Rep. Matt Lesser " I'm transracial"

Press Release from the Office of (D)State Representative Matthew Lesser

Hartford- As many the folks out there may know, I recently joined the black and Hispanic caucus up at the state’s capital. 

As ctlatino.news.com said: “When Lesser asked to join the Black & Latino caucus, there was some quiet head scratching in some corners of the State Capitol.  As it turns out, Lesser’s mother came from Argentina.” 

Well, I have to admit there were some folks out there scratched more than their heads when I announced my intention to apply and join the Black & Latino Caucus despite two terms of not being apart of it; I mean take a good look at me. My Edward E. Newman smile, and sandy hair- it all makes sense, I am definitely a Hispanic. This being politics, I realized that I would have to prove my heritage and I am asking the Middletown Insider to publish a photo of my puffy and smiley Argentinian face in a band I founded in the 1970s: Menudo.  It’s true folks, check Wikipedia, or ask the same people that claimed my buddy Daniel T. Drew took down a corrupt sheriff.   

            I clearly remember when my opponent in last year’s election bragged about her dancing roots in various articles. I felt at that time I should have come out of the closet about my dancing past as a Spanish heartthrob, hell, I taught Ricky Martin how shake his boooo-tay.  Please check the internet for proof of my Hispanic heritage, Between the years 1988-2011 I worked on several of the following albums with the boyz: Sons of Rock; Sombras Y Figura; Los Ultimos Heroes; Vote for me, I’m Spanish, Tiempo De Amar and Driving to Obama with Danny. If that doesn’t work, then check out the photo below.

Rachel Dolezal, former leader of the NAACP Spokane can be born white and identify as black making her a brave progressive transracial hero. I too am a transracial hero. I know the plight of the hispanic man and what its like to overcome adversity.

Sincerely,

Matthew Lesser

“When in doubt Re-district after Midnight”

Raising Minimum Wage Will Pay More Than US Pays Troops! by Ken McClellan

During his State of the Union Address, President Obama said:  "In the coming weeks, I will issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay their federally funded employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour, because if you cook our troops' meals or wash their dishes, you shouldn't have to live in poverty."

A fair wage for people who "cook our troops' meals or wash their dishes".  $10.10 per hour. Think about that for a moment, and look at what a Private in the United States Military, with less than 2 years’ service earns: $1,531.50 Per Month.

Privates are expected to report for work early for Physical Training (PT). It's a required part of their day in addition to a full 8-hour work day.  Add on Charge of Quarters, Guard Duty, Additional Duties spilling over into weekends, and call it 50 hours a week, minimum.  That's 200 hours per month. Divide $1,531.50 by 200 and you get $7.65 per hour.     Of course, in combat, a soldier is on duty 24 hours a day.  For that you get an extra $225 per month.   That gives a soldier a whopping $2.44 an hour.

President Obama want to pay dishwashers and food-servers more than the young men and women who signed up to defend our country.  Men and women, who at any minute, will be called on to go to a combat area, and risk their lives and limbs in against people who are trying very hard to kill them.  Our soldiers, moving through small villages where a box sitting at the side of the road, or recently turned-over dirt could hide a bomb large enough to shred an armored vehicle.  Soldiers who have volunteered to eat their meals out of boxes, and sleep outdoors on rocks in the rain and snow.  Soldiers who stay awake 36 or 48 hours or longer to ensure that their mission is accomplished.  Soldiers who will stand guard, looking out into a dark, hostile landscape, to ensure that their friends can sleep safely.  There is absolutely no comparison between the job demands of a soldier and those of a dishwasher.

Consider the training required for a soldier.  8 weeks of basic training, including weekends, then another 8 to 16 weeks of job-related training.  There is no comparison there, either.

In 2000, the salary for a Private with less than 2 years’ service was $1,127.40. There has been an increase of 35% in 13 years.  Federal Minimum Wage in 2000 was 5.15.  There has been a 41% increase to today's Minimum Wage.  The President's proposal would make the increase 96% in those ten years.  Triple the increase in the pay of a military private.

I'm glad that there are people who wash dishes and prepare food for a living.  They made my life in the military more comfortable.  Some days, especially on long deployments, that's all a soldier has:  A hot meal.   And that can make your day.  The cooks, clerks, janitors, dishwashers all continue to make life more comfortable for soldiers on active duty today.  I don't begrudge them a fair wage.

My point is that the soldiers, the men and women who put boots on the ground, are being forgotten.  There is talk of cutting the military budget.  Which will mean no raises for these men and women, while Congress and federal employees will get their cost-of-living increases, as they do every year.

