The nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's approval rating down around 34%. More than half of all Republicans, Democrats and independents disapprove of the job the "Governator" is doing. The same found that 80% of the voters disapprove of the Democratic Party-controlled California state legislature.
Now, on the eve of a vote on the "bipartisan" budget package, comes the "Governator" making threats about layoffs and cutbacks if Californians do not bend to his will
Are folks finally ready to admit that Peter Camejo, our Green Party candidate for governor, was right when he said at the first recall election debate in 2003: "Look at this debate today. Do you really want to go back to when there's only two people allowed in them, where you hear the same points of view over and over again? We have a two-hundred year, dysfunctional, money-dominated, winner-take-all system."
The Green Party of California released a statement Friday blasting Arnold's latest move.
News Advisory
THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA www.cagreens.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 15, 2009
Contact: Susan King, spokesperson, 415.823-5524 sking@cagreens.org
Cres Vellucci, press secretary, 916.996-9170 cvellucci@cagreens.org
Governor making terroristic threats, and may be
in delusional state in last ditch effort to intimidate voters
to approve ‘rotten' May 19 ballot props, charges Green Party
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's announcement that he will lay off
5,000 state workers and cut money to the elderly, blind and disabled if voters do not approve the ballot measures in Tuesday's special election are terroristic threats, the Green Party of California charged Friday.
"He's threatening the people of California, especially the poorest and sickest, if they don't bend to his will. This is just another form of terrorism," said Joe Feller, a member of the state party coordinating committee.
The Green Party opposes passage of all the propositions Tuesday because it says it's a "rotten deal" for Californians.
"The package is a rotten deal, and it gives voters no real choice, except to get shot in the leg or shot in the arm. Now the governor is using Hollywood scare tactics to threaten voters, and leave them without jobs and services," added Wes Rolley, co-chair of the U.S. Green Party EcoAction Committee.
The Governor is also delusional, said the Greens.
"He is delusional if he really believes that this is not, as he said Thursday, about him and the legislature. The voters of California know whose fault this mess is, and they'll vote that way Tuesday - terroristic threats or not," said Alex Walker, a Los Angeles area Green.
The Green Party insists there are many ways to cut through the budget gap, among them raising taxes on the very, very wealthy, and eliminating the huge tax breaks given owners of commercial property through Prop. 13.
"Democrats and Republicans are offering no fundamental fixes. There are billions of dollars in savings if we employ single payer universal healthcare, decriminalize pot and hemp, reform the prison industry and convert to green technologies. Until they are willing to do that, these ‘leaders' cannot be taken seriously," said Tom Bolema, a Sonoma County Council member.
Once again, I cannot overemphasize, that our current situation is not an acute "crisis," but in fact, a condition that well-informed Californians have been aware of for two decades. It didn't start with Arnold and it's not exclusively the fault of either "tax and spend" so-called liberal Democrats or "small government" so-called conservative Republicans.
I expect that Mr. Schwarzenegger's pathetic, desperate move will fail. Big city Democrats will blame the mess on "selfish, greedy" Republicans. Suburban and rural Republicans will rant and foam about "Liberals" wasting "Our tax dollars" to support the wicked "minorities" in the cities. In certain One-Party Republican circles, aging reactionaries of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association will continue replaying "oldies but goodies" from their glory days as the avant garde of 1978 -- still raging about property taxes from the housing boom at a time when housing is in a depression. Meanwhile, in my One-Party Democratic predominantly Black Los Angeles neighborhood, our "Amen corner" of aging "Black Power" intellectuals will replay "oldies but goodies" from the Sixties how this whole mess is a conspiracy of "White folks." Last and least, the superficial mainstream media will continue prattling about Democrats versus Republicans over the size of government (See, for example, "California Government: Too Much or Too Little?" in the Los Angeles Times).
President Barack Obama, in his inaugural address declared the time has come to "set aside childish things" and recognize an historic turning point:
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply,” Obama said on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. “The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Words like "cynical" and "immoral" are, indeed, appropriate words for a Democrats versus Republican politics operating out of gerrymandered one-party districts based almost exclusively on a strategy of dividing and ruling Californians by race, religion, or tribe. This time, however, I think Schwarzenegger is delusional if he really believes that this is not, as he said Thursday, about him and the legislature. The voters of California know whose fault this mess is, and they'll vote that way Tuesday - terroristic threats or not.
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