Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has found a
new way to deliver his weekly radio address: on YouTube.
Schwarzenegger this week posted a
broadcast of the speech on the video sharing Web site.
The three-minute, 24-second video
shows a casual Schwarzenegger sitting at his home office in
Brentwood. He focuses his remarks on Earth Day and California's
environmental achievements.
Spokesman Matt David says the governor
loves to use new media to communicate directly to Californians
and people around the world.
David added that the governor's weekly
address will be posted regularly on YouTube, in addition to the
traditional radio address.
Published: Saturday, April 25, 2009
14:41 PDT
© 2009 The Associated Press. All
rights reserved.
Governor Schwarzenegger Returns Holocaust-Era Artwork to Heirs
of Jewish Family
SACRAMENTO, CA
April 13, 2009
Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger joined California State Parks and
Recreation Director Ruth Coleman at the Leland Stanford Mansion
in Sacramento today to return three paintings, confiscated by
the Nazis during the time of the Holocaust,
to the heirs of Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer.
The three paintings were the
subject of a “judenauktionen,” a coerced sale of Jewish assets
by the Nazis in 1935.
The paintings have been part of the Hearst Castle
collection for decades - their history unknown.
“On behalf of the people of
California, it is my great honor to return these historic
paintings to their rightful owners with respect for the pain and
hardships endured by this family,” said Governor Schwarzenegger.
“The Holocaust will long be regarded as one of the darkest
crimes against humanity of the modern era, and I am humbled to
play a role in undoing this terrible wrong for the heirs of
Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer.” (To read the rest of this article,
please click on the link in the long title above this excerpt.)
Show
Us the Money, Arnold
By Olsen Ebright
NBCSanDiego.com
April 4, 2009
It's finally time for
Californians to start watching Big Brother.
On Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger launched a new website to
help make California's government more transparent...(read the rest
of this article by clicking on the link in the title above.)
Governor's Office Discusses Upcoming
Federal Economic Stimulus Projects In California
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
- 06:00 AM
MyMotherLode.com News
Gov. Schwarzenegger's Special
Advisor David Crane Discussed Federal Economic Stimulus Projects
for California as KVML's Tuesday Newsmaker of the Day
"Hi, this is David Crane,
Special Adviser to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for Jobs and Economic
Growth filling in for the Governor with this week's California Report.
Just 1 month after President
Obama signed his economic stimulus package into law, we are already
seeing big dividends here in California...(click on the link in
the title above to read the rest of this article.)
Written by
mark@mlode.com
Quit whining about economy – Schwarzenegger
By:
Martyn Williams
- IDG News Service (Tokyo Bureau)(NA)
(03 Mar 2009)
California Governor
and action star Arnold Schwarzenegger talks up green IT, warns
against protectionism and tells IT pros to stop being 'girlie
men' at the Cebit trade fair in Hanover, Germany
.
California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger has some advice for people complaining
about the state of the global economy: stop whining...(click
on the link above for the rest of this article.)
Schwarzenegger
Touts Green Tech at Fair in Germany
By PATRICK MCGROARTY
March 3, 2009
HANNOVER, Germany (AP)
— California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that investment
in environmental technology is key to economic recovery.
"Technology is really our
great hope for creating extra revenues and stimulating the economy
— especially green technology is where the action is," said Schwarzenegger,
wearing an emerald-green tie as he toured a technology trade fair
alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Speaking in English, the
Austrian-born governor said environmental-technology companies represent
the only sector of California's economy that is creating jobs.
California is the featured
partner at this year's Center of Office and Information Technology,
or CeBIT, billed as the world's largest technology trade show. Schwarzenegger's
office said more than 50 California companies were attending.
Businesspeople strained
to snap pictures as Schwarzenegger strolled by, with some squealing:
"It's Arnie!"
Schwarzenegger praised
Germany's commitment to renewable energy and the reduction of greenhouse
gas emissions, and he echoed Merkel as he blasted one of her favorite
targets, economic protectionism.
"The world is the marketplace
... and the only way we can protect the consumer is if we let the
consumer choose from products all over the world no matter where
they come from," he said.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved.
Schwarzenegger
to sign budget-balancing bill
The California
governor praises lawmakers for their narrow approval
February 20, 2009
SACRAMENTO,
Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called California lawmakers
"courageous" in narrowly approving a massive tax increase along
with cutting billions in spending in a package of bills that await
his signature Friday.
Both houses of the Legislature got the bare
minimum of votes Thursday to reach the two-thirds requirement needed
to pass the measures, ending a grueling week of negotiations over
closing the state's $42 billion budget deficit.
"Now, instead of worrying every day only about
IOUs and about red ink, we can start moving California forward once
again," the Republican governor said of the package he was expected
to sign into law. "This action to solve our $42 billion deficit
was difficult but courageous and just what California needs."
He noted that Democrats had to back away from
their opposition to deep spending cuts: The package includes $15.1
billion less in spending. Republicans, for their part, set aside
their opposition to tax increases — allowing $12.8 billion in tax
hikes.
