It’s official. Gray Davis was a better governor.
By now, most people have heard about Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s “girlie man” comments at a mall food court last weekend. The criticism was fast and furious from gay groups, women’s groups and Democratic state legislators. While they succeeded in calling attention to the clown in the governor’s office, they missed a big opportunity to teach him a painful lesson.
We’ve covered some of the promises Schwarzenegger has already broken, but in light of his recent buffoonery, a refresher is in order.
Luckily, Steve Lopez of the Los Angeles Times breaks it all down. (reg. req.)
Number of times Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger promised an on-time budget in the last year: Too many to count.
Number of days that have passed since the budget deadline: 21.
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Total dollar amount of the 2003-04 budget signed by ex-Gov. Gray Davis: $99.1 billion.
Total amount of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first budget after promising to shrink government: $103 billion.
Schwarzenegger hasn’t delivered anything, and since all of the promises he made were related to things he criticized Davis for, he’s a hypocrite in addition to being ineffectual.
The budget hasn’t been passed because Schwarzenegger has based so much of it on continued borrowing (something that he campaigned against) and concessions from local governments.
He promised to be tough with the prison guard union, but his deal was so bad that a judge is threatening to take control of the situation.
In the “girlie man” speech he criticized the Democrats for their ties to “special interests,” but he takes money hand over fist from big business, the indian gambling lobby, and others.
This man is the governor of the largest state in the U.S. and the fifth largest economy in the world. If everyone could stop hero-worshipping for a minute, they would realize that we need a professional with executive experience in the governor’s office.
Unless they want Schwarzenegger to remain governor after the 2006 election, opposition groups need to raise their game. By basing their attack on Schwarzenegger about semantics rather than substance, they essentially gave him a pass.