The Conservative Capitalist

The Conservative Capitalist
The Conservative Capitalist

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Alper: Republicans Need to Learn How to Streetfight

Photo by April Dawn Winsley


Wayne Winsley Exclusive Interview withWilton RTC Chairman, Al Alper, candidate for CTGOP Chairman.


Wilton RTC Chairman Al Alper says he gets it, he has a plan, and he can put Connecticut’s Republican Party on the winning track. That is why he is seeking the position of Chairman of the Connecticut Republican party.

“I have a detailed, comprehensive reorganization of the Republican Party and a re-branding of the Republican Party in Connecticut that I plan to institute on day one.”

A part of Mr. Alper’s plan calls for as sustained marketing effort designed to “change the conversation” when it comes to the Republican Party and its perception, especially when it comes to younger voters.

Alper likens today’s Republicans to the British redcoats of the revolutionary war and their tradition of fighting battles in only in open fields during the day and standing in neat columns. The redcoats were totally demoralized by the colonials who attacked from the trees and at all hours.

“Because we are generally respectful, responsible and civil individuals we tend not to fight back, or we fight back in a, for lack of a better term, civil way. We fight the Democrats much like the British fought us. The Democrats have been shooting at us from the tree line, in the dark and we have been the respectful party that lines up in a column and takes our shots. We need to take this fight to them.”

When it comes to a plan for increasing Republican support in the Connecticut’s larger cities, Al Alper says that for years the CT GOP strategy has been to blunt the vote instead of converting voters in the inner cities. A strategy that Alper says is “destined to keep Republicans relegated to second place for the foreseeable future.”

Republican principles and minority values intersect at dozens of points and when Republicans effectively emphasize those points of agreement, there is an increase in minority support. And that according to Mr. Alper is as it should be.

“We are the party that essentially gave life and voice to the minority communities.”

Mr. Alper claims to have a very detailed strategy for capitalizing on those areas of agreement and converting voters in the inner cities.

Part of Mr. Alper’s plan to unify the various and almost-warring factions within the CTGOP calls for the creation of an organizational structure where all sides have,

“A voice in the direction and effort of what we do.”

Alper also places a big emphasis on the need to attract younger members to the Republican Party.

“We need to start converting people to the republican brand pre voter registration.”

Finally, I asked Al Alper if he thinks he can garner enough support among the seventy-two members of the State Central Committee to gain the chairmanship.

“I am speaking to them and I’m hoping that their desire to win and the organizational and fund-raising strength that I bring and my ability to marshal the support of the various factions, as demonstrated both in Wilton and in a congressional campaign is sufficient to convince them. I’ve done all of the pieces of the puzzle that we need in a good chairman and I’m the only candidate in the race who can lay claim to that.”

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Malloy’s Union deal is like Playing Freeze Tag

Photo by April Dawn Winsley
First a little credit where it is due. I had my doubts about Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s ability to actually wring 2 billion dollars in concessions out of the state’s unions. It looks like he pulled it off. 1.6 billion in concessions is better than I thought he’d do so I’ll give him a 400 thousand dollar pass.


Having said that, let’s take a closer look at what the deal actually means.

The deal is a four-year, no-layoff agreement through June 2015 that applies only to current union employees. In exchange, there would be a hard wage freeze for all unionized employees that includes wages, longevity pay, increments, and lump sums that would last for two years. There would also be no longevity pay for newly hired state employees.

After those two years, the unions would receive 3 percent pay increases on the first day of the new fiscal year on July 1, 2013, 2014, and 2015, according to Christopher Keating at Courant.com.

In other words, as long as Dannel Malloy is Governor, the size and scope of state government will not shrink by a single person. In fact, the state payroll will most likely increase. Note the fact that the deal does NOT include a hiring freeze, only a wage freeze for current employees. In fact, by calling for the creation of a Tier III in the state pension system for new employees hired after July 1, the administration shows an expectation and willingness to increase the state’s payroll burden on the taxpayers over the next four years.

Malloy achieved his “concessions” by simply freezing the rate at which the state is spending itself into oblivion for as short time after which the spending spree will continue.

It’s like kids playing freeze tag. They stop for few seconds then continue running around like crazy.

Without any meaningful cuts in spending, the Malloy deal is really just playing political freeze tag.

But our governor is no dummy. In four years Malloy can now say, “I got tough with the labor unions won concessions.” He didn’t really get tough but it works in a stump speech. He can say, “I held the line on state salaries.” While at the same time state payroll continues to grow in size.

The truth is, the problem has not been address, only kicked down the road four years but what then? The problem is still there. The state is still sliding toward the abyss of insolvency due to out-of-control spending.

Perhaps like Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, the governor is saying, “I’ll think about that tomorrow.”

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Obama Turning Out To Be Bush Dark



President Barack Obama has much more in common with George W. Bush than his ardent supporters on the left would care to admit in polite company.


Like Bush, Obama is willing to go to war to protect the rights and lives of oppressed people in certain parts of the world where America has strategic interest.

He even started the Libya bombardment on the exact same day that W. unleashed “Shock and Awe” on Iraq.

Obama extended the Bush tax cuts so that they are now the Obama tax cuts for the wealthy.

In 2002 President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to spy on Americans and others in the U.S. making contact with persons in other nations.

President Obama, in a stunning defense of Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program, has not only broadened the government’s legal argument for immunizing his administration and government from lawsuits surrounding the NSA’s eavesdropping efforts but has even gone beyond any previous legal claims put forth by President Bush.

Now, President Obama, when asked, can’t seem to think of any mistakes he’s made during his tenure so far.

Didn’t President Bush get lambasted for the exact same thing a few years ago? Why yes, dear reader, he did.

Obama: Mistakes? Can't think of any.



Seven years ago, in April 2004, President George W. Bush held a formal news conference in which he was asked, "What would your biggest mistake be…and what lessons have you learned from it?" Bush's hemming and hawing answer -- in several minutes of flailing about, he never managed to come up with a single mistake to cite -- was widely criticized in the days that followed.

On Wednesday, President Obama held a town hall at the headquarters of Facebook in Palo Alto, California, during which he was asked, "If you had to do anything differently during your first four years, what would it be?" Obama, it turns out, is no better at analyzing his own missteps than Bush.

The president began his response haltingly, pointing out that he has actually been in office just two and a half years, and "I'm sure I'll make more mistakes in the next year and a half." But what mistakes has he already made? "There are all sorts of day-to-day issues where I say to myself, oh, I didn't say that right, or I didn't explain this clearly enough," Obama said, "or maybe if I had sequenced this plan first as opposed to that one, maybe it would have gotten done quicker."

But the president mentioned no actual mistakes. Next, he brought up the health care battle, not to admit error but to praise the work of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in pushing the national health care bill through Congress.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/04/obama-mistakes-cant-think-any#ixzz1KRAWOcJT

See more Obama & Bush similarities here

My conclusion dear reader is that the Liberals, Lefties and Socialists are becoming increasingly distressed to find that the biggest difference between Barack Obama and George W. Bush is a darker skin tone.



That alone is enough to make a Conservative Capitalist smile.

Happy Easter, Jesus is alive.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Welcome to One Party Rule

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced his long-awaited budget deal on Wednesday. The tax increases include, income, corporation, inheritance, gasoline, alcohol, cigarettes, luxury car and yachts, and hotels among other things.


For instance, if you were looking to buy a Mercedes Benz S 550 which comes in at just about 100k, it will now cost you another seven thousand bucks.