The deal also calls for billions in borrowing
and measures intended to stimulate the state's economy.
If the economy doesn't worsen considerably,
the plan is intended to balance the state's budget through June
2010. The Senate began debating before dawn Thursday after a moderate
Republican, Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria, agreed to provide
the final vote.
In exchange, he won major concessions from
Democrats and the governor. Maldonado was able to strip out a 12
cent-a-gallon gas tax from an earlier version of the package and
have two measures placed on a future ballot: One seeks fully open
primary elections and another would freeze lawmakers' pay when the
state runs a deficit. He also got $1 million for office furniture
in the controller's office deleted.
Maldonado acknowledged voting for tax increases
could come back to haunt him in a future election but said it was
the right decision.
"My
friends, this might be the end for me," he said. "This ensures it's
not the end for California."
The
accord came after both houses began meeting on Valentine's Day and
set two records for the longest continuous legislative sessions
in state history — one by the Assembly earlier in the week and the
45 1/2-hour marathon that ended Thursday in the Senate.
"This has been a long, very painful journey,"
said state Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles.
The ordeal began in December,
when Schwarzenegger called the second of three successive special
sessions to deal with California's growing fiscal crisis.
Refunds to taxpayers were
delayed, payments to state vendors stopped, state workers were ordered
to take unpaid days off and the Schwarzenegger administration began
sending layoff notices that would have affected some 10,000 state
workers.
Even under the budget
deal struck Thursday, some employees might have to be laid off as
part of Schwarzenegger's plan to save 10 percent from the government
payroll, said Vicki Bradshaw, the governor's cabinet secretary.
As California's deficit
grew and the impasse dragged on, the state's bond rating sunk to
the lowest in the nation, preventing the state from borrowing money
for daily expenses or infrastructure improvements.
Thousands of public works
projects ground to a halt, putting tens of thousands of construction
workers out of a job. Hours after the budget package was approved,
the state Department of Finance announced that work on 276 road,
school and other projects would continue.
Copyright 2009 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Governor:
20,000 Layoffs if No Budget by Friday
Wed, Feb
11, 2009
The Bay Area News
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
administration warned Tuesday that it will begin proceedings to
lay off 20,000 state workers if the governor and legislative leaders
do not reach a budget deal by Friday. The governor has announced
that he may seek 10,000 layoffs if the state legislature doesn't
have a budget by Friday.
Notices
would go to employees with the least seniority in the state's corrections
and health and human services departments, as well as in other agencies
that receive money from the state's general fund, said Schwarzenegger's
communications director, Matt David.
The move
is part of the governor's order to cut 10 percent from the government
payroll as California faces a $42 billion deficit through June 2010.
"This
is simply a matter of needing to realize savings and running out
of time to do that," David said.
The governor's
proposal to balance the budget through a mix of spending cuts and
tax increases assumed the fix would be enacted by Feb. 1, but he
has been unable to reach a compromise with lawmakers after weeks
of meetings.
"We're
losing savings the longer we go into February," David said. "We're
at the point where time's up."
The administration
could not say how much the layoffs would save the state if they
were enacted.
Under
labor agreements, the procedure to lay off a large number of state
workers takes about six months, said Lynelle Jolley, a spokeswoman
for the state Department of Personnel Administration, which oversees
employee pay and benefits.
She said
employees first receive a type of pre-layoff warning that gives
them 120 days' notice.
"It gives
the employee the opportunity to shop for other state jobs that they
will be given preference for, compared to a non-state employee or
even another state employee," Jolley said.
Employees
who receive a notice will have a chance to transfer to other branches
of state government that are not paid through the general fund.
The possibility
of layoffs comes days after some 200,000 state workers were forced
to take last Friday off without pay, as part of twice-a-month furloughs
Schwarzenegger ordered to save money. The furloughs amount to a
9.2 percent pay cut for affected employees.
Lance
Corcoran, a spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers
Association, which represents most prison guards, said mass layoffs
would hurt the state economically without solving California's budget
woes.
"Wholesale
layoffs is a drop in the bucket with respect to the state's overall
fiscal problem," Corcoran said. "Even with a 10 percent reduction
in pay, state employees are only one 40th of the problem."
California
has issued mass layoff notices because of precarious financial conditions
before.
In summer
2003, then-Gov. Gray Davis issued about 16,000 surplus notices,
or pre-layoff notices, Jolley said.
In the
end, lawmakers agreed to cut 9,300 state government positions when
they finally reached a budget accord. Most were vacant at the time,
so about 1,200 people lost their jobs or were demoted, she said.
Schwarzenegger
and lawmakers are approaching the 100th day since the governor called
the special session to deal with the state's fiscal crisis.
Republican
legislators remain opposed to tax increases, while Democrats are
trying to preserve as much education and social service funding
as possible.
Furlough Fridays begin
for Calif. state workers
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California's
first-ever furloughs began Friday with more than 200,000 state
workers expected to stay home without pay amid the state's fiscal
crisis.Among the
offices forced to close Friday were the Department of Motor
Vehicles and the Department of Consumer Affairs. The governor's
Office of Emergency Services also was dark as part of the cash-saving
move ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Critical and revenue-generating
agencies remained open, including fire stations, parks and employment
centers that process unemployment insurance claims. California's
unemployment rate is 9.3 percent, a 15-year high.
