JournalInquirer.com

A gallon of vinegar for Rell
CT@Work
By Leo Canty
Published: Thursday, November 12, 2009 12:08 PM EST

Benjamin Franklin once said that a spoonful of honey will trap more flies than a gallon of vinegar. With the press, politicians, friends, and family ladling out the honey upon the news of Gov. Jodi Rell’s impending retirement, I thought I should share some thoughts and catch a few pesky flies of my own.

First off, I say “rah-rah” to the governor.

Rell has accomplished many of the goals she set out to meet once she took over the ship of state from her wayward running mate and mentor, John Rowland.

During one of the most difficult economic challenges and protracted budget battles any governor has ever seen in this state, Rell courageously kept her focus and determination, without detour from the outcome she wanted. Slashing public services we all depend upon — cutting programs from early childhood education programs to elder care and everything in between — were actions geared to protect the wealthy and largest corporations from having to contribute their fair share of what it takes to make our state a great place to live and work.

Rell deserves recognition for warding off the forces of evil with her magical veto pen, without prejudice for those on either end of the economic spectrum. Last year she vetoed the minimum-wage bill; this year she focused on millionaires tax increase prevention. But the good fighter missed her mark. The minimum-wage veto was overridden, allowing an $8 per hour minimum for 2009, and the tax rate on extreme wealth did rise. Minimum-wage earners are now 35 cents per hour richer. A millionaire making $480 an hour has become about $2.50 an hour poorer.

Yes, it was a loss. But that is the kind of commendable effort this governor puts into her work.

Rell worked to fix our broken health-care system, vetoing the “Pooling Bill” that would have helped cities, towns, nonprofits, and small businesses with health-care costs — twice. Her forceful effort to provide affordable and accessible health care to every resident of our state came with a veto of the Sustinet Health Care Bill.

Last week I saw Life Star bringing in the rescued victims of unfortunate circumstances to Hartford Hospital. New reports are coming in daily about people who are in need of food banks and pantries to help boost them back on their economic feet.

Our departing governor stood up against those programs in order to help ease hardship on suffering Wall Streeters. But give her credit. She knew when to step back. The governor could have forced the issue and achieved those cuts in human services and emergency care, but she held back. Lives were saved. As Kenny Rogers might say — she knew when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em. That’s a remarkable attribute of our governor.

The governor has made many efforts to boost our economy. The “Little Dig,” a project she inherited, was miserably botched by Rowland and lousy contractors. The project essentially had to be redone. But that’s twice the jobs in a sluggish economy.

Thankfully, Rell then vetoed the bill that would have required more oversight and more controls on the use of outside contractors for projects like the “Little Dig.” Later she did take ownership and sign a clean contracting bill in 2007. Now, the panel to oversee the program is still not in place and it has a target of 2011 to be up and running. That means we still have two more years to get twice the jobs from every state construction project — just what we need in this recession.

I have many more tales of gubernatorial derring-do, but there’s still 14 months to go to enhance the record of protecting the privileged, and helping those in need. We can count on more heavy lifting, heroic action, and maybe even some more judicious use of taxpayer-funded pollsters until the day of the 2011 Inauguration, when M. Jodi Rell’s term officially ends and she gets to ride off into the sunset.

It will be a glorious day. I’m counting the minutes in anticipation. And, I just might release all my honey flies as a tribute to the departing governor.

Leo Canty is a labor and political activist. He lives in Windsor.