Joseph Vranich is the Principal of Spectrum Location Solutions LLC, a Site Selection firm that helps companies identify optimum locations to accommodate growth, to improve competitiveness, or escape difficult business environments.
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?