Arnold Schwarzenegger

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is prepared to back legislation that would give California $844 million in federal stimulus funds to fix the state's bankrupt system for paying unemployment benefits. The disclosure by a spokeswoman for the governor was the first indication that the Schwarzenegger administration would comply with federal requirements that make it easier for low-wage workers to be eligible for unemployment benefits.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he "absolutely" loves the idea of holding a constitutional convention to overhaul state government. California hasn't had such a confab in 131 years. But as Sacramento continues to embarrass itself, a citizens' movement is mounting to call one.

A judge ruled Thursday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has the power to order the 15,600 employees of other elected statewide officials to take furlough days as part of a budget-cutting measure. State Controller John Chiang, who had doubted the governor's authority and asked the court to decide, said he would appeal the ruling.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has generally declined to discuss his future after he leaves the Capitol, offered some insight into his thinking today when he and other state leaders spoke to Times editors and reporters. Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has been discussed as a potential opponent next year to U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, said he is "not running for anything."

For years, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has treated fellow Republicans with a combination of indifference and thinly veiled contempt. Now, as they vie to succeed him in 2010, the party's two leading candidates for governor are responding in similar fashion.

Even as President Obama toured Europe his administration pressed its healthcare reform campaign Monday in Los Angeles with a forum co-hosted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who lost his bid in California to make many of the changes now on the table in Washington. Reform is overdue, the governor said. "No one can look at our healthcare system and say that the system is fair or a good return on what we spend, and this consensus can help us pass significant bipartisan reforms into law."

Two prominent governors, California's Arnold Schwarzenegger and Pennsylvania's Edward G. Rendell, sent a memo to President Obama saying he needed to assert more political leadership instead of leaving it to Congress to draft a plan for improving the nation's aging highways, bridges and ports.

As he stood before the cameras in Santa Barbara last week, the freewheeling showman that Arnold Schwarzenegger used to be was evident only in his attire. He was clad in a shirt that was blindingly white, as if daring the ruinous soot from the Jesusita wildfire to soil it. Around him were arrayed workers and officials whose muted workday clothes only emphasized Schwarzenegger's primacy.

Normally it's called the "May Revise." But what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will unveil today is a "get out of jail free" card for himself and legislators. First the background: Each May, California's governor revises his January budget proposal for the fiscal year starting July 1. The spending plan is updated to reflect the state's latest revenue take, particularly the April income tax returns. This year's returns were the sorriest since the Great Depression.

In everything Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has done, from his dazzling ascent into office to his most dismal defeats, he has relied on a simple credo: Follow the will of the people, and restore their trust in government. Now, as he asks voters to put their faith in a slate of ballot measures crafted in back rooms of the Capitol to deal with the state's fiscal crisis, the governor's formula is working against him.