Posted on 02/05/2007 9:54:36 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO
In his inaugural address a month ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged Californians to think beyond party ideology and forge a "dynamic center" that was not captive to Republican or Democratic orthodoxy.
Private audio tapes made public this week indicate the Republican governor was heeding his own advice long before giving the speech that kicked off his final term.
Sounding almost like a man without a party, Schwarzenegger skewers the Democratic leaders of the Legislature saying one lacks passion and calling another "really weird" as well as Republican legislators in general. He says GOP lawmakers are small-minded, obstructionist and prone to "nitpicking."
His sentiments about members of his own party were especially revealing. They brought into the open a divide between the moderate governor and the conservatives who control the levers of Republican Party power in California.
The release of the tapes from a speechwriting session last March also comes at a particularly sensitive time for Schwarzenegger, who is trying to woo members of both parties to support his $12 billion plan to overhaul the state's health care system.
"This might be labeled post-partisanship the dark side," Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College, said in reference to a term Schwarzenegger coined during his inaugural address. "It probably doesn't come as a surprise to anyone that he says these things, but it probably annoys them that it ended up in print."
Schwarzenegger's comments are likely to add extra friction to the negotiations over his health care plan, meaning he may have to spend extra time courting lawmakers on both sides, Pitney said.
Republicans already were angered by his plan to charge a fee to businesses who opt not to provide health coverage for their employees. Conservatives also have been unhappy with many of Schwarzenegger's spending plans, which include a multibillion-dollar bond proposal on top of the one voters approved last year.
To the party's more conservative elements, the sentiments revealed on the audio tapes only further their suspicions about a governor who has hired Democrats to some of his top policy positions.
"I think that it's his clear statement that the marriage of convenience between him and the Republican Party is over," said Michael Schroeder, a GOP activist from Orange County and former California Republican Party chairman.
The audio files were released Sunday by the Schwarzenegger administration after they were obtained independently by the Los Angeles Times. They include about three hours of private recordings made during a speechwriting session last March, when Schwarzenegger was involved in heated negotiations with both parties over a massive infrastructure bond package.
The files, originally downloaded from an unprotected area of the governor's official Web site by the campaign of Schwarzenegger's Democratic opponent during last year's gubernatorial race, reveal frustration by the governor and his staff toward Republican lawmakers.
Republicans wanted to lower the price tag of the bond package and insert projects important to their individual districts. That annoyed Schwarzenegger, who said those members lacked a long-term vision of California.
One male staffer is heard on the audio saying Republican lawmakers didn't understand how they also could declare victory if they went along with the governor's rebuilding plan, which was to be the centerpiece of his re-election strategy.
"Yes, but you know, when you are from a small place and you have grown up in the political arena, then you think about like first, what's in it for me? Meaning, what's in it for my district?"
"That's just the way they look at it," the governor says.
The tapes also include disparaging remarks that became public last year about the former Republican leaders in the Senate and Assembly. He refers to former Assembly Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, now a congressman, as "Bakersfield boy."
On another tape, Schwarzenegger and his aides are discussing how Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, a Los Angeles Democrat, does not want to hand Schwarzenegger a complete victory on the bond proposal.
"Well, neither do the Republicans," Schwarzenegger responds.
A male aide is then heard saying, "The Republicans are the ones who are killing us."
Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, said Monday that it was unfortunate the tapes made into the public realm but that he was not offended by Schwarzenegger's characterization of Republicans as obstructionists.
"Part of me is delighted to hear his comments because that means we're doing our job of checks and balances," DeVore said. "It's our role to ask tough questions."
Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman, R-Fullerton had a muted response Monday, saying the public revealing of Schwarzenegger's private comments would not change the way Republicans approach the governor.
"I think it's the same as it was last year. We're trying to work for solutions," Ackerman said. "I think things are progressing. That doesn't mean we agree on everything."
Schwarzenegger's press secretary, Aaron McLear, said the tapes' release will not undermine the governor's ability to work with Republicans in the Legislature.
"I'm sure that he's expressed his regret for any problems that may arise for them because of these tapes, but I think they understand the relationship with the governor is much bigger than a couple of comments made privately (nearly) a year ago," McLear said.
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Associated Press Writers Don Thompson and Samantha Young contributed to this report.
He says GOP lawmakers are small-minded, obstructionist and prone to "nitpicking."
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The TWirPinator.
OH MAN that too rich and funny hey Norm did you think he call them GIRLIE MEN LMAO
The lesson of (R)nold is lost on the current crop of RINO supporters.
Hmm. Isn't that considered representing your constituents? Is that such a bad thing?
He's obviously been listening to Maria too much.
Doesn't NBC need her full-time back in New York or something?
Transcript Part 1: Perata 'Sick Man'
Transcript Part 2: Race Relations
RE: Senate leader Don Perata [Democrat] on Monday downplayed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's harsh, taped criticism -- in which the governor called Perata "really weird" and "a very sick man" -- as coming during "the heat of battle."
And how about this 5 Feb. 2007 MEDIANEWS report by Steven Harmon. "Perata appears unfazed by FBI's investigation."
"Sacramento - Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata [Democrat, or course] defending himself against a federal probe into whether he illegally funneled money to family and close associates. . . ."
Perhaps SchwarzenKennedy's remarks about real Republicans prove just how the dummy is being led around by his wife and his Hollywood junk-science, coke-sniffing friends.
This is all so sick..... these people running our governments are all taking us off a cliff.......
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