Posted on 10/24/2005 7:25:41 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (AP) - Defending his special election before an audience of voters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday said his "year of reform" ballot initiatives are crucial to continue the changes he started after taking office two years ago.
He cast the Nov. 8 election as the next step of the 2003 recall election that propelled him to office.
Voters, he said, sent him to Sacramento to rebuild the state's economy and fix a moribund political system. After 400,000 new jobs and billions in new revenue, it was time for him to enter Act II, he said.
"Now is the year of reform," he said. "But I need the people's help. I need your help."
The 90-minute forum in the east San Francisco Bay area city of Walnut Creek was the first time Schwarzenegger sat for an extended period of time to field unscripted questions from an audience not chosen by his campaign staff.
His comments came after a leading Democrat and a nurses union official criticized his attempts to control state spending, change the rules for raising union money, reform teacher tenure rules and redraw legislative districts.
I missed the dems session and came in on the Governor and Prop 74 part.... not sure I can help.
I am posting an update of the original article for this thread. maybe it has some more on that piece.
I wish I had seen it.
UPdate to original article posting for this thread.
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Governor says election is crucial to continue reforms
http://www.bakersfield.com/state_wire/story/5645282p-5663062c.html
By BETH FOUHY, AP Political Writer
Posted: Monday October 24th, 2005, 7:05 PM
Last Updated: Monday October 24th, 2005, 8:05 PM
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (AP) - Defending his special election, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday told an audience of voters that his "year of reform" ballot initiatives are crucial to continue the changes he started after taking office two years ago.
He cast the Nov. 8 election as the next step of the 2003 recall election, saying he was sent to Sacramento to rebuild the state's economy and fix a moribund political system. After 400,000 new jobs and billions in new revenue, it is time for Act II, he said.
"We need reform. We have a broken system. That's why you sent me to Sacramento - to fix the broken system," he said in an appeal for support of his four initiatives. "Please give me the tools."
The 90-minute forum in the east San Francisco Bay area city of Walnut Creek was Schwarzenegger's most important opportunity to date to take his case directly to the voters. It was the first time Schwarzenegger sat for an extended period of time to field unscripted questions from an audience not chosen by his campaign staff.
His comments came after a leading Democrat and a nurses union official criticized his attempts to control state spending, change the rules for raising union money, reform teacher tenure rules and redraw legislative districts.
Democrats and unions object to all four of the initiatives that comprise Schwarzenegger's reform agenda.
Schwarzenegger is pushing: Proposition 74, which would extend the probationary period for teachers from two years to five and make it easier for school administrators to fire veteran teachers; Proposition 76, which would cap state spending and give the governor authority to make midyear budget cuts; and Proposition 77, which would transfer authority for drawing legislative boundaries from the state Legislature to a panel of three retired judges.
His opponents are most incensed about the fourth, Proposition 75. It would require public employee unions to get their members' written permission before dues could be used for political purposes.
State Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the California Nurses Association, said the so-called "paycheck protection" measure would tilt the political playing field in favor of corporations. DeMoro said corporations already outspend unions 13 to one.
"What this governor wants to do is make that 13 to zero," she said. "He wants a football field with only one team."
Perata said the governor's attempt to reform the way union dues are raised hurts middle class Californians such as teachers, nurses and firefighters.
"What gets lost in this whole discussion is that somehow these people are bad, they are evil. It is not true," Perata said. "They are representing their memberships."
The Republican governor said he was not trying to battle union members but rather union leaders who influence legislation with millions of dollars in campaign contributions. Most of those go to Democrats.
Schwarzenegger said he constantly asks himself, "What is best for the people, rather than what is best for the union bosses?"
He also reminded the audience that he is a longtime union member.
"I belong to the Screen Actors Guild, and so I'm very proud to be a union member," he said. "I believe very strongly in unions."
Perata said Schwarzenegger placed the teacher tenure initiative on the ballot to punish teachers for speaking out against his proposals. Perata, a former teacher, said the measure would not add textbooks, boost test scores or in any other way improve the state's public schools.
He called the measure "a way to blame teachers for what's wrong with education. ... This simply is divisive."
Schwarzenegger, speaking later, said the current system makes it difficult for school districts to remove poor teachers.
"We have an enormous amount of great teachers out there, terrific teachers ... but we cannot get rid of the bad teachers. They're called the lemons. Each school has those lemons. And they call it the dance of the lemons, where they kick them from school to school but you can't get them out," Schwarzenegger said. "What I say is, 'Let's kick them right out and let's dance them out the door rather than dancing them from school to school.'"
The questioners were selected from nine Bay Area counties by a survey research company and were chosen to represent a diversity of political, ethnic and economic backgrounds.
