I like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Really. “Kindergarten Cop” really cracked me up.
But I want to be charitable. I do like him. I met Schwarzenegger once at a Starbucks and I like a governor who seems taller than he really is. Too bad he can’t stand on any of his accomplishments as governor of California.
The state budget deficit is embarrassing. So much for “running government as a business.”
That model, which Schwarzenegger adopted as his mantra, doesn’t really work at all.
Businesses are about profit. Government is about people.
The latest indictment of the idea comes from Small Business California. It just completed its fourth annual survey. More than 600 respondents from every county in the state weighed in.
Sixty-two percent of the respondents said the state was headed in the wrong direction.
Sixty-six percent said the business climate in California is poor or very poor.
The top concerns
1. 86 percent said rising health care costs.
2. 75 percent said quality of education.
3. 71 percent said infrastructure
4. 63 percent said regulations.
5. 62 percent said energy.
6. 67 percent said taxes.
7. 54 percent said procurement.
8. 53 percent said immigration.
9. 52 percent said workers comp.
10. 50 percent said access to capital.
When immigration is beaten out by PROCUREMENT, then you know this survey has some credibility.
Next time a politician stands on the platform and says he wants to run government like a business, recognize it as prime B.S. and vote for his/her opponent.
Then think about Schwarzenegger’s California and what small business thinks of the state right now.
The 2008 Small Business Survey can accessed at: http://smallbusinesscalifornia.org/survey%20results%202008.htm