Schwarzenegger Has Davis's Problems

The headline on the AP story reads "Schwarzenegger is facing the kind of crisis that ruined Davis". There is a reason for that. Arnold never actually fulfilled his campaign promises, now we are right back where we started.

Arnold Schwarzenegger stormed into office during California's last budget crisis, promising to "end the crazy deficit spending" so the state would never go over the financial cliff again.

But four years later, California is back in the same spot.

The cooling economy has opened up a projected $14.5 billion deficit over the next 18 months, and the governor proposed this week to cut school spending, release 22,000 prisoners early and shut dozens of state parks.

The irony is rich: He is facing a repeat of the financial crisis that undid Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, the man Schwarzenegger ousted in a turbulent recall election.

The question is: will Arnold actually take this opportunity to make good on his campaign promises? His previous actions have only exacerbated the situation.

Far from solving California's systemic budget problems, Schwarzenegger has taken several actions that have made them worse. Just like Davis, Schwarzenegger cut taxes but not spending, which has risen 30 percent since he took office. That ensured that when tax revenue tapered off, the budget gap would reappear.

The latest crisis came on so fast that California is in danger of running out of cash this year. Schwarzenegger has ordered more borrowing — the sale of $3.3 billion in bonds — to make sure the state can pay its bills.

Arnold opened up the gubernatorial wallet and pulled out the state's credit card. I guess he duct taped it back together.