Talking Budget Cuts

Short and sweet.

If the town side budget that failed was a recommended 6.3% increase, and the school side budget was a recommended 2.97% increase, why are so many people talking about cutting equally from both sides? If you cut 1.5% from both sides, then the education side would represent an increase of 1.47% and the town side would have an increase of 4.8%, which is still more than 50% more than the education side was asking in the first place.

Add to this consideration of the disproportionate insurance increases on both sides. The education side is seeing an insurance increase of 14.2%, and the teachers have a very high co-pay of 17%, up from 15%.

The town side is seeing an insurance increase of 43.8% and the town workers, though it varies have a significantly lower cost share in their benefits.

Most of the coverage has sloppily averaged the two and said that the town was seeing a 28% increase. That number protects the town side at the expense of the teachers.

How does this possibly makes sense?

McMahon v. Blumenthal

And then there were two!

The Dems Choose Blumenthal

The GOP Chooses McMahon

Mind you, Simmons insists that he's not out of it and that he will move forward with the primary process, but he's already lost a lot of momentum. It will be interesting to see how this play out, but I don't hold out a lot of hope for the more reasonable and un-glamorous candidate on the conservative side.

I think Blumenthal has this, even though he has had a very bad week. Although I would love to have a woman senator from Connecticut, I will not vote for any woman to fill that spot. This particular woman has had a lurid career in a part of our culture that does not improve the general discourse or its civility. I will be voting for Mr. Blumenthal, I believe, as of this moment, because even though he seems to have been somewhat disingenuous about his military service, he is a proven defender of the people in terms of environmental issues and consumer protection.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Well, the budget failed, not surprisingly, by a 2-1 margin.

I say "not surprisingly" because saying no is always easy; and in a climate where many local towns are slashing budgets and even closing schools and our First Selectman made the careful choice to exert no political capital on behalf of his budget, and in a circumstance where people are upset about the building department and the Dems just want to hand Mr. Freda a defeat . . . well, you get the point.

Way to stem the tide of populist anger, Mr. Freda - both in your budget presentation and in your handling of the budget's promotion.

So, now, we're going to see the ugly game of limbo, and you all know the rules and expectations of limbo.

People can just keep turning out to vote no now. It's easy. It's easy to oppose. It's easy to say no.

Now, Mike, it's time to figure out how to produce a budget that retains as much town value as possible that the people can and will say YES to. You'd better get to work, sir.

Fascinated to See This Play Out

Forgive the source here, but if this, in fact, stands up to scrutiny, this will prove fascinating.

If, in fact, rank and file NRA members disagree with their leadership, that is fascinating. If, in fact, a majority of NRA members believe that individuals on the Terror Watch List should NOT be able to buy guns, I have found an easy point of agreement with them.

As you can tell, I am no gun-lover and would not have one in my home with my children now or when they're grown and out. I'm sure that many people believe my fear is out of proportion. I welcome the debate.

Is ID, in fact, DOA . . . finally?

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science."

Intelligent Design

Do You Know What This Is?

North Haven Welcomes P.C. Richard & Son

But I have to wonder who will be able to shop there, given our economic straits.

Strangely, we've had a vigorous debate about the ability of residents to afford their tax increase for next year's budget, but the shopping plazas on Universal Drive are always hopping, and all of the restaurants are packed on evenings and weekends, so far as I can tell.

Here is a short piece on the opening.

Arizona, Immigration, Backlash

A majority of Americans may support the recent Arizona immigration law, but that's not making things easy on the state.

Apparently, tourism has been suffering significantly, and it is beyond telling that the RNC has opted NOT to hold its 2012 convention in Phoenix, but rather in Tampa.