Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

Rhode Island has come out of the briar patch in good order, and the Providence Journal has a piece of advice for Connecticut : “Rhode Island's landmark pension reforms were painful for many — the retirement age for state workers had to be raised, and they were forced to contribute more toward their retirement, for example. But the changes were wholly necessary. For a picture of the path not taken, look no further than Connecticut...   “Barring serious pension reform, Rhode Island-style, Connecticut faces a grim future. The state could end up raising taxes — already among the nation’s highest — to cover the pension costs, thereby harming economic activity and encouraging businesses and families to settle elsewhere. The departure of industrial giant General Electric for Boston does not portend well. Or, the state could end up eating its seed-corn, starving important functions such as schools and roads to pay state workers who in many cases retired decades ago. Neither is a...

Amann Among The Lilliputians “I acknowledge that you can't keep an organization together without patronage. Men ain't in politics for nothin'. They want to get somethin' out of it” – George Washington Plunkitt Jim Amann, the powerful Speaker of the state House of Representatives, has come under fire for behavior that turn of the century Tammany Hall boss William Jefferson Plunkitt would have considered praiseworthy. In his day job, Amann raises funds for the Greater Connecticut Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which pays him a yearly salary of $67,5oo. By tapping the shoulders of lobbyists for contributions to the charity, newspapers have said, Amann has created for himself, if not a conflict of interest, then the “appearance” of a conflict of interest. Are the lobbyists turning out their pockets for the charity because they are charitable or because they wish to curry favor with the speaker? Would they have given as avidly to, say, Mother Teresa, wh...