Learning to Love the Governator
Who is the most effective progressive politician in America? I’ve got news for you, he’s not a Democrat.
Who else can trump this record:
- Negotiated an informal climate accord with Great Britian — after comparing those who doubt global warming to members of the flat-earth society — committing the world’s 12th largest greenhouse polluter to Kyoto-like cuts by 2010, all while echoing Al Gore: “You can build a great economy and you can take care of the environment at the same time.“
- Signed a landmark bill to put solar panels on one-million roof tops statewide, forcing utilities to buy back excess power, and mandating that developers offer solar on all new homes by 2011.
- Worked accross the aisle to negotiate a hike in the state’s minimum wage to a highest-in-the-nation $8 an hour.
And that’s just the last month. From a politician who brought the state back from the brink of bankruptcy, is now overseeing the strongest economic expansion since the dot-com boom, and has taken the lead in the push to rebuild the state’s levies and other degraded infrastructure. Oh yeah, and a commander-in-chief who told Bush to shove it when asked to deploy even more National Guard troops to the border to shore up the president’s support with his xenophobic base.
Ladies and gentlemen: Arnold Schwarzenegger, a true progressive.
Well, at least until he breaks Phil Angelides‘ pencil neck in November.