2 Questions for Governor Schwarzenegger (taking questions from public for CNN interview)

[yurbud]

Digg Dialogg is taking questions from the public that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will answer on CNN Tuesday.

Here's my two.

Vote them up on Digg if you like them:

• http://digg.com/dialogg/Arnold_Schwarzenegger_1?t=25831183#c25831183">Arnold, why are you and your rich friends such crybabies about paying your taxes? If your taxes went up say 5%, how would your lifestyle change at all? Would you have to sell a home or a hummer or pull your kids out of private school? Why are you so willing to make cuts to education and social programs that will hurt average Californians, but not raise taxes on wealthy individuals and big businesses who would not be hurt at all by paying more?
  
  
• http://digg.com/dialogg/Arnold_Schwarzenegger_1?t=25831163#c25831163">Why did you meet with Ken Lay of Enron during the height of the rolling blackouts in California?> Why didn't you try to get California's billions back that were extorted by Lay and the other energy traders who scammed the state?
  
  http://www.gregpalast.com/madhouse/index.php/30
  
  Do you think that laws and taxes should only apply to middle and working class people, not the wealthy?
  
  Those are pretty simple, but I doubt that he could answer either honestly.
  

[JeffR]

1. Well done.

And the Governator has no answers to these questions other than lies. But one of these days he's going to pump up Sacramento just like he said he would when he was poised to overthrow that cyborg commie bastard from the future Grey Davis.

He's a busy guy and fiddle's not an easy instrument to pick up. But he's coming along. I hear he does a decent "Turkey In the Straw" and is making serious progress on "How Dry I Am". Just a matter of time, but someday soon he's getting all in our faces with his flights of solo fancy on "Dust In the Wind" and the world's ears will bleed from the fierce, keen beauty of Arnold's stylings just as Congress finally sees fit to amend the Constitution to allow stupid foreigners to be eligible for the Presidency, though the GOP has worked so hard for 30+ years to confirm that stupid Americans are fully up to the task.

Time to just say no to more outsourcing dumb in America. We're as dumb as anybody on earth! Maybe even dumber!!! Maybe.

Hooray for everything!
:woohoo:

[47of74]

2. Answer to the first question

The answer to the first question is that Ahnuld and his rich buddies think they are above things like paying taxes. They think that's the job of the poor and middle class.

[dynasaw]

3. This is the Significant Part

"Power-market shenanigans were nothing new in 2000. What was new was the response of Governor Gray Davis. A normally quiet, if not dull, man, this Governor had the temerity to call the energy sellers “pirates” — in public! — and, even more radically, he asked them to give back all the ill-gotten loot, the entire $9 billion. The state filed a regulatory complaint with the federal government.

The Peninsula Hotel get-together was all about how to “settle” the legal actions in such a way that Enron and friends could get the state to accept dog food instead of dollars. Davis seemed unlikely to see things Ken’s way. Life would be so much better if California had a governor like the muscle guy in the Speedos.

And so it came to pass that, in 2003, quiet Gray Davis, who had the cojones to stand up to the electricity barons, was thrown out of office by the voters and replaced by the tinker-toy tough guy. The Governator performed as desired. Soon after Schwarzenegger took over from Davis, he signed off on a series of deals with Reliant, Williams Company, Dynegy, Entergy and the other power pirates for ten to twenty cents on the dollar, less than you’d tip the waitress. Enron paid just about nothing."


Stupid Californians fell for it and voted in actor Arnold. Looks as if they put their own necks in the noose now the state's bankrupt.

[ejpoeta]

4. then i guess they will deserve what they will get with all the economic problems in california?

i don't know. i don't live there. it seems easy to make people think what you want them to think when you have the money to run dishonest commercials. i didn't know anything about the energy thing. i saw on tv that gray davis was such and ineffective governor. sounds from what you say like he was trying to do his job. and the energy folks didn't like that.

[nichomachus]

6. It wasn't just Arnold

it was a concerted, nationwide effort by the right-wing propaganda machine. The right wing wanted to hijack CA government. I remember getting emails from right wingers in places on the east coast telling me what a horrible governor Gray Davis was. There was a relentless drumbeat across the country that he needed to be replaced. It was very strange. Most people can't even name their own governor, never mind a governor 2,000 miles away who isn't on the national stage. And, they certainly can't tell you anything about that governor.

It was very clear the recall of Gray Davis was a matter of national priority for the right wing. They wanted to bring down the CA government -- and they have succeeded by putting this cartoon character in charge, with their silly ballot amendments, and with the provision for state budgeting that allows a tiny minority of right-wing goons to stall any budget proposal. This is what's caused the budget mess here.