Candy Jackson,
manager of the Department of Motor Vehicles
office in Placerville, Calif., displays
the warning signs that the office will be
closed Friday, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009.
State agencies were preparing Thursday to
implement the first employee furloughs in
California history, as part of Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's attempt to save money,
in the face of a massive budget crisis.
An estimated 90 percent of the state's 238,000
employees are supposed to be off Friday.
-
Rich Pedroncelli
/AP Photo
At the state Department of
Transportation, a handful of engineers showed up to work without
pay because they didn't want to get behind on projects they
said were important to public safety.
Stan Slavin, an electrical
engineer working on a traffic project in the San Francisco Bay
area, said his partners at local agencies will be on the job
so he was, too.
State agencies scrambled in
the days before the furloughs took effect to avoid confusion
for the public, such as people trying to register vehicles or
obtain professional licenses.
Schwarzenegger ordered the
two-day-a-month furloughs, reducing the average state worker's
salary by 9.2 percent, as he and lawmakers try to solve the
state's $42 billion budget shortfall.
The governor had hoped his
order would apply to some 238,000 state employees, but each
of the seven other constitutional officers have said they will
not comply. Employees of the Legislature are not under his authority.
Schwarzenegger's legal affairs
secretary, Andrea Hoch, said the administration was prepared
to sue the state controller if he did not reduce paychecks for
more than 15,000 workers in the other constitutional offices,
which include the attorney general, secretary of state and insurance
commissioner.
A judge who affirmed Schwarzenegger's
authority to order the furloughs said his ruling did not apply
to statewide elected officials because they were not a party
to the lawsuit. The administration has maintained that employees
of constitutional offices are covered by the furlough order.
Doors to about 180 DMV offices
were locked Friday. Some people said the state gave little notice
to the public about the furloughs, which will continue on the
first and third Fridays of each month through June 2010.
"They don't have any signs
telling us about Friday," said Ingrid Dela Cruz of Sacramento,
who was inside a Sacramento DMV office on Thursday.
In fact, there were plenty
of signs, but they were posted in locations invisible to most
customers because they were hidden behind sliding glass doors.
Schwarzenegger's administration
estimated that cutting worker hours would save the state $1.3
billion over the next year-and-a-half.
The state decided to keep
some 250 career centers open after previously announcing they
would be closed. The centers are where the unemployed get information
about job training and benefits.
Labor leaders said the furloughs
could have been prevented. Jim Zamora, spokesman for Service
Employees International Union, Local 1000, said the administration
did not respond to the union's latest contract proposal, which
he said included alternatives.
"More than a week ago, Local
1000 presented the governor's negotiators with a deal that would
have prevented the closure of state offices, created an orderly,
flexible and manageable furlough process, prevented chaos and
saved the state hundreds of millions of dollars," Zamora said
in a statement.
Lynelle Jolley, whose office
is negotiating with the union, declined to respond.
Some employees questioned
whether the furloughs would result in taxpayer savings.
Dan Gurule, a police officer
at the state mental hospital in Norwalk, said the state would
have to pay overtime at 24-hour facilities to those workers
who backfill the shifts of people on furlough.
Five state mental hospitals
and 33 adult prisons are required to provide constant care to
patients and inmates.
"Somebody has to fill in my
position," Gurule said. "We still have to have a minimum staffing.
That's going to be someone on overtime, being paid time-and-a-half."
But the furlough may not be
all that bad for state workers.
Squaw Valley ski resort
at Lake Tahoe was offering $30 lift tickets - a $49 savings
- on furlough days to state employees who show a valid state
identification card or recent pay stub. Boreal ski resort also
has a promotion in which state employees can ski or snowboard
every Friday for the rest of the season for $20.
Associated Press writers Juliet
Williams and Don Thompson contributed to this report.
Gov. gets Flack for High-Paying
Appointments
Wednesday, January 21,
2009
By Nannette Miranda
SACRAMENTO, CA (KGO) -- Governor
Schwarzenegger took some flak Wednesday night in Sacramento. Even
as he poor-mouthed about the state budget, he made high-profile,
high-paying political appointments. And that didn't sit well with
state workers and watchdogs.
Democratic leaders have also made
state appointments to high paying jobs as well, but the governor
defends his latest move by saying that jobs are key to turning the
state's economy around.
"We're heading towards a financial
Armageddon. We have three weeks before we go off the cliff," said
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) of California.
Throughout the 77-day budget
stalemate, Governor Schwarzenegger has warned California is running
out of cash. Yet, he just appointed termed-out Democrat, Nicole
Parra, to a brand new position to help create jobs in the Central
Valley, where unemployment has been in the double digits. She'll
make more than $128,000 a year.
"This is the one governor
who has been to the valley numerous times and is very well versed
in issues facing some of the poorest communities in our state,"
said Parra.
