Let’s charge tolls on Conumption. Keep the Gas tax

Look I think it is great to keep the gas tax right were it is for a couple of reasons.

1. All these people who purchases SUV’s for their every day driving will pay more. This is great because they should pay more. Those vehicles pollute more, they are not safe, they do not have to meet the same saftey standards as cars, although they are rated by the insurance industry.

2. If enough people begin to have to choose between driving and eating they will have to consider car pooling. this will take more of those monstrous road hogs off the roads and make the air we breathe better.

So, the them pay more, they should for the privilege.

Secondly, The accidents on I95 are bad enough. A toll !, my God, that would be absolutely nasty not to mention dangerous. Why not charge a toll to enter a Casino area!!!, and have the revenue go to the town. Or a Toll for driving in the city of Hartford!!!. That would cut down on traffic.

No, reintroducing Tolls would not be a good thing, For all those truck drivers who are shipping things into CT, imagine the increase in food prices alone?

Let’s introduce a Surcharge on SUV’s period. Let’s have a 100 charge on top of the car tax we already pay if you own an SUV? Small price for all the pollution and wear and tear on the roads they cause.

I See Civil Rights for Me but not for Thee

I have been following this case. And this has been the on thing that has been bothering me. First, Once the comment was discovered, why did the principal not have a conversation with the Parent first. Schools always want parental involvement, why not here????? And why was the parent not informed and told about the incident so he/she could do something? Once again the school is reaching into our homes and trying to dictate their policy? The mother of the girl admitted that she would have punished her daughter. This could have been a great lesson for other students but because it was botched so badly it turned into a genuine case of Civil Rights. Think about this. If what I wrote on a blog was listed as a reason for a job dismissal, we would have all been up in arms. I do believe there must be a line for good taste and respect, but the school officials did not deserve them here.

Secondly, Just when did Gestapo tactics become apart of being a principal? This blog, as in bad taste as it was, was written off school property, off school time, and on her own computer. This is the 21st century notion of going to the teenage hang out and calling a teacher a name and it gets back to the teacher. Legally this is called “HEARSAY”

I do hope that the precedent in the similar case of Tinker V. Des Moines Independent Community School District will serve as some precedence.

Well Here we go again. Somethings should not be run as a Business!

The time has come to challenge the stock companies that own these media conglomerates. A sustainable income is not good enough for them. They have to make huge profits. The story of the LA Times comes to mind. New FLASH::: Somethings should not be run as a wall street business. We (those of us that lived during the 1980s, you know where we learned that “money talks) need to get over the fact that while some business practices are good, making a 20% profit for a newspaper that provides a “SERVICE” to the community is not going to happen. The Hartford Courant is currently going through this same process. We need to look at newspapers a public trust. That is the way they use to be run!!!. If a newspaper makes enough money to keep their payroll and sustain their business is that bad??? Why do the stockholders, who are by and far the most narrow-minded people in this area, think that they are going to make such a profit. There is more to a news service than just the bottom line. And as more newspapers fold, no pun intended, the public loses a valuable resource. I hope that the newspapers learn this very soon or we will be at the mercy of bloggers who are not as ethically inclined as many journalists.

Time for Constitutional Change.

Well this is about time

In the 21st century, it is time for the voters to demand that they have the options of Recall, Initiative, and Referendum. Most other states have these options. I must stress that we need to have these options available but not so easy as to allow big business and special interests to easily dictate policy. Recall for example, most states have a signature requirement that must be met within 90 days. That is not a burden if you have a governor that most people want to get rid of, Rowland comes to mind. In addition, it is not an undue burden to have these tools available to the people.

Secondly, Lets have radical change. Let’s reform the Legislative body to have real representation. Get rid of the old geographic representation lines. Let’s save money and have a Unicameral legislature voted on by proportional representation. Any party that gets 6% of the vote should get a seat in the chamber, thus a voice at the table.

Third, Let’s start electing our judges??? Hold them accountable for the decisions they make.

