OoRah for Ahnold!

[peptoabysmal]

Arnold is kicking some political @$$ so far in California.

The first thing he did was to repeal the car tax. What you might not have heard is that the DMV were dragging their heels on it (big shock, huh?). 'We won't be able to implement that for several weeks because the infrastructure... blah blah... you will have to send in the full amount and wait for a reimbursement ... blah blah..." Ahnold got word to the DMV that he was not happy at all about that, and it took them like one day to come up with the brilliant plan of "You can divide the amount by 1/3 and just pay that amount and send it in".

I think that is the fastest I have ever seen the DMV move in California - :D.

Now he's giving the legislature a deadline of three weeks to approve his plan to defer the budget crisis by using bonds. Admittedly this is a somewhat spooky idea; basically the budget crisis is being deferred to a later date. I know, our children will have to pay for our mistakes, is that really fair, waaahhh. Give it a rest. The real danger is that it lowers California's overall credit rating temporarily, which is already pretty bad. If he implements the rest of his plan to put a spending cap on the California budget and stimulates business again in California, it just might work.

He is already facing some stiff resistance from the Latino interest groups and the Sierra Club. Oh well -- too bad. He also said that he wouldn't lay off any state workers before the Christmas holidays. I just hope he trims the fat and not essential services. Personally, I think we could lose about half of the legislators (preferably the Democrat half) and not feel a difference, except that things might get done faster.

Arnold has turned down the $175,000 annual governor's salary. I guess he can afford to do without it.

I haven't posted any links, I leave that as an exercise for the reader. There are stories coming out hourly, so you would find better ones by Googling that would be more current than anything I could post.

May the Schwartz be with you.

Edited: How come spell checkers can't check for correct usage of the word?

[JAR]

I'm so glad that the guy who played Conan, my favorite fictional character, is now governor of California. I voted for Arnold.

[subgenius]

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, perhaps the world's best-known past user of steroids, said on Tuesday that tougher testing is the only way to reduce the use of illegal substances in sport.
http://espn.go.com/gen/news/2003/1118/1665315.html?partnersite=espn

[El Greco]

"Arnold is numero uno"

for those who have watched "Pumping Iron"

[karl]

Originally posted by peptoabysmal
Ahnold got word to the DMV that he was not happy at all about that, and it took them like one day to come up with the brilliant plan of "You can divide the amount by 1/3 and just pay that amount and send it in".

Technically, if you "divide by 1/3" you triple the amount.

Those sneaky bastards!

[NightG1]

Originally posted by peptoabysmal
Arnold is kicking some political @$$ so far in California.

The first thing he did was to repeal the car tax.
Which added $4 billion to the state debt. Not a very good start.

[DavidJames]

I voted for the Planet X option. It's been 2 days. Give the guy a chance. No, I'm not an Ahnold supporter. Come back in 6 months.

[peptoabysmal]

Originally posted by karl


Technically, if you "divide by 1/3" you triple the amount.

Those sneaky bastards!

LOL

My bad ... *ahem* divide by three.

[peptoabysmal]

Originally posted by DavidJames
I voted for the Planet X option. It's been 2 days. Give the guy a chance. No, I'm not an Ahnold supporter. Come back in 6 months.

I'm asking people to predict (or just give an opinion about) the future, which is a dubious thing to ask on a skeptics forum. :D

[peptoabysmal]

Originally posted by subgenius
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, perhaps the world's best-known past user of steroids, said on Tuesday that tougher testing is the only way to reduce the use of illegal substances in sport.
http://espn.go.com/gen/news/2003/1118/1665315.html?partnersite=espn

Arnold also said that this wasn't something he was going to address in his capacity as governor, just that he agreed with stricter testing.

[Troll]

Originally posted by subgenius
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, perhaps the world's best-known past user of steroids, said on Tuesday that tougher testing is the only way to reduce the use of illegal substances in sport.
http://espn.go.com/gen/news/2003/1118/1665315.html?partnersite=espn

Were steroids illegal when he used them? I know he stopped using them quite some time ago, but was it before or after they became illegal. If I recall Clinton didn't make marijuana legal and he admitted to toking and I'm pretty sure it was illegal when he did toke.

Even then, just because someone did something in their past doesn't mean they haven't moved on. I'm more concerned with conduct in office as opposed to conduct prior. I know, lying under oath and boffing other women sorta pains your argument and is hard for you to accept, but deal with it.

[EvilYeti]

Any moron can cut taxes, look at Bush. The trick is doing it without bankrupting the government and/or incurring tremendous debt.

I like Ahnold myself, I just hope is has more foresight and strategic planning than the Bush administration.

[Troll]

Originally posted by EvilYeti
Any moron can cut taxes, look at Bush. The trick is doing it without bankrupting the government and/or incurring tremendous debt.

I like Ahnold myself, I just hope is has more foresight and strategic planning than the Bush administration.