But you can still get a haircut and clip coupons. It’s a good thing because after all these taxes kick in we won’t have much folding money left to.

Oh yeah, and we are still waiting for the unions to cough up the 2 billion dollars in concessions over the next two years.

Larry Dorman, chief spokesman for the union coalition, known as SEBAC, said that the state still needs to soak the greedy corporations and evil rich people tooling around in their luxury chariots like the aforementioned Mercedes.

Dorman says, “"We would still like to see much more asked from big multi-state businesses and the very rich who have so far been the only ones to share in our state's so-called economic recovery.''

On the other hand Republicans offered an alternative budget which while it includes no new taxes, also relies on the as-yet invisible $2 billion in union cuts.

House Speaker Chris Donovan says of the Governor’s budget,

"This is a fair, responsible budget that will move Connecticut forward.''

I agree, The Governor’s budget does indeed move Connecticut forward…just in the wrong direction.

But then, we the voters gave virtually all of the reins of power to party of tax and spend.

Well, Stand by.

 
This post uses quotes from Christopher Keating’s Capital Watch piece.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

CT Taxpayers are Getting Gassed

Over the past seven days I have been on the road driving throughout the Northeast from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts. So I’ve been buying a lot of gas and paying attention to how much it costs.


The average price for a gallon of regular gas in Connecticut hit $4 April 15th.

According to AAA, which monitors prices at the pumps, gas stations statewide are charging $4 a gallon on average. That is up from an average of $3.75 a month ago and $2.97 last year at this time

Oh and by the way, Connecticut has some of the biggest gas tax totals in the nation and the largest in New England. Currently we pay .65 per gallon.

But our Governor, Dannel P. Malloy doesn’t think we pay quite enough.

State Rep Dan Carter, speaking in The Danbury Patch breaks it down this way

The per-gallon tax total you pay at the pump represents three separate taxes. First, there’s the federal tax—a shade over 18 cents. There’s also a state “gross receipts” tax levied as a percentage of the wholesale price. The rate is 7 percent. When the wholesale price jumps, it creates a state revenue windfall. Today, that tax equals 22 cents per gallon.
Last, there’s a fixed 25-cent tax—and Gov. Dannel Malloy has proposed increasing it by 3 cents to a whopping 28 cents per gallon

Malloy’s Senior Advisor Roy Occhiogrosso says the proposed gas tax hike along with the other across the board tax increases “still maintain the state’s competitive edge.”

Seriously dude? Right now Connecticut’s competitive edge is about as dull as the imitation butter knife in a toddler’s play-set.

Jobs continue to head for the border and the Governor wants to make it harder for workers to reach those remaining jobs by increasing the cost of driving to them by another 3 cents.

Oh and by the way, this isn’t one of those taxes that only effect the wealthy. This is a burden is being placed upon every man woman and teenager that drives a vehicle.

Meanwhile the state, this month sent out over $20 million in longevity bonus checks to employees on the job for ten years or more. Those bonuses cost taxpayers over 39 million dollars last year and the total will rise this year.

This just doesn’t make any sense to me. But then, I’m a Conservative Capitalist.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Photo by April Dawn Winsley


I make a portion of my living by speaking to students in high schools throughout Connecticut and the entire Northeast United States. I visit poor schools and wealthy schools alike. In the process, I have gained some expertise on the education system in general and on students in particular.


The fact that our educational system is failing a frightening number of our students is no secret but the actual toll being imposed on our society by that failure seems to get ignored all too often.

I recently addressed the Senior class at a Hartford High School. My goal, as always, was to motivate and inspire young people to achieve great things.

Sadly, many of the students in my audience didn’t believe that they had a shot at achieving anything, let alone success. That realization raised three questions in my conservative capitalist mind.

If the parents of these students were given the choice and resources to send their children to better schools would they do it?

They probably would.

If this school had to compete for students much the same way businesses compete for customers, would the current abysmal conditions and performance improve?

They probably would.

And finally, would the students benefit from both outcomes?

They definitely would!

We need jobs in this state but we are turning out large numbers of young people poorly equipped to do the jobs that many of today’s businesses need done.

Many of those youth we are failing to properly educate today will revisit us as adult criminals at worse or welfare tax burdens at best.

Stamford Mayor Dannel P. Malloy acknowledged both the problem and the need for immediate action.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy acknowledges the problem but has chosen to kick it down the road by forming a panel to “study” the problem and make recommendations at a later date.

According to this recent story in the CT Mirror.

Malloy administration says no to school reformers' funding plan

By Jacqueline Rabe

Hundreds of students, parents and school choice advocates journeyed to the state Capitol last month to back a proposal that would boost support of magnet, charter and other school alternatives, but Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's budget director says the administration doesn't support the plan.

The plan, referred to as "money follows the child," would shift the state per-pupil grant now given to school districts to whatever school a child attends, including magnet, charter and open choice programs. Many education reform advocates support the idea, but local officials say it would siphon money away from struggling public school districts.

Benjamin Barnes, Malloy's budget director, agreed.

"I do have real concerns for a proposal that would take funds away from local education systems because they are financially strained as they are," Barnes said. "To suggest that [reimbursement] should be $12,000 whether you are in a charter or urban school system is unrealistic.... They have very different demands."

Barnes said the Malloy administration does recognize keeping charters and magnet schools as outliers to the state's school funding formula is problematic, and does plan to bring all education funding under one umbrella -- but not this year…

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities opposes the idea, the American Federation of Teachers wants to postpone any sort of decision for as long as possible. No surprise there.



I don’t have all the answers but I do know this.

Every time the state kicks this problem down the road and refuses to take meaningful action, another class of students gets thrown under the bus by being educationally shortchanged.

Ultimately, we as a society pay the price.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Government Is the Problem not the Solution

Photo by April Dawn Winsley

This single image speaks volumes about the direction that our country is heading in.

Someone in this municipality’s government believed that motorists, people that presumably passed a driving test in order to get a license, are so stupid that they need written instructions to figure out how a traffic light works. Other elected officials in that same municipality not only agreed with that premise but actually voted to spend taxpayer dollars to purchase and install a sign telling drivers to wait until the traffic signal turns green before proceeding.

What’s next, an awareness program to inform citizens that they should chew before swallowing?

The elitist liberal notion that people are too dumb to take care of themselves without government assistance risks turning the United States of America into a nation filled with dependants who have been robbed of the entrepreneurial spirit and rugged individualism that gave birth to this country in the first place.

It is not too late to change direction.

Monday, March 28, 2011

The State Shouldn’t get a Single Additional Dollar

I know that by now I should have long-since ceased to be amazed at the lunacy that bubbles up and flows from our state government like water from a diseased spring.


The latest example fiscal folly is pointed out by Kevin Rennie in the Courant. This post quotes largely from that story.

Connecticut's State Auditors, Republican Robert Jaekle and Democrat Kevin Johnston, both retired late last year. For their nearly twenty years of service the two gentlemen will parachute gently into retirement with very nice pensions. According to the Office of the State Comptroller, based on their "three high year earnings," Jaekle receives "an estimated retirement benefit" (translation: pension) of $137,640 a year. Johnston receives a pension estimated at $160,800 a year.

Big numbers but State Auditor is big job so, ok, but wait there’s more.

A portion of those generous pensions includes mileage. Again from the comptroller, "The average of Mr. Johnston's three high year earnings included $10,450.92 attributable to reportable mileage. The average of Mr. Jaekle's three high year earnings included $11,427.82 attributable to reportable mileage.

Are you kidding me?? Since when does your mileage to and from work get added to your pension plan?

