Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

You cannot be a loyal opposition unless you are opposed to the reigning power – in Connecticut’s one party state, a General Assembly and a gubernatorial office dominated by Democrats – and are, at the same time, loyal to something other than the present regime. When Republicans in the General Assembly were frozen out of budget negotiations last fiscal year by a “notice me” governor and a Democratic legislature dominated by a single party, the Valley Forge experience forced them to become, perhaps for the first time in several decades, an authentic loyal opposition. Republican leaders in the state Senate on February 17 published their priorities for the 2012 legislative session . Pointing out the legislature’s constitutional requirement to devote the session in even years to budgetary matters, the Republicans outlined three major goals: •Strict adherence to the state’s constitutional spending cap; •No new taxes; and •No spending increases. Highlights of the Republican proposals ...