In California, no bad deed by a politician goes unrewarded. Gov. Arnold “Taxpayer Terminator” Schowarzenegger got six Republicans in the Legislature to sell out their “no new taxes” pledges, betray taxpayers, and vote for his record $13 billion tax increase in February 2010. Here’s what he actually promised back then:

We will continue to work with our most important partners — the people of our great state — to ensure we never again face the kind of catastrophic budget scenario we experienced this year.

Well, here we are, almost two years later, and the deficit now is $28 billion! So much for the idea that tax increases solve budget problems — instead of making them worse by killing the jobs and businesses that provide the tax base.

For perfidy to taxpayers, Arnold rewarded (Un)Abel Maldonado with an appointment as lieutenant governor, which is why I call Abel “Arnold’s Chauffeur.”

Now, Arnold just rewarded two more tax traitors with government posts:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger has appointed to key posts two former Assemblymembers who voted for tax increases as part of the 2009 budget.

Former Assemblyman Anthony Adams was appointed to the Board of Parole Hearings — a job that pays more than $111,000 a year. Former Assemblyman Mike Villines was appointed to a $40,000-a-year job on the Central Valley Flood Protection Board.

Villines was the Assembly Republican leader in 2009, supporting the budget that included billions in temporary tax increases. Villines lost his leadership post as a result of that vote and was defeated in the race for state insurance commissioner last month.

Adams also voted for the 2009 budget and faced a recall attempt from conservatives in his district. That effort failed to qualify for the ballot, but Adams opted not to seek reelection.

There is some justice, though. Arnold will be hounded the rest of his life as the man who terminated the Golden State.

Dec. 8, 2010

I just got a mailer from from JobsPAC, a 527 organization, touting Republican Mike Villines, who’s running for insurance commissioner. The group reportedly is funded with insurance-industry money, from companies that don’t like Democratic opponent Dave Jones.

It pillories his opponent as: “Dave Jones — Just Another Tax and Spend Politician….A Career Politician Who Spends and Taxes Too Much…Largest Tax Hike in State History…Dave Jones voted to raise your taxes by $37 billion during the worst recession in a generation and with unemployment above 10%. Since Jones’s tax hike, California’s unemployment rate rose to 13%. Source: ABX3 3, 2009.”

But it was Villines who provided the key, Republican vote for that tax increase! As Assembly Republican leader, according to Wikipedia, “Villines’ leadership was key to the February 2009 Budget Deal…. He was recognized by members of both political parties for his willingness to pursue a bipartisan solution to rapidly expanding crisis despite the risk to his political career.”

His treachery to California taxpayers even won him the big-government John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, which is falsely named because JFK actually cut taxes.

In his sycophantic acceptance speech, Villines said of his sellout on taxes:

Most of us will reach a defining moment, where we gain a new level of understanding and learn a lot about ourselves….

For me, there was nothing more fiscally or socially irresponsible than inaction…especially when we knew the facts.

I was determined not to let California fail and to the best I could to solve the problem

And so I worked with Dave, Karen, Darrell and  Governor Schwarzenneger to craft a budget compromise.

It wasn’t easy.  Our budget was one that we all disliked.

But in the end, we believed it was practical, fair, and the only way to get California on the road to recovery.

It was not until I faced this moment that I learned a great deal about politics and myself.

I learned there can be a big difference between practical truth and ideological truth.

I gained a new understanding of what it means to make choices that are not black and white.

I learned that courage is taking the hard road even when there is an easy way out.

And I gained a real understanding of what politics should be – putting the interests of the people ahead of what’s easy or best for my career.

Of course, here we are 20 months after his tax-increase sellout, and there’s no “recovery” in sight. Unemployment still is more than 2 percentage points higher than the national average. And it has risen from 10.5 percent in February 2009, when the tax increase was passed because of Villines’ sellout, to 12.4 percent today.

And as to “courage” and “putting the interests of the people ahead of what’s easy or best for my career,” he’s now trying to lie his way into another government job.

Jones also is terrible. But he never advertised himself as something other than what he is: a tax-increasing socialist Democrat.

Villines’ sellout was so big that it almost cost him his GOP primary election against no-name Brian FitzGerald, who lost by just 16,436 votes.

Treachery needs to be punished. Let’s hope Villines loses on Nov. 2.

OCT. 21