Answer: When you work for the State of Connecticut.

This is why our leaders are trying to wrestle every penny they can away from you the taxpayer, to feed the beast.

And to make matters worse they are doing everything possible to keep this corrupt system intact.

Jon Lender writes in his column that Last year, when Jaekle and Johnston signaled they were leaving, legislative leaders in both parties, each of which gets to fill one of the posts, were flooded with requests from political hopefuls.

Translation: The very politicians that campaign against the “state of waste” that exists in Hartford, when given an opportunity, will rush to line up at the trough to get a snout-full of your hard-earned dollars. I would love to see the list of applicants for these two jobs. It would be a Who’s Who of greedy, hypocrites in Connecticut politics.

Seriously, until the state can stop spending our money on absolutely stupid stuff, we the people should not reward them with a single additional dollar.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Malloy Can’t Trim The Fat So Maybe He’ll Try Taxing It

Governor Dannel P. Malloy is looking to slap taxes on anything that moves while at the same time ramping up spending. So it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the next “Revenue Enhancer” to float out of Hartford came in the form of a tax on fattening food products like cookies, cakes, pies, chips, candy, chocolate, burgers, pizza, fries, hot dogs, sodas, energy drinks, sugary fruit juices, and sports drinks.


Why the possibilities are virtually endless. He could even tax fat people!

Any person with a BMI (body mass index) of 35 or above is classified as morbidly obese and could be subject to a fat tax.

And get this, The Governor could even make the case that the fat tax was in the interest of public safety.

Overweight Americans throwing off safety of city buses

After all, isn’t the Government supposed to look after us and nurture us and keep us safe…even from ourselves?

And other states are looking into fat taxes. The state of New York is considering adopting a fat tax. Alabama has implemented a fat tax so that employees with a BMI of 35 or greater have to pay $25 per month more for health insurance. Whole Foods Market is offering employees discounts based on BMI. The lower your BMI is the bigger the discount at Whole Foods.

Other countries are following suit as well. Denmark, Romania and many European countries are seeking to reduce obesity by instituting fat taxes. Air France is charging a fat tax on obese customers that fly its airline.

If it’s good enough for all those places, surely it’s good enough for the nutmeg state.

Wait, is nutmeg fattening? Maybe Malloy could tax it.

My point, dear reader is this. At what point will the great people of Connecticut draw a line in the sand and say, “ENOUGH!”

Will it take something as ridiculous as a fat tax before we demand that our State Government look first to itself curb its own profligate spending instead of trying to wring every dime, nickel, and penny from the people?

Or will we continue to sit still, or worse, continue to call for more.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Hope and Change and…Ah, nevermind

MARCH 19, 2011

OBAMA: 'Today we are part of a broad coalition. We are answering the calls of a threatened people. And we are acting in the interests of the United States and the world'...

MARCH 19, 2003
BUSH: 'American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger'...

Hmm, I wonder if Can I now call him President Barack I’llbombya?

Nuff said

Friday, March 18, 2011

We are Government We Print Our Own Money and Take Yours

There is a line in an old Don Henley song that says “A man with a briefcase can steal more money than any man with a gun. Below is a fine example.


Lawyer pleads guilty to stealing $865,000

A Stratford lawyer is facing up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Friday to stealing more than $800,000 from nearly a dozen clients.

John M. Rodia, of Minerva Street, Derby, pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge George Thim to six counts of first-degree larceny and five counts of third-degree larceny. Read more

This is a case of someone who has clearly lost his way. The very idea of helping yourself to vast sums of money that you did not earn is not just wrong…its criminal, which is why this soon-to-be former attorney is heading off to jail for a good long time.

But wait, doesn’t that sound familiar? Someone else is advocating helping themselves to vast amounts of money that did not earn.

More on Shared Sacrifice:
Tax the Billionaires

I just find it ironic that on the Federal level the answer seems to be, “Print more money faster, and raise taxes so we can keep spending”

And here in Connecticut the answer seems to be “We can’t print money so we’ll just take it, so we can keep spending.”

Thursday, March 17, 2011

We Need More Rich People

 
A report in the Norwich Bulletin says Connecticut’s average unemployment rate rose to 9.1 percent last year from 8.3 percent in 2009, according to the New England Regional Office of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Of the six New England states, Connecticut’s 2010 average trailed only Rhode Island, which showed a rate of 11.6 percent, the fourth highest jobless rate in the country.

Meanwhile, at a recent town hall meeting, the suggestion was made by a citizen to Governor Dannel P. Malloy that instead of seeking 2 billion dollars in concessions from employee unions, the state could take about half the net worth from a single Greenwich Hedge Fund manager and the deficit would be erased. When Governor Malloy pointed out that said manager would immediately move out of the state rather than surrender half of his net worth, the citizen replied, “I don’t care!”

I can’t help but wonder how long it will be before we see mobs wielding torches and pitchforks gathering at the gated driveways of the well-to-do and demanding that they “hand it over.”

AFL-CIO President John Olsen might be one of those at the forefront of the charge based on his recent comments about whom he thinks should be paying for the balancing of our budget.

"The top five percent, those making $412,000 and above, who received an extension of a tax cut, that was never paid for, that they were never really entitled to, that alone translated into $3.2 billion,"

There are young people in Connecticut right now with ideas and business plans that will result in very profitable ventures, ventures that will create jobs in the years to come and yes, handsome profits for the entrepreneurs themselves. If those young people look around and see that Connecticut eats it’s rich through confiscatory taxes, do you think they will launch their job-creating ventures here or will they go to states where the tax burdens are lower and the business climate more hospitable? I think they will leave and take their jobs with them.

Let me put it another way, If we chase out all the rich people only poor people will be left. Then what? We can all dress in our finest sack cloth and meet at the town square, eat gruel and sing hymns. But hey, we will all be equal at that point so I guess that’s something.

Shouldn’t the state be doing everything possible to encourage entrepreneurs to stay and launch their ideas here? And to entice more “rich” people to move here and bring their companies with them?

Connecticut needs jobs. Who creates jobs? People that want to make money create jobs. I know that’s not politically correct but it’s the truth.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Connecticut GOP is Still Punch-Drunk from 2010

There is a great piece in The Day by Dick Ahles, he cites the CT. GOP’s thirty year drought in the U.S. Senate and wonders where the “good” Republican candidates are.


As I see it, the Connecticut GOP is still a little punch-drunk from 2010. We had one of the most favorable political climates to come along in years but couldn’t close the deal. There is a lot of lot of frustration and a good deal of finger pointing still going on. I won’t engage in any of that. Instead, dear reader, I will merely point out that the CT GOP has a great opportunity to capitalize on those losses by

 Forming a state-wide battle plan that focuses on strategically capturing legislative seats. In order to truly change the direction our state is heading in we must elect Republicans to the State House and Senate We can target one district at a time if we have to but we must work better as a team than we do now.

 Improving the Republican brand and support in the urban cores of the state. We can no longer win with just the suburbs and small towns.

 Stick to our core beliefs. Fiscal Conservatism, Streamlined Government, and Real Family Values are not relics of a by-gone era but the very foundations upon which a great State and indeed a great Nation should be building their future.

And let not your heart be troubled because there are some very promising names on the Connecticut Republican horizon. Names like David Becker, Christopher Meek and Tim Herbst

Be well and as always, Conserve your Capital, because the tax man lurketh on the threshold.

