Posted on 04/24/2006 9:38:05 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Arnold Schwarzenegger's improbable rise to governor in the 2003 recall election left many Californians giddy at the prospect that the state finally would have an energetic reformer at the helm after years of mismanagement in Sacramento so irresponsible that it bordered on looting. For about two years, reform was for the most part what we got. Schwarzenegger's chief goal was promoting economic growth – a business-friendly state will have more revenue to pay for its needs, he liked to note. But he also worked to restrain spending and to overhaul dysfunctional agencies – especially the prison system.
Unfortunately, the painful rejection of all of his reform initiatives last November and the prospect of a difficult re-election campaign this November have led Schwarzenegger to embrace a wholly different persona: the politician willing to do anything to keep his job, whatever the price.
Consider what he said in 2004 as he touted ambitious plans to shake up the Corrections Department: “When I became governor I found a system that was in disarray, wrapped in secrecy and with almost no accountability, financially or otherwise.”
Contrast that with what happened last week: For the second time in two months, the reformers chosen to lead the Corrections Department abruptly quit because of evidence the governor is more interested in currying the favor of the powerful prisons guard union than in fixing a system he knows is grossly dysfunctional.
For newly departed Jeanne Woodford, the last straw reportedly was the decision of the governor's staff to give union officials veto power over key corrections posts. For Roderick Hickman, who quit in February, the last straw reportedly was discovering tight ties between the prison guards' top lobbyist and the Schwarzenegger aides who were undercutting his reform plans.
Even the governor's most loyal allies might conclude he prefers the prison status quo he once loathed to having guards side with his Democratic challenger.
This abandonment of reform parallels his recent treatment of the California Teachers Association. He would rather try to mute union criticism by showering schools with new cash to fund further mediocrity than link additional funding to concessions on teacher tenure, accountability, etc.
This is profoundly disappointing: The governor who once promised to “blow up the boxes” continues to put his self-interest and special interests ahead of the public interest.
We continue to believe Schwarzenegger's election as governor was one of the best things to happen to California in a long time, thanks to his success in making the state less hostile to business. Still, any sense that our governor is something special is fading fast. Perhaps having the prison guards on his side will guarantee his re-election. But at least when it comes to his reputation, it will be a Pyrrhic victory. That's because Arnold Schwarzenegger was supposed to be the action hero – not the bad guys' mascot.
He would rather try to mute union criticism by showering schools with new cash to fund further mediocrity than link additional funding to concessions on teacher tenure, accountability, etc.
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Just feeding the dragon that has eaten California.
Actually, if Arnold hadn't stuck his big nose into the governorship, we might have actually had someone good in there, when disgust with Gray Davis was at its height. But Parksy, Rove, and Bush didn't want to see a real conservative get into office there.
Instead, we got the RINO version of Gray Davis. Arnold talked the talk about prison union reform and business-friendly deregulation. But what has he done? Nothing, other than raise bonded debt and pour billions into a corrupt fetal stem cell program. And posture for the cameras.
Wimpy wimpy Arnold! Wimpy wimpy wimpy!! Wilted whipped wobbly!!!
The yoonyuns whupped his A$$!!! Go crawl back in your fantasy movie hole and quit giving Republicanism a bad name, you opportunistic girlieman!!!
He just made the historic Recall election almost worthless! We're essentially right back where we started!! What a waste of time for CA and it's Republican Party!!!
the sad part about it all is there is no one out there in the GOP who can stop him from being the candidate in November, getting reelected, burying the state in further debt and completely destroying what we all have been fighting for...for all these years.
uhh,,
No Gubinatorial primary was just a real sweet move on the part of the New Majorityites & the Ca GOP, the party of the shanghaied.. yet they will expect all of our votes be cast for them, no questions asked, no concerns will allowed to be raised.. even as they have their own select few pushing for minimum wage increases, abortion on demand, more gun control, borrowing billions and billions more to split with their 'enemies' on the other side of the aisle, all in the name of nonpartisanship. but hardly representative of the platform planks that still stand yet are ignored, all to grow the tent. yet failing to see, they are cutting everyone's throats in doing so.
smacks of regimes we have been fighting for years, indeed.
sadly, it's too late now for much to change, imo.. when we lose we lose, when we win we lose.. and get blamed for it either way by NM operatives here if we even raise a peep in protest.. and they wonder why their rush to be successful is doomed to failure even if they win.
Yup! As Amerigomag says... "Now it's the Wilsonnegger Gang" in the CA Crapitol in charge of the Repellican Party!!!
Where's that old "Manure Removal" equipment we used to have in the Gray Davis era??? I hope we didn't recycle that!!!
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