And not the Big Guy himself, who managed, while losing lots of what he sought - sales tax, health-insurance tax, electricity tax and more - still got big money for mass transit and education.
So nobody bleeds on the Capitol's colorful mosaic tile.
Ah, compromise.
"Everybody blinked," says Gov. Ed. "We all blinked a little bit . . . unless there's mutual blinking there's no budget."
There was. And so there is.
The Legislature now prepares to approve a $27.5 billion plan, the first in the post-pay-raise "age of reform," a process that'll take days, maybe the weekend, thanks to rule changes preventing lawmakers from shoving stuff down our throats.
The agreement, importantly to Philadelphia, brings new dedicated funding to SEPTA - more than $200 million this year, much more later - enough to forestall service cuts and fare increases for years (but not enough, says SEPTA, to roll back yesterday's 11 percent fare hike; come on, this is still Pennsylvania).
It brings new money to Philly schools for early education, tutoring and computers, and guarantees expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
"We've done exceptionally well," says His Edness.
Still, this agreement, reached Monday night, nine days late, after a needless delay that included humiliation and worry for almost 24,000 state workers deemed "nonessential" and furloughed without pay, is no gem of good government.
(Notice that casino operators stayed open and made money while state workers got laid off and lost money? Some things never change.)
In the end, a battle started on principles such as moving Pennsylvania progressively forward with bold plans to fund medical research, broad health-care reform and alternate energy sources ended with an agreement to increase tax breaks for moviemakers and feed WAMS (walking around money) to all four legislative caucuses, reportedly $115 million each.
