Ahhhnold vants to move PAST special election

[Bluebear]

Um, OK. Why don't you start by paying the state back for the cost of your special election, bigshot?


=====

A politically weakened Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sought Thursday to move beyond his failed special election proposals, urging lawmakers to work together and pledging that he had "learned my lesson."

In his third State of the State speech, Schwarzenegger asked Californians to put behind them a year filled with acrimony over the election and devoid of significant political accomplishment.

It was his first statewide speech since voters rejected all four of his ballot measures on Nov. 8.

"I have absorbed my defeat. I have learned my lesson. And the people, who always have the last word, sent a clear message — cut the warfare, cool the rhetoric, find common ground and fix the problems together," Schwarzenegger said before a packed Assembly chamber. "To my fellow Californians, I say, 'Message received.'"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060106/ap_on_re_us/schwarzenegger_speech&printer=1

[NNadir]

1. He should fuck off. We need to keep up the pressure - everywhere.

[Bluebear]

2. Absolutely. nt

[Cleita]

10. He said, "What can I do to get you to help me achieve

the things we want for our state."

I say, he could start by resigning.

[rocktivity]

14. "What can I do to GET YOU TO HELP ME ACHIEVE

the things WE want for our state?"

How about making sure that what YOU want to achieve is what THEY want to acheieve? You REPRESENT THEM--they don't work for YOU!!!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Mz Pip]

3. More than his buddy

Bush will say.

Ahnuld is scrambling all over himself to distance himself from the those who gave him all the bad advice he took.

Sorry, Ahnuld, too little too late. I didn't vote for you their first time and I am not about to do it next year, either.

He went to Ohio the day before the 2004 election and whored for Bush. No matter what he does will redeem him from that move in my opinion.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[FreedomAngel82]

25. What you can do

is just try to find video's of Arnie at the convention praising Bush and with him and their little "town hall" meetings.

[Mend]

4. if he is not a repuke anymore, and he sure isn't a Democrat, he

might start the National Austrian Zig-zag Idiot party.....he could be sorta like daddy then with familiar initials to keep it like the old sod.

[Oversea Visitor]

5. Kissy kissy

Lets all make up see me good boy now.
Just let me stay around pretty please
Let have another chance to screw you up.

[Swamp Rat]

6. He was programmed to say that.

This Advanced 800 Series T-Model has protocol for many eventualities... let's hope the self-destruct sequence activates soon. :D

[Sequoia]

20. That's cool as heck!

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

7. Yeah, I'll just bet he DOES.

Sorry, Arnie. That ain't the way it works.

Absorb THIS, you arrogant girlie-man.

[Beelzebud]

8. If California doesn't vote this jackass out, they deserve what he brings.

[Cleita]

9. I heard the speech and to tell the truth he sounded like a

Democrat, keeping tuition down in the state colleges, calling for more nurses and better schools, building better roads. His audience clapped for his liberal stances, butttt, he says he will lower taxes and hasn't really said how he's gonna pay for all this. More to add to the manure pile of empty promises.

:thumbsdown:

[meti57b]

11. Hey arnold, you girly-man, ... don't come crying to me!

[shanti]

12. no way, jose!

think we're going to let ya get off that easy??

[Lost-in-FL]

13. He's acting like a "Girly Man" now!!!

BahHAHAHHHHHA!!! :rofl: Ahnold is a girly man... ha ha ha Ahnold is a girly man!!!

[AlCzervik]

15. My local news said at the last minute he changed his speech, i guess

there was a joke that was self deprecating and he changed it. the original line went "Things have changed a lot this year, like my poll ratings" but he used the USC line instead. What a P*ssie.

[gratuitous]

16. So, when are you going to open da books?

Sounds like Ah-nuld just wants to borrow and spend some more, and in fact at a rate many times higher than what he was giving Gray Davis grief about. Back then, candidate Ah-nuld said all he had to to was open da books and the savings would just fall out all over the place. No need to float even a dime's worth of bonds to keep California's budget afloat.

This guy's a dingbat, and the sooner California is quit of his showboating antics, the better off they'll be.

[davidinalameda]

17. I want him to write a check to the state and repay the money back

for the special election

[Cleita]

22. Actually, two special elections, the first one that got him

"ahem" elected and this last one.

[realFedUp]

18. Good Dan Walters column on Arnold's speech

dailykos also has great comments on Arnold's channneling Pat Brown
now instead of Pete Wilson at:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/1/6/2244/53704

(I often don't agree with Walters, but he has a reality check
on Arnold's muscle building)

Dan Walters: Schwarzenegger may be putting himself into a political pitfall
By Dan Walters -- Bee Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, January 6, 2006
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/v-print/story/14...

