Well, thank you very much, and it is wonderful to see all of you here today. I want to thank also Governor Napolitano for being here. Where is she? Oh yeah, right here. Hi, how are you? Are they treating you well in my state? Very nice. Good to see you, good to see you. And I want to thank first, right off the top, the Annenberg School for hosting this event here, and I want to thank also Mayor Villaraigosa and Mayor Bloomberg for convening this conference, which I think is a very, very good idea, and is a very important conference.
I also want to thank Governor Davis for his kind introduction; thank you very much for the kind introduction. I also want to thank you for having devoted your entire life to public service. And most importantly, I want to thank you for showing really the ultimate of bipartisanship, or post-partisanship when I came into office, because every single time I needed help, every single time I called this man for advice about anything, he was immediately on the phone, not thinking about, well, he's a Republican, I'm a Democrat, why should I help him? He always called back, because he wanted to do what it is the best thing for the people of California. So I want to thank you for your friendship on that, and thank you for hanging out with us, and having a good time with us. So a big hand to Gray Davis. Thank you. (Applause)
I also want to thank my wife for being here today, the great First Lady, and someone that has taught me a lot about bipartisanship. So I want to thank you also for helping me so much, so a big hand also to Maria. (Applause)
Now, as far as I'm concerned, there is really no more urgent issue facing America today than the topic of this conference, which is Bridging the Political Divide. In fact, we ought to send a tape of everyone's speeches here today to our presidential candidates so they'd stay on course of the campaign, and they will be focused on the things that are really important, rather than to attack each other, because for America to continue thriving as a great democracy that can inspire the rest of the world we need new ways of doing the people's business. All of our most deeply held dreams and aspirations require us to build on our common bonds rather than keep resorting to the tired battle cries of partisan politics that divides and demoralizes us. We need new methods of breaking through the political gridlock to make progress on issues that people care deeply about, issues like health care, climate change, immigration, border security, education, the economy, public safety, and the list goes on and on and on.
But as everyone knows, it is nearly impossible to make progress on any of those issues when the two major political parties dig in and cling onto their positions and hold onto their philosophies like an Alabama tick. Look at immigration reform, for instance. The debate in Washington has broken down once again. It's a classic example of an issue that Republicans and Democrats must work on together in order to fix the problem, but they seem to fail each time. We in California here cannot do this by ourselves, otherwise we would. The nation's borders are a federal responsibility. One side says, "Send all the illegals back where they came from and build a big border fence." And the other side says, "Forget about it, give everyone amnesty."
Hey, I have an idea. How about being realistic and just solving the problem? There's a totally reasonable centrist approach to the issue, and it is this; secure our borders while at the same time recognizing the economic and social reality by providing a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for those already here, and who meet certain criteria, like pay a fine for coming here illegally, learning the English language, and being law abiding citizens. That is a mainstream solution, and it is time we introduce the concept of the mainstream back into the American political life, and the place to start with is immigration.
Now, here in California we have discovered an alternative to fighting all the time. We are very lucky, because now Democrats and Republicans are working together. After I spoke about post-partisanship in my Inaugural Address just last January it was amazing the kind of reaction that I got from all over the world; actually it made news stories all around the world. Imagine, there's such political divide out there that even if you just talk about working together it becomes newsworthy.
Certainly the voters in California liked the ideas of their elected officials working together. You can see the results in the last election; 91 percent of all Republicans and a huge amount of Democrats voted for me. But most importantly, two-thirds of all Californians say that the state is heading in the right direction. And for the first time in 10 years, the approval rating of the California Legislature is higher than their disapproval rating.
