Schwarzenegger Turns to Hoover Institution for Advice

California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking for advice from the same conservative think tank President Bush looks to for ideas.

The actor has recruited advisors from the famed Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace whose members helped President Bush put together his economic plan according to the Associated Press.

The AP reports that the Stanford University based institute's economists who helped Bush with his tax cut programs are assisting Schwarzenegger in devising his policies on taxes, the economy and unemployment

The Hoover Institution on the Stanford campus in Palo Alto was founded by Herbert Hoover in 1919 and its economists are credited with devising the supply side economic ideas that dominated the Reagan administration's economic programs. As the AP stresses, those ideas rely heavily on tax cuts to stimulate the economy - also a key ingredient in President Bush's economic agenda. Their policies are diametrically opposed to the idea put forward by another Schwarzenegger advisor Warren Buffett who suggested that California's taxes were too low.

After Buffett suggested that California's property taxes are too low Schwarzenegger jokingly demanded 500 sit-ups if Buffett brought up the issue again.

Among the Hoover scholars guiding Schwarzenegger are former Gov. Pete Wilson; Michael Boskin, President Bush Sr's economic adviser; George Shultz, a former secretary of the treasury and state; and John Cogan, a former assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Not everyone is happy about the direction Schwarzenegger is taking on economic policies. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the only Democrat candidate in the recall election favors tax increases to solve California's massive $38 billion budget shortfall, and independent Ariana Huffington has said she opposes Schwarzenegger's ideas.

"Schwarzenegger is right out of the Bush economic playbook, and that's the last thing the state needs," Huffington told the AP. "Millions of people have lost their 401(k)s and their savings. Real people pay the price for a lack of oversight and regulation."

But Hoover's Boskin was enthusiastic about the actor's candidacy. "The current crowd in Sacramento has driven the state's finances into a ditch by systematically making foolish decisions on electricity, spending, debt and workers' compensation," Boskin, a Hoover senior fellow told the AP. "One of the many attractive features about Arnold Schwarzenegger is his ability to reach out to talented people from around the state."

Hoover Institution director John Raisian told the AP "The public at large is learning that Reagan was a thinker and wasn't just an actor by any means. I think Arnold has a lot of these same traits. He has a lot of gut feelings on these things, more knowledge than people give him credit for, and he's ramping up quickly."