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Weintraub on Schwartzenegger. "This [NY Times editorial] is just the latest in a series of laudatory pieces on the new governor. I was bullish on him going in and I have been impressed with his approach to the job, but I feel now as if many observers are overreacting in the other direction. Schwarzenegger is not working political miracles. His first big accomplishment was a $15 billion bond to restructure state debt and a new budget reserve plan that fell far short of the spending limit he was seeking. His second major deal was a workers compensation agreement that passed only after it got a sign-off from organized labor. Meanwhile he has run into a brick wall with the public employee unions, is struggling to overhaul an out-of-control prison system, and has had to back away from a number of his most controversial budget proposals. He is not rolling over the Democrats in the Legislature so much as he is creating the appearance of doing so by declaring victory at just the right moment. But oddly, each time that happens he grows more powerful, and that makes it more likely that he will get his way in the future. He says he is succeeding, so he is. He is the ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy." "California Insider - Self-fulfilling prophecy". Posted by Greg Ransom | TrackBack