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.
The Conservative Capitalist
The Conservative Capitalist
Monday, February 28, 2011
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?
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
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
"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.”
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)