I can't imagine how those "hard working, friendly, and courteous" employees at CA DMV will react when the pay cut actually takes into effect. Take that, suckers. Good thing, I don't have to renew my driver's license for a few years.

How bout they stop paying the lawmakers until they get their shit together instead of punishing people who have no power in the matter. There's some incentive to do their jobs.

Reading through the article, there also seems to be a political battle between the (Republican) Gov. and the (elected, Democrat) Controller Chiang. Here are two excerpts (emphasis mine):

article said:Speaking to 100 union members outside the Ronald Reagan State Office Building in Los Angeles, Chiang called them "innocent victims of a political struggle."

"The state of California, the elected leadership, cannot put the important public servants of California in harm's way," he said. "We put people first, we make sure we protect their interests, and that's why I have to tell the governor, with all due respect, I am not going to comply with this order."

The workers, members of Service Employees International Union Local 1000, were dressed in purple and chanted in protest against the governor's move.

Schwarzenegger said he would file suit against the controller in court "if that's what it takes."

article said:Chiang contends that although he is permitted to pay the minimum wage during a budget impasse, he is also allowed to pay an employee's full salary. Even if he wanted to comply, Chiang said, it would take 10 months to configure his agency's outdated computer systems to do what the governor is asking.

Workdawg said:How bout they stop paying the lawmakers until they get their shit together instead of punishing people who have no power in the matter. There's some incentive to do their jobs.

Sounds nice but incorrect. People do have the power, most are just too lazy to exercise it. They have to demand the lawmakers 'get their shit together' otherwise it won't happen.

patch96 said:Sounds so strong and good until someone needs goverment help and aid, and its not available due to the Governator's grandstanding.

This is immature, short sighted and typical for this governer

Yes so when California can't pay it's bills anymore the goverment is not going to be able to function in any capacity. It will not be able to provide any kind of help like state police or prison guards. It is better to pay the price and make the cuts sooner rather than later.

This is the first time Arnold has done something right in quite some time. It was only a few months ago he was promoting a mandatory health care insurance plan. If enacted it would have forced everybody to buy health care insurance that cost hundreds per month even though almost nothing was covered and the deductible was sky high, in some cases as much as $5,000. It was really a scam to make insurance companies far richer than they already are. But the state Senate killed it.

This is a horrible move. Arnold Schwarzenegger should not slash 200,000 full time California state employees' pay to $6.55/hr and he certainly shouldn't lay off 10,300 part-time, seasonal and occasional employees... he should be slashing the state's congresspeople's salaries to $6.55/hr. That would hit them where it hurts.

No one in California should vote for their incumbent representative this November because they pull the same bull crap every year with the budget. They won't feel the pinch from Arnold until it hits them either in their pocketbook or until they feel it at the polls from their constituency.

These are the same people who remain employed making over $50,000/yr while other state employees make just $6.55/hr? That just isn't right.

If I was still living in that state I'd protest like hell, and close down the state until this kind of crap ends.

Here in Illinois, the D-controlled Legislature passed an unbalanced budget and sent it to the D governor (who is under federal investigation for taking kickbacks and influence peddling) to fix.

The IL governor's buddy in all this, Tony Rezko - where have we heard that name before, has already been convicted on federal corruption charges.

The ruling elite do not want to cut anything, they just want to continue to increase entitlements and taxes as they buy votes, promising to transfer wealth to those who pay little or nothing in state income tax.

The IL state budget is about $2B in the red.