natedogg
01-06-2005, 03:40 AM
Tonight Arnold gave his state of the state speech and he earned a lot of points in my book.
speech text (http://www.governor.ca.gov/state/govsite/gov_htmldisplay.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0600466624.11 04996996@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccchadddhmjdkemcfngcfkmdf fidfog.0&sCatTitle=Speeches&sFilePath=/govsite/selected_speeches/20050105_State_of_the_State.html&sTitle=2005)
He didn't just propose a couple difficult plans, he literally threw down the gauntlet to myriad uber-powerful special interests. Whether he succeeds or not, I applaud his intention. He outlined several in-your-face reforms.
1. The most amazing was his flat-out FU to the California Teachers' Association. He went straight for the jugular by attacking their most cherished holding, non-merit based pay and tenure. I was frankly stunned by this and I hope he wins. Declawing the CTA will go a long way toward improving our state's education system.
2. He didn't stop with them but went on to say he wants to convert the entire employee pension program to one that requires contributions from employees. More balls, more points. (That's my interpretation of "For new employees, we must move from a defined benefit to a defined contribution system." It might mean something else, but the following line: "We need a public pension system that is fair to employees and to taxpayers" is almost certainly bad news for state employees)
Are we counting? So far, he calls out the CTA, only the most powerful lobby in the state, and then moves on to attack CALPERS!
3. He then backhands the entire assembly and senate by proposing to have a non-partisan commission draw up redistricting lines to undo years of corrupt gerrymandering! Every single elected official benefits from this and he is taking them all on.
4. Massive restructuring of the juvenile corrections dept. He was short on details, but again, corrections is an uber-powerful special interest in Sacramento so good luck Arnold, but still, I have to respect your willingness to fight four massive battles at once.
There were a few others but these ones stood out. I'll give him one thing, the man has political balls even if he still punctuates all his public speeches with cheesy one-liners from his movies.
He also threw in a proposal for a prescription drug card right at the end. I suspect this was a tactic to send the most ardent Dems home with warm memories of his speech and to soften the blows of the previous proposals. He was VERY short on details about it but it had the whiff of "concessionary olive branch" to it so we'll have to see....
All in all, I was actually very impressed.
natedogg
speech text (http://www.governor.ca.gov/state/govsite/gov_htmldisplay.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0600466624.11 04996996@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccchadddhmjdkemcfngcfkmdf fidfog.0&sCatTitle=Speeches&sFilePath=/govsite/selected_speeches/20050105_State_of_the_State.html&sTitle=2005)
He didn't just propose a couple difficult plans, he literally threw down the gauntlet to myriad uber-powerful special interests. Whether he succeeds or not, I applaud his intention. He outlined several in-your-face reforms.
1. The most amazing was his flat-out FU to the California Teachers' Association. He went straight for the jugular by attacking their most cherished holding, non-merit based pay and tenure. I was frankly stunned by this and I hope he wins. Declawing the CTA will go a long way toward improving our state's education system.
2. He didn't stop with them but went on to say he wants to convert the entire employee pension program to one that requires contributions from employees. More balls, more points. (That's my interpretation of "For new employees, we must move from a defined benefit to a defined contribution system." It might mean something else, but the following line: "We need a public pension system that is fair to employees and to taxpayers" is almost certainly bad news for state employees)
Are we counting? So far, he calls out the CTA, only the most powerful lobby in the state, and then moves on to attack CALPERS!
3. He then backhands the entire assembly and senate by proposing to have a non-partisan commission draw up redistricting lines to undo years of corrupt gerrymandering! Every single elected official benefits from this and he is taking them all on.
4. Massive restructuring of the juvenile corrections dept. He was short on details, but again, corrections is an uber-powerful special interest in Sacramento so good luck Arnold, but still, I have to respect your willingness to fight four massive battles at once.
There were a few others but these ones stood out. I'll give him one thing, the man has political balls even if he still punctuates all his public speeches with cheesy one-liners from his movies.
He also threw in a proposal for a prescription drug card right at the end. I suspect this was a tactic to send the most ardent Dems home with warm memories of his speech and to soften the blows of the previous proposals. He was VERY short on details about it but it had the whiff of "concessionary olive branch" to it so we'll have to see....
All in all, I was actually very impressed.
natedogg