Milfords Budget Process Begins

The budget for next year begins deliberations this week. Things like the cost of education, infrastructure improvement, employee bonuses and compensation, etc. etc.. all come to fruition in the near future.

Republicans, have indicated they would like to see another budget cut, conservative Democrats and former mayoral candidate Genevieve Salvatore have written to the local paper and asked that we stay vigilant, take part, and speak out during the process.

The Mayor indicated that the "Grand List" will determine whether or not taxes go up down or stay the same. Early indications, however, are not good, and city services were cut many times already.

Senator Gayle Slossberg put city council on notice last month and told Milford lawmakers not to expect money from Hartford. This combined with Employee health insurance, pension payouts, and contractual wage increases, are expected to be the largest obstacles to be overcome. These issues are of vital importance to the stressed out taxpayers of Milford.

The stress I speak of is not just sardonic rhetoric. It is very real and was evident in recent news of a longtime resident who committed suicide in her home. This was alleged to have happened as a result of prolonged difficulty in paying her bills. This was only last month and should be a sobering reminder of how tough things have gotten for some.

Other sad news was about six months earlier, in the NY Times citing our Mayor Richetelli buying cab fare for a Milford mother and her two children who were forcibly evicted from their home. Their only crime was a lack of money and suitable employment to save the life and home they built here.

These incidents do not erase the fact that in Milford Two to Three people a week lose their home to foreclosure. These are real people, our friends, neighbors those with a real connection to this community and in need of sincere help.

The city has resources and can help some of these people. This help can come to Milfords poorest by way of abatement of irresponsible government, predatory loans, and tax breaks. This city does not need $95,000.00 a year Czars, $700.00 desk chairs, $50,000.00 consultants, employee buyouts, etc. etc.

The immorality of ignoring those people with the "hug and cab fare" mentality, is not the humane thing to do. Perhaps we should put our self in their shoes and imagine what it is like to live in a shelter, be out of work and in need of food.

Those arguing this years budget should remember this and more. Remember that we are all members of the same community and it is our responsibility to lend our financial help to those who are of good moral character and sincerely need a hand up, not raise taxes to pay higher wages or waste money.

Time to set greed aside and bring about some new revolutionary ideas that will inspire revolutionary change.

Senator Joe Lieberman Holds Deciding Health Care Vote

Hard to believe, but Joe Lieberman of our wonderful state holds the deciding vote on the health care bill before the U.S. Senate. Lieberman vowed a filibuster some time ago, and now has "flip flopped" the other way to join the 59 other Democratic senators in what is anything but a bi-partisan vote.

Whether you are for or against the current health care bill is irrelevant at this point. What is relevant is setting Joe straight on your personal sentiments on a government run health care system. Lieberman has become the target of just about every blog, national radio show and every health care corporation in the nation.

There will be no shortage of calls, mail, and concerns from all people in America. What Joe has not disclosed yet, is the price Congress payed for his vote. Certainly the entire first year of the Obama legacy rests in his hands. He can make Obama victorious or an abject failure.

The citizens of Connecticut have been very concerned over health care costs, just last week State Rep. Denise Merril said that Hartford's employee health care costs are driving taxes ever higher. She said it has become difficult for states to keep up and is hoping something will be done soon to grant relief to our state that is now deep in the red.

Some have objected to the present bill and question the constitutionality of it with concern over the extreme punitive measures aimed at those who cannot afford health care. These extreme measures include harsh prison sentences and heavy financial penalties against offenders. The bill could make going to the hospital a criminal offence if you lack insurance.

Religious sects, have also challenged any and all provisions that do not expressly prohibit abortion services as a public option. They believe it is not the taxpayers responsibility to fund abortions, especially when those abortions are objectionable to their personal beliefs.

The bill is certainly not perfect, but if we take heed to the words of David walker, the former Comptroller General of the U.S., "Congress must face some hard choices if the nation is to avert a medical bankrupcty." Walker points to the baby boomer generation who are now retiring en-masse with Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare benefits kicking in. Walker said the "United States has ZERO saved for a population that has been promised these entitlements, and is also on average living longer and maximizing our governments liability."

