CT Mirror: A job posting and Murphy's dilemma

If you're looking for work as a reporter, the CT Mirror is hiring for coverage in both education and healthcare.

And speaking of the CT Mirror, Deirdre Shesgreen recently reported for them on a quandary facing Chris Murphy:

During a recent meeting with labor leaders, Rep. Chris Murphy was pressed by the head of an influental teachers' union to support a $23 billion education rescue package pending in Congress...

Murphy was sympathetic to the teachers' concerns, but he didn't make any promises. After all, he's also under pressure from another constituency: voters in his 5th District who are worried about runaway federal spending and spiraling deficits.

"I've got cities in my district about to lay off 135 teachers-New Britain, for example-and class sizes could balloon to 40 kids per class," Murphy said in an interview Wednesday. "At the same time, I represent a very fiscally conservative district, and I'm reluctant to support additional funding that's not paid for."

If Chris votes for the proposed spending, I hope he upholds his 2007 "pay-go" promise and cuts elsewhere... maybe he could start with all the war funding?

Tim White