Governor Schwarzenegger: Hired by Muscle Magazines

In an obvious attempt at a smear our friends of the MSM are all over California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for of all things – working and receiving an outside income.

The Sacramento Bee has Governor’s muscle magazines packed with ads for supplements.

Read it all!

But, supplements are NOT Steriods.

And wasn’t it Democrat Governor Gray Davis who vetoed legislation to regulate Ephedra, a chemical precursor to the manufacture of Methamphetamine?

So, is the Bee accusing the Governor of a conflict of interest because of revenue from muscle magazines that contain ads of dietary supplements influencing his legislative agenda?

Or, is it a Karl Rove type scandel created by the Left and the MSM?

The Los Angeles Times has Gov. to Be Paid $8 Million by Fitness Magazines.

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.

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.”

He added: “For a governor to have … contracted his decision-making and judgment to a company is a real 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.

No solicitation and legal dietary supplements – not illegal drugs or medicines.

What is the big deal?

Last year, the governor vetoed a bill by state Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) that would have required coaches to take a course in performance-enhancing supplements, created a list of banned substances for interscholastic sports and barred supplement manufacturers from sponsoring school events. In his veto message, the governor said that most dietary supplements were safe and that Speier’s bill would have been difficult to implement. He also said the bill unfairly focused on “performance-enhancing dietary supplements (PEDS) instead of focusing on ensuring that students participating in high school sports are not engaged in steroids use.”

Flap sees no conflict of interest here.

Eric Hogue has Schwarzenegger’s Muscle Money

Read it all here.

The Democrats are giddy with another “Big Lie” campaign, trying to crete the premise that Arnold is protecting his friends, making millions and vetoing legislation that would remove dangerous supplements from the shelves and magazines of the nation.

Remember, supplements are NOT steroids…two different things folks.

The only ‘muscle game’ evolving here is the ‘out-of-control’ machine of the public employee unions. If the press really wanted to remove dangerous growth hormones from our society, then they should stop the ‘hit pieces’, and focus on the paycheck protection initiative.

Indeed.