The Terminator Became Mere Mortal Governator

Remember Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign promises during the 2003 recall election? While campaigning, Schwarzenegger hammered Davis over the budget. He promised to rein in state spending and repeatedly criticized Governor Gray Davis and Democratic legislators as "overspending addicts." He further lambasted Davis for trying to balance California's budget through the use of tricks and gimmicks.

Yet upon taking office, Schwarzenegger released his budget plan, which hinged upon passage of Proposition 57, incurring even more state debt, while deferring any real solution to the distant future. Schwarzenegger then resorted to typical Republican budget gimmickry, by raising various state fees, so he could continue to give lip service to opposing raises in taxes. His logic went something like this: Raising 'fees' will help get us out of our fiscal hole, but raising 'taxes' would be unfair to Californians and destructive to our economy. One of his first acts as governor was to restore the vehicle license fee to its pre-boom year levels by saying it was, in reality, a tax on the average Californian. This act, of course, deprived cities of an essential source of revenue.

And each budget season since, we have been entertained by some of the same "tricks and gimmicks" Schwarzenegger criticized Davis and the Democratic legislators for. The latest was the recent defeat of Propositions 1A through 1E. The seemingly unstoppable cyborg of "Terminator" fame has become but a mere mortal Governator.