Let The Public Employee Furloughs Begin

In a move that will be increasingly common across the country in the coming years, New York state legislators approved a furlough affecting 100,000 New York public employees.

"Legislators on Monday night reluctantly approved furloughing 100,000 state workers for the first time in New York history.

The unprecedented move forcing employees to take one unpaid day off per week came after Governor Patterson threatened to shut down state government."

The measure being taken by New York State was largely avoidable. If public sector employee had been willing to reduce their already incredibly lavish pay and benefits across the board by as a little as 10%, furloughs would have been unnecessary.

Of course, agreeing to such concessions would go against the bull-headed nature of public sector unions.

In time however, for states like New York, California and New Jersey that have nightmare fiscal deficits , furloughs will ultimately prove to be insufficient and mass layoffs of public employees and slashing of promised pension benefits will be required in order to get state budgets in line with tax receipts.

For taxpayers that are sick and tired of funding lavish retirements of public employees (good luck to anyone who think they can get these types of retirement benefits in the private sector), this type of fiscal reckoning can't come soon enough.