The Political Descent Of Arnold Schwarzenegger

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s political star has been falling rapidly in California and this certainly won’t help stop the fall:

SACRAMENTO — Two days before he was sworn into office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger accepted a consulting job paying an estimated $8 million over five years to “further the business objectives” of a national publisher of health and bodybuilding magazines.

The contract pays Schwarzenegger 1% of the magazines’ advertising revenue, much of which comes from makers of nutritional supplements. Last year, the governor vetoed legislation that would have imposed government regulations on the supplement industry.

According to records filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Schwarzenegger entered into the agreement with a subsidiary of American Media Inc. on Nov. 15, 2003. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company publishes Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines, among others.

Watchdog groups and state lawmakers called the contract — which refers to Schwarzenegger as “Mr. S” — a conflict of interest….

The law allows governors and other elected officials to keep outside jobs. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) has been paid $35,000 a year by the Voter Improvement Program in Los Angeles, a nonprofit organization created by the former president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

A Schwarzenegger spokeswoman, Margita Thompson, said that his financial holdings were “probably the most complicated of any governor” and that he had complied with all laws for disclosing his income. She said the consulting contract presented “no conflict of interest” because Schwarzenegger did not solicit any advertising.

“The governor did not direct sales or marketing activities of American Media and did not have personal contact with any advertisers to generate the advertising revenue,” Thompson said.

The contract calls for the governor to help the company through his own suggestions and by “being responsive to the reasonable requests” of Weider Publications, a subsidiary of American Media.

In a concession to Schwarzenegger’s job as California governor, the agreement says that he is not compelled to work for the company during “normal business hours on business days.”

None of those stipulations or the Governor’s spokeswoman’s comments are going to matter in the end.

The fact is: Schwarzenegger was elected largely because of his promises that he wouldn’t be like any other politician. And, if news reports are to believed he has kept that promise: raising more money from special interest groups that any other governor and, now we find out, signing a nice, big fat $$$ deal — then vetoing a law related to the area from which he’ll make megabucks. Not good imagery.