The forum, sponsored by the Contra Costa Times of Walnut Creek and Oakland television station KTVU, was designed to allow the governor to make his case to a skeptical public. It was broadcast live in the Bay Area and also available to be watched on the Internet.
Public opinion polls show Schwarzenegger's popularity has plunged and his ballot initiatives largely running behind. His campaign has said that its internal polling shows the initiatives and the governor with greater support than other polls indicate.
He also defended his redistricting initiative, saying judges would be more fair in drawing legislative districts than state lawmakers, and his measure to institute a state spending cap.
He said if the budget provisions of Proposition 76 had been in place a decade ago, California never would have run up a multibillion dollar budget deficit.
"We have taken the (world's) fifth largest economy down almost into bankruptcy with a $22 billion deficit," he told the audience. "It is unheard of."
On Monday, the governor won endorsements for propositions 76 and 77 from the California District Attorneys Association, the California State Sheriffs Association, the Chief Probation Officers of California and Memory of Victims Everywhere, a crime victims group.
Most unions representing rank-and-file law enforcement officers and firefighters have opposed Schwarzenegger's agenda. The governor has said the attacks are meant to preserve the status quo in Sacramento, which he vowed to change when he was elevated to the governor's seat during the 2003 recall election.
Before the forum began, hundreds of protesters representing teachers, nurses and other union members clustered outside the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts.
"What brought me out here is fairness. ... It's a waste of money, a political power grab by the big corporations. If they silence our voice, they'll have the right to do whatever they want," said Bobby Lux, 57, an iron worker from Novato who was among the protesters. "If we lose our voice, this country will be a two-party system - the very, very rich and the very, very poor."
Also Monday, Schwarzenegger's campaign team announced future voter forums. A similar forum is scheduled Friday in Fresno, while a pre-taped forum on Spanish-language television station Univision is scheduled to air Saturday.
habla espanol ?
It'll be on Univision per the article. :-)
The current one was in English and only one of the future ones is in Spanish:
"Also Monday, Schwarzenegger's campaign team announced future voter forums. A similar forum is scheduled Friday in Fresno, while a pre-taped forum on Spanish-language television station Univision is scheduled to air Saturday."
..we seem to have a flock of them running around here too. "We are conservatives, we are Republicans, every vote we cast matches exactly with that of the Democrats, but you must listen to us, because we tell you that we are conservatives"
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I was going to refrain from posting anything on the thread and fly low yet stay out of the mud,,
But seeing as how you seem to want to go that route..
I have a question.
Why is it that a Governor who says it is not his job to grow the Republican party; supports more and has advanced more of the GLBT agenda than anyone we have ever had in the Gub's office; has proposed and then signed the largest budgets ever in the state's history and borrowed the largest amount of monies to keep the c'Rats and their social spending addiction going deserve blind praise , not to mention the GReen and dem appopintments to numerous high level state commissions, agencies and offices have to be given a FRee pass?
Just curious.
Debate is healthy, following someone blindly is not, imo.
About as impressed as I am with yours.
Yes, because the evidence for supporting the conclusion is so evident.
Let's not debate the merits, but just throw a hard ball out there proclaiming the governor is lying. since you do not like the props, then the governor must be lying!
Excuse me, you are full of crap. I support 73, 74, and 75. I oppose 76 and am ambivalent about 77.
So, perhaps you should at least know where the barn is before you go shooting at it, even if you miss.
As to whether I have debated the merits of these propositions, you have clearly not availed youself of the discussions on these topics here at FR.
Agreed. Democracy ain't the best system, but it's better than all the others.
I'm for all of them but 77. What don't you like about 76?
Is that so? You are mighty testy aren't you! Come on, big guy, tell us where Arnold is lying through his teeth? I'm waiting!
I live in AZ and I get literature from the Ca Nurses' union all the time with all their stupid socialist propaganda.
Go get 'em, Arnold!!
Comments from Monday's special election forum
The Associated Press
http://www.bakersfield.com/state_wire/story/5645306p-5663094c.html
Following is a selection of comments from Monday's special election forum, featuring Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and California Nurses Association Executive Director Rose Anne DeMoro.
On Proposition 74:
"I know what terrific teachers we have, but we cannot get rid of the bad teachers. They're called the lemons. Each school has those lemons. And they call it the dance of the lemons, where they kick them from school to school but you can't get them out. What I say is, 'Let's kick them right out and let's dance them out the door rather than dancing them from school to school.'" - Schwarzenegger.
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"I don't think that right now, after two years, that teachers are experienced enough to really get tenure for life. I mean think about it - tenure and a job guarantee for life. Why? No job in the world do you get tenure and a job guarantee for life after two years. It doesn't exist." - Schwarzenegger.
