Posted on 01/24/2004 9:51:06 AM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (McCLATCHY) - No one can accuse Arnold Schwarzenegger of not being able to work a room.
The new governor was at Frank Fat's restaurant the other night for the annual Chinese New Year celebration and unveiled his own "napkin deal" with Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, the San Francisco Democrat who'll have a lot to say about the final shape of Schwarzenegger's budget proposal.
Fat's was scene of a famous 1987 tort "reform" deal sketched on a tablecloth and later copied to a napkin so senators could see details the following day.
"I agree to support Proposition 57 and Proposition 58," the napkin "signed" by Burton said. Those are Schwarzenegger's proposals to borrow $15 billion to close this year's budget deficit and require balanced budgets in the future.
"That's the deal that John Burton and I made in the backroom," Schwarzenegger said. "No one was there. There was just him and me. This is a historic napkin and people will be writing about this 50 years from now."
Burton, like most other high-profile Democrats, have not actively campaigned for the governor's measures.
Schwarzenegger continues to commute to Sacramento, but he's never far from his wife, Maria Shriver.
She hangs in his private office at the Capitol, 24-7.
Schwarzenegger commissioned a series of six silkscreen likenesses of Shriver from pop artist Andy Warhol in 1981 as an engagement gift, according to the governor's office.
The other five pieces are in the Schwarzenegger mansion. The original sketch of Shriver was signed by Warhol and given to Schwarzenegger as a gift.
Warhol, of course, was familiar with all things Kennedy. He painted multiple images of Jackie Kennedy, and attended (escorting actress-model Grace Jones) the Schwarzenegger-Shriver wedding at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis, Mass. in 1986, the year before he died.
What ails California?
Not enough Feng Shui, perhaps, and too little Chi.
Assemblyman Leland Yee, a San Francisco Democrat, is convinced of that - so sure, in fact, that he wants something done to change the energy flow in state government.
Yee recently proposed a resolution urging the California Building Standards Commission to adopt and publish standards that "promote Feng Shui principles."
Feng Shui is a scientific discipline, linked to ancient China, that strives to keep practitioners living in harmony with their environment. Chi, a vital energy force, is a critical component of Feng Shui.
Practical applications could include positioning new buildings to take advantage of sunlight and breezes, and encouraging the use of calming design elements, such as fountains, streams or wind chimes, according to Yee.
Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy, R-Monrovia, said he believes in good vibes, too, but that Yee's proposal "borders on lunacy."
"That's not government's role," he said. "Government's role is to secure constitutional rights. . . . But we've gone far beyond that."
Tongue-in-cheek, Assemblyman Ray Haynes, a Murrieta Democrat, added that Yee's proposal interferes with his Chi.
"It interferes with the harmony I feel in the proper balance of government - the Feng Shui of government," Haynes quipped.
Yee said he's not surprised or offended by such reactions. But Chinese people have used Feng Shui to build homes, ease tensions, improve energy flow, increase productivity and live in harmony with their environment for generations, he said.
"Maybe there's something for us to learn," Yee said.
She hangs in his private office at the Capitol, 24-7.
Now that is some powerful imagery. ;-]
And therein lies the problem.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.