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Ear to the Ground

No California Love for Schwarzenegger

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Posted on May 21, 2009
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Flickr / Franco Folini

Californians gave the electoral finger to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday when they voted against five ballot measures intended to fix the Golden State’s budget drama by increasing taxes, redistributing state funds and borrowing money. On top of already double-digit unemployment, a plummeting housing market and an eroding educational system, the state now faces a budget gap of more than $21 billion.

Reuters:

Dire warnings of fiscal calamity by Schwarzenegger and echoed by top lawmakers failed to sway voters, who said they disliked the specifics in the measures—including a spending cap, extending tax increases, borrowing against lottery revenues and tapping dedicated funds.

“The public is under the delusion that they can have everything—potholes filled, new freeways, a good education system—but they aren’t willing to pay for it. ... A lot of critical services are going to be cut and there will be serious consequences,” said Jim Hawley of the Elfenworks Center for the Study of Fiduciary Capitalism at St. Mary’s College of California.

Schwarzenegger last week said 5,000 layoff notices would be sent to state employees, and spending cuts could fall hard on education. That stunned teachers whose school districts are already under financial pressure as their revenue shrinks.

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Virginia777's avatar

By Virginia777, May 22, 2009 at 1:32 pm Link to this comment

“Now, I don’t care a damn about what happens in California”

Ah, Fadel, California is the home of Truthdig!

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By hippie4ever, May 22, 2009 at 10:06 am Link to this comment

I agree about California’s electorate having the common sense of lemmings on the loose and running free. First Reagan and now this; and Arnold’s election was the result of Enron cutting the state off the grid, and Gov. Gray Davis responding by looking like a deer caught in the headlights. He refused to even raise the issue of a rightwing corporate attack on California. Disgusting man, a complete sellout, and that bean-counter got recalled and then came Arnold…

This budget fiasco is the result of decisions by selfish Californians not to pay taxes via the 2/3 rule required to pass budgets. Rethugs use this to hold the state hostage to their major sickness a.k.a. “republican values.” Also Prop 13 which created a 2-tier property tax system whereby the richest homeowning Californians generally pay the least tax, while renters pay the most. Arnold repealed the renters tax rebate to create an more-selfish Golden state. Where s/he who owns the gold runs the state.

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By samosamo, May 22, 2009 at 6:48 am Link to this comment

I wonder what will happen as it appears to me ahnold has surely passed the point that got his predessor ‘recalled’ and if his sterling macho steroid monkey hubristic persona will keep him from being recalled or if not that, voted out in the next gubernatorial election; those californians are a weird lot and pride themselves in having such idolatry as heads of state.

And I ask, has there ever been an actor that has made a great governor?

I know there has never been a great president that was an actor as an actor can never act a part better than a politician, meaning they can’t lie or beg better than an actor.

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By Wingnut, May 22, 2009 at 5:48 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

“Center for the Study of Fiduciary Capitalism”

hahaha.  Is there a non-fiduciary capitalism?

Readers, you DO see the pyramid scheme symbol on the back of the USA one dollar bill, right?  You DO see the servitude infestation in capitalism, right?  And do you see the “pay up or lose your wellbeing” Chicago mob-like felony extortion widespread within capitalism?  Do you see the “join or starve” felony extortion done to the 18 year olds… by this ugly competer’s church called capitalism?  See how forcing competer’s religions onto 18 year olds… kills membership in the cooperator’s church (Christianity/socialism)??  Do you understand that AmWay (American Way) (New World Order) got “the exclusive” (legal tender) on the TYPE of survival coupons (money) accepted in supply depots (stores) and leverages 18 years olds into the organization via that felony activity as well?  (It puts AmWay-coupon slaving requirements called price tags… on all the survival goods).  Do you understand how farmyard pyramids work… from your childhood??  Remember??  Upper 1/3 are “heads in the clouds” while the kids on the bottom ALWAYS GET HURT from the weight of the world’s knees in their backs?  Still with me? Do you see anything illegal, immoral, or just plain sick… in any of this pyramid scheme’s activities?

Us American Christian socialists are still patiently awaiting the natural fall of the pyramid-o-servitude, or the busting of the free marketeers felony… by the USA Dept of Justice.  Us Christians are VERY CLOSE to issuing a cease and desist order until the servitude and inequality goes away… which means it turns into a commune.  Commune is a word we LOVE when used in the word “community”... but its one the caps HATE when used in the term “commune-ism”.  Go fig.  PROGRAMMED!!

Do a Google IMAGE SEARCH for ‘pyramid of capitalist’ to see a full color picture made way back in 1911, when capitalism was first discovered to be a con/sham instigated by the Free Masons/Illuminati. Folks sure bought into the thing… hook, line, and sinker just the same.  The caps didn’t even check if a string was attached!  Now THAT’S easy fishing, eh?

