Governor Schwarzenegger to cut education funds, help for disabled, close state parks

i mean really? can he even do this? shouldn't the residents of California vote on this? he's closing 80% of the state parks? thats TOURIST REVENUE. i mean, tourism also contributes to California's income. maybe he should have raised the prices of the state park visitation ... make sense? cutting aid for the disabled? && cutting Cal-Grants? so what are the disabled and prospective college students going to do? so now if you can't afford college in California, you just won't be able to go? this is absurd. he shouldn't be in office.

Quote: "Thank you to all the older white males who are responsible for electing the Kindergarten Cop as the governor of California."

This is the most stupid thing I've heard yet. In the first place, it was all of the STUPID Calif. residents who voted for him. Those of us who can see clearly knew that he was an idiot from the very beginning. To say that it was "this group" or "that group" who voted for him other than the STUPID GROUP is absurd. STUPID people are getting what they deserve, which is more STUPID and NOTHING GOOD in general.

@PennyNHRealtor on twitter says "Still confused why Conan the Barbarian is running California ...Was Hagar The Horrible not available ?"

California is the canary in the mine. The greater U.S. gov't. is soon to follow. There is a limit to the taxes that can be imposed of the workers, before rebellion. Liberals are most ignorant people regarding financials that I have ever seen! I look forward to the comments from you leeches sucking taxes from my paycheck!

Just a question:

I am not from California, but how much has California's large illegal immigration population responsible for this financial mess? I watched a report on 60 minutes where public hospitals in Southern, CA were closing because so many illegal immigrants were receiving services which they did not pay for and were absorbed by the state.
I realize they are not evil or even responsible for most of the problem, but are they a problem?

What a f$^&%@# JACKASS!! He should be totally ashamed of himself and I hope Maria cuts him off for the rest of his life! Honestly, how the hell can she be with this guy? He is a total sell-out! Talk about Californication!! I think it just reached a new plateau - too sad!!

california is just one of the many states that are broke.
the US as a hole is broke more layoffs less taxes.we
are spending money but getting less taxes it wont work.
there isnt any money left for these programs and to
many people collecting that dont need it.

And people wonder when I say I'm a California Secessionist.

Lol... Where is the money gonna come from then? Really? How about our HUGE police state (yes prisons, police) or taxing people who can afford it more? People who haven't had to take care of the disabled, had a need for money for school obviously can't understand. Besides being morally wrong - this is going to end up costing More.
Thousands of uneducated students flooding the "job market" or Better Yet - Unemployment/ social security. Hundreds of thousands of (mostly women) union workers receiving an anti-stimulus bill. I hope stores like that.
As far as that cousin or Grandma you all leave for someone else to take care of, hope you can quit your job. If it isn't the fault of those in charge of the money, whose fault is it?
Yes, it is the fault of the Governor for having values that point him to Ax programs that help the most delicate problems in our State. Like I said before, they will not go away just because you yank the funding out from under them.

as a former son of SoCAL, i hate to see her suffer. but it's not the fault of the governator. it's been a long time coming, we saw it and did nothing. now it's time we learn to live within our means.

How I love you, people of Current. Right, Left and Wrong.

Due to my staff badge, which I would really like to keep, I don't think it is fair to enter into a discussion with you about this issue. (Plus, my UC Berkeley education affords me both too much and too little perspective on California politics. And I sincerely don't want to offend any of you.)

But I simply can't stay silent, because I love teachers, medical professionals and parks way too much to sit here silently while you guys argue with each other over who or who-not-to blame.

In my non-professional, completely-personal opinion, only Scarabus comes close to understanding why we are in this mess. So Kudos for that. If there was a gold star button I could hit, you'd get one from me for your poignant, non-inflammatory comment. Let that be a lesson to all on how to do it.

Three simple truths:

1. It is not the fault of The Governator - he stepped onto a sinking ship when he came to office. Granted his tendency to borrow from Peter to pay Paul is disgusting and has helped exacerbate the whole affair, it still is completely unfair to blame him. That's a typical shoot-the-messenger argument. And it reduces those that use it to the same level as Rush, Newt, Hannity and Beck. So please stop.

2. It is not the fault of liberals - Please! I mean when have 'liberals' ever been in charge in California? This type of blame game is repeatedly used by revisionist republicans to raise the ghosts of the Boston Tea Party. While it sounds good to stand up for the little guy, it simply makes no sense in a state that has had more Republican governors than Democratic ones (in recent times). But what makes this even more of a Swiss-cheese attack is that the budget is passed by the State Legislature, ergo both parties. So, please, blame them all, not just some for their ability to be bought by lobbyists.

