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| 2003/10/6-8 [Politics/Domestic/California/Arnold, Politics/Domestic/California/Prop] UID:10486 Activity:high |
10/5 Arnold's Enron Secret
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16902
\_ That guy sounded compelling except a) no references and b) the
"Hitlerian mustache" comment at the end.
\_ and umm, isn't the state budget deficit more like 36 billion?
\_ Thanks to cuts, cuts, cuts, and the car tax, we're passing
$8 billion to next year.
\_ I believe there were something like $11B in loans to get
through the year. That's going to hurt, especially with
the piss-poor bond rating CA has now.
\_ The courts over turned the loans as illegal. No loans to
carry over into next year. The budget is busted. Now
they *must* raise taxes or cut all the stuff they added in
last 5 years. If we have 1994 levels of income we should
roll back spending to the same level. End of story.
\_ They're doing this in Alabama. Its great! High school
kids are paying textbook fees and they've fired half
the bailiffs in the state, among many other instances
of "fraud and abuse" ferreted out.
\_ Kids here already didn't have books. They need to
break the teacher's union so the money being dumped
into education will actually get to the kids.
\_ GAH! More like they need to break the text
book oligarchy's stranglehold and move to
free Internet-published text books. Need
chapter 7? Print it out on recyclyed paper.
\_ Yeah, we all know how accurate the information
on the Internet is.
\_ You'd be surprised at how bad some
textbooks are.
\_ If the state can dictate curriculum, why
can't it write and publish online text-
books?
\_ Do both. I had forgotten about the textbook
industry's crimes. Bust the teacher's union
and the textbook industry as well. Works for
me. --guy you replied to about unions
\_ Just raise property tax to levels similar to other
states.
\_ Then the only people left in the state would be the
rich you hate so much and the illegals tending their
gardens and raising their children. The only way to
pay property tax on a home that's gone up in price
in a state where income increases don't match
housing value increases is to sell your home and
leave the state. That's why we had prop 13 in the
first place. I'm trying not to be overly rude here
but other states don't have our whacked out property
value rate of increase vs. income rate increase #s.
\_ That income and property values are so out of
whack is indication that something is wrong with
the property values. Don't worry, lots of people
would move in from out of state to take over once
the property values go down. Stupid Californians
fucked up their state. They don't deserve to run
it anymore. Get the heck out.
\_ More people are already moving in, right now.
That's what makes property values so high. It
isn't something you can legislate away and any
_public_ official who tried to destroy property
values would be hung in public and rightly so.
\_ Actually there is a net outflow of people
to other states.
\_ But total increase in population due to
immigration.
\_ Property values held up well in all the
US metropolitan areas even though they have
higher property taxes. Seems like there
is a lot of worry about property values in
California. Smells like a bubble to me.
It's going to be pricked one way or another.
Crappy economy, high crimes, lousy
educational system, lack of business
investments, high income people from other
states not moving to California because
of expensive houses, and high income taxes,
etc., bankrupt state government. None of
the above will help with property values
\_ So many times people have predicted this
for the very same reasons, since at least
the early 60s. So many times they have
been wrong.
\_ If that happened probably 1/2 the state would have to
sell their houses tomorrow and go back to renting..
property values would plummet plummet, markets would
crumble crumble... sorry, Hudson Hawk moment. But
it's true.
\_ Raise property tax while reducing income tax.
Burst the housing bubble. This will attract
lots of high income people from out of state to
come to the state, and attract business
investments too.
\_ Reduce income tax? How exactly is that going
to help all the old people living in their
home for the last 40 years which is now worth
so much on paper that their social security
can't cover even a small part of the tax
without prop13 laws to protect them? You
either weren't here when prop13 was passed,
you're too young to remember, or you're a mean
vicious person who wants to destroy people's
lives. I prefer to think you're just young.
It makes me feel better to think the least
worst thing about you.
\_ Arnold and Buffett are going to repeal
prop 13.
\_ Heard of home equity loan? What about
old people who rent, or who live with
reason I will not vote for him. there's just too many others.
their relatives and are still working
to make ends meet? Or old people who
depend on their children (who pay
income taxes) for support?
