The current Republican majority has mangled our finances so badly that the future looks very bleak indeed for those of us who work for a living. We need to stand up to these self-serving incumbents, and I am grateful Pat Higgins has accepted that challenge. Charisse Millette did nothing to safeguard the public interest while the Tajmahawker fiasco was taking place and has stood by while her friends spend hundreds of millions to sue the governor. Why isn't she fighting to protect our schools and our communities? The answer is simple: she doesn't work for us; she works for the coalition that is destroying this state.