Al's Opinions

Arnold Schwarzenegger bugs me. He became Governor of California full of promise to be not just like the politicians who had been running the State, but to get things done and get the State out of the financial hole it’s been digging itself into for several years. The promise to be “not just another politician” now seems very hollow. He sounds more and more every day like just another Republican politician whose vision for the State is to reduce taxes and State spending, get rid of regulations that bother business people, trash labor unions, get rid of guaranteed pensions for retired State employees, and, as “governator,” increase his own power and reduce that of the legislature. He’s Pete Wilson with a happy face.

So, why should I care? I am retired with a comfortable retirement income. Mr. Schwarzenegger is much younger than I and will probably outlive me. Why should I let him bug me?

I take cold comfort in an old saying, that the people get the government they deserve, not the government they want. I might add to that, in the case of California at least, the people don’t get the government they need. And here’s what really bugs me about Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has fame, celebrity, charisma, and a personal fortune. He can live well without the governor’s generous salary. He has a chance to tell the people of California what they need to hear and make some useful changes in the way the State is run. The people don’t need to hear that taxes are too high. They need to hear that if they expect good and adequate services from their State and local governments they should accept the taxes that are needed to provide them. They don’t need to hear that they have a dysfunctional legislature. They need to hear what has to be done to enable the legislature to function well. They need to hear that the 2/3 majority required for the legislature to pass a budget or enact a tax should be changed to bring California in line with most of the other fifty States.

Mr. Schwarzenegger has the ability and the chance to tell the people of California what they should hear, even though they don’t like it. It bugs me that he won’t do it. Instead, he simply tries to impose an unpopular Republican economic and social reform on the State.

So be it. California’s people are getting what they deserve. They elected him.