Richard Riordan on Unions, Dysfunctional LA, and Golfing with the (Ex) Governator (Extended Interview)
by Reason TV“They put incompetent adults ahead of children,” Richard Riordan says of teachers unions who stand in the way of school reform.
The former mayor of Los Angeles took office shortly after the 1992 riots and shortly before the massive 1994 Northridge earthquake. Today, notes Riordan, the City of Angels faces a slate of different crises, from failing public schools to a fiscal calamity that has put the city on the brink of bankruptcy.
In this wide-ranging extended version of an interview that aired in January (and was shot in December), Riordan sits down with Reason.tv’s Tim Cavanaugh to discuss public-sector unions, privatization, LA’s dysfunctional government, why businesses are leaving the city, and why Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t golf with him.
Approximately 40 minutes.
Shot by Zach Weissmueller, Paul Detrick, and Alex Manning. Edited by Detrick.
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26 Comments
Psst Dick….
Affirmative action, and Illegal immigration have destroyed the City of Los Angeles. But you won't get it?
Not to mention helping bankrupt mexifornia along with stupid dimoCRAT policies.
Being a Californian, let me state this about Schwarzenegger. He IS Barry Obama. He lied to have us believe he was something "good" for the people. Then, sold the people out quicker than Soros fills his depends.
Lie for political purposes, claim to be something your not. Then turn into a flaming Marxist intent on world domination………..yup, that pretty much sums up Ahnold and Barry.
and get ready for the worst of the worst with moonbeam…I feel for ya petro…I've got friends there that can't wait till they can escape mexifornia…
Exactly. Mexifornia is what's killing the state of California. And, the elected state RATS won't address the problem, but keep sailing the state into the iceberg!
can't agree totally on Arnold…
He tried- valiantly- to reign in the public sector unions LONG before Chris Christie became a household word.
He was excoriated by these unions, and the unsustainable greed of the workers who feel a wonderful California lifestyle is due them courtesy the taxpayer.
It was an ugly affair, and Schwarzenegger was hung out to dry by the GOP who did nothing to back him up.
The unions spent tens of millions of dues on hysterical and untrue ads. Arnold, thoroughly defeated by this,
listened to Maria and she sold him on the inate 'liberalism' of Californians.
He gave up. So, yes, a promising governorship by a magnetic guy (he did replace Grey Davis, remember!) turned south and the stupid assheads in the state now await Uncle Sucker to bail out their fat pensions.
We'll just see how THAT works out for them…
You're absolutely right on all counts…..
Arnold sold everyone a big line of sh*t. He turned out to be a RAT, in RINO clothing, and yes, sucked Barry's butt. Politically, he's washed up!
The headline should have been, Richard Riordan on Dysfunctional Unions, L.A., and Ex. Governor. Because all 3 are dysfunctional and 2 are liars.
He tried about as long as Pelosi would consider being a constitutional conservative.
The man has no balls, if he does, they are the size of an atom. Tossing in the towel like he did is a man who has no morals, no integrity and deserves nothing other than pure admonishment. Sorry to sound a little pissed here d, but HE impacted me personally with an utterly bullshlt moratorium on suction dredging state wide, under the guise it may hurt salmon, when there are no salmon anywhere even close to where 98% of people dredge. Where I mine, there are 3 dams with NO fish ladders and there was never any salmon in these waters prior to the dams. He banned it in ALL waters, rivers, creeks, streams and even mudpuddles (no shlt). Not to mention the fact that the DFG issued a study saying dredging helped the salmon spawning grounds. The guy is a POS, political hack intent on the destruction of all things moral and good. Just like the POS we have in office now.
that's neat.
Soros is looking for bloggers and reporters anyone looking for work ? or maybe just want to do some trolling ? http://climateprogress.org/2011/02/09/climateprog...
Not me, I couldn't lie.
Yea that lie would be to much even for me .
Many years ago, I campaigned for Richard Riordan when he ran for mayor. He was the right guy at the right time. He did a great job, under the circumstances.
