Schwarzenegger mocks California legislature as "girly-men"

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Arnold Schwarzenegger, the weight lifter and Hollywood actor turned California state governor, accused the state legislature of being "girly-men" and called on voters to "terminate" those that oppose his budget plans at the polls, California news media reported.

Republican Schwarzenegger has been battling the Democratic-controlled legislature over his proposed 103 billion dollar budget. A vote on the budget is already 17 days behind schedule.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters at a mall in the southern California city of Ontario, Schwarzenegger resorted to the tough rhetoric from his action hero days.

The legislators "cannot have the guts to come out there in front of you and say, 'I don't want to represent you. I want to represent those special interests: the unions, the trial lawyers' ... I call them girly-men. They should get back to the table and they should finish the budget," he told the crowd.

Schwarzenegger used the term "girly-man" -- first used in a popular late-night comedy skit parodying the actor -- twice in the 16-minute speech, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Schwarzenegger also urged supporters to vote his opponents out of office.

"I want each and every one of you to go the polls on November 2nd," he said. "That will be judgment day. I want you to go to the polls. . . . You are the terminators, yes!"

Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, a San Francisco Democrat, was unimpressed.

"I don't know what the definition of 'girly-man' is," he told the Times. "As opposed to his being a he-man?"

Another Democrat, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, said such statements were below the dignity of the governor. "He says he's going to 'terminate' members in November? I really don't know what he means by that. That's not funny any more," Nunez told the Times.