On Connecticut

CT Budget

2009-05-04T21:16:00.002-04:00

Letter to editor published in Republican American 4/22/2009
The Legislature has a new way of governing. Rep. Lawlor and Sen. McDonald attempted to push an anti-Catholic bill through the Judiciary Committee and when the public objected they claimed they had no idea it would be a problem. They are still at it though trying to pass another bill that would affect what is taught about gay rights in the schools. Now the Democrat controlled Legislature proposes a budget that is rife with tax increases, $3.3 billion. This includes broadening and increasing the income tax, and elimination of property tax credits. No elimination of social agencies we just can’t afford. No job cuts. When the public reacts, they claim it is just a trial balloon. They’re answer to small businesses concerned about the 30% surcharge on business profits is, “If they don’t make a profit, they don’t have to pay the tax.” The Democrats budget does not ask state employee unions to take any cuts. Next to tax increases, Democrats love unions since they are the Democrats biggest supporters. But citizens and businesses can always come up with more money. The governor seems to have been able to come up with a budget with no tax increases and job losses through attrition and retirement incentives. Concerning the Republican budget, Derek Slap, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats said, "We're not saying the whole thing is garbage." What do the Democrats not understand about how bad it is to raise taxes during a recession? Evidently not much.

Dodd

2009-03-18T21:08:00.002-04:00

Chris Dodd has done it again. First he is a cheerleader for Fannie and Freddie while taking campaign contributions. He continued boosting them right through last year. Then with the AIG bailout he puts in a clause that allows bonuses. Yesterday he denied he knew about it and today he admits it. He was also the receipient of the largest campaign contribution from AIG execs last year, $103,100. Have the voters had enough yet? Dodd is way overdue for retirement and since the state doesn't have a method to recall a Senator or Representative, and he probably will not resign, it will be up to the voters in 2010. I hope the voters see the light and get rid of this crook who took a sweetheart mortgage with Countrywide and has been the head of Senate Banking Commitee for the last two years and has done nothing to help the nation.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/sen-dodd-calls-fannie-freddie/story.aspx?guid={6D500286-5BDC-433B-A2EF-A9B3CE520ADE}&dist=msr_15
Sen. Dodd calls Fannie, Freddie 'fundamentally strong'
By Michael R. Crittenden
Last update: 3:11 p.m. EDT July 11, 2008
"This is not a time to be panicking about this. These are viable, strong institutions," Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said at a Capitol Hill press conference.
The comments came as the two government-sponsored enterprises continued to be the focus of growing fears they could be insolvent or could face a capital crunch. Shares of Freddie Mac were recently down 10% following strong declines earlier this week, while Fannie Mae shares were down 24%.
"The economics are fine in these institutions and people need to know that," Dodd said. There's no reason "to talk about failure," he added.

State Money Crisis

2009-02-15T12:59:00.002-05:00

Governor Rell has presented a fiscally responsible budget with no tax increases. She has suggested cutting aid to groups such as Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission, and others. Agencies have said they help students apply to college or help people with discrimination, services that could be available from other sources such as schools or lawyers. Each agency should be asked, if not them, then what should go. The Democratic legislature has apparently sided with the unions who in answer to the request for givebacks, have said they want increased taxation and other guarantees. The Democrats feel the agencies are a necessary part of providing the ‘nanny state’ coverage so loved by them. Democrats controlling the legislature and our representatives in DC have not done their job. Only 69% of the money going to Washington from Connecticut is returned in aid. We have a gas tax of which only 32% goes to transportation. We had a “temporary” state income tax instituted in the 90s. Attorney General Blumenthal wants to start up a stop smoking help line with funds received from a drug company case settlement. They just don’t get it. We, the people, need to take a stand and not blindly be governed by spend and tax policies of the Democrat controlled legislature. If you feel as I do than let your representatives in the state know it by telling them, “No new taxes!”. Or you will not be re-elected.

Election 08

2008-10-26T18:06:00.001-04:00

Connecticut's legislature is controlled by the Democrats. The people suffer under high taxes, including very high gasoline taxes of which only 32 percent of the revenues go for transportation costs. Connecticut is among the least business-friendly states.