Hello americans from USSR! I can see you from my IE window (just like Sarah Pallin). How are ya doing tonight? ))))
And yet not one incumbent lost their seat in the 2010 elections for the CA assembly. Fixed districts ain't helping, but when I read the comments posted on LA Times and SF Chronicle articles it's abundantly clear that many CA citizens have no idea that the state is about to go down in flames, or why. Here in Hawaii we have many CA expats. They are pushing the same progressive agenda here that bankrupted their home state. I guess they can't help themselves.
California expats are welcome anywhere, as long as they leave their stupid ideas behind.
I think Ahhhnuld was really an Arnie under his Terminator disguise. He was all flash and zero substance, and we ignored it even though it was hiding in plain sight—he was after all married to Maria Shriver. CA was once at top of the food chain in industry and education; my how far we've fallen under the leadership we continue to pick. Now we have Moonbeam back to finish what he started… lock and load.
Obama's plan to bail out CA:
From the desk of united states President B. Hussein Obama:
To: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and California Governor Jerry Brown
Dear Governors,
I understand that your states are currently in deep financial distress, and that despite your best efforts it appears unlikely that you will be able to meet your financial obligations, all of which are important, but most importantly of all to your public sector employee unions. That being the case, I have decided to embark upon a plan of action by which your three states, which are of course linchpins to My Great Plan, can meet your financial expectations without any unnecessary and painful cuts to the pension plans of your great public service employees.
First of all, I am going to demand that Congress include in its budget this year moneys sufficient to meet your needs. I understand why this is puzzling to you, since the fascist Republicans now control the House of Representatives, but hear Me out. Yes, the Republicans will at first refuse. I will then promptly veto any budget which does not meet My demands. Of course the Republicans will then be reminded of what happened to them in 1995 when Bill Clinton did the same thing. Being Republicans, they will of course cave in to My demands. It's not like we haven't all seen this before… Read the rest here… http://beautifulletters-bls.blogspot.com/2011/02/...
he was forced to make a U-turn, Petro…
You do remember him being roasted and then hung out to dry, don't you? It was a pathetic sight- and the good citizens of California are to blame- not him. That said, he IS married to a Kennedy. She- and 'the family' sold him on a rescue plan that was just a codification of their liberal/left agenda. The Progressives had already made the decision that Ca. was TOO productive, food was too cheap and plentiful, and the prices needed to be driven up to reduce consumption.
Arnold just rubber stamped what came his way after that. Your pain is real, and you- the non-freeloading
citizens of the Golden State- got the shaft from the Left and the unions. Poor Arnold got caught in the middle of it, just wanting to to some good to his adopted country.
Ultimately it doesn't matter what his intentions were. The state is a mess, it thinks a bailout is coming and has planned on it- and is in for a RUDE awakening…
Riordan was a great mayor and a class act. If you want to know about the character of the man, Google the Original Pantry Thanksgiving day board of health incident.
Sometimes, my emotions get the best of me, rarely, but they do. Arnold put my hobby and livelihood on hold for at least 2 years and cost me well over $100K. It's hard to separate that, and look at his affect on this State without extreme prejudice.
Did you see that I sent to you in the other thread about NYSE? That has me thinking, along with Hillary's emergency meeting on the 4th with the US Ambassadors, a collapse of our dollar is coming……………..very soon. Maybe in March.
replied on your other query…
It's worse than the Ca. nonsense. Yes, Schwartzenegger did sign off on all this, and will be held culpable. Brown is far worse- but the press will spin his bad decisions and amp his forays into common sense (they will happen occasionally) as brilliant, so he will be a worse governor but more highly regarded.
Listen, Illinois is FAR worse now…
They could help themselves if they saw the need. The problem is they do not believe, in their hearts, that these programs cost money. They do not see the link between social programs and taxes.
I don't pretend to know, but would it hurt to put Mr. Riordan's ideas into practice first and then expand to deal with other issues?
Believe me. Riordan's not to be trusted, He doesn't walk the talk!
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