Governator For Hire

Just as the "Amend for Arnold" movement gets started, to amend the U.S. Constitution so Arnold and other foreign-borns can become President, the San Francisco Chronicle reveals that the Governator, elected as Not a Politician who would sweep away special interest influence (accusing Gray Davis of paying more attention to raising money than to governing) , has been milking those interests for big bucks for his campaign war chest, while bravely supporting everything they want. It's a pretty damning set of opening paragraphs:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, after campaigning as a reformer who would cast special interests out of the Capitol, smashed every fund-raising record in his first year in office with a $26.6 million haul that doubled the amount raised by former Gov. Gray Davis in his first year.

The vast majority of the money came from special interests deeply vested in the outcome of legislative and regulatory decisions in Sacramento, including financial companies, auto dealers and manufacturers and health care concerns. In some cases, the governor, who took office a year ago today, has taken positions that benefited his contributors.

For much of the year, Schwarzenegger used a legal loophole to raise sums greater than a state law's $21,200 limit. And in recent weeks, as a deadline approached to close that loophole, Schwarzenegger stepped up his acceptance of those donations, raking in individual contributions as high as $500,000. "

Here's the full story, by Christian Berthelsen:
Governor sets money-raising record / $26.6 million in his first year -- most of it from special interests