Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

The Senator from Central Casting The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Thomas Dodd By David E. Koskoff Publisher: New American Political Press Price: $29.95/hardcover “ If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country .” E. M. Forster Lacking such scruples, it was the other way around for the close associates of Senator Thomas Dodd, the subject of David Koskoff’s book, appropriately titled, perhaps with a wink in the direction of Mr. Dodd’s son, Chris Dodd, “The Senator from Central Casting: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Thomas J. Dodd.” There are some important differences between father and son. When Dodd the younger retired from the US Senate, he was almost immediately scooped up by Hollywood as the chief lobbyist for Tinseltown. After Dodd the elder had been censured by the senate for having used public funds for his personal benefit, in addition to having accepted from both the governme...

Paul Ryan very well may be the economic Paul Revere of the 21st Century

Energy – particularly those forms of energy that cause green energy proponents to wrinkle their noses in dismay – is quickly becoming in Connecticut the new tobacco, a reviled product susceptible to punitive taxation. The object of punitive taxation is to drive up the price of the undesirable product so as to make it less competitive with other more desirable products, even if the more desirable product is in its larval stage. The Democratic dominated General Assembly may pass just such a tax on nuclear energy for three reasons: 1) Green utopians and their facilitators in the General Assembly don’t like nuclear energy; 2) they much prefer energy produced by wind turbines, except when the turbines grate on the aesthetic sensibilities of their constituents ; 3) they believe all things powered by oil, gas and coal -- cars especially -- are environmentally destructive; and 4) true utopians, they hope to construct out of whole cloth a better society by using the tax code to drive from a q...

Detained by two reporters before he entered a closed door session of the Democratic caucus, U.S. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. John Larson let loose a string of metaphors on the Tea Party movement. Politico described the interview as “…an 11-minute, metaphor-laced talk.” Mr. Larson, who runs the Democratic caucus in the House, was identified by Politico as “the top communications arm for the party in Congress.” Some of Mr. Larson’s metaphors were meteorological: "And this week we're told that the tea party will bring yet another cold front to Washington, D.C. And in doing so, it's our understanding that the Republican leaders are standing back and looking to see what kind of shadow is cast to see whether or not we'll have six more weeks of continuing resolution." Republicans, the Democratic caucus leader said, haven't created "one single job." Their attitude, since recapturing the U.S. House in the last elections, owing partially to...

The promo for WNPR’s “ Lifting The Veil ” conference at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) promised: • “A prominent political figure grills political reporters (how’s it feel now?) • New media organizations team up on high-quality, investigative journalism • An influential national reporter covers one of the toughest beats: The media.” As it turned out, the prominent political figure grilling reporters was Ned Lamont, Connecticut’s inoffensive left of center heartthrob described in the promo as: “…an upstart challenger to Senator Joe Lieberman, he rallied an online base of support that allowed him to beat Lieberman in the Democratic primary, and barely lose that seat to the Senator in November. In 2010, he ran a tight race for the Democratic nomination for governor. All along the way, he had to face tough questions from the capitol press corps, local and national talk show hosts, bloggers and thousands of others.” The reporters Mr. Lamont turned the tables on were, for...

Newly elected State Sen. Joe Markley has now officially become a fly in the ointment. "For a guy who has got a $3.3 billion [deficit] in next year's [budget], $647 [million] in this year's would be a concern, I can assure you. I am well aware of it," said Governor Dannel Malloy of himself while making his rounds of towns on his listening tour. Mr. Markley’s suit, which is centered on a tax/fee Connecticut has attached to electric bills, is holding up bonding money and, for this reason, the state has asked Connecticut’s Supreme Court to expedite its decision. State Treasurer Denise Nappier has delayed issuing bonds to cover the deficit in the current fiscal year until the matter before the court is decided. It would be necessary to disclose pending litigation in any official statement sent to potential bond investors, and this is the sort of ash sprinkled on a dessert that would discourage bond buyers from scooping up the delicacies. Mr. Markley’s suit is somew...

In Massachusetts – formerly called Taxachussetts, although its tax structure is a little less formidable than Connecticut’s – a job fair had to be cancelled for lack of jobs, according to the Boston Globe . The Chairman of the Taunton Employment Task Force, Richard Shafer, said 20-25 employers were necessary for the fair scheduled for April 6, five days beyond April Fool’s Day. However, only 10 tables had been reserved and of those one table was reserved by a non-profit offering human services to job seekers, and three would have been occupied by temporary employment agencies. The cancellation of the job fair, Mr. Shafer said, was indicative of the job market in the North East. Companies are still cautious about hiring full time workers. Here in Connecticut, the job market has remained anemic ever since Connectitax, perhaps attempting to keep up with Taxachussetts, instituted its income tax. Recently, Connectitax has made the Lowell P. Weicker Jr. income tax more progressive and ...