Can’t really argue with the message, however:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this afternoon said Assembly lawmakers “don’t have the guts” to make the cuts to the state prison system, criticizing them as politically motivated for stalling on a plan that would reduce the number of inmates in state lockups to save money.
“They don’t have the guts to go in there and to make the prison reform that they have been talking about for two decades, which we need to reduce the amount of inmates in there,” Schwarzenegger said in a webcast interview with the co-founders of Twitter at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco.
“The Assembly legislators, for them it was easier to go and make the $10-billion cut in education, but it is impossible for them to make the $1-billion cut” for prisons, he said.
I’ve been plenty vocal about the cowardice of lawmakers who actually voted for a sentencing commission two years ago, but who cannot do it now because of how it might affect them in their next election. But Arnold Schwarzenegger making this statement is RICH.
Has he ever signed a bill that the Chamber of Commerce told him not to?
Has he ever dealt with the prison crisis, which has gone on throughout his entire tenure, up until this point?
Has he bothered to lift a finger while the state truly tumbled into the nether regions, with its safety net destroyed, its economy in tatters and its outlook bleak, at best?
Has he ever even had a sleepless night while all of this happened, instead of laying back with a stogie?
Maybe those who want to see a smart prison policy should get someone who isn’t as cowardly as the Assembly to make the message that the Assembly is cowardly.
but here’s what I don’t get.
If the CA legislature doesn’t come to a decision on how to comply with the federal court mandate, then the federal court will make the decision for the state. So politically charged or no, isn’t that a better outcome, and more defensible to the electorate?
but secretly , they’re happy that someone else will do the job that they don’t have ‘the guts’ to do. Unfortunately for CA, we need action on the state level, not a mandate from fed court to do what our leaders won’t, in a sensible way.
If this thing keeps on dragging out, it’s gonna cost the state more money. Laying off teachers is easy, but eliminating parole for nonviolent offenders is impossible?
While everything you say about Arnold is true, he is correct in his comments about the lack of courage in the legislature.
Indeed, during the recent budget fiasco, it was the Democrats in the legislature who were Arnold’s enablers in helping pass what may be the most regressive, unfair budget in California history. Their refusal to stand up for our state’s most vulnerable citizens and fight for a cuts-and-revenue budget was a disgrace.
The very same people screaming about the cuts here are the ones that opposed the revenue solutions that were on the May ballot — the only ones that could overcome the 2/3 vote stranglehold the GOP has on the budget