What is Larry Cafero Thinking?
There are many occasions, where I wonder what our Norwalk legislative delegation is thinking about. Clearly, in the face of a suffocating $8 billion dollar deficit, you would hope that they would be thinking about how to cut expenses. As Minority Leader of the House, Larry Cafero gets lots of ink time. So we start with his latest comments on decriminalizing the possession of less than half an ounce of pot. Call it the martini equivalent.
House Republican leader Lawrence Cafero of Norwalk spoke strongly against changing the law, saying that he has seen drugs ruin numerous lives during the past 16 years that he has served as the expulsion officer for the Norwalk public schools. High-achieving students who once received grades of As and Bs in their classes often fall to Cs and Ds after they have become regular marijuana smokers, Cafero said.
“I’ve seen kids who are getting high at 7 in the morning, sometimes at 12 years old,” Cafero told the committee. “It ruins a lot of lives. It ruins a lot of families. … It’s not a matter of efficiency. It’s not a matter of money. It’s a matter of lives.”
Hey if I were Cafero, I’d be more concerned about the skills of teachers falling because they have to fill out an inane amount of paperwork just to teach in this state if he were all that concerned about grades in schools. If Cafero is so concerned about lives being ruined, than he perhaps should be more concerned about families who have to choose between paying for groceries and paying for health care. See, I too can make one of those bombastic correlations that sound exploitative. I’ve seen kids drinking at 7 AM in the morning, as young as 12 even, and I don’t see a legislative rush to decriminalize a half ounce of tequila. Should we even bother talking about Ritilin prescriptions, in kids at 7 AM, as young as 12?
Meanwhile, the Democrats have produced their budget plan. Shh. The details are not released yet. So why do we have anticipatory comments? Slow news days people. Bunnies with 2 noses and Chimp attack victim updates in the newspaper of the capitol abound. Here’s Cafero on the un-revealed Democratic legislative answer to Rell’s budget:
“It is unfortunate that our repeated pleas and requests to play an active role in developing a bipartisan budget have gone unheeded to this point,” said House Republican leader Larry Cafero of Norwalk.
Does Cafero think he’s Jay Cutler or something? Senate Republican Minority Leader John McKinney:
“Despite their promises of bipartisanship, the Democrats have drafted a budget proposal behind closed doors and without Republican input,” said Senate Republican leader John McKinney of Fairfield. “I fear the Democrat budget, while having some cuts, has not done the hard work of making government smaller and more efficient. It instead relies on borrowing and increasing taxes on families and small businesses.”
Was it a little over a month ago that Cafero was singing the praises of bi-partisanship?
The 143 to 0 vote came shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday after an all-day session that included behind-the-scenes negotiating and maneuvering by Republicans, Democrats, and the governor’s office. The Senate was expected to approve the budget by early Thursday morning.
In an unusual speech on the House floor, Republican leader Lawrence Cafero of Norwalk thanked House Speaker Christopher Donovan, a Democrat, for the bipartisan spirit that allowed legislators to come together on a deficit-cutting plan that is normally marked with high tension and partisan clashes.
“Today is a good day,” Cafero said at about 10:45 p.m. “It’s not a perfect day. … It’s a plan. It’s a start. … We’re going to have plenty of times when we’re going to be mad at each other and call each other names.”
Well I think the headline question is all settled now.
