California Governor Schwarzenegger launches right-wing agenda

[Karmadillo]

Strange how the election of Schwarzenegger was a 24/7 media story, but the manner in which Schwarzenegger governs is an approximately 0/7 one.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/nov2003/cali-n29.shtml

Within the first two weeks of taking office, California’s recently elected replacement governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has unveiled a series of reactionary measures. In addition to laying out an initial $3.8 billion worth of cuts in social services, Schwarzenegger is calling for the implementation of a budgetary spending cap and a massive borrowing scheme that will ultimately lead to the gutting of public services of all kinds.

The Republican administration is seeking to provide big business with immediate benefits, while staving off fiscal insolvency by means of a $15 billion bond measure. This massive increase in state debt will enable Schwarzenegger to put off the most brutal cuts in social programs until after the November 2004 presidential election.

There are two main reasons for this tactic: first, to avoid provoking public outrage against a Republican administration in the midst of President Bush’s bid for reelection, and, second, to ease the way for the Democratic Party in California to collaborate in the implementation of the Republican social agenda. Democrats dominate both houses of the California Legislature and therefore it is imperative that Schwarzenegger bring a significant section of them on board in order to implement his policies.

The $3.8 billion in budget cuts proposed by Schwarzenegger over the next two years take aim at California’s most vulnerable populations. The proposed measures would restrict food stamp eligibility, eliminate art-based therapy for the developmentally disabled, decrease compensation for doctors who treat patients in the state’s health insurance program for the needy, reduce financial support for children in foster care, slash funding for the provision of in-home and transportation services for the elderly, and freeze enrollment in California’s health insurance program for poor children. In addition, $98 million in unspecified cuts would be imposed at the state’s public universities, and campus recruitment programs would be eliminated.

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