The health care bill has become a humanitarian, and constitutional crisis. Humanitarian because over 57 million Americans have no health insurance and each year over 100,000 Americans die from preventable diseases, misdiagnoses, or medical neglect. For many poor Americans the emergency room is their only health care option and this needs to change.

How it changes is certainly the challenge, because we are a nation who has emerged under a rule of law established by the U.S. Constitution. Certainly putting people in jail for not having health insurance is extreme and unconstitutional. The very notion of Congress taking part in our doctor patient relationship is also unconstitutional.

The present health care bill is riddled with mistakes, unlawful acts, new taxes, over-regulation and "heart stopping pork barrel" payouts to Senators for their votes. Senator Dodd once said that the public should never see two things, "making sausages and watching Congress make new laws." Now is your time to speak your mind, as all it will take is for Joe Lieberman to withdraw his vote and the entire bill fails in the U.S. Senate.

Lieberman's response to my letter is highlighted below

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Mr. Rocco Frank
374 NEW HAVEN AVE
Milford, CT 06460-6664

Dear Mr. Frank:

Thank you for contacting me to express your opinion regarding health care reform efforts. I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with me, and I want you to know that I hear and understand your concerns.

Americans today are faced with great uncertainty about their health care coverage and insurance. These concerns focus on rising medical costs, access to coverage, and quality of care. With more than 45 million uninsured Americans and health care spending levels that exceed any in the world, our current health care system is unsustainable. Too often, we reward quantity over quality. The need for health care reform is clear. We must begin to provide Americans with the high-quality, affordable health care they need.

As you may know, over the last several weeks, I and several of my colleagues have worked together with Senate leaders to reach an agreement on a health care reform plan that addresses three critical goals: curbing the enormous increases in health care costs that burden almost every American family and detract from economic growth; regulating insurance companies to better protect patients and consumers; and making it easier for millions of Americans who can't afford health insurance to buy it.

In my view, the resulting legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), would make significant progress toward reaching all three of these goals, and does so in a fiscally responsible way. It is estimated that, under this bill, 31 million previously uninsured Americans will be able to purchase health insurance, resulting in 94 percent of Americans being covered. This represents a historic achievement that will move us closer to fulfilling the goal of universal coverage. In addition, this measure contains a number of strong provisions designed to ensure that insurance companies treat their customers fairly. Specifically, insurers would be prohibited from denying Americans coverage because of a pre-existing condition and from rescinding an individual's coverage if they become sick.

H.R. 3950 also takes a number of substantial steps to reduce health care costs in the long-term. I am particularly pleased that this final package includes elements of several amendments I cosponsored to contain costs, provide patients with more information so that they can make better decisions about their care, and create incentives for physicians to deliver high-quality, efficient care.

According to the Congressional Budget office (CBO), this legislation would reduce the federal deficit by $132 billion over the next ten years, and will continue to reduce costs in the following decade. This bill will also extend the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund for an additional nine years. Because of my serious concerns about our nation's long-term fiscal imbalances at this time, I opposed the inclusion of a non-essential government-run insurance program, including expanding Medicare to those 55 years of age and older. I felt any such new program was duplicative of other provisions in the underlying bill and could easily saddle the federal government with billions of dollars in additional debt and exacerbate Medicare's already perilous financial condition. Consequently, I supported Senate leaders' decision to remove such a plan from the final agreement.

On December 22, 2009, the Senate, with my support, approved a comprehensive amendment that contains key provisions of the final compromise package by a vote of 60-39. The Senate is expected to pass H.R. 3590 on December 24, after which it will have to reach a compromise agreement with the U.S. House of Representatives, which passed separate health care reform legislation (the Affordable Health Care for American Act; H.R. 3962) earlier this year. To keep track of further developments on this legislation, you can click on the "Track a Bill" button at http://lieberman.senate.gov/.

