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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (10278)	10/2/2003 6:30:11 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793717

Excellent rundown by Weintraub on what Arnold is proposing and what he thinks the legislature will be disposing. If anybody knows, it is Weintraub. ____________________________________________________________________________ CALIFORNIA INSIDER Coming attractions Arnold Schwarzenegger just delivered a preview of his inauguration speech, or maybe his first “state of the state” address – to a few hundred supporters at Sacramento’s Memorial Auditorium, the site of Gov. Gray Davis’ first inaugural in 1999. Schwarzenegger’s speech, preceded by brief remarks by Senate Republican Leader Jim Brulte, former LA Mayor Dick Riordan, and businessman Bill Simon, laid out what he called his “agenda for governing.” It was a 10-point plan for the first 100 days of what he hopes will be a Schwarzenegger administration. The first promise, borrowed from his good friend Tom McClintock, is to repeal the recent increase in the car tax on his first day in office. (He didn’t say whether he would do so before or after lunch.) Schwarzenegger, like McClintock, believes that he could do this administratively, since Davis hiked it that way, but you can expect somebody to challenge that in court. Schwarzenegger also said he would freeze spending, though Davis says it’s already frozen, and call a special session of the Legislature to make spending cuts in the current fiscal year. He also wants to negotiate new compacts with the casino tribes – giving them more slot machines in exchange for $1 billion to $2 billion in revenue for the state. And he wants to renegotiate contracts with state employees. He mentioned the pension boosts those workers got in 1999 but didn’t pledge specifically to try to undo it. Other items on the list: --A jobs package with “real” workers compensation reform. --A budget proposal for the next fiscal year that closes the gap and restructures inherited debt. --Streamline the education bureaucracy by consolidating nearly 100 special programs known as “categoricals.” --Ask lawmakers to repeal SB 60, the bill that gives driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, and take it to the ballot if they refuse. --Pass a constitutional amendment to broaden public access to government records, and pass a measure to ban political fundraising while the budget is pending. “We are ready to take office,” he said. “We are ready to act.” But can he succeed? I think he can. Just as Schwarzenegger has rewritten the rules of political campaigning, if he wins, he will be able to re-write the rules of governing. He would do this because he would have an ability that the Legislature does not have and that most governors before him have not been able to master: the ability to communicate directly with the people of California. I doubt he would get everything he wanted. I think he would be frustrated with the give and take required. But if the recall passes, the Legislature is going to see itself in the voters’ crosshairs and do everything it can to cooperate. John Burton, the Democratic baron of the Senate, is not going to turn the aged out of nursing homes. But he would deal with Arnold on anything short of his core values of protecting the poor and the infirm. And if the Legislature balks, Schwarzenegger could take his case to the people. How about a workers comp deal that raises benefits further for the truly injured while cutting lawyers and doctor mills out of the action? I think Schwarzenegger could get it passed by the voters. His toughest nut would be the budget, because he would have a big gap to fill and not enough time to make much progress on restructuring the way government does business. I still say he goes to the feds with other states for a package of immigration-cost relief. And for those who say Bush or the Republicans who control Congress won’t deal, remember that many of the states with high numbers of immigrants also happen to be the ones that are in play in the 2004 presidential election. I wouldn’t expect Schwarzenegger to go back on his pledge and propose a tax increase. But I would not be shocked if, when he ran into Democratic opposition, he agreed to place a package of reforms before the people that included the Democrats' tax increase along with a permanent spending cap and other structural changes in government finance. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in repealing the car tax increase, he also proposed letting local voters reimpose it on a county-by-county basis, which would fulfill his pledge to give local governments new ways to raise money for their own priorities. But I think the dominant theme of a Schwarzenegger Administration would be follow-through. Consider the seemingly small matter of education finance reform. Everyone in Sacramento knows that the special programs that riddle the education budget are a joke, decades of pet projects built upon special deals on top of obsolete ideas. The Sacramento Bee published an amazing series earlier this year documenting all of this. Davis promised to overhaul it. But when he ran into opposition, which was inevitable, he caved. Somehow I think Schwarzenegger would follow through where Davis backed down. It’s just a gut feeling I have. Maybe I’m completely wrong. But I think I’m right. Posted by dweintraub at 01:43 PM sacbee.com

To: KLP who wrote (10278)	10/2/2003 7:53:55 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793717

Der Schwarzengroper The LAT drops its bomb. By Mickey Kaus Slate Updated Thursday, October 2, 2003, at 3:57 AM PT The Shoe drops here, as foreshadowed in the eerily prescient item below. Initial reactions: 1) It seems hard to question the truthfulness of the the complaining women found by the Times--at least 5 of the 6, anyway. And it would be a big mistake for the Schwarzenegger people to try to discredit them, I should think. 2) The A.S. behavior described is ugly, along the lines of what we'd been led to expect. It's ugly in a particular way: he's not a normal horny groper. He seems to have always enjoyed using his star power to humiliate people on occasion. Note: He does it to men too, as the LAT reported on Monday. 3) It would in fact be good to have had more reporting on his bullying of men, to put the 'he disrespects women' charge in perspective. Maybe he disrespects everyone when he's in the mood and can get away with it. 4) Do the incidents fit the technical definition of sexual harrassment? At least two--involving crew members--seem like good candidates. Another incident, on a street, might be some sort of assault. More legal analysis, please! There's one second-day story. 5) Not that it excuses anything, but prominent national Democrats (and I'm not just talking Bill Clinton) have been accused of not-entirely-dissimilar behavior in the course of their careers. 6) Not that it excuses anything, but there must have been many, many times when this sort of groping "worked" for him--something the Times, to its credit, hints at; 7) Maybe he has an alcoholic father and Warren Beatty can leap in to defend him; 8)Will it sink him? I tend to think no, not this by itself. But maybe conservative Tom McClintock had an unstated reason for not dropping out; 9) Should it sink him? Ask me tomorrow, after the prudish shock has worn off and I've defined deviancy down for a few more hours. slate.msn.com