Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

The salient points of an interview with Governor Dannel Malloy in Politico, “ Malloy talks of new reality of labor ," are here quoted as fully as possible: “Malloy assumed $1 billion in concessions from public employees for each of the next two years in his budget, but he also proposes a broad-based tax increase and $800 million in line-item cuts.” The operative word in that sentence is “assumed.” It should be noted in passing that the tax increases in Malloy’s budget are a reality, while his spending cuts are an “assumption.” Malloy’s whole budget package, it should also be noted, is subject to revision by the Democratic controlled legislature. The members of public employee unions and the union’s support staff in the Democratic controlled legislature, Mr. Malloy supposed in his interview with Politico, are “not happy at all since I’m a Democrat and I’m not supposed to be doing those kinds of things.” Republican Governor Jodi Rell is becoming a stock character in Mr. Malloy...

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.”

Governor Dannel Malloy touched the third rail of Connecticut politics when, edging toward transparency in government, he proposed in his budget that members of the General Assembly should vote up or down on state contracts. While the state legislature presently has the authority to accept or reject public employee contracts, the legislature tends as a matter of course to wink contracts through the sausage machine without much thought and, perhaps more importantly, without leaving any tell-tale fingerprints on such approvals or rejections. Presently the contracts become operative when the legislature allows them to take effect after 30 days has elapsed without public debate. Mr. Malloy’s proposal would force individual members of the General Assembly to vote on important contracts that draw upon appropriations, a function of the legislature rather than the executive department, many years out. Democracy does not flee from its responsibilities. As a general rule, more oversight of ...

The UK’s Daily Mail reports that “Libyan leader…” – actually, he’s a dictator – Muammar Gaddafi left Libya with his pants on fire and now is on his way to Venezuela, where Venezuelan leader – actually, he’s a dictator – Hugo Chavez rules the roost. The country is now left in the hands of this young lady… …a considerable improvement. UPDATE Mr. Gaddafi is still hanging on. The Michael Jackson of Middle East autocrats was shown in a recent photograph sporting a Minnesota flap eared hat and carrying a spiffy white umbrella. He appeared in Tripoli, where dead bodies litter the streets, to speak to the nation on a government run station for a brief 20 minutes, which is unusual for him; like most autocrats, Mr. Gaddafi is loquacious. In his speech, he vowed to take the streets back from “the terrorists,” one of whom is pictured above celebrating the country’s liberation from… well, the country’s chief terrorist.

The preferences of progressive Democrats in the legislature – most especially the leaders of the Democratic caucus, Speaker of the House Chris Donovan and President of the Senate Don Williams – are well known. Neither of them was constrained during the administration of Governor Jodi Rell to hide their light under a bushel basket. Ever since the state income tax was presented to the General Assembly as a fait accompli by former Governor Lowell Weicker, a renegade Republican turned Independent, Democrats in the legislature, led by Mr. Donovan and Mr. Williams, have been agitating for a more progressive income tax. Their agitation hit pay dirt during the sleepy Rell administration when the tax was made progressive over the hearty objections of a much diminished Republican legislative contingent. Republicans argued at the time that revenues already were progressive on the receipt end, since those considered “rich” by Democrats were paying 66 percent of the income tax. As soon as he to...

Whither Connecticut? All the statistics point downward. Connecticut is first in the nation in per capita debt. Our pension liabilities would make a Croesus blush. Very little has been done to address the problem of long term spending. Negotiations with powerful unions are pending. Compared with hard edged races in New Jersey and New York, both Connecticut gubernatorial candidates in the last election ran soft campaigns. Neither Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey nor Andrew Cuomo of New York were shy in telling people during their campaigns precisely what they hoped to do to address their state’s chronic problems -- cut spending, no tax increases. For this reason, it may be said that Mr. Christie and Mr. Cuomo have clear mandates. Governor Dannel Malloy, on the other hand, let it be known that he would both raise taxes and cut spending if elected, but his campaign fell far short on particulars, and most attempts to draw specifics out of him were artfully deflected. Mr. Mall...

It would be a considerable understatement to say that Mayor John DeStefano of New Haven is everyman’s liberal; he is every liberal’s liberal. A piece written by Paul Bass of the New Haven Independent, “ A Mayor’s Moment Of Truth ,” very likely came as a shock to confirmed liberals in Connecticut, a state bluer even than Massachusetts. Progressives, liberals with attitudes, one supposes were even more distraught. Listening attentively, the thud, thud, thud of bodies falling from third story windows in New Haven might have been heard by those without wax in their ears in the corridors of power in Hartford. What? DeStefano? Even he? A few days before a fireball of union revulsion, supported by a group of White House affiliated brown shirts, burst over Wisconsin , Mr. DeStefano faced his own moment of truth in New Haven and decided to say no to a police union. The results were predictable. The police marched on Town Hall. Busy agitating in Wisconsin and other hot spots of union res...