OPINION: We Are Killing The American Dream All Over This Country

WINDSOR LOCKS, CT — I am a Windsor Locks resident. I grew up here, my family grew up here and my children are growing up here. This is our home. I take pride in my town.

I volunteer where and when I can and I try to stay very involved. I have a lot of friends and
people that I respect and trust in Windsor Locks. I wanted to weigh in on this topic because this is the type of stuff that should really offend people.

Full disclosure- I am NO expert on taxes and budgets but I think the majority would agree with me that something is not right with all of this. It seems to me that the whole process is a problem. The focus of the entire budget hearing for the people who showed up (and let’s be clear that not
enough people showed up) was the laying off of teachers. I think we can all agree the lack of funding for education is criminal- not just here but everywhere. I’m not just talking about lack of funding for teachers, but things as simple as school supplies while we continue to subsidize sub par school lunches.

A teacher’s job is just as important as a police officer, a fireman or an EMT. We trust these people to help us to educate our children to become meaningful additions to society. Most of us go to work so that we can support them in other financially expensive areas like clothes, food, etc. Nobody I know wants their children to just become obedient workers. Everybody has the dream, hope and belief that their kids will learn something in school that will inspire them to do more and change the world for the better.

That doesn’t seem to be the case. Our kids seem to be taught less and less valuable information all across the country teaching them just enough to get by. It seems like our kids are being pushed through “the system” just to get them into the workforce with ever dwindling benefits to slave away for just enough money to get by.

A good example of that would be how we censor history, social studies or don’t teach much of it at all and in recent years we have just been ignoring science as though that should some how be optional. Most schools don’t even teach children about finances and how the tax system works so that some day they will have a leg up when they become adults and have to go to work. In my opinion, this is because if we taught children about how our financial system works, that would mean diving into some unsavory history and coming to the inevitable realization that “the system” has become more corrupt as time goes on.

Taxation without representation started the American Revolution. Taxes are what lit the fire of the revolution because they were out of control. While it seems like we might’ve been off to a good start some 200-plus years ago, it doesn’t feel like we’ve gotten nearly as far as we should have. It feels as though we’ve just bastardized the whole process, which again seemingly only benefited a few.

The budget committee is deciding between our children’s education and money they need to fund sometimes unnecessary and/or trivial projects. This isn’t just a problem in my town, it’s in every town. A great example is the repaving of Old County Road in Windsor Locks which in my opinion, is a joke. By putting that money into education, our kids would receive funding for appropriate
education that they deserve. The road in question is not anywhere near as bad as many other streets in town.

Another thing that should be deemed as a criminal act is the reevaluating of people's homes as a way to find tax revenue. It’s no secret to anybody that budget committees will hire companies to go looking for things that they can use as revenue (at the cost of our dollar) and that somebody
somewhere gets a kickback for that. I’m not saying that’s the case here because I have no proof, but we’ve all heard the terms “in good faith” and “reasonable doubt.” It’s arbitrary in my opinion for any person or entity to be allowed to reevaluate someone’s home as a way to collect more tax money especially after they’ve already paid for it. We are going to price seniors and people who aren’t getting pay increases regularly, out of a home. That is criminal no matter how you spin it.

A lot of people who struggle to make ends meet in this economy may be put out of a place to live which will further the loss of income for towns and increase the burden on homeowners. To determine some imaginary number of what a person‘s home is worth every year or so, just so that your hard earned money can be taken from you to pay for things you don’t agree with, well, I’m sorry to tell you this, that's just a fancy way of saying I’m taking your money and the ONLY difference is they’re using a pen instead of a gun to stick you up.

I get it, the only way to make a lot of this work is we all have to agree to put something in the hat because it’s a community effort, but everyone has been pushed way past their comfort zone at this point. If the town is really interested in raising money for projects that are unnecessary, they oughta take up crowdfunding, budget committees everywhere need to get creative in a way that
doesn’t continually burden the people that work hard and just want to own a little piece of America.

We are killing the American Dream all over this country.

This is just my opinion and I know a lot of people agree with me. Taxes, amongst other things are out of control and something needs to be done about this..

When is enough going to be enough? I’ll say it again “taxation without representation” comes to mind. I would like to reiterate the disclaimer that I AM NO EXPERT, but it’s my understanding that many times to even be on certain committees, you have to be registered with a particular
party - which is insane. I’m just voicing my opinion on what I see and what I’ve heard. I can see it’s time for a change. It’s time for common sense.

If the goal is, we will own nothing and we will like it, then continuing down this path makes that
almost inevitable. Unfortunately, I think they will come to find that nobody’s going to like it.

Zac Washburn
Windsor Locks

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