5 THINGS TO TACKLE IN HIS SPARE TIME

A governor who wants to be re-elected -- and until we hear otherwise or a
constitutional amendment is passed we have to suppose Arnold does -- should
have some long-range plans and themes. Not everything can be done quickly,
but political/philosophical groundwork can be laid for the future. Here are
some themes and projects Gov. Schwarzenegger should start developing now.

Really taking on various vested interests.

Sacramento is run mostly by tax consumers and those who benefit from big
government -- teachers unions, public employee unions, trial lawyers,
businesses that depend on government contracts or favors, utopians (like
environmentalists) who think a big stick is the way to accomplish their goals.

Develop a plan to explain and expose how these interests cost taxpayers
money and subvert the real public interest in orderly, frugal government
that lets the people decide their own priorities. It might start with a
veto or with paragraphs in a State of the State address, but it should be a
sustained campaign.

Looking at prison reform.

It won't seem characteristic for a Republican, but that will make it all
the better. The prison guards unions, of course, are one of the most
egregious special interest groups, but there's more. California imprisons a
higher percentage of the population than virtually any entity in the world.
The costs are enormous, both in money and in alienating and embittering
people who will eventually get out. Start looking at the "three strikes"
law and sentencing practices -- and figuring ways, including privatization,
to make prison more humane and less expensive. It really can be done.

Getting serious about drug-law reform.

Californians have already shown, by initiative, that they're open to
allowing the medical use of marijuana and alternatives to incarceration.
Cal-NORML estimates that legalizing marijuana would help the budget problem
by up to $2 billion, through a combination of reduced enforcement and
prison costs and increased tax revenue. You know, at some level of your
consciousness, that the drug laws are not just bogus but harmful. Talk with
Judge Jim Gray and the Drug Policy Alliance to develop a game plan to rid
California of them -- and strike a blow for states' rights.

Connecting freedom and the California Dream.

The climate and the natural wonders are only part of it. What has made
California special is the sense of unlimited opportunity, as your personal
story demonstrates. That means more freedom. We've gotten away from it in a
sometimes well-intentioned desire to help everybody and make sure they do
the right thing.

Talk about freedom and expanding options, connecting to regulatory reform,
government reduction, bureaucratic reform, tax reform and simplification --
and to the California Promise. Ronald Reagan ran for governor promising a
Creative Society. Maybe the Opportunity State?

Learning about free-market environmentalism.

There's a host of solid research suggesting that market-oriented,
property-respecting and voluntary policies are more effective at improving
and preserving the natural environment than top-down command-and-control
approaches. Talk to Fred Smith at the Competitive Enterprise Institute or
Rick Stroup or Jane Shaw at the Political Economy Research Center in
Montana -- or attend a PERC seminar. There's nothing wrong with
environmentalism that actually works and doesn't violate people's rights.