Arnold Schwarzenegger's physique isn't the only feature of the California recall race that's gotten flabby. The Terminator and other candidates are already resorting to squishy sound bites to describe their proposed fixes for the state's fiscal fiasco.

Don't get us wrong; solving California's budget woes won't be easy. We pity the fool who actually wins because they have as good of a chance of balancing the budget as the Cincinnati Bengals have of winning the Super Bowl. We wouldn't wish a potential new governor failure, but anyone who gets elected by feeding voters a bunch of bull about his or her future budget decisions deserves to be gored.

Stopping the flow of red ink typically requires politically unpopular decisions that can result in heavy carnage. Many pundits have argued that President Clinton's first economic plan in 1993 cost the Democrats the House of Representatives. In the case of California, recent tough budget cuts are about to cost 16,000 state employees their jobs and a 30% increase in state university tuition. On top of that, this year's $38 billion budget deficit still needs to be paid back and next year's budget is already $8 billion in the red. Since both of these budgets are laden with tricks, fuzzy math and other gimmicks, the actual deficit is likely to be much greater.

After the “Last Action Hero” turned politician's recent declaration that, “the public doesn't care about figures,” he might be shocked to find out that the budget crisis matters to 9 out of every 10 voters, according to recent polls.

His political posturing and soft answers will provide future budget writers with little flexibility. California's tax system relies heavily on sales tax and income taxes from households and businesses – a system that in good economic times generates monster surpluses but produces crumbs when the going gets tough. Total education expenditures consume more than half the state's budget and health care makes up another 24%, leaving not much room to nip and tuck.

Without raising any new revenues or making significant tax reforms that untie the state fiscal coffers from the state of the economy, experts warn that drastic measures such as the elimination of a University of California campus, releasing convicted felons, or cutting benefits to poor people might be unavoidable.

The “Running M.png” says he will balance the budget, but when asked about specifics he says he won't cut popular programs, such as K-12 education, and won't look for new ways to raise revenue for his cash-depleted state. The only commitment the Schwarzenegger camp has made is to hire a private auditor to review the state's finances and recommend budget cuts. As a budget watchdog, we like the idea of cutting wasteful spending. But, this promise sounds more like a delay tactic to keep from coming clean about the tough deficit-erasing choices that lie ahead. Plus, someone might want to let Arnie know that there is already a government agency responsible for this task.

The pumped up rhetoric of you can have your cake and eat it too sounds awfully similar to President Bush's big government conservative rhetoric. Let's not forget what happened to the federal deficit after the President drained federal revenue and then said we can pay for education, a new prescription drug plan, the war in Iraq, and homeland security.

The only way for California to dig itself out of the fiscal hole is with a plan that combines aggressive spending restraint with increased and stabilized revenues. Plenty of specific options exist including taxing Internet transactions and changing the tax rules for commercial properties, just to name a few.

Arnold, please level with California voters, there is no way that you can balance the budget and keep all the promises that you have made during your campaign. Voters need to know about your budget plans or it's “Hasta La Vista Baby.”