Schwarzenegger's $5 million magazine deal disclosed to feds

[robertarctor]

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/ca/story/13230131p-14072811c.html

Deal pays governor $5 million

Schwarzenegger's pact with bodybuilding magazines is disclosed to federal regulators.

By Gary Delsohn -- Bee Capitol Bureau

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is receiving at least $5 million for his work as executive editor of two bodybuilding magazines whose advertisers have business at the Capitol, the publishers revealed for the first time Wednesday.

The money is in addition to $250,000 annually over five years that the magazines have agreed to pay to the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness.

|more at link -- registration required|

[Semi_subversive]

1. A we thought Gray Davis was a special interest whore??

[robertarctor]

2. Hmm ... No wonder he doesn't get trashed in the tabloids

This graf, from the Delsohn piece:

American Media, which also publishes the Enquirer and Star tabloids, reported in a June SEC filing that it had entered a five-year consultant agreement with "a third party which provides various editorial consulting and other services," but did not identify Schwarzenegger by name. It estimated in that document that the compensation would cost the company $8.15 million.

Yeah, Arnie's not corrupt like that special-interest whore Gray Davis.

[Hepburn]

3. Try Bugmenot for Registration sites

To by-pass the need to register to read an article, try this site:

www.bugmenot.com

the login given for this article is:

gwillreader
georgewill

And it worked, at least for me, to by-pass having to register (even if I did not like the nick and the password).

Hope this helps and it was a good article. Actually, I found the article a bit ironic considering the pics of Arnold which were posted the other day that shows that at this time he is pretty much an out of shape blob.

[Imagine My Surprise]

4. Do you think this story will get major legs?

Could this somehow magically tie-in to the GOP Rove woes? By that, I mean the seeming mood of change in the air.

I know Arnold the Pig's popularity has plummeted and this can't help much.

But will could this force him out of office early as he forced Gray Davis out?

[napi21]

5. So what are you folks going to do in the vote in November?

I don't live in California, but I'm interested is what happens there. I keep hearing that the vote in Nov. will be a referendum on Aanauld, and if his ideas fail, he won't run for Gov. in 2008.

Seems like everybody was so upset with Davis, they voted for the most prominent guy to replace him, but they're now having buyers remorse. What do you see happening in Nov?

[ronnykmarshall]

7. I'm voting against all of Arnie measures.

Also the election for Gov is in 2006, not '08.

He still has not publicly said he'll run again. I think if his ballots measures fail .... he won't run again.

[Carla in Ca]

8. We are doing our best to get him ...O U T

I think this latest story will help. His polls are down and he is getting booed where ever he goes. He is no longer able to set up his appearances like an action movie. He now has to sneak in through the back door, poor baby.

Here is another article from KOS on the subject
<http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/14/101254/825>

Also, one of the initiatives dealing with redistricting is being challenged in court. The language for the ballot measure is different from the petition...Can you believe his gall?

Lastly, and it is my opinion only, I think the talk about Dem celebrities who could run against him (Reiner & Beatty) misses the point. Choosing another celeb endorses the idea that it takes one to run the sixth largest economy in the world. The thinking that it takes one celeb to beat another is ridiculous. This is not a race for mayor of Hollywood.

:hi:

[Ernesto]

6. Aw yes, culeeforneeya's own "culture of corruption"

brought to you by the gop

[bliss_eternal]

9. I just heard on the news it is $8 million!

This story was on the front page of the LA Times today.

From LA Times story:

Governor to be paid $8 million by Fitness magazines

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.

--snip--
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.

Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C., said: "This is one of the most egregious apparent conflicts of interest that I have seen. This calls into question his judgment as to who he is working for, and it calls into question what he thinks he owes the public."

-snip--

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."

--snip--

The governor announced last year that he had agreed to become executive editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex. He writes monthly columns for both, dictating them to the editorial staff of the magazines. The governor's office had declined to reveal his salary.

--snip--
...the state form calls for little specificity, requiring only that public officials report income in excess of $10,000. The statement offered no more detail. And unlike past governors, he has declined to make his tax returns public.

The contract shows that Schwarzenegger's firm, Oak Productions, gets 1% of the subsidiary's annual advertising revenue. It holds that "in no event" will payment be less than $1 million a year.

The agreement estimates that the governor's company will receive $2.15 million in fiscal year 2006; the same amounts in '07 and '08; and $1.7 million in '09. Those sums exceed the salary of the chairman and CEO of American Media, David J. Pecker, whose base pay this year is listed at $1.5 million.

--snip--

Link to article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-governor14jul14,0,2776728.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[robertarctor]

10. Conflict of interest?

C'mon, DUers, repeat after me:

It's OK if you're a Republican!

[bliss_eternal]

12. You got that right! But it doesn't seem to be sitting well

w/many people here in California. Particularly those that wondered aloud, why Arnie doesn't take Beatty's and others advice, and raise taxes on the rich.

DUH! :banghead:

Because then he'd have to pay those taxes himself--crook!

[Frances]

11. Why didn't the Enquirer and the Star say anything about

Arnold's sex scandals when he was running for governor? The answer is in the Sacramento Bee: "American Media, which also publishes the Enquirer and Star tabloids..."

I have been saying for a long time that Soros should buy a tabloid. Most of us stand in line at the supermarket and I am tired of seeing negative headlines about the Clintons and Barbra Streisand. I want equal time to read negative headlines about Republicans.