But as we all know, in Washington and in a lot of other states it is totally the opposite. We know that we are on the right track here in California, and I am very, very happy that the legislators are working together, and I want to say thank you to the Democrats and to the Republicans for making this happen. I want to thank also my Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy, who makes all of this happen. Is Susan here today? I just want to make sure that we point her -- Oh, yeah, right here. A big hand to Susan Kennedy right over here, my Chief of Staff. (Applause)
Now, last year, in spite of election year, we got so much done. Think about it; we reformed prescription drug costs, we lowered them by 40 to 60 percent for the most vulnerable citizens. We passed the world's most far-reaching plan to reduce greenhouse gases, and we began rebuilding the state's infrastructure, building more schools, expanding the university system, fixing our levees and our transportation infrastructure and so on. And already this year we passed the most comprehensive prison reform in generations; 53,000 new beds will be built. Now, I didn't do any of this by myself, this was done because of a lot of help and everyone in Sacramento working together.
And I have to admit that I have learned my lesson the hard way. In 2005, I contributed to the polarization in Sacramento. I tried to push through some initiatives that I thought were good ideas, but I did it the wrong way. It was all about us versus them. I'm not a person that gets all introspective about my failures -- which are not that many -- but I do know when something doesn't work, and dividing people just doesn't work. But division seems to be the order of the day in our national politics, and it's all about divide and conquer. You find an issue that splits the country in half, then crack it just enough so that you come out ahead. I have 51 percent, you have 49 percent, I win, you lose.
But something larger gets lost in the process, which is the public's trust, the public's respect, and the public's faith in government. The left and the right don't have a monopoly on conscience. We should not let them get away with that. Most people are in the middle politically. This is where the real action is. You can be a centrist and be principled. You can seek a consensus, and retain your convictions. What is more principled than giving up some part of your position to advance the great good of the people? That is how we arrived at the Constitution of this country. I can guarantee you, our Founding Fathers would still be meeting at the Holiday Inn in Philadelphia if they wouldn't have compromised.
Why can't our political leaders today do the same thing? Some people say, "Arnold, haven't you maybe sold out a little bit here, and became an Independent?" No, I am still a proud Republican, and I support the guiding principles of the Republican Party; lower taxes, a strong defense, free market, and the belief in the power of the individual. Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, you don't have to give up your principles. Besides, isn't it the ultimate principle to serve the people? After all, we are elected to be public servants, not party servants.
When I talk about working together, and centrism and post-partisanship, some people dismiss it and say, "Yeah, yeah, this is just some lightweight idealistic idea that Schwarzenegger has." Well, here's Schwarzenegger, Antonio Villaraigosa, Michael Bloomberg, Edmund Burke, John F. Kennedy, and the list goes on and on. Edmund Burke said, "All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act, is founded on compromise." John Kennedy called compromise "The art essential to keeping our nation united, enabling our government to function." Politics is about compromise, it's about give and take. It all starts with something very basic, and that is establishing relationships.
In the courtyard of our State Capitol in Sacramento, as many of you know, I have a politically incorrect smoking tent. And let me tell you, a lot of people come down there, take off their jackets, loosen up their tie, take a stogie out of my humidor, and they smoke and the schmooze. How come Republicans and Democrats in Washington don't schmooze with each other? You can't catch a socially transmitted disease by just sitting down with some people who maybe hold ideas different from yours. I mean, my in-laws for the last 30 years, every time I go over there to their house, and they have people over, there are Democrats and Republicans over there. They talk about the Peace Corps, the Job Corps. They talk about Special Olympics and all kinds of things, and then they bridge over to other subjects. Sometimes they agree, sometimes they disagree, but you can disagree with your opponent and still maintain respect.
Now, I remember when I spoke to the Republican Convention in 2004, I told them how I became a Republican because of Richard Nixon. Some people were angry. They thought that by me mentioning this president who had resigned in disgrace that I in some small way have maybe rehabilitated him.
