immigration

Did anyone really think that Arnold would actually settle for tiny changes around the edges on health care? The man only knows how to do one thing and that is go big. It works sometimes (global warming) and is a disaster other times (special election). So, it is no surprise to see him bashing his fellow Republicans for their “Mickey Mouse” concerns.

Gotta love the pop culture references… LAT:

At The Times, Schwarzenegger, who wants to change the way insurers and hospitals function, expressed optimism that a healthcare deal with state Democratic leaders could succeed at the ballot.

He said he was confident labor unions, business groups and hospitals would back an initiative that would place a new tax on healthcare providers and require employers to spend a specified sum on healthcare or pay into a state fund that would help workers secure insurance.

I think he is right. They will end up supporting something, if it makes it out of the legislature, but they are putting a lot of positive pressure on Speaker Nunez to ensure that the end result is a good plan. The business interests will most likely be small businesses. They are the easiest to pull out. Most of these folks really want to find a way to provide insurance for their employees, but it is way to expensive with the current system to insure small groups of people. That can change with the solutions the legislature and Arnold are discussing.

Asked whether voter anger about illegal immigrants, which led to the repeal of a 2003 law to let them obtain drivers' licenses, might be used by opponents of his healthcare plan to doom it, Schwarzenegger said: "Those are Mickey Mouse things compared to immigration reform.

"The real big elephant in the room is that for years and years and years the people have been angry and the federal government hasn't been doing anything about it," he said.

Schwarzenegger said his plan would not give illegal immigrants any new healthcare opportunities but would allow counties to shift all the money they spend caring for the uninsured now -- often in emergency rooms -- to less expensive clinics. The outline of the plan the governor released in January estimated that counties would receive about $1 billion a year that could be used to treat about 750,000 undocumented immigrants who lacked coverage from employers.

The Republicans love to fire up their base about immigration. It is good to see Schwarzenegger putting the smack down. The current system is inefficient and that is due in part to the way undocumented people are treated. Than can change and it should.

Keep the momentum going.

Arnold taped the audio from a meeting back in April and his words then continue to reverberate. They have particularly roilded the Latino community for his offensive words about Mexican immigrants. Community and poitical leaders voiced their feelings in an LAT story today. What I would like to highlight is the governor's spokeman's response.

The conversations were brainstorming sessions designed to help the governor talk out ideas, his communications director, Adam Mendelsohn, said Thursday.

That is known as the we didn't intend for them to be released, so you shouldn't pay attention to them defense.

"I think everyone in this state struggles with how to manage an issue as large as the immigration issue," Mendelsohn said. "The governor is working through that issue as anyone else, and he is trying to come up with a responsible position."

Is Mendlesohn actually trying to say that this problem is so large that it is impossible anything responsible about it? Or is he simply attempting to claim that it is impossible to solve all together? He is clearly ignoring the substance of the offensive comments and instead, centers his response on policy.

Mendelsohn said the recordings, however, fail "to reflect his deep respect for the Mexican culture…. He has a strong belief and understanding of what immigrants have contributed to this state in terms of economic growth."

This is the maybe he said something offensive, but he has said a bunch of nice stuff too defense. Sorry, Adam, that is not going to mend fences. Everyone heard the words coming out of his mouth. It is up to the governor to gain a better understanding of the Latino community and stop going on right wing talk radio and ranting about the need for assimilation.