Yesterday, the interwebz were abuzz with news that Arnold was threatening to shut down the state government. Today, he has a little action item to go along with that:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday followed up on his threat to block a high-interest loan that could be needed to keep California government running if he and state lawmakers fail to balance the budget soon.
The governor revoked the state controller’s authority to take out such an emergency loan, a day after saying he was willing to bring state government to a “grinding halt” should budget talks stall. A loan would cost too much, he said, and give lawmakers an excuse to procrastinate. (LAT 6/12/09)
While it isn’t completely clear that a) Arnold will stand firm on this revocation and b) that he has the authority to really block the loan. That being said, the Democrats are taking this quite seriously.
Asm. Noreen Evans (D-Sonoma Cty.) and Sen. Mark Leno (D-SF/Marin) both responded harshly. Evans called the plan “hallucinatory and irresponsible” while Leno took the tack of pleading to the Governor’s better graces. As of yet, neither approach has yet swayed the Governor.
At this point, you never know what kind of games Arnold is playing at, and that’s precisely what he has in mind. But at a deeper level, he’s playing with people’s lives.
Now Chiang is going to have to get involved. I think Arnold may have some power here to block Chiang from an issuance of essentially vigorish notes, but Chiang has a responsibility first and foremost to pay bills. He has made clear, he can only pay bills if the budget is balanced. Since the legislature will not do so, which must be done by massive cuts, Chiang has to pay bills.
I have to research this, but this is going to be fun – the welfare state in California may fall off the cliff here. My advice is to get some hardware, the legislature’s days of getting paid off to the highest bidder has come home to roost.
Hallucinatory!
Flashbacks from his days as a bodybuilder.
It didn’t work when Gingrich did it in DC. And I fail to see how it will work in California now. Though the governator likes to play the part of a kinder, gentler Republican, he clearly is not. Controlling through fear and intimidation is what they do. And he is now showing himself to be a true son of the GOP.
I don’t know about the rest of you. But I am fed up with his threats and bluster. And minded to call his bluff. It will be a mess for a while. But I bet the barbarian will blink first.
It’s to get those who can’t afford to live here to leave.
It’s not about welfare and all the rest of the social services per se, it’s that the “undesirables” and the “undeserving” are utilizing those services.
Get rid of them, make them go somewhere else, make them mooch off of some other state’s largesse, or — why not? — let them die, and those who can afford to live here get to stay in California, minus all the riff and the raff.
Just the way it’s supposed to be.
And if by chance one of the “deserving” Lotus Eaters falls upon hard times, through no fault of their own, of course, why then all those services that were being wasted on people who were just taking up space and resources will be available.
That’s the thing. Those services should only ever be available to the “deserving.” Not the waste of skins getting those services now.
It’s so simple.
Just drive out all the people in California who don’t belong here…