Sad fact:  Schwarzenegger may have outdone Gray Davis as a political hack...

There is no escaping the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger, in spite of all of his campaign rhetoric, has not behaved as a responsible, ethical, competent or productive state executive. Quite the contrary, in the areas of cigar-smoke-filled backroom deals, special interests politics and campaign fundraising, Schwarzenegger may have outdone Gray Davis, the democrat political hack he replaced.

Schwarzenegger the RINO...

For all intents and purposes, Schwarzenegger is a RINO (Republican In Name Only) whose credo, with respect to the profligate, high-spending, far-left liberal democrats, is "go along to get along." He has filled his Administration with life-long hyper-partisan professional democrats where he could have appointed conservative, or even moderate, Republicans.

Throwing his budget expert under the bus...

The beginning of the end, at least for me, was throwing State Senator Tom McClintock under the bus by not providing the necessary support to bring this fiscal conservative and budgetary expert into office as the Lieutenant Governor.

On Schwarzenegger's watch and under his supervision, the state has bottomed out into a fiscal disaster. Albeit one that has been exacerbated by the national financial debacle -- but one that could have simply been avoided had they followed McClintock's suggestion: cap spending at a rate   underneath the growth rate in revenue and provide for a prudent contingency fund.

There was no magic involved. Day-after-day, McClintock laid out the plan for all, including Schwarzenegger and his fellow democrats, to see. So as we can plainly see, Schwarzenegger was not up to the task of controlling democrat spending -- and in fact, made a point out of becoming a "different kind of politician;" a politician for the people who allegedly transcended traditional party lines. Too bad we didn't realize that while the new model did transcend party lines, it did not transcend narcissistic self-interest.

The chickens are coming home to roost...

And, to use a phrase recently in the the news, "now the chickens have come home to roost." There are precious few ways that this deficit can be papered over with new borrowing or accounting tricks which can be used to disguise the truth. There are no large untapped sums of existing money (in transportation or pension accounts) that can be replaced with a paper IOU of dubious value.

And yet, the Governator doesn't seem to know the extent of the problem: waffling between a $12 and $20 BILLION deficit. Surely the projections can be more precise -- or we need to replace those doing the calculations. 

Leasing the California State Lottery...

We can plainly see that Schwarzenegger looks to gambling to solve some of the state's budgetary woes. One need only follow his activities in the area of Indian Gaming to know that he is philosophically "OK" with gambling as a fiscal problem solver.

So when the Governor unveils his revised budget proposal next week, rumor has it that he wants to request the legislature for permission to lease the California Lottery to private operators for a one-time payment of $20 to $37 BILLION. Something which could be booked immediately, leaving Schwarzenegger with somewhat of a better overall fiscal record.

But that raises questions...

1.   Is this being done as a special interest deal which may be of some future political benefit to the Governor?  Will this be an open and competitive bidding process by multiple legitimate bidders or will this be a "designated done deal?"

I was somewhat dismayed that the Governor did not open gaming to all of the corporations that were willing to build new casinos or enlarge casinos while paying a higher tax rate than what we are to receive from Indian gaming. Why not let the marketplace determine the outcome instead of special deals?

2.   Are the political appointees and state bureaucrats all that incompetent that they cannot manage to run the State Lottery in a more profitable manner?

Especially since they could easily hire outside consultants to assist them in areas where there might be personal or professional weaknesses.

3.   Can the results of the California Lottery be actually be significantly improved in these fiscally perilous times?

4.   Considering that one of the overriding purposes behind the California State Lottery was the funding of education in California, will the money that is to be received by education continue at the same level -- or will they enjoy increased revenues in proportion to the rise in overall income?

I do not believe that we, the citizens of California are getting a fair shake when it comes to lottery proceeds.

One, I believe that the lottery proceeds are simply factored into educational budgets to replace existing cost items and not used to supplement educational projects. So instead of an additional amount of money being spent on education, we are simply trading dollars.

And two, I believe that the corrupt educational unions, bloated school administrations and profligate special interest spending insures that money is not getting into the classrooms for the benefit of the children and that many teachers remain second class citizens; having been sold out by their Administration and their unions.

5.   Is the Governor willing to step up and pre-allocate lottery money to classroom projects and to avoid spending it on an ever-growing bureaucracy which does little or nothing to teach children?  Is the Governor willing to mandate that any lottery money not be spent on facilities, administration or any "special" projects.

6.   Is the Governor willing to clean up California's accounting nightmare?

7.   Is the Governor willing to use any surplus money from the lottery to pay down the deficit rather than engaging in any new "self-aggrandizing" or other projects?

We can only wait and see what his proposal might be.

What can YOU do?

Recognize that politics often trumps responsibility in California and that not everything seems as it truly seems.

Recognize that much of our budget deficit can be attributable to the democrats who spend wildly on their pet project: providing a support network for illegal aliens. Considering the havoc this horde of invaders has caused to our healthcare and educational infrastructure, perhaps we should be looking toward a leader who has the guts and the strength to tell Californians the truth and take the appropriate action.

• One, that we are going to sidetrack all children of illegal aliens until they meet certain language requirements and then mainstream them into schools only when they have passed a qualification equivalency test that indicates that they will not become an undue burden on the teachers and that they will not drag the other students downward to their level.
• Two, we are going to set up a series of funded urgent care operations to keep the minor complaints from blocking access to emergency rooms. We can take care of sick children, but they should not be allowed to interfere with the treatment of accident, heart attack or other serious victims.
• Three, the people of California should lead the fight to make all children born in the United States assume the nationality of their parents and thus end the massive "anchor baby" lottery that causes pregnant Mexicans to risk life and limb to have a child be born on this side of the border. Enough liberalism and demographic bombing -- time to fight the political correctness that is killing our state and making its citizens financial slaves to those who are interlopers.

Perhaps we should choose our next leader, not on the basis of party politics, popularity or vague promises, but select a competent manager who will do what Schwarzenegger promised to do: tell the truth to the people and ask for their help in resolving problems.

Personally and parenthetically,  I would like to see someone like Meg Whitman become our next governor. Under an appropriate leader, the people can once again stand up to the special interests and overcome the voting blocs of the unions.

Do not vote for any candidate or current politician who is willing to subvert the safety, security, sovereignty and economic strength of the United States or limit an individual's right of self-defense for their personal philosophy, power, prestige or profits.

-- steve

Quote of the Day: "For greed, all nature is too little."
-- Seneca, Roman statesman and author

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius

Reference Links:

The Latest From Capitol Alert - Capitol Alert - The Sacramento Bee - Governor's Big Spin