In the article about the legislature's budget infighting titled "Legislature still at odds over strategy to trim deficit," published Dec. 22, we learned that Gov. M. Jodi Rell was calling on public-service workers to "reopen negotiations in search of new concessions." This is not only the governor's fallback position, it's her only position.

When in doubt, she cuts services. When she runs out of ideas about how to get us out of this mess, she cuts more services. You gotta hand it to her - what she lacks in creativity, she makes up for in persistence.

But more cuts mean longer lines at the unemployment office, because making cuts to public services has a direct impact on the state's economy. The governor's rescissions and executive orders already cost Connecticut 30,000 jobs and her latest proposal would mean another 5,000 jobs lost.

Also, after the last round of cuts, state agencies are short-staffed, call centers take longer and wait times have increased. It is more difficult for people to access the vital services they need in these hard times.

It's time the folks in the legislature put services first and stopped the cuts that the middle class can't afford anymore.

Charles Lemelin
Gales Ferry