As bodybuilders go, Arnold Schwarzenegger was an okay actor. As actors go, Gov. Schwarzenegger is a terrible politician.
In fact, if you look at his record since he’s been in office, you might surmise that in his former career he was gymnast or sideshow contortionist.
On Monday, when he delivered his annual “State of the State” address, Schwarzenegger unveiled his latest trick: the 180 degree backflip. In this trick, the governor announced a plan to spend $222 billion on the state’s infrastructure over the next decade.
During the 2003 election to recall Gov. Gray Davis, the defining tenet of Schwarzenegger’s campaign for governor was fiscal responsibility in light of the state’s staggering $14 billion debt. In particular, he lambasted Davis’ plan to borrow money to solve this problem. Among other things, he also promised to fix California’s broken education system.
Once in office, not only did Schwarzenegger borrow money to resolve the debt – basically enacting Davis’ plan – he also to $2 billion out of the education budget which he has yet to pay back.
So now he’s proposing a spending spree. Granted, after 30 years of Republican governors, the California infrastructure is in terrible shape. But, as the Los Angeles Times reports today, the governor’s plan would create a mountain of debt as high as the Sierras:
Brad Williams, director of fiscal forecasting in the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, said that is the kind of ongoing spending — with no new revenue to pay for it — that can lead to budget problems when the economy falters.
“We are concerned about what these proposals will do to the state’s [deficit] problem,” he said.
“We had been making progress in bringing the budget into balance. Big spending increases and ongoing commitments would reverse some of that.”
It is an election year, and the governor’s real motive behind the proposal is to recast himself away from the dark rightwing persona he created last year during his failed attempt to destroy the state’s majority Democratic Party and return California to the GOP.
In this year’s guise, he appears to be a New Dealer who plans to lift the state out of its economic morass with massive building projects.
Since he can’t beat the Democrats, now he wants to become one? Why on earth would Democrats want him?
More importantly, does Arnold Schwarzenegger stand for anything – or is he just playacting on the big stage?
The answer, according to Times columnist Steve Lopez is “B”:
First he was the Terminator.
Then he tried on an old pair of Ronald Reagan’s shoes, but they were too big.
Then he channeled Pete Wilson.
And now he’s parading around in Pat Brown’s pajamas.
(Gov. Pat Brown – father of another governor, Jerry Brown – was Reagan’s predecessor who is responsible for building a lot of the infrastructure in the first place.)
With this break-the-bank proposal, Schwarzenegger will undoubtedly scare off the last remaining support he has among Republicans in the legislature. Without their support, he has nothing.
Which brings to mind the governor whose term in office Schwarzenegger’s most resembles. This governor was not a Californian but a Minnesottan. Former pro wrestler turned actor Jesse Ventura was elected in 1999 as an independent. His governorship ran out of steam largely because he was hamstrung by the fact that he was unallied with either party and had no constituency in the legislature.
Last year, Schwarzenegger lost the support of Democrats across the board. With his new break-the-bank spending plan, the governor will undoubtedly lose favor with the fiscal conservatives in his party.
He’s gambling the support of conservatives on the hope he can curry favor once again with the liberal majority.
Good luck.
