Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is probably feeling very unpopular right now. Since the fi asco of the November special election, in which all four of his measures went down in fl aming electoral defeat, his approval ratings have plummeted to below 40 percent—even lower than President Bush’s.

Now Schwarzenegger has decided to drop his body-building, tough guy façade in favor of a new, more liberal image, not so different from the “girly men” he once mocked.

The only issue on which Schwarzenegger has been consistently conservative was the budget. He began this year by announcing his approval of raising minimum wage from $6.75 to $7.75 an hour, something liberals have been demanding for years. He claims he is doing so for the sake of California workers, but it is hard to believe coming from the same Governor who twice vetoed similar increases.

Because outsourcing to different parts of the world is now a profi table business practice, raising the minimum wage is suicide. According to the California Chamber of Commerce, this measure will add about $2 billion in extra labor costs. This will discourage businesses from investing in California, because more of their money would be spent on the labor force.

Raising the minimum wage will also result in a loss of jobs. Businesses only have a certain amount of money to spend on their workers as it is, and they will now be forced to spend more money per worker. Hence, the total number of jobs available will decrease. If Schwarzenegger is so eager to help the people and economy of California, why would he do something so detrimental to them?

Raising the minimum wage might seem like a good idea—after all, it could raise the standard of living and provide more money that people can spend on the economy. However, in doing so, Schwarzenegger is inadvertently allowing some workers to live better while forcing others into poverty. Along with sacrifi cing jobs, he is also scaring away potential investors. Raising the minimum wage may have started with good intentions, but then again, so did the recall election. Schwarzenegger has lost his vision, and California is responding with a blind eye.