Skip to main content

Taking Care Of Business

The item in the Courant about Rep John Larson, a new powerhouse in the US Senate, is mercifully short, only a little more than 200 words. The Courant buried it in the fat of its folds on page 100043B. Now if only Rowland got that kind of inattention – the name of the “business” is not even mentioned – he still might be governor.

It remains for a reporter more curious than Mark Peters and a newspaper more agressive towards Democrats than the Courant -- which, during the late election, endorsed all the US Democrat congressional candidates -- to find out who is the Peter Ellef of the group. And how much do these guys make anyway?

According to the Courant story, “A federally funded technology center in East Hartford that has been championed by U.S. Rep. John B. Larson has appointed the congressman's chief of staff," Elliot Ginsberg, as its first chief executive officer.

The three year old center, which employs 35 people and "relies primarily on federal and state funding" is connected to regional technology-based companies, "including the defense industry."

“It works with companies on new products, helps small start-up firms and promotes technology careers for students. The center is currently developing laboratories for laser applications and modeling and simulation for use by regional companies.

“Ginsberg was a perfect match for the position, said John Carson, chairman of the center's board of directors.

"’He has an intimate knowledge of the industry, the economy and possesses the leadership skills,’" Carson said.

"Before working for Larson, Ginsberg served as a Superior Court magistrate, commissioner of the state Department of Human Resources and was an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work.

"Ginsberg will be prohibited from lobbying Larson's office for federal funding for a year because of his association with the congressman. The center did not disclose Ginsberg's salary."


And after the year is over, Larson and his pals can go into the campaign finance shakedown business. Move over Jack Abramoff.

Comments

Anonymous said…
That was my biggest complaint about the Courant before I dropped it. They have no nose for news, or probably no political inclination for pursuing certain stories.

I could have lived with the lefty orientation, but not following up on stuff dangled in your face is inexcusable. But this is what people want to buy a newspaper for, the hidden facts. No wonder circulation is declining.

Popular posts from this blog

The Blumenthal Burisma Connection

Steve Hilton , a Fox News commentator who over the weekend had connected some Burisma corruption dots, had this to say about Connecticut U.S. Senator Dick Blumenthal’s association with the tangled knot of corruption in Ukraine: “We cross-referenced the Senate co-sponsors of Ed Markey's Ukraine gas bill with the list of Democrats whom Burisma lobbyist, David Leiter, routinely gave money to and found another one -- one of the most sanctimonious of them all, actually -- Sen. Richard Blumenthal."

PCBs, GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH

By Gerald and Natalie Sirkin c2007 A front-page story on PCBs in the March 9 News-Times is just wrong. The first thing to know about PCBs is that they never killed a single person nor did they ever cause cancer. The second is that although they are invariably called “cancer-causing,” that designation comes chiefly from a single rat study. The third thing is that the subject rats were exposed daily for 21 months to 100 parts per million (ppm) of PCBs containing 60% chlorine. (The 100 ppm was about 5,000 times the tolerable daily intake of PCBs set by FDA in 1973.) When rats were exposed to PCBs containing less chlorine, they developed no cancers. The fourth, that when the exposed rats were allowed to live out their lives, they had fewer cancers and lived longer than the unexposed rats. PCBs is a family of chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls. PCBs contain chlorine ranging from 12% to 70%. They were used in two General Electric plants that manufactured electrical equipmen...

Taking The Fifth, After Esty

Whether or not U.S. Representative Elizabeth Esty will serve the remainder of her term or resign immediately is very much an open question. But, in any case, the battle for Connecticut’s 5 th U.S. Congressional District has begun with a show of unexpected fireworks. For many years, the 5 th District was a toss-up proposition; both Republicans and Democrats have held and surrendered the seat. Geographically the 5 th District touches the border of New York from Connecticut’s northern-most point to Danbury in the southern quadrant and includes much of Litchfield county and parts of Fairfield, Hartford and New Haven counties. Party affiliation is competitive, in round figures, 30 percent Democrat, 25 percent Republican and 45 percent unaffiliated. Over the years, the Democrat Party in Connecticut has moved from the center to the left, but the 5 th District has been a moderate preserve. During the Obama presidential election, Republican moderates within Connecticut's U.S. ...