Arnold Schwarzenegger, exuding equal measures of hubris and naiveté, has repeatedly set up himself and his governorship for failure - promising more than he could deliver, reneging when promises collided with fiscal and political reality, overhyping his modest accomplishments, and confusing Californians by abruptly changing his rhetorical tone.

Having reaped what he sowed - a steep plunge in public esteem and massive rejection of his "year of reform" ballot measures - one might think that Schwarzenegger would approach the governorship more realistically. But he did it again Thursday, pinning his re-election hopes on a grandiose, $222 billion program of public works improvements, and thus digging a pitfall that could be the final resting place of his political career.

"I have absorbed my defeat and I have learned my lesson," a chastened Schwarzenegger told state lawmakers in his annual State of the State address. "And the people, who always have the last word, sent a clear message - cut the warfare, cool the rhetoric, find common ground and fix the problems together."

Evoking politicians of the past who built California's system of public facilities and citing the state's inexorable population growth, Schwarzenegger declared that "our systems are at the breaking point now. We will need more roads, more hospitals, more schools, more nurses, more teachers, more police, more fire, more water, more energy, more ports ... more, more, more. ..."

continued

[Cleita]

21. I thought he had shot himself in the foot, too, with the people

who would actually vote for him. No pie in the sky rhetoric of Democratic ideals, is going to get this Democrat to vote for him.

[realFedUp]

26. exactly. No one will forget last year. nt

[Shakespeare]

27. Walters is a wingnut....

...and if you watched the faces of the republican lawmakers during the speech last night, you would've noticed they were livid over his proposals. And his direct public swipe at McClintock (the voice of the far-right CA republicans) was astonishing to me. He was also quite humble and conciliatory in his remarks about the acrimony and division over his ridiculous special election this past fall.

As much as I hate having him as my governor--and believe me, I do--I think the proposals are a great idea, and absolutely necessary. Our dems were even cautiously optimistic about it last night. Perata predicted this in an interview yesterday morning.

I, for one, will put aside my knee-jerk disapproval of anything Ahhnold does to say that yes, I think his was a great speech last night, and I damn well hope the vital infrastructure packages actually make it through assembly.

Walters is predictably pissed off at the very, very moderate--almost liberal--proposals in last night's speech. It's not a "reality check," it's a tantrum both typical and predictable of the right.

For once, I agree with Arnold.

[Cleita]

29. Big problem! When Arnold starts talking like a liberal he's

still thinking like a conservative. He also proposed tax cuts. He didn't have a single plan as to how he was going to pay for all these wonderful new "liberal" ideas. His talk was geared to converting voters like you. He has no intention of delivering. This is the opening salvo of his re-election campaign.

The only thing he offered in the way of funding these programs was to get federal assistance. *Cough* :rofl:

[Shakespeare]

31. No, he didn't.

He proposed a bond issue, which may work. Perata and the other dems have said that, although they want to see the details of the plan, they think it might work, too.

And no, his talk wasn't geared to "voters like me," but thanks for the insult all the same. :eyes:

I just love that I get tagged as a naive idiot just because I point out that he might have made a halfway decent proposal last night.

As far as the bit about federal funding, his point is that the more we put into it, the more federal money we'll get to match. He's right about that, and I'm sure the DC republicans were less than thrilled to hear that portion of his speech. McClintock and his group would prefer that nothing be spent on infrastructure (and oh, how I wish the camera had stayed on him instead of cutting away right before Arnold took the jab at him).

Is it partly a prop for his re-election campaign? Of course. I'd have been shocked if he didn't try something bold, but I'm MUCH happier to see him veer left instead of trying to pander to the solid right in the party.

We'll find out pretty quickly if he plans on delivering--he said he wanted the minimum wage hike passed immediately, so we'll see if that happens. I despise having him for governor, and will work my ass off to get a democrat elected next year, but I'd much, much rather have a moderate repub who actually pushes for some decent infrastructure improvements than a McClintock type who won't spend a dime for it.

[Cleita]

33. My apologies. I didn't mean to insult you, but this is

how Arnold operates. He was going to fix everything after Grey Davis supposedly fracked up and hasn't done a thing that works yet or any better than Davis has done. Where was all that liberal talk since he became governor?

The last time I heard it was when he was running for Governor and you will never get anything different from this guy unless he switches parties. If he does, then I might believe he is sincere. If he gets re-elected you won't hear any of this nice talk again.

