Skip to main content

The Scales Fall From Some Democrat’s Eyes

That sound we hear is the scales falling from the eyes of prominent Democrats.

For the first time in 20 years the funds Connecticut holds to meet its pension obligations has dipped below 50 percent, according to an actuarial valuation prepared by Cavanaugh Macdonald Consulting of Kennesaw, Ga.

The fund, now at a 45% level, is due to dip further when another $100 million pension contribution deferred in the current year kicks in.

The state legislature has been dipping into the fund to pay for budget deficits as often as key legislators thought no one would notice.

Winking at the many pilferings of the fund in the past, some Democrats have now awakened to their responsibilities.

"We know we have to get things back on track," said Rep. John Geragosian, D-New Britain. Mr. Geragosian, co-chairman of the legislature's Appropriations Committee, is now fully awake and on the job.

"This is one of many challenges that we have to begin dealing with in the next session,” Mr. Geragosian said.

Bully for him; better late than never; wonderful what a new Democratic governor has done for drowsy Democratic legislators… and so on and so forth.

CtMirror reports: “A May 2009 concession deal negotiated by Gov. M. Jodi Rell and ratified by state employee unions and the General Assembly deferred $214 million in pension contributions over the past two fiscal years, and allowed another $100 million deferral this year.”

These deferrals were little more than gimmicks, and having campaigned on a “no gimmick” platform, it is expected that Governor-elect Dan Malloy will be able to reduce the debt burden through union concessions.

Both the state debt, projected at $3.67 billion for the next fiscal year, and long term pension obligations no doubt weigh heavily on the minds of the incoming governor and Democratic legislative leaders, now fully awake.

Mr. Malloy has offered no details concerning concessions from state workers, but his passion to right the ship of state peeks through his rhetoric.

The depressing figures, Mr. Malloy said, provide yet “another reminder of just how deep a hole our state is in. The news is grim, the decisions are tough and the sacrifices will be many in order to get Connecticut's fiscal house in order. But let me be clear: we will get there."

There is some indication that we will not get there by bonding. Some large bonding issues, including funding of $81 million for 38 new rail cars, were thrown into doubt recently when two prominent Democrats – U.S. Senator-elect Richard Blumenthal and Lieutenant Governor-elect Nancy Wyman -- failed to show up at a bond hearing. During his campaign for the senate, Mr. Blumenthal joked that he had been known to show up at garage sales. The media noticed his absence.

Mr. Blumenthal begged off, he said, because “I thought that it was inappropriate for me to vote on major bonding decisions just a few weeks before my leaving office and a newly elected administration assuming responsibility for huge state budget challenges."

Apparently, Mr. Blumenthal is not at all worried that the continuing cataract of press releases issuing from the attorney general’s office under his name will force incoming attorney general George Jepsen to press forward with litigation preferred by Mr. Blumenthal before Mr. Jepsen has had an opportunity to review the legacy left him by the senator-elect. During his own campaign, Mr. Jepsen indicated he might plot a somewhat different course than Mr. Blumenthal.

When Mr. Blumenthal arrives in congress, he will find a man-sized budget deficit awaiting him. Here in Connecticut, he has missed a rare opportunity to practice voting “no” on measures that are unaffordable, given the depth of Connecticut’s red ink. In deference to a conscientious regard for duty, not to mention his future congressional constituents, Mr. Blumenthal easily could have showed up at the meeting and voted “yes”, “no” or abstained from voting, giving his reasons for doing so to Connecticut voters. Slinking off to congress having avoided a vote important to Connecticut taxpayers marks a timid ending to a career as an attorney general full of pluck and seemingly endless public visibility.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Obamagod!

My guess is that Barack Obama is a bit too modest to consider himself a Christ figure , but artist will be artists. And over at “ To Wit ,” a blog run by professional blogger, journalist, radio commentator and ex-Hartford Courant religious writer Colin McEnroe, chocolateers will be chocolateers. Nice to have all this attention paid to Christ so near to Easter.

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."

Did Chris Murphy Engage in Private Diplomacy?

Murphy after Zarif blowup -- Getty Images Connecticut U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, up for reelection this year, had “a secret meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during the Munich Security Conference” in February 2020, according to a posting written by Mollie Hemingway , the Editor-in-Chief of The Federalist. Was Murphy commissioned by proper authorities to participate in the meeting, or was he freelancing? If the former, there is no problem. If the latter, Murphy was courting political disaster. “Such a meeting,” Hemingway wrote at the time, “would mean Murphy had done the type of secret coordination with foreign leaders to potentially undermine the U.S. government that he accused Trump officials of doing as they prepared for Trump’s administration. In February 2017, Murphy demanded investigations of National Security Advisor Mike Flynn because he had a phone call with his counterpart-to-be in Russia. “’Any effort to undermine our nation’s foreign policy – e