The President often speaks of fairness and equality.  It's time to talk about being fair to the soldiers.  They deserve a fair, living wage as much, if not more so than the clerks, cooks and dishwashers.  Before you talk about taking care of federal civilian employees, DO SOMETHING about taking care of military personnel.

Thanks,

Ken McClellan

US Army, Retired

*Editor's note: McClellan is a Middletown resident and chairman of the Middletown Republican Town Committee

Election Results & Conclusion

      Middletown residents voted overwhelmingly across the board yesterday for Democrats proving party affiliation matters most in this City. It can also be surmised that national party identification translates to local voting tendencies as well. This does not surprise the Insider that many locals cannot make this jump. Many individuals say they vote for the candidate and not that party, but in reality do not. 


    We have received numerous sentiments supporting Republican candidates, but, asking that we do not publicly acknowledge them because they do not want their neighbors or liberal friends to know they have crossed party lines. 
     Sadly, as a result of the contentious presidential election, this  fear of peer pressure and persecution from both sides against friends and family with rivaling views was illustrated in heated arguments on social media sites through out the country. Have you expressed your political persuasion at all this year and gotten an ear full from a "friend" on your facebook wall? Have you felt the need to put your two cents in when someone you know shows who their picks are on their wall? Our case in point; free speech resulting in unsolicited advice on both sides was rampant!
     It does no good to claim one supports a candidate but do so privately! This election proved this point.
       City residents chose to re-seat two decade plus long incumbents (Serra, DeLauro) proving the "new blood" adage irrelevant. 84% of eligible voters came out for the presidential election. To say the Democrats were the only party to advocate for women and minorities was a falsehood that stuck around all through this election. Democrats exploited this exaggerated myth to their advantage. 
    The walking contradictions to the lie spread by Democrats that conservatives don't care about women, family, and minorities being Republican candidates  Len Suzio, Wayne Winsley, Deborah Kleckowski, Callie Grippo.  Winsley, a minority, unfortunately could not overcome the DeLauro machine, which campaigned heavily this cycle in minority communities. Delauro campaigned in   Middletown churches with predominately minority parishioners for example, specifically under the guise of " explaining Obamacare to women" as we reported earlier this year. We hope Winsley stays in the game and his plan of economic reform & development don't end with this bid for office.

      The surprise of the night was the dent the new face on the block Republican Callie Grippo put in the cult like following of 22 year incumbent Joe Serra's tally. The Insider hopes to see Grippo back in two years to finish the job!

     Kleckowski held steady over Lesser; the Insider feels and had this not have been such a contentious presidential election year, she could have easily over taken Lesser for the 100th Distric.t Again, Wesleyan (of which ironically Kleckowski is a graduate of, but we are doubtful students know that, and Lesser a drop out of), with the aide of the Middletown Democratic Town Committee, provided pizza and buses to to get students to the polls.

     Probably the most unfortunate results of the evening were that of the close race between one term incumbent Suzio and Bartolomeo who eeked ahead with 450 votes. Suzio championed the cause to end the early release program of violent criminals such as sex offenders, rapists, and murders. He also lead the fight to suspend the crippling gasoline tax. The week before the mayor's of both Middletown and Meriden, orchestrated by Bartolomeo, held a press conference on false charges of push polling by the Suzio campaign. During the press conference, both mayor's admitted that there was no evidence to prove the allegation. Suzio also used his position to advocate and vote for spending cuts at the state and vowed not to raise taxes, something which no Connecticut Democrat in office has stated on record to date.

     The Insider surmises (because Suzio's messages were SO clear) that Middletown and other 13th District residents enjoy the gas tax, higher taxes all around, and are ok with the release of violent offenders into our community! Hey, maybe they are relatives, you never know. We hope Suzio makes a come back and sticks around to keep the vital messages he put forth out there.

      Our own blogger SteadyJohn pointed out that National commentator Bill O'Reiley summarized the presidential election as this:

"It's about FREE STUFF, at least half of the nation's folks want FREE STUFF! The murders of four Americans at Benghazi mean nothing to the drones and leeches. Only the military can save us now. Until now the generals have been quiet lap dogs in uniforms licking the master's boots. The usurpation in our highest office continues unopposed; it's the end of America the Beautiful."

     While one theory out there is that the increased dependency on government aide attached with larger government, caused voting strictly across party lines in favor of the Democrats who advocate this dependency; hope should not be lost for our country or Middletown community.

     An Anonymous commenter left a statement on our previous post this morning saying: ""Haha you lost completely across the board. Be nice and respect people you disagree with, it may come to help you in the future." 