I am hopeful that leaders from both chambers will come together in the spirit of compromise to achieve meaningful health care reform that expands coverage, reduces costs, and improves the quality of care for everyone. Looking forward, I will not be able to support any compromise agreement that either includes a public option or does not contain provisions designed to lower health care costs and reduce the national debt over the long term. Please be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind as this debate continues to move forward.

Thank you again for sharing your views and concerns with me. I hope you will continue to visit my website at http://lieberman.senate.gov for updated news about my work on behalf of Connecticut and the nation. Please contact me if you have any additional questions or comments about our work in Congress.

Sincerely,

Joseph I. Lieberman
UNITED STATES SENATOR


JIL:vdh

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Milford Board Of Education Candidates Debate

The following video was filmed the night of the Milford Board of Education Debate at the Jonathan Law High School Auditorium right here in town.

On stage are members of three political parties spread across all five districts. The video was provided courtesy of Steve Borer who is also an Independent Candidate for First District Board of Alderman.


CLICK LINK FOR VIDEO

www.mycomputerfox.com/MDB/MBOE.wmv

Partial Candidate List:

Republicans: (District 1) James Tranquilli Jr., Mark Stapleton (District 2) James Puvogel, Greg Oliver, (District 3) Jack O'Connel, Bob White (District 4) Diane Kuger Carroll, Allan Cegan (District 5) Sue DiBiase, Joe Jukic

Independents: (District 1) Rocco J. Frank Jr., (District 2) Ronald Funaro (District 3) N/A (District 4) N/A (District 5) Richard Sieron

Democrats: (District 1) Ralph Mastriana (District 2) N/A (District 3) N/A (District 4)David Hourigan, David Amendola (Distric 5)Laura Pinciaro

PTA To Sponsor Board Of Education Debate

The Milford Parent Teachers Association will be sponsoring a Debate of the Board of Education Candidates at Jonathan Law High School. The event will be in the main auditorium and will commence at 6:45 P.M. on Thursday October 15th.

Candidates from the Republican Party, Independent Party, and Democratic party are expected to be on stage answering questions.

The nature of the debate will stem around questions from Parents, Teachers, Taxpayers, and Officials. The main points of concern are Funding for programs, Special Education, No Child Left Behind, CAPT's, Test Scores, and School Construction. The debate will also encompass the future of our educational system and opinions on what improvements can and will be made.

Kathy Huber, is in charge of the PTA debate on Thursday anyone with questions or are in need of directions should call 882-0213.

Mayoral Hopefuls Debate Local Environmental Issues

The (Environmental Concerns Coalition) ECC Debate kicked off as scheduled at 6:P.M. all candidates in the running were present and questions were prepared in advance by the ECC moderator.

Candidates had 2 minutes to answer each question, and a rebuttal of their opponents of one Minute. This was the protocol for the first few questions, the next four questions were drawn randomly from a hat and were pre-written by the ECC and selected by each candidate. The audience was also permitted to openly ask questions at the end of the debate.

Of the initial questions asked, the issue of purchasing open land was agreed upon as a good idea by all candidates. The next question regarding Milford's deplorable record on Recycling sparked the most debate.

While the question formulated by the ECC corresponded with the 6% figure as reported in the CT Post Jim Richetelly took issue with the numbers as inaccurate. Richetelly alledged that the number was "under-reported... an error" and held up a copy of the DEP report that he claimed indicated Milford was recycling 12% of its renewable waste not 6%. Richetelli said that Milford is not "last in the state, but doing much better than people believed."

One public question came in regarding the funds to purchase open space, Richetelli exhausted nearly all the money in the open space fund in his latest Naugatuck land deal purchase. The issue of how to pay for this was best addressed by Peter Spalthoff who indicated he would make it a "budget item," and purchase land as part of the routine operations of the town. There was little disagreement to this, since all the candidates agreed that purchasing open space saves Miford's taxpayers money.

There was also debate on adding a paid commissioner to go out and manage the land purchases. Tim Chaucer said that the best candidate for this job would be an "outdoor enthusiast who really knows the town and its land very well."

Each candidate Praised, and addressed, the Clean Energy Roadmap approved by the Board of Aldermen last month. The plan lays out steps the city should take to become environmentally sound. The Roadmap was authored by a community task force and is a step by step plan for city officials to follow.

