California politics: About time

Our immigrant-bashing, labor-hating, anti-education bad joke of a Republican governor here in California is finally starting to have some serious crash-and-burn action:  Sand kicked in face of strong-man governor by Carla Marinucci San Francisco Chronicle 07/24/05.  He had pushed for a special election in November for several ballot measures to slash state programs, restrict unions' ability to engage in political activity and create more Republican electoral districts.

He's already had to back off an initiative to slash the pensions of public employees.  Then this past week a court decision removed his electoral initiative from the ballot.

So now his team is floating the prospect of backing off the special election altogether.  Running the largest state government in the country has turned out to involve more than blustering for the cameras and raising lots of money, it appears.

But veteran Democratic strategist Garry South said there's hardly an outpouring of pity for the GOP action-hero-turned-governor with this latest development. "He's gotten himself into this pickle," he said. "This was all about testosterone, and we'll have to see whether his glands outduel his brain on how to get out of this mess.''

Democratic consultant Gale Kaufman also seemed to be enjoying the governor's predicament. Strategy is limited, she said, when you're hanging on the side of a cliff.

"They are in free fall here,'' she said of the governor's team. "They don't have any good choices.''

With just weeks until Schwarzenegger has to decide whether to pull the plug on the special election, the latest debate marks another critical setback for the once-seemingly invincible head of the nation's most populous state -- in a month of setbacks.

On the political front, there was the court decision this week tossing out Proposition 77, the redistricting initiative considered a linchpin of his reform agenda. With his pension reform package pulled months ago, that left only teacher tenure and his Live Within Our Means budget proposal as remnants of the original Schwarzenegger agenda on a shrinking ballot of six initiatives. ("Paycheck protection,'' the initiative backed by Schwarzenegger allies to restrict public union dues for political purposes, is among them.)

In reading Marinucci's article, notice that it's heavy on people giving advice to the Democrats about how they ought to be nice and not try to take advantage of poor Arnie's dilemma.  What a laugh!

Schwarzenegger has also been taking some real heat lately for his outside business dealings: Governor keeps deals secret by Andy Furillo and Gary Delsohn Sacramento Bee 07/19/05.

Despite the furor that prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to drop his $5 million magazine deal last week, his aides declined Monday to provide additional details on income he is receiving from 20 other businesses that each paid more than $10,000 last year to his personal holding company.

Schwarzenegger's financial adviser, Paul Wachter, and his communications director, Rob Stutzman, cited privacy concerns as the reason for keeping secret the governor's total outside income. ...

Scrutiny of Schwarzenegger's personal finances intensified last week with the disclosure of his consulting services agreement with American Media Operations Inc. that promised to pay him at least $1 million a year over five years to serve as the executive editor of two muscle magazines owned by the company.

Schwarzenegger quit the editor's job Friday, saying in a statement, "I don't want there to be any question or doubt that the people have my full devotion."

The American Media deal raised allegations of conflict of interest because the two magazines derive a large portion of their income from dietary supplement advertisements. The Republican governor last year vetoed a bill that would have restricted the use of supplements among high school athletes, saying the substances are overwhelmingly safe. A similar bill by state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, is pending in the Legislature.

And to show what a man of the people he is, Schwarzenegger had this to say about giving up that $5millionmagazine deal: 

"I have no problem about the money, but my wife had a little problem with that," Schwarzenegger told reporters, in reference to first lady Maria Shriver. "She was worried - that means less diamonds or something like that."

And this from the guy who came to power in an extraordinary special election, promising to clean up the pay-for-play, contributions-oriented approach that seemed to characterize Gray Davis' administration.

Before and After, Supplements in the Picture by Robert Salladay and Dan Morain Los Angeles Times 07/23/05:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ended his $8-million contract with a muscle magazine publisher last week. But his deep emotional, political and business ties to bodybuilding — and to the supplement industry that feeds it — won't be so easily severed. ...

According to documents and interviews with industry leaders, Schwarzenegger has continued to give the industry advice. He has participated in private meetings about government regulations. The governor also received personal income from the Arnold Classic bodybuilding contest, which serves as a showplace for supplements.

And since entering politics, he has accepted $242,000 in contributions to his gubernatorial campaign and other causes from individuals and companies connected to the bodybuilding and supplement industry. ...

Last year, Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have required coaches to take a course in performance-enhancing supplements, created a list of banned substances for interscholastic sports and barred supplement manufacturers from sponsoring school events.

In his veto message, an official state document, Schwarzenegger said most dietary supplements were safe. He also said the legislation unfairly focused on "performance-enhancing dietary supplements (PEDS) instead of focusing on ensuring that students participating in high school sports are not engaged in steroids use."

Muscle & Fitness and Flex, two American Media publications, are dominated by advertising from supplement makers. Ads for some products run over multiplepages. One advertisement by VPX Sports, which Schwarzenegger disclosed as providing income to him through the Arnold Classic, sells a "freeze & burn rapid fat loss and energy technology" drink.

With the following, it's hard to know whether it's a misplaced sense of humor, or just total cluelessness:

"He's is not the kind of person who is going to be affected by the money — never," said Charlotte Parker, Schwarzenegger's former longtime movie publicist. "He likes to be fairly compensated for what he does, but that would never compromise what he wants to do. He is committed to being governor."