by JB Williams

As Democrat New York Governor David Patterson sought to feather the nests of his closest aides and allies with lavish pay increases topping 29%, he was pushing for a furlough of 100,000 state employees in an emergency effort to keep New York state from bellying up under the weight of excessive government waste in one of the highest taxed states in the country.

NYDailyNews:

A federal judge in Albany on Wednesday temporarily halted Gov. Paterson's plan to furlough 100,000 state workers, saying employees could face "irreparable harm" from a 20% pay cut.

The Legislature reluctantly backed Paterson's furlough plan Monday, rather than risk a government shutdown.

Of course Government Employee Labor Unions were furious, taking to the streets of New York like Greek union thugs, threatening to make the streets of New York look like the streets of Athens if someone didn’t step in and stop Patterson from putting 100,000 state workers on the unemployment line.

In rides the knight in shining armor on silver steed, a federal court judge who immediately issues a stay blocking New York from laying off 100,000 workers on the basis of – “it wasn’t collectively bargained” – which means, the labor union objects… and on that basis alone, one man stopped the state of New York, its elected Governor and the state legislature from balancing their own budget before going belly up. End analysis? – Where did states rights go?

Where will that federal judge be when New York payroll checks bounce?

Meanwhile, one must ask, since government jobs are taxpayer funded, why do we even have public sector labor unions which can hold taxpayers hostage under thug collective bargaining rules, perpetually increasing the cost of government to the detriment of every taxpayer, until we hit the bottom of the resource well?

Many other US cities and states are in the same position as New York. Since we now think federal legal precedent is the new supreme law of our land, this judge single handedly established that no city or state has the right to self-govern, unless they clear it with labor union thugs first.