Schwarzenegger has failed! (San Diego, Santa Clarita, Davis: how much, employment, schools)

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by Snort

Most Californians wouldn't elect McClintock for his rightwing views, but he had the only viable economic plan among the rest of the candidates after Davis. The voters go for glitz, not substance.

Californians don't want a social conservative. Public is pretty clear on that one. You can't have one and not the other. Arnold is the closest thing to a moderate we've seen in a long time.

California wants a social liberal who is fiscally moderate-to-conservative. Most right-wing idealogues can't get past nonsense issues like gay marriage to get themselves elected. When forced to choose between the fiscal liberal and the social conservative California will always choose the social liberal even if he is incompetent. Remember this is not Arizona.

[Niners fan]

Originally Posted by j760

Ultimately no Governor is going to please everyone, it's a tough job with tough decisions. Arnold can make one decision and half of Californians will love him for it, the other half will hate him. I think all in all he's done a good job and is better than what we had before.

How so? Spending has risen just as much under Schwarzenegger as it did under Davis. He hasn't been able to pass any significant reforms that he promised like redistricting or a rainy day fund. He is way too concerned about getting along with people. He had the opportunity to expose the Legislature for what it was as far as irresponsible spending and ask the voters to give him people who recognized that Sacramento needed some fiscal discipline. He hasn't persuaded anyone to come to his original rhetoric. Instead, he has went over and gotten in bed with them.

[Fighter 1]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

How so? Get rid of them all next time - clean sweep. I won't vote for a single incumbent next election.

Been saying that for years , only way to strighten up a house that is leaning the wrong way is to start at the bottom and clean out all the bad timbers ( Employees) and rebuild with solid not corupt material ! Right !????

[FloridaandOhio]

Raising taxes doesn't take courage. That's the easy way out. Courage is making the tough decisions on cutting spending. If we as Americans (this goes for all Americans who pay taxes) keep saying things like "I think so and so politician is soooo brave for raising taxes" we are headed straight towards 80% of our income going straight to the government because those yahoos at the state and federal level don't have the guts to reign in spending and take the heat for it from special interest groups.

[elousv]

Originally Posted by Fighter 1

Been saying that for years , only way to strighten up a house that is leaning the wrong way is to start at the bottom and clean out all the bad timbers ( Employees) and rebuild with solid not corupt material ! Right !????

I like the concept, but how do WE do it? I was hoping the internet would allow 3rd parties to get in, but I have not seen it materialize yet.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by elousv

I like the concept, but how do WE do it? I was hoping the internet would allow 3rd parties to get in, but I have not seen it materialize yet.

Not much you can do other than vote and get involved.

Theres a couple other tens of millions that have their own opinion.

To me Arnold represents a step in the right direction. Americans have finally begun to reject the idealogical candidates from the states to the federal level. We have seen this with the mid-term federal elections and we are seeing it in the presidential candidates the major parties are putting forward. We can only hope that the trend continues until we finally can get towards that "post-partisan" candidate that Arnold promised to be.

In 20 years or so, assuming this trend continues, I think we will have gotten past this culture of immobilized anti-decisionmaking that we've created for outselves.

Remember that if you take a stand such as "it is never acceptable to raise taxes", you are an idealogue too. Be careful about taking stances that leave no room for practical decisionmaking.

America generally seems to want socially liberal, fiscally moderate-to-conservative leaders who can gain consensus. This trend is bucking traditional party lines in many cities. Arnold and Mike Bloomberg are good examples of this, and I think, the first wave of a trend I hope will continue.

[elousv]

Originally Posted by happ

Your Prop 187 statement identifies your political affiliation

You may think it does, but I don't attach myself to ANY party. I'm just a simple person who believes in fundamental right and wrong. It is wrong for CA to extort my money and hand it over to people that should not even be here.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by FloridaandOhio

Raising taxes doesn't take courage. That's the easy way out. Courage is making the tough decisions on cutting spending. If we as Americans (this goes for all Americans who pay taxes) keep saying things like "I think so and so politician is soooo brave for raising taxes" we are headed straight towards 80% of our income going straight to the government because those yahoos at the state and federal level don't have the guts to reign in spending and take the heat for it from special interest groups.

he proposed universal cuts across the board and he couldnt get them passed. keep in mind that the governor(or president) does not have the power to force any of those cuts through. the legislature rules there and they dont want to play ball.

