Terminator to Take 200,000 Hostages in Calif. Budget Standoff!

While Barack Obama was dazzling a crowd of 200,000 in front of the Berlin Wall; in California, Arnold Schwarzenegger was preparing to hold 200,000 state government employees hostage, by cutting their pay to subsistence level for as long as it takes for state Democrats to concede to an obstructionist Republican minority.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to sign an executive order next week that will temporarily reduce pay for more than 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour to preserve cash in the midst of a month-long budget standoff, according to a draft copy of the order obtained by The (Sacramento) Bee.

Since today’s modern Republicans hate government in general, and government employees in particular, this move by Schwarzenegger can only be seen as throwing them red meat in order to fuel the obstructionist frenzy that has brought legislative gridlock to the country’s most populous state.

While the move clearly seems intended to turn up the heat on the majority Democrats to capitulate in order to relieve pressure from unions representing these workers, it could, and should, turn up the heat on California voters to follow the national trend of wanting to sweep the failed GOP out of having any political influence whatsoever!

Also posted yesterday on Daily Kos

[Update] In a related note, I had an elevator conversation with the H.R. Manager of a large state agency, and he pointed out the fact that it would be virtually impossible for the Governor to do what he is proposing, from a purely technological standpoint. California’s payroll process is extremely complicated, with individual agency systems linked to the State Controller’ systems linked to the State Treasury’s systems. At a minimum, it would probably take two to three months just to write and implement the computer programs necessary to carry out this proposal. In other words, it’s a huge bluff on the Governor’s part!