Worker furloughs in Prince George's County, Maryland have been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. The county implemented 10 furlough days last year to help bridge a budget gap due to the economic downturn. In July the county board approved additional 10-days of furloughs. Judge Alexander Williams Jr. wrote in a 43-page opinion that “the County’s actions resemble trappings of doing that which was politically expedient.” Williams added that the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from passing laws that impair “the obligation of contracts.” Furloughs impact the wages agreed to in worker contracts. A Hawaiian Circuit Court ruled in July that the Governor of that state could not arbitrarily order furlough days without first negotiating them with unions representing workers. In that case Circuit Court Judge Karl Sakamoto said such an order violated the Hawaiian Constitution because it impacted wages agreed to in a contract.

As members of Congress head home to hold conversations with constituents about healthcare reform two organizations are hoping to insert static into the dialogue. One of the organizations is Americans for Prosperity, an advocacy group fronted by Tim Phillips, who is a former leader of Ralph Reed’s Century Strategies. During Senate investigations it was learned that Century Strategies helped launder money for Jack Abramoff. Americans for Prosperity is currently paying to bus individuals around the country under the guise of an organization called Patients United Now.

The other organization is FreedomWorks which is chaired by former U.S. Congressman Dick Armey. FreedomWorks sent out a memo with instructions on how to best astroturf a town hall discussion. In the memo the organization tells members to fill the front of the hall so the representative is made to feel “a significant portion of at least the audience opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.”

During a town hall meeting in Philadelphia this weekend the practices encouraged by these two organizations were seen in full effect. Senator Arlen Specter and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius were both shouted down by audience members. In Texas this weekend a town hall with Rep. Lloyd Doggett devolved into chanting of “Just Say No” prohibiting concerned constituents from asking follow-up questions about the potential health reform legislation. According to a recent article published by Reuters of the 46 million Americans currently living without health insurance 6 million of them are in Doggett’s state. That gives Texas an uninsured rate of 25 percent – the highest in the country.