Finally, unity in Sacramento

Six years ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger swept into office vowing to be a governor who would confront a Sacramento establishment in thrall to a handful of powerful special interests. This week, this corrupt establishment's co-opting of its once-fierce critic became complete.

California pols are in full fear-monger mode over the 5 budget props set for a public up or down on May 19th.

In an entirely predictable performance, Governor Schwarzenegger, who was campaigning for the measures yesterday in El Cajon which sets at the front door to San Diego’s backcountry, threatened the loss of firefighter jobs if the props didn’t pass.

If he were in a school, no doubt, he’d be saying that teachers would be losing their jobs.

But were he in Sacramento, would he promise to cut jobs in the bloated bureaucracy, there?

We have a friend “Carman”, who a couple of years ago was beating down doors in Sacramento trying to sell “smart” traffic systems to the bureaucracy up there and we remember him telling us it was one of the most frustrating experiences of his life.

Upper-level managers would simply blow-off, without notice or a even a courtesy phone call, meetings that Carman had been pain-stakingly setting up for weeks. Where were these guys? It was a well-known fact up in Sacto that once one got to these upper management positions in the Transportation Dept., at least, it signaled the beginning of one's second job. That job being, the on-site supervision of the design and construction of their dacha in the Sierra foothills.