Friday, March 11, 2011

The Fabric of Civilization is Frighteningly Thin

Like many of us today, I’ve spent a lot of time watching the coverage of the powerful 8.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan and the Tsunami that washed away so much and even threatened our shores from half a world away.


My prayers go out to the many, many victims and the survivors that now have to pick up the pieces and try to rebuild their lives. Today is one of those days that should remind us that all of those things that we like to believe are so important to us like jobs, taxes, politics, race relations, and American Idol can become meaningless in a split-second.

This thing we call civilization is actually pretty darn fragile and can be swept away in a moment by forces much more powerful than we mere mortals can even comprehend.

Today is a day to reach out to those less fortunate ourselves while thanking God for our own good fortune.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Gitmo is still open, So was Obama lying or was Bush right?

Ok Sherman, let’s step into the WABAC machine and return to the headline of two years ago.


January 22, 2009

Obama signs order to close Guantanamo Bay facility

Promising to return America to the "moral high ground" in the war on terrorism, President Obama issued three executive orders Thursday to demonstrate a clean break from the Bush administration, including one requiring that the Guantanamo Bay detention facility be closed within a year.

During a signing ceremony at the White House, Obama reaffirmed his inauguration pledge that the United States does not have "to continue with a false choice between our safety and our ideals."

Now fast forward to today’s headlines

Obama restarts Guantanamo trials

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama reversed course Monday and ordered a resumption of military trials for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, making his once ironclad promise to close the isolated prison look even more distant.

Guantanamo has been a major political and national security headache for the president since he took office promising to close the prison within a year, a deadline that came and went without him ever setting a new one.

So, Was President Obama being something other than honest back in 2009 when he signed that executive order. I mean, did he know all along that the much maligned prison would not only be kept open but that the military-style tribunals for suspected terrorists would resume as well?

OR?

Did the President come to realize over time that his predecessor George W. Bush was absolutely, 100% right on target when it came to holding dangerous terrorists indefinitely in a secure, offshore location and trying them as enemy combatants.

It has to be one or the other doesn’t it?

What do you think?

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Perhaps only Rich People will pay the toll

The State of Connecticut is one small step closer to returning to highway tolls. Check out this story from the Hartford Courant.


In a preliminary step toward returning tolls to state highways, a legislative committee on Friday endorsed the idea of charging motorists to pay for building or extending highways, such as the half-completed Route 11 in eastern Connecticut.

The measure doesn't address the larger question of whether Connecticut should install all-electronic, high-tech tolls on interstate highways to raise money for bridge and highway repairs. But it could be the first step that toll advocates have seeking for years.
"This is the first shape of a toll bill. We still don't have the answer on the rest of it," said Rep. Anthony Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, co-chairman of transportation committee.

Interesting, perhaps in keeping with the "Soak the rich because they can afford it," attitude that is so popular right now, only "Rich folk vehicles" will be subject to the toll. say, Cadillacs and above. American luxury cars could pay $3 dollars and those evil foreign cars like Mercedes and BMW would cough up $5. Gas guzzling SUVs could pay $7 which might might even force some of those rich people to switch to more eco-friendly vehicles.

Why not? It makes as much sense as anything else coming out of Hartford right now.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Should we be laughing or crying at this point?

Just as our Governor is supposedly, figuratively lacing up his gloves and chomping on his mouthpiece, ready to step into the ring and play David against the Goliath that is the state labor unions, here comes this little story from way up the I-95 corridor in Orange.

United Public Service Employees Union Local 424-Unit 21 has fought for and won the right to get coffee and milk paid for by, you guessed it, the taxpayers. Not only will coffee and milk flow freely in Orange but casual-dress Friday is back on the calendar as well.

Reportedly the above-mentioned perks were removed by First Selectman James Zeoli after union members made certain comments at a Jan. 26, 2009, Board of Finance meeting. The Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations ruled that the action violated the Municipal Employees Relations Act.

Governor Malloy is going to try and wrestle 2 billion dollars away from a Union that not only put him into office but is willing to go to the mat over free java and jeans on Friday.
Is this a vaudeville comedy or a Greek tragedy? I’m not sure.


This post quotes from a Brian McCready story in the New Haven Register

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/03/02/news/milford/aa1_orfreecoffee030111.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Monday, February 28, 2011

Republicans have an opportunity for a big win in Fairfield

These days more and more Connecticut residents are looking toward the future with trepidation, wondering where the answers and solutions will come from.


Perhaps for Fairfield, the future has arrived in the person of David Becker, a current RTM member who is in the exploratory phase of a possible run for First Selectman. Speaking about the current leadership in Fairfield, Becker criticizes what he calls a short-term vision and says,

“Nobody is looking to the future. They take a very short-term approach. I’m looking down the road twenty, thirty, even fifty years from now in terms of preserving and enhancing the quality of life in our town.”

That’s a bit ironic coming from a man of only twenty-eight years. Becker believes that he brings a level of energy and ideas to the table that are lacking in the current leadership. Two issues of great concern for Becker are the Town’s ballooning, employee pension liability and municipal bonding, which he calls the town credit card. Two areas, which according to Becker, continue to grow exponentially and could spell real trouble for the Town in the not-too-distant future. Becker proposes a long term approach with capital plans containing realistic, inflation adjusted figures. Becker says he would also ensure clear communication with all town boards especially on bonding issues. Something he says, that doesn’t always happen now.

In regards to the always-sensitive issue of the education budget, Becker says under his administration the Board of Education “Won’t have a blank check, they will have to come in with honest budgets that contain increases based on real numbers.”

During my conversation with Becker I found myself thinking, here is a guy that gets it. A guy who is looking around at the current economic trouble facing Connecticut and simply saying, “If we don’t change direction in Fairfield, we are going to walk off that same economic cliff.”

Naturally I had to address Becker’s age which for some voters might be an issue. With a soft chuckle, Becker says, “I think that’s a good thing. I’ve been the youngest guy in the room for just about everything I’ve done for a very long time and I’ve succeeded at just about everything I’ve been involved with. I think I have just the right amount of experience in government and from life to be able to come in and take a fresh look at things and make changes where needed. I think in Ken Flatto you have the complete opposite of that. Quite frankly, I think people are looking for something fresh.”

By the way, I did a little research and currently there are 14 sitting mayors who were between the ages of 18 and 22 when first elected. Compared to them David Becker, at 28 is an old-timer.

Becker calls the job done by incumbent and five-term First Selectman Kenneth Flatto, “adequate,’ but adds “We’ve reached the point where adequate is no longer good enough. Becker says Flatto has stood in the way of a lot of forward thinking. “I don’t know where he (Ken Flatto) is stuck necessarily, but it’s not in today’s world.” Becker says that it is time for new leadership with the boldness to be innovative and embrace new ideas but also the prudence to nurture the town’s limited resources. David Becker believes that he has the ability to strike that balance.

In my opinion, it would definitely by a lively campaign should David Becker decide to formally enter the race, a race by the way that, especially in the current economic climate, Republicans should be able to win.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Governor Dannel Malloy is great guy…However.

A close friend of mine suggested that I might try and be a little kinder and gentler in some of my postings, at least in the beginning. So here goes.


Our new Governor, Dannel P. Malloy is a great guy, he really is. I have interviewed him on numerous occasions during my career as a radio broadcaster. In fact, I still have in my possession a letter of recommendation that then Mayor Malloy penned on my behalf. So yes I can state unequivocally that our Governor is a really nice person.

However, I must admit that I did not vote Mr. Malloy. In fact I worked for the opposition by serving as Communications Director for Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton’s campaigns for Governor and Lieutenant Governor and also as chairman of one of Tom Foley’s grassroots coalitions.

