Posted on 10/19/2006 12:24:27 PM PDT by calcowgirl
The folks at the conservative-leaning Cato Institute have published their annual report card on the fiscal policy of the nation's governors. And they've dropped Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget score from an 'A' to a 'D.'
The Cato report is here. It uses about two dozen different measures of fiscal performance, generally grading spending cuts and tax cuts as better, and spending and tax hikes as worse.
So why did they drop his grade? "After one year of of aggressive budget cutting, " the report says, "he has let the big spenders in Sacramento get to him." The Cato report says California's state government is now 12% bigger in "real per capita terms" than after the governor's first few budget decisions.
13 of the nation's governors were given a 'D' rating, so Schwarzenegger isn't alone. Only one, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, was given an 'A.'
This report presents the findings of the Cato Institute's eighth biennial fiscal policy report card on the nation's governors. The report card's grading is based on 23 objective measures of fiscal performance. Governors who have cut taxes and spending the most receive the highest grades. Those who have increased spending and taxes the most receive the lowest grades.From Full Text(PDF, 530 KB)Only one governor receives an A this year— Republican Matt Blunt of Missouri. The next two highest-scoring Republicans are Rick Perry of Texas and Mark Sanford of South Carolina. The highest-scoring Democratic governors are John Lynch of New Hampshire and Phil Bredesen of Tennessee.
Nine governors receive Fs. In alphabetical order, they are Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana, Michael Easley of North Carolina, Kenny Guinn of Nevada, Christine Gregoire of Washington, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware, Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Bob Riley of Alabama, and Brian Schweitzer of Montana.
Governors who received praise in previous editions of the report card but have lower grades this year include Arnold Schwarzenegger of California (current grade, D); Jeb Bush of Florida (current grade, C); Bill Owens of Colorado (current grade, D); George Pataki of New York (current grade, D); and Bill Richardson of New Mexico (current grade, C).
Page 5
Arnold Schwarzenegger: He received accolades for his first two years on the job when he received an A in the 2004 edition of this report card. This year, however, his grade has dropped to a D. It seems that the California governor has changed his stripes completely. After one year of aggressive budget cutting, he has let the big spenders in Sacramento get to him. Today, California state government is 12 percent bigger in real per capita terms than it was after his hard-fought battle to eliminate the massive $15 billion deficit. Now his efforts are geared toward expanding government, not scaling it back.It’s likely many voters no longer recognize the Arnold Schwarzenegger they elected in 2003.
Page 18:
California
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican
Legislature: Democratic
First-Term Grade: DThe plot of the second reel of the current Arnold Schwarzenegger film has taken a turn for the worst. In the first reel, Schwarzenegger played an aggressive budget cutter who slashed spending by around $6 billion over two years and reversed Gray Davis’s car tax hike. Part of his budget fix, however—a $15 billion bond to cover year-to-year expenses—looks in retrospect like a harbinger of things to come. Lately, while he’s held the line against tax increases, he’s also been eager to expand government massively. Over the past two years, Schwarzenegger proposed budgets that boosted spending several times faster than population growth. This year he cut a deal with the Democrats in the state legislature to hike the budget by 10 percent. He also conspired with them to put on the ballot a massive $37 billion bond to pay for infrastructure projects, many of which have been rightly criticized as pork.
Meanwhile, the recommendations produced by his first-year budget task force, which could produce $32 billion in budget savings, collect dust like a forgotten screenplay on a shelf somewhere. Schwarzenegger is no longer the small-government crusader he claimed he was when he auditioned for the role of governor. He has instead become a borrow-and-spend version of the big-spending governor he unseated in 2003.
All you Texans out there wondering who to vote for.
My man Rick Perry is a good governor.
YESSS!!
Isn't Rick Perry going to allow the construction of the superhighway next year?
Schwarzenegger is no longer the small-government crusader he claimed he was when he auditioned for the role of governor. He has instead become a borrow-and-spend version of the big-spending governor he unseated in 2003.
Page 5
"It’s likely many voters no longer recognize the Arnold Schwarzenegger they elected in 2003."
Ain't that the truth.
Governor Riley of Alabama, who, in contrast to Arnold has heavy conservative support, received an F.
