I know, we aren’t even a full week into 2009 but it is going to be very difficult for anyone to get any dumber than this:
Schwarzenegger to veto budget bills
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will immediately veto the Democratic plan to reduce the budget deficit by $18 billion and urge lawmakers to use his January proposal as a template for implementing midyear cuts, according to Schwarzenegger communications director Matt David.The move forces leaders to start over in their efforts to close a budget deficit estimated at $40 billion over the next 18 months. It jettisons — for now — what Democrats hailed as “the only game in town” — because it included tax increases approved without Republican votes.
For those keeping score at home, the budget was passed on December 18 so by “immediately veto” he really meant “sit on his ass for 20 days and then veto” the only game in town.
Schwarzenegger is simply incapable of governing and his Republican legislators are zealots who are going out of their way to harm the state, not help.
UPDATE by Dave: Steinberg tells the SacBee ed. board that the Governor got cold feet:
Between Sunday night and Monday, something else occurred unrelated to the specifics of the issues. It is cold feet, you know. He met with Republican leaders on Monday morning. I think he is back in that place where he believes he can get Republican votes for revenue and therefore doesn’t have to do this unorthodox majority vote thing. We have been sort of going down that road for five or six years. It hasn’t resulted in a single vote.
Arnold thinks he’s so AWSOM that he can convince the same people who have stomped on his stomach for 5 years to come around. Or, more likely, he didn’t want to make the anti-tax zealots cross and risk a court battle. There is no chance his budget can pass – it has even more tax increases in it than the work-around budget, and a substantial portion of it is, essentially, “hope for private investment.” This leads us even further down a road to ruin. Don’t expect any tax refunds, folks.