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John Fund joins the chorus calling on Schwarzenegger to take the pledge I'm with Schwarzenegger on this. Tax pledges always struck me as dumb -- the last person to sign one of these things that I can think of was George Bush I. Schwarzenegger's own pledge is much less of an empty gesture -- and much more of a weapon in the real world of California politics:

Mr. Schwarzenegger already has shown his willingness to play hardball with the legislature. Yesterday, he promised to call a special legislative session to address the state's antibusiness political environment. He has also told friends that if the legislature balked on his budget proposals--without offering anything constructive--he would visit the districts of key legislators. There, the Terminator would turn up the political heat by holding rallies in support of his budget. He could even hold fundraisers for opponents to run against offending legislators.

I have to say, I liked what I heard from Schwarzenegger today. I particularly liked his proposal for a Constitutional measure limiting spending by the legislature. Milton Friedman has been recommending the Constitutional measure now in place in Colorado -- something similar to Ronald Reagan's failed Proposition 1.