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Funny Business
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That's one way to look at a letter Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has sent President-elect Barack Obama. As the Golden State wallows in an ocean of debt, the Republican Governor is hoping the incoming Democratic administration will part that Red Sea and send California back to a Promised Land of opportunity. Forty-four billion dollars would be a nice start.
In a letter sent to Barack Obama, the Governor says that when the two first talked about a stimulus package in Philadelphia last month, California had $28 billion in infrastructure projects "ready to break ground within the first 120 days of your administration." Now he says the figure is more like $44 billion. These include $12 billion in energy "and energy efficient projects" (code: green), $11 billion in transportation projects, and $8.5 billion in water and sewer projects, along with hospitals and schools, all of which will create nearly 800,000 jobs "over the life of these projects" (so...like, not 800k jobs right now...).
The Governor is asking the new administration to waive rules and add incentives to spur even more projects. He also wants more Medicaid money, and for the stimulus package do something about the housing crisis. "We believe that lower mortgage rates, increased access to credit for qualified buyers and widespread loan modifications are the most powerful tools in that regard..."
That's a lot in one letter.
CALIFORNIA, AFTER ARNOLD
Meantime, two Republican names being mentioned as possible contenders for Schwarzenegger's job, once he terms out, are former eBay [EBAY
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] CEO Meg Whitman and former Hewlett-Packard [HPQ
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] CEO Carly Fiorina. Some believe that if either woman throws her hat in—especially Whitman—California's senior Senator, Dianne Feinstein, will make a run for the Democratic nomination. We may not have a woman President yet, but there's a good chance that by January 3, 2011, the world's seventh largest (sixth? eighth? What-ev) economy will be run by a woman.
GASOLINE WATCH 2009
I'm watching the price of the cheapest gas at a ConocoPhillips 76 station I drive by every day. Today the price is $1.93 a gallon, up two cents from yesterday and up four cents from Day 1 of this exercise that began last Friday.
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