Arnold sez: Vhere iz Obama? I must hawe vord vith him...
Story here.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has found himself in a tight spot financially. With the state facing a potential $23 billion shortfall, there is immense pressure to do whatever necessary to terminate the deficit. And the federal stimulus dollars being offered to the state are looking as appealing as ever.
But California would have to un-tighten its belt and sacrifice some of its own efforts at cost-cutting to receive those monies, according to the Obama Administration. In an attempt earlier this year to cover the state's staggering $42 billion deficit, the Governor negotiated with the Democrat-controlled Legislature to find ways to patch up the state's finances. One of the solutions was the implementation of pay cuts to unionized home healthcare workers, estimated to save the state $74 million.
And now, the state has been informed by federal officials that it will have to rescind those pay cuts if it wants to receive the nearly $6.8 billion in stimulus dollars set aside for the states. Doing this will be difficult—the legislature will need a 2/3 majority to approve it, meaning some Republicans will have to agree—and dangerous to the overall welfare of the state, making it dependent upon federal funding for survival.
If Governor Schwarzenegger gives in and rescinds the proposed pay cuts, he will have passed up an opportunity to bring the state into solvency. And while $6.8 billion may sound tempting, there is no guarantee the money will be there next year. Moreover, by giving in to the federal demands, California will lose that much of its ability to balance its budget on its own—an ability that it will desperately need once the federal funds inevitably dry up. Any remaining cost-cutting strength will undoubtedly atrophy.
Nice going, Obama. Bullying the Governator. Or at least trying to.
Not sure if it's going to sit well with Arnie.
Pissing off Arnie isn't a good idea.
Arnie is still popular with Californians, including Leftist ones who voted for Obama, obviously.
If Obama insists on bullying California like this, well, he brought the consequences upon himself.
Oh, wait... it's not Obama who comes up with this stuff, but he pretends to own the stuff anyway. Which means that Obama will be the fall guy for the folks who actually came up with it, meaning George Soros et al.
Obama is such a chump. Such a fall guy.
Obama isn't a leader. He's a mouthpiece. A token.
George Soros, being an admitted Nazi collaborator, could never be President. So he finds someone who just couldn't lose, despite being a hollow shell.
