In this morning’s Sacramento Bee, there is an article with the headline, Cap Will Prevent Future Deficits, Governor Vows.
My response, just from looking at the headline, was to roll my eyes.
In one of my shortest commentary’s of the year, let’s lay out, in simple terms, three reasons why Arnold Schwarzenegger’s credibility is lacking.
1) The Governor ran for office, twice, pledging to oppose new taxes. He has now signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of any state, and is advocating the passage of Proposition 1A, which contains $20 billion more in taxes on Californians.
2) In 2004, the Governor campaigned for Propositions 57 & 58, saying, “"If you vote ‘yes’ on these two propositions, it will be the first step out of the hole and we will be on track to recovery. That is what we need and that is why it is important that we all work together on this," Schwarzenegger said. "Let us make sure that the politicians will never spend more money than the state takes in."
After the passage of these measures, the Governor continued to sign budgets that ratcheted up spending.
3) Since the loss of his four ballot measures in the 2005 special election, the Terminator has become the Compromisinator. While this has manifested itself in many ways, the most notorious being this year’s budget battle, and the resulting massive tax increases, another example of this is that in pursuit of accommodation with the state’s public employee unions, the language for the purported “spending cap” in Proposition 1A is so watered down that it’s passage will not stop a determined Governor and legislature from continuing to overspend. Proposition 1A is too weak to be an effective block against the state’s spending lobby.
I’m not trying to be mean here. Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to be a nice guy. But I am an “injured party” who supported Schwarzenegger for office, twice, with an expectation that he would be a fiscal conservative. And have been tremendously let down, especially when I think about February’s massive tax increase, and the de facto massive tax increases associated with the Governor’s over-regulation of Californians to play “our part” in the world wide battle against global warming.
I wonder if the folks at the Sacramento Bee, when the Governor left that meeting, also rolled their eyes, at the “vow” of the Governor?
DEPARTMENT OF FR CORRECTIONS
Yesterday I wrote that the California Federation of Republican Women opposed all of the May Special Election ballot propositions, and I was incorrect. The have opposed 1A, 1B and 1C. They have not taken positions on 1D, 1E, and 1F. My apologies.
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