Arnold and Me

121° 29' 29'' West 38° 34' 54'' North

There is only one thing I want to know right now....

When did Arnold Schwarzenegger decide to make Gordon Campbell a role model?

Because, apparently the Term.....errrr, Grope-inator, as he is affectionately known in the more liberal parts of California, has decided to increase revenue by jacking the cost of parking and camping by 50% in many of the State's Parks.

It's the same recipe we described in the Cathedral Grove Parking Lot fiasco on Vancouver Island awhile back.

Only in the case of the Grope-inator's little swindle the exact price of the deal is all up-front and on the table. Specifically, the $15 million he is gaining by screwing 35 million working Californians just barely manages to offset revenues lost because of new loophole that ensures that 35 hundred gazillionare's with massive yachts will not have to pay taxes on them as long as they take a trip out of territorial waters for just 90 days of the year.

Apparently, folks like those Bastard Enron Energy Traders who raked in the gazillions hand-over fist back in the salad days when they worked both sides of the public/private/partnership energy grid for Kenny Boy Lay have taken to picking rummies off the streets of Santa Monica and sending them on all expenses paid, three month cruises to Mazatlan so that they can take the Grope-inator up on his offer.

Hmmmm...... If only our Gordo could come up with a similar P3-inspired scam.... maybe something like charging extra-rental on elementary school textbooks to offset the costs of deputy ministers taking South Sea Junkets with Tycoons so that they can sell off more of our assets prior to going crazy martini benders at taxpayers' expense.

Sounds fair to me.

After all, if you can't make sweetheart deals behind closed doors on secluded tropical islands, how else are you going to give away the Province without people knowing about it?