The Winsted budget: Here we go again

HERE WE GO AGAIN: Tomorrow, Saturday, that is, voters in the Town of Winchester will be called on to vote, once again, on a town budget which gives us a zero increase from the past fiscal year.

Residents have already been informed that jobs will be cut along with some services if the budget is passed on this 6th effort.

There has been talk that a “noâ€� vote is a possibility because  proposed cuts have been too severe in some areas, one being education. There are some 7,000 voters in town and one wonders why the turnout in the previous referendums was so low. The last referendum resulted in only 1,306 voters casting votes. These figures are not official but the turnout amounted to 18 percent of the registered voters in Winchester. If anyone knows why voters don’t cast ballots on such an important issue, I wish they would come forward.

Winchester is a “blue collar� community and if one was to take Highland Lake out of the picture, I wonder whether “crisis� would be a good description of the town’s financial situation.

Another “no� vote for the reason of making additional budget cuts, doesn’t deserve consideration. And there shouldn’t be any thought to voting “no� with the hope that additional funding will be placed in the budget.

This budget should be approved. In the weeks and months ahead the hurt being felt will provide an answer as to how the town can function. Yes, time will tell.

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THEY’RE ONLY HUMAN: Our leaders on occasions are guilty of making mistakes when addressing large audiences. Here’s a couple recently reported:

President Barack Obama during a campaign stop in Oregon: “Over the past 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states, I think — one left to go.� How about 51?

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton: “I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with heads down to get into our vehicles to get to our base.� Her tale of gunfire and evasive action on a trip to Bosnia in 1996. It never happened.

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BUTTS, BUTTS EVERYWHERE: Where they shouldn’t be.

I recently had to visit the nearby Charlotte Hungerford Hospital entering through the emergency entrance.

A thought entered my mind that despite the many warnings about the danger involved in smoking cigarettes, many people entering the hospital don’t seem to be concerned.

Just outside the emergency door entrance there must have been cigarette butts numbering at least three or four packs of cigs on the ground.

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SCHOOL RESTRUCTURING: There’s talk about a plan which would include sending our grade 7 and 8 students to The Gilbert School.

Something has been said that such a move  would save the town money and maybe ease the financial problems that arise at budget times.

Placing seventh and eighth grade students at Gilbert could solve some of the financial burden on taxpayers, but the question remains whether the younger students should be mixed with an older element.

The restructuring idea certainly deserves consideration but the age differential should be given plenty of thought.

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“CARELESS MISTAKE,� that is how Sen. Timothy Geithner describes the fact that he failed to pay $34,000 in taxes over three years. And, guess what, he is being considered for the position of Treasury Secretary in the Obama administration.

Those guys in Washington certainly do take care of themselves, regardless of wrong doings that occur.

How can one of our political leaders forget that he owes $34,000 in taxes for the years 2001 to 2004?

He did apologize to Congress a week or two ago for his misdeed, describing it as a “careless mistake.�

It really doesn’t come as a surprise as we have a couple of politicians in our neck of the woods, namely Sen. Chris Dodd and that guy in Massachusetts, Barney Frank. Both of these two gentlemen have been mentioned as being eligible for the prosecution for shady activity.

The nation’s most watched newscaster, Bill O’Reilly, ripped Washington apart earlier in the week and I believe one of the words he used was “corrupt.