Destructive Partisan Politics

Do you ever wonder, as I do, why Connecticut has had 20 consecutive years of economic and job stagnation? Certainly one of the reasons is a remarkable lack of political will and leadership. The governor and state legislature recently reversed that negative economic trend by the passage of a major pro-jobs bill full of incentives for both current and new businesses. The legislation was a good example of political bipartisanship with 185 out of 187 state legislators voting "Yes."

The Connecticut Business and Industry Association, in a recent bulletin, stated "Businesses welcome passage of the bipartisan jobs bill as a good first step toward improving Connecticut's climate for job creation and economic growth. The far-ranging scope of the legislation and the fact that it gained overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle are especially encouraging."

Despite the above, the chair of the Branford Republican Town Committee, Ray Ingraham, wrote a letter to the editor ("Never Ceases to Amaze," Jan. 12) slamming me for advocating this legislation and calling it and me "laughable." No wonder that we have had such a long period of economic stagnation with views like those of Mr. Ingraham. Further, his political partisanship is a sharp deterrence to economic progress in our state and communities. U.S. Senator Dick Blumenthal, in a recent report to constituents, discussed what he called the "deep, indeed destructive partisan divisions" in the country today. Those divisions proliferate with the partisan negativism of a local political leader like Mr. Ingraham, particularly in his attack on jobs legislation that was supported by virtually every legislator of his own party as well as the business community.

Branford deserves better than the destructive partisan philosophy of Ray Ingraham.

State Senator Ed Meyer
Guilford