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November 26, 2003

The Honeymoon Ends

With the release of a plan to cut California spending by $1.9 billion this year and an additional $1.9 billion next year, Governor Schwarzenegger can kiss whatever honeymoon period he had goodbye. His cuts hit social spending in numerous areas, although I'm not sure what else you can cut from a state budget that isn't social spending in one form or another. I haven't seen a plan for resolving the budget shortfalls from the California Democrats, but there's little doubt they're not going to be willing to see spending cut in this way. And since Democrats still control California's legislature, the only hope Arnold has of getting his plan approved is to win overwhelming voter support for it. Even that may not be enough, as politicians typically are convinced they know what's best for the voters, regardless of what the voters may think. It will be quite interesting to see how Arnold reacts to how the Democrats will paint him now, as a heartless far-right conservative interested only in balancing the budget on the backs of the poor. PR is going to be key to how this battle is fought; we'll see how much Arnold's time in Hollywood has taught him.