When it came time for the audience to ask questions, the first question was regarding public transportation. All candidates vowed to improve public transportation and do their part to make certain Milford has more bus stops and convenient locations to get people to and from their local destinations.

The next question from the audience got interesting because I do not think the moderator expected an off topic attack of Richetelli. The man who asked the question specifically addressed it to Jim. He started by saying he made several unanswered telephone calls to Jim, then followed up with more unanswered e-mails. Than after contacting his aide was able to get to talk to him.

Expressing disgust over his experience, he then charged that he did not get the tax decrease that Jim advertised in his "mail piece" that he held up to the audience. He said "I am an engineer, and I am very good with numbers. I looked at my old bill and compared it to my new one... where is my savings!" The moderator told the gentleman that this was an environmental forum not to get "off topic." she said that perhaps "the candidates could answer those types of questions after the debate."

The candidates nonetheless did answer the gentleman's question, and Richetelli stood up and told the gentleman "everyone in Milford received a 2.6% tax decrease plain and simple." Geneveve Salvatore reminded the man that the tax decrease was courtesy of the Democratic led Board of Alderman and that Richetelli's rejected budged actually would have raised his taxes.

The event lasted over an hour, and all the Candidates for Mayor remained long after the meeting and respectfully spoke to the public. However it is important to note, that what is mentioned above are just some notable highlights. MGAT Channel 79 on Cablevision did videotape the event and it will be made available to the public in its entirety in the next week or so and I recommend we all watch it. The more informed you are the better choice you will make come election day.

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Video Per Commenters Request
Double Click Video if Cropped
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Candidates For Mayor Debate This Tuesday

All announced candidates for mayor of Milford have been invited to present their platforms and answer questions from the public at a Candidates Night Debate on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 8 p.m., at the First United Church of Christ (Congregational), 34 West Main St.

Expected to participate are mayoral candidates Timothy Chaucer (Petition), James Richetelli (R), Genevieve Salvatore (D), and Peter Spalthoff (I). The debate will be the first of the political season and open to the public at no charge.

The event is sponsored by the Plymouth Men’s Club (PMC). Arthur Stowe, a member of PMC, will be the moderator. Stowe said questions for the candidates will be accepted in writing from those members of the public attending the event.

Frank Leads Race, Campaign Update For The 118th

Recent Polls conducted by our staff have put the Independent Party Rocco Frank in the lead. The exact figures will not be released but we will say that our opponents are now in the rear view mirror. Quinnipiac University, also did similar studies and with the big parties calling their results "Unscientific" and demanding that the unfavorable numbers not be released, so too did we decide to represent the same since so many tempers are flaring.

Tactics have been becoming increasingly desperate for those opponents of the major parties who refuse to hold their bosses and colleagues accountable for the giant mess they all created together in our town and state. The outlook is positive on the Frank Campaign and we are honored to have the opportunity to call them out in every debate.

The last debate will be aired on MGAT T.V. Channel 79 thanks to the efforts of St. Gabriels, Brother Larry and the Frank campaign staff who made all the necessary arrangements to bring this debate into public view. We do recommend watching it as Gayle answered a public attack from a city official from Orange.

Alan Jepson Compliments Frank Professionalism

Milford Town Clerk Alan Jepson paid Rocco Frank a very nice compliment this week. This compliment came about from the routine filing of election paperwork with the CT Secretary of State's office. As part of the procedure Town Clerks are required to sign and fill out certain election documents, of which prompted a visit to the Town Clerk.

Alan Jepson became familiar with Frank, from the newspaper stories and when in an earlier visit he left him with his web address and campaign cards. By the time Frank returned for a second visit Alan expressed his amazement in how "professional" the website and printed materials were. Frank was absolutely flattered by the Town Clerks compliment and never really thought beyond the campaign staff acting and working as they were instructed to do.

Alan, who also read his positions and ideas, called them "very well written and thought out." Frank described Alan as being "very impressed" with his campaign style and communication method with the 118th district as well as Milford's residents.

