This past week, Q-line asked: “Where should Gov. Schwarzenegger focus his efforts now?”
Here are your responses: ✆ “Well, the governor should focus his efforts on life after government service. The sooner the better. He has done enough damage. Maybe he could bike ride with Bush — the two of them off into the sunset.” ✆ “First, to the bank to withdraw sufficient funds to reimburse the state of California the costs of the special elections. Then, after resigning from the office of governor of the state of California, start paying a mind to Maria Shriver, pumping iron and Schatzi’s Bar and Grill.” ✆ “There is several things Gov. Schwarzenegger should do right now. He should focus on bringing business to the state. If this China trip can do something like that then it’s a good thing. He should also try to get other businesses in this nation to come to California by lowering certain taxes and things like that. Another thing he could do is try and get the federal government to reimburse California for all the money we waste on the illegal aliens. They are draining our economy, our health care systems, prisons. Something should be done about that. Make the federal government pay for it since they are supposed to stop them from coming in. Another thing he can do is learn how to pronounce the name of the state properly.” ✆ “It’s too bad that Gov. Schwarzenegger chose to put these initiatives on the ballot and spend $250 million which could go towards the educational system which I think badly needs infusions of funds. That’s where I think Gov. Schwarzenegger should focus because if we don’t have a good school system in our state, sayonara.” ✆ “Mr. Schwarzenegger should concentrate on 2006 and start reading scripts.” ✆ “The governor should reorganize the school systems. Veteran school teachers that were injured at school should have received their pension disability to heal and not be treated like dirt by the school attorneys who ended up getting all the money. This type of procedure has been going on for decades and a lot of the veteran teachers, 25 years-plus, just walked out because they did not want that to happen to them. So, if you look back into the history of teachers that stood by, thick or thin, and got injured, assaulted, or burned out the school district and administrators did not believe them and would not give them a cent disability to heal their wounds and it’s just unbelievable. I think all the districts should be broken down into smaller districts and that we need new leadership and not pay our superintendent as much as we do, who gets $350,000 just as a flat fee, not including all the expenses and everything and start to have a little more respect for the students and the teachers and believe a teacher who has gone to school for a long, long time and just gets pennies to live on that when she is injured or assaulted she is not making up the story and she deserves to get some disability so she can heal and go back to her teaching. I think it’s time that we showed a little more dignity and respect to our teaching profession and the young people of this country.” ✆ “He should focus his efforts on making a graceful exit from the mansion, taking with him all that he brought in, leaving no room for return to retrieve something left behind.” ✆ “If I were the governor, I would gather my millions of dollars and head back to Brentwood, but for some fool reason he seems to want to save California. This state was going 100 mph into a brick wall. The socialist democrat hacks in Sacramento have absolutely no ideas except for their constant security blankie of tax and spend. Cut senators and congressmen’s pay by 20 percent to show leadership means business. Cut all state and school educators by 5 percent, cut police and fire by 3 percent, institute a state flat tax 30 percent less than now and have two tiers of taxes. One under $100,000 and the second above. Will this magically fix our deficit? No, but it’s a start.“ ✆ “I believe Gov. Schwarzenegger should focus his efforts to returning to the entertainment industry if they will have him. Remember, he always hung his hat on ‘I’ll be back’ and that is exactly where he belongs and not in politics.” ✆ “He needs to retreat gracefully before announcing he won’t run again. Maria needs him at home.” ✆ “Well, the cheap shot is “Terminator 4”. But seriously, folks, any reformer today has no more chance than the proverbial snowball in hell. There’s the concept of the tipping point that has long since been reached. The decline of California in the U.S. began long ago and is irreversible. A democracy will continue to exist up until the voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority will always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that every democracy will collapse due to loose fiscal policy which is always followed by dictatorship.’” ✆ “I think basically he’s a lame duck. The day he vetoed the gay marriage bill ended his political career in California. He cannot win the state now without the liberal votes. So I think Mr. Schwarzenegger should focus his energy on his next acting job.” ✆ “Stupid actors like George Murphy, and Reagan and Arnold couldn’t even act yet we elect them to public office. When will people stop idealizing bad actors and thinking that since they can tap dance or play the “Terminator” or “Bedtime for Bonzo” that they could run a country. Arnold, go back to Hollyweird and make “Conan the King,” which was promised after his first two “Conans”. This is his true persona, a bumbling, muscle-bound oaf.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 19, 2005. Read the original PDF.