[ejpoeta]

8. i bet the energy company he was trying to get that money from was very helpful

to get him recalled as well.

[yurbud]

9. yep--they couldn't allow the rule of law to beat the rule of money

[Retrograde]

10. Arnold was actually supporting the last round of initiatives

He's opposed by his own party who'd rather see the state collapse than make any sort of sacrifice to help it.

I'm proud to say I live in one of the three counties that voted for the education funding measure. Do I need to say they're all in the Bay Area?

[nichomachus]

12. CA needs too do away with the ballot proposition madness

It holds the state hostage to whomever can come up with the slickest TV ads. Most people have no idea what they're voting for. A great example was Prop H8. A lot of people who voted for it did so because they were lied to. They were told that unless they voted for Prop H8 that their churches would be shut down or sued and that their priests and ministers could be sued or arrested -- and that it would mean that schools would be required to teach kindergarten students about homosexuality.

As Bill Maher said -- the Founders knew what they were doing when they came up with representative government. If people were allowed to vote on every issue, most men would vote for free beer, no taxes, and vagina trees. (r words to that effect) And that's exactly what they do in CA.

[Retrograde]

15. Or heavily modify

having read some of the history of the Progressive I understand how these came about, from the desire to make state and local governments more responsive to the people rather than Big Business. Unfortunately, in a state the size of California where most campaigning is done via TV and radio, the initiative process has fallen squarely into the hands of Big Business (and Big Religion and other well-heeled interests). I just don't have a good answer that both keeps state government responsive and curbs the monied interests.

BTW, people in this state -or parts of it, at least - have voted on occasion to raise taxes on themselves, which is why my local sales tax is now 9.25% and I'm paying a special parcel tax. One big problem may be that the Right is a lot better at organizing and getting out the vote: in my town the areas that identify as most liberal also have the lowest voting rates.

[nichomachus]

16. One way

would be to have it require more than a simple majority to pass a ballot initiative. Make it so it takes a two-thirds vote -- or 51 percent of all registered voters (not just those voting).

That would leave the way open for the people to demand some change if there really were some great public outcry that was being ignored by the legislature. However, it would prevent the current mischief making whereby a group of polluters form a phony outfit "California Mothers for Blue Skies and Jesus" and then run a series of misleading ads, getting a handful of voters to fall for their shit.

Other than those of us opposing PropH8, I've seen very few ballot questions where the issues were clear -- or where people really understood the ramifications of what they were voting for.

A good example is PropH8, in which my rights were taken away by only 30 percent of registered voters in CA. That's just obscene.

[dynasaw]

7. In Retrospect Gray Davis is a Hero

Part of all this is the American fascination with glitzy celeb types. Gray Davis was solid, responsible but unexciting. So what? Under his governorship California had a budget surplus. Did Arnold have even the barest credentials to be governor? Of course not, but Californians didn't seem to think it mattered. His election was carefully orchestrated by the corporate bandits and Californians embraced him without a second thought.

[nichomachus]

5. "Stupid Californians fell for it"

And many of them were the police, firefighters, and state employees who are not losing their jobs. We saw photo after photo of these folks surrounding Ahnuld with big shit-eating grins on their faces. Well, they got what they wanted -- low taxes. What they failed to realize was that their salary came from the taxes they denied the state. Boo-hoo.

I'm not referring to all members of above groups who opposed Ahnuld -- just the idiots who swooned every time he entered a room. I worked with some of them.

[book_worm]

11. CA needs to get rid of it's voter initiative because voters can't be relied on to necessarily do the

right thing. And when initiatives are brought before the public they can be misrepresented. Look, voters kicked Davis out on recall and Arnold has been a disaster for the state.

[yurbud]

13. no argument from me--the initiative process has dragged us down from a shining example to...

Mississippi wannabee.

The process could be reformed if they did away with paid signature gatherers and limited how advocates could advertise for them.

[nichomachus]

17. Or

require more than a simple majority of people voting.

They should require a two-thirds vote of people voting -- or 51 percent of all registered voters (not just those voting).

That would leave the way open for the public to redress grievances through the initiative process, but would prevent the current mischief making.

[yurbud]

18. we have two-thirds requirement for budget and taxes which effectively gives veto power to GOP

even though they are close to being less than a one-third minority, and causes most of our budget havoc.

[Wednesdays]

14. K&R

:kick:

[yurbud]

19. aaack! I left off link for second question:

http://digg.com/dialogg/Arnold_Schwarzenegger_1?t=25831163#c25831163