Schwarzenegger sputtering

It's a shame. Governor Schwarzenegger's popularity is at 49% (down from the high 60's) and his State reform plan is stuck in the mud.

The reform plan includes three major initiatives:

1. A cap on State spending
2. Independent redistricting for state legislature seats
3. Restrictions on tenure for teachers

The cap on spending is huge. The State is notoriously in debt due to massive overspending during the tech bubble, which everyone and their shirpa knew wouldn't last, but of course the legislature (as all legislatures it seems) can't figure out how to cut spending. We may be as much as $7 billion in the hole this year. The spending cap is absolutely critical, but the Democrats smell blood, and won't cooperate in any sort of fiscal responsibility simply so they can make the Governor look bad. Well done. I'm pretty sure that's why people voted for you.

Not much confusion as to why the legislature isn't afraid of the will of the people or the Governor in the State. In the last election, NOT ONE SINGLE SEAT OF THE 153 CHANGED HANDS. I'm pretty sure it's because every single one of them is a freakin' genius, and REALLY deserves to be there. We have the worst gerrymandering problem in the country. This is bipartisan, selfish, anti-democratic horse crap. In Iowa, an independent comission sets the legislative borders, and it has created more seat turnover, and, by inference, more accountability to the voters.

I say this rarely, but anyone against the redistricting proposal is a bad person. There you have it.

The third proposition is so obviously right , that the fact the there are a huge number of people against it would make me cry if it were any surprise that people are sometimes suckers. The Governor wants to change teacher's tenure so that crazy people and incompetents don't get mandatory raises and jobs-for-life, while "teaching" the poorer portion of our populace.

Um, who is against better teachers for poor kids? For some reason, the Democrats are. I must be honest and tell you that I don't really understand the argument. The fact that the teacher's union is raising $54 million for Democrats this election year might be the only argument they have. Sad. So, why is the teacher's union against paying more money to their best teachers, and less to the worst? Well, the union calculates that they will lose membership that way, and for some strange reason, that is good enough for the members.

Nobody disputes that better teachers are needed, especially in the innercity, but when proposals come forward that will improve the situation, the unions goad their bought-and-paid-for politicians into opposing it. The Schwarzenegger education team is bi-partisan (led by moderate Dick Riordan, and staffed by prominant Democrats such as Eric Skinner in finance), expert (including the genius former superintendant of the Alberta school system, Mike Strembitsky, who turned worst to first through budgetary control by principals), and dedicated (multi-millionaire Richard Riordan, who has no further political ambitions, spends his time and money trying to move resources to the innercity). Their proposals are almost unanimously considered wise and appropriate, and are therefore spurned by the unions.

If we're serious about fixing problems, then we must each dedicate ourselves to educate ourselves (Jesse Jackson can kiss my booty). These reforms are NOT ideological, they are NOT partisan. These reforms are simple, logical, and beneficial reforms for everyone. Better fiscal discipline, more government accountability, better education, especially for poorer kids.

What is there to oppose? If you're a California voter, please sign that referendum petition!