Clock's ticking on Schwarzenegger legacy
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped into an impossible job. He hasn't made it any easier, we argue in this upcoming editorial on the state budget stalemate:
... His fatal flaw, the error that doomed his governorship, was his first gubernatorial act -- slashing the vehicle license fee as he promised he would when he ran to replace Gov. Gray Davis in the 2003 recall election.
Trouble is, without the $6 billion a year or so that the VLF would have been providing, Schwarzenegger and the Legislature have had to borrow more than ever, driving up the state's interest payments.
Worse, just about his whole governorship has consisted of budget bickering and of one budget standoff after another.
Instead of accomplishing big things, the Dems and GOP do nothing but fight about how to deal with the perennial, structural deficit the state faces, which runs about $15.2 billion and counting.
Comments
Per Mr. Lambert, the future of the Governor as Governor is doomed as his future political prospects are slim and none. I would want to take a wait and see approach. No matter who we have as governor, there is always someone out there who could be worse if elected. Looking back on past governors with a little effort, you can se exactly what I mean. This Governor has often said “we don’t have a money problem in California, we have a spending problem”. This Governor spends very little, but that can not be said about the remaining politicians in the Capital.
However, the main issue or concern is the lack of a State Budget. The reason being the elected officials REFUSE to work together, REFUSE to compromise and they are totally uncaring about the individuals that they impact. They themselves are no impacted. Their checks are always at the bank on time regardless. Unlike this sitting Governor who works for supposedly $1.00 a year, these fine elected officials are assured they get their healthy pay checks on time.
There in is the problem. These elected officials today are hired by the public to do a job. When the can not or will not present to the Governor a balanced acceptable budget for him to sign into law on time, they have failed at their assigned tasks and they have failed the voters of California. There needs to be accountability. There needs to be repercussions if they fail this task of providing a budget on time. Kind of like “Sometimes it takes the sight of the gallows to focus the mind”.
My suggestion is simple. Fire them as you would any other employee for not doing their job. How do you fire an elected official? If they can not provide the Governor a viable budget that is acceptable to all concerned (which includes the Governor) on time or before, they are all automatically ineligible for reelection if the budget is not signed into law on time. They serve their current term out and then they are history without perks (retirements etc). Once or until they fully understand that working as a team for the betterment of the State and its voters is the most important task they have, nothing will ever change.
Holding the populist of this State hostage because there is no budget is criminal. Be they Democrat or Republican they have a year to work out their issues. A full year of working in a respectable professional fashion or thank you, we really misjudged your abilities as a politician and as a result, your future services are no longer needed in this capacity in the State of California.
Posted by: Reader Bob | August 13, 2008 1:02 PM