3. The real cause of this mess is Prop 13 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(1978) - and I encourage all of you to read it and educate yourselves about the need for effective taxation in California. Incidentally, the authors of Prop 13, Howard Jarvis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Jarvis - and Paul Gann - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Gann - were staunch Republicans. Now, please note I am not saying it is the Republicans' fault for this mess. Nor am I trying to highlight the hypocrisy that Jarvis, a vodka-drinking and cigar-smoking Mormon, was employed as a lobbyist for the State's apartment owners (he actually helped usher in rent control unintentionally so thanks for that) and Gann, who died of AIDS (from a blood transfusion), which is ironic considering his tax cuts have taken millions out of the State's public health coffers.These are just the facts. Use them however you want. But use them, please.

To save our State follow these 5 steps:

1. Reform the initiative system.
2. Reform the tax code.
3. Reform the government.
4. Reform the debate (because all the finger pointing in the world won't matter if you don't know what you are talking about)
5. VOTE!!!

(Thanks, and good luck. Our future is up to you ... )

it is time to vent ; ) ! legalize it legalize it legalize it,for fuck sake whats it gonna take for this country to relize they have a one way ticket out of this mess,California and top economist said just legalizing it in that state alone would bring them in excess of 22 billion PER year,it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure this one out,an anti cancer herb with no reported deaths in 5000 yrs,100 times safer than alcohol and cigs,people dont act like a fucking retard when ther under the influence,could stop the cutting of trees for paper and produce many helpful oils and fabrics,and make states billions hmmmm,who is the fucking retard thats stopping this?oh thats right that would hurt the the oil industry.fuck nixon and dupont chemicals for getting it banned in the first place,lets all suffer because pres reagan said to the country in a speech that smoking a marijuana cigerett was the equivalint to being on one of the islands when we dropped the h bomb and any scientist that new it was bullshit couldnt say nothin cause it is a schedual 1 drug and not allowed for research! thanks government for making us nothing more than a cancer to this earth!......anyone that wants to know more i highly recommend the movie (sea of green)if u can still find it these days...........ps here is a thought! fire everyone in congress thats over the age of 35 and replace them with top notch college grads.......peace people ,,!! O.0

homebre76--increase taxes and sell drugs?? That is your answer to keep social programs going? It is no wonder our country is falling to its knees!

Where is the money going to come from? Everytime there is a possible solution the great state of CA votes it down. If you don't give the state more money then they will take services. The poor, weak, and elderly are always the first to feel the pinch. So maybe this will motivate some of the nay-sayers that tough choices need to be made by all not just someone else. He is not the best govenator ever but he is far from the worst CA has had in the recent past.

Seriously? What do you people expect? You people don't want any more taxes and then wonder why you don't have enough money for the state funded programs. What moronic logic is that?

The public sector of California has made it untennable for private companies to continue so you're losing all the corporate income and then blame Arnold for your woes?

How about the prison system in Cali? $1.3 Billion for the medical facilities? Seriously?

Sorry.

Funny thing is.. i guess no-one remembers he is an Alien too....

This decision to elect Arnold was the symptomatic pinnacle of postmodern, hypercapitalism and I think at this juncture all we can do is sacrifice what we have, not cut short-end costs in spite of education and eco-conservation.

The source material is worth the read,....( hence my thumbs up)---this D.cas. is a strident-petulant-sour gaper.
The Cali polis delivered this to it own self. Suck it up. You get what you pay for.

.

As always, being racist towards white people isnt considered racism. God forbid this article started with "thanks to all the illegal Mexicans sucking up money from social programs". I don't have anything against Mexicans, except for the illegal ones, but I actually have more of a problem with the government not forcing the employers to pay them the same wages, and having harsh penalties for those that don't. Also, if they decriminalized marijuana and released all the people locked up for it, that would save a lot of money too. I would blame the Right wing for not wanting to pay taxes for any good programs, but the way California spends money is ridiculous, but they can't blame it on the liberals alone. The economy is to blame, because California has an ok budget when the economy is good, but when its not it creates a huge deficit in tax revenue. You can only blame Arnold for so much. He had it right when he said "The people have spoken", because its the taxpayers who decided to no give the government any more money.

maybe you should pay extra taxes..

blame it on the e-e-e-e-econ-omie.

right oh hombre...legalize and regulate. How can you turn down that money, and savings? Arnold needs to grow a pair and come out in favor of it...thats why they call it the healing of the nations. Yes we cannabis!

I hate to hear this. But let me raise the issue that cali better have some reserve funds in case skynet goes berserk or a major earthquake happens. Think of the future ahhnold!

What about this? Reduce taxes to attract more businesses and people with money.

When NY raised taxes on the top earners in the state it ended up costing the state 100 mil. because 1/3 of those top earners fled the state (maybe not actually, but they did change their primary residence in order to avoid paying the high tax). CA should do the opposite.

Cutting the Cal grant will not make it 'impossible for disadvantaged students to attend college', just a little harder.
There is still the Pell grant and University grants and Federal loans and scholarships.

Older white males are indeed over-privileged, but that has little to nothing to do with Schwarzenegger's policies. Blaming a race group just makes the author look hateful.

