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For years, I was a GOP robot, not because I really believed them, but because the weren't the DemocRAT party. When in 1994, I campaigned for a genuine conservative in Connecticut for governor, Tom Scott, I learned some things. We elected a RINO governor, John Rowland, a former congressman who voted for the first Brady Bill and is pro-Abortion instead.

It was saddening, several times, during the debates, we went to support outside the places, and the Rowland supporters told us we were splitting the vote. We explained how Rowland was a liar who could not be trusted, and sure enough, he has done nothing to stimulate growth in the state. Our unemployment rate is only 3% for a state average, but in my area it is 5%.

Manufacturing in this state is also dying. We were one of the central hubs for aviation, both for defense and civil, but with the overseas development in China and Indonesia, Pratt & Whitney, General Electric and Rolls Royce all moved overseas to go for the cheap labor. That means Pratt went from 65,000 employed in the state in the 70's, to 5000 now. Hamilton Standard went from 15,000 in the 70's to 1,500 now.

We had several democrat governors in a row, from Ella Grasso in the 70's, then O'Niel, who ran the budget into the ground, then Lowell Wieker, who told us that having an income tax in 1990 would be like throwing gasoline on a fire, for Ct was deep into recession because of the loss of jobs defense related fromthe Berlin Wall coming down.

You guessed it: Wieker threw gasoline on a fire, Rowland said nothing about recinding it in 94, Scott entered the race, promised to eliminate the tax, stimulate growth, and get the economy moving again, but Rowland won.

That is when I learned what a RINO is. Our income tax is 1/2 of 1% less than when it started, down to 3.5%. Our Gas tax is about $.50 a gallon, I forgot the amount, but it is the second highest in the nation.

We are top heavy with CEO's, and that is the only reason our average salaries are considered the highest. I was in Engineering until a year ago when all the telecom companies went under, since then I am now running a tool crib for a supply company!

Knowing how our main industrial base left not only our state, but our country, I have no support for politicians who talk of GATT or NAFTA or Free Trade, because it translates into unemployment for us up here, and recession.

I am seriously considering moving to somewhere else, but I have no idea where.

We elected a RINO governor, John Rowland, a former congressman who voted for the first Brady Bill and is pro-Abortion instead.

It was saddening, several times, during the debates, we went to support outside the places, and the Rowland supporters told us we were splitting the vote. We explained how Rowland was a liar who could not be trusted,

Don't move to Maryland - there's only one party in this state and it's infested with Socialists.

Your experiences should be a thread all it's own, putting Conservatives on notice what will happen nationally (hell, it already is) if we keep giving individuals a pass just because they have an "R" after their names...

Manufacturing in this state is also dying. We were one of the central hubs for aviation, both for defense and civil, but with the overseas development in China and Indonesia, Pratt & Whitney, General Electric and Rolls Royce all moved overseas to go for the cheap labor. That means Pratt went from 65,000 employed in the state in the 70's, to 5000 now. Hamilton Standard went from 15,000 in the 70's to 1,500 now.

Well, unfortunately, the conservative answer to that is -- let it die. You know the Adam Smith line -- or at least, you should. The fact that these companies are moving overseas is basic free-market economics -- it's *cheaper* for them over there. The cheaper labor translates into cheaper goods for the consumer. Cheaper goods for the consumer mean more money to spend on other sectors of the economy, which the displaced workforce eventually rotates into.

Buchananism ain't conservatism. It's populist isolationism.

--KL