Originally Posted By Beaumandy Arnold has more power and money than he will ever need already. Your making statements that are not grounded in reality, can't be proven and you have no real evidence that Arnold is trying to get a ballot measure passed simply for " power ". It reminds me of a guy on here who said Bush went to war for money and revenge for his daddy.. nothing else but those reasons.
Originally Posted By woody "Of course, Republicans don't believe in negotiating in good faith. It's all about power and control." I think you should STOP projecting Republican power in the Federal level to California where the Democrats are in control. California is a Blue State. It should be clear that the Democrats have the power. The Dems have bungled the state. Arnold, as a moderate Republican, is trying to fix a big problem that gotten California into this mess. If you want to complain about the Federal Government, then go ahead, but that is a separate topic.
Originally Posted By cmpaley >>"Of course, Republicans don't believe in negotiating in good faith. It's all about power and control." I think you should STOP projecting Republican power in the Federal level to California where the Democrats are in control.<< This isn't about the Bush administration's refusal to work with the opposition, this is about Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger is simply not honest. He said he wouldn't take money from special interests because he doesn't need it, but he's spent the past year and a half doing nothing BUT taking money from special interests. He "borrowed" $2 billion dollars from the money that should have been allocated to the education budget under California law and refuses to return that money. Under his direction, the Scharzenegger administration refuses to bargain in good faith with all state employee unions in contract negotiations. He promised he wouldn't be partisan and would work with both sides. He's spent most of his time in office calling Democrats names and taunting anyone who opposes him. He has not negotiated in good faith with anyone from the day he took office, including the Democrats who tried to negotiate with him on his "reform" ideas. He's let them think that there's been progress just before the trigger for the special interest election had to be pulled but I honestly believe he went in with no intent to reach a compromise solution. I believe he went in knowing that he was going to do the special interest election and bided his time and played the Democrates so things would appear to be progressing. >>California is a Blue State.<< If 74, 75, 76 and 77 pass, that will probably change...which is the whole point of the exercise. >>It should be clear that the Democrats have the power.<< The Democrats may have a majority, but they certainly do not have "the power." The Governor vetoes almost every Democratic legislative initiative. The Republican minority has the power to hold up the budget at their whim. >>The Dems have bungled the state. << Actually, that's not completely accurate. The Democrats AND the Republicans have bungled the budget. The fact is, when there was a massive surplus, both sides demanded and got what they wanted...democrats new spending and Republicans got their massive tax cuts and corporate welfare programs. Also, it was a REPUBLICAN electricity deregulation plan that lead to the raping of California by REPUBLICAN corporate donor Enron...all to make Gray Davis look bad. >>Arnold, as a moderate Republican, is trying to fix a big problem that gotten California into this mess.<< On economic issues, Schwarzenegger is not a moderate. He has demonstrated that he is as far to the right as McClintock or Bush. He's off the left end when it comes to life issues...he's pro-abortion, embryonic stem cell research and euthanasia. It sickens me that the man claims to be a Catholic and is allowed to receive communion.
Originally Posted By woody >>The Democrats may have a majority, but they certainly do not have "the power." With this, I say you're deluded.
Originally Posted By cmpaley I explained why I this this. You say I'm deluded. Back it up or take it back.
Originally Posted By woody You can read about the California legislative process here. The major problem is the mandated spending. Only the legislature can repeal them. There is less and less the governor can do about the mandated spending without the cooperation of the legislature. <a href="http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/htConstReform2003-ELLWOODtext.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/li brary/htConstReform2003-ELLWOODtext.pdf</a> In page 9 (shown as 337 at bottom of page), "Some analysts have indicated that up to 88 percent of the General Fund’s expenditures were mandated to some degree".
