Arnold is screwed: Gov. Schwarzenegger evaporated immediately after he was trounced in his own special election earlier this month. He embarked within a day or two after his drubbing to China on a trade mission and hasn’t been heard from since. We had early reports that the Chinese were treating him like a movie star, which must have been a relief after so many months of being treated by his constituents like the lying, conniving tool of corporate special interests that he is.

He may want to stay evaporated because the leaders of his party in Washington have drafted legislation that will cost California taxpayers billions of dollars. If it passes, the bill could end the governor’s floundering political career in November of next year – and convert the GOP from a meager opposition party to permanent minority party status for years to come:

Republican-backed budget cuts moving through Congress threaten to hit California with billions of dollars in lost aid, putting some state social services in jeopardy and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at risk of yet another political setback.

State and federal budget analysts say California, because of its reliance on some of the specific programs targeted, would suffer more in coming years than most states from the package of reductions approved by the House last week.

The bill includes provisions that, in California, would make it tougher to get child support from tens of thousands of deadbeat parents, would strip food stamps from legal immigrants, and would make less money available to doctors who treat low-income patients.

Amid pressure from Democrats in the Legislature, Schwarzenegger had sent an extensive letter to California’s congressional delegation earlier this month, expressing concern about the proposal’s impact on the state. Every California Republican in Congress voted for it nonetheless.

The spending bill was ultimately approved by the House, 217 to 215. While the [Republicans in the] Senate passed a smaller cuts package, that version would still cost California billions in the future. The bills now head to a conference committee, where members of both houses will attempt to reach a final agreement.

Republicans in Congress are pushing ahead with the budget reductions as they struggle to pare down the federal deficit while paying for the Iraq war, hurricane relief and an extension of the tax cuts championed by President Bush.

The governor, battered by the defeat of his special-election initiatives just weeks ago, is under pressure to draw concessions from Washington … He has long promised to get more federal money for California, vowing that he would come to be known as the “Collectinator.” Democrats say his inability to garner votes from California Republicans in Congress suggests that he is failing.

Hint to Arnie: Maybe one reason no one takes you seriously – and why in fact voters find you to be so irritating – is your propensity for coming up with annoying words like “Collectinator.”