Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks he’s got a “hook” for the budget crisis. It’s so stupid it’ll probably work.
In between vetoing acceptable solutions for the budget crisis, Schwarzenegger directed his staff to create a YouTube video of a Senate hearing held today on SB 135, which would ban animal cruelty and the practice of tail docking of dairy cows. Simply because it’s mildly annoying to have a tail in their faces while working, farmers chop them off of cows, for no material benefit to hygeine or anything else, and to the potential detriment of milk production by increasing stress. It’s illegal in much of Europe and opposed by the American Veterinary Medical Association. There’s an article here.
Apparently the 63% of the voters who passed Prop. 2 last November were wrong – animal cruelty is a secondary issue to the very important work of wasting billions of dollars through stubbornness.
So in the YouTube video Schwarzenegger cuts back and forth from the hearing to his schoolmarmish denunciation in his press conference to create the impression that “in the midst of the budget crisis, the Senate is debating cow tails.”
Hey Arnold, this is something called “governing.” I know you know nothing about it, since you spent a month dithering with different budget solutions while the legislature was holding a month’s worth of public sessions on the budget. But lawmakers actually can do more than one thing at a time. Some have standing committees, while others, in the leadership, can run into the brick wall that is the California budget process over and over, a brick wall you just applied with a new coat of paint by vetoing real solutions that would have stopped $7 billion dollars in additional cuts and the issuance of IOUs. For anyone who has been this much of a failure to say one word about how OTHER people govern is absurd.
By the way, Darrell Steinberg has already cancelled all future policy committee hearings to focus on the budget, which I think is a silly and unnecessary reaction to the rantings of a dullard Governor. But as long as we’re going down this road, here are a few tweets I contributed exposing the Governor’s horrible inattention in the midst of a budget crisis:
Right now, in the midst of a budget crisis @Schwarzenegger actually slept for EIGHT HOURS! That’s not leadership #cabudget
19 minutes ago from webRight now, in the midst of a budget crisis @Schwarzenegger had dinner… at a restaurant! That’s not leadership #cabudget
19 minutes ago from webRight now, in the midst of a budget crisis @Schwarzenegger excused himself to go to the bathroom! That’s not leadership #cabudget
19 minutes ago from webRight now, in the midst of a budget crisis @Schwarzenegger breathed both in and out! That’s not leadership #cabudget
18 minutes ago from web
Join in with your own if you want.
This is just idiotic grandstanding from the Governor, who appears to know nothing about public policy or the American system of government. Any reporter who runs with this should be ashamed of themselves.
Here was my tweet: Right now midst of a budget crisis @Schwarzenegger is focusing on making snarky YouTube videos. That’s not leadership. #cabudget
showing Schwarzenegger smoking a stogie with the voiceover saying: “This man just cost you and your kids another $8 billion ’cause of his stupid-ass stubornness. That’s right 8 BILLION DOLLARS overnight because he wouldn’t sign the bridge bill that would have prevented the state from issuing IOUs at exorbitant interest — to profit his Wall Street buddies. Call Sacramento; tell Schwartzenegger to get off his ass or get out of office. He isn’t doing anything for the people of California except blowing smoke and sucking up more money.”
Where’s the Democrat’s YouTube or media buy highlighting each and every one of the Republican senators who refuse to vote for anything on behalf of the people of California?
Schwartzenegger is an asshole and a jerk, but at least he knows how to grandstand.
It’s called hardball politics. Are Dems incapable of learning, or are they so wedded to their consultants (who like things just the way they are) that they dare not go balls to the wall against these creeps?
Yeah , Arnold’s a dumbass and Twittering isn’t governing, it’s just stupid in this case, but the hopelessly outclassed “leadership” in the Legislature isn’t winning any awards either.
We need a real old-school purge of people who are just running from office to office (look at how many useless legislators are running for statewide office, like they’re qualified) and do showboaty politics.
And, we need another candidate for Governor. Jerry’s great but I fear he might not make it in a general, and gavin is just Arnold 2.0 – he’s doing the exact same things Arnold is doing now.
If all the Democratic party is going to be is the party of “oh at least we’re not those jerks” then there might as well be no Democratic party. the bar is set so low by California Republicans, that doing slightly better is still pretty crap-tacular!