Pumping my own stuff

Got another article in the paper today. I thought it was actually going to make the front page, but then it didn't. You can find it here.

I partly blame Graham's Mom for this. If you didn't know, which you probably don't because most people don't have to follow New York State news, state judges here decided to give themselves a pay raise. Here's the crux of the issue:

Setting the stage for a showdown among the three branches of government, a state judge has ordered Governor Paterson and the Legislature to start paying him and his 1,180 fellow state jurists more money.

If each judge on the state bench received the $600,000 sought by the four plaintiffs, the state's taxpayers would be on the hook for more than $700 million. The order by Judge Edward Lehner of state Supreme Court in Manhattan appears to instruct the Senate and Assembly to pass a law upping judges' pay within 90 days, which could prove an impossibly fast time frame for slow-moving Albany.

The decision also raises constitutional questions about the authority of judges to perform the legislative job of setting salaries and deciding how best to spend tax dollars.

Basically Graham's Mom wants more money. I propose the raises come from some of that internet money we all know is floating around, instead of the loyal New York taxpayers.