Posted on 01/07/2006 6:53:47 PM PST by calcowgirl
Of course, everyone knew that Arnold Schwarzenegger was no Ronald Reagan. But for a while, if one donned the political equivalent of “beer goggles” and squinted hard, Schwarzenegger’s pitch about lower taxes, smaller government, and reform seemed pretty darned attractive, especially in California.
But everything changed when Arnold’s “reform agenda” was unceremoniously defeated in last November’s special election. Now, there is a “new” Arnold Schwarzenegger, brought to heel by his Democratic adversaries, and he was on full display last night during California’s State of the State Address.
In the wake of the special election, Arnold pledged more “bipartisan cooperation.” Obviously, he wasn’t kidding. He’s become so committed to getting along with the Democrats that he’s effectively become one of them. In recent days, he’s proposed to raise the minimum wage, import cheap prescription drugs, obtain a $50 billion infrastructure bond, and spend $428 million on expanding after-school programs to every California elementary and middle school — all propositions that he formally set forth in his State of the State Address.
In fact, it seems that Arnold is going so far as to appeal to Democrats by aping one of their best-loved governors. Pat Brown is renowned for presiding over construction of California’s highway system, a massive state water project, and the ascent of the University of California’s academic prominence. And to hear Arnold lay out his plans for 2006, he intends to make Brown look like a piker.
The governor proposes to oversee the construction of roads, courts, jails, schools, mental hospitals — and the fortification of ports, levees, and power plants. The plan would be partially financed by the voter-approved sale of $70 billion of bonds over the next decade, totaling more than California's outstanding tax-supported debt; the cost of the entire plan comes in at a whopping $222 billion.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger who last year pledged to cut spending and reorganize the government now seems intent on simply subsidizing it, and its workers, as generously as he possibly can. “We need more roads, more hospitals, more schools, more nurses, more teachers, more police and more firefighters, more water, more energy, more ports, more, more more.'' Now that’s an agenda that the Democrats — and their union masters — can embrace.
If he keeps it up, every big spender in the state will be thrilled; once again, the taxpayers will be left holding the bag. As Arnold Schwarzenegger discards his “ersatz Reagan” identity and morphs into an “ersatz Brown,” it’s worth remembering that when his new political role model left office, only 2.2 percent of the state’s general fund was devoted to debt service.
But for the new Arnold, the history is immaterial. It’s always been clear that the governor wants to do something “big” — but last night it became apparent that, if the plans are ambitious enough, the particulars (and the principles) don’t really matter.
— Carol Platt Liebau is an attorney, political analyst, and guest radio-talk-show host. Her blog may be found at www.CarolLiebau.blogspot.com.
I wonder if Liebau regrets this article:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/971605/posts
If he's like every other RINO-supporting jackwit, the only thing he'll "regret" is that the rest of us remember the article exists.
FR Search truly is our FRiend. :)
I didn't find it with either "raw deal" or "gambit" in the title.
Was it under a different title?
duh! Now I get it. You meant the old article. LOL.
I thought you meant this was a dupe.
What a difference a couple years make.
LOLOL.. sorry about that , chief.
an oldie but a goodie.
;-)
Probably not. Mistakes go with the territory.
By the same token Liebau was smart enough to jump ship when the obvious became public. She's not far from the ship however. Here's the clue from the more recent article:
But everything changed when Arnold’s “reform agenda” was unceremoniously defeated in last November’s special election.
The "changes" occurred before Schwarzenegger ran for office. Oh well, someday Liebau will remind us, in retrospect, just how misguided Republicans were; supporting the champion of Prop 49.
They should have seen it coming she will opine.
All politicians have big spending gambits. From mayors to county commissioners to governors, state reps and senators to federal congressmen and senators. I could give pretty many instances of what is going on in my own backyard, but I don't want to bore anyone with local tales of many millions of dollars worth of sheer waste are done on whims of those in charge. I'm sure you all could tell a few stories of your own. Pittsburgh, PA area. Westmoreland County to be specific.
But everything changed when Arnold’s “reform agenda” was unceremoniously defeated in last November’s special election.
The "changes" occurred before Schwarzenegger ran for office. Oh well, someday Liebau will remind us, in retrospect, just how misguided Republicans were; supporting the champion of Prop 49.
---
At the risk of incurring the wrath and invective of certain elements, the party was over long before the game even began. It may have lasted a bit longer if the Gubinor had sought to not multitask and cram all reforms thru at once.
The author is the editor for a site I frequently pull articles for discussion from, and I agree mistakes do go with the territory.
The good thing is she is only running a web site from an editorial point of view and is able to issue a retraction versus the Gubinor who has done a full scale retreat after having his and his supporters knees scuffedin a battle that was made all the more horrific by the sheer size of the victories that were attempted to be won.
How quickly he seems to run from 'blowing up boxes' to 'close the borders' to the crisis of the day with much hype and hoopla , all to be seen as a loveable type which he likely is, but in the end, revealing how shallow as a politician he is as well, imo.
Unfortunately , the stakes in retracting a published work and retreating from policy proposals are not the same and do not bear the same cost to one's ego.
another prime choice masterpiece :)
I used to listen to Doug McIntyre on late night radio in LA (KABC). For months after he took over the morning show, they had 'guest' hosts for the show, trying them out for a more permanent slot. Carol was one of those for many, many shows. She is ordinarily on target, but as with most talk show hosts, they don't do their research and rely heavily on information from the party (I assume). Had she looked a little deeper (if she was willing), she would have seen the many warning signs.
I was a long time and supporter of Arnold. No more.
Chuck's a straight shooter. He is not alone in his obvious concern over the state of things in Sacramento.
Nice job on the post. A picture is worth a 1,000 words. Really gets your point across.
I've enjoyed his writing that has been posted on FR. Common sense is so refreshing.
Those pics are from his blog (which I just found tonight).
http://www.chuckdevore.com/pages/909913/index.htm
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