Monday, November 07, 2005
Real Reform
Dan Walters is exactly right when he writes that Californians really do not know what they want from the government. He is also dead on when he states that we have a real budget problem that needs to be fixed.
Is Governor S.'s plan the right way? It appears that he needs to rethink and reorganize himself first. Walters' has an interesting view on Schwarzenegger:
Schwarzenegger bears some blame for that political disassociation. He made nice during the first months of his governorship - raising spending while cutting taxes - and inferentially proclaimed that he had mastered the Capitol, that everyone was singing from the same hymnal, and that everything was "fantastic." And then, having had an epiphany of some sort, he abruptly shifted gears, proclaimed the Capitol to be dysfunctional and launched his crusade to change its balance of power.
Instead of truly challenging Californians to confront their contradictions and resolve them, Schwarzenegger embraced them, sending as many mixed messages to voters as they were sending to him, setting himself up for demonization by public employee unions and other defenders of the status quo - and perhaps squandering a unique opportunity to transform the recall into a restoration of governance.
Perhaps he will focus and get better information before launching more initiatives. The reason for his initiatives, the budget problem, is real; however, his solutions are muddled at best.
I honestly hope that he comes back with better thought out ideas in the near future that I can whole heartedly back.
Is Governor S.'s plan the right way? It appears that he needs to rethink and reorganize himself first. Walters' has an interesting view on Schwarzenegger:
Schwarzenegger bears some blame for that political disassociation. He made nice during the first months of his governorship - raising spending while cutting taxes - and inferentially proclaimed that he had mastered the Capitol, that everyone was singing from the same hymnal, and that everything was "fantastic." And then, having had an epiphany of some sort, he abruptly shifted gears, proclaimed the Capitol to be dysfunctional and launched his crusade to change its balance of power.
Instead of truly challenging Californians to confront their contradictions and resolve them, Schwarzenegger embraced them, sending as many mixed messages to voters as they were sending to him, setting himself up for demonization by public employee unions and other defenders of the status quo - and perhaps squandering a unique opportunity to transform the recall into a restoration of governance.
Perhaps he will focus and get better information before launching more initiatives. The reason for his initiatives, the budget problem, is real; however, his solutions are muddled at best.
I honestly hope that he comes back with better thought out ideas in the near future that I can whole heartedly back.
