Pumping Up Sacramento's Payroll

Groperzenegger not exactly "Cutting the Fat" of California government:

....AP obtained the governor's office payroll records through a California Public Records Act request to the state Controller's Office. According to those records, the average annual salary for employees in the governor's office has risen 22 percent since Sept. 30, 2003, just a week before voters ousted Davis in the state's historic recall election. It rose from $48,861 in September to $59,585 as of May 28, seven months after Schwarzenegger was sworn in. Schwarzenegger also has 14 employees on the official governor's payroll making $100,000 or more a year, up from eight on Davis' staff as of Sept. 30. "For a governor who came to office saying he would cut the government, he seems to have really pumped it up, at least salaries for his inner circle," said Jamie Court, a consumer activist with the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "It doesn't show much respect for taxpayers." Voters blamed Davis for runaway state spending that led in part to the state's record budget deficit, replacing him with Schwarzenegger during the Oct. 7 recall election. Since then, Schwarzenegger has engineered a record round of state borrowing to help close a $17 billion budget gap. He has cut spending for higher education and other services and said he wants to save more money by reopening contracts with some state employee unions. ....In response to an AP request, Schwarzenegger's office on Tuesday released internal documents from the Davis administration showing the payroll records for all state employees who reported to Davis as of last August. That tally, which could not be immediately confirmed by official state records, shows Davis' office payroll at $3.54 million. Schwarzenegger's official office payroll by the end of May was still 2.5 percent higher. The state payroll records also show that many members of Schwarzenegger's staff are making higher salaries than their counterparts in the Davis administration.

And don't forget to visit ArnoldWatch.org to keep up with all the other financial shenanigans spearheaded by Mr. Biceps and his band of rip-off accountants. Got to admit, though, compared to how Bush is bankrupting the federal government, Mr. B.'s thievery is chump change.