As More Businesses Flee California, Schwarzenegger Deserves ‘Worst Governor’ Award
Yesterday, while attending the delightful little musical "Daddy Long Legs" at the Laguna Beach Playhouse, none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger popped into my mind. Why? Well, the song, "I Couldn’t Know Someone Less" reminded me of him. When he became governor he showed promise that he would reform our dysfunctional state government. But he turned out to be an abject failure.
Someone has to say it, so I will: Arnold Schwarzenegger is the worst governor in California’s recent history. If we were doing articles of impeachment, then "injuring virtually every industry" would be one of many charges.
He deserves that distinction for many reasons, but the tipping point for me came last week during the appearance by Aaron McLear, Schwarzenegger’s press secretary, on Fox Business News. While speaking on "Varney & Co," he misrepresented California’s economic condition by saying that when it comes to companies leaving the state, well, he "doesn’t see evidence of that"; and by gosh the state’s "private sector is doing great"; and that our tax rate is about the same as in other states. When asked about unemployment, he said, "Well, unemployment is bad everywhere." Does the governor know that last week so many jobless people called the Employment Development Department that their phones crashed?
Joe Cerrell: A Remembrance
On the wall of the Cerrell Associates office in the Larchmont District of Los Angeles, among the many pictures of Joe Cerrell with political dignitaries, one picture always stood out to me. A young, baby-faced Joe Cerrell is leaning over the shoulder of John F. Kennedy who is seated at a dinner table. The presidential candidate is speaking instructions or asking a question of Cerrell as the two look off in the same direction.
The picture captures Joe’s eagerness to help and his closeness to power and influence.
Joe Cerrell, who passed away Friday, spent a happy and engaged lifetime in the political world as a Democratic consultant and advisor to presidents and governors, to judges and business executives. However, he helped not only the powerful and influential, but also a whole array of people from those who reached the heights of the political world to those who were just setting out.
Why Californians Go To Texas
Cross-posted at CalWatchdog.
When will enough be enough for California? How much longer is California going to roll over for Texas? Or North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Tennessee or Utah? While these wonderful states are cherry-picking our surviving businesses, state legislators are still talking about expanding entitlement programs and ways to increase taxes to cover the growing state deficit.
A recent report by the Texas Public Policy Foundation found that the “most significant competitive advantage Texas has over California is that Texas has no income tax where California has a steeply progressive income tax.”
The biggest problem for Californians is that we are taxed through our earlobes (and other parts), and it’s only getting worse.
Morning Joe’s New Civility Offensive: Are We Really Going to Keep Fiddling While Rome Burns?!?
As an early AM riser, I have
watched Joe Scarborough’s Morning Joe show
on MSNBC for years. I even watch "Way
Too Early with Willie Geist," aired at 5:30am ET, which goes
on before Morning Joe, at a truly ungodly early hour when only my dog and I
have ventured out of our bedroom in search of coffee (me, anyway; the dog likes
peanut butter crammed into one of her hollow bones, but that’s another story.)
Joe has officially launched what he
and, his co-host, Mika (who often acts in the annoying role of cranky
Schoolmarm to Joe and his guests’ often funny locker room banter) are calling,
what Howard Fineman terms a Centrist
Civility Group. To say that Joe is
not thrilled with Sarah Palin’s Facebook postings and speeches of late would be
an understatement.
Joe is part of a growing cadre of
Republicans who are beginning to come out and openly question whether running
Palin in 2012, against Obama (or Hillary??) would be an act of utter political
suicide for the GOP, which Democrats would welcome with glee.