I blame the mismanagement of our state on Democrats who for too long have taken our elections for granted. Combine that with the Democrats not supporting the constitutional convention that could give voters a direct say in lawmaking and you have a party in control that wants to keep the voter in the dark while it continues to mismanage the government and the economy.

On Nov. 4, voters have a chance to change this and bring more balance to our government by not voting for Democrats and voting for convening a constitutional convention.

Missing the Point

2008-06-26T20:53:00.002-04:00

Recently the Connecticut State Legislature override the Governor's veto of the minimum wage increase. Overlooked in the discussion was the cost of living in Connecticut. Maybe the minimum wage increase would have not been needed if the cost of living in Connecticut had not gone out of control. A trip to Massachusetts this past weekend showed a perfect example of Connecticut's cost. I was able to purchase gas at $3.99 per gallon while the price in my own neighborhood in Connecticut was hovering around $4.42. Even the Mass Pike was selling it for $4.15. The record run up in gasoline prices also resulted in a record revenue of gas taxes especially the gross receipts tax which is indexed to the price of gasoline. Since 62% of the gasoline taxes goes to the general fund, the legislature has had more money to spend. But they still have run up more expenses than they have revenue. So the legislature has missed the point. If the cost of living in Connecticut was lower, there may have been no need for a wage hike. The answer is don't spend so much. A concept that each citizen has been forced to understand but seems to have escaped the state government. Remember when the state income tax was going to be a temporary fix to solve a budget shortfall? What happened? Government, and that seems to mean the Democratic State Legislature seems to be addicted to spending. Expenditures are not being scrutinized and budgets just seem to balloon. The legislature needs to get the message that we have had enough of the out of control spending and that the brakes have to be put on. We should have a top down examination of every departments budget to see what waste can be eliminated, and what efforts are duplicated. Only then should the legislature come to the taxpayers for more.

The world oil demand has been larger than the oil supply since the fourth quarter of 2006 by 1 million barrels per day. The Democrats are blaming it on greedy oil companies and speculators in the commodities markets. But the Democratic Congress has missed the point and gone after an industry making an average 8.5% profit. When the demand and supply numbers are out of whack, any change in the supply or even futures speculators can affect the price of gasoline. The Congress should being doing everything they can to increase the supply by approving drilling offshore and moving ahead with oil shale processing rules. Even if the results of these projects are 5 to 10 years out their will be an immediate psychological
affect on the markets and we will need the increased supply in the future. Even though we may conserve, the world demand will increase as China and India can't cut back as that would require dropping subsidies, which neither government will do for fear of losing power.

Both the Democrats in the Connecticut State Legislature and in the Congress have missed the point on both these issues.

2008-06-07T22:06:00.001-04:00

The following comment was sent to Sen. Lieberman, Sen. Dodd and Rep. Murphy:

I am writing to request you change your vote on drilling for oil in ANWR and off the coasts. Cuba with the help of China will be drilling 60 miles off the coast of Florida. They will not care if our beaches are contaminated by a spill. If we control the oil in the region, we can ensure drilling techniques that are safe. Increasing output no matter how small is the only way to bridge the gap until alternative energy sources are online. Also the oil companies make an average of 10% profit. Our last refinery was built in 1976. Oil companies are not the cause of high oil prices. Supply is. Telling oil exporting countries to send more is not the answer. We need more drilling. I will be encouraging everyone I know to contact you on this matter until Congress has taken appropriate measures.

Gas Tax increase-revisited

2008-06-06T10:34:00.003-04:00

My latest post also appeared in the Waterbury Republican-American in a letter to the editor today. This is the same day the state announced it will not institute the increase of a half-percent on the gross receipts tax. The Governor said she will find the $25 million needed to cut to offset the costs. This is an admirable step but the state government needs to continue cuts.
In an election year, I'm not surprised that they finally saw the error of their ways.
The government needs a bottom up analysis of each departments goals and staffing levels. It would also help if they put out a report card of where the revenue comes from and where it goes with as much specifics as possible. Since 62% of the gas tax goes into the general fund, it is not being spent as originally designed, for transportation. So I get upset when I hear we need increases in a tax for transportation. If they spent the gas tax as intended, people would see a direct benefit from the tax. As it is now, they see 62% wasted.

