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Governator vs. the unions

According to the L.A. Times, Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying to dig himself out of a hole with the teachers unions:

When Schwarzenegger backtracked last year on a commitment to pay off education money that had been diverted to other state programs, he made a political enemy of the well-funded education lobby. Union leaders cast him as a double-talking politician who could not be trusted to protect California’s schoolchildren.

Now that argument becomes harder to make: Schwarzenegger is pledging to repay over seven years more than $5 billion that education groups say they are due — beginning with a $2-billion cash infusion this summer.

"There’s no question in my mind that there’s a political effort underway to neutralize as much opposition as possible," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles). "I don’t think the administration lives in fantasyland. They know they’re going to have strong opposition in November. But this is a way to soften the blow. And if they can soften the blow enough, they think they’re looking at the governor’s reelection."

Other union allies say that there is no political truce with the governor and that they remain committed to Schwarzenegger’s defeat. The California Teachers Assn., one of Schwarzenegger’s main adversaries, has endorsed Democratic state Treasurer Phil Angelides for governor. There is no sign that will change.

As Schwarzenegger can attest, once one incurs the wrath of the unions, one must endure sore repentance to make things right again.