The views stated here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors of this newspaper. We welcome supporting or opposing views on any published item. Received November 2, 2022.
After attending the debate last night between Republican candidate for State Senate Paul Crisci and the incumbent Democrat candidate Christine Cohen, one thing is clear; Paul Crisci has the command of the issues, the moral fortitude, the backbone, the background as a highly successful business leader, and a love and passion for our state that are required to represent the 12th District in the Connecticut State Senate.
We are being gaslighted by those currently in office when we are told that our state is in “great shape,” that inflation is “transitory,” that there is “nothing to see here.” In fact, we are in a recession by every long-standing definition. New England does not have the infrastructure necessary to get us through the winter and power our electric generation plants while also heating our homes; under our current leadership the diesel fuel tax will go back into effect on December 1st, which will increase the price of everything brought into this state by truck; food and gasoline prices are much higher than they were two years ago due to the inflationary policies brought about by the Democratic party. One look at your heating bill or one trip to the grocery store makes this apparent to us all. When eggs go from $2.00 a dozen to more than $4.00 a dozen, and gasoline increases from just under $2 per gallon to $4 per gallon, no number of cherry-picking statistics by the incumbents can change the fact that, simply put, it is twice as expensive to live here today than it was two years ago.
Democrats like to drive a wedge between voters on contentious and heady social issues such as legalizing euthanasia and abortion, both of which Ms. Cohen passionately expressed her support of last night; but most of us are far more concerned with and affected by our ability to put food on the table, heat our homes and to protect our families from a greatly increased level of violent crime in our state. As Mr. Crisci said, we are more “concerned with ending life” than we are with the quality of life for the residents of our state.
Ms. Cohen talked a lot about Connecticut Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 2, both of which concern mental health, and reportedly money was set aside for these initiatives, but where is the plan? How have these bills and the funds associated with them been put into practice? Has the state found the professionals to do the work to help our students who are struggling with emotional issues after COVID, and residents who struggle with mental health issues in our state? Funding is less than half of the battle; we as residents and taxpayers have a right to know how these funds are being used. Can the state show us the results? There is a professional shortage across the board: teachers, psychologists, police officers, and more in Connecticut.
Ms. Cohen voted for the Clean Slate bill, which wipes the record clean for those having committed certain Class D and E felonies. Those records will then not be discoverable for consideration when these individuals apply for gun permits or when looking for contractors to work inside your home or with your children. Even Governor Lamont expressed concerns over the extreme nature of this bill when he signed it. Many crimes are bargained down from something far more serious to Class D and E felonies; all of this should be of concern to us all.
The Clean Slate bill contradicts the Democrats push for gun control under the guise of public safety in our state. Ms. Cohen voted against Qualified Immunity for our first responders as well, which has led to early retirements and poor recruitment of officers in our state. It has emboldened criminals when our first responders should have our complete and total support instead. There are also many programs in place already such as accelerated rehabilitation, which give certain offenders a path to “forgiveness.”
The question is this; do you want someone to represent you in our State Senate who is going to vote for you? To support law enforcement, who is ready to make the hard choices, who can cross the aisle and stand up for all of us regardless of our party affiliation? Do you want someone who will make things happen for the good of our state, and not the good of special interest groups? Do you want someone who will stand up for the victims rather than the criminals? Paul Crisci is that person. He has the skills, the guts and the tenacity to lead us out of the mess that the current politicians in this state have gotten us into.
Laura Lefko, Killingworth
