A recent letter to the editor said, "the State of Connecticut needs a truly conservative third party to emerge in order to win the hearts of the unrepresented." The writer ignores the fact that, to our detriment, we have lived under conservative policies for the last 40 years. Under conservative Republicans, we got trickle-down-economic theories that instead of elevating people’s lives denied them access to health care, welfare, decent living conditions, and food stamps, all while starving government agencies to dangerously inadequate levels. If you doubt the government has been emptied to anemic levels, you have only to look at the disaster of governmental dysfunction and failure of foresight displayed during this medical crisis. With conservatives in the driver’s seat, we have had a cruel government that missed no opportunity to penalize vulnerable folks while padding the pockets of the rich. The path to prosperity was never through Republican economics except for the richest Americans. It is my hope that the next election will put an end to the mean-spirited policies coming from the Republican Party.

Christine Schmidt

Ledyard