But critics, including
state workers and taxpayer groups, say the hiring is irresponsible
when the governor's own executive order is forcing state workers
to take unpaid furloughs.
"This is evidence that
many of our policy leaders are, on the one hand saying there's a
severe budget crisis, but their actions don't reflect their words,"
said Jon Coupal, from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
High-paying appointments,
including those on state boards, have been under fire recently as
a place to appoint out-of-work politicians who've been termed out.
When Governor Schwarzenegger took office, he promised to "blow up
the boxes" that wasted taxpayer money, like state boards.
"It's amazing. He's supposed
to be blowing up the boxes, not gift wrapping them. He certainly
seems that he's been giving away a number of positions on a variety
of different boards, and we're in a crisis," said State Senator
Jeff Denham (R) of Merced.
The Governor also recently
appointed Republican Greg Aghazarian to the Worker's Compensation
Appeals Board with a salary of $128,109.
Republicans Bonnie Garcia
and George Plescia went to the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board
with the same salary of $128,109.
And Democrat Carole Migden
was appointed to the Integrated Waste Management Board with a salary
of $132,178.
The Governor's aides say
while major cuts are being made, it's his duty to fill board vacancies.
"He's saving the state
million of dollars through his executive order, and his proposed
budget is going to save billions -- about a 10 percent cut in size
of the state government. He still has a responsibility to make sure
state government functions," said Aaron McLear, the governor's press
secretary.
In recent news, State Controller
John Chiang filed a brief in court hoping to stop the state worker
furloughs. He says they're illegal.
(Copyright ©2009 KGO-TV/DT. All
Rights Reserved.)
STATE OF
THE STATE:
Governor says Deficit is `Rock upon our Chest'
From "The Daily Breeze"
SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger on Thursday delivered his most somber address since
he took office, calling California's massive budget deficit a "rock
upon our chest" and saying he cannot address any other policy issues
until the crisis is resolved.
The Hollywood actor-turned
governor's serious tone reflected the austerity of the times. As
he gave his sixth annual State of the State speech, protesters
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on
Thursday called California's massive deficit a "rock
upon our chest" and said the state can address no other
policy issues until the fiscal crisis is resolved. (The
Associated Press)
could be heard chanting
outside on the Capitol steps.
California's budget deficit
is expected to soar past $40 billion over the next year-and-a-half,
the financial and construction industries have been decimated by
the housing collapse and unemployment is on the rise.
Legislators have been at
odds for months over how to close the gap, and state finance officials
say California will have to start sending IOUs to state contractors
and taxpayers expecting refunds next month if the budget is not
fixed.
"The truth is that California
is in a state of emergency. Addressing this emergency is the first
and greatest thing we must do for the people," Schwarzenegger said
during a short address to a joint session of the
Legislature. "The $42
billion deficit is a rock upon our chest and we cannot breathe until
we get it off."
The problem of looming
insolvency is so pressing that no other issue - including education,
water policy and health care - can be addressed until the state's
budget problems are resolved, Schwarzenegger said.
"Let me tell you, I have
big plans for this state. They include action on the economy, on
water, environment, education, and health care reform, government
efficiency and reform, job creation, and the list goes on and on,"
Schwarzenegger said. But our first order of business is to solve
the budget crisis."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is
applauded by lawmakers as he walks through the Assembly
to deliver his State of the State address before a joint
session of the Legislature at the Capitol in Sacramento,
Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Schwarzenegger's address
was unusual for its brevity, its lack of big ideas and even the
time slot in which he scheduled it, 10 a.m.
Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Redondo
Beach, said the speech was gimmicky, and lacked substance.
"There was no there there,"
said Oropeza, who chairs the Democratic Caucus in the Senate. "I
was looking for resolve on his part that we are in fact going to
deal with this crisis in a timely way. There was nothing but a couple
dings on the Legislature."
Schwarzenegger cited 2,000
infrastructure projects that have been halted because of the state's
cash crisis, asking, "How could we have let this happen?"
"We sent him an $18 billion
budget solution," said Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-El Segundo. "If he
had signed that, we would have those transportation projects. He
only had one applause line, when all of us thanked firefighters."
In years past, Schwarzenegger
has promoted bold initiatives that included a failed $14 billion
overhaul of the health care market and a successful pitch for billions
of dollars in infrastructure bonds.
This year's event was a
Spartan, daytime affair that lasted just 12 minutes. After the speech,
Schwarzenegger retreated to his Capitol office to meet with legislative
leaders.
Closing California's deficit
will include billions in spending cuts. Schwarzenegger has ordered
state workers to take two days off a month without pay, starting
in February. Departments have been asked to take 10 percent, across-the-board
cuts.
While Schwarzenegger spoke,
dozens of disabled people and their supporters lined the sidewalk
outside the Capitol, chanting "no more cuts, shame on you" to protest
the governor's proposal to cut health care and human services programs.
"Our view is, we've given,"
said Marty Omoto of the California Disability Community Action Network,
which organized the rally.
