THE DEMOCRATIC POINT OF VIEW

In a recent Redding Pilot piece, State Representative John Shaban stated that there were two approaches to government, both seeking "to benefit the public". As a Republican, he is a legitimate spokesman for his party's relentless anti-government point of view; he is not, however, qualified to present the Democratic point of view, and indeed presented a gross distortion which no Democrat would recognize.

A Democrat sees the contemporary world as a complex place where people must work together to solve complex problems. A world where government provides real services to real people, and is not simply a vast bureaucracy seeking to perpetuate itself at the expense of the people. A world where we could not enjoy our natural rights and the blessings of life without hundreds of laws which secure the public safety, individual privacy, property, the environment, and, yes, a safety net for those of us unfortunate enough to be poor, infirm or disenfranchised.

Unlike many Republicans, a Democrat is not nostalgic to reinstate the ideal of the Wild West, where everyman is for himself, nor eager to return to the economic Darwinism of the late nineteenth century Gilded Age, or the subsequent Roaring Twenties. A Democrat does not believe, as the Republican argument goes, that enabling corporations is the central goal of government and that promoting evermore brutal competition, unbridled self-interest and rapacity will eventually promote the public good. Nor does a Democrat believe that taxes, which are mostly avoided by the richest corporations and individuals under the present tax code, are the chief obstacle in the way of job creation and expansion.

We commend Governor Malloy and U.S. Representative Jim Himes for their fair and balanced approach to solving Connecticut's and the nation's fiscal problems, largely created by Republicans, by the way, through budget increases and tax cuts. A Democrat believes in a progressive tax system. As a comparatively wealthy community, Redding should not expect to receive back, dollar for dollar, what it pays in state taxes, but should be willing to contribute some of its tax dollars to help its fellow citizens within the many poorer communities throughout Connecticut.

A Democrat has compassion and respects complexity. He or she knows that our problems are going to be solved by rationality and cooperation, not by adherence to dogmas, especially the Republican dogmas that government is always the problem and that taxes must always be cut. For a Democrat, government by and for the people is the means for problem-solving and the foundation and future of democracy.

Joseph Ventricelli

Chairman, Redding-Georgetown Town Committee