Five Dem senators vote No on budget

Democratic Senators Joan Hartley of Waterbury, Bob Duff of Norwalk, Gayle Slossberg of Milford, Ed Meyer of Guilford, and Paul Doyle of Wethersfield voted against the state budget, which passed anyway and was also passed by a great majority in the House. The bill is expected to be vetoed by Gov. Rell.

Sadly, I'll be unavailable next week, so I won't get a chance to ask Milford Senator Gayle Slossberg about her vote on the budget. But judging from her statements quoted by Christine Stuart over at CT News Junkie, it sounds like Sen. Slossberg wants to see even more cuts to the already greatly pared-down services the state provides under the new budget:

Following the vote, Slossberg said she didn’t think the budget struck the right balance between spending cuts and tax increases. She said she would like to see more spending cuts and fewer tax increases.

“It’s not at a level I felt comfortable with,” Slossberg said.

A person named Carolyn commented on Christine's story, and I think she conveys my way of thinking on this matter better than I can, so I'll let her words do the talking. Although I'm not a big fan of biblical passages in most discussions (because I've seen them used too many times for the wrong reasons) in this case it seems relevant.

BTW, this may be the first biblical quote that's ever appeared on this blog. Which is long overdue, as I've been an ordained ULC minister for nearly 20 years. So if anyone reading this wants to get gay-married, give me a call!

My husband and I earn a combined salary of approximately $1.25 million/year. We studied hard, saved hard, and worked long hours to get where we are. We are proud of our success.

And we strongly resent people in our positions who, out of selfishness or greed or insecurity or who knows what, are unwilling to pay a few thousand more dollars a year in taxes to help those less fortunate than themselves.

In our family, we have know these words:

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." -1 Timothy 6:17-19

And we act upon them.