Does 14 really count as 'a few' at the New York Times? In Friday's off-lead story from Trenton, Richard Perez-Pena from Trenton covers one of Gov. Chris Christie's biggest victories as New Jersey governor, 'In New Jersey, Lawmakers Curb Workers Benefits [1].'
New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday approved a broad rollback of benefits for 750,000 government workers and retirees, the deepest cut in state and local costs in memory, in a major victory for Gov. Chris Christie and a once-unthinkable setback for the state's powerful public employee unions.
The Assembly passed the bill 46 to 32, as Republicans and a few Democrats defied raucous protests by thousands of people whose chants, vowing electoral revenge, shook the State House. Leaders in the State Senate said their chamber, which had already passed a slightly different version of the bill, would approve the Assembly version on Monday. Mr. Christie, a Republican, was expected to sign the measure into law quickly.
'A few Democrats?' As Tom Blumer pointed out [2] at Newsbusters: 'Given that the Assembly has 47 Democrats and 33 Republicans, it took more than 'a few Democrats' to get the law passed in the Assembly by the 46-32 margin indicated.'
Indeed, 14 Democrats – nearly 30% of the 47-member caucus – ended up voting for the bill [3]. That's surely qualifies as more than 'a few' under New York Times style guidelines. Dare we call it a bipartisan victory?