Arnold is fond of telling anybody with a microphone about how he wants a complete solution, none of this halfway stuff that would only help the situation. He wants a full solution now!

The problem is that even his ever-changing “plan” isn’t actually complete. Not only are there 0, count ’em 0, votes for the plan in the Legislature and there is no actual legislation, but the plan they have has big holes:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget package, which he has touted as a way to solve the state’s entire deficit, has a glitch that may jeopardize $10 billion in federal stimulus funds for California’s public schools, colleges and prisons. (SF Chronicle 7/9/09)

Basically, the stimulus tried to prevent the actions of 50 little Hoovers from counteracting the additional funding by cutting their own spending.  So, they have maintenance of efforts clauses.  Unfortunately, the Governor’s cuts slash into those requirements.

However, with some fiddling with the numbers, Arnold’s plan could adjust some of the way the dollars borrowed from the local governments are spent in order to meet some of these requirements.  If there is anything that our politicians are good at, it must be fiddling with accounting numbers. I think that particular skill is part of the freshman orientation for new legislators, and the governor’s people are basically PhDs in the subject.

But Sen. Steinberg points out the sheer lunacy of the Governor’s position: Get me a complete solution…never mind the fact that I don’t have one.

“It just shows that there’s rhetoric and reality,” said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. “He’s made these bold pronouncements that even he can’t deliver on in many cases, and this is a good example.” (SF Chronicle 7/9/09)

See, actually having a plan would be something Arnold is less familiar with: Real Leadership.