Fleischman's Conversation With Arnold

FlashReport publisher Jon Fleischman has a post about the conversation he had a few minutes ago with Governor Schwarzenegger about the Susan Kennedy appointment:

About fifteen minutes ago I got off of the telephone with Governor Schwarzenegger.  He is spending some of his day today, in advance of an official 2 p.m. press event, making telephone calls to people about his controversial decision to hire Susan Kennedy as his Chief of Staff.

After a collegial minute or two (after all, the Governor is one of the friendliest people EVER), the conversation turned to his appointment.  We spoke about his choice for a few minutes – well, I let him do most of the talking.  I will paraphrase some of what we talked about so that you get the idea.

I expressed to the Governor my concerns – that while I had never met Ms. Kennedy, I had reviewed her resume.  I told him that her resume was more partisan on the Democrat side than mine on the GOP side, which was hard to do,

The Governor said that he spoke with a lot of different Republican leaders in a search for the right candidate to be his Chief of Staff (yeah, he mentioned a few of them, but I’ll keep that secret, so that everyone out there who says they are his closest advisors can pretend he mentioned their name to me).  He said that this search proved fruitless, as he tried to find the right person for the job.  A very difficult job, he pointed out.

You can read the rest here.

Comments

[beenaround]

When the damage control starts before the announcement, you know you are in trouble.

[YAF for Life]

Did the former head of CAL YAF resign his position in this Democratic adminstration.

[jUBAL]

Did the former head of CAL YAF resign his position in this Democratic adminstration.

Who's that?

[rebecca]

Is Flash off work for the day already then? Or is it permissible for him to post on political sites while being paid by the OC taxpayers?

[Curious]

Is Steve Frank going to resign as Arnold's resident right-winger, or is he going to try to spin this one?

[Silence Dogood]

beenaround-

When you say "damage control" do you mean the Governor's damage control before his scheduled press conference, or Fleischman's damage control before he let us know he was a girlie man on the phone with Arnold.

[Silence Dogood]

Sorry, I meant to include a question mark at the end of that last comment.

[wus]

C'mon J.F. Enuff wit da sugarcoat! Set Tookie free.

[beenaround]

Good point - but I give Jon a pass since he is, afterall, a public servant appointed by the Gov. to some boating commission, if memory serves me right.

[redperegrine]

"appointed by the Gov. to some boating commission"

Hmm...do they investigate shipwrecks? The Titanic just hit an ice floe and is sinking fast.

[Mr Spock]

And now we are 1 for 3 when it comes to governor actors. One good actor representing the GOP (dear old Ron), and two pieces of crap from the actor's guild (Jessie and Arnie).

I too drank the Ahhhnuld kool-aid. I gave him a chance. My bad. So here is the word from this conservative.

Cal Chamber, go stick it. Take your lumps with the kill biz legislation that is coming your way. We are done carrying your water.

To the business money folks who prayed at the governator alter: strap 'em on. You are going to get smacked by whatever comes your way. You were timid on Prop 75, and didn't have the ba**s to face the unions like men, so next year will be hell for you. This is the gov and legislature you ALLOWED to get into office, and now the gov has turned tail and is running into the arms of your executioners. Enjoy.

More to come, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

[El Boracho ...]

The Collectinator Has No Clothes

Once again, the Collectinator has failed to deliver for California. Schwarzenegger talks a big game, but his follow-through has been atrocious.

As a reminder, “Schwarzenegger campaigned as a Republican who could work with the White House and pledged to make demands of the federal government. He vowed to recover ‘more than $50 billion’ from the federal government, saying the state pays more money to Washington than it gets back. ‘By the time I'm through with this whole thing, I will not be known as the Terminator — I will be known as the Collectinator,’ Schwarzenegger said while campaigning.” (Fox News, October 16, 2003)

In 2004 “Bush's budget, however, did little to help the state.” (CNN, February 22, 2004)

Now the LA Times reports that while Arnold jaunted off to China with his $10,000-a-head corporate buddies, the Governor did next to NOTHING as congressional Republicans were trying to force through some budget cuts in order to pay for the War in Iraq and their botched response to Hurricane Katrina response. “Republican-backed budget cuts moving through Congress threaten to hit California with billions of dollars in lost aid, putting some state social services in jeopardy and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at risk of yet another political setback.”

The proposed Republican cuts include, “provisions that, in California, would make it tougher to get child support from tens of thousands of deadbeat parents, would strip food stamps from legal immigrants, and would make less money available to doctors who treat low-income patients.” (LA Times, November 25, 2005)

Californians might have hoped that “The Collectinator” would use his Republican ties to put a stop to this – What bold move would the Guv employ to stop these cuts dead in their tracks? ONE LETTER.

Yes, Arnold did write a letter to the California Republican Reps urging them to vote no, and only after significant pressure from Democrats. Not a visit, or a phone call, or a press conference … a letter. Arnold’s letter turned out pretty much like his special election: this guy is zero for life. The same Times article reports that every single one of Schwarzenegger’s buddies in California Republican Delegation voted in favor of the cuts.

This turn of events, while upsetting, is not wholly surprising considering Arnold’s flimsy grasp on how one actually gets the President to send federal dollars our way. Earlier this year, while campaigning for Bush, our Governor said he wouldn’t be upset if his appearances didn’t translate into more money for California: "What I don't want to see is that I stopped at one stop that maybe we get an extra billion dollars -- and (New York Gov. George) Pataki stopped 15 stops for Bush and gets $15 billion more." (CNN, February 17, 2005)

After wasting millions of dollars in the special election, then losing billions more while off in China, how much longer will the people of California buy this guy’s empty promises?

http://www.cademmajority.com/

[John Freeman]

Very original content. I really like your site. Green is feature of Black Stake: http://www.dallasnews.com/ , Astonishing, Astonishing, Small nothing comparative to Full when Opponents Fetch Tournament Steal , Corner can Give Player to Fetch Boy you should be very Coolblooded