Originally Posted By cmpaley >>You can read about the California legislative process here. The major problem is the mandated spending. Only the legislature can repeal them. There is less and less the governor can do about the mandated spending without the cooperation of the legislature.<< I think I mentioned this back in post 33. There are too many requirements. That's why I think there needs to be fundamental reform...that is, reform of the FUNDAMENTALS of how the budget is written. Prop 76 doesn't accomplish much more than saying that taxes can't be used to fix a budget deficit under any circumstances whatsoever and it gives the governor dictatorial powers. But the fact remains, RIGHT NOW, the Governor of California has the line item veto. He can cut out anything he likes once the budget is passed by the legislature. The deeper problem actually lies in the makeup of the legislature. The extremes of both parties are in control of their respective delegations, i.e., the most extreme Democrats are in charge of the Democratic delegation and the most rabid right-wing Republicans are in charge of the Republican delegation. This must change. Which leads back to the question of HOW could this have happened? I think two things are at fault. First, term limits was a mistake. Truth to tell, I WAS THERE when it was passed and the main reason it was passed was to remove the powerful Willie Brown from the post of Speaker of the Assembly. So, now we have inexperienced legislators with an eye on advancement due to term limits doing the important work of writing laws in California. Is it any wonder the legislature is so troublesom? Second, the reapportionment procedures must be refomed, but again, 77 is NOT the best solution (and it's not the only one proposed). There were many better ideas put forward that were passed over because Schwarzenegger didn't want to bargain but HAD TO HAVE his Special Interest Election. Oh, and as one who works for the state, I'm pretty well informed as how legislation becomes law in California.
Originally Posted By planodisney The whole Democrats are honest and republicans are liars goofiness is becoming soooo tiresome. Is anybody realy ignorant enough to actually believe that?
Originally Posted By woody "Oh, and as one who works for the state, I'm pretty well informed as how legislation becomes law in California." You have shown your knowledge. Maybe I'm not fully informed of the problem, but I'm not really convinced there are better options for the Governor at this time. My concern is the Governor probably reached the end of his options.
Originally Posted By cmpaley >>The whole Democrats are honest and republicans are liars goofiness is becoming soooo tiresome.<< I never said that. What I said is that Schwarzenegger does not negotiate in good faith. I also said that while the Democrats have a majority in the legislature, they do not have "the power" because under CALIFORNIA law, a 2/3 majority is required to pass a budget. That gives "the power" to the Republicans to hold up the budget. I did say that I don't believe that Schwarzenegger and his supporters were honest, but that's centered around an individual politician, not a political party.
Originally Posted By cmpaley >>My concern is the Governor probably reached the end of his options.<< No, I don't think he even tried to negotiate in good faith. He wanted a fight all along, in spite of his pretty words of being an outsider and all that crap. He wanted this special interest election all along.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I wonder if Prop. 75 is winning BIG as predicted? Will it win by a narrow margin? Or go down to defeat? Last night, KGO Radio's Gene Burns was wondering why Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger engaged in no public debates on the measures he favors, nothing but appearances at fundraisers and in places where he was unlikely to be challenged. It's a good question.
Originally Posted By cmpaley All the latest polls show it crashing and burning. Of course, as they say, the ONLY poll that counts is the on in progress right now. By they way, I voted this morning before coming to work.
Originally Posted By Deogges Mom Early returns for Orange County show Prop 75 ahead with 69.1% of the vote. LA County show it ahead with 51.12%. Statewide it is passing with 56.7% of the vote.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Based on the early voting, Prop 75 will win with the largest margin of any state prop....
Originally Posted By Darkbeer And let me go off topic for one second... Hi Lisa, I love you and miss you!!!!
Originally Posted By woody "Based on the early voting, Prop 75 will win with the largest margin of any state prop...." Let's hope so. There's no gloating until it's over.
Originally Posted By cmpaley How can LA County have "early returns?" They haven't reported anything yet. Unless there's a fix in...
Originally Posted By Deogges Mom It's called absentee votes and early voting. Even though none of the votes cast today at the polling places, absentee ballots and early voting have been counted. Check out the website yourself: <a href="http://rrccmain.co.la.ca.us/0035_StateMeasure_Frame.htm" target="_blank">http://rrccmain.co.la.ca.us/00 35_StateMeasure_Frame.htm</a>