Among those on hand was
former Gov. Gray Davis, the Democrat ousted from office in the 2003
recall election that brought Schwarzenegger to power.
After the speech, Davis
said Schwarzenegger was not solely to blame for the Capitol gridlock.
He expressed hope that legislators finally have grasped the severity
of the problem and would be able to pass a budget that addresses
the short-term crisis.
The sticking point in budget
negotiations has been raising taxes. Schwarzenegger and Democrats
have proposed raising a variety of taxes, but have not agreed their
form.
Republicans have refused
any tax increases but have yet to show how they would cut $42 billion
over the next two fiscal years.
Assembly Minority Leader
Mike Villines, R-Clovis, stopped short of saying Republicans were
willing to consider tax increases.
He said he believes Californians
would be willing to pay more if they saw the Legislature make deep
cuts, genuine reforms and eliminate waste. He said the crisis presents
a historic opportunity for Republicans to help shape California's
future.
Daily Breeze staff writer
Gene Maddaus and Associated Press correspondent Judy Lin contributed
to this report.
Schwarzenegger's Plan for Economic
Boost is no Boon to the Environment
January 12, 2009
The Los Angeles Times
News item:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, desperate to improve a worsening budget
crisis, demands that long-standing environmental protections be
removed from 10 major highway projects currently tied up in courts
over various issues. Economic boost: perhaps $1.2 billion.
Reaction:
This is the same leader who, as part of his 2008-09 budget proposal,
advocated closing 48 state parks and reducing lifeguard staffing
at 16 state beaches. Schwarzenegger also supported the now-dead
proposal to erect a toll road through
San Onofre State
Beach.
These are desperate times, sure,
but why must the governator always turn his bazookas on the environment
as a route toward financial salvation? The latest plan, as outlined
in
an L.A. Times story on Sunday, essentially would exempt the
projects from the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970.
Some of the projects could harm
endangered species. Others might significantly add to greenhouse
gases, while others may simply jeopardize environmentally sensitive
areas.
Environmental safeguards must
not be swept aside merely because the state can't balance its budget.
Imagine the precedent that would set. To foster his agenda, Schwarzenegger
has even sent a letter to Barack Obama asking that the environmental
reviews be waived on the highway projects.
Hopefully, the president-elect's
answer will be the right one.
-- Pete Thomas
California Faces $42
Billion Shortfall
CBS Evening
News: Largest U.S. State Could Be Out Of Cash By February
LOS ANGELES January 3, 2009
(CBS) The shine is
off the Golden State. The bruising national recession,
plus a political stalemate in Sacramento have left
California with a whopping $42 billion budget shortfall.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called it
a fiscal emergency.
"Our economy is crying
out for relief," he said. "We are running out of
cash by February."
The country's biggest
state soon won't have money to pay its bills - things
like highway maintenance - or fund its schools or
other critical services.
Californians expecting
a state tax refund have been told they might get
IOUs instead. State workers may be forced on unpaid
furloughs, effectively cutting their pay by 10 percent.
"Ten percent is somebody's car payment,
or their gas bill," said state employee Crystal
Johnson. "Please stop picking on us. We do your
work and we're good employees."
California
may be facing the worst budget crisis, but it's
not alone. Thirty-seven other states face gaping
budget shortfalls this year. In Iowa, schools are
taking a hit. In Kentucky, library hours have been
cut. The governor of Minnesota says cuts in state
services are "inevitable" to close a $5 billion
state deficit.
See a map showing the extent
of budget shortfalls in every U.S. state.
All 50 states are
required to balance their budgets, but California
is one of only three requiring a two-thirds majority
in the legislature to approve any tax increase.
Republicans in the legislature have sworn not to
raise taxes. Democrats say the problem is too big
to solve with budget cuts alone.
It all
should sound familiar to Schwarzenegger. He swept
into office on a wave of voter discontent when his
predecessor, democrat Gray Davis, failed to pass
a budget. Schwarzenegger promised to fix the political
impasse and cut taxes, especially the much-loathed
vehicle tax, which he bid "Hasta la vista, baby,"
at a jubilant public ceremony.
Five years
later, the deficit has mushroomed and Schwarzenegger
now says new taxes are necessary - maybe even that
despised car tax.
"This is a critical time
in California's history," Schwarzenegger said recently.
And on that, all sides can agree.
|
'Bank on California' - California
Banking Program For Illegal Aliens
By Digger
January 1, 2009
California has launched
a program for illegal aliens called "Bank on California" that
would make the Matricula Consular acceptable at all banks and
the program is being pushed with gusto by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
As many of you know banks across this country - Bank of America
and Wells Fargo being the most notable - have been openly pushing
credit cards and mortgages for illegal aliens for years. Giving
loans
to illegal aliens was one of the major causes of the sub-prime
mortgage crisis and it has been conveniently ignored by traditional
news outlets. This crisis ended up devastating millions of Americans
by artificially driving up
housing
prices.
And it devastated them more by having those same financial institutions
beg and receive trillions of taxpayer dollars because these
loans unsurprisingly defaulted.
