With his budget proposals already facing opposition in the Legislature, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appealed to the public Thursday, complaining on talk radio and at a rally in Los Angeles that the same old ideological ghosts still haunt the Capitol.
Legislative Democrats want to raise taxes and Republicans want drastic spending cuts, he said.
"Have the legislators learned anything from this last election?" Schwarzenegger said on Sacramento radio station KFBK-AM (1530). "If they didn't get it, there will be severe causalities come the election in March, severe casualties come November."
Schwarzenegger has asked lawmakers to place on the March ballot a borrowing plan of up to $15 billion to pay off past deficits, and a spending cap to make future shortfalls less likely.
A senior Schwarzenegger aide told legislators, however, that drafting a workable permanent spending cap was proving more difficult than expected and that the governor might have to shift focus to a temporary cap.
To meet election deadlines, the ballot proposals must pass by Dec. 5. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle complain that they lack sufficient detail and that budget cuts should be considered first.
At a lunchtime rally of about 400 people at the Galpin Ford dealership in North Hills, organized by his gubernatorial campaign team ostensibly to celebrate the governor's recent repeal of a car-licensing fee increase, Schwarzenegger took aim first at Democrats:
"Many of them in Sacramento are saying they are against this bond, this recovery bond. You know why? Because they want to increase your taxes.
"The politicians up there, all they know is increase the taxes when they get into trouble. What I say is, we should have this recovery bond so we don't have to increase the taxes."
Later, on KFBK, his focus shifted to members of his own party:
"The Republicans have a choice: It is the recovery bonds, or it is raising taxes. That's a choice. It's up to them. I am only going to make cuts to a certain point. I'm not going to cut dog food for blind people."
As Schwarzenegger returned to campaign mode, legislators continued to meet in special session. At a hearing before the Senate Budget Committee, Democrats and education lobbyists criticized Schwarzenegger for wanting to put his bond proposal alongside an already scheduled $12.3-billion education bond. The combination might panic voters, they said. At the same time, Republicans challenged the wisdom of borrowing money to cover past deficits.
