Amazing and embarrassing.
Says 78 comments have been left and was just posted a few hrs ago. Unfortunately I can't view them all when I click on the link, only a few.

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Schwarzenegger: Illegal immigrants not to blame for budget mess

By Kevin Yamamura
Published 12:06 pm PDT Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, responding to the mother of a Republican state legislator, said Wednesday it would be a "big mistake" to blame illegal immigrants for the state's looming $8 billion budget problem.

The Republican governor was in San Luis Obispo to pitch his budget proposal to local officials and business leaders when he was asked by Diane Blakeslee, mother of Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, how the state should handle fiscal burdens created by illegal immigrants.

"There is, you know, always a time like this where you start pointing the finger at various different elements of what creates the budget mess, and, you know, some may point the finger at illegal immigrants," Schwarzenegger said. "I can guarantee you, I have been now four years in office in Sacramento, I don't think that illegal immigration has created the mess that we are in."

The governor's comments came a day after Assembly Republicans announced a package of 20 bills they said would help California reduce the "negative impact" that illegal immigrants have on the state budget. Included are proposals to repeal a law enabling undocumented students from paying in-state college tuition and demand more money from the federal government for housing illegal immigrants in state prisons.

Schwarzenegger said he believes the United States should pursue immigration reform and have tougher border controls. But he added that blaming illegal immigrants "because we have a budget problem would be a big mistake. I think we have to look at ourselves in Sacramento. We in Sacramento have the responsibility to come up with a coherent budget system, and we haven't done that."

The governor is seeking a long-term budget fix that would build a "rainy-day fund" whenever the state has a surplus in revenues. He has spent the last two weeks traveling to different cities to discuss the budget and ask local residents to pressure their legislators into early negotiations.


http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/813793. ... ments_here