Lambasting Milford's Barbara Lambert

It has been nearly a year since our Freshman Representative has taken office in Hartford at the state capitol. Many folks have been asking me what she has been up to because there is nothing in the papers about her positions, no mention of how she is implementing her "plan" or how she is challenging "utilities" "taxes" and all the buzz she put in her mass mailed sales brochure. To be quite honest I personally have not seen or heard a thing about how she is serving Milford, not in the papers or in the news.

Today I googled her name, and I even visited her legislative website. It mentions she is on a labor committee, and some other trivial "hoopla" and the Google results just come up with a bunch of other self promoting party propaganda probably written by herself, kids, friends, and party bosses.

While she is off in space somewhere, Milford is in the process of having its school funding cut from the state, and yet I have not heard a mention that she somehow is for or against this. I and other parents, would like to know what Ms. Lambert (and our other representatives are doing)to save our school funding from the cutting board? Now that I am personally running for the board of ed I am going to voice my complaint here since she is basically MIA on all issues. Most people I speak with, especially those who voted for her along with Obama, do not even remember her or know who she is, but when I asked them how they voted they said all Democrat.

To cut to the chase on this one, I am personally very disappointed that Ms. Lambert does not seem to stand for anything, that she is making no effort to take a public stance in the papers to defend the things that are being taken from our town. The Courthouse Annex, green energy, the Boardwalk and now our schools are about to be shortchanged further. I think we need to ask Ms. Lambert "what exactly are you doing and why are you not standing up for our town?"

I am personally really disappointed that she is not fighting hard for us. Milford deserves better.

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SUMMARY OF MILFORD EDUCATIONAL CUTS
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Governor Rell's budget cuts would:

* Reduce many state education grants by 10% from their current funding level.

* Reduce special education service grants by 10% in all municipalities.

* Eliminate state funding for internet access, and filtering of "adult" content in all public libraries and K-12 schools in Connecticut.

* Eliminate or reduce by 40% the amount of state funding given to local health departments and health districts.

These cuts would come on top of other cuts in municipal aid or flat-funding of programs that our cities and towns rely on. The Educational Cost Sharing (ECS) grant, which is the largest portion of state aid for local education in Connecticut, would be flat-funded for the two year budget. In addition, other programs such as the PILOT (Payment-In-Lieu-of-Taxes) Grant, which helps cities and towns make up for tax losses for tax exempt properties such as state property, hospitals and universities, have been reduced as well. These cuts, along with elimination of funding for our libraries, will put a strain on our municipalities.

Milford Gets "Capped & Traded" India gets 22,000 Green Jobs

Barack Obama and his green guru, Van Jones, have a green-collar job plan that they believe will solve the two biggest crises of our time: 5 million new green-collar jobs will directly stimulate the economy and will contribute to a more sustainable future in the face of coming climate change. But the 2009 Green Outsourcing Report, an annual industry study conducted by Brown-Wilson Group, found that green technology jobs are being created faster in India than in the US since Obama took office.

The report, which was released two weeks ago, surveyed 4,000 businesses around the world, including Xerox, Accenture, IBM Global, CSC, Capgemini, Oracle, HP/ ED S, Aramark, SITEL and Perot. Doug Brown, co-author of the Green Outsourcing Report, told The New Indian Express, “We see the (green job offshoring) trend increasing. There are few suppliers who match credentials and outcomes of Indian firms.”

Soaring energy costs and regulatory pressure have put pressure on firms in the US and Europe to embrace green technologies. 84% of companies outsourcing green jobs are doing so because of skyrocketing energy costs, compared to 12% and 18% in the past few years, respectively. Most corporations seeking to outsource a service or product require impeccable green credentials in their suppliers before handing over work, the report says.

US corporations, focusing on survival strategies during the long-lasting recession, have offshored more than 22,000 new green-collar jobs to India alone. Firms seeking stabilized energy and labor costs while trying to convince consumers of their eco-friendly practices are more often turning to Indian green-collar workers than American ones, according to Brown-Wilson Group. Indian labor suppliers have become popular with American businesses over the last few years by aggressively investing in appropriate hardware, waste disposal, recycling, eco-friendly buildings and other green technologies.

Surprisingly, just a year ago, India was remarked to be among the world’s highest polluting nations and suffering from offshore aversion and reverse outsourcing.