Thats the rumor.If as much money as I hear is involved in this project, I doubt it can or will be stopped by any politician.
Governor Riley of Alabama, who, in contrast to Arnold has heavy conservative support, received an F.
Governor Riley of Alabama, who, in contrast to Arnold has heavy conservative support, received an F.
Governor Riley of Alabama, who, in contrast to Arnold has heavy conservative support, received an F.
OK, I understood your reply number 9
Missed 11
Confused by 12 and
Misunderstood 13
Or did you send me the same thing 4 times for a reason?
How am I supposed to believe that rating when they didn't even get his name (Dave) right?
BTW, did you actually have a point to make about Riley, or instead do you work full-time with the glitch-detection police?
But ,,, but isn't El Napo supposed to be the top governor according to Time Magazine. Please let enough conservatives get out to get rid of this Clinton in a dress.
No police just having some fun with you - you on dialup?
Don't really pay attention to Riley - so would just take you at your post.
Whoever did the tables got it wrong. They did get in right in the text:
Wyoming
Dave Freudenthal, Democrat
Legislature: Republican
Midterm Grade: D
Dave Freudenthal became governor at a time when he must have been the envy of all other governors: He inherited a budget surplus instead of a budget deficit. But Freudenthal has been eager to spend that surplus, too, and the legislature has been happy to help him. State government has exploded in Wyoming. The general fund budget (which includes the budget reserve account) was around $2.2 billion when Freudenthal assumed office. Today, it’s over $3.5 billion—close to a 60 percent increase. The legislature hasn’t been a check on Freudenthal’s fiscal plans, since it’s been happy to deliver budgets that have been slightly larger than the governor proposed. At least Freudenthal proposed cutting the sales tax rate by half a percentage point, a proposal that saved his grade from dipping to an F. Yet it was hardly an audacious proposal since current law states that the tax rate will go down by that amount anyway once the state reaches fiscal solvency. In the meantime, most of the $1.8 billion surplus will not be returned to taxpayers and will go instead to expanding government. Wyoming taxpayers deserve better than what Freudenthal has given them thus far.
| Overall Current-Term Grades | |||
| Governor | State | Score | Grade |
| Matt Blunt (R)* | Missouri | 63 | A |
| Rick Perry(R) | Texas | 61 | B |
| Mark Sanford (R) | South Carolina | 60 | B |
| Phil Bredesen (D) | Tennessee | 60 | B |
| Mike Rounds (R) | South Dakota | 59 | B |
| John Huntsman (R)* | Utah | 59 | B |
| John Lynch (D) | New Hampshire | 58 | B |
| Sonny Perdue (R) | Georgia | 56 | C |
| Bill Richardson (D) | New Mexico | 56 | C |
| Brad Henry (D) | Oklahoma | 56 | C |
| Tom Vilsack (D) | Iowa | 56 | C |
| Mitt Romney (R) | Massachusetts | 55 | C |
| Tim Pawlenty (R) | Minnesota | 55 | C |
| Dave Heineman (R) | Nebraska | 55 | C |
| Edward Rendell (D) | Pennsylvania | 55 | C |
| Haley Barbour (R)* | Mississippi | 54 | C |
| Don Carcieri (R) | Rhode Island | 54 | C |
| Jeb Bush (R) | Florida | 54 | C |
| John Hoeven (R) | North Dakota | 54 | C |
| Bob Taft (R) | Ohio | 53 | C |
| Ernie Fletcher (R) | Kentucky | 53 | C |
| Robert Ehrlich (R) | Maryland | 53 | C |
| James Douglas (R) | Vermont | 53 | C |
| Jennifer Granholm (D) | Michigan | 53 | C |
| George Pataki (R) | New York | 51 | D |
| Joe Manchin (D)* | West Virginia | 51 | D |
| Kathleen Sebelius (D) | Kansas | 51 | D |
| Rod Blagojevich (D) | Illinois | 51 | D |
| John Baldacci (D) | Maine | 51 | D |
| Bill Owens (R) | Colorado | 50 | D |
| Ted Kulongoski (D) | Oregon | 50 | D |
| Mitch Daniels (R)* | Indiana | 50 | D |
| Jodi Rell (R) | Connecticut | 50 | D |
| Linda Lingle (R) | Hawaii | 50 | D |
| Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) | California | 49 | D |