Let's see. Tax cuts then attacks on US, and not backpeddling on the tax cuts. The tax cuts didn't hurt the economy. all the crap that took place after them did. Hell I saved for a new car after I totaled my last one. My cat got sick and the money went to him and now I'm broke and in debt. Was it the car that caused this? Nope, just another thing that came up and needed dealt with that changed how things were going.

As for Arnold? So far I can't see the need for the pre-office complaints some had

[EvilYeti]

Originally posted by Troll

Let's see. Tax cuts then attacks on US, and not backpeddling on the tax cuts. The tax cuts didn't hurt the economy. all the crap that took place after them did.


I don't understand what you mean. You can't slash taxes, increase gubbmint spending then fight a ware without incurring a huge budget deficit.

Bush knew he was going to Iraq, he was a fool to not budget for it.

[peptoabysmal]

Originally posted by EvilYeti
Any moron can cut taxes, look at Bush. The trick is doing it without bankrupting the government and/or incurring tremendous debt.

I like Ahnold myself, I just hope is has more foresight and strategic planning than the Bush administration.

Or you could borrow Clinton's trick of borrowing heavily on the national debt and raising taxes to make yourself appear to be balancing the budget. :D

Balancing a budget also implies setting a spending limit, not just spending and taxing. Already Arnold is proposing a spending cap, which I think is the only way his plan will work. If you can defer the payment by voting in a bond and pay it back by letting natural revenue inflation catch up with the amount saved by not over spending, you just might have the problem under control.

[peptoabysmal]

Originally posted by EvilYeti


I don't understand what you mean. You can't slash taxes, increase gubbmint spending then fight a ware without incurring a huge budget deficit.

Bush knew he was going to Iraq, he was a fool to not budget for it.

Are you trying to justify your feelings against the war or are you saying that we shouldn't go to war, no matter how just the cause, if we can't afford it?

Edited to add:
I just noticed that I got two votes for "Arnold lied about WMD" :big:

[Troll]

Originally posted by EvilYeti


I don't understand what you mean. You can't slash taxes, increase gubbmint spending then fight a ware without incurring a huge budget deficit.

Bush knew he was going to Iraq, he was a fool to not budget for it.

i see. So the day he took office he knew he was gonna send troops into Iraq is what you are saying? And you got this from Sylvia Brown or from your own premonitions?

[Zep]

Let's see how he goes. There's more than one way to skin a cat - maybe the income is slashed by $X million in one part that is a good place to slash but it may be increased by $X million somewhere else that should have been looked into earlier.

I'm prepared to give him a fair go.

[Troll]

Originally posted by peptoabysmal


Are you trying to justify your feelings against the war or are you saying that we shouldn't go to war, no matter how just the cause, if we can't afford it?

Edited to add:
I just noticed that I got two votes for "Arnold lied about WMD" :big:

Well he's actually portrayed a WMD in several flms. Maybe they were talking about his hollywood role ? ;)

[EvilYeti]

Originally posted by Troll

i see. So the day he took office he knew he was gonna send troops into Iraq is what you are saying? And you got this from Sylvia Brown or from your own premonitions?

No, the shrub said it himself.

"If I find, in any way or shape or form," Bush said on the campaign trail in January 2000, "that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, I'll take him out."

source: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/11/1047144969140.html

Since Bush made up all the WMD's claims, its obvious he planned on doing it from the get go.

Does conservatism breed ignorance or is it the other way around? I'm curious, really.

[Troll]

Originally posted by EvilYeti


No, the shrub said it himself.

source: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/11/1047144969140.html

Since Bush made up all the WMD's claims, its obvious he planned on doing it from the get go.

Does conservatism breed ignorance or is it the other way around? I'm curious, really.

Yeah and he bought the bad intel and went for it. A man of his word. Granted the ones that supplied him info seem to have cocked things up, but if I told you I saw your old lady in bed with Bob after you hired me to check on her, you'd probably buy it. So he bought what some clinton appointees told him

I'm not a conservative so I guess you're just a moron for making the assumption

[peptoabysmal]

Originally posted by EvilYeti


No, the shrub said it himself.

Since Bush made up all the WMD's claims, its obvious he planned on doing it from the get go.

At the risk of turning this from an Arnold thread into a WMD thread, haven't you seen any articles stating that previous administrations thought the same thing? It is a complete myth that Bush made it up all by himself.

Does conservatism breed ignorance or is it the other way around? I'm curious, really.
It is the other way around, liberalism breeds ignorance and attracts flies :p

[dsm]

Just think, if Arnold doesn't mess things up too badly, we could look forward to...(wait for it):

Maria for President in 2008!!

Maybe we'll have a Hillary vs. Maria runoff...?

:D :D

[Richard G]

Cut all public aid and welfare to the illegal imigrants in California, and the budget problem would be solved.

[dsm]

Originally posted by Richard G
Cut all public aid and welfare to the illegal imigrants in California, and the budget problem would be solved.

Not that I disagree, but do you have any numbers to back that up with?