While I disagree with Schwarzenegger's policies, the article would have more credibility if there weren't any exaggerations.

Correction, you can thank SoCal and not necessarily Old White Males, for putting Arnold in office

I hate to critique the OP but it looks like she has an obvious bias and agenda in her post. She works for a union that is being directly impacted by the budget cuts and framed this article like a witch hunt.
I am not saying that this invalidates her comments, but it does make me cautious of them.

Your opening phrase ("Thank you to all the older white males") is racist, ageist, and hateful. Though it may be socially acceptable right now to attack older white males, it's still not right to do this to ANY group based on age or race.

I do not think it is fair to blame one person for a problem that he alone did not create.

I also think the upcoming cuts are unfortunate, however I am sure he did not make these cuts because he has something against education, the disabled, or the poor.
The dude has a tough task to complete and he is doing the best he can.

SCREW THAT! RECALL HIM! He proposed most of these budget cuts in the election and the Californian people soundly shot them down. If he is just going to overrule Californians objections and discard our views it is time for us to recall him.

State parks are the property of the residents of California,..the state is the one who poorly manages and maintains them. So residents will have land to explore w/out paying fees to park,..unless the state of California hires a team of armed guards to keep the public from what is rightfully theirs,...which will also cost money. He also has no plans for re-habing public toilets, roads, and other buildings once they re-open parks as most will fall into disrepair, or be vandalized, etc, etc...
What a loser of a governor. We live in a state where we spend more than $40,000 per person per year to keep a prisoner in jail, while education and state services are cut.
How about reducing payroll by cutting some over bloated salaries or axing the "pension benefits" of state employees. A pension is a benefit of the past, and only government officials receive a pension which continues to be a big mistake.

This is what happens when there is all of the whacked out, crazy spending ( er wasting ) liberals that go unchecked. Suddenly there has to be hard choices made or the entire state goes under. Don't blame the governor, he's not the one that put the state in that position, but it all falls on him to bail you out as well as the blame. What a crock of B.S.....We are going to see the same thing happen on a much larger scale nationally with the current crazy spending, hands in everything ( especially our pockets ) unchecked, unconcerned administration as well as the majority of congress and the way left media....As I do feel for the individuals affected by this, I don't feel sorry for a liberal overspending, out of touch state

i don't mean to sound like i don't think that this sucks but can we just stop blaming older middle class white men for everything bad that happens? we need to think outside the box and figure out how to fix things that we don't like anyway and stop complaining. i live in Cali and have two close friends who are elementary art teachers. they got together with their school systems and are paid each year out of the pocket of the PTO so they keep the art in the schools. yes, this kind of thing isn't fair and no my friends don't get paid enough BUT- they love what they do and the parents are being responsible for their children directly.

if you don't like what is going on then get off your butts and volunteer at a park- donate to a scholarship fund or sponsor a kid. and f@*%ing vote!!!

(and yes, i am involved in my community so I’m not preaching...i just think that every time you criticize you should show me what you think you could do better)

What is he supposed to do, there is no money. He's not Barack Obama, he can't just print his own to cover deficit spending. That's it, no money, things have to be cut, just like in your house and in mine. If you really have compassion for disadvantaged students and the disabled, why don't you take some money out of your own wallet to help them instead of expecting the state to do it when they have no money.

Great. I'm moving out there in the fall to work in state parks.

instead of cutting the bidget couldnt he grab his D. eagle and go after those responsible. just like in his movies... he can even say "i've come back"

People get ready for the future. The government will have to make cut to public necessities as our national debt climbs, and california keeps spending on the prison system (cali has the highest concentration of prisoners in the U.S.). Eventually only well to do people will be able to educate, house, and provide adequate healthcare for their loved ones. Its scary. America wake up, this what happens when you sell any form of unregulated capitalism as "freedom", and hearing things like this is making me rethink where I live for the next few years. California has already killed its education system going from a rank #1 to the low 40's in this country, so might as well get the libraries, and finish off the hospitals while their at it. I already had the luxury of seeing a discharged out patient high on painkillers walking the streets of la still in his hospital gown so f-it, reduce the standard of state services so low, no one will have the ability to protest.

Hay Denica_Cassandra I too am a SEIU member in Oregon the state legislation is doing the same to elderly and disabled care here. on one hand I do understand the need and in this case the state constitution's laws force them to balance our budget. however i think revenue can be generated in many places such as increasing the Gas Tax since the government wont put caps on use lets do it in our states and generate a good bit of this money we need. and frankly we up here in Oregon need you Californians to Legalize Marijuana already so you can generate some serious cash and we can follow suit up here n Oregon and Washington and before you know it we'll be up to our ears in green buds and green money! so get on that cause they got to get the money some where why not from a whole new industry instead of slashing existing critical programs or our state forests. Good Luck, Peace and Long Live Joe Hill!

When was the last time you took a disabled person to a state park?