Arnold has created a firestorm over his proposal to furlough state employees for two days a month. This has the goal of creating a 10% reduction in state payroll.

The concept is correct - the governor is right, cutting state payroll 10% is a good start - maybe in 90 days or at the May revise, let's cut the state payroll another 10% (then we'll be where we started when goobenor dufus was recalled).

While jobs fled the state - the Public Sector grew. And, of course the Public Employee Unions have launched screw you lawsuits. They don't care about the fiscal train wreck - they want to protect their union dues. This is human nature at its' finest.

The Governor has tried half-measures in the past - when the watered down reforms were defeated by $400million in Labor Union money, it seemed to break the Governor and ever since he has been as liberal, if not more so, than Gray Davis.

What Arnold has missed in his furlough proposal is this:

Fire 10% of the employees and then you save the bloated pension liability and the Health Care costs on those employees.

Why not enforce some standards? I have spoken with state employees who talk about 30 minute smoke breaks, 1 1/2 hour lunches and driving state vehicles home - taxpayers paying the bill for it all.

Meanwhile - the cheif partisan whore of them all, Bill Lockyer (who refused to defend prop 187 when it passed and was sued out of existence) has stopped paying state bills in an effort to apply pressure to raise taxes... is adding to the mess by refusing to furlough employees in his office. Partisan politics is trumping the needs of the state.

The difference is that there is no credit card this year. None.

Will the governor lose his typical glass jaw, or will he cave? We will find out on Feb 6th, the first scheduled furlough day.