Arnold is nothing if not an optimist. He’s first and foremost a showman. And a showman doesn’t let you see him being a bummer. So, why not put out a budget that is “exceedingly unlikely” to be any where near realistic.
The nonpartisan legislative analyst warned Tuesday that lawmakers will have to work quickly to solve the state’s budget deficit, with cuts needing to be in place by the end of March, and called the odds of getting nearly $7 billion from the federal government “almost nonexistent.” (SF Chronicle)
Of course, this is nothing that any casual political observer couldn’t predict. Sure, it gets the air of a lot more authority when spoken by Mac Taylor, the Legislative Analyst, but anybody who has watched Congress over the last 13 months will be aware that there is a teensy bit of resistance of anything that could be described in the media as a “bailout.” And given the nature of the California budget crisis, you’d be hard pressed to describe a federal intervention as anything but a bailout. That the amount requested by the governor of the largest state in the union is dwarfed by the amount given to an insurance company founded in Shanghai in 1919 (AIG) seems not to matter at this point. Apparently, a bailout is a bailout is a bailout.
That being said, if Congress is looking for a jobs program, California’s budget is an easy target. If we don’t get additional money, look for big job cuts. Arnold seems intent on pushing CalWORKS and IHSS towards the gallows in his hostage program. Both would be massive losses for the California economy and the basic level of decency in our state. Whatever your feelings about welfare, the qualitative and quantitative indicators of success are there http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/p…
But Arnold is a showman, and he can bluff with the best of them. What he’s got up his sleeve this time is anybody’s guess. But after 6 years, his end goals seem to be consistent. He will slash the social safety net and do whatever he can to help corporations. So whether Arnold has his plans based in the bluest of blue skies, expect the clouds to return soon enough.
The budget as proposed is so ridiculous that one can only think that it is an attempt to run out the clock. I see no enthusiasm in it or for it. It is full of items that have been determined to be illegal by the courts. Other items amount to budgetary clicking the ruby slipper heels together and saying "there's no place like home" over and over. I suspect that to Arnie,
The Emerald CityBel-Aire is looking better all of the time.BTW- have you noticed that the papers have stopped running only good pictures of Arnie, I have noticed some really bad pictures of him lately. He looks old and unhealthy.