Schwarzenegger, Netanyahu and an Israeli army drill
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released his weekly radio and YouTube address Friday and it included a curious story the governor says he was told five years ago by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It involves an army drill, six grown men carrying each other and a subliminal lesson about the role of the public sector. It begins at the three-minute mark of the video below. A transcript of the story is after the jump.
-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento
So anyway, now let me tell you a little story about when I visited Israel five years ago. I ran into and had a meeting with then Finance Minister Netanyahu, who now is prime minister. I told him, “Since you have been finance minister, the revenues are coming back in Israel. The economy is coming back. Things are going really well. What is the secret?” Because I have just become governor of the great state of California, and I can maybe use the same methods and principles. He said “the most important thing is, you have to let government shrink and you have to let the private sector get bigger and stronger.” Then he said, “Let me tell you a story.” He said, “When I was in the army, our commander had us line up and pick each other up, and then run through the finish line. The first guy was a little guy, who had a big guy on his shoulder. I weighed around 200 pounds, and I had to pick up a guy also around 200 pounds. The guy next to me was a big strong guy, weighed around 220 to 230, and he picked up a guy who was 160 pounds. Then we took off toward the finish line. The first guy, the little guy, was stumbling all over, falling, couldn’t make it. I moved toward the finish line with big strides. But the big guy next to me, with the little guy on his shoulders, he ran through the finish line and finished first.” I said, “That is a really great story. But what does that have to do with revenues and the economy?” He said to me, “It is very simple. The bottom guy represents the private sector and the top guy represents the public sector. If the public sector is bigger than the private sector, the private sector has no chance. That is why the first guy stumbled, and the other guy ran through the finish line because he had the little guy on top. You have to make the public sector shrink. That is the bottom line.” So, I wanted to tell you this story because for the rest of my time as governor, I can assure you, that I will continue to fight with all my power to make sure government in California lives within its means. That is the important thing: to keep it contained and not allow it to squish or destroy the private sector. That is the bottom line.