Now California is set
to openly endorse the acceptance of easily fraudulent identification
documents in the opening of
bank
accounts,
which of course will then lead to even more fraudulent loans
being given.
You simply must go read this
article by Tony Dolz which exposes the absolute idiocy and danger
of this program. A program that will be coming to a state near
you shortly if there is not enough outrage at the continued
destruction of our system by corruption and greed.
"Bank on California" Money
Laundering Scheme May Do for the State What Mortgage Meltdown
Did for the Nation
This week the Governor
has startled even his most adoring followers. He launched a
program called "Bank on California" for the expressed purpose
of allowing illegal aliens to
open
bank
accounts
and get loans using the fraudulent Mexican Matricular Consular
and Central American "consular identification cards".
These consular identification
cards, which only illegal aliens need, can be purchased for
as little as $20 in any big city street corner or for $40 from
official Mexican consulate.
Go read the rest and then
do as Tony suggests:
Call or write Governor Schwarzenegger
and demand that "Bank on California" be dismantled immediately.
Governor's Office Telephone
916-445-4571 Fax: 916-558-3160
ARNOLD
SCHWARZENEGGER SUED BY EMPLOYEE UNIONS
December 24, 2008
By ContactMusic.com
Actor-turned-politician ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER is
facing a lawsuit from two unions fighting to stop an order requiring
all California state employees to take two days off a month without
pay.
The governor made the executive order last week (beg15Dec08)
- which could effect up to 230,000 workers - in an effort to solve
the state's budget crisis.
But the Professional Engineers in California Government
and the California Association of Professional Scientists are battling
the demand in Sacramento's Superior Court, claiming only the U.S.
Legislature can change workers' pay.
At a Los Angeles press conference on Monday (22Dec08),
Schwarzenegger said: "I hate to lay off any state employees, may
I remind you, because those are hardworking people and they all
have to provide for their families. But we are running out of cash
by February, so I have no other choice. California is on a track
to a disaster the way it's going."
Selected
recent California newspaper editorials:
By The Associated Press
Dec. 23 2008
The Sacramento Bee: "Is the cost of veto worth the benefit?"
With California losing $1.6 million an hour, the governor engaged
in a photo op on Monday.
Standing in front of the Interstate 405 freeway in Southern California,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger talked about "the devastating consequences
of legislators' failure to take action" on a budget, slowing more
than 2,000 public works projects.
The governor is right that inaction has prevented the state from
selling public works bonds. But he misleads in placing all responsibility
on lawmakers. Democrats sent him a budget deal last week, and he
rejected it for flimsy reasons.
In denouncing the package, Schwarzenegger said it failed to include
adequate provisions for "public-private partnerships." He then claimed,
in e-mails to reporters, that the Legislature's failure to support
these provisions was preventing the construction of at least seven
major highway projects, costing 280,000 jobs.
We checked into this claim and found it to be deceptive.
Consider one local project on the governor's list - the Placer Parkway,
a planned four-lane highway that would connect Highway 65 with Highway
99 near the Sacramento International Airport.
Placer officials have been planning this highway for years, but
are still years away from launching it. A final environmental report
hasn't been prepared. Officials have identified only $110 million
in available funds to cover the project's $670 million cost.
While California may need to loosen restrictions on public-private
partnerships, the governor is overstating their benefits in the
near term. And he is doing so at the cost of securing a budget solution
now a big step toward selling bonds and getting more people back
to work.
http://www.sacbee.com">http://www.sacbee.com
---
Dec. 22
MediaNews: "Compromise on budget"
It is no surprise that legislators in Sacramento are filled with
frustration and even desperation, but those are poor motivators
to break the impasse over the state budget.
Unfortunately, the Democratic majority in the Assembly, upset with
Republican intransigence over tax increases, devised what they claimed
was a way to raise revenues without the constitutionally required
two-thirds vote.
Republicans were understandably irate over the flawed budget gambit
and a frustrated Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put it to rest with
a veto threat.
The budget pieced together by Democrats over the past few days would
have raised taxes by $9.3 billion and cut budget outlays by $7.3
billion.
They argue that only a majority vote was needed because of what
they perceive as legal loopholes in the revenue-raising process.
The $9.3 billion in tax provisions included a half-cent increase
in the state portion of the sales tax and a quarter-cent hike in
the local part of the tax. Democrats claim this was a shift in taxes,
not a tax increase.
There was also a 2.5 percent surcharge on personal income taxes
starting in 2009, which Democrats believe requires only a majority
vote.
The budget plan would have eliminated the 26-cents-per-gallon in
current gasoline taxes and replaced it with a 39-cents-per-gallon
"fee," for a 13-cents-per-gallon net gain. Democrats say a "fee"
does not require a two-thirds vote.
Also, the plan included a new "severance tax" on oil production;
and a new 3 percent income tax withholding requirement for payments
to independent contractors.
Republicans argue that most or all of the above revenue-raising
elements of the Democratic budget plan are really tax increases
that require a two-thirds vote. We believe they are at least partially
right.
