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Schwarzenegger's State of the State: 'California is in a State of Emergency'
This morning's annual State of the State address by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was not traditional, as he said in his opening statement. He focused in on the 42 billion dollar deficit that he called "a rock upon our chest."
"We cannot breathe until we get it off," he said.
"It doesn't make any sense to talk about education, infrastructure, water, health care reform and all these things when we have this huge budget deficit," Schwarzenegger continued. "I will talk about my vision for all of these things... and more... as soon as we get the budget done."
As usual, he alluded to a movie he starred in. This time, the classic, Conan: "It is not that California is ungovernable; it is that for too long we have been split by ideology. Conan's sword could not have cleaved our political system in two as cleanly as our own political parties have done."
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
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