You are on page 1of 2

What a fortunate person I have been.

I grew up in a California that rose to the front ranks of the global economy because we invested in our people, their knowl edge and their skills. We built the best public schools the best community colle ges, state colleges, universities in the world. We had a transportation system t hat was the envy of the world. And I grew up in a California where we gave hard working middle class families a chance, an opportunity. The promise of this stat e has always been that if you work hard, you play by the rules; you can climb th e ladder of success. The promise of California has always been, that if we inves ted in everyones future, wed all be richer and stronger. Now, tonight were going to have a great debate but I have to say from the start, governor Schwarzenegger a nd I have a different vision of what will make the people and this state stronge r. I dont believe protecting tax breaks for the rich and powerful and giving more and more special interest giveaways to corporations is whats going to build Cali fornia. We became the wealthiest place on earth because we invested in our peopl e and over the last three years, instead of looking forward, investing in our sc hools, helping more young people go to college, we havent made progress. Sadly wh ile governor Schwarzenegger promised to balance the budget, he submitted three d evnces budgets in a row. He cut education, he increased college tuition fees, h e cut financial aid. I believe we can do better. Look, we are the wealthiest soc iety on earth, were the 6th largest economy, were the frontier of the American dr eam. Were going to be the best California if we take the high road to prosperity. The best educated workers, the best environment in the world; and Ill tell you t hat starts with a balanced budget. So, Ive said very clearly when Im governor come January 2007 if the people elect me I am going to submit a balanced budget. Im g oing to make the government more efficient just like Ive cut the treasures off th e staff by 9%. Im going to close corporate tax loop holes, Im going to balance our budget so we quit loading debts on our kids and we invest in the future. I have a plan to fully fund our schools, give a tax break to middle class families. Pe ople making under $100 000 a year. I want to cut tuition and fees to where they were before governor Schwarzenegger took office, I want to build the economy of the future so we can lead the global economy of the 21st century. The treasurer always says that I want to increase tuition fees for students. The interesting thing about it was, that before I ran for governor, the daves admin istration increased the tuition fees more than 40% in a short period of time. Wh en I ran for governor I made it very clear that I would never increase the stude nt fees by more than 10% a year rather than the 40% for 10% a year average over 3 years. As a matter of fact, this year, because the economy is doing really wel l, we suspended the increase of college tuition fees and we also lowered the com munity college fees by 28%. But, on the other hand, while they were increasing t he college tuition fees by 40% during the daves administration, the students wer e so outraged that they protested and marched in Sacramento right by your office treasurer and you were inside that office and you looked out and you didnt join them protesting or telling the daves administration saying stop this madness, st op punishing the students, stop punishing the families. You did not come out, yo u did not join. Where were you is really the question? Well, let me just say this the fact is I have a consistent record. I spoke out a gainst cuts in education, raising tuition and fees. My record is clear and the f act is, here are the facts, under governor Schwarzenegger now it takes $2000 mor e to get a degree at CSU for the young people on this campus, for people watchin g tonight, $5000 more to get a degree from UC. I decided to run for governor whe n the governor began to make these cuts in higher education. I thought they were wrong. One of the cuts I thought was the worst, was theres a program that helps young people in the poor schools in our state have a chance to compete for colle ge just like my 3 daughters have had that chance. And governor Schwarzenegger tr ied to eliminate all the money. I joined with the students at schools like watsv inson high and mclimines high. These school almost none of the parents have had a chance to go to college to restore that funding. Tonight there is 2 students h ere, jenni gaman and oscar flores who are now at the UC system on their way to

degrees, theyre juniors. And I just want to say as governor, Im going to fight to lower tuition fees, Im going to increase financial aid because well be a stronger California if more young people go to college. I believe that the central issue who can you trust to do the right thing by midd le class families in this state? Theres a lot of talk out of the white house and out of the governors office about how the economy is doing better.. and its true, the pharmaceutical companies, the HMOs, the drug companies are doing wonderfully. But, if you look around in this country in California, youll see that a lot of f amilies are working harder for less. Health care costs are up 12% a year, cost o f cost tuition has sky rocketed, gas prices are up. I believe that the biggest i ssues confiding is how we can help hard working middle class families climb the ladder of opportunity because thats our strength. I believe that its at the heart and soul of what we must do and the fact is I believe that governor Schwarzeneg ger hasnt done the right thing. Calls tuition up, health care costs up. Unfortuna tely, governor Schwarzenegger stood side by side with so many special interests, oil companies, pharmaceutical companies, tobacco companies, while middle class families have struggled. Thats why I feel so strongly that is it important for th e governor to put the government back on the side of the hard working people.. t hats why Im going to cut taxes for middle class families who make under $100 000. Its time to give a tax break to people living paycheck to paycheck, not to corpor ations who countries on their payroll. And just to finish, it is helping middle class families. First of all, I just want to say whenever the treasurer talks about giving break s to middle class families, middle income families, I think that I just want to ask you the question, I mean it doesnt make any sense to me when you say on one s ide that Im going to give them a tax break for a billion and a half dollars and then you endorse 3 years ago the car tax which was 4 billion dollars. Now do you know when you increase the car tax for 4 billion dollars a year that it is now after 3 years almost 12 billion dollars? That is what the California voters have saved because I resented the car tax. I resented it and gave its money back to the people of California. Now youre coming and saying wait a minute even though I endorsed an increase in car tax I want to give them a billion and a half dollar tax cut. How does this all match up? You have been so far for every single tax increase since you have been in public office, if is it the sales tax, the incom e tax, if it is the alcohol tax, the tobacco tax, you wanted to increase even th e tractor owners, the poor farmers, you want to increase their tax. I mean every single tax, property tax, everything you wanted to increase, and you have been forced since you have been in public office. How adjust that those taxes all hit the middle class, the car tax, doesnt matter that we have been our car tax goes up it doesnt matter to you, but it does hurt the middle class people, those that make 18 20 000 dollars a year that have to feed 3 or 4 children at home. How can you do that?

You might also like