You see dear reader, there is a basic difference in philosophy between Liberals like Governor Malloy and Conservatives like me. That difference was really apparent last week when Governor Malloy speaking on MSNBC, dismissed Connecticut’s ranking as having the 47th worst business tax climate in the nation according to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group. The Governor called the ranking false and went on to claim that Connecticut is actually the 5th or 6th best state in the union for business.

In other words, business can afford to pay more for the privilege of operating in the Nutmeg state and by George, they will and they’ll like it.

Thus far, that anti-business philosophy has led to an exodus of businesses and whole lot of residents left looking for work. And Governor Malloy so far is promising more of the same.

Governor Malloy, you’re a great guy and thanks for the letter, but you have it absolutely wrong when it comes to taxes and the tolerance level of both businesses and individual taxpayers.

That was kind of nice, right?

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Black folks need to start rolling with the GOP…Yeah I said it.

For close to fifty years now the Democratic Party has had a virtual lock on the African American vote and for the life of me I fail to see how this blind loyalty has paid off in any meaningful way for Black voters. What have we gotten for all those votes?


And by the way, I use the term Black for a couple of reasons. First, I simply don’t feel like typing African American over and over and second, As a man whose skin tone is the smooth chocolate-brown of a Hershey bar, I can use any term I damn well please.

So back to my question, where are the benefits of loyalty? Have the myriad social programs aimed at lifting poor minorities out of poverty really worked the way Liberal Democrats love to say they work? The answer is no. There is no government program in existence that has or can deliver success or financial independence to a single person. There are however, many government programs that can help one survive and stay exactly where one is. For instance if you live in the projects, the government can help you remain fed, clothed, cared for medically, and living in the projects forever. But as far as getting you out of the projects and into the middle or ever upper class of society, not so much. Education, hard work and determination are needed to make that happen. Liberal Democrats don’t sell that message though, they sell the government-as-father message instead because as long as people remain dependant on government, those people can be depended on to vote for more government.

Have Democratic politicians and policies made any major improvements in the lives of those in the Black communities of Connecticut when it comes to major issues such as Crime, Housing, and Employment? The answer is no, no, and no.

What about education? Black voters especially in Connecticut’s large cities vote overwhelmingly Democrat.

Are the city schools getting better? No.

Are city schools getting more resources? No.

Are city school students graduating and going on to college in greater numbers? NO.

I like to think that if I bought a certain product for years and years and it consistently failed to deliver what it promised, eventually I’d switch to another product.

Well thankfully, there is another product it’s called the GOP, the Republican Party.

It is time for Black voters to stop buying the fictional image of a Republican Party made up of a bunch of rich, cigar-chomping white guys that hate Black people. Even if there was some truth to this image during the era of the morally reprehensible and disastrously short-sighted “Southern Strategy” that truth no longer holds.

It is also time for the Republican Party to do more to change the perception of the GOP in the Black community.

The idea of the Republican Party growing to look more like all of America is not a new one. Ronald Reagan, who narrowly lost the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 1976, realized that his party needed to broaden its base into a durable coalition that would help its members win and maintain office at the local, state, and national levels. Speaking before a gathering of conservatives in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 15, 1977, just five days before Jimmy Carter took the oath of office, Reagan emphasized this point, stating:

“The New Republican party I envision is still going to be the party of Lincoln and that means we are going to have to come to grips with what I consider to be a major failing of the party: its failure to attract the majority of black voters. It’s time black America and the New Republican party move toward each other and create a situation in which no black vote can be taken for granted.”



If the reasons stated above aren’t enough to get some Black folks looking outside of the Democratic Party, how this?

As long as Black voters remain a near-solid democratic block, Democrat politicians know that they only have to deliver a nominal amount of lip-service and not much else to issues of concern to Black voters in order to keep those votes because, they aren’t going anywhere.

As long as Republican politicians believe that “no matter what we do, Blacks won’t vote for us” then Republicans will continue to work on their base voters and largely ignore the Black voter and his or her issues. This has been the political norm for far too long.

However, if Black voters ever demonstrate a willingness to vote for either party, then suddenly both Democrats and Republicans will have to compete for the Black voter just like any other voter and those issues of concern to the Black community will be better addressed.

Hmmm…Competition breeding excellence, I’m talking like a Conservative Capitalist again.



This post quotes from a column in National Review by Kiron K. Skinner

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/259950/ronald-reagan-and-african-american-nro-staff

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Governor Malloy, please stop groveling before the Unions!

Governor Dannel P. Malloy has proposed a budget that he knows has little chance of success. In order for the Governor’s budget to fly, State Employee Unions have to give up one billion dollars in concessions per year for two years. So, what are the unions saying about that?


"I can't say $1 billion is a very easy number," said Leo Canty, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Employees Association, referring to a year's worth of proposed union givebacks. He added that when it came to Malloy's call for shared sacrifice, "we may have slightly different definitions."

And John W. Olsen, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, said Wednesday night that while union members "recognize we have problems in the state, when you look at Wall Street and the housing market and all these things that have happened to us on the financial side - these are not things the workers have created."

Olsen wondered why Malloy wasn't raising taxes more on the "top 5 percent wage-earners in this state" rather than on the middle class.

“Asking middle class workers to accept higher taxes, and asking those middle class workers who are state employees to accept $1 billion in concessions, while asking Connecticut’s wealthiest residents to increase their tax rate only two-tenths of one percent does not seem balanced to us,” said Matt O’Connor, the communications director for the Connecticut State Employees Association/Service Employees International Union (CSEA/SEIU).

Of course it remains to be seen how negotiations will end but right now it doesn’t sound as if the Unions are interested in playing ball. And if the unions balk Malloy admits there really is no back-up plan, unless you call sheer chaos a plan.

Oh and by the way, want to see what it looks like when the head of a state is scared to death of the special interest group that put him into office? Check out the near-grovel as our new Governor begs the teacher’s union to actually let the increase in municipal

“I’m asking you not to take this additional 270 million in funding for education and use it to demand pay raises that will surely result in some of your colleagues losing their jobs or having larger class sizes. All that would accomplish is more people out of work and ore students per teacher. And please don’t take that as a threat, it’s not, it’s a respectful request that reflects the reality of our times.”

Governor Malloy, even though I did not vote for you Sir, I really don’t want to see the leader of my state begging. It’s just so…unseemly.

And when it comes to the sweeping income tax increases that will affect about 81percent of state residents and the additional taxes on just about everything but sunlight, Governor Malloy says "Asking virtually everyone to share a slightly higher tax burden is the only way we can ensure that no one group of people bears a much higher burden,"

In other words, instead of only picking rich people’s pockets I’m going to pick every pocket I can get my fingers into because that’s the fair thing to do.



This post uses excerpts from articles by Kenton Robinson at The Day

http://www.theday.com/article/20110217/NWS12/302179395

and Chris Powell at the Journal Inquirer http://www.journalinquirer.com/articles/2011/02/17/chris_powell/doc4d5c6ba4dddde536947829.txt

Monday, February 14, 2011

Connecticut’s Conservative Capitalist Strikes Movie Deal

Danbury, CT- February 14, 2011– Author, Motivational Speaker, and former Radio Broadcaster Wayne Winsley has closed a deal with ScreenMagic Films to produce his unpublished novel, The Leprechaun Deception as a feature film.

Wayne Winsley, who began his twenty-year career in radio by showing up unannounced at a radio station with nothing more than a demo tape and a smile, has managed to land a movie deal for himself in much the same way.

