Meg Whitman's "Vision Thing"

The billionaire former CEO of eBay, Meg Whitman, has formally announced her candidacy to run for governor of California. Her "platform" (if one can call it that) is nothing short of a scorched earth campaign against the public sector she seeks to manage. She wants to fire 40,000 state workers, slash another $15 billion out of the state's already depleted general fund, eliminate "overly generous" pensions for public employees, and scuttle any new regulations designed to stave off global climate change. She also wants to build more prisons.

So right-wing and extreme are Whitman's proposals that even Arnold Schwarzenegger had to distance himself from her radical and nihilistic prescriptions for state governance, which ignore both practical constraints as well as the disaster these measures would wrought if ever implemented. Schwarzenegger's office had to point out that 40,000 more layoffs would end up emptying a lot of the state's prisons (the only "social program" California Republicans care about), and that it would be unwise (politically) to chuck the new climate change regulations.

According to the Sacramento Bee Whitman hasn't even bothered to vote in any election during most of her adult life. How's that for civic engagement? Her megalomaniacal pursuit of the governor's office fits in nicely with the class-warfare we've come to expect from California Republicans. Another arrogant CEO comes down from on high to bless Californians with her talent for making lots of money presuming that governing the nation's most populated state is the same as producing widgets (or at least selling widgets through an on-line auction house). I wish someone would tell these people that government institutions are supposed to be democratic and deliberative, not profit-generating institutions. It's a testimony Whitman's overblown ego that she thinks she can just step in and become governor by dint of her private sector bona fides. That might be all one needs in the Republican primaries but in the general election hopefully voters will demand more.

Just because Californians tell pollsters they don't like the Legislature doesn't mean they want to fire 40,000 more state workers, build more prisons, and scrap climate change measures; neither does it mean they like what Schwarzenegger is doing. Why else would the governor's approval rating be on par with George W. Bush's when he left office?

Next year, Arnold Schwarzenegger's circus will leave Sacramento. The cigar tents will be packed up and his menagerie of lobbyists and hangers-on will follow him out of town. And like a departing circus it will leave in its wake a barren field strewn with garbage and elephant shit. Whoever is the next Republican nominee for governor will have to at least promise to clean up some of this mess. The last thing the state needs is a Margaret Thatcher wannabe.

 

 

Follow Joseph A. Palermo on Twitter: www.twitter.com/N/A

Comments

[PhilipCohen]

And, some more food for thought …

Shill Bidding on eBay: Case Study #2

Shining some light on the more sophisticated and therefore harder to detect shill bidding activity by some “professional” sellers on eBay auctions

This time a spreadsheet analysis of multiple auctions, from some "professional" sellers from the US and Australia. Needless to say the analysis demonstrates, once again, that, contrary to eBay's claims, shill bidding by many “professional” sellers is rampant on eBay auctions. The full comment and spreadsheet download links at:
http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=24296
And, the earlier case study of blatantly naïve shill bidding at:
http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=24033

A most disingenuous, unscrupulous organisation—eBay that is.

[skippypicasso]

She left eBay a shell of its former self, what would she do to a state that wishes it could one day improve to the point of being a shell of its former self?

[JoeyP]

Thanks for the thoughtful comments -- I suppose we should cheer for Meg because if she's nominated she'll get thumped!

[dadw5boys]

Whitman would Privatize Highways and water systems.

[sposton]

She would auctioned them off on ebay. ;-)

[sposton]

If Californians elect her they deserve her.

[mamalisa38]

I wonder why the rich always want to throw people out of jobs. How is state government supposed to work with no employees?

Every single state is struggling. Here in Ohio we hear it all the time. Tax collections are down. Well duh.
If we don't have jobs we can't pay taxes.

It's so simple. People need living wage jobs, that's what will bring this country back.

[NationalTreasure]

Meg Whitman is far from the business savant that the republicans like to portray her as being --- just ask the folks at e-Bay under Whitman's stewardship the company made horrible decisions that resulted in billions of losses and thousands of employee layoffs while Whitman walked away looking like a savior due to the golden parachute deal that was negotiated on her behalf when she was hired

Whitman ran e-Bay to the ground and e-Bay is only now beginning to recover from the fall-out

[northstar11]

lack of business savvy didnt stop bush ---he bankrupted an OIL COMPANY----the went on to greter things and bankrupted a country

meg will have to settle for bankrupting the biggest state in the country ---bush had dibs on the big picture

[Periwinkle]

Ms. Whitman also took the heart and soul out of ebay. Sure, after she arrived ebay made a boatload of money for investors, but it's been downhill ever since for the little guy trying to sell on the site and make a few extra bucks. The pre-Whitman ebay was a joy to participate in. Now it's just another greedy corporation.

