobs can pretty much hold the state hostage.

[Blue_In_AK]

14. I said something like that to my husband just a little bit ago.

I remember even when I lived there back in the late' 60s and early '70s it seemed like there were always issues.

[rvablue]

35. Yep. Dem or Repub.....CA will be a mess until they get rid of Prop. 13. n/t

[Bluebear]

6. Appearing on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ the governor says he is proud of his fiscal approach:

“When you ran for governor in 2003, you ran as a fiscal conservative who would change the system, who would bring business-like techniques,” Brokaw said. “Now, you are facing a $15-billion deficit here in California. Unemployment is running at about 6.8%; you’ve got the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression. If you were the CEO of a public company, the board would probably say, ‘It is time to go.’ ”

Schwarzenegger joked: “Are you always this positive?”...

“Before you came in, Governor, you said the spending was out of control,” he said. “Your rate of increase in spending is about the same as your predecessor, Gov. Gray Davis. It has grown at about, what, 34% since you took office.”

Schwarzenegger, who in the 2003 recall campaign repeatedly cited spending growth under Davis, responded:

“You’ve been around long enough to know that the numbers are misleading. We have paid off a lot of debt… . I am very proud that we paid off a lot of debt and that we got the economy going again.”

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/30/local/me-arnold30

[steelmania75]

8. Bluebear, what else do you think Ahnuld would say? That he did a bad job? Hell no......

.....the man's in denial

[thatsrightimirish]

10. Not all Arnolds fault

I think the clear blame here is with the legislature. The Republicans in particular. The Governor and the Democrats really have already agreed on a budget but because of the 2/3 rule it will not get passed because the GOP opposes ANY tax hike. teh 2/3 rule and the governing by the ballot are the reasons why the state is the way it is.

[Blackhatjack]

11. Well Just Remember He Wants To Run For President Someday ....

He wants to pull a George W. Bush and leave the mess behind and go to Washington!

[SoCalDem]

13. Settling the Enron suits for pennies on the dollar came back and bit us on the ass..

Just as we KNEW it would... Screwing us over and settling Enron was what the recall was all about:(

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

15. But he's famous

And in the end, that's all that matters out there.

[stopbush]

16. CA will never get fixed until two things happen:

1. The state needs to drop the 2/3 majority vote rule to pass any new tax increases. This is absolutely crazy, and it allows the R minority - which will always be a minority in CA - to stop progress. The CA State budget is currently being held up for lack of ONE R vote to pass it.

2. The state needs to do away with voter initiative on the ballot. We need to get back to a representative CA government where our elected officials make decisions, rather than complicated issues being decided by stupid voters through simplistic ballot measures that fuck up the whole system.

[Mz Pip]

21. You are so right.

The Initiative process is a budget nightmare. Some sound terrific but people don't bother to read the bottom line that reveals how much it will cost. It's not that so many of these issues don't merit consideration but there doesn't seem to be much focus on the price tag. Then when the proposition passes the state has to come up with the money.

Or we get really bad laws, like Prop 8.

[ContinentalOp]

28. Yep, you get it!

But it's easier to throw stones from the outside based on silly prejudices about California's culture. So many DUers don't seem to understand that this crisis WASN'T the doing of California voters.

[stopbush]

34. Well, I live in CA, so I well know what the problems are.

Does anyone think it would be great for the rest of the country if CA goes under? Our farms in the SJV alone provide 25% of the produce for the nation. How about Ah-nold puts a 15% surcharge on all CA produce sold out of state? Or a 20% surcharge on Hollywood movies viewed out of state? Or an airport entry fee for anyone landing in LA on their way to Disneyland?

Or, how about the Feds just send back $1 for every $1 we send to them, rather than the $.65 we get now? That oughta balance the budget pronto.

[Confusious]

39. He can't put a charge on stuff going out of state

Interstate commerce is federal gov't area. Its in the constitution. California would be sued, and lose.

nobody wants to see cali go under, we'd just like you to clean up your mess, and worry about the spotted owl later.

