I don't often get political here but this just has to be said.
Has Arnold Schwartzenegger gone over the edge? It seems he has a bit too much muscle ~ and not much between the ears.
Supposedly on Monday, he will sign an executive order that will lower the wages of state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour. Not California's minimum wage. Federal minimum wage. And then he'll just fire the part-time workers.
He must have the foresight of an infant.
By taking this action, there will be more foreclosures and less buying. There will be more dependence on social services. More people will need food stamps and possibly even more will end up on welfare. There will be more hungry kids. There will be more homeless. For those who can survive it, the state will be short workers which means it will be very difficult to get any state business completed.
That wage comes up to $1043.00 a month which is not a livable wage in most California cities. It certainly isn't in Sacramento where rents average $800-900 a month for a modest apartment and mortgages are usually in four digits.
Arnold is out of touch with the reality of ordinary working people. It's easy to come from a position of privilege such as his and declare solutions that may be politically expedient but ignore the long-term fallout. You'd think someone who openly supports capitalism as a social system would at least know how it works. It doesn't take Adam Smith to figure this one out.
Instead of raising taxes which done at the appropriate rate would be barely noticeable, he is proposing an action that will wreak devastation on hundreds (if not millions) of people.
~*
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Has Ahhhnold Gone Off The Beam?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
16 comments:
You didn't mention why he is doing this. The state budget is 4 weeks overdue and we will not be able to pay our bills without a budget, so he is using state workers as political leverage.
The stupid thing is that this budget crisis happens EVERY SINGLE YEAR. The lawmakers can't get it together.
I propose a different solution: lock the lawmakers in with no bathroom breaks and no A/C, a la New Orleans Superdome, and see how long it takes to get the budget fixed.
ugh. how appalling. but at the same time, unsurprising.
which may be the saddest thing of all.
even though his rationale is as suebob wrote, there must be another way to handle the situation.
I am appalled by his "plan" and deeply offended by the fact that he makes this disgusting proposal in a $15,000 suit.
Another fallout from this besides all the valid ones you mentioned is anarchy in the streets as underpaid police officers either go on strike or are simply unable to stem the rising tide of criminal activities as people become more desperate. He is courting disaster from his ivory castle.
Go Chani! Make some noise about it! It's always the little guy who pays for the mismanagement of state and federal budgets. And entitled Republican folks like Arnold are who got us there - I'm just saying!
I actually hadn't heard about this.
wtf?? seriously.
and EXACLY what we_be_toys said.
Chani, our just previous (conservative) government, led by John Howard, here in Oz was trying to do this "kind of thing", taking basic entitlements from working class people...he got voted out. Thank god!
He was ousted, the new Gov't got in and it is re establishing the safety nets for low income folk..
It sickens and horrifies me the USA, in some of it's areas, treats the lower paid people how it does, and including the health system ??
It's kinda at times so much of the world looks to the US as larger than life role model, the fight for freedom etc...and has helped Australia so much when we needed help desperately....and yet can treat it's most disadvantaged citizens like they are expendable...or less human?
I hope it doesn't get passed.
Pam
Steroid poisoning. Shrinks the brain and other parts :-)
This is absolutely unsurprising to me. What else to expect when you elect a stupid musclehead as governor?
Seriously, it didn't surprise me a bit. He just doesn't fit the bill.
how is this different than leaving them unpaid during the crises as past administrators have done?
I don't know. After living in No Ca for 32 years, I'm baffled. When 48%
of the state is far left and 48% is far right, these impasses seem inevitable. There just isn't enough flexibility between the polar oppositions to make deals.
Since I'm in No. Ca, it's pretty clear which side of the fence I'm on - and no, I didn't vote for Ahhhnold.
I wish him and all people like him are left wandering through empty shopping malls desperately trying to figure out how to get home without petrol.
While the rest of us get to rebuild a world where people are able to grow their own food and restore nature and humanity with love and compassion.
The state workers are just getting a temporary pay check reduction such that the state will have funds to pay other bills. They will have the all the back pay back when the budget passes. This looks unfair but better than no pay check as it had happened years before.
This is a political tactic and usually they are not popular with all the people.
it does seem bizarre that this happens every single year. it's like a game or something, yet not a very funny one.
arnold has never deserved the position, in my opinion.
As someone who has worked for state and federal governments for many years, I know what people think of government employees. That said, I work harder and for less pay now than I did when I was a consultant at a private firm.
I am sure the idea is to pressure legislators to pass a budget (hoping the workers will call their reps) but it is a lazy way out.
Whatever the reason, it's a horrible thing to do. Even if they eventually get back pay, how are they going to manage until then?
Post a Comment