Had the governor approved the Democratic budget, litigation would
have commenced immediately. Republicans and anti-tax groups were
poised to legally challenge the Democratic budget and at the very
least would have placed it in limbo for some time.
The current positions of both the Democrats and Republicans on the
budget are untenable. The Democrats' ploy to get around the two-thirds
vote requirement is legally troublesome, and the unwillingness of
Republicans to raise any taxes is unworkable given the extent of
the budget deficit.
It is time for the Democratic majority to take some realistic, positive
action on budget reform that includes a firm cap on future spending
increases and a two-year budget.
If Democrats were to offer budget reforms and some more spending
cuts, they likely would have the governor's full support and be
in a much stronger position to force GOP concessions on raising
revenues.
Of course, the Republican minority also could take some positive
action by agreeing to at least some temporary but significant tax
increases if spending reforms are part of the budget package.
Further delays on a budget agreement stall work on needed public
works projects, increase layoffs and threaten to cause even more
suffering. The time for constructive compromise is long overdue.
http://www.oaklandtribune.com">http://www.oaklandtribune.com
---
Dec. 22
Santa Maria Times: A step forward, two steps back
There was some astonishing medical news last week. The American
Heart Association reported that the rate of adults dying from heart
attack and stroke dropped almost 30 percent between 1999 and 2006.
A renowned cardiologist at UCLA's Geffen School of Medicine called
the lower death rate "one of the most remarkable achievements of
modern medicine."
A glowing medical achievement, perhaps, but one that too many Americans
are doing their best to trump.
The surprising drop in heart attack and stroke deaths is being attributed
to better preventative care for Americans in high-risk groups, better
treatment overall in hospitals, and more complete steps by the medical
community to prevent a repeat event.
But while medicine may have scored a major victory, we have to bring
everyone back to Earth, by reminding them that heart attack remains
the No. 1 killer of Americans, and stroke is No. 3 of the list.
Each year, about 900,000 Americans are felled by these twin killers.
Heart attack and stroke account for about one in three deaths overall
in the United States.
And if this bubble of enthusiasm isn't deflated enough, consider
this - doctors concede that lifestyle and health practices of the
average American are increasing the risks of heart attack and stroke,
rather than reducing them.
Despite the increased use of statins, high cholesterol levels remain
a threat, especially among younger people. The rate of obesity is
increasing at a frightening pace.
The percentage of children considered obese rose from 4 percent
in the mid-1970s, to nearly 20 percent by the early part of this
decade.
If up-to-date numbers were available, our guess is that the rate
of obesity has grown even more since then. And 62 percent of U.S.
adults admit to doing little or no vigorous exercise each day.
At first, we were reluctant to bring up these facts during the holiday
season, when fat and sugar-laced goodies are everywhere you turn.
But maybe, by pointing out the increase in risk factors for two
of the top three killers of Americans, we can all start making our
resolutions for the new year - which should include better nutrition
and more exercise.
http://www.santamariatimes.com">http://www.santamariatimes.com
---
Dec. 21
Daily News of Los Angeles: The toll of bad budget decisions
Have expenses at your business gone up 34 percent just since the
2004-05 fiscal year?
Probably not. Any business owner who wants to remain in business
is cutting back. You are watching payroll - a small raise or even
no raise in a tough time is a lot better than getting laid off -
and eliminating nonessential expenses like travel.
Except if your business is running the state of California, that
is.
The before-federal-funds expenditure budget in Sacramento has gone
from $107 billion just four years ago to $144 billion today. And
yet we're in a budget crisis with a $40 billion hole over the next
year and a half. Even before that, the state will run out of cash
in February and the governor is set to furlough workers and cut
all state services by 10 percent to stave off a complete shutdown
of state government.
What happened?
In a nutshell, the state's expenses have grown out of proportion
with reality - and revenue. That was true even before the recession.
But the financial crisis brought the results years of bad spending
down hard in recent weeks.
There's more than enough blame to go around here. One factor is
the requirement to pass a budget. The nation's biggest, and in many
ways most advanced, state, is also one of only three in the union
that require a two-thirds legislative vote to pass a budget. This
is in large part why the Legislator was nearly three months late
adopting the current budget.
The hidebound Republican legislators' oath to "never" raise taxes,
no matter what, is pompous, unrealistic and a very real part of
the problem here. So is their habit of forever suggesting budget
cuts that target poorest Californians, health spending and education.
(To be fair, the Dems' cut suggestions are usually in the same areas,
though smaller, and with the addition of prison spending.)
So the Republicans in the Legislature deserve some blame.
But because they have been in the majority for so long, the state's
Democratic lawmakers get a bigger share of the blame.
Their $18-billion plan Thursday - which was a clear end-run around
the confining but legal process - was an example of the budget trickery
that doesn't solve anything.
First, they craftily bypassed the state requirement that raising
taxes takes a two-thirds legislative vote by calling hikes in the
plan "fee increase" instead.
