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.

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.

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

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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