Schwarzenegger takes office in California, repeals car tax

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, who arrived in the United States 35 years ago as a bodybuilder dreaming of fame and fortune, was sworn in Monday as governor of California and said he was ready to take on the "massive weight we must lift off our state."

He promptly made good on at least one campaign promise: He repealed the tripling of California's car registration tax, which means the state must find an additional $4.2 billion to make up for the lost revenue.

Schwarzenegger then called the legislature into special session to address the budget and further reform the workers' compensation system. He has also promised a balanced budget that does not include any new taxes or significant cuts in education and local governments, and he wants to repeal a bill granting driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants.

The session begins today.

In addition, Schwarzenegger said he wants the legislature to put a massive bond proposal before voters in March, in combination with a state spending cap aimed at preventing similar financial problems in the future.

"I learned something from all those years of training and competing," he said. "What I learned is that we are always stronger than we know. California is like that, too."

The inauguration ceremony was devoid of much of the usual pageantry.

With his wife, Maria Shriver, holding a 192-year-old Kennedy family Bible, Schwarzenegger took the oath of office from California's chief justice on the steps of the state Capitol.

The 56-year-old Hollywood action hero then gave a 12-minute speech in which he invoked Presidents Kennedy and Reagan and called himself, like JFK, "an idealist without illusions."

"Perhaps some think this is fanciful or poetic, but to an immigrant like me -- who, as a boy, saw Soviet tanks rolling through the streets of Austria -- to someone like me who came here with absolutely nothing and gained absolutely everything, it is not fanciful to see this state as a golden dream," Schwarzenegger said in becoming California's 38th governor.

He promised to put the state's finances in order, and added: "I will not rest until California is a competitive, job-creating machine."

Although he had no experience as an elected official, the Republican was swept into office in the Oct. 7 election that ousted Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, reviled by the voters for his handling of the state's sickly economy.

An immigrant from Austria who arrived in the United States at age 21 barely able to speak English, Schwarzenegger is now the leader of the nation's most populous state and the world's sixth-biggest economy.

Schwarzenegger faces a budget deficit that he put at more than $24 billion; a business climate that some economists say is the nation's worst; and a Democrat-dominated legislature that may not be in a cooperative mood.

"There's a massive weight we must lift off our state. Alone, I cannot lift it. But together, we can," he said.