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.

The nonpartisan Tax Foundation has issued a report showing that New York fell from 49th to 50th last year among states that have the worst tax climate in the Nation. The same report shows Connecticut falling from 38th to 47th, third from the bottom, “because of a new ‘millionaire's bracket’, according to the report.” Mesmerized by a $3 billion deficit, the Democratic dominated legislature last session affixed the new “millionaire’s bracket” to its income tax, sending Connecticut, relative to other states, into free fall, assuring further flight of businesses and recent graduates to more promising states such as South Dakota, ranked best at number one in the Tax Foundation report, and Alaska, ranked number two. Zach Janowski of the Yankee Institute turned out a good report on Connecticut's fall from grace .