Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

The best laid plan of Socialist French President Francois Hollande (pronounced O-Lend) to tap millionaires with a 75 percent tax appears to be falling asunder. Popular French actor Gérard Depardieu recently moved to Belgium, nearly within spitting distance of France, to escape France’s new 75 per cent top marginal income tax rate imposed on millionaires, as noted here in Connecticut Commentary . M. Depardieu took the additional precaution of acquiring Russian citizenship, but this was intended, some suppose, to spite the lesser socialistic pretentions of M. Hollande. Now, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy appears to be following in M. Depardieu’s footsteps. According to a piece in the UK’s Daily Mail on Line , M. Sarkozy is hightailing it to London along with his lovely wife Carla Bruni.

ABC News is reporting that President Barack Obama intends to raise from “bundlers” $1 billion for his presidential campaign. As yet, no one who vigorously supports campaign finance regulation has suggested that a confiscatory progressive tax should be levied against the millionaire bundlers, proceeds from the tax to be deposited in accounts supporting public financing. Among the eager bundlers who showed up in Washington to lend a hand to Mr. Obama was Ned Lamont, the progressive heartthrob and anti Iraq war warrior who, drawing upon his own considerable resources, successfully challenged present Sen. Joe Lieberman in a primary a few years ago. Mr. Lamont lost to Mr. Lieberman, who is retiring at the end of his term, in a rancorous general election. Within the Democratic Party, U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, who styles himself as a progressive in some political ads, has rounded up a good deal of support within his party in a bid for Mr. Lieberman’s seat in the U.S. Senate. No one ye...

Recently at a public gathering that included former President George Bush Pere, President Barack Obama The Apologist, attempting to defuse his critics, once again intimated that the mess he was frantically trying to “mop up” was caused by his predecessor, President George Bush Fils; and he invited people who were interested in making the world over into an acceptable Eden – as he most certainly is –to “grab a mop.” It is not known whether former President George Bush Pere smiled or grimaced at the imputation that his son was responsible for messes that some think were considerably worsened by the policies of the 9 month old Obama administration. No off camera mic episode was reported. Unemployment is lurching toward 11%. A public option for health care reform – a move, some think, to destroy the private health insurance industry, still strong here in Connecticut – is stalled in a congress dominated by Democrats. North Korea has sent several missiles into the North China Sea, a...

MailOnLine is reporting that Carla Bruni, the wife of French President Nicholas Sarkosy, here striking a philosophical pose, is about to be exposed. Bruni had a life before Sarkosy with several men one of whom, philosopher Julien Enthoven, memorialized his non-platonic encounters with her in pics and videos. This cache, coming to a clip near you soon and given by Enthoven to his brother for safe keeping, has now been stolen by thieves. What ever happened to French discretion, not to speak of philosophical rectitude?

Every so often, when we fall into a reverie, we depend upon members of the press to pinch us awake. Europe, Bruce Thornton reminds us in FrontPage Magazine , never loves us so dearly as when we are shedding our blood, sweat and tears in its behalf. “The love-fest in Europe has not resulted in our NATO allies making anything other than cosmetic changes to its half-baked support of our efforts in Afghanistan. American troops will continue to bear the lion’s share of the burden of fighting and dying, while Europeans train policemen.” The mercurial Hugo Chavez’s temporary love fest with President Barack Obama is certain to be short lived. “Obama’s handshake with Hugo Chavez will not stop that autocrat from working against our interests by buddying up with Iran, a state that has the blood of American soldiers on its hands, or by fomenting revolution in neighboring Columbia.” Servility can only take you so far. “Nor will that embarrassing bow to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah convince the Saud...

President Barack Obama has returned from Europe empty handed. If he had gone there to persuade friendly heads of state in Europe to lend a fighting hand in his new military venture in Afghanistan, the trip must be counted a failure, according to the New York Times , one of the president’s innumerable media cheerleaders: “With protesters raging outside, NATO leaders on Saturday gave a tepid troop commitment to President Obama’s escalating campaign in Afghanistan, mostly committing soldiers only to a temporary security duty… “Despite a glowing reception and widespread praise for Mr. Obama’s style and aims, his calls for a more lasting European troop increase for Afghanistan were politely brushed aside, as they had been in negotiations leading up to the meeting. “As expected, European allies agreed to provide up to 5,000 new troops for Afghanistan, the White House said Saturday. But 3,000 of them are to be deployed only temporarily to provide security for the August elections in Afghanist...

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. Liberal heartthrob Ned Lamont , the Greenwich millionaire who, hand in hand with agents of Lowell Weicker, tried and failed to off Sen. Joe Lieberman, has written in The Hartford Courant a “Recovery” opinion that contains the following sentiment: “But every state is lining up to sit on the lap of the federal Santa Claus and say whether they've been naughty or nice. So, Connecticut better be prepared to explain how our projects can put people to work in year one, how they make us more competitive in the long term, and how we can pay our share of the cost.” The subliminal message of Lamont’s lucubration is: “We’re broke, let’s spend money in the expectation of a gift from Santa.” Jodi Rell sat on Santa’s lap during this year’s governor’s conference and found it cushy. The occasion was celebrated in a Courant editorial : “Mr. Obama singled out Republican governors, whose number includes Mrs. Rell, in extending ‘the hand of friendship’ on Tuesday. His Li...

Some months ago, Nicholas Sarkozy’s government commissioned one of Frances most respected energy regulators, Jean Syrota, to draw up a report analyzing all options towards building cleaner, more efficient cars by 2030. The 129-page report, completed in September, possibly will never be published because it confirms some inconvenient truths the global warming crowd would sooner ignore. The report concludes, according to the Financial Times , that electric powered cars are cultural and technological a cul de sac , to use a French term: “Instead, it suggests that the traditional combustion engine powered by petrol, diesel, ethanol or new biofuels still offers the most realistic prospect of developing cleaner vehicles. Carbon emissions and fuel consumption could be cut by 30-40 per cent simply by improving the performance and efficiency of traditional engines and limiting the top speed to about 170km/hr. Even that is well above the average top speed restriction in Europe, with the notable ...

The Guardian , a British newspaper, is reporting that New York Sen. Hillary Clinton will accept the cabinet position offered her by President-elect Barack Obama. The diminutive French President Nicholas Sarkozy says that what the world needs is a modern equivalent of Bretton Woods; he draws a sharp rebuke from Pat Buchanan . Democrats, under the leadership of the resourceful Nancy Pelosi , have been unable to persuade outgoing president George Bush, not a tightfisted guy when it comes to bailing out FOD’s (Friends of Democrats), to load the US auto industry with tax dollars, wealth that the industry intends to spread around to workers who are far from poor. But Nancy promises to revisit the issue once Republicans vacate the halls of power. Another British publication, the MailOnLine , has some vivid shots of the outskirts of LA being burnt to a crisp. And British import Christopher Hitchens , America's favorite atheist, is still roving the countryside scaring the wits out of Cat...