Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

April is the cruelest month, breeding/ Lilacs out of the dead land… T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland On May 22 nd of April, the cruelest month, Governor Ned Lamont took a bow during his daily Coronavirus briefing, this time at Gay City State Park in Hebron. Front page headlines in the Hartford Courant blared: “Extremely Good News: State reports lowest single-day increase in [Coronavirus] cases since late March; June 20 eyed for phase 2 of reopening.” The governor advised Connecticut residents desperately in search of normalcy, “I used to say stay home. Now I say go to a little-used park. Go to one of the ones that aren’t on the mainstream. Go there with your family. Keep your distance, if you see a group of people coming up. That’s what spring is about, and we are going this (sic) all together.”

The publication in the New Haven Register of one of my columns produced a letter of protest on 4/12/17 from climate scientist Michael Mann. Both the original column and Mann’s response may be found in Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes From A Blue State here “ The Curse Of Victimology .” The gravamen of the column and blog, put in a single sentence, is this: Scientific matters in dispute should not, and perhaps cannot, be decided by courts. The blog and column also touches on victimology. Corollary: Courts should not be used by “scientists” as a thumbscrew to silence legitimate scientific inquiry.

Governor Dannel Malloy began his education reform proposals by challenging the usual pedagogical assumptions. He likely will end his term as governor by supporting a union led, reform-resistant status quo. Malloy is at swords' points with Democratic leaders in the Democrat dominated General Assembly on the matter of tax increases. Progressives in the General Assembly want a bevy of tax increases. They have proposed toll taxes, an increase in the progressive tax on Connecticut’s idle rich and an increase in the sales tax, among others. Democrats are now touting the benefits of a sales tax increase. Without such as increase, progressive Democrats in the legislature and Malloy now say, fire  and brimstone resulting from Malloy’s cost reductions will reign down upon the heads of every man, woman and child in Connecticut who has not yet fled for other less punishing states.

The CTMirror story begins with a potent image of pending disaster: “Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced a deal Friday with state employee unions that would allow Connecticut to dodge a fiscal iceberg by holding down annual pension costs otherwise set to spike over the next 16 years.” “Iceberg sighted, full speed ahead,” cries captain Malloy, who has skippered Connecticut’s ship of state for nearly five years. The state’s unpopular governor, approval rating 24 percent, is up for re-election in 2018. “But to get that relief,” CTMirror adds, “Connecticut would shift at least $13.8 billion in estimated pension expenses owed before 2032 onto a future generation.

More than four months ago, Toni Harp -- whose husband, now deceased, was the biggest tax scofflaw in New Haven – was elected mayor. Governor Dannel Malloy, author of the largest tax increase in Connecticut’s history, was present at her elbow encouraging a friendly crowd of union supporters to work hard for Mrs. Harp’s election. He was accosted by a woman, apparently a New Haven taxpayer, who demanded to know why the governor was throwing his support to the wife of the city’s most irresponsible taxpayer. The woman, a mere fly speck, was hastily brushed off . Other notables in the Democratic Party, including the state’s two Democratic U.S. Senators, Dick Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, dutifully made appearances in New Haven to support the wife of the city’s biggest tax scofflaw.

Like wealthy one per-centers who spend part of the season in foreign parts, Mr. Scully's home is with Scully Communications .  During the political season, some punitively nonpartisan owners of public relation firms wander into political campaigns, at which point the mask of political impartiality is momentarily discarded. The New Haven Register reports:

New Haven is among the top 14 cities in the Unites States in which worker’s compensation is devouring city budgets, according to a Business Insider report . “City worker compensation eats up 72% of the budgets of New Haven's city departments. "The city's $475 million budget is expected to grow just $4 million this fiscal year. Employee pension and healthcare costs will rise $12 million.” Pension costs in the heavily union influenced city are outpacing budget growth by a 3 to 1 margin. “The city laid off 82 workers this year to close a $5.5 budget shortfall after city officials and unions failed to reach an agreement on cost-cutting concessions. “The mayor now wants to get rid of 200 school janitors and outsource the work to a private company.” Public Sector Inc. reports : “In February the city laid off 82 workers to close a $5.5 million budget gap in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, after unions refused to compromise with DeStefano, who was seekin...

The recent political fisticuffs between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy has produced some light at the New Haven Register : “Malloy may have been baited by Christie’s bravado. But, more candor and less salesmanship about the state’s business climate would have been appreciated.”