MetaFilter posts tagged with California and arnoldschwarzenegger

One small step for man, one giant leap for pot smokers

AElfwine Evenstar — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 10:38:00 -0800

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Thursday signed into law a bill that decriminalizes the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. The bill reduces simple possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction. via To the Members of the California State Senate: I am signing Senate Bill 1449. This bill changes the crime of possession of less than an ounce of marijuana from a misdemeanor punishable only by a $100 fine to an infraction punishable by a $100 fine. Under existing law, jail time cannot be imposed, probation cannot be ordered, nor can the base fine exceed $100 for someone convicted of this crime. I am opposed to decriminalizing the possession and recreational use of marijuana and oppose Proposition 19, which is on the November ballot. Unfortunately, Proposition 19 is a deeply flawed measure that, if passed, will adversely impact California’s businesses without bringing in the tax revenues to the state promised by its proponents. Notwithstanding my opposition to Proposition 19, however, I am signing this measure because possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is an infraction in everything but name. The only difference is that because it is a misdemeanor, a criminal defendant is entitled to a jury trial and a defense attorney. In this time of drastic budget cuts, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement, and the courts cannot afford to expend limited resources prosecuting a crime that carries the same punishment as a traffic ticket. As noted by the Judicial Council in its support of this measure, the appointment of counsel and the availability of a jury trial should be reserved for defendants who are facing loss of life, liberty, or property greater than $100. For these reasons, I am signing this bill. Sincerely, Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Return of Governor Moonbeam

Cool Papa Bell — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:23:55 -0800

Jerry Brown announces his candidacy for governor of California. Jerry Brown was derided as "Governor Moonbeam" during his two-term tenure as California's governor in the mid-70s and early 80s. He even had a famous fling with Linda Ronstadt. Later he became a radio-show host and mayor of Oakland, and he's currently California's Democratic attorney general. Brown contrasts his experience with current governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Republican candidiate Meg Whitman, saying: "Some people say that if you've been around the process, you can't handle the job, that we need to go out and find an outsider who knows virtually nothing about state government," Brown said. "Well we tried that, and it doesn't work. We found out that not knowing is not good."

Hasta la vista, Gertrude Chataway.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:56:54 -0800

Veto is a four-letter word (google quickview, here's the PDF):.Governor Schwarzenegger of California, at odds with the state legislature but ever the poet, vetoes Assembly Bill 1176 with a nice little acrostic.

Mr. Universe's muscular agenda

kliuless — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:09:51 -0800

California's Governor Seeks Universal Care: Under a plan by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California would become the largest state to attempt to provide near universal health coverage.

"I will hire an outside independent auditor, free of political influence..."

insomnia_lj — Thu, 09 Oct 2003 18:10:16 -0800

"I will hire an outside independent auditor, free of political influence..." Schwarzenegger breaks promise to Californians, hires Donna Arduin to head the 60-day audit of California. Arduin is "on loan" from Florida, where she is Jeb Bush's Budget director. Arduin has been criticized by economists and even prominent Florida republicans for "surreal",misleading, unrealistic, and risky accounting procedures. During her stint as Budget Director, Ms. Arduin oversaw numerous tax cuts aimed at the wealthiest Floridians, while most Floridians saw no significant decrease in taxes. Infact, today Florida has the second most regressive taxes in the nation.The effects of these tax cuts? Unprecidented shortfalls in state tax revenues, with massive budget cuts for public schools, universities, child welfare, vision services for uninsured children, etc.
Class warfare, anyone?!

Arnie wins in california

johnnyboy — Wed, 08 Oct 2003 01:32:50 -0800

Arnie wins in california, a victory for Mr schwarzenegger. For a man whose acting ability was described as going all the way from A to B, lets hope for the sake of californians that he is somewhat more adept at politics.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Energy Enron

thedailygrowl — Sat, 04 Oct 2003 01:34:59 -0800

If Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected California can say HASTA LA VISTA BABY to 9 billion according to this article by investigative reporter Greg Palast. According to Palast it turns out that Schwarzenegger knowingly joined the hush-hush encounter with Ken (Enron) Lay and Michael Milken as part of a campaign to sabotage a Davis-Bustamante plan to make Enron and other power pirates then ravaging California pay back the $9 billion in illicit profits they carried off. For memories sake here are a few of the the details behind the California energy scam in this report. Arnold has previously said that he does not remember such a meeting with Ken Lay.

50 Reasons to Not Vote for Arnold

fenriq — Wed, 10 Sep 2003 14:31:02 -0800

Metro Santa Cruz's 50 Reasons to Not Vote for Arnold for Governor

And no, none of the reasons are because of awful movies like Jingle All the Way or Junior. Real reasons like the fact that he's a chauvinist, his father was a Nazi, he used to run the President's Council on Fitness and now admits to using steroids to win bodybuilding competitions, he has no plan on how to fix the state's budget issues just that he's gonna clean house. Or the fact that he made up the story about gang raping a black woman for the Oui interview back in 77' (think about that, he lied about participating in a gang rape, that's pretty demented behaviour). Interesting reading and damned scary if this is the next governor of the 5th or 6th largest economy in the world.

Schwarzenegger caught in lie about affair, statutory rape.

insomnia_lj — Sun, 17 Aug 2003 18:09:24 -0800

Schwarzenegger caught in lie about affair, statutory rape. After years of speculation and denials by both parties, Arnold Schwarzenegger's longtime "avenue of relaxation" and partner in outerwear spills the beans to British television. The affair was first alleged by Lacy H. Rich, Jr., a source of pictures and information for the infamous Spy Magazine article. In 1995, with his health deteriorating and the mainstream media ignoring his full allegations, Rich made numerous posts to Usenet with claims such as drug use, a longtime affair with Gigi that started when she was 16, car theft, and even prostituting himself to Paco Arce, a gay Spanish millionaire with an interest in bodybuilders. More plo chops, anyone?!

Buffett for Ahnold?

clevershark — Wed, 13 Aug 2003 13:02:24 -0800

Warren Buffett endorses Schwarzenegger for CA Governor That's an interesting development which reminds us that beyond the circus there actually may be a real election at stake.

wackier and wacker

delmoi — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 12:22:23 -0800

Larry Flynt will run in the California recall election And he's serious too. Could he get the plurality needed to win? Oh and Arnold has anounced... that he'll anounce his decision on the 6th

Recall Governor Davis?

aacheson — Thu, 12 Jun 2003 15:43:02 -0800

Will the Governor of California be recalled? Just 7 months after the election, the drive to recall California's Governor Davis is really building up steam. Helped in no small way by conservative Republican lawmaker Darryl Issa's contributions to the cause and his website about it. It will cost $25 million and be decided in 1 off-season election if enough signatures are gathered. Will it happen? Is it a waste of money? Will it result in chaos and a "free-for-all" or will it be the sign of a healthy Democracy in action?

Ah-nuld for Guv?

BGM — Tue, 06 Feb 2001 15:15:51 -0800

Ah-nuld for Guv? Right on the heels of Mr. Schwarzenegger musing on his political future the (left-wing controlled?) press reveals all his dirty laundry. Coinicidence? You tell me...