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Who knows what people were thinking when they put Arnold Schwarzenegger in charge of running the state of California? But whatever they were thinking they probably never thought it would come to this: the Governator is hawking crap on Ebay and Craig's List to rescue the state's economy. In his latest effort to balance the budget, the governor is cleaning out the state's garage and holding a massive yard sale on Craigslist and EBay. How about a 2001 Ford Focus wagon with 110,059 miles and Schwarzenegger's autograph on the sun visor? That beauty brought in a high-bid of $1,625.01 for the old state car.
How did Arnold come up with this brilliant plan to keep California up and running? He got the idea from one of nearly 1 million people who follow him on Twitter. "Daht is great Ideauh!" What Schwarzenegger actually said was, "I look forward to selling these signed cars and making some money for California," the governor tweeted last week as he autographed the sun visors in the beat up state vehicles.
"It's an innovative idea," said the governor's spokesman, Aaron McLear told the Los Angeles Times. "We're always happy to listen to the people about ways in which we can run government more efficiently." Some might suggest that's exactly how we arrived at this particular juncture. The state began selling unneeded or unclaimed items online recently and is holding a two-day auction of 6,000 more on Friday and Saturday at a Sacramento warehouse. The CHP isn't donating any Harley's so the items for sale are largely things like seven used State of California coat racks. They're just $5 each. If you buy six the seventh state coat rack is free!
But while Arnold is a huge fan of dumb ideas, he himself is not stupid. That's why there's nothing cool to buy like an item from the wardrobe of the Terminator 2. Schwarzenegger's signature on the visor of a state car might add $400 of value at most, according to Darren Julien, president and chief executive officer of Julien's Auctions in West Hollywood. A motorcycle or a jacket from a Schwarzenegger movie would be highly coveted, but none of those items is on sale.
"We've sold his 'Terminator' jackets for as much as $40,000," Julien, who specializes in celebrity auctions, including an upcoming sale of some of Barbra Streisand's possessions, told the LA Times. "It's too early right now for him to be highly collectible as a governor or as a politician. That could change in the future." Hey, miracles can happen. Schwarzenegger may terminate the budget crisis and turn a Raw Deal into an online steal for Californians. The sale may be mostly symbolic, Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.
But "if this is the beginning of taking a . . . thorough review of our property management practices, it's a good thing."
Anything, it seems, is better than paying taxes. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
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