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Samizdata quote of the day In these State of the State speeches, other governors often begin by listing their accomplishments of the past year. Well, I will do the same.
The year before I took office as governor, California had 300 days of sunshine. Last year, under my administration, we had 312 days of sunshine. That’s what true leadership is all about.
Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, showing some political leadership in his “State of the State” address.
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Good ol’ German (well, in this case, Austrian) humor.
Yes, his speechwriter must be German/Austrian then;-P
Anyone notice a contradiction here?
“With the reforms that I’ve outlined, we can build upon the progress we’ve made in just the last year. And I want to say thank you to the Republicans and the Democrats for working so well together. Working together we have accomplished a lot of things.
Our credit rating is up. Our business climate is improving. We passed workers’ compensation reform. We took action to curb frivolous and shakedown lawsuits. We killed other measures that would discourage businesses from creating jobs here.
A record number of Californians now have jobs. Our state outpaced the nation by creating nearly 150,000 jobs in the last year. Our unemployment rate is the lowest since September 11, 2001.
If a politician tries to take credit for job growth, don’t believe it. Ladies and gentlemen, I did not create this record number of jobs.“
ISTR Harold Wilson didn’t exactly go out of his way to avoid the 1966 English victory in the World Cup being in some way connected to his government.
Politicians will claim credit for anything they think they can, which is unfortunate but entirely predictable. What is rather more lamentable, though, is that the people largely accept this & often believe it.
EG
Danny – I have a terrible cold right now, so maybe it is the medication talking (Buckley’s AND Nyquil – now that’s chemical warfare), but I see a politician saying “we reformed” but “they” (businesses) created jobs. Which I would say is generally accurate, if not often stated. Any government can lower or raise, restrict or allow, tax or not tax, whatever they want. It is up to us to take advantage of it, or minimize the damage, of their decisions. Maybe it is because Ah-nold is a relative political novice that he doens’t take credit for all good, and blame the fed for all bad. If he lasts two terms, he’ll get there 😉
I don’t see any contradiction. He’s saying that the governor and legislature accomplished a lot of things, but that job creation wasn’t one of them, at least not directly.
And he’s right.
It was a youthful ambition to form the “Sunshine Party”, Vote for us and we promise you endless sunshine. Shirley a votewinner.
Arnie has not only promised, but delivered.
Anyone for the “Mom & Apple Pie Party” ?
Schwarzenegger is the real deal. As a Californian who has suffered under the oppressive weight of a sclerotic legislature that hasn’t met a tax it doesn’t like, Schwarzenegger is a breath of fresh air. . .
312 Days of Sunshine, a 4% change in a YEAR! Dramatic Proof of Global Warming!
Repent the End is Nigh!
I just want to know how a “day of sunshine” is defined statewide.
Does that mean it was not overcast anywhere from San Diego to Yreka, San Francisco to Lone Pine?
Because that has to be pretty uncommon.
Just sayin’.
Re: Sigivald
I believe he just took the number of days Santa Monica (where he owns a substantial part of) has sunshine.
Jeez, people! The “sunshine” bit was a joke! Where’s your sense of humor??? If we’d had fewer days of sunshine, he probably would have joked about making progress towards ending the perennial California drought. 🙂
On the whole, I thought Arnie gave a great speech. Arnie’s no libertarian, but if he can just crack through some of the generations-old layers of Democratic cement, he will have wrought wonders. Consider what he has to work with! When he said, “153 of California’s congressional and legislative seats were up in the last election and not one – I repeat – not one changed parties. What kind of democracy is that?”, my jaw dropped. I’ve lived in California all my life (so far), been politically aware since my single-digit years, and still had no idea that our gerrymandering problem was that bad. If he can fix only one thing, let it be that.
ah yup, Anhuld’s a hoot! Talks cowboy like Dubbau and gets his helment polished like Slick Willie. To bad he can’t be President. How about Secetary of State? It just warms my heart to think about Anhuld meeting the French Foriegn Minister, pulling out a 14″ Bowie Hunter and saying “Let’s Party”. In a real think German accent, of course.
Thanks to Mary in LA – Arnie went on to say….
“The more we reward excellent teachers, the more our teachers will be excellent. The more we tolerate ineffective teachers, the more our teachers will be ineffective. ”
“So, in the special session, I propose that a teacher’s pay be tied to merit, not tenure. And I propose that a teacher’s employment be tied to performance, not just showing up.”
“When I was studying to take my citizenship test, I learned about gerrymandering and how politicians changed the boundaries of voting areas to protect themselves. For a long time I thought that was something that happened way back in the 1800s, but the practice is still alive and well today.”
“Here’s a telling statistic: 153 of California’s congressional and legislative seats were up in the last election and not one – I repeat – not one changed parties. What kind of democracy is that?”
“I want a California where people spend less time sitting on the freeway and more time in the homes that they own.”
Now when was the last time an elected official talked like that .. and meant it ?
Better dialogue than he gets in his fillums.
I just remembered a Swiss Joke.
Austrians must be very clever people. They have convinced the world Hitler was German and that Mozart was Austrian.
I think SDB makes a good point above.
Mary in LA – Rahul in LA here :). Arnie actually is pretty much a libertarian; and I’m not just saying this because he attends so many Reason Foundation dinners. Note that Milton Friedman thinks term limits for elected officials is the #1 step towards reducing the size of government. Maybe Arnie knows what he is talking about after all… a shame he can’t be President.
Do not underestimate the Governator.
Mary in La:
“I’ve lived in California all my life (so far), been politically aware since my single-digit years, and still had no idea that our gerrymandering problem was that bad. If he can fix only one thing, let it be that.”
Are you nuts? You haven’t noticed that the same people have been running California for the past 40 years? And I’m not talking about the same *type* of people — but literally the *same* people — or their kids.
John Garamendi (in some kind of CA office since 1967). Bill Lockyer (same). March Fong Eu (okay, we did finally get rid of Eu for good in 2002 — when she was *only* 80.) Di Fi has gotta be 75 at least. We only just got rid of Willie Brown because of term limits (he’s gotta be pushing late ’70s). The Burtons. (Daughter Kimiko is worming her way into some position or other; same with the latest spawn of the Aliotos). The other Browns (thank god Jerry’s gay, so it’s the end of the dynasty after he leaves “political” life, but he’s got another 30 years or so to go.)
Maybe it is not as bad in the South as it is in the North? Or maybe you are too young to remember when all these fossils first took route?
Not “took route”, Susan, “took root”.
I think it was in 1824. June second at about noon, if I remember correctly.
Uncle Bill – If only you could remember not to be such a tedious pedant.
“Anhuld meeting the French Foriegn Minister, pulling out a 14” Bowie Hunter and saying “Let’s Party”. In a real think German accent, of course.”
I’m relieved, yet somehow strangely disappointed, to discover that a Bowie Hunter is a hunting knife and not that something else for which such a name would surely rank among the weirdest euphemistic nouns ever coined..! That image should be guiding light to a thousand spoof movies…
Edward Teague:
The joke should read “Beethoven”. Mozart was born in Salzburg. (Beethoven was born in Bonn.)