Lots of bad news for Arnold lately, lets throw another log on the fire shall we...
For all of his bellicose campaigning against special interest having too much of a voice in California politics, one would have thought that the governor wouldn't want his signature to appear "bought and paid for". But once again his words just don't match his actions.
Today we discover that out that one of the many committees Schwarzenegger uses to solicit donations for his so-called "reforms" accepted a $105,000 check from the insurance industry - on the very day the governor vetoed a measure that they had lobbied against.
From the
AP:
The American Insurance Association donated the money Friday, the same day the governor vetoed SB399, a bill that would have forced insurers to pay medical costs when people who are covered by Medi-Cal are injured in an accident caused by an insured driver.
[snip]
Schwarzenegger is campaigning for measures on the Nov. 8 special election ballot that he says will save taxpayers money, yet vetoed a bill that would have saved taxpayers millions of dollars, said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.
"He puts politics above the needs of taxpayers. This bill would have alleviated $225 million of taxpayer waste every year," Heller said Monday. "I think it's a startling contrast from the governor who helped Californians get rid of the last cash-register governor."
Heller's group runs ArnoldWatch.org, where we find out that SB 399 sat on Schwarzenegger's desk for weeks until the check from the insurance industry arrived. Here is what Heller has to say about what the governor should do to right this ship.
This is, of course, the worst kind of shakedown politics; the kind that had Californians so hopping mad in 2003 that they threw out the last cash register governor. As Arnold said during the recall: "the money comes in, the favors go out."
The gov must return the $105,000 that the insurance industry paid for this veto. Then, the legislature should reintroduce the bill on the first day of next year's session and send it back to the Gov. (Because the Legislature will have the same members next year, there should be no trouble passing an exact copy of the bill quickly.) Arnold can then figure out what to do with the proposal without the help of the insurance industry's checkbook.
This is not the first time Schwarzenegger has broken his vows to be above politicking for money. The California Democratic Party points out a couple of other instances where the governor has paid back his big donors politically. And you can't forget about the big payments he received to "further the business objectives" of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines. The money comes in, the favors go out.