Arnold Schwarzenegger, you ran for Governor as a strong supporter of term limits and an opponent of career politicians who are too often disconnected from their constituents. Time is running out for you to stand by his words of support for term limits and oppose the deceitful scam known as Proposition 93. The closer to election day you come out against 93, the less impactful your opposition will be…
You made a very clear case – that there needed to be a package deal. That you could support term limits reform of some sort, but only if it was tied to the legislature placing a fair redistricting measure on the ballot along with it. Of course, they did no such thing.
I know that you care a lot about what newspaper editorial boards think about major policy matters – so I am sure that you know that 14 newspapers – including the San Jose Mercury News, the Sacramento Bee, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Fresno Bee, the Riverside Press Enterprise, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, the Modesto Bee, the Bakersfield Californian, the Orange County Register, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, and the San Bernardino County Sun have already come out strongly against Proposition 93.
Most of these papers are not philosophically supportive of term limits – just the opposite. But their language has been biting and strong because Prop. 93 is one of the most corrupt and deceitful ballot initiatives in modern California political history. Multiple papers have called it “self-serving”, “misleading” , a “scam”, a “sham” and sponsored by legislative leaders to “preserve their opulent lifestyle”. More than one paper has declared that the politicians obviously think the voters are “stupid” with this effort to trick the electorate into weakening term limits.
These papers have also correctly pointed out that if Prop. 93 passes it will not only reward the failed legislative leaders for breaking their promises on redistricting reform but will likely prevent meaningful redistricting reform from happening in the future. Legislative leaders will have no incentive to change the system if they get what they want – more time in office – without having to give up their power to draw their own districts.
The California Chamber of Commerce, the California Republican Party, and former Governor Pete Wilson have also come out strongly against Proposition 93. So have the state’s major taxpayer organizations – the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the National Tax Limitation Committee and People’s Advocate. Governor, it’s time for you to keep his word – and your credibility – by coming out against Prop. 93… today!
Governor, below is your own statement that you made in support of term limits. I am sure you will recall it….
SCHWARZENEGGER STATEMENT ON TERM LIMITS
Arnold Schwarzenegger issued the following statement today regarding term limits:
“My campaign for Governor is based on the concept that California’s state government belongs to the people, not the career politicians. As we are now seeing with the state’s budget crisis and anti-business policies, it is too easy for the politicians to become disconnected from the people they are supposed to represent.
“That is why I believe in citizen-legislators and yes, even citizen-governors. It is also why I am such a strong believer in term limits. The voters of California share these beliefs and have not only voted for term limits but re-confirmed their support just last year by defeating Proposition 45.
“My campaign is about putting the people’s interests first and special interests last. I believe a change in the current term limits law would further entrench the special interests, and that is why I support our current term limits law.”
Governor, we don’t always see eye to eye on policy matters. But that said, here is an area where we agree on the policy (that term limits fundamentally are a good thing) and perhaps equally as important, I am sure that you believe that in politics, your word is your bond.
Well, Don Perata and Fabian Nunez failed to produce a redistricting measure for the upcoming February ballot. And I believe… No… I know you have a promise to keep…
It didn’t take me too long to compile some quotes in the media from you or your staff on this issue:
"The governor would only support a change in term limits if that is tied to broader political reform, which includes redistricting," McLear said.
McLear said he didn’t want to speculate about whether Schwarzenegger would oppose the term limits initiative if negotiations over redistricting failed.
Arnold Schwarzenegger – stand up for the people of California who support term limits so strongly and against the career politicians who have broken their promises on redistricting reform and are trying to deceive voters and oppose Proposition 93 and do it today!
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