Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal released last week underscored the fact that Schwarzenegger, a keynote speaker at the last Republican National Convention, is effectively a Democrat.
Last week, the governor released his annual budget proposal, a plan to provide universal health care for Californians and a proposal to spend $95 million on alternative energy research. That the Republican governor is championing Democratic priorities and a strongly Democratic budget qualifies him as a Republican in Name Only.
RINO, of course, is the designation given to Americans who register and vote Republican while sharing views typically held by Democrats on issues such as abortion rights, gay rights and environmental protection. RINOs are typically motivated to vote Republican by their agreement with republican economic philosophies.
So why is the governor a RINO?
It could not be that he has forgotten what the Republican Party stands for. Since the election of President George W. Bush in 2000, the Republican Party’s priorities have been put center stage and advanced with little apprehension. Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress have cut taxes, advanced conservative Christian values, poured money into national defense and established controversial environmental policies.
Nor could it be that Schwarzenegger has been ill-informed of the California Republican Party’s priorities. The former Republican governor, Pete Wilson, was Republican both in name and in action, and left a legacy of strongly Republican achievements.
But when the current Republican governor is compared with the previous one, Schwarzenegger comes off as the anti-Republican.
•Wilson won re-election while championing Proposition 187, which would have denied illegal immigrants access to health care and other social services.
•Schwarzenegger recently proposed requiring health care for all Californians and providing assistance for those who cannot afford care – including illegal immigrants.
•Wilson negotiated the largest tax cut in California’s history: $3.6 billion over four years.
•Schwarzenegger proposed a budget last week that contains no tax cuts. Moreover, his universal health care plan would assess new “”fees”” for California’s employers, businesses and doctors and hospitals, payable to the state treasury.
•Wilson was a major force behind the deregulation of the power market, a move applauded by the energy industry.
•Schwarzenegger was a major force behind a new law requiring a 25 percent cut in carbon dioxide pollution by 2020, a proposal fought strongly by the energy industry.
Schwarzenegger almost seems to be re-examining each of Wilson’s Republican achievements and taking them in the Democratic direction.
The question, again, is “”Why?””
California, as a state, is solidly Democratic. Both of its senators are Democrats. A majority of its congressional representatives are Democrats. In the past two presidential elections, the state overwhelmingly supported John Kerry and Al Gore, Democrats both.
To be voted into office by Californians, then, Schwarzenegger would not have been well served by running as a Bush-style Republican. Staunch opposition to illegal immigration would draw the ire of Latinos, who are expected to be the largest ethnic group in California within the next 20 years. Attempts to restrict abortion rights and gay rights would lose him many votes in a state that is predominately liberal.
Recognizing this, Schwarzenegger ran on the only platform that would win: the Democratic platform. He just happened to run it under the Republican name.
Are there repercussions for the governor’s liberal actions?
Surprisingly, no. State Republican leaders are unquestionably frustrated when he goes against some of their policies. But when they have to choose between a Democratic governor and a Republican governor advancing Democratic policies, they will always stand by the latter. State Democratic leaders would prefer that it was one of them promoting left-wing policies in the governor’s office, but having failed that, they’re happy to see their beliefs advanced.
Was Schwarzenegger always a RINO? Was he a moderate who saw an opportunity to replace Gray Davis and seized it as only a Republican could? Only the governor himself knows the truth.
If his proposals last week are any indication of the four years to come, Schwarzenegger is on track to become one of the best Democratic governors California has ever had.