Abolish economies and ownershipism worldwide, and hurry.  Economies just cause rat-racing, and rat-racing causes felony pyramiding.  BUST IT, America!  Look to the USA military supply/survival system… (and the USA public library system) for socialism and morals done right.  Equal, owner-less, money-less, bill-less, timecard-less, and concerned with growth of value-criteria OTHER THAN money-value.  Quit doing monetary discrimination immediately, and make it illegal. Economies are cancerous tumors, and to cheer for their growth… is just insane.  Profiting causes inflation, so if caps LIKE inflation, and if they LIKE a terrible time in afterlife when they meet the planet’s ORIGINAL OWNER before caps tried to squat it all with ownershipism, then keep it up with the felony pyramiding.  I dare you.  While us Christians are finally bulldozing that pyramid scheme back to level, lets make servitude and “join or starve” (get a job or die) illegal in the USA, and lets level the architecture seen in USA courtrooms, too.  Right now, USA courtrooms are church simulators or “fear chambers”, by special design.  Sick.

Isn’t that back-of-the-dollar pyramid… a Columbian freemason symbol? And WHERE is the USA gov located? District of Columbia? (Not even part of the USA!). How much more blatant can ya get?  The “Fed” runs a pyramid scheme called the free marketeers. If you’re using the “federal reserve note” certificates, or using no-other-living-thing-on-the-planet entitles of ownership, you’re bought into a servitude/slavery con/sham… called capitalism. Pyramiding 101.

Larry “Wingnut” Wendlandt
MaStars - Mothers Against Stuff That Ain’t Right
(anti-capitalism-ists)
Bessemer MI USA

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By Shift, May 22, 2009 at 4:59 am Link to this comment

The simple solution would be to incorporate the State of California as a Bank and untold billions would be thrown their way with little fanfare.

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By Bill in CA, May 21, 2009 at 8:27 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Despite loving a good slander, trash talking the golden state to such a degree is hilariously juvenile. One must assume such virulent anger I based in ignorance, it often is.

Anyone who lives here understands that the system is gamed. Districts are gerrymandered, like in other states. Worse still, the 2/3rds approval requirement for the budget has made it stupidly easy for the Orange County Goon Squad republicans to block any reasonable budget. The Gropenfurher plays at being a moderate then puts zero pressure on his party to pass consensus budgets that he claims to support. Such budgets fail because the aforementioned Orange Curtain Norquist free-market fundamentalist lunatics and fake libertarians refuse any budget that has “one cent of tax increases”.

Schwarzenegger is the son of a fascist, and appears to be slightly to the left of that. He’s a worthless fool who was elected due to, in part, an unprecedented turnout of 18-25 year old males. That and a budget crisis created by the energy market deregulation (Enron and dynergy bled the state dry - the Gropenator was a buddy of Ken Lay). One of his first acts was to extract a token settlement from the Texas energy crooks in exchange for signing away our right to sue for the Billions that were stolen from us.

So I suppose I’ll end by saying that I DON’T want your state to fall into the ocean, be blown up by a volcano or flattened by a hurricane. That would be pitifully childish, and would involve the deaths of millions. Not even TX where Rick “the doo” Perry threatened to secede for no particular reason, then went to the fed for Tamiflu when the “mexican” swine flu hit.

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By Fadel Abdallah, May 21, 2009 at 6:53 pm Link to this comment

When America elected the stupid third-rate actor, Roland Reagan, to the presidency, I lamented how Americans can be so politically naive or stupid to elect such an old and ignorant actor to the presidency.

When, again, the Californians elected such stupid actor, Schwarzenegger, I was scandalized!

Now, I don’t care a damn about what happens in California and I will not shed tears of sorrow whether it’s swallowed by the Ocean or it will be attacked and occupied by Mexico by reclaiming it as part of the homeland it used to be! Possibly it would fair better under real Mexicans!

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By jr., May 21, 2009 at 1:40 pm Link to this comment

Perhaps what california is needing is a budget analyst and not an actor pretending to be a budget analyst!

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By rollzone, May 21, 2009 at 11:32 am Link to this comment

hello. everyone loves the governator: even moreso should he quickly return to the big screen where he belongs. a layoff is not termination. they will be back. the steroids are eating each other in the gray matter. the single largest economy in the free world: and the governator wants the American tax paying public to bail it out of immature spending and borrowing: alike rewarding irresponsible hollyweird dramatists with roles because they behave so weird. the steroids are eating the gray matter. inside the brain of the governator is the next blockbuster, but he cannot get it out. the gray matter is eating the grey matter. political Hollywood

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