In 2005, Winsley self-published a short first draft of his novel, The Leprechaun Deception, a suspense thriller featuring Connecticut FBI Agent Tony Grace. The book sold about ten copies. After completing two sequels, Winsley re-wrote The Leprechaun Deception and tried to publish it in the conventional manner using a literary agent and mainstream publisher. But finding an agent willing to represent his work proved to be much easier said than done and after a couple hundred rejection letters and emails, Winsley did what any frustrated, unpublished and unheard of author would do. He began shopping his manuscript to movie producers.

Enter ScreenMagic Films, an independent film production studio headquartered in Beverly Hills California. Company President Rick Jenkins says, “When it (The Leprechaun Deception) came across my desk I said this is hot, we need to grab this.” Jenkins adds that he is excited to transform the manuscript into a screenplay and begin filming. ScreenMagic also has an option to pick up the other two novels in the Tony Grace series, The Platinum Duplicity, and Delusion.

Winsley says he landed the movie deal the same way he has achieved everything else in his life. “When it comes to your dreams, never give up. You have to always be brave enough to fail.”

Friday, February 11, 2011

A telling silence from the Democratic Caucus in Hartford

Governor Dannel P. Malloy called Thursday for reducing the number of state agencies by 30 percent - from 81 to 57 agencies. A great start to the much needed re-structuring and streamlining of state government. And so far Republicans are nodding in agreement and saying that it is about time and there are no strenuous objections coming from Democrats in the State Legislature. All is sweetness and light.


Wait…what?

Didn’t Governor M. Jodi Rell propose the exact same thing? And before her, didn’t Governor John G. Rowland propose the exact same thing? Why yes, yes they did. And both times the Democrat dominated legislature soundly rejected those proposals.

Please pardon me a moment dear reader as I walk myself through this as if I’m a third grader.

As far back as least 2004, when the state’s fiscal condition was not nearly as dire as it is today, The Governor of the state made the case that state government was too big, too inefficient, and sucked up far too much money, and need to be streamlined. Democrats in the Connecticut legislature said “That’s a horrible idea.” and dismissed it. Yet in 2011 that very same idea is meeting no such objection, why not? What has changed? Ah, I see, the Governor making the proposal this time is a fellow democrat.

Could it possibly be that elected representatives, pledged to uphold the people’s interests sat on their hands and let the state fall off a financial cliff for no other reason than partisan politics? When you eliminate the impossible, whatever is left, no matter how unbelievable it may be to some, must be the truth.

If what I just outlined is the truth, it is the worst case of politics over people that I’ve seen in a long while and certainly a case with more disastrous consequences for the people those politicians are supposed to represent than I’ve seen in a long while.

But hey, don’t just take my word for it. Ask your Representatives and State Senators why they didn’t support this idea back when it would have really helped.

If they don’t have a good answer, remember that at the ballot box next time.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Malloy will show them the money but where will it go?

On Wednesday governor Dannel Malloy announced that the budget proposal he will deliver to the legislature next week will in fact include the $1.9 billion Education Cost Sharing program for 2011-12--the same funding level provided this fiscal year. Surrounding the Governor at the press conference were the mayors of three of the state’s largest cities, Pedro Segarra of Hartford, Bill Finch of Bridgeport and John DeStefano of New Haven. Three cities with some of the worst school systems in the state in terms of test scores, achievement, and just about any other yardstick you care to use.


Don’t get me wrong gentle reader, I neither bemoan nor begrudge these school systems getting the resources they so desperately need but I absolutely do have a problem with where those resources too often end up which not with the students.

As a speaker I am regularly inside high schools throughout Connecticut and I see first-hand what some schools have and other schools lack.

As a reporter, I’ve stood inside a Board of Ed. meeting in Bridgeport and watched as a Superintendant’s assistant, (yes I said assistant) earning a six-figure salary explained to parents that their children might have to ride the city bus to and from high school because there was no money for transportation.

I applaud Governor Malloy for making sure that our schools do not face the dramatic impact that a loss of those funds would have surely caused. On the other hand it will be interesting to see where he pulls the money from and who ultimately ends up holding the frayed end, but that is a tale for another time.

When it comes to our traditionally underperforming schools (that’s political speak for urban schools by the way) the money keeps pouring in and the achievement gap keeps getting wider. At some point someone might want to look closer at how to best use the money not just how to get the money.

But hey, what do I know, I’m just Connecticut’s Conservative Capitalist

Monday, February 7, 2011

The Estate Tax Debate: Democrats really do think it’s their money

Democrats really do think it’s their money


Once again the “Soak the rich” chorus is tuning in the State Legislature. Stand by for another effort by Democrats to raise the estate tax for those state residents unfortunate enough to die with any substantial coin on their person. And with a Democrat now in the Governor’s office that effort may well prove successful.

So, let me see if I’ve got this correctly. I write books, pretty good ones if I do say so myself. If the market agrees with me and people purchase my work and I manage build an estate of say, three million dollars before slipping this mortal coil. Some of my elected representatives feel that they have the right, yes the right to swoop in over my still-cooling carcass and say to my heirs, “Excuse us but there are people much more deserving of your father’s money than you so we’ll take as much as we like and you’ll be happy with whatever we let you keep.” That doesn’t sound like the America our founding fathers had in mind, at least not according to any history book that I’ve ever read. But that is exactly how State Democrats see it. In the words of Senate Majority Leader Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven,

“Sparing wealthy estates from a return to tax levels they faced just two years ago should not be lawmakers' top priority.”

Really, is that because not sparing businesses in the state from escalating taxes and a generally hostile environment worked out so well for us? State Senator Looney, like so many Democrats, is laboring under the delusion that the people’s money is the government’s money so in tight fiscal times the government just needs to take more money from the people. And who better to plunder than dead rich people?

Quoting here from the CT Mirror, "The estate tax provides a tremendous amount of revenue for Connecticut," said Joachim Hero, a research analyst for Connecticut Voices for Children, a New Haven-based social services advocacy group and part of the Better Choices for Connecticut coalition pressing for a more progressive state tax system. Hero said recent studies "really challenge the assumption that (taxpayer) migration is strongly affected" by increasing estate taxes, adding that proximity to family and quality of life concerns are the key factors.”

In other words “They won’t leave, they like it here. So it doesn’t matter if we steal their money.” That kind of blatant classism is right at the top of the long list of things I find detestable about the liberal philosophy. How one arrives at the belief that one is absolutely entitled to money earned by others is beyond me. But then, I’m a Conservative Capitalist.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Our Northern Border is like Social Security

As I write this I am hunkered down in a hotel room with a view of the snow covered, St. Lawrence River and beyond it, Canada. So it is ironic, to me anyway, that this is the week that Senator Joseph Lieberman speaks out about the atrocious lack of security along or northern border. I yelled about this very issue for years when I hosted my radio program. I feel like Bruce Willis in the first Die Hard movie “Welcome to the party pal!”


Lieberman says the security along the northern border of the United States is “absolutely alarming” and leaves the American public “grossly unprotected.” He’s right.

The sad truth is that our problem with our northern border is just like our problem with Social Security. Everyone knows that something must to be done but most of our leaders chose to ignore it because the solution involves a lot of hard work, time, and money, and the situation hasn’t reached the catastrophic stage yet so they feel we have time.

But rest assured, the day after someone walks across one of the four thousand virtually unprotected miles of our northern border and blows something up, the question on the lips of many will be, “How did we let this happen?” We are letting it happen right now by not making border security a priority in the north as well as in the south.