| Jim Doyle (D) | Wisconsin | 49 | D |
| Doug Freudenthal (D) | Wyoming | 49 | D |
| Brian Schweitzer (D)* | Montana | 47 | F |
| Bob Riley (R) | Alabama | 47 | F |
| Christine Gregoire (D)* | Washington | 47 | F |
| Mike Huckabee (R) | Arkansas | 46 | F |
| Kenny Guinn (R) | Nevada | 46 | F |
| Ruth Ann Minner (D)* | Delaware | 44 | F |
| Michael Easley (D)* | North Carolina | 44 | F |
| Janet Napolitano (D) | Arizona | 43 | F |
| Kathleen Blanco (D)* | Louisiana | 43 | F |
| * Governor who receives a midterm grade only. | |||
| The Graduating Class: Final Overall Grades of Governors Leaving Office in 2007 | |||
| Governor | State | Grade | |
| Jeb Bush (R) | Florida | B | |
| Bill Owens (R) | Colorado | C | |
| George Pataki (R) | New York | C | |
| Mitt Romney (R) | Massachusetts | C | |
| Tom Vilsack (D) | Iowa | C | |
| Kenny Guinn (R) | Nevada | D | |
| Mike Huckabee (R) | Arkansas | D | |
| Bob Taft (R) | Ohio | F | |
The CATO Institute must have the Austrian confused with another governor.
The public record is clear. Schwarzenegger never cut a budget. He only increased spending.
Tell me again why Mark Sanford isn't a good 2008 Presidential candidate?
Not mainstream, too conservative, he can't win.... /sarcasm
Sorry, I really don't know anything about Sanford but I can guess the excuses that have been given.
Schwarzenegger never cut a dime in expenditures. The base line reference is a red herring introduced by CATO to conceal reality and justify their conclusions.
Operating expenditures financed by General Fund revenues were not reduced or cut from 03-04 to 04-05, they were limited to $75B because Schwarzenegger simply exhausted the General Fund. The approximately $4B increase in base line spending was financed through borrowing.
CATO baffled its readers with high minded, accounting jargon, commonly known as BS, counting on the ignorance of the electorate to cloak the deceit in CATO's foundation argument.
How did Cruz Bustamante rate?
Is that the Liberaltarians proving that Republican "borrow and spend" is superior to Republican "tax and spend?"
Cruz Bustamante is a Governor? News to me!
Cato is Liberal-itarian, so you can only read them for a laugh IMO.
It's like a bunch of illegal Mexican gardeners forming their own think tank and having us take them seriously.
After calling his efforts good ideas in the debate with Angelides, I'm dismayed he's decided to give up on the paycheck protection and redistricting reforms.
His big mistake was thinking the voters would trust and help him against the insanity of the legislature-union duopoly leading headlong into the ultimate ruination of CA.
Arnold's a populist, not an ideologue, thus a well-informed California, not drowning in $100 million in slanderous union propaganda, is critical to moving fiscal policies in a "common-sense conservative" direction. Contrary to what he said about moving too fast with his reform agenda, I believe he waited *too long* after the recall (I blame the Wilsonites).
Reelection will renew Arnold's political capital but I think McClintock's election is *critical* because he'll have a bully pulpit from which to articulate more sane fiscal discipline. I think it's great they're running as a pseudo-ticket although Tom's being hammered heavily by ads designed to appeal to moonbat fems.
Well, imagine then. It would have been sub-zero.
Arnold not great. But better than Cruz.
And your defense of Riley is......
Oh oh,! the elites at the Cato istitute have written a nasty report card! Pehaps we might get a stern look too!
(/s)
Cato, defeatist elites.
Most have higher standards.
If some of the uber-Republicans on here had their way during the election, Cruz would be our governor now.
It is less about Riley and more about CATO.
CATO is a joke, you take them as a joke maybe.
Can a bunch of jokers get some things right though? Sure, even a broken clock strikes correctly now and then.
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