I am looking forward to responses on this, but I seriously doubt that the average voter will pay attention to this. Oh, How I would love to eat these words.

Somebody is running for reelection Eh?

Well this is a fine calculation by the Governor to attempt and shore up her base for re-election in 2010. If not she would have saved the taxpayers money by not vetoing the bill as she did in the last time the minimum wage was increased in CT. The Governor knew that the General Assembly had the votes to override her veto. Thus, she did this knowing that her veto would more than likely have been overriden and she looks good to the business crowd for “being on their side”. It is a classic political move made by a Governor, and former member of the legislature, to painlessly look like she is taking a stand. However, while she is standing on a an issue that is minor, municipalities are increasing the amount employees must pay for their insurance, because the governor vetoed that bill. This is a great political move [please not sarcasm] everything in the state has increased in cost and when the legislature attempts to reduce a few of those costs, the Governor says that the small raise is not justified. Well, isn’t that leadership!!! Again, Rell the Gutless wonder strikes again.

Lawmakers Override Rell’s Minimum Wage Veto

by Christine Stuart | June 23, 2008 3:43 PM
Posted to State Capitol

The Democratic majority and a handful of Republicans successfully overrode Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s veto of a bill that would increase the minimum wage for an estimated 65,000 Connecticut workers.

With less than an hour of debate in both chambers, the House voted 102 to 39 and the Senate voted 25 to 9 to override the governor’s veto and increase the minimum wage 35 cents in 2009 and 25 cents in 2010. That means Diane Edwards, who works part-time at Di Rosa Cleaners in East Hartford, will see her hourly wage go from $7.65 an hour to $8 an hour in 2009 and $8.25 an hour in 2010.

In an interview outside the Senate chamber Monday, Edwards said the additional 35 cents an hour “will mean a lot.” Edwards said she is the sole caretaker of her three grandchildren and any additional money will help the family buy food and clothes.

http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/

http://snipurl.com/2o22m

Mr. Bush’s War and his distorted history

Well, Once again, the President has illustrated that he was a legacy student at Yale. (This means since his daddy went there he was able to get a few extra points toward admission). It also shows that he did not pay attention to his American History class.

In the New York Times he states “a free Iraq” is within reach and warning that if Americans succumb to “the allure of retreat,” they will witness death and suffering of the sort not seen since the Vietnam War.” How true, but mis-guided, the death and suffering he talks about will be the American soldiers who are going to fight a civil/religious war of which 4 years later we understand little about. Also, the worry about Vietnam was that if we “retreated” China would take over the whole of southeast Asia. Well, after a string of puppet dictators sponsored by the US, we finally decided that we needed to get out. China did not take over all of Southeast Asia as was prophesied. Bush also fails to mention that the death and destruction in Iraq of Americans is “self inflicted”.

“Then as now, people argued that the real problem was America’s presence and that if we would just withdraw, the killing would end,”

Again, a very bad use of Historical facts. Nobody during the Vietnam War, as know, thought the killing would stop if we left. AND NOBODY IS UNDER THE ILLUSION THAT IT WILL STOP IF AMERICA LEAVES NOW. American deaths will stop though. That was the point. America was fighting the War for a string of weak, repulsive, dictatorial, (stop me now before I run out of adjectives) government that relied on US support. Sound familiar? The Iraqi government, supported by the US, is very weak, while a bit ahead of the South Vietnam governments of Diem, Theiu, etc.; It, too is very weak and could falter without US help. However, in the end, its THEIR WAR, and if THEY want independence, THEY SHOULD FIGHT for it.

He added, “The world would learn just how costly these misimpressions would be.”

Food for thought, a whole meal in fact. However, the misimpression is not on the part of the American people. It is on the part of an American President who failed US History, dodged the Vietnam War himself, and just does not get it. This speech designed to make Americans feel better about the Iraqi situation will go down in history as one of the biggest blunders, along side the speech made by President Carter about the Shah of Iran in 1977.

Karl Rove has left.

Well Karl has left the building.  All those who are upset raise your hand.  The rest of us will take one huge sigh of relief.