Rescue California

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Transcript of gubernatorial recall debate

September 24, 2003

Page 4

on the insurance companies. They were clearly price-gouging. They were clearly doing things that were affecting the premiums, and we tried to squeeze down on that. Unfortunately, they went into some predatory pricing. They drove the small guys out, and then the rates started going out, going back up again. Here, we have an opportunity to change fundamentally the system by providing work safe places where they have good solid work safety places that will ... give them a lower premium.

SCHWARZENEGGER: ... That you guys just did was total pre-election bogus and you know that. This is all trickery, just like the budget was trickery. This was a trick again ... because you wanted to put wool over our eyes.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Let me just tell you that the next year, you say this reform, but next year the workers' compensation costs are going to go up. This is not what's going to help our businesses in California. Our businesses are moving away because we're not competitive in workers' compensation. There's tremendous fraud there and all those kinds of things. What we have to do is, when I go into office I will create real workers' compensation, cut the cost in half. That's what we need to do. I visited companies here in California. I visited the farmers and the small companies, big companies, bankers and all that stuff. Everyone is saying the same thing, that our workers' compensation is way too high. We are paying three times the amount of the national average, and as Tom was saying, that our neighboring states are much more competitive. This is the problem we have, and that's why business are moving out of the state.

MODERATOR: Mr. Schwarzenegger, thank you very much ... convinced we've pretty much done with this subject.

McCLINTOCK: We all have friends, family, neighbors who are leaving California and finding a better place out in the Nevada and Arizona desert. That's what's happening.

MODERATOR: Excuse me. We're going to wrap this subject up in one minute. Go ahead, Mr. Schwarzenegger.

SCHWARZENEGGER: It's ridiculous for Cruz and Arianna to say that everything's fine and dandy and everything's perfect. It's not. Let me tell you something, we have never seen a situation like this, a $38.2 billion budget deficit. We just found out that they did the operating deficit, this is operating deficit ... up to $10 billion. There's so much trickery ... Remember one thing, in California we have a three-strike system. You guys put wool over the people's eyes twice, the third time now, you're out. On Oct. 7, you guys are out. It's that simple, OK?

CITIZEN QUESTION: My question is how would you propose enhancing revenue and or what specific cuts would you make to spending in order to achieve a balanced budget?

MODERATOR: Senator McClintock, this question is yours.

McCLINTOCK: It's a great question, and I do have to correct Arnold. It's not called a three-strikes law. That's the lemon law where you have a car that doesn't work, you get to take it back. That's a very important question. First of all, this state is already spending a larger portion of people's earnings than at any time in its history. We are not suffering a revenue problem. In the last four years of this administration, inflation and population combined has grown 21 percent. Our revenues are up 25 percent. That's after the dot-com collapse, after the car tax and after state revenues. We're taking in significantly more revenues than inflation and population. The problem is, we have a 38 percent increase in state spending

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