Isn't reality an awful things? Too bad the truth matters.

Hopefully - at least in California - the voting public may notice that the Emperor has No Clothes. May it be so here (and soon in national elections).

I wouldn't count Arnie out yet. I agree he is doing worse than I thought was possible and I had low expectations for him in the first place. Still, he has star power,lots of corporate money & I don't think he is stupid.
He was smart enough to cut his losses on this issue & not let the issue drag down all of his other initives. He still has a lot of time to turn his image around and I wouldn't be surprised to see many of his initiatives being passed & his political numbers going up again.
Remember if performance in office & problem solving were the measure of a politician Bush wouldn't be a 2 term president.

Never underestimate the ability of a celebrity to clean up his/her image before the next big show.

(Maybe Arnie should have stuck to dissing nurses and teachers - beating up on women is sooo much more acceptable than taking on cops and firefighters.)

Don't forget the nurses! They're the ones who got this whole "following" protest going and they're the ones who handed Arnie his first defeat.

Never underestimate the ability of a celebrity to clean up his/her image before the next big show. - Marie

Ayyyupp. Because Arnold's issues aren't playing out here. The groundwork for defining Arnold's successes and defeats outside of California (or the West Coast) isn't being laid nor does anyone care to do that work until Arnold is seriously running for the White House. By that time, the Gropenfurher's image will have been nicely constructed by his political & media flunkies.

In other words: it'll be just like GW Bush circa 1999-2000.

As always, none of the news stories emphasize that Arnie wants to replace Defined Benefit Plans for state employees with Defined Contribution Plans, even though those plans are fully funded and professionally invested (unlike Social Security). Defined Benefits guarantee a retirement income within a minimum and maximum amount based on income, but Defined Contributions guarantee only that the employee will have to contribute and "invest" (gamble, really, since most people are poor investors), no different than 401Ks, IRAs, SEPs, 356s, Keoghs, etc. Arnie just wants to stop the state's contribution to the employees, and the state and local agencies would probably eventually follow suit, so the total contribution would plummet, guaranteeing even the best investors less than the current plans. It's really about returning America to the 19th Century, not about solving a 21st Century cash flow problem.

Seems like every group of folks (nurses, state workers, saftey workers, etc.) has a plan for fixing the budget that doesn't include any participation by their particular group. Sometimes, it even includes perks for their group.

Sorry to say, California really can't afford it.

The public safety workers have single-handedly wrecked the Calpers pension system. Congratulations! Now that pension system is underfunded, as it continues to underperform the stock market indices year after year. No worry, because should the pension fund be unable to fund worker pensions, the CA taxpayers will foot the bill. I think when that happens, the state should send out individual bills to taxpayers, "Pension Invoice for State Workers."

Meanwhile, Caltrans is doing a remarkable job on the Bay Bridge project. Don't you think? I wonder how close their new estimates are to what the actual costs will be? I wouldn't be my life or yours on it.

Not to mention the fabulous jobs teachers are doing with our kids. Have you seen the latest state exam results? Tremendous. Well done. Who gets a merit raise for having our kids finish near last in the nation? I'd like to see a 30 minute TV show on those folks who have worked so hard to enable our kids achieve so little. "We're last, we're proud, and we're spending our merit bonus at Best Buy on plasma TVs."

You want to fix CA's tax system by raising taxes to fund these groups? Is that your fix?

Yes, Arnold is losing the battle in Sacramento to these groups. I don't think he ever thought he'd be successful getting legislation passed. But he had to try before he made his case for the special election.

If the legislature won't do their jobs and represent the voters, then the voters will have to make the decisions for them.

The most important special election issue will be that of redistricting. Right now, the Animal Farm Pigs in the Legislature have walled themselves in a safehouse. Every seat needs to be competitive. That's the only way to motivate the Pigs.

I am sorry to leave out the nurses. That was a bad error and I won't do it again.

What this state cannot afford is to continue to abuse our kids by not funding their schools.

Arnie is a disgrace and is going down.

Are zero moderate Democrats left in CA legislature. CA legislature and govt. unions including all the so-called ed. crowd who put them in power fiefdoms are socialists who have been bankrupting the state for thirty years with their looting. Anyone is only dreaming if think major changes are not necessary, which includes slicing and cutting off their looting largesse in salaries, benefits, and retirements of the present and future.

And, no to leaving retirement future to the Wall St. paper professionals crooks and funny money boys is not the answer.

Muck:

When exactly did voters tell the Legislature that public pensions were a critical issue to them? I must have missed that.

When exactly did voters tell the Legislature that changing legislative reapportionment was a critical issue to them? I must have missed that.

When exactly did voters tell the Legislature that going after teachers was a critical issue to them? I must have missed that.

to leaving retirement future to the Wall St. paper professionals crooks and funny money boys is not the answer

Alex, maybe you're not aware of this, but CA state worker pensions are currently IN THE STOCK MARKET. Calpers owns a diversifed portfolio of stocks, bonds, real estate, et al. They might've even owned some Enron and Worldcom. But, Calpers has tremendous overhead, and continues to underperform market averages year after year, while "actuarials be damned," the legislature keeps increasing pension payout demands.

I must have missed that.

That doesn't surprise me, Steve. The CA Legislature doesn't have to worry about elections anymore, because they've guaranteed re-election year after year by making their seats safe from opposition. So, no, the voters don't have a voice in the Legislature anymore. That needs to change.

Muck, you missed my point. Where did a poll or media coverage in the last year indicate that any of those issues were emerging as a critical issue to the California public? Did any Field poll indicate this?

No. These were issues picked because of the political agenda behind them.

Well, Steve, if those issues get passed in a special election that by definition is the will of the voters.

We'll see how it plays out.

I think the Animal Farm Pigs in the Legislature are a bit concerned about letting the voters decide these issues.

Muck, you call a special election to deal with an emerging or critical issue that hasn't been dealt with by the Legislature. You don't create the issue to then justify the special election, unless you have a political agenda and intentionally want to go around the Legislature.

Those complaining about California's retirement plans seem to have little knowledge of them. Here's some accurate info about the teachers' plan. First of all, each teacher contributes 8% of gross salary to the plan (allocated 6% to Defined Benefits, 2% to Supplements to the Benefits). Social Security tax isn't paid, and teachers are not eligible for Social Security upon retirement (even if they work in another career and pay SS tax, the SS benefits are reduced to almost nothing). The teacher's employer pays 8.25% but makes no contribution to SS. The State contributes 2.017%, and all the money is professionally managed. And yes, the professionals lose money when the market goes down. Arnie wants to eliminate the State's contribution, and put new teachers into 401K style plans. The current plan is better for both employees and taxpayers than SS because it is fully funded. It's all about moving America back to the 19th Century for Arnie and crew.

you call a special election to deal with an emerging or critical issue that hasn't been dealt with by the Legislature

Now, "dealt with" is an interesting choice of words.

The CA Legislature "dealt with" redistricting. They've fixed the problem! They can declare their heir to their throne without worrying about that pesky election process.

They "dealt with" pensions, by ignoring the actuarials and just handing out lucrative pension increases. Well done!

They "dealt with" the education crisis, and now CA is ranked near the bottom in the USA! Hooray!

Isn't it great? Isn't it grand? What will they have "dealt with" next?