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"This proposition would essentially force teachers to be there for five years without any type of job security. That means they couldn't buy a home in the community. That means that they would be threatened." - DeMoro.
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"When I was teaching, the real key to evaluating a teacher is for the principal, who does the evaluation, to spend time in the classroom observing what a teacher does and then taking the time to help that teacher learn from the experiences that they are having in the room. No one is a natural-born teacher. There's a skill to it." - Perata.
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On Proposition 75:
"Let me tell you, I'm a union member myself. I belong to the Screen Actors Guild and so I'm very proud to be a union member. I believe very strongly in unions." - Schwarzenegger.
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"What my objection is to take money, to have union bosses take money out of a worker's paycheck and use it for political campaigns without permission is wrong. Because that worker maybe doesn't believe in what they put the money into." - Schwarzenegger.
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"We don't want to spend money on fighting the governor. We want to spend money on better education, better health care, better safety laws. How did teachers, nurses and firefighters become the enemy all of a sudden in the state of California?" - DeMoro.
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"Right now corporations outspend unions 13 to one. What this governor wants to do is make that 13 to zero. He wants a football field with only one team." - DeMoro.
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On Proposition 76
"If we would have had Proposition 76 in place 10 years ago, this state would have never almost gone into bankruptcy. This state would have been just perfectly fine. We wouldn't have had the $22 billion debt that we had when I took office." - Schwarzenegger.
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"We have the fifth largest economy in the world, California. The greatest place in the world. The most diversified economy. The hardest working people and we have taken the fifth largest economy down almost into bankruptcy with a $22 billion deficit. It is unheard of." - Schwarzenegger.
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"This is not a solution. It's an antiseptic way to cut spending without really having to have the consequences staring you in the face." - Perata.
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"We're losing the middle class of this state. We're losing it. And these propositions do nothing to protect that middle class. All we're doing in this particular proposition is to pit one group against another, all of whom are providing essential services to kids, to the elderly, to the mentally ill. Those are the ones who will suffer." - Perata.
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"The governor is really, very much attempting to continue to cut the education budget, and the solution isn't to give the governor more power. The solution, honestly - and I know it's going to be extremely unpopular - but it's too make corporations pay their fair share." - DeMoro.
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On Proposition 77
"We have to draw the district lines, regardless of what the outcome is. Draw the district lines and then give it to the people to decide which way to go. And let me tell you something, the other side has all kinds of scare tactics. But the bottom line here is we want to give the power back to the people. Who is fighting us on that? Not the general public. The politicians." - Schwarzenegger.
You just couldn't take the truth, right?
For starters, here's some reasons:
THE CA PROPOSITIONS; Democratic and Republican activists discuss the propositions
Dean urges voters to reject measures governor supports [California]
CA: Feinstein to oppose Schwarzenegger's special election initiatives
John Alden (Marin cnty Dem Party chariman): Vote no on Prop 76 - we need better leaders
McClintock's recommendations for CA Propositions
Summary of Recommendations on the CA Propositions by various organizations and parties
CA: McClintock stumps for governor's ballot initiatives
You keep ignoring that Arnold VETOED the homosexual marriage bill, despite the pressure that was put on him.
No, FairOpinion. As you are aware, we oppose it because it DOESN'T cut spending and authorizes more borrowing, as we have posted over and over again. See links above, for starters.
And, from the campaign manager's mouth:
"The key is not to crank government spending down," said Tom Campbell, Schwarzenegger's former finance director, who left the post to campaign for the initiative. "It's just to spend no more than we have."
San Diego Union-Tribune, October 21, 2005But Campbell said he has looked forward starting in 2006, which is when the measure would take effect, and doesn't believe that the cap would have an impact on state spending until 2013. "That's because we start with three good years of revenue behind us," he said. "It completely depends on what year you start."
San Francisco Chronicle, October 22, 2005
"It's just to spend no more than we have."
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And you have a problem with that. Obviously you prefer the current status quo where we are spending $1.07 for every $1.00 we get.
And why is that? Are you for increased taxes?
You're slipping. I thought you would have tossed that out right away. Oh, and don;t even pay any attention to all the GLBT legislation he DID sign.
As the Gub said, "Let the people and the courts decide.".
imo, he vetoed what even a dem Gov would likely have vetoed just like the VLF which was a key element of the Recall even happening.
btw, we probably only differ on one or two props at most, so the next time you accuse either myself or some others of being democRats or plants on a Conservative forum,, maybe ya ought to think twice before slipping the mud in a thread and expecting to get away clean. just a thought.
Try and be 'moderate',, Oops, you already are and so is you know who. Too bad the budgets he proposed and signed weren't moderated a bit more. But that's another thread.
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