keep in mind the people of california are the largest to blame here. we continually approve bond measures and other measures that add millions and billions of guaranteed debt and guaranteed payments every voting cycle and we continually reelect the same idiots at the state level and the federal level(loretta and linda sanchez, feinstein, boxer, etc) who continually put the wrong issues on the front burner and the real issues on the back burner as it relates to our state. our state has been gerrymandered into oblivion and the public accepts it. our parents blame our schools and teachers for poor education while they do not contribute at all(which leads to more crime, drug use, and abuse of welfare as these children are improperly raised and improperly prepared for life as adults).

the list goes on and on and its the primary reason im leaving this state as soon as my wife secures an at home job at our company. the state is beyond repair as far as im concerned because the people that live here will not act. we acted when gray davis screwed us up, but since then we will not voice our displeasure at the legislature that is harming the state irrepairably by not agreeing to pass cuts. we simply cant afford what their proposed budget includes without raising taxes or making cuts. its sad that it is coming to raising taxes, but without having the ability to cut you can only go one way unless you want the state to run without cash, which would shut down schools and infrastructure.

people have been crying for weeks that deep budget cuts would hurt them. what do you think increased taxes to cover the spending deficit will do? this is a tough time, and its a time to tighten the belt, but instead we have to buy a bigger pair of pants because the people that live here wont take cuts and wont stop voting yes on any spending measure on the ballot

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Californians don't want a social conservative. Public is pretty clear on that one. You can't have one and not the other. Arnold is the closest thing to a moderate we've seen in a long time.

California wants a social liberal who is fiscally moderate-to-conservative. Most right-wing idealogues can't get past nonsense issues like gay marriage to get themselves elected. When forced to choose between the fiscal liberal and the social conservative California will always choose the social liberal even if he is incompetent. Remember this is not Arizona.

This is how I pretty much see it too. CA doesn't want a social conservative in a high ranking statewide office. If I have to choose someone who either going to try to control my money or someone who is gonna try to control my personal life, I'm gonna go with the one going after my wallet rather than the one trying to tell me how to live my life. I'd rather vote for someone I like on both levels but too many times in this state that really isn't the case.

That is why I like Arnold, he is socially liberal and fiscally moderate/conservative. And I admire him for admitting defeat with his failed ballot initiatives a few years ago. I'd rather have a politician that can admit their wrong and try to change course/position rather than some stubborn blowhard like Bush. Call it flip flopping if you want but I just see it as a politician actually listening to their constituents. Arnold is not perfect and there are definitely some things he's done that I have not liked but overall he's the best governor Ca has had in a while.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by happ

Your Prop 187 statement identifies your political affiliation since many voted against it knowing fully well the court would invalidate it anyway. Republicans in California are never happy & some would prefer to live in Texas. Admittedly Schwarzenegger failed miserably with his initiatives once he became governor. He fully understands that Republicanism in California must be moderated considerably if any business is to be done.

Republican assembly\senate members have no power other than the purse since the California legislature has the strictest fiscal controls of any state [except 2]. And the state budget is being held up again by these power-crazed Republicans. People are angry with the state government because the majority of Californians have to deal with a GOP minority that consistently drag our state backward [including the anti-gay marriage initiative].

Prop 187 had nearly 60% of the vote, many democrats voted for it as well. And many democrats today are fed up with the illegal immigration problem.

I'm not a republican at all, but not a democrat either. But the only thing keeping democrats in check and from going buck wild is the republicans in this state, granted I don't like most of them but I'll give some credit where it's due.

Just b/c Democrats hold a large majority doesn't mean Californians support them and are happy with them. But unfortunately their clueless as*es don't seem to realize that. It's just better than the alternative, socially conservative republicans.

Enough is enough already with the spending and taxes. We are already a high cost state and they want to tax us even more!?! I am not against all taxes increases b/c you get what you pay for and you don't get what you don't pay for but you have to draw the line somewhere. When all these taxes do little to improve things then you have to just say no. We rank 46th in education and have some of the worst roads in the country. Why tax us more if those things never seem to improve??

Recently someone started a thread in the San Diego forum asking whether they should move their family to San Diego or Miami metro and a big part of the reason they chose Miami, possibly one of the worst places to raise kids, is b/c of CA's high income tax. And I've seen it several times on here; successful educated people who choose another state b/c of the high income tax here. And it's pushing out natives. And now they want to raise it even more!

BOTH republicans and especially DEMOCRATS are running this state into the ground and fast. Republicans hold such little power in the state overall I don't see how anyone in their right mind could blame them solely for our current problems.