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Local Developments

Recently my wife posted a mocked up newsflash on the Groton Democrats Facebook page, attacking local Republican state reps, John Scott and Andre Bumgardner, as “do-nothings”. That meme is in the news lately, as Groton has taken quite a hit on education funding, with both of them whining about how unfair it was that they could simply do absolutely nothing about it.

Oddly enough, the post itself caused John Scott to do something. He dashed off a Facebook comment to the effect that the attack was a “cheap shot”. This seemed like an odd riposte, coming from a guy whose 2014 campaign consisted of nothing but cheap shots. But while the shot wasn’t cheap, it pains me to say that the “do-nothing” charge was not quite accurate. As I’ve written before, as soon as he got into office, he sprang into action and tried to get a law passed requiring UConn students who are eligible for free health insurance to nonetheless buy health insurance through insurance agents who have contracted with the state to write such policies. Did I mention that John is an insurance agent who has contracted with the state to write health insurance policies for UConn students? So, as I’ve noted in the past, John has certainly tried to serve his constituent, though it didn’t work out so well. Andre, on the other hand, can honestly say that like any good Republican who believes that the government can do no good, he has done his best to prove it so, by doing–well, by doing no good.

While I’m on the subject of John’s self interested dealings, I must again express my utter astonishment (just kidding, I’m not astonished at all) at the fact that, with the exception of one article about John’s conflict of interest, the New London Day has been silent. Maybe it has something to do with all those ads John takes out in the Day. Dave Collins, a columnist who devoted at least 20 columns to criticizing Democratic senator Andy Maynard for having a disability, has been curiously silent about John’s blatant attempt to divert money into his own pockets. But it’s not necessarily the case that Dave is in the tank for John. He’s in the tank for all Republicans, so John just comes along for the ride. The Day once was a reasonably good local paper; it is rapidly degenerating into a Republican rag. Oh how I wish Kasich would drop out so we would get to read their rationale for endorsing either Donald or Ted Cruz in the upcoming primary.

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