I see judicial pay raises are on the agenda for next week's special session. Legislators have blocked prior efforts to increase judges' pay by insisting on linking the issue to a raise for themselves, which they haven't had the cojones to actually pass. Maybe we need an omnibus supply-side measure that responds to the state's ever growing fiscal crisis by giving raises not just to judges and politicians but also to the leaders of New York's bailed-out leading industry, Wall Street. Who could possibly object to that?
Update: The Gazette of Schenectady is running an online poll asking "Should the pay for judges in New York state be increased?" The results as of 11 p.m. Sunday were 87 percent (140 votes) no to 12 percent (20 votes) yes.
It's interesting how you can rig a poll simply be voiding it of context. I wonder how much the poll results would've been different if the question had included the factual clause, "for the first time in 12 years."
Posted by: Brian | December 07, 2010 at 06:05 PM
Hi Brian. I don't agree that the poll was rigged. Another piece of information that could have been included was the current salaries of judges, which are far above what the average state resident makes. I guess the legislators agree with you and not me, since passing this was one of the few things they did in the special sessions(s). Meanwhile, they expanded the budget gap to $10 billion, according to the Paterson administration. Unfortunately, Paterson is still dishing out his own pork, and he and the legislators seem to think there's plenty of money to give judges a raise.
Posted by: Bob Conner | December 08, 2010 at 11:15 AM