[stopbush]

42. "Our mess" would be cleaned up if we got our fair share back from the Feds.

That won't ever happen, so we need to get rid of the things I mentioned above.

BTW - Las Vegas is funding the building of a new performing arts center through a surcharge levied on car rentals. It applies only to out-of-state drivers who rent cars in LV. Nevada residents are exempt from the surcharge. The surcharge was approved by the Clark County Commissioners.

Perhaps Ah-nold could put surcharges on sales of everything sold to tourists visiting the state. If the transaction happens within state lines, if could be legal, right?

We could also decriminalize MJ laws and save billions on tending to our over burdened prison system.

BTW - we have the ability in CA to deal with the spotted owl because the Rs don't have the ability to block action on that issue.

[formercia]

51. Red States get more than their share on average.

Someone in the Obama administration needs to look at that.


http://www.nationalpriorities.org/Publications/What-is-Came-to-Your-State-in-2005.html

How about a bill that limits Federal money to a value less than was sent to Washington with exceptions for basic needs of citizens?

[stopbush]

52. CA is currently $41-billion in the hole, yet we send $65-billion more to DC

than we get back.

Of course, our financial problems in CA are because we worry about the spotted owl.

[Confusious]

38. I don't think its based on culture

Its more based on the fact that every recession this country has had, California has been fucked. Nobody there seems to want to clean up the mess, they want to save the spotted owl ( which I agree with BTW ), but it seems to me, you should get your own house in order before throwing stones at the rest of the country.

And BTW California is a pretty large glass house with BIG plate glass windows, so don't be surprised when those stones come back.

[stopbush]

44. Perhaps we in CA should start demanding that we get $1 back on every

$1 we send the Feds in tax money. Right now, we're busy funding a whole lot of states in this country who get more back in Fed taxes than they pay in. Where do people think that $ comes from? CA paid $314-billion to the Feds in 2007, the largest contribution of any state in the union. We get $.79 back on every $1 we send to DC while Alabama gets $1.71. Our tax burden is 110% of the national average.

If CA took the position that putting our house in order meant that we got back $1 for every $1 we sent to the Feds, there would be large swaths of the USA that would no longer be there to throw stones at.

[Shakespeare]

60. Let me just add some context to the emotional buzz phrase you dropped.

The spotted owl thing.

First, saving the spotted owl is a federal issue, not a state issue.

Second, loosening regulations on logging on the northern California coast (the issue that led to the owl's endangered status) does far more than just endanger a small owl. When Maxxam Group took over Pacific Lumber, they began the most horrific, unhibited bout of clear-cutting, damn-the-management-recommendations logging that's been seen in the state in over 100 years. The result? They bankrupted the company--the biggest employer in the area--and left the watershed so devastated from the out-of-control logging that the area now experiences damaging mudslides (where they didn't happen before) because of erosion, and it's ruined water quality. There are far greater repercussions to encroaching on that habitat than just endangering a bird, and it's intellectualy dishonest to overlook that for the sake of tossing out a political buzz phrase.

And, as other posters have already pointed out, the state pays far more to the federal government than it receives in return. When the state recevies more equitable treatment, then we can start talking about glass houses. Until then, anybody who doesn't realize the national domino effect of any failure in California is in serious need of a brain transplant.

[rvablue]

36. You are exactly right, but need to add a third condition, the reform or repeal of Prop. 13

[Donnachaidh]

18. so when is the recall going to start?

Honestly, I don't understand WHY this isn't happening yet.

[Mz Pip]

22. Arnold isn't the biggest problem

The Republicans in the CA legislature are. They are the ones who need to go. Unfotunately, this state has been so gerrymandered that it's extrememly rare for a seat to change parties.

[ContinentalOp]

30. When the vast right wing political machine backed by billions of dollars decides that it's time...

to recall him. i.e. NEVER. Or were you under the impression that the voters of California actually have any say in the matter? :rofl:

[Confusious]

40. they need to get rid of some of those stupid props they got

Worry about aanolldd after.

