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Warren Buffett Joins Schwarzenegger's Team

Reuters ^ | Wed August 13, 2003 03:35 PM ET | Adam Tanner

Posted on by ckilmer

Warren Buffett Joins Schwarzenegger's Team Wed August 13, 2003 03:35 PM ET

By Adam Tanner SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Arnold Schwarzenegger added financial heavyweight Warren Buffett to his team on Wednesday as California officials set about finalizing the longest-ever list of candidates in the state's recall election.

"I have known Arnold for years and know he'll be a great governor," Buffett, one of America's best-known and most respected investors, said in a statement. "It is critical to the rest of the nation that California's economic crisis be solved, and I think Arnold will get that job done."

Democrat Gray Davis, unpopular because of the state's record budget deficit, faces the first recall vote against a California governor in the state's history on Oct. 7. Should voters recall him, the alternative candidate with the most votes will take over the richest U.S. state.

After a blast of publicity following his surprise announcement a week ago Wednesday, actor Schwarzenegger has in recent days concentrated on putting together his team, many of whom are veterans of former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson's administration.

In a move that could add gravitas to the campaign, Berkshire Hathaway chairman Buffett will help Schwarzenegger assemble top experts to advise him on the economy, the campaign said.

Schwarzenegger "has been meeting with advisers, talking with individuals who will be joining his campaign and laying out goals and priorities for his proposals he will be laying out as the campaign moves forward," spokesman Sean Walsh said.

Earlier on Wednesday, a report in the Los Angeles Times said Schwarzenegger had "shaken up" his campaign team, but Walsh denied that characterization.

"We are simply adding people to this campaign to make sure this campaign can operate as fully and as effectively as possible. There is no staff shake up, there is just the addition of people to make sure this campaign is world class."

Responding to criticism that the star of the "Terminator" films has avoided taking positions on tough issues, Walsh said Schwarzenegger would detail his proposals in the coming weeks.

CALLS TO CLINTON

Meanwhile, the final list of candidates was due later on Wednesday, but state election officials said they had already rejected several dozen applications as incomplete.

Among the 171 pending or certified candidates were Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and diminutive television actor Gary Coleman. Porn actress Mary Carey (real name Mary Cook) also made the ballot, pledging to wire every room of the governor's mansion with live Web cams if she wins.

More conventional candidates include Republican Bill Simon, who ran against Davis last November and lost, and California's No. 2 state executive, Lt. Gov Cruz Bustamante, a Democrat.

Gov. Davis has adopted a "rose garden" strategy of trying to stay above the political fray and show voters he was doing his job rather than campaigning.

"The governor is focused on governing," a top aide said. "He is not running against Arnold Schwarzenegger."

The aide said Davis has often sought advice in recent days from Bill Clinton, one of only two U.S. presidents impeached by the House of Representatives. Clinton was later acquitted by the Senate over the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal.

The Davis aide said the former president advised his fellow Democrat to stay above the fray, focus on the recall process rather than make it a personality contest and avoid sparring with Schwarzenegger.

An aide to Clinton at his New York office said he had previously scheduled a visit to California in September, although no rallies with Davis have yet been announced.



TOPICS:

Business/Economy

Government

News/Current Events

Politics/Elections

US: Arkansas

US: California

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there's an article on a new biomass converter that going through trials in arkansas that can convert garbage, human, industrial and agricultural wastes into oil for 8-15 dollars a barrel. Anyone who can turn these government agricultural and industrial cost centers into profit centers plus clean up the environment is going to be a conquering hero. ////////////////////// The company raised another $50 million from investors including Howard Buffet, the son of Warren Buffet, and James Woolsey, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency. http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/21583/story.htm http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/940151.asp?0sl=-42 Garbage to oil? Company tests idea MSNBC - Jul 18, 2003 ... $50 million from investors including Howard Buffet, the son of Warren Buffet ... Changing World Technologies said the advantages of making oil from garbage is ... Company Seeks Fortune Turning Garbage into Oil Planet Ark, NY - Jul 21, 2003 ... The government and private industry are betting that the garbage-into-oil ... The company raised another $50 million from investors including Howard Buffet ...



