Powell, Pesci Substack The Journal Inquirer (JI), one of the last independent newspapers in Connecticut, is now a part of the Hearst Media chain. Hearst has been growing by leaps and bounds in the state during the last decade. At the same time, many newspapers in Connecticut have shrunk in size, the result, some people seem to think, of ad revenue smaller newspapers have lost to internet sites and a declining newspaper reading public. Surviving papers are now seeking to recover the lost revenue by erecting “pay walls.” Like most besieged businesses, newspapers also are attempting to recoup lost revenue through staff reductions, reductions in the size of the product – both candy bars and newspapers are much smaller than they had been in the past – and sell-offs to larger chains that operate according to the social Darwinian principles of monopolistic “red in tooth and claw” giant corporations. The first principle of the successful mega-firm is: Buy out your predator before he swallows
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It appears that the Dems, at least in the executive branch, are finally acknowledging that spending must be reduced. However, this general recognition is generally qualified by the claims that the Governor's agreement with the unions last year means there are no savings to be found there and, secondly, that medicaid cuts are difficult because of their being tied to federal dollars. I question the extent that the State can in fact be legally bound by any agreement with its employees if it were in its wisdom to either exempt itself from litigation and/or change the statutory framework that gives public employee unions their right to exist. The promises it has made simply cannot be kept. I also question whether the State can't find savings in Medicaid by rejecting the Obamacare expansion of eligibility, reversing, as I understand it, the decision made by Gov. Rell in 2010 "to provide increased medical benefits for (the near poor) through Medicaid while relieving the burden on state taxpayers.” The dramatic increase in the number of folks on medicaid is allegedly a prime reason for the current "unexpected" budget "shortfalls," and would appear to this inexpert financial analyst to be unsustainable going, as they say,forward.