Budget Relativity
Governor Schwarzenegger has never liked to call himself a politician, but he's certainly mastered what could be called a different "theory of relativity" — one that's a key skill to succeeding in politics.
This morning, after a speech at the California Chamber of Commerce's annual event here in Sacramento, the governor met with reporters for a few minutes of rapid fire Q&A in what we affectionately call a "scrum."
Rugby references aside, the reporter briefing was noteworthy for how quickly the governor switched from talking about protecting the future… to using the future.
Specially, we're talking money. I asked the governor about convincing the public that his lottery bond proposal is a good idea (stay tuned for more on this tonight and tomorrow).
Schwarzenegger compared the proposal — technically a revenue securitization plan (careful, don't raise the ire of the administraton and call it "borrowing") — to the state's actions a few years ago in getting an advance loan on future settlement money from a tobacco industry lawsuit.
Here's what he said:
But just minutes later, as he discussed his ideas on budget reform and reining in state spending, Schwarzenegger laid down a challenge to lawmakers to stop depending on the future, and to instead live in the here and now when it comes to revenues.
Here's what he said:
So does that mean the future is fair game… or not? And if you use future money now, then isn't that just another way of avoiding a real balance of revenues and expenses?
Yes, all of this may only be a word game. And techincally, the governor may not have been inconsistent, if you believe that getting money now — regardless of where it comes from — counts as the kind of cash in the bank he's talking about.
But budget relativity… where someone says let's not wait until tomorrow to solve today's problems but let's leverage tomorrow to make today balance out… is the very kind of logic maze that induces the same kind of brain freeze as a milkshake being drunk too fast.
The governor is far from the only one who expertly navigates such mazes. But he's also better than most, and Schwarzenegger has historically been very good at creating just the image he wants. You might even call him a skilled… politician.
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About the Blogger
John Myers is Sacramento Bureau Chief for KQED's The California Report, heard on public radio stations around the state. More about John...
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