Although Frank does not regard The Town Clerk's seal of approval as an endorsement, Frank said that Alan's "kind words certainly were reassuring that the campaign is headed in the right direction." Frank would like to publicly thank Mr Jepson for his kindness and supportive words.

Obama & Huckabee Win, Fox News "Cheats" Ron Paul.

The Iowa Caucus is over and the two big emerging first place winners are Mike Huckabee and Barrack Obama. This victory marks a clear message that Celebrity endorsements do matter in politics. Barrack who was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey saw his numbers rise over Hillary Clinton's, and Mike Huckabee, endorsed by Chuck Norris, saw his numbers rise to a stellar Iowa victory.

This may lead the rest of the flock to seek big celebrities to back them up in their quest for the Presidency of the United States. Ron Paul who has no celebrity endorsers that are omnipresent, saw an impressive gain and fifth place finish with a whopping 10% of the vote. Ron Paul was very excited about his 5Th place finish because he topped the Republican hopeful Rudy Giuliani by a wide margin.

The Fox news network promised the top five winners of the Iowa caucus a seat on their televised debate, Ron Paul who finished 5Th and ahead of Rudy Giuliani, was given the boot. Even though he fared much better than Rudi, Rudi will be taking his place in the Fox news debate.

This poor decision has led to a flurry of protest calling the word of "Fox News" worthless, their stock has seen a decline that may be related to their bias agenda, and unfair treatment of public opinion. Bloggers have gone insofar as renaming their network the "faux" news network in response to their selective reporting.

Expected protests are now underway, even from within Fox's own ranks, to stick to their word and honor their "top five" promise and include Ron Paul. Even if you do not support Ron Paul, I urge everyone to take part in complaining over the injustice of the fox network. The Fox network is part of the reason that America has sunken to a level equal to that of Slovakia on the list of press freedom. This is an injustice against all Americans and the First Amendment.

The 2008 Youtube Presidential Debate

The Youtube Presidential debate last night was something new for me. The videos that were both creative animations, and questions were directed at the Republican candidates who then answered in a 90 second response. Rebuttal was allowed for up to 30 seconds on questions that challenged another contender.

The hot issue of the debate was Rudi Giuliani who was accused of misusing his security detail funds to engage in visits to his Long Island mistress while still married. The hotter and more contentious issue was on immigration where a sparring of words transpired between Romney and Giuliani over immigration.

Guiliani accused Romney of employing illegal immigrants at his mansion, while Romney called Guiliani soft on illegal immigration and went even further accusing Guiliani of making New York a magnet city for illegal immigrants.

Ron Paul the "dark horse" of the debate was given questions that in my opinion were nothing more than outrageous and not Germain to anything more than irrelevant esoteric topics that have not touted the true success of his candidacy.

To sum up this entire debate from my own opinion, I must point out that the majority of debacles were largely left untouched. There were no sufficient answers or questions on our failing health care system, failing economy, Katrina, California fires, and our loss of civil liberties due to the burgeoning threat and fear of terrorism. Most disappointingly not one question addressed a single problem caused by the lack of competent leadership under the present administration who has tripled the size of our government and racked up more debt than any administration in the history of the United States.

What was most disappointing about last nights youtube debate was the unprofessional manner in which Guiliani and Romney were allowed to double talk each other while Anderson Cooper just idly sat by as they both were talking at the same time. The manner in which CNN organized the questions of this debate, probably made, now blacklisted Dan Rather, glad he is out of the news business.

But Dan Rather and a host of his support sites, one in particular called rathergate.com has called the entire Youtube debate B.S. While Dan Rather feels he was the victim of backlash from the Bush Administration, the other great journalist and critic of the post 9/11 era is forever silentPeter Jennings dies of lung cancer.

The tragedy here, is that Anderson Cooper a young Vanderbilt, Grandson to the 2nd wealthiest person on earth and former CIA operative was in charge of our public opinion last night. The whole thing was very upsetting to me. The debate felt more like a CIA mind control event swayed toward the goals and objectives of Americas ruling Oligarchs.