Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped by The Bee's editorial board today to tout his May budget revision and address an assortment of other topics. Here's what he had to say:
On lawmakers' less-than-enthusiastic reaction to his proposal: "Now the ball is in their court. The more they scream, the more they bury themselves" because they'll have to vote for a budget in the end. "I hope the Legislature will go beyond the rhetoric and beyond the politics."
On his lottery proposal: "This is a great idea and it will solve 95 percent of the problem....I believe very strongly that the people will go for it."
On his own view of his budget proposal: "Is it the perfect thing? Maybe not. ..Under the circumstances, I'm proud of our budget."
On his daily briefing: He gets two pieces of information daily - "the prison population count and do we have enough energy....I want to be always updated on a daily basis about that."
On dropping his proposal to close state parks to save money: "It seems to be a huge concern to people."
On whether his budget should do more to help bus riders who can't get a seat for their commute: "Everyone who rides that bus should be calling the Legislature and saying, I'm tired of your up and down (budget) roller coaster rides."
On whether he'll campaign against the marriage initiative likely to make the November ballot: "I don't know how much time I have for campaigning....I get requests all the time for campaigning."
On nuclear power: "Look at it - don't just say no because 30 years ago something happened."
On the state budget process, which he noted leaves just a month for negotiations after the April tax receipts come in: "The system itself just doesn't work."
On the fact that Eunice Shriver contributed some $25,000 to his campaign: "She didn't even send that much money to Teddy, I think."
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