Union Reform Wins Bipartisan Support...in New Jersey??

Wow.  The public employee unions have had their sails trimmed in Wisconsin and now New Jersey:

New Jersey lawmakers tonight voted to enact a sweeping plan to cut public worker benefits after a long day of high-pitched political drama in the streets and behind closed doors.

Union members chanted outside the Statehouse and in the Assembly balcony, and dissident Democrats tried to stall with amendments and technicalities. Although they successfully convinced top lawmakers to remove a controversial provision restricting public workers’ access to out-of-state medical care, they failed to halt a historic defeat for New Jersey’s powerful unions and a political victory for Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

Nearly 8500 people gathered in the streets surrounding the Statehouse in Trenton to defend their stance on pension and benefit reform. Collective bargaining was the overall theme, but some delved deeper as to what exactly is important to them and their families as a bill awaits a vote in the state assembly.

"Together, we’re showing New Jersey is serious about providing long-term fiscal stability for our children and grandchildren," Christie said in a statement released after the vote. "We are putting the people first and daring to touch the third rail of politics in order to bring reform to an unsustainable system."

You know things are pretty bad in statehouse budgets when you can win bipartisan support for union benefits reform in New Jersey. Gov. Christie is doing what he said he'd do and the state will be better off for it.