Arnold: Make Budget Talks Reality TV

Gov defends stance amid standoff

(NEWSER) - Tensions are soaring in California as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger faces off against Democratic lawmakers in the state’s budget crisis. But the governator is keeping calm as he defends his position, the Financial Times reports. He’s calling for welfare reform before he’ll sign off on a budget, but Dems say now’s not the time. “If you can’t get them to cut down the costs of government when the state is facing such a financial crisis, then it’s never going to happen,” said Schwarzenegger. More»

Showdown ahead with state lawmakers over funding sleight-of-hand

(NEWSER) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is heading for a dramatic and potentially humiliating showdown with the state legislature over the budget, reports the San Jose Mercury News. Schwarzenegger plans to veto the budget which largely relies on accounting sleight-of-hand to close a $15.2 billion shortfall. Legislators say they have enough votes for the first veto override in 30 years. More»

Gov threatens cut to minimum wage until state passes budget

(NEWSER) - Arnold Schwarzenegger is threatening to ease California's cash-flow crisis by slashing the pay of 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. A draft executive order obtained by the Chronicle also ends overtime pay for all but emergency employees and lays off 22,000 temporary workers. The proposal, aimed to pressure the deadlocked Legislature into passing an overdue budget, has enraged labor groups. More»

Bill's author recently told governor to 'kiss my gay ass'

(NEWSER) - Though all political vetoes send some message, a recent one by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appears to carry two—with the less-obvious one quite the kiss-off to the Democrat-controlled legislature. In the message accompanying Schwarzenegger’s veto of a financing measure, the San Francisco Bay Guardian found that, in reading down the left side of the copy, the first letters of lines in the middle section spell out F-U-C-K Y-O-U. More»

(NEWSER) - The leader of California's Senate says he'll take Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to court for using line-item vetoes to slash another $500 million from the budget deal he was sent last week, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Democrat Darrell Steinberg accuses Schwarzenegger of overstepping his authority by making the cuts. "We elected a governor, not an emperor," Steinberg says, warning that the balance of power in the state is being upset. More»