I have lived in this state most of the time since 1942, I have watched governors come and go. Republican governors never fail to operate the same way, regardless of what they say. They appeal to the liberal vote and then it turns out that their programs have poison pills in them. Look at the Jarvis ammendment.

Not only that why did Arnold put Pete Wilson in as one of his advisors? Wasn't this the same Pete Wilson who left Grey Davis with the mess Arnold was going to fix?
Never trust a Republican bearing gifts. I am sixty-five years old and I know this to be true.

There will be no federal funding unless we the people with torches and pitchforks wring it out of them. This was his first campaign speech and to bring you to the brink of hope means he's channeling Ronald Reagan, the biggest Republican huckster of them all.

[Shakespeare]

36. But this is the first time he's suggested ANYTHING like he did last night.

Like I said--do I trust him? Uh, no. But I also realize that he just might go through with the proposals, and I hope he does. Is he politically desperate enough to take the gamble, is the question. We obviously have a strong enough legislature on our side to make the best of the infrastructure packages, and even they were taking a wait and see approach instead of criticizing him.

And recall that he just put Grey Davis's former chief of staff in as one of his top advisors, too. Arnolds' a bit of a cipher--very hard to read. I'm not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt in any circumstance, but I DO want to see if he makes good on the proposals. Don't forget that its being an election year will make our side more aggressive, too, so look for the dems in the assembly to hold his feet to the fire.

As for your statement that he was "going to fix everything" after the special election--well, he tried that, and it was a resounding failure. He actually acknowledged that last night, and it shocked the hell out of me. He admitted that his way didn't work, so he wants to try something new. It's certainly going to be interesting to watch, no matter what happens.

Thanks for the apology--I'm loathe to give any republican the benefit of the doubt, but those proposals are exactly what we need. IF we can make it happen with adequate funding that doesn't come out of the education budget.

[Sequoia]

19. Shud up fool.

Bla, bla, bla. You're so full of it. Pay us back for the election. You can't have the things you want unless you raise taxes for the rich.

[slackmaster]

23. He's not Arnold any more

He's New Deal Arnold

:crazy:

[FreedomAngel82]

24. Only because he got turned down

[Shakespeare]

28. If he actually makes good on the proposals, it's a GOOD thing for us.

Geez, I dislike him as much as the next CA dem, but I'm willing to give him an opportunity to make good on the infrastructure packages he proposed. We NEED them. Frankly, his speech was pretty ballsy last night, and I'm going to refrain from kneejerk criticism and wait to see if he can make it work.

[Cleita]

30. Get real. He can't do all this without funding it.

Trust me. It's all hot air to get re-elected. He did the same about his after school proposition before he became Governor. It was a great sounding program and there was no way to fund it except to divert already stretched funds from the schools. It operates like Bush's "No child left behind" scam. It only takes away much needed money from the education fund to cover this.

[Shakespeare]

32. Oh, I'm "real" all right.

Of course he can't do all of this without funding it. We'll have to wait and see what the details are of his bond proposal, but yeah, it just might work. There's one really big indicator of whether he's serious or not, and it's the minimum wage hike he proposed. He said he wants it passed immediately. Let's see if that happens. If it does, then I'll continue to be cautiously optimistic about the other proposals.

"Trust me," you say. Thanks but I'll trust my own well-informed judgment over an anonymous somebody who deigns to insult me on a message board.

I suppose I should re-join the lockstep ranks now.... :eyes:

[Cleita]

34. Nothing is going to happen before the election except promises

and if he gets re-elected again, he won't get anything unless he rejects his party. It's as simple as that. Just look at what he has done so far? His record as short as it is hasn't shown any action on his part to match his words.

Like I said in my above post, he's channeling Ronald Reagan, who was able to BS the populace with great rhetoric. His actions were quite different than his words. Just look at Reagan's record, and then read his speeches. Arnold is trying to learn from the master.

[Shakespeare]

37. Well, that'll be proven in the coming weeks.

As I said, it'll be merely a matter of weeks before we see if he was serious about the minimum wage hike. And then we go from there. Frankly, I wouldn't be all that surprised if he DOES change parties. I still wouldn't trust him, but I'd rather keep my enemies closer, if you know what I mean.

[MurrayDelph]

35. What happened to the prop giant credit card

that he used to break in half to show he wasn't going to run up any debt?

As far as his new posture, as I noted (over an incident in my high school 35 years ago),
when life kicks you in the balls, you may was well take a bow.