\_ I heard about it last week. Sounds credible but that's not the
reason I will not vote for him. there are just too many others.
The main reason is that he's clueless based on what he said
he will do. For example, he wanted to open the book and audit
everything. That sounds good to uninfomed Californians, but CA
already has independent auditors to do that (according to SF
Chronicle) and the state budget is online for anyone view it
Second example, he wants to repeal the VLF. (It's nice for me,
since I drive an expensive car.) The problem is he couldn't
explain how he'll get the $4B to replace the VLF. Repealling the
\_ they should roll back to 1994 population, housing
prices, gas prices, etc.
sources of revenue to fill it.
Arnie will provide.
VLF is devasting to the local governments if he can't find other
sources of revenue to fill it.
\_ Don't worry your pretty lil head about such complex things.
Arnie will provide.
\_ You misspelled "hooters."
\_ If you're truly concerned about the economy, you should be
voting for Tom.
\_ Guess how much of California's energy Enron supplied during the
summer of 2001 - less than 4 %.
\_ I don't see how that makes them any less sleazy, or how it
changes Arnold's intent in participating.
\_ There was no fraud accusations against Enron until the fall,
the company was solvent. Gray Davis had many of these
these meetings with Enron, as he should have, Enron was
the largest energy company in the nation. Davis has yet
to return 100's thousands from Enron.
\_ I'm sure there's a lot more to the story than this. There were
several suppliers taking advantage of the badly-deregulated
system to gouge us. |
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| www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16902 Home Top Stories Arnolds Enron Secret By Greg Palast, AlterNet October 5, 2003 Its not what Arnold Schwarzenegger did to the girls a decade back that should raise an eyebrow. According to a series of memoranda our office obtained today, its his dalliance with the boys in a hotel room just two years ago thats the real scandal. The wannabe governor has yet to deny that on May 17, 2001, at the Peninsula Hotel in Los Angeles, he had consensual political intercourse with Enron chieftain Kenneth Lay. Also frolicking with Arnold and Ken was convicted stock swindler Mike Milken. Now, 34 pages of internal Enron memoranda have just come through this reporters fax machine that tell all about the tryst between Marias husband and the corporate con men. It turns out that Schwarzenegger knowingly joined the hush-hush encounter as part of a campaign to sabotage a Davis-Bustamante plan to make Enron and other power pirates then ravaging California pay back the $9 billion in illicit profits they carried off. The biggest single threat to Ken Lay and the electricity lords is a private lawsuit filed last year under Californias unique Civil Code provision 17200, the Unfair Business Practices Act. This litigation, heading to trial now in Los Angeles, would make the power companies return the $9 billion they filched from California electricity and gas customers. Cruz Bustamante, Lieutenant Governor and reluctant leading candidate against Schwarzenegger. One month after Cruz brings suit, Enrons Lay calls an emergency secret meeting in LA of his political buck-buddies, including Arnold. Their plan, to undercut Davis according to Enron memos and solve the energy crisis that is, make the Bustamante legal threat go away. While Bustamantes kicking Enron butt in court, the Davis Administration is simultaneously demanding that George Bushs energy regulators order the $9 billion refund. Once Arnold is governor, he blesses the sweetheart settlements with the power companies. There arent many judges who will let a case go to trial to protect a state if that a governor has already allowed the matter to be settled by a regulatory agency. The state of California is in the hole by $8 billion for the coming year. Thats chump change next to the $8 trillion in deficits and surplus losses planned and incurred by George Bush. Nevertheless, the $8 billion deficit is the hanging rope Californias rightwing is using to lynch Governor Davis. Yet only Davis and Bustamante are taking direct action to get back the $9 billion that was vacuumed out of the state by Enron, Reliant, Dynegy, Williams Company and the other Texas bandits who squeezed the state by the bulbs. When the electricity emperors whistle, Arnold comes to the Peninsula Hotel or the Governors mansion. Muscles PR people to comment on the new Enron memos and his strange silence on Bustamantes suit or Davis petition. |