Arnold on Prop. 1A Cuts for Firefighting: Never Mind
As Calbuzz foresaw several days ago, Gov. Arnold turned up in Santa Barbara Thursday, canceling a staged “Wildfire Awareness Week” event in Riverside in favor of preening for the cameras on the scene of an actual, out-of-control, wind-whipped wildfire that has local residents on the run.
The switch in venues wasn’t the only big change for the governor: He also altered his tune about the impact on public safety if his Proposition 1A is defeated at the May 19 special election.
Earlier in the week, absent the messy political inconvenience of speaking in front of a real natural disaster, Schwarzenegger threatened voters that he would lay off nearly 2,000 state firefighters if his pet initiative is defeated. On Thursday, hours after declaring a state of emergency for the uncontained Jesusista fire, the Terminator assured Santa Barbarians they needn’t fear an inadequate state emergency response, however:
“First of all, let me just make it clear, because there’s always the question that comes up, what happens to the fire departments and to the budget if those initiatives don’t pass,” Schwarzenegger told reporters. “The first thing you should know is, I will always fight and get every dollar I can for public safety, that is the important thing you should know.”
“No. 2, it is very clear that when the initiatives fail there will be $6 billion less that will be available, so therefore there will have to be additional cuts made, if it is in law enforcement, fire, education,” he added. “. . . But I will fight for every dollar, and will always make sure we have enough manpower and enough engines and helicopters ready to fight those fires.”
(Note the interesting slip there: “when” the initiatives fail, not “if.”)
Inside baseball: Our Legal Affairs Department was forced to evacuate Wednesday evening, when the dread sundowner winds blew 60 mph to the south, and we got the reverse 911 call to split; tonight, the wind’s blowing the other way, and we’re hunkered down at Calbuzz headquarters with pizza and fresh double A batteries in the flashlight.
Once again, for the best real time coverage of the Santa Barbara fire, go to our friends at Noozhawk or the Santa Barbara Independent.
This just reaffirms what we’ve all known about Schwarzenegger for years.
Starting with Prop. 49 in 2002, through the 2003 cut-taxes recall and the subsequent borrow-our-way-out special election, the ’04 budget crisis, ’05 special election, the ’06 Phil-will-raise-your-taxes reelect, the ’07-’09 budget crisis, ’09 special election, etc. etc. … the pattern is always the same:
Arnold will say whatever he thinks will make him loved by the person standing in front of him at that moment, even if he said the exact opposite to the last person he met.
The man’s only philosophical underpinning is an endless quest for popularity. He passionately believes in his core values right up until the moment he repudiates them and embraces the opposite point of view.
Anti-tax crusader turned poster boy for higher taxes. Blow up the boxes turned largest state government in history. Infrastructure champion turned health care reformer turned firefighter. Auditer uncovering billions in waste turned budget dealer spending billions more. Republican turned Democrat turned post-partisan turned loner. Car tax cutter turned car tax raiser. Presidential aspirant turned Senator turned T4 star. Anti-coin-operated-Governor turned dollar-operated-Governor. Hydrogen highway builder turned gas tax repealer. Anti-Gray Davis who hired most of Davis’ staff. Obama tush-smacker who campaigned for George Bush. Both times.
This is the hard-working, hands-on governer who never sleeps in Sacramento. The governor who hates governing. The antidote for girlie men who became the ultimate sissy, but doesn’t know the other girls’ names unless they wear nametags. On and on and on.
Arnold is to California what George Bush was to America: Ignorant, aimless, inattentive, uneducated, lazy, hypocritical, filled with hollow rhetoric of the moment but completely ineffective — and driven by the singular goal of personal glory.
He is one of the greatest disappointments of our generation, and far more deserving of recall then his precessor. His leadership steered our state right into the iceberg and now he is busy rearraging the deck chairs.
It will be a hopeful day when they peel his name (in gold letters mind you) off the marble above his office door. We certainly can’t do any worse.
Da Guv has been and still is a fraud. The state electorate should be demanding a full refund of all government money spent on his watch, for his wrongful impersonation of a CA government official. A recall would be too good for him.
recall arnold the only hope calif has is 2010 thats arnold out date thank god