Tax hikes, Aresimowicz said, have never been taken off the
table. We’ve said it consistently since the beginning of February.” Indeed, big
spending Democrats in the General Assembly have not taken revenue increases off
the table since the end of the Grasso administration. And even the flight of businesses
from Connecticut, Mother Aetna being the most recent to move its corporate
offices from the state, has not diminished their persistent hunt for more
taxes.
Having numerous times made pledges not to increase state
revenues – promises broken soon after they were uttered – Governor Dannel
Malloy, author of the two largest increases in state history, was morally
bound to appear to honor his word. And so, in his
newest budget, Malloy imposed on municipalities a new burden; henceforward,
municipalities would be responsible for picking up one third of the cost of teachers
payments. These additional payments will require towns in Connecticut to adjust
their budgets, which presents them with a Hobson’s choice: either raise taxes
to pay for the additional costs heaped upon them quite suddenly by an
administration that cannot balance a budget, or cut expenditures. These
choices, it should be noted, are the same as those facing progressive Democrats
in the General Assembly: either you pay for your improvident spending by
increasing taxes or by reducing costs.
Enter Aresimowicz, who wants to “save municipalities” the
pain associated with tax increases and spending cuts made necessary by
improvident state spending. If you are a Democrat member of the General Assembly
who does not want to be voted out of office by an aroused populace increasingly
over-taxed and running out of patience, there will be only one recourse open to
you -- if you do not favor permanent, long-term cuts in spending – and that is
to share the noose with municipalities. After the cunningly fashioned noose has
been hung around the necks of municipal leaders, you then can make a show of
“saving the towns,” hoping, all the while, that no one will notice the
imposture. The Aresimowicz-Malloy noose has been fashioned in such a way that
rich towns will be the first hanged. It is a progressive noose that seeks to
transfer money from so called “rich” to so called “poor” towns, only this time
the progressive element kicks in at the distribution rather than at the
collection end.
There are at present two kinds of progressive Democrats in
the General Assembly: those who want to hang further tax increases around the
necks of state taxpayers, lately induced by Democratic Governor of Florida Rick
Scott to rise from their beds of tax nails and move to the Sunshine State, and
those who want town leaders to do the hanging for them. This is a perfect
solution to unbalanced budgets for Democrats who do not wish to alienate their
traditional voting block among state employee union members by instituting
permanent, long-term spending cuts – which is the ONLY solution to chronic
deficits.
The good times, Malloy’s Secretary of the Office of Policy
Management told us many months ago, will not be returning to Connecticut anytime
soon. Connecticut, Ben Barnes said, will have to get used to recurring deficits
– largely because Democratic progressives such as Aresimowicz cannot bring
themselves to heed the nominal head of their own party or the loyal Republican
Party opposition.
Unable to send a budget to Malloy and unwilling to make
long-term permanent cuts in spending, leading General Assembly Democrats are
now pressing for a “continuing resolution,” a mini-budget bill that will not
address a $5 billion deficit staring them in the face.
“If members of the General Assembly choose to exacerbate our
difficulties and kick the can down the road,” Malloy warned, “they should be
prepared to justify that fiscally irresponsible choice to their constituents.
It would be especially surprising to see Republicans endorse any continuation
of the current biennial budget, given their strong criticism of that budget
over the past two years.”
That motion was seconded by Republican Party leader Themis
Klarides: “Unless there’s a bipartisan resolution, it’ll get vetoed.”
The lame-duck governor is telling his fellow Democrats in
The General Assembly – it’s time to grow up and do the responsible thing,
failing which, you can expect in a coming campaign to be voted out of office by
an aroused general public whose interests you have not faithfully represented.
Malloy is almost certainly right about that.
Malloy is almost certainly right about that.
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