I've listened to all the radio commercials for Meg Whitman, candidate for governor in 2010, with great interest.
I fully supported Arnold Schwarzenegger and his run for governor back in 2003. Schwarzenegger told the masses that he was going to "reform" government. He was going to stop the wasteful spending. He was going to appoint a "spending" czar to spearhead the effort. He was going to look under every rock to find wasted tax money. I believed him.
Fast-forward six years. The budget has increased nearly 40 percent since he took office. The budget process has been a complete embarrassment, not only in California, but on a national level as well. The size of California government has continued to grow, the unions control the majority, taxes are skyrocketing, high-tech jobs continue to leave the state in record numbers and so on and so on.
So my question to Whitman is very simple: Schwarzenegger promised much of what Whitman is promising, so how is she going to be successful when Schwarzenegger has been a complete failure? Is she going to fight the unions? Is she going to reduce the size of government? Is she going to implement government pension reform? Is she going to move the government retirement age from 50 to 62? Basically, is she committed to stopping the skyrocketing cost of government?
The time is now. Does she have the answers?
-- Brian Haueter, Ventura