Former President George W. Bush made his case for preemptive military action by saying, “”If you wait until the threat is eminent it’s too late.” He was right.

Let us not wait until we see smoke on the horizon before taking preemptive measures to protect our borders.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Cafero’s warning to Democrats: Ignore us at your peril

House Republican Leader Larry Cafero said in recent conversation with this writer that the “common sense budget proposal” being put forward for the second session in a row by Republicans needs to be considered and acted upon by the Democrat majority. The Republican proposal is based on seven common sense principles.

• Spend no more than you make.

• Borrow only what you can afford to pay back.

• If it is not broken don’t fix it, but if it is not working get rid of it.

• The more government tries to do the less it does well.

• Government doesn’t create jobs, people do.

• We should have all the government that we need but only the government that we need.

• Empower local governments to make local decisions.

Cafero says there has got to be a change in philosophy on the part of state Democrats.

“When you start out with the premise that the money that you (taxpayers) earn is the government’s money and if you are lucky, you’ll be allowed to keep it, when that is truly your philosophy then you feel free to spend anything you want. When your philosophy is that government can solve every problem, therefore all we need is the money, then that is how you get a mindset that has resulted in the fiscal crisis we are in.”

Even though the Common Sense proposal was ignored by the Democrat majority last session, Cafero is confident that this time things may be different.

“I think, not willingly but reluctantly we are going to be listened to because there is a new dynamic at work. Even though for the first time in state history we have an entire federal delegation that is democratic as well as all statewide office holders from governor to attorney general being democrats and both chambers of the legislature being majority democrats, there were a couple of things that sent shockwaves through the Democrat Party this election cycle. One thing being that while Connecticut missed the Republican wave that swept across the rest of the country, House Republicans began the election season with 37 out of 151 members and for the first time in a long time we (Republicans) held all of our seats and picked off 14 Democrats and now we have an opportunity to pick up even more seats in the special elections. We (Republican legislative candidates) had a common platform that we campaigned on, “The Common Sense Commitment to Connecticut.” It paid off because people got it.”

In other words, Democrats may hold the reins right now, but the people are watching.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Malloy faces his own “Sputnik Moment”

Governor Dannel Malloy jets back from D.C. after taking in the President’s State of the Union address.


President Obama appealed to Congressmen and Senators to heed their better angels and move forward in unity. He made the obligatory call for the nation to throw off the shackle of foreign oil dependency which every president since Nixon feels the need to make and then apparently, immediately forget. There was a call to freeze domestic spending and offers of dubious savings measures like tax increases on oil and gas companies. By the way, he offered that same thing to a Democrat-led Congress last year and was ignored.

On the other hand, the President talked about redoubling our efforts at putting money into things like roads, research, education, efficient cars, high-speed rail and other initiatives. Hmmm, how do you freeze something and redouble it simultaneously? I’m sure it’s a pretty neat trick to watch if one can pull it off.

And when calling for job-creating investments in biomedical research, information technology, and clean energy technology The President harkened back to the space race touched off by the launch of Sputnik, the Soviet Satellite.

All in all, the President’s speech was like a fluffernutter sandwich, a decent flavor but not much there. But hey, he looked good serving it right?

Connecticut faces an ocean of red deficit ink, a school system that is failing far too many of our children and a jobs outlook that is shaky at best. Our beloved state has to negotiate an economic minefield in order to get back on the right track and this Governor must lead the way.

If Governor Dannel Malloy’s February budget address is as devoid of real substance and real solutions as this SOTU address, I hope that he at least picked up some pointers on delivery style from the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Mayor Timothy Stewart says “I got it done in New Britain and I’ll get it done in Harford!”

I recently spoke with New Britain Mayor Timothy Stewart, who is seeking the 6th district Senatorial seat vacated by Donald DeFronzo. Stewart’s opponent in the February 22nd special election is Democrat Terry Gerratana. When asked to list the biggest differences between himself and Gerrantana, Mayor Stewart pointed out that while he has been serving the citizens of New Britain in public office and demonstrating the type of leadership skills that are so badly needed in the state at this time his opponent has been sitting on the sidelines.

“She’s been removed from the politics of the state for almost a dozen years now and has been out of touch with pretty much everything that’s been going on in the community as well as the state.”

Stewart also addressed the question of his possibly wanting to serve simultaneously as Mayor and State Senator.

“No, I never said that. What I said was, the city charter does not prohibit a person from serving in both capacities. In fact, I think it would be quite interesting to serve in both because nobody understands the needs and wants of the community more than the mayor and to have him in Harford seeking the funding that he needs to plug the holes in his budget is a good thing, but no I never intended to do both. This is just typical democratic rhetoric because they see an end to my tenure here and can’t wait to get into my seat. Unfortunately the Mayor Pro-Temp who by charter would take over in my absence happens to be a Democrat not of my choice. The council picks (it) and they chose someone whom I would never want to sit in my seat because he doesn’t have the capacity to run the city.” The Mayor Pro Tempore is Democrat Michael Trueworthy.

Stewart says he is confident that he will be able to make headway against the democrat majority in the state legislature, serve as an advocate for taxpayers and an agent for change when it comes to the way things are done in Hartford.

“I’ve been able to get elected and get things done on a council with overwhelming odds against me. My first two terms as mayor, my city council was 15 to zero against me and I still made some major changes in the way we operate around here in the city of New Britain and I think that if we (Republicans) pick up a few more seats we can really be a force to be reckoned with. I’ve always said that it’s not about me and it’s not about political parties. It’s about ideas, doing the right thing and making common-sense decisions. When you put good things in front of people they have no choice but to say yes.”

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Healy: “Malloy is going to drop a Stink-Bomb on the state!”

“Winning takes repeated attempts and we will get there.” That was the message Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Christopher Healy had for an enthusiastic crowd of party supporters and officials including yours truly at an event hosted by Our Connecticut Grand Young Party in Fairfield Thursday night. Healy said the party wants to continue the communication process not only with current supporters but to branch out and bring new people in as well saying, “We are the party of Main Street.” Healy expressed confidence in the slate of Republican candidates competing for election on Feb. 22nd as well the outlook for 2012.


The party chairman was somewhat less charitable when it came to commenting on the new Governor. “I think Dannel Malloy on February 16th is going to lay a stink-bomb on this state that is going to curl your hair.” Healy said referring to the date Governor Malloy is scheduled to unveil his first budget.

The ever poised, Linda McMahon also spoke at the event and while she didn’t make any big announcements concerning another Senate run, she graciously thanked her supporters and said that she will continue to be very active in the coming months, seeking the best ways to serve the people of state, saying, “I am not deterred at all, from continuing to work the people of Connecticut.” In addition to making Connecticut “Open for business” Education is another area where McMahon says she will be very active.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Susan Bysiewicz to run for Governor…no wait, Senator... no, make that Attorney General… whoops, ok back to Senator

Former Connecticut Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz filed her paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and the secretary of the Senate to run in 2012 for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by U.S. Sen.Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., her campaign announced today.


At this point Susan Bysiewicz has something in common with millions of Americans across this great country, she just wants to land a job, any job it doesn’t matter what it is…so long as it occupies a lofty place in some branch of government. Ok, maybe she’s not like us after all.

By jumping back into the political arena Bysiewicz is side-stepping the opportunity to pick up some actual law-practice experience with the firm Updike, Kelly, and Spellacy. Although, to be fair I have to say that Bysiewicz says she will split her time between campaigning and working for the firm. It will be interesting to see if both the Democratic Party and the voters of Connecticut are willing to indulge her seemingly limitless sense of entitlement. I’ll give her one thing; Susan Bysiewicz is willing to work really hard to avoid getting a real job.

