To the Editor:

Connecticut is broke. Our economic health is teetering on insolvency. The state’s treasury is on life support. We, the people, need to fundamentally change the way our state does business.

If we are to save our quality of life, now’s the time to return common sense to Hartford. This election day, more than ever, we have a responsibility to make things better. We need real-world experience. We need a legislator who shares our frustration about ever-rising taxes. We need a mature individual who’s faced the challenges and reaped the rewards of raising a family. A practical person who’s successfully balanced both household and business budgets. We need George Ferguson.

George is a tireless worker and, as a member of Newtown’s Legislative Council, has worked hard to understand the issues concerning us, his neighbors. In this role, in his work and his many years of community service, he’s consistently demonstrated a refreshing desire to listen first, and then roll up his sleeves to find solutions, especially in highly emotional times. George is an independent thinker with a gift of bringing together people with opposing views and achieving reasonable compromises.

We need George Ferguson in Hartford, where the word “compromise” has been torn from the dictionary.

Today, the state’s incumbent house majority doesn’t share our values.

Their prescription for our ailing economy is a steady dose of bigger government, increased spending, more taxes and bonding to hide a growing deficit. Each year, fewer state dollars return to Newtown, creating unbearable pressure on property taxpayers, particularly at budget time.

We need George Ferguson in Hartford as part of a new legislative team that understands the values by which we live at home should also apply to government. As George points out, “We must remind the state that it cannot spend more than it takes in and borrow more than it can reasonably afford to pay back. Connecticut doesn’t have a revenue problem; it has a spending problem. More taxes will only make the economy worse.”

Today, Connecticut is last among states in job creation. Our legislature and attorney general have earned us a reputation as the least business-friendly state in the nation. It’s time we change this! George shares my belief that tomorrow’s prosperity lies in welcoming good-paying private-sector jobs that get Connecticut working; again making the Nutmeg State the best place for us and our young people to live, work, and raise a family.

We need George Ferguson because he will advocate for the economic well-being of our state and community by encouraging businesses to be globally competitive. He supports rewarding businesses hiring unemployed individuals with job-creation tax credits; providing incentives for employers investing in Connecticut and its workforce and; reducing or eliminating business nuisance taxes that send jobs and employers out of state.

On November 2, the choice is clear; vote George Ferguson, Republican, for Newtown’s 106th District State Representative. Experience is the difference. If you value your family’s economic well-being, you too will vote for George on November 2.

Respectfully,

Mitch Bolinsky

3 Wiley Lane, Newtown                                              October 12, 2010