To: ckilmer

by 2 posted onby Commander8 (Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? Galatians 4:16)

To: ckilmer

You can bet that Buffett has his own agenda.



To: hgro

This is the SAME Buffett who said the Bush tax cuts are bad....so, will he advise Arnold to cut taxes?



To: Impeach the Boy

no he'll advise him to turn biomass into oil for ten dollars a barrel, cut insurance premiums on small businesses and cut government saleries.



meanwhile monetary and fiscal policies will grow the economy and the tech sector will come out of hibernation to refuel the california economy and refill government coffers.



the deficit will be gone in 3 years max but likely much less.



To: ckilmer

Are you on DRUGS?...Buffet supported Hillary Clinton. He says tax cuts are bad (a STUPID thing to assert)....Buffet is probable evidence that Arnold will be little more than democrat-lite....I will SAVE your post, and feed it back to you in crow pie.



To: ckilmer

You are such an optimist.



To: ckilmer

Considering the wag-the-dog advise Bubba is going to give Davis, if I lived in any state bordering California, I would be worried about cruise missiles.



To: ckilmer

" Warren Buffett Joins Schwarzenegger's Team " Huh? Isn't Warren Buffet a Socialist?



To: NH Liberty

Flaming.



To: EternalVigilance

Steve Forbes and Arthur Laffer also joined the Schwarzenegger team today. Are they leftists?



by 11 posted onby sinkspur (Get a dog! He'll change your life!)

To: sinkspur

No, just dumb.



To: EternalVigilance

No, just dumb. You're funny, EV. And increasingly irrelevant to this entire discussion.



by 13 posted onby sinkspur (Get a dog! He'll change your life!)

To: hgro

And Buffet's agenda is a liberal one. That's where the lion's share of his contributions goes. Not three months ago, he was Koppel's sole guest, arguing against Bush's tax cuts. The liberal media fawns over him constantly.



To: sinkspur

"...also joined the Schwarzenegger team today." In what capacities?



To: Bonaparte

In what capacities? I dunno. Heard it on the radio. Maybe Arnold's just looking for guys who will work for free.



by 16 posted onby sinkspur (Get a dog! He'll change your life!)

To: Bonaparte

"Not three months ago, he was Koppel's sole guest, arguing against Bush's tax cuts." Buffet has a pile of dollars. He wants the value of those dollars to go up. Cutting taxes has made the dollar go down. Clinton/Rubin raising taxes made the dollar go up. This is the way it always is. Look at the advice the IMF gives to Argentina or Russia when their currency is declining. Raise taxes. Each and every time. Lowering the value of the dollar as Bush did was exactly the right policy. A sky high dollar was killing American manufacturing, mining, and agriculture. It was the only way. There is a time and place for every style of fiscal policy. In this time and place, Bush was 100% correct and Buffett 100% wrong. Nonetheless I bet he will give Arnold good advice. The Governator of Cali has nothing to do with the level of the dollar. Buffett will tell Arnold to do what he has done to every business he has managed or advised. When you are in financial trouble, cut expenses as a first step.



by 17 posted onby ImpeachandRemove (impeach and remove dennis the menace:))

To: sinkspur

You're funny, EV. And increasingly irrelevant to this entire discussion. Yeah? I think the facts I have brought to the debate are very relevent. Schwarzenegger is surrounding himself with liberals and hacks...confirming everything I've warned about for the last week.



To: EternalVigilance

Schwarzenegger is surrounding himself with liberals and hacks...confirming everything I've warned about for the last week. Forbes is a hack? Arthur Laffer, father of Reagan's supply-side tax cut, is a hack? Your warnings have me literally quaking, EV. You're a very funny man.



by 19 posted onby sinkspur (Get a dog! He'll change your life!)

To: sinkspur

Steve Forbes and Arthur Laffer also joined the Schwarzenegger team today. I shouldn't have to remind you that Art Laffer, in spite of his credentials as one of the original supply-siders, campaigned for Slick in 1992.



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