Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

A little more than a month ago, Jim Powell of Forbes Magazine did us the favor of pulling together in one piece – “ How Did Rich Connecticut Morph Into One Of America's Worst Performing Economies? ” -- a load of data much of which was  already in the public stream . It’s useful to have all the festering lilies together in one bunch, so that one might get a good whiff of them. Before and since the publication of Mr. Powell’s distressing news, some Republican opponents of Connecticut’s progressive governor and his helpmeets in the state’s General Assembly have been energetically flourishing some of Mr. Powell’s little red flags, hoping that the state’s sometimes inattentive media might awaken and take note that Connecticut is teetering on the brink.

Govern Dannel Malloy’s State of the State message gave little indication of his plans for the future. From a budgetary or strategic planning point of view, there wasn’t much “there” there, but the speech evidentially was framed for a national audience. Everyone who has made a speech on any topic will tell you that the substance of a speech is determined in large part by the nature of your audience. One report indicated that the address was, compared with other state of the state addresses, a bit out of the box; other governors have used the occasion to map out a plan of governance for the new legislative session, and Mr. Malloy didn’t.  On the other hand, he felt compelled to say something about Sandy Hook, a national and even international story.   On Sandy Hook, he should be telling the legislature not to be precipitous; wait for the investigation to be completed.   He may be doing that, but one never knows what goes on behind closed doors.