One of those "fee increases" is a 3/4-cent per dollar sales-tax
increase during a rotten time for the state's economy. It would
raise that tax in Los Angeles County to 9.5 percent and is a recipe
for disaster at a time when we need to increase consumer spending
- not repel it. Besides, we just raised our sales tax to pay for
transportation projects because it seemed like a worthy cause. Bailing
the state out of having to make tough budget choices is not.
As well, the Democrats' plan to impose an up-front withholding tax
on any payment to an independent contractor of more than $600 a
year would be a needlessly nitpicky addition to the tax-collecting
bureaucracy and an additional burden to the already put-upon self-employed.
Regarding the end-around scam on which this massive scheme is based,
the strong economic and environmental rationale - especially during
good times - to actually raise gasoline taxes over the long run
is understandable. Doing so reduces consumption of a dwindling resource,
encourages manufacturers to greatly increase the efficiency of their
vehicles and could be an important strategy in the fight against
global warming. High gas taxes are why cars in Europe routinely
get 50 mpg.
But the Democrats' plans to eliminate the current 18-cent-per-gallon
gasoline tax only to turn around and impose a 39-cent tax - except
this time calling it a fee - is not being put forward for any of
these right reasons.
Does the state's majority party really want to be known as the party
of the big scam? Can its leaders truly not work with a moderate,
bipartisan governor and the loyal opposition in creating a streamlined,
efficient state government in which salaries and benefits don't
grow, even as services to Californians are cut?
So far, it seems it can't. And that means more years of bad budgets
and a majority party that doesn't represent its people.
http://www.dailynews.com">http://www.dailynews.com
---
Dec. 22
Los Angeles Times: L.A.'s mysterious solar energy plan
It's a no-brainer: Capture the sunlight that pours down most days
on Los Angeles rooftops and convert it to electricity. If solar
panels can generate enough power to run even a few of the air conditioners
that Southern Californians use to weather our scorching late-summer
days, it will be worthwhile. The Department of Water and Power estimates
that the city can do that and more - it expects 400 megawatts from
rooftop panels that pump energy right into the local distribution
system without new transmission lines running across sensitive ecosystems.
The program could make L.A. the nation's leader in nonpolluting
solar technology. No arguments here.
But City Hall has wrapped up solar energy into a no-brainer of another
kind, with a measure the City Council rushed to the March 3 ballot
promising to answer, on some later day, numerous questions about
the cost and feasibility of the plan. The inevitable result of the
vote-now, ask-questions-later tactic is the queasy feeling that
Los Angeles voters and ratepayers are about to be snookered. David
Zahniser's article in Friday's Times, on a study that claims the
DWP can't implement the plan and that predicts rate increases far
in excess of those discussed on the council floor, is only the latest
evidence of a bungled process.
The report by P.A. Consulting Group, as summarized in an e-mail
to council President Eric Garcetti from the council's chief legislative
analyst, Gerry Miller, calls the proposal "extremely risky" and
"extremely aggressive" and questions whether there is even enough
roof space to get the job done. In defending the ballot measure,
one advocate told this page that the report is out of date and was
just one of many solicited by council members to make sure the proposal
was workable and not just another Million Trees. The reference to
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's widely promoted but narrowly successful
tree-planting effort is kind of funny. What's not funny is that
the solar program would be more expensive and have far longer-lasting
implications.
Los Angeles should have an ambitious solar energy plan, and the
DWP is right to pursue it, as are the council and the mayor. But
because of the slapdash and suspicious way the program has been
rolled out, voters need to be on alert. The city muffed a solar
program a decade ago, and the resulting bad will delayed, until
now, a serious second attempt. Voters deserve to know whether they
are being asked to sign on to a well-thought-out plan, or just another
idea only half-baked by the L.A. sunshine.
http://www.latimes.com">http://www.latimes.com
Arnold Schwarzenegger Admits
he Would Like to be US President
California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted that he would like
to be President of the United States.
December 22, 2008
From Telegraph Co. of
the UK
As the governor of California,
the Austrian-born former body-builder has been in charge of on of
the largest economies in the world since 2003. But with only two
years remaining in his maximum eight-year run as governor of California,
he will be out of a job in two years.
The president of the United
States must be an American-born citizen but, when the former actor
was asked in an interview with CBS News what his next goal was,
he made his ambitions clear.
"If the Constitution
was changed, you'd like to be president, wouldn't you?"
60
Minutes
correspondent Scott Pelley asked Mr Schwarzenegger.
"Yeah, absolutely," the
Republican governor responded. "I think that I am always a person
that looks for the next big goal. And I love challenges.
"I always set goals that
are so high, that are almost impossible to achieve, because then,
you're always hungry for climbing and climbing. Because it's always
interesting. The climb is always interesting. When you get there
you just have to pick another goal."
Mr Schwarzenegger
rose to fame as a Hollywood action-film icon. His role as the
Terminator
inspired the nickname the "Governator" after he was elected in a
special recall election to replace then-Governor Gray Davis.
It has been rumoured that
he may run for a seat in the US Senate in 2010, and many supporters
of the governor, who holds dual Austrian and American citizenship,
have explored the possibility of amending the US Constitution so
he can run for president.
