Arnold's Mess

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright January 17, 2009
All Rights Reserved.                    

        Delivering his 2009 State-of-the-State speech, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger got more than he bargained for when he rode an angry mob to the statehouse Oct. 8, 2003.  Arnold capitalized on vengeful voters, venting frustrations on then incumbent Gov. Gray Davis, repaid in a special election for mismanaging the power crisis, driving the state deep into the red.  When Davis tried to raise vehicle registration fees, voters retaliated, catapulting Arnold into office.  Five years later, voters see their mistake, replacing one incompetent for another.  Arnold has spent most his time in Sacramento alienating the legislature, exacerbating partisan divisions making California the most dysfunctional state in the nation.  Arnold likes to the call legislators “girly men” showing no penchant for leadership, certainly not the deal-making needed to end the crisis and fix the budget.

            Arnold painted a somber picture of a state $42 billion in the red, unable to pay its bills, all because he can’t referee Democrats and Republicans.  Arnold isn’t responsible for the recession or the state’s growing unemployment, causing a precipitous drop in tax revenues.  But he is responsible for antagonizing too many on both sides of the aisle to be an effective leader.  “I don’t want to move boxes around; I want to blow them up,” said Arnold in another worn out line from his “Terminator” days.   With two years remaining on his term, Arnold should resign for the good of the state.  He’s tried but failed to get Democrats and Republicans to fix the current mess.  It’s become obvious that neither side wants to work with him.  Both sides know they must suck in up and raises taxes to close the state’s budget shortfall.  Calling tax hikes user fees or new assessments can’t gloss over the facts.

            California’s supermajority rule, requiring two-thirds of the legislature plus a governor’s signature to pass new legislation, hogties the majority from fixing the problem.  California’s passive-aggressive GOP minority serve as obstructionists, preventing the State from fixing its problems.  No one likes revenue shortfalls associated with recessions but responsible leaders must make needed adjustments short of pulling the rug out from underneath essential programs like education and heath care.  Arnold vetoed Democrats’ proposed budget Jan. 6,  eliminating $18 billion in red ink, avoiding what Arnold called “financial Armageddon.”  Arnold vetoed the new budget because Democrats didn’t give him the green light to relax labor and environmental standards to accelerate infrastructure projects.  Republicans opposed the Democratic plan as unconstitutional.

            Republicans want to solve California’s budget woes by slashing education, health care, prisons and other essential services.  They supported current programs when sufficient revenue poured into the State.  Because the GOP minority took a no tax pledge, they can only slash vital programs.  They have no problem with waste, fraud and mismanagement as long as it involves GOP priorities.  Democrats tried a Constitutional loophole allowing tax hikes without a two-thirds vote.  “What the legislative majority have attempted is clearly a change in state law for the purpose of raising revenues, and we are confident the courts will agree with us,” said Jon Coupan, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Assn.  Coupan, and others in the GOP, have no problem passing whopping increases to the University of California, Calif. State Universities, Community Colleges, state parks, waterways, etc.

            California State Controller John Chiang confirmed Jan. 17 that the state would issue IOUs for tax returns, unable to meet cash-flow demands.  State legislators and the governor, currently playing chicken with State employees and taxpayers, must stop playing games and get down to business.  “If you go back to the budget we had four years ago, we’d be in balance,” said Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine), harking back to the good old days of booming stock markets and low unemployment.  No one wants tax increases, certainly not cash-strapped businesses and consumers.  But the GOP can’t continue increasing fees for public education, health care and state parks, while refusing to raise vehicle registration fees and the State sales tax.  Taxpayers have made it clear they don’t want cuts in government services, especially public education or health services.

            Arnold has one more shot at heeding the will of the people and fixing the State budget.  There’s nothing complicated about figuring out how the current recession has emptied the State’s coffers, requiring new revenue.  There’s also nothing difficult about cutting spending and raising taxes.  No one other than a renegade band of GOP legislators, sworn to an asinine no tax pledge, oppose a combination to tax increases and spending cuts to fix the budget.  Arnold finds himself unable to govern, pretending loyalty to the GOP while agreeing with the past governor and Democrats that it’s time to raise taxes.  With the clock ticking, the time has run out on the governor and his GOP friends, unwilling to face reality.  “It is not that California is ungovernable.  It is that for too long we have been split by ideology,” said Arnold, admitting to putting Party over struggling taxpayers.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

©1999-2012 Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.
(310) 204-8300
All Rights Reserved.