[Initech]

23. Yup - we're fucked.

[sakabatou]

24. Republican actors always fuck America

[TreasonousBastard]

26. I guess it's Ahnuld's fault that...

he hasn't convinced the good people of Caulifawrnia (or his own party) that paying taxes is necessary to keep the state running.

California budgeting looks as bad as New York's-- we had the Assembly (Democrats) and the Senate (Republicans) hold up every budget for the last 40 years or so while each was playing a chess game on our time trying to hammer out its pet projects and kill of the other's. The Governor really has no say in the matter since he's essentially powerless in budget matters-- he can suggest, but his budget proposals usually sink. Until this year, when it's all Democrats in Albany, but nobody knows how to handle one-party rule with a $15 billion deficit.

(At least we don't have those stupid initiatives making things even worse)

[damonm]

27. Ahnuld is not the problem...

It's the pig fucking rethugs in the legislature who have held the entire process hostage to the mantra of "no new taxes", utterly ignoring the fact that Gov. Ronnie raised the living hell out of taxes in 1967 when the state was in a fiscal mess similar to today's.

Hey, I just realized - this is my 1000th post!

[Yukari Yakumo]

41. Even then, they're not the entire problem...

It's the stupid 2/3rds majority to pass tax increases that Cali voters approved of (Prop 13?).

At this point, Cali's only hope is for a new state constitution that gets rid of these idiotic traps.
(Because does anyone seriously believe Cali voters would vote to repeal Prop 13? I didn't think so.)

[damonm]

45. The 2/3rds is NOT Prop. 13,

Which passed in 1978. It's the result of Article XXIIIa, section 3 of the CA constitution that requires any change in taxes be approved by a 2/3 majority.

[ContinentalOp]

31. That's not entirely true or fair.

ENRON really fucked California. Enron + Arnold + Issa backed by the wealthy Republican political machine staged a coup and threw out our popularly elected Democratic governor. Arnold and the Republicans in the state legislature just kind of hung around after the fact for sloppy seconds.

[Fire Walk With Me]

46. The Republicans have been working very hard to destroy the country

and Ahnold is a Republican.

California has long been a thorn in Republican's sides; now they have some small revenge.

[Liberal_in_LA]

47. He's got California swirling down the toilet. It's scary.

[Triana]

48. And they recalled Grey Davis for MUCH less...

...not that I hear any Republicans mentioning THAT. (truth is, they just wanted to ram a Repugnickan in there as Gov - didn't matter what Grey Davis did or didn't do - they were just looking for excuses).

So :wtf: is their EXCUSE NOW? Eh?

[depakid]

49. Hate to break it to folks- but it's not Arnold's fault

California requires a two-thirds majority vote in the Legislature to pass budgets and tax increases. And its process for creating voter initiatives hamstrings the budget process by directing money for some programs while depriving others of cash.

Minority Republicans refuse to even consider any tax increases- which inevitably leaves the state at an impasse.

Not much Arnold can do about the supermajority requirement- that's purely the result of the STUPIDITY of the Californians who enacted it. And it's cost them their bond ratings to boot, so they're basically shut out of the credit markets too.

Let me be emphatic- Californians brought this one on themselves purely through shortsighted greed- and now the chickens are REALLY coming home to roost. The only thing I'm wondering about it where the tipping point is?

What will it take to get rid of the idiotic 2/3's requirement that a majority of the jerks in the state voted in? Will it take 9-11 calls going unanswered? When penough people end up with an IOU instead of their state tax refund?

Time will tell.

[cboy4]

50. I don't think it's all Arnold's fault, although I predicted he would

turn out to be no better than Gray Davis in the long run.

And Davis was a horrible governor, even though he didn't do anything so bad to justify a recall.

[truebrit71]

54. Much to the chagrin of State employees he really IS the Terminator...of their jobs...

....Hmm, didn't the LAST plastic actor that ran that state ALSO fuck it up?