     Staff at the Insider unanimously agree that this is something we should never do, nor should readers. NEVER stop questioning your government. Elected officials are not deities to be feared, worshiped, and "respected" without fault.  NEVER suck up to get favors. Its that simple. To disagree civilly is what the Constitution is based on. The First Amendment allows for this blog to exist and allows for us to examine our government and force transparency; something  we owe ourselves to do. 

Working together does not mean blind acceptance of status quo in federal government or on even the small scale locally right here in Middletown. The "favor system" of who knows who can end if we want it to.
(Of course when the same faces who hurt the system are voted in over & over, this can't happen... )

     The Insider would like to congratulate all the victors of the election no matter what party! We sincerely hope that the Democrats this time around take steps to actively stop the persecution of conservatives, work across the aisle for once, and over all stop bleeding tax payers dry! Working families are hurting, education is hurting; that hurt is something that surpasses party divisions, races, ethnic groups, sexes, sexual orientations, religions etc. -it is a universal hurt.  Time to move forward.

The complete precinct by precinct results from the City Clerk are here:https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1OYjxtLEgUwOHBtRnUtVlZnOW8

Question #1, $37M appropriation and bond for connection to the Mattabassett Regional Sewer Project

YES: 11,003

NO: 4,942

Question #2, $4.85M appropriation and bond for Senior Community Center at Eckersley Hall

YES: 10,881

NO: 5,259

State Assembly District 33

Joe Serra(D): 6,349

Callie Grippo(R): 2,519

State Assembly District 100

Matt Lesser (D): 6,673 

Deb Kleckowski (R): 3,055

State Senate District 9

Paul Doyle (D): 8,871

Joe Dinunzio(R): 3,024

State Senate District 13

Danté Bartolomeo (D): 3,886

Len Suzio (R): 2,704

U.S. House District 3

Rosa DeLauro (D): 12,833

Wayne Winsley (R): 3,802

U.S. House District 1

John Larson (D): 1,493

John Decker: 599

Michael DeRose: 43

Matthew Cora: 10

U.S. Senate

Chris Murphy (D): 12,487

Linda McMahon (R): 6,470

Paul Passarelli: 396

President

Barack Obama (D): 13,830

Mitt Romney (R): 6,105

Johnson: 206

Anderson: 76

Jill Stein: 31

Tom Hoefling: 2

Fact Check: Obama and failed to keep Janesville GM Plant Open

 Originally published in The Washington Examiner

A few nights ago, in his Republican National Convention speech, Paul Ryan said:

President Barack Obama came to office during an economic crisis, as he has reminded us a time or two. Those were very tough days, and any fair measure of his record has to take that into account. My home state voted for President Obama. When he talked about change, many people liked the sound of it, especially in Janesville, where we were about to lose a major factory.
A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that GM plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: “I believe that if our government is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years.” That’s what he said in 2008.
Well, as it turned out, that plant didn’t last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day. And that’s how it is in so many towns today, where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight.

The Washington Post, and a host of other liberal media outlets, are calling this passage “misleading” because the Janesville plant “closed before the president was inaugurated.” The Post is dead wrong. Here are the facts:
1. On February 13, 2008 Obama said in Janesville : “I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years.”
2. In June 2008 GM announced that the Janesville plant would stop production of medium-duty trucks by the end of 2009, and stop production of large SUVs in 2010 or sooner.
3. In October 2008 Obama doubled down on his promise to keep Janesville plant open: “As president, I will lead an effort to retool plants like the GM facility in Janesville so we can build the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow and create good-paying jobs in Wisconsin and all across America.”
4. In December 2008 GM idled production of GM SUVs at the Janesville plant. Medium-duty truck assembly continued.
5. In April 2009, four months after Obama was inaugurated, GM idled production of medium-duty trucks.
6. In September 2011, more than two years after Obama was inaugurated, GM reiterates that Janesville plant is on “stand by status.” Auto industry observer David Cole, tells the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel it would be premature to say the Janesville plant will never reopen.
6. Today the GM facility in Janesville still has not been retooled “so we can build the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow and create good-paying jobs,” as Obama promised.

Stolen From Face Book Files: Part 1

Unlike other local blogs that have hidden agendas and refuse to acknowledge what their local friends are doing in office, this blog is not afraid to have a different view at times.

Although the message in the jpeg does not represent all of the reporters and editors of the Insider, we thought it would fun to post something we saw on Facebook and take a really good look at it.  We look forward to fair discussion points with regard to the matter.