Gas Tax Increase

2008-06-03T18:33:00.001-04:00

On July 1, the Democratic controlled Connecticut Legislature will impose another insult to the Connecticut taxpayer. The Connecticut’s gross receipts tax on petroleum products will increase to 7.5% from 7%. According to the state Office of Policy and Management, for Fiscal 2008, which ends June 30, the state originally projected collecting $297 million from the gross receipts tax. It recently revised that figure to $350 million — an increase of $53 million, or 18 percent. Our Connecticut legislatures in Washington are promoting a windfall profits tax on oil companies. But the windfall profits are being made by the state. Only 38% of the money goes to the transportation fund. The rest goes to the general fund. Diesel fuel also will get an 8 cent boost. The oil companies make about 8-10% profit. The value of the dollar has a large affect. But the state and federal government should give the taxpayer a break and cut spending like the taxpayer has to do.

Energy Bill

2008-05-20T19:21:00.002-04:00

The most recent energy bill passed by Congress will increase ethanol production to a point where 25% of the U.S. corn crop will be used to create a fuel that is not as efficient as gasoline, cannot be shipped by pipeline, and uses huge amount of water to produce. This is not a 'green' fuel. Large commercial farms that average $200,000 in annual income and $2 million in net worth get subsidies, and the bill allows a single farmer to earn more than $1 million before cutting subsidies. The farm bill will cost taxpayers nearly $300 billion, including $5 billion for direct payments each year to farmers, regardless of whether they grow anything. Buried within its hundreds of pages is $93 million in tax breaks for race horses, a $4 billion trust fund for disaster payments on top of subsidized crop insurance that is supposed to take care of such "disasters". Of course this is business as usual for a Congress seeking re-election no matter what party. The addiction to farm subsidies causes prices to rise to the consumer. Unfortunately, many voters ignore these bills and vote not on a candidates record but rather on what they promise, which rarely is fulfilled.

Student Loans

2008-04-25T21:01:00.004-04:00

A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted a problem caused by the intervention of Congress into the free market. It seems that some Democrats in Congress felt that lenders were taking advantage students who wanted to go to college and needed loans. So last September they passed the "College Cost Reduction and Access Act' ostensibly to make college more affordable. It probably would have been quite attractive to the younger voters.

The law reduced the interest rates borrowers pay on federally insured student loans. Backed by the Federal Family Education Loan Program, these loans account for more than 70% of education lending. Taxpayers will fork over $7 billion by 2012 to pay for the rate cuts.
But Congress didn't stop there. Convinced that the private lenders who make these loans were reaping too much profit, Congress also cut the yield on each loan. The return on the popular Stafford loan for undergrads was reduced by 70 basis points. For loan consolidations, Congress cut returns by 65 basis points.

Then along comes the credit crunch with lenders like market leader Sallie Mae saying it now loses money on every new federal education loan. As a result, some lenders are backing out of this loan market. A third of the nation's top 100 lenders to students in 2007 have temporarily suspended new loan originations or exited the business altogether.

So to not look weak especially on big bad business, the same man who authored last year's bill to cut lenders' returns has crafted a new bill to subsidize those same lenders. ,Education and Labor Chairman George Miller got a bill passed to give the Department of Education new authority to purchase loans directly from lenders. Of course the Senate needs to approve the bill as well. In the meantime, to show they are doing something faster, some Democratic Senators are asking the Fed to accept student loans as collateral under the Fed's new Term Securities Lending Facility. They sent a similar letter to Treasury Secretary Paulson asking him to order the Federal Financing Bank to buy student-loan-backed securities.

So Congress has tangled with the free market and really messed it up. The cover-up is in process that costs the taxpayer even more money. Don't trust Congress to watch your money like you would.

