Schwarzenegger 'happy' with services for illegal immigrants

[Midnight Mike]

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he's "happy" illegal immigrants get state services and says they're not to blame for California's $24.3 billion budget gap.

Schwarzenegger, an immigrant himself, says the estimated $4 billion to $5 billion the state spends on illegal immigrants annually is a "small percentage" of the deficit.

The Republican governor told The Sacramento Bee's editorial board on Friday that it's easy to "scapegoat" illegal immigrants. But he says the state's budget has a much deeper spending imbalance.

He noted the federal government requires California to provide emergency health care and education to illegal immigrants. And he says illegal immigrants often help pick the state's crops and construct its buildings.

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_12535777?source=rss_viewed

[Matt Molnar]

That's a moronic thing to say. Add 5% annually to that $5 billion because that's an extra $5 billion worth of bonds they have to sell to pay for other things, like schools and roads.

[T-Bird76]

4 to 5 bil is nothing to joke about...California is flat broke right now and the risk to the rest of the country if their economy falters even more is huge.