Arnold Schwarzenegger

The California Of Jerry Brown, 1974 and 2010!

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Imagine yourself in a time capsule, going back to 1974 and examining the race for California Governor, and then fast forwarding it to 2010!

What would you discover? A state government official, Jerry Brown, son of former Governor Edmund G. (Pat) Brown, is running for Governor! 🙂

In 1974, Jerry Brown was Secretary of State for the state, and in 2010, he is the Attorney General!

In 1974, Jerry Brown is running to succeed a former actor, Ronald Reagan, who had served two terms as a Republican Governor! In 2010, Jerry Brown is running to succeed a former actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had served almost two complete terms (minus nine months) as a Republican Governor!

In 1974, Jerry Brown ran for Governor at the young age of 36, while in 2010, he ran for Governor at the advanced age of 72, exactly double in age!

In 1974, California was affected by a major recession under President Gerald Ford but originally occurring under President Richard Nixon, with nine percent unemployment, while in 2010, California was harmed by the Great Recession under President Barack Obama, who inherited it from President George W. Bush, with a 12.4 percent unemployment rate!

In 1974, California had a half billion dollar surplus in its state budget, while in 2010, it accomplished a balanced budget only after budget cuts of $19 billion!

In 1974, the population of California was just over 21 million people, while in 2010, it is at 37 million people!

In 1974, Brown was described as a “flaky” bachelor, but in 2005, he finally married, but is still regarded by many as “flaky” in personality. 🙂 He went on after eight years as Governor of the largest state, to become Mayor of Oakland and California Attorney General!

Brown also sought the Presidency three times, in 1976, 1980, and 1992, and alienated future Democratic Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton!

Even now, at age 72, and with a Democratic President in the White House, Brown has been asked if he would run for President again! 🙂 He deflected the question, but some might wonder if he would consider it, since we have had a former California Governor who served as President in his 70s (Ronald Reagan), and being Governor of California puts Presidential disease into your veins (Arnold Schwarzenegger wished there would be an amendment to the Constitution that would allow foreign born nationals eligibility to run for President)! 🙂

So California has changed, or has it? 🙂

A final thought: Jerry Brown won in 1974 by a small margin, and many think it will be that close against Meg Whitman, the GOP nominee and former Ebay CEO,who has spent more than $120 million of her personal fortune! So the more time passes, the more it remains much the same! 🙂

Arnold Schwarzenegger And Jerry Brown Call For Gay Marriages To Resume In California NOW!

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Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic candidate for Governor Jerry Brown (also a former Governor and present Attorney General) of California have called upon the federal district judge who declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional to allow the restart of gay marriage in the state!

The argument is that if the judge believes gay men and women are being denied equality under the law as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, then there should be no delay in resuming gay marriage, leaving it up to the higher federal courts to later ban it, if that were to happen!

The call by Schwarzenegger and Brown will likely push faster action by the circuit courts, and will probably lead to the Proposition 8 matter reaching the Supreme Court level much sooner, possibly in the new term of the Court due to begin in October and go through June of 2011!

It is hard to imagine that the Supreme Court will be able to evade this controversial subject, or refuse to consider it, so it seems very probable that the year 2011 will be a path breaking year on gay rights, not only in regard to gay marriage, but also the soon to be ended “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy affecting the military!

Jerry Brown: A Blast From The Past!

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This is the year 2010, and guess what? Jerry Brown is running for Governor of California, as he did successfully in 1974 and 1978!

This is the same Jerry Brown, who also ran for President in 1976, 1980 and 1992!

This is the same Jerry Brown, who angered two Democratic Presidents who he challenged–Jimmy Carter twice and Bill Clinton once!

This is the same Jerry Brown who was Governor when he was the young age of 35 and is now 71!

Jerry Brown came across in the past as often kooky and weird, but yet he was elected Mayor of Oakland and state Attorney General by the voters!

When he was first elected, America was in the midst of a recession, and he comes back now in the midst of the Great Recession!

This is a man often ridiculed, but always willing to stick his neck out and challenge establishment thinking!

Brown has never worried about what people think of him, and once might think that he would be an underdog in this Governorship race, but in actual fact, he is the man to beat, and to put betting money on his defeat would be unwise!

Jerry Brown is a blast from the past, who is ready to take on the challenge of running the eighth largest economy in the world, and to deal with the greatest budget crisis any state has ever had!

Following Arnold Schwarzenegger, “The Terminator”, as Governor will be a challenge, but don’t be surprised that he might outshine the incumbent in gaining public backing and legislative cooperation!

While California has always been considered the sign of the future America, it may very well be that going back to the past and picking a man who was governor 28-36 years ago to be its chief executive again might be the best answer for the future!

Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Economic Stimulus, And The Tea Party Movement

Ronald 1 Comment

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was on This Week this morning, and he took a very different stand than congressional Republicans on the economic stimulus and the Tea Party Movement.

Saying that the gain or saving of 150,000 jobs in his state, many of them teachers, police officer and firefighters was a major plus, he repudiated the idea that the economic stimulus had failed to have any effect.

He also said that the Tea Party Movement was not going to go anywhere politically, as he perfectly understood the frustration of millions of people regarding the terrible economic downturn, but that it was simply a world wide reality of discontent in difficult times for families and individuals. He endorsed the Obama approach to the economy, which will, of course, only further separate him from his Republican party colleagues who continue to oppose everything the President does or says.

Of course, Schwarzenegger is a moderate Republican, a dying breed, sadly, in the GOP! 🙁

The Copenhagen Climate Change Summit: No Verification Or Enforcement Mechanism

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President Obama’s trip to the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit cannot be seen as a success, although it is not a failure.

At the last minute, there was an agreement to set limits on greenhouse gases among China, the US, India, Brazil and South Africa.

However, the agreement does not contain verification or enforcement mechanisms, and one gets the feeling that obtaining such guarantees at the next summit in Mexico City in 2010 is highly unlikely.

The world faces a crisis, but unfortunately, politics and nationalism and secrecy of dicatatorships such as China will make it probably impossible to forge agreements that are truly binding.

Also, the politics of climate change are in full swing in this country, with such critics as Sarah Palin and James Inhofe on full assault against the administration, as well as Al Gore and Arnold Schwarzenegger and other supporters of the concept of global warming.

So the truth is one should not expect much progress on climate change legislation in America, although supposedly the Obama Administration is optimistic on “cap and trade” legislation early next year. But even with that possibly occurring, there must be world wide cooperation for the global warming crisis to be dealt with seriously.

Five Prominent Republicans Back Obama Push For Health Care

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It is great news to see that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has joined former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson in calling for an overhaul of the health care system through support of President Obama’s push for reform. Also, as reported earlier, Bob Dole and Howard Baker, two other GOP Senate Majority Leaders from earlier times, have backed the need for change.

Only one Republican senator, Olympia Snowe of Maine, seems willing to move in that direction, and the fact that four significant Republicans from the past and the governor of our largest state are breaking ranks with the “just say No” Republicans in Congress is therefore an encouraging move.

Obama has also met with a group of doctors from the the fifty states, as he is becoming more intimately involved in pushing for what a majority of Americans say is essential–to change the nature of our health care system so that we finally bring almost all Americans under the umbrella of protection, a step that should have occurred long ago!

California Politics For 2010 Governorship And Senate Race

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California, our largest state with 12 percent of the national population, and deeply affected by the Great Recession, is a microcosm of American politics, and the upcoming races for Governor and Senator are fascinating.

The Republican party will see combative races between relatively unknown conservatives, who have no chance of winning these races, and two well known CEOs of technology companies and both female, but without political experience–Meg Whitman of Ebay for Governor and Carly Fiorina of Hewlett Packard for Senator.

Without any political experience except for backing John McCain for President last year, these two women may have a tough time even being nominated, but even when nominated over their more conservative opponents, the chances of either of them winning a state wide race seem astronomical, despite the tormenting economic conditions faced in the state, where Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is consumed with massive debt problems as he finishes his last year in office in 2010.

Former Governor Jerry Brown and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom are locked in a battle, which seems to favor Brown, now the state Attorney General, but highlighted by Bill Clinton’s endorsement of Newsom, primarily because of Brown’s bruising challenge of Clinton’s primary race for President in 1992, demonstrating that Bill Clinton does not forget when people have wronged him. The odds would still be on Brown, despite his flaky background when Governor from 1975-1983, and his three runs for President in 1976, 1980, and 1992. He may very well go from being the youngest Governor in California history to its oldest, returning to the job he had 28-36 years ago by the time he would become Governor again in January 2011. Newsom faces the controversy over supporting and promoting gay marriage, which has now been rejected by California voters in the referendum last November, but is young, vigorous and handsome and a sign of the future in American politics, so cannot be ruled out.

Meanwhile, Senator Barbara Boxer, while controversial since her election to the Senate in 1992, is still very likely to be reelected. What is clear in both the gubernatorial and senatorial races is the reality of possibly the highest amount of money spent ever, except in a presidential race.

Even if the Democrats lose seats in the Senate and some governorships nationally, they are likely to keep the Senate seat of Boxer and gain the gubernatorial seat of Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, who should be relieved when he no longer has the burden of what is an impossible job–governing California, the eighth largest economy in the world!