A perfect illustration of how Dems screw things up...

[tylerdurden]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
He may be a bad politician, but he's a great governer.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is this even possible?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not to some people, I guess, but the skills for the "polititian" role (ass-kissing, pandering, two-facedness) are not necessarily the same ones needed for the "governor" role. Of course, being a bad polititian drasticly reduces your chances of becoming governor, but it doesn't exclude you.

[natedogg]

I don't undertand why everyone hates Arnold. He has won me over *after* getting into office, as I didn't even vote for him. But I think he's great and his initiatives are fantastic.

I think his low poll numbers merely reflect the fact that about half of Californians are state employees. So yea, if you are in on that sweet gravy train maybe you won't like what he's doing.

I'd love to see a poll of non-state employees.

He's probably the best governor we've ever had. Too bad the assembly is so full of crap they won't work with him.

natedogg

[jester710]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't undertand why everyone hates Arnold. He has won me over *after* getting into office, as I didn't even vote for him. But I think he's great and his initiatives are fantastic.

I think his low poll numbers merely reflect the fact that about half of Californians are state employees. So yea, if you are in on that sweet gravy train maybe you won't like what he's doing.

I'd love to see a poll of non-state employees.

He's probably the best governor we've ever had. Too bad the assembly is so full of crap they won't work with him.

natedogg

[/ QUOTE ]

Could those of you who would agree with this statement briefly outline what these initiatives and policies are? I currently live in California, but I'm a Texas transplant, and I still follow Texas politics to the detriment of California politics.

I tried researching on the internet, but I couldn't find any info that really helped (pretty much every article I found was "Union Rallies Against Arnold" or something similar), and after five minutes I decided it was hopeless and gave up.

Sorry for asking you to do my dirty work, but thanks in advance.

[PITTM]

people really really really need to at least consider for a millisecond what their source is before taking it as true fact or a "perfect illustration". your post barely has any point at all except youre hoping to get more partisan bickering going. i think the politics forum needs a gimmick account that comes when a politics thread's only purpose is partisan bickering, except that he would get 50 posts a day...

rj

[Benman]

What's hurt California isn't the politicians but the voters. Proposition 13 gutted the fairness and stability of property taxes as a method of financing government. What you've got is million dollar mansions paying far less in property taxes than smaller houses simply because the owner hasn't moved around as much. Say what you want about taxes, but to the extent you have taxes they ought to be fair and logically administered. CA is a good example of why republics are better than pure democracies.

[nanoCRUSHER]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't undertand why everyone hates Arnold. He has won me over *after* getting into office, as I didn't even vote for him. But I think he's great and his initiatives are fantastic.

I think his low poll numbers merely reflect the fact that about half of Californians are state employees. So yea, if you are in on that sweet gravy train maybe you won't like what he's doing.

I'd love to see a poll of non-state employees.

He's probably the best governor we've ever had. Too bad the assembly is so full of crap they won't work with him.

natedogg

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not so much that I hate Arnold, it's just that some of his ideas are worthless. I remember him coming into office saying that he was going to fix the budget problem. What was his big plan? Nearly half of the solution was borrowing money, which is no solution at all. Either fix the problem OR get off the flippin' toilet.

[ptmusic]

[ QUOTE ]
I remember him coming into office saying that he was going to fix the budget problem. What was his big plan?

[/ QUOTE ]

Look at all the ads financed by Arnold-haters. In these ads, you'll find strong advocacy groups getting very angry about parts of his budget plans.

When things get cut, as they must in California, people get mad. Arnold has a budget plan; vocal people who will be negatively affected don't like it. It's that simple.

-ptmusic

[/ QUOTE ] Could those of you who would agree with this statement briefly outline what these initiatives and policies are? I currently live in California, but I'm a Texas transplant, and I still follow Texas politics to the detriment of California politics.

I tried researching on the internet, but I couldn't find any info that really helped (pretty much every article I found was "Union Rallies Against Arnold" or something similar), and after five minutes I decided it was hopeless and gave up.

Sorry for asking you to do my dirty work, but thanks in advance.

[/ QUOTE ]

He wants teachers to pay for a share of their health-care and retirement benefits like the rest of us (gasp)...

he wants state employees to increase productivity or cut back on wages earned for remedial jobs... honestly, custodians making 55K a year (what and idea)

And, he wants the dems in the legislator to have some open coversation with Repubs in order to help secure more federal funds from the Bush admin (oh my god, say it ain't so).

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

I'll be gone for the weekend... I hope to have 1,000 anti-Bush posts that are totally irrelevant to the OP by the time I get back on Monday.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok I'll start. Bush doesn't care about California.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree... Bush nor any other candidate doesn't care about non-swing states.

[britspin]

Isn't the problem with Arnold much less to do with what he's doing as Gov than the gap between his performance and people's expectations?

I remember when he was elected- the atmosphere was- OK, we'll give this guy a chance to bang heads together, do things differently, not be a politician and sweep things clean.

Then when he's in office, turns out he's taking dodgy contributions of millions of dollars (through various fronts), his budget plans consist of borrowing more and taxing less (while making some demands of public sector workers), and basically not behaving that differently from the people who the electorate threw out in disgust.

Call it the ventura model. OK, this may be unfair, but it's the way it feels.

I wonder if he had taken the step of coupling unpopular property taxation decisions with public sector workers reform early on, thus giving him the stick to beat the unions and democrats with in negotations, whether he'd be in this hole. He had a real chance to change things when he arrived, and didn't really take it.

(aside- but truthfully, as another poster pointed out- the problem isn't so much the Gov as the system- if everything can be overturned by proposition, how can any politician govern? Perhaps Arnold should have tackled that too?)