Let me tell you a story related to that. In 1977, over the Christmas holiday, Senator Hubert Humphrey, as he lay on his deathbed at home in Minnesota, began calling old friends and colleagues, supposedly to wish them happy holidays, but really to say good-bye. On Christmas Eve he called Richard Nixon, the man who had defeated him for the presidency, and he found both of the Nixons ill and very depressed in San Clemente. Senator Hubert Humphrey was so troubled by this that he called the Nixons back the next morning, and he said he didn't have long to live and he had already made funeral arrangements, which included lying in state in the rotunda of the US Capitol. He invited Nixon to attend the ceremony as an honored guest, befitting the rank of a former president. Now, at that time, may I remind you, Nixon was still the object of great animosity, and had not returned to Washington since his resignation three years earlier. Now, according to an eyewitness, many people gasped when Nixon walked in, when he came in and took his place. In the photos you can see him sitting there with President Carter, right in front of the flag-draped coffin. Now, think about that. What political grace and human compassion Humphrey showed. Where has that world gone? How do we get it back? What bridge can we take to return there? That is the question.
I believe that we can start by simply just talking to each other, by working with each other. I mean, after years of sharp division here in California, we are consciously trying a new approach to solving the problems, and it works. Democrats and Republicans are now working together. The smoking tent is very busy. We're talking about all kinds of issues there. Right now the issue that we are trying to address is health care. The problem is so pressing that we got together. We can't wait for the federal government anymore. They have been talking abut fixing the health care system and creating universal health care since 1912, since Teddy Roosevelt. Nothing has happened; it's almost 100 years later. So we said, "Let's do it ourselves."
We are in the middle of that process right now, and here is the politics of the situation. Part of the plan that I put on the table provides coverage for children of undocumented immigrants. My fellow Republicans oppose this, and I totally understand their opposition. After all, doesn't it encourage people to come here to California illegally and then stick the California people with their medical bills? Well, the fact is, we have really no choice about paying the medical bills of people who are in California illegally, because federal law requires us to treat anyone and everyone who shows up at an emergency room and needs care. We have no choice, absolutely none. And we are very lucky, I’m very happy about that law, because I wouldn't want to have a motorcycle accident in China, or in Africa or somewhere, then I go to the emergency room and someone asks me for my papers.
So I like this, but what it says basically is that the real question here is not do we cover them or not cover them, but do we treat them in emergency rooms at three or four times the cost of a doctor's office or a health clinic, or should we be treating them more efficiently and more cost effectively? That is really the question. I say, let us recognize the reality of the situation and deal with it practically. My Republican colleagues are having real trouble with this.
Now, here's what the Democrats don't like about my plan. It provides individual mandates, which require personal responsibility. I believe that part of the health care answer is mandatory medical insurance, just like we have mandatory car insurance. Well, a lot of Democrats say that individual mandates are unfair. My position is that people who won't take responsibility for themselves end up costing everyone else money, and that's the case right now. All of you who are insured are paying for the uninsured through a hidden tax. But for people, of course, who can't afford coverage, government should help them, and I think that everyone's proposal has that included in Sacramento.
So those are the kind of things that we are trying to work out, and I'm absolutely confident that we will, that by the time we are finished with this negotiation this year, we will have comprehensive health care reform, and we'll do something that is the best for the people of California. So far, everyone has maintained a good attitude, and no one is calling each other names, which itself is great progress in Sacramento. And that is what I am trying to encourage in California in all the different issues, if you're talking about the environment, health care, infrastructure, prison reform, energy, water supply, and the list goes on and on.
Now, Mayor Villaraigosa and Mayor Bloomberg, they are the same way. One is a loyal Democrat and the other one is a loyal Republican. But they are reaching out to everyone, because as I have said earlier, it's all about being a public servant, not a party servant. And they also know that if you stick to just one party's proposal you miss half of the good ideas. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson's first Inaugural Address, we are all Democrats, we are all Republicans, and of course, we are all Americans. We will have our disagreements, yes. There will be many. But when we work together and we are open to compromise, it is amazing what we can accomplish. I mean, just look at the things that we have already accomplished here in California. And if we keep on going and doing it -- which I believe we will, because success breeds success -- we can achieve what is perhaps the most important goal of all in a healthy democracy, and that is to get the American people believing once again that their government works for them, and has their best interests at heart.
Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause)
