State workers are not the problem, they are the solution

I saw the two young girls on the stream bank as I drove past this evening. Their red hoodies pulled up to keep them warm.  I was glad I was in my warm car, but then again I'm not a fisherman.
It reminded me that yesterday was opening day of the fishing season in Connecticut.
Fishermen and women, like hunters, are among the best advocates of our natural resources, our wildlife and our open spaces.  We who occasionally enjoy a hike or a picnic in a park or forest owe them a debt of thanks, both for the fees they pay which support these things and for their voices.
If not for them, it might be like the old Joni Mitchell song.
"they paved paradise and they put up a parking lot."

It also reminded me of the dedicated people who work for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.  Raising the trout and stocking the rivers is just one of the many things they do for us and the environment every day.

When I think about the current state "budget crisis," I like to think of seeing the DEEP tanker trucks on the highways the last couple of weeks, delivering this years stock.
None of this happens without the dedicated people who do it.
The people who stock our rivers, test our milk, protect our roadways, fight fires in forests, houses, and businesses, teach our children, nurse our sick and so much more are often state workers, and our neighbors.  They gain a modest middle class income, which they reinvest in their communities, not in some offshore bank in the Cayman Islands or Panama, in an effort to avoid paying taxes.

The governor believes we need to lay off state workers.
Why?
They work and provide services and they reinvest in our communities.
Are we so cynical that we think ALL millionaires are so greedy that they will leave the state  if we ask then to help?
I don't think they are.
Yes, some are, and I say to them, don't let the door hit you in the behind on the way out.
But many will gladly pay their fair share, if only we ask.

State workers are not the problem, they are the solution.