[RedKnuckles]

As a longtime ebay member, I agree. What I like is how ebay has jacked up seller fees and told users it's for their own good.

[MikeLawson]

I am sad I left California in many ways, but not sad that I left this mess behind me.

[NickfromCali]

Right-wingers that run for Federal office who want to cut government...more money for the Pentagon
Right-wingers that run for state office who want to cut government...more money for prisons....

Do I see a disconnect in both cases

[WASanford]

Just how in hell is lying off 40,000 more Californians supposed to be dealing with our state's economic problems? California's U6 rate is already at 22% and it could be worse, I haven't looked lately. Those are Great Depression numbers that put our society at risk. But people like Meg Whitman have no intention of dealing with our state’s economic problems. All they care about is reducing their own taxes and reducing our government’s ability to enforce its regulations pertaining to the proper conduct of business. In short they want to rob our society and get away with it!

Isn’t it time for California’s citizens to tell people like Ms. Whitman to take a hike? If they don’t like the way California does its business, they can leave, and good riddance!

Thank you Joseph for another great post and the opportunity you've provided me to rant!

[masso435]

You know, I grew up in the "Mickey Mouse Club" era (1950's), with my only knowledge of California coming through that association. It's presentation always had a "New World" quality about it. A middle class Nirvana, if you will. Nice middle class neighborhoods filled with kids, prosperous families, and an abundance of free time entertainments within easy driving distance on well groomed and ubiquitous highways. All the primary and high schools seemed spacious and welcoming. The colleges were all beautiful, with very modest tuition's for residents and not a whole lot more expensive for out of state residents either.

What, in the hell has happened??? It seems the the whole Idea of referendum voting, anytime someone gets a hair across their a$$, has been the boondoggle of all boondoggles. I have always thought that such a set-up might be helpful as a way of garnering opinion, but as a legislative tool it is absolutely foolish. Case in point, the situation in California as it exists.

Going from one supply-sider like "Ahnuld", to someone like Whitman, would just be a signature on a death sentence proclamation, for the State.

And I thought Florida was bad.

[StJames]

I passed through the 1950's as well with Mickey Mouse, and like you saw California as Nirvana. Not only were the colleges & universities beautiful, they were some of the best in the country. Gov't by referendum is 1/2 of the problem, the other 1/2 was capping property taxes. So just like the Republicans nationally, Californians cut taxes and spends. Watch California very closely. It has always led the nation in trends and it is the leading indicator for the nation's problems right now. Meg presided over the world's largest Black Market, she is well versed in theft and making it look like a legitimate business.

[masso435]

You're right. I forgot about the tax caps. I guess I was keying in the most recent folly.
You're also right, and I agree, on the fact that California may end up being the canary in the coal mine, a dubious distinction to be sure, given the country's financial woes.
I don't follow the machinations of California with the greatest of care, but with the little I know, it seems that maybe someone like Gavin Newsom may be the person to save the day.
Professor Palermo is quite on the case, so I expect he'll keep us updated.

[WASanford]

Just imagine how I feel about all this. I was born here and I've lived here all my life. As you can tell from my other posts I mad as hell! Proposition 13 was the great destroyer of our state. It gave large corporations here an unimaginable tax break and it encouraged them to come back to the well time after time after time. Now our schools are overcrowded, the lines at the DMV are ungodly long, and if you have to talk to someone at EDD, well good luck! When i first stepped foot in one of our colleges, I did so tuition free, now you have to pay a fee based on the units you're taking and it's enough to keep a goodly number of would be students away.

Don't let them do this to your state!

[FeloniusMonk]

Fully understand about EDD. It's a catch 22 now. If you don't fit into the definition of an easy application, the website tells you that you must call in and talk to someone. If you call in they tell you (they as in a recording) to go to the website and then auto hangs up on you. I qualified for extended benefits but since my primary benefits were from the previous year's employer in another state, I was forced to call in. Hence I didn't ever get through.

I've lived in California twice. Last year and in 1988-91. There are good points and bad points, but I wouldn't want to be there for an extended period any more.

[Jonahinatickingwhale]

Let's hear from all the ebay sellers damaged or destroyed by Whitman's poorly designed and implemented policies. Let's hear from the ebay sellers suffering under the incompetence of her hand picked successor. CEO John Donahoe.

Whitman got very lucky when offered the ebay gig. All she had to do was step on board, fasten her seat belt and enjoy the ride. When ebay started to sputter due to her bad management, she jumped ship and cashed in.

It's possible that Whitman is more concerned about State of California scrutiny of the ebay and PayPal operations than she is about the state of California.

Follow the money.

[StJames]

Spot on!