Moral: If you mess with the free market, it will bit you.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120899430294839827.html

Cost of Gasoline

2008-04-19T00:01:00.002-04:00

I received a newsletter from Rep Chris Murphy about his efforts on the cost of gas. He stated their is little that can be done and touted the mandating of renewable energy generation as a good thing and that the President as opposed that. Just like ethanol, renewable energy cost more than current forms of energy to produce. Mandating the use of energy generated by renewable sources will drive the price of energy to the consumer. These forms of energy generation will need to be subsidized until they are large enough to compete with current forms of generation. Ethanol is a giveaway to big farmers which is a popular tactic in an election year. But it only drives up food costs. Other ideas form Rep. Murphy include not adding to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve which I can't argue with at this time. Also stop gas price gouging which all studies seem to indicate is not occuring. And prevent price fixing by OPEC. A lot good that will do. What are going to do not buy from them?
Since the 70's, Democrats controlled Congress for all but 8 years. During that time there was little done to get us of the oil addiction. Environmentalists have prevented refinery construction since '76. Drilling offshore and in ANWR have been turned back. Windfall profits tax has been threatened even though the oil industry average profit is 8.3% which is comparable to other industries. But facts never stop a good thrashing during an election year and big oil is the target. The gov't needs to back nuclear plant construction which has been used extensively by France for electricty generation but has been stalled here by costs and environmental reviews. We need a group of experts to establish a path to energy independence.
The Democrats have no new ideas. Senator McCain has suggested rolling back the Federal Gas Tax for the summer. If the state legislature added their tax it would cut 62 cents from a gallon. Sounds like a good idea to me.

CT Legislature's Ideas

2008-04-09T22:47:00.003-04:00

In the last couple of weeks the Connecticut legislature has come up with some interesting ideas. The first was the package tax. No one seem to know how it works, what would be taxed, how it would be collected, or just how much it would bring in.

The other idea is the fine for idling a gas engine for greater the 3 minutes. The latest idea would move enforcement from DEP to the police. Just what our police need to be doing. I don't know if it also includes my lawnmower.

It really makes me wonder what our Democrat controlled legislature is thinking. Maybe they should be thinking of reducing the taxes on gasoline to make it affordable to travel. Or maybe they can think about reducing the budget so Connecticut can stop the flight of businesses. Maybe they can look into why the UCONN campus at Storrs has fire code violations.
Instead they look for more revenue which will be passed on to the consumer and more work for the local police to do. Just think of what they could think of if they were full time lawmakers.

F and S Oil

2008-03-25T15:20:00.003-04:00

I unfortunately was one of the victims of the F&S Oil default having paid in advance for 1000 gallons of oil. Fortunately, my pre-pay was done by credit card and I am happy to report that my credit card company has refunded to me the reminder of the value of the contract. So for those that did pay with a credit card, petition your company and in the future, people should use their credit cards for this type of purchase.

CT Gas Tax

2008-03-25T15:15:00.002-04:00

State Senator David J. Cappiello, R-Danbury, today said that legislation that he proposed to stop the scheduled July 1st increase to the gross receipts tax on gasoline has cleared the legislature’s General Law Committee and is on the way to the Senate. Since 2005 the state has taken in an additional $141 million from the gross receipts tax. In 2008, the state expects to take in a record $320 million from the tax. The current tax rate is 7%, up from 6.3% last year. The scheduled July 1st increase would raise the rate up to 7.5%. Since it is percentage based, as the price of gas increases so does the tax. Maybe the Attorney General should investigate this price gouging of citizens who are already subjected to the highest gas taxes in the Northeast. A large amount of these funds go to general revenue and not necessarily to the roads and bridges for which it is intended. This needs to be stopped and even rolled back to give some relief to drivers and businesses.
http://www.senaterepublicans.ct.gov/press/cappiello/2008/031808.htm

Price of Gas

2008-03-22T11:25:00.000-04:00

As the price of gas increases, the State of Connecticut makes more and more money. Currently 62 cents per gallon. I propose that once the price of gas goes over a certain number, the percentage the gov't takes reduces. Right now the only ones feeling pain, are the consumers while the gov't rakes in more money. If the gov't wants to be sympathetic , this would be the plan to implement in the highest tax state in the Union.