Monday, January 17, 2011

A conversation with Mark Boughton on Education, Politics, & the Dannel Malloy Administration

I took a break from watching the NY Jets beat the Patriots on Sunday to chat with Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton about education and state politics. My favorite team, the Cleveland Browns are watching the playoffs from home as usual so I didn’t mind missing a few snaps. Below is the interview followed by my commentary.


CCC:

Education was front and center in Hartford recently, aside from money or the lack thereof, the thing we hear about most is the achievement gap between low-income students and their peers, as someone who has spent years in the classroom as a teacher, in your opinion how can we best address the achievement gap in the state?

Mark Boughton:

“For years I was not on the school choice bandwagon because I didn’t feel we put enough resources into our public schools, but the new economy, an economy that is much different from anything we’ve ever seen, now requires that we re-evaluate the way we do things. From a financial, fiscal standpoint, we really need to increase competition within our school districts because that will create and drive efficiency which will in turn drive the necessary changes that we’ll need to deal with the reality of a new economy where there just isn’t the money that there used to be to do the things that we need to do.

Giving parents a choice, seems to me, particularly in the urban cores of Connecticut, the easiest way to elevate standards and get better efficiencies out the system. What I mean by that is it seems kind of silly that a student should have to walk by a successful parochial school or a successful charter school even, in order to get to their failing public schools.”

Boughton cites The Amistad Academy in New Haven and the Achievement First Academy Middle School in Hartford as two examples of charter schools that are making strides in closing the achievement gap. He adds that freeing teachers from archaic union rules and regulations and driving more of the money toward students with technology and resources that allow children to learn the way they learn now, which is much different from the way previous generations learned are also among the key elements of success. Boughton said there should be more charter schools in Connecticut and there needs to be fundamental change in state government to insure that “the dollars follow the children,” meaning that if the state of Connecticut allocates nine thousand dollars a year per student then that nine thousand dollars should follow that student to the school of his or her choice.



CCC:

I recently spoke to a group of high school seniors in Waterbury and found that many of the students didn’t believe they had a shot at much of anything, let alone achieving success. What can the education system do to address that kind of dismal outlook within the student body?

Mark Boughton:

“I think part of the problem is by the time you get to high school, if you haven’t had success, and I’m not going to say people aren’t redeemable because they are, but it makes it a lot harder to be successful. You get sort of a defeatist attitude that there isn’t anything better for you. But when you capture kids when they are young and you bring them into a program that has success, now all their options are open, now college is not something out of reach. Now a career is not out of reach. They can do anything they chose to do with their lives. That feeling of helplessness and hopelessness now goes away.”



CCC:

Federal stimulus money was used to shore up the annual Education Cost Sharing grants that Connecticut sends to each local school system. The stimulus grant, which accounts for 14 percent of the state education grant, runs out in July. How much impact would a loss of those funds have on Danbury?

Mark Boughton:

“It’s going to have a tremendous impact if those funds aren’t replaced but understand, even if the city were to give the board of education the same amount of money this year as they got last year there are still going to be massive layoffs. And that’s what I mean when I talk about the structural problems that we face in education. Even if you tread water you are still losing ground because of the way system is designed and the amount of unfunded mandates that have to be paid for. Even if the budget were held flat you would still see layoffs and reductions in services. That’s why we can’t just deliver the services the way we used to and expect better outcomes. That’s what we’re doing right now, we’re trying to raise the bar on achievement, close the achievement gap, but we have fewer resources and we have not changed the important thing which is the organizational structure of our schools. Fewer administrators, more teachers, and getting rid of some of the union rules that oversee staffing, in particular we need to have merit pay for teachers so that good teachers who are successful get paid more and if you don’t do a good job you don’t get a raise next year which by the way is what we do in private industry every day. Those are the things that motivate people and will breed success in our schools and ultimately will be what is best for children.”



CCC:

Politically speaking, what can we expect from the new administration going forward and what would you like most to see from the Republican Party in the immediate future with an eye toward 2012 and 2014?

Mark Boughton:

“The Republicans are going through a bit of catharsis right now of understanding why they lost, but it’s really not that difficult. The reason why we lost is that we don’t have a ground game to match that of the Democrats. We were right on the issues, we won 129 out 145 towns so that tells me that our message was there but we couldn’t deliver our voters to the polls on Election Day. My personal goal for the next three or four years is working with party leaders to develop a get out the vote effort which is more than just some of the traditional things but a true voter ID, getting them to the polls on election day effort. Also we have to fight it out in the urban cores, even though we probably won’t win those cities we can’t ignore them because a lot of the issues that the residents of our large cities face, we are on the right side of those issues we agree. It’s just that they don’t know what our message is because we haven’t been there to tell them. We need to work on conducting outreach. We have to have a Republican party that looks more like the people we serve and that means we need a better recruitment effort in terms of African Americans and Latinos, who actually tend to be more conservative politically and agree with our views, it is just that the republican party, the name or brand if you will, has become so tainted and we’ve got to turn that around.”

“In terms of the new administration, their challenges are many and frankly I’m concerned already by some of the discussions I’m hearing. I’m concerned by the large numbers of legislators that have jumped ship over to the new administration because the members of the democratic super-majority in the legislature were the very people that got us into this mess to begin with. Why would you hire them? It’s like hiring the people that set your barn on fire to put it out. It just doesn’t make sense. It’s going to take a lot of courage to make the structural changes that we need and I don’t think they have it. I’m disappointed in the administration initially but I’m optimistic for the state and I’m optimistic that we’ll get there but I think we are definitely challenged by some of the decisions already made by the new administration.”

End of Interview



So far this semester I’ve spoken to high school juniors and seniors in Hartford, East Haven, Waterbury, and Wolcott. I’ve seen first-hand how badly some of Connecticut’s students are educationally short-changed by a lack of proper resources needed to deliver a quality education. I have also seen a definite lack of hope and motivation in many of our students.

Let me be crystal clear on this point. It is NOT because they don’t want to be successful. Nobody wants to be poor and nobody sets out to be a failure. It’s just that too many of our young people DON’T SEE ANY WAY THAT THEY CAN achieve success. So while I agree with Mayor Boughton that Connecticut’s education system must be fundamentally changed from the top down, I would add that we need to do a better job of getting the message to our children that can indeed achieve great things. That kind of change in attitude comes from the bottom up. A combination of structural reform in our educational system and students motivated to learn will close the achievement gap.

In November of 2010 the Connecticut Republican party walked face-first into a stark reality. We need more support from the big cities in order to win elections. Andover, Bridgewater, and Cromwell aren’t enough to carry us anymore. Therein lays a challenge. How do republicans get more support from the minority communities that make up a large portion of the population in our large cities?

As an African American I can say with some authority that black and brown folks simply aren’t buying what the Republican Party is selling, partly because republicans are doing a poor job of selling and partly because of perception of the party in minority communities. However, if we can indeed mount successful outreach and recruitment efforts in the urban cores of the state and increase our support base there by even a small fraction, the political landscape in Connecticut will shift. How do we do that? I’m working on it. I’ll get back to you.

Meanwhile, to my fellow Connecticut residents who live in our large cities I say this. When both parties are actively and vigorously competing for support and fighting to represent your interests, you win! Competition breeds excellence, it’s a beautiful thing.

Wayne Winsley