Connecticut GOP is Still Punch-Drunk from 2010

There is a great piece in The Day by Dick Ahles, he cites the CT. GOP’s thirty year drought in the U.S. Senate and wonders where the “good” Republican candidates are.


As I see it, the Connecticut GOP is still a little punch-drunk from 2010. We had one of the most favorable political climates to come along in years but couldn’t close the deal. There is a lot of lot of frustration and a good deal of finger pointing still going on. I won’t engage in any of that. Instead, dear reader, I will merely point out that the CT GOP has a great opportunity to capitalize on those losses by

 Forming a state-wide battle plan that focuses on strategically capturing legislative seats. In order to truly change the direction our state is heading in we must elect Republicans to the State House and Senate We can target one district at a time if we have to but we must work better as a team than we do now.

 Improving the Republican brand and support in the urban cores of the state. We can no longer win with just the suburbs and small towns.

 Stick to our core beliefs. Fiscal Conservatism, Streamlined Government, and Real Family Values are not relics of a by-gone era but the very foundations upon which a great State and indeed a great Nation should be building their future.

And let not your heart be troubled because there are some very promising names on the Connecticut Republican horizon. Names like David Becker, Christopher Meek and Tim Herbst

Be well and as always, Conserve your Capital, because the tax man lurketh on the threshold.

The Fabric of Civilization is Frighteningly Thin

Like many of us today, I’ve spent a lot of time watching the coverage of the powerful 8.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan and the Tsunami that washed away so much and even threatened our shores from half a world away.


My prayers go out to the many, many victims and the survivors that now have to pick up the pieces and try to rebuild their lives. Today is one of those days that should remind us that all of those things that we like to believe are so important to us like jobs, taxes, politics, race relations, and American Idol can become meaningless in a split-second.

This thing we call civilization is actually pretty darn fragile and can be swept away in a moment by forces much more powerful than we mere mortals can even comprehend.

Today is a day to reach out to those less fortunate ourselves while thanking God for our own good fortune.

Gitmo is still open, So was Obama lying or was Bush right?

Ok Sherman, let’s step into the WABAC machine and return to the headline of two years ago.


January 22, 2009

Obama signs order to close Guantanamo Bay facility

Promising to return America to the "moral high ground" in the war on terrorism, President Obama issued three executive orders Thursday to demonstrate a clean break from the Bush administration, including one requiring that the Guantanamo Bay detention facility be closed within a year.

During a signing ceremony at the White House, Obama reaffirmed his inauguration pledge that the United States does not have "to continue with a false choice between our safety and our ideals."

Now fast forward to today’s headlines

Obama restarts Guantanamo trials

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama reversed course Monday and ordered a resumption of military trials for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, making his once ironclad promise to close the isolated prison look even more distant.

Guantanamo has been a major political and national security headache for the president since he took office promising to close the prison within a year, a deadline that came and went without him ever setting a new one.

So, Was President Obama being something other than honest back in 2009 when he signed that executive order. I mean, did he know all along that the much maligned prison would not only be kept open but that the military-style tribunals for suspected terrorists would resume as well?

OR?

Did the President come to realize over time that his predecessor George W. Bush was absolutely, 100% right on target when it came to holding dangerous terrorists indefinitely in a secure, offshore location and trying them as enemy combatants.

It has to be one or the other doesn’t it?

What do you think?

Perhaps only Rich People will pay the toll

The State of Connecticut is one small step closer to returning to highway tolls. Check out this story from the Hartford Courant.


In a preliminary step toward returning tolls to state highways, a legislative committee on Friday endorsed the idea of charging motorists to pay for building or extending highways, such as the half-completed Route 11 in eastern Connecticut.

The measure doesn't address the larger question of whether Connecticut should install all-electronic, high-tech tolls on interstate highways to raise money for bridge and highway repairs. But it could be the first step that toll advocates have seeking for years.
"This is the first shape of a toll bill. We still don't have the answer on the rest of it," said Rep. Anthony Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, co-chairman of transportation committee.

Interesting, perhaps in keeping with the "Soak the rich because they can afford it," attitude that is so popular right now, only "Rich folk vehicles" will be subject to the toll. say, Cadillacs and above. American luxury cars could pay $3 dollars and those evil foreign cars like Mercedes and BMW would cough up $5. Gas guzzling SUVs could pay $7 which might might even force some of those rich people to switch to more eco-friendly vehicles.

Why not? It makes as much sense as anything else coming out of Hartford right now.

Should we be laughing or crying at this point?

Just as our Governor is supposedly, figuratively lacing up his gloves and chomping on his mouthpiece, ready to step into the ring and play David against the Goliath that is the state labor unions, here comes this little story from way up the I-95 corridor in Orange.

United Public Service Employees Union Local 424-Unit 21 has fought for and won the right to get coffee and milk paid for by, you guessed it, the taxpayers. Not only will coffee and milk flow freely in Orange but casual-dress Friday is back on the calendar as well.

Reportedly the above-mentioned perks were removed by First Selectman James Zeoli after union members made certain comments at a Jan. 26, 2009, Board of Finance meeting. The Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations ruled that the action violated the Municipal Employees Relations Act.

Governor Malloy is going to try and wrestle 2 billion dollars away from a Union that not only put him into office but is willing to go to the mat over free java and jeans on Friday.
Is this a vaudeville comedy or a Greek tragedy? I’m not sure.


This post quotes from a Brian McCready story in the New Haven Register

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/03/02/news/milford/aa1_orfreecoffee030111.txt?viewmode=fullstory