The Connecticut Democrat Party makes me laugh. The state economy in their limited view of the world revolves around a political patronage system that protects the salaries, benefits and pensions of both state management and state union workers. There is always a need for state employees even though the state is bankrupt with $60 to $80 billion dollars of short and long term debt along with unfunded liabilities.
I laughed even harder when I received via email Democrat 85th District State Representative Mary Mushinsky's grand announcement of all of the new jobs in Connecticut. Quoted from her email of 7/23/18: "Connecticut’s economy is seeing significant improvement with jobs being
added to the workforce and unemployment at an historic low. According to
the state Department of Labor, more than 6,000 jobs were created in
June and the Governor reports Connecticut has added more than12,000 jobs in two months. Private sector employment now stands at more than 111 percent, fully recovering from pre-recession levels. I believe Connecticut’s economic growth is a direct result of
business-friendly policies my colleagues and I have championed in the
Legislature."
Apparently after 30 years Connecticut has regained all of the jobs it lost since the 1988 recession! What an accomplishment! Representative Mushinsky who has been in office since 1980 has voted for the state income income tax, tolls, the two highest tax increases in the state's history along with every other tax increase in the 38 years she has been in office. As a reminder to Representative Mushinsky, Wallingford has lost one of its largest taxpayers, Bristol Myers Squibb since it is closing its operations in November of this year. Many high paying jobs are lost from this closing, many families who work there are moving out of Wallingford thus depressing housing prices in town and a massive amount of local tax revenue will be lost. Thus I can not see how these supposed "business-friendly policies my colleagues and I have championed in the
Legislature." did in keeping Bristol Myers Squibb in Wallingford nor their jobs being replaced as the new owners of the building wish to tear down this 30 year old building and replace it with a warehouse.
I also do not see how Connecticut has "business-friendly policies" since the state ranks at or near bottom in many business categories such as taxes, starting a new business, regulatory environment, economic climate and growth prospects to name a few areas. If these "business-friendly policies" were working Connecticut would not have taken over 30 years to regain jobs it lost so long ago. And how much do these new 6,000 jobs pay? Or are they entry level service related jobs that pay minimum wage?
The Connecticut Democrat Party's economic policies have failed the state miserably for the past 30 years. Representative Mushinsky and her party's platform have contributed greatly to our state's economic decline. We can not afford another two years of her tax and spend policies in Wallingford nor of the lies of the Connecticut Democrat Party that are force fed to us on a daily basis. Wallingford Taxpayers and Connecticut Taxpayers have had enough. Maybe just maybe we could get a new State Representative to actually represent taxpayers in the 85th District in November.
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Yet Another Bad Week For Connecticut Taxpayers
It was another bad week for Connecticut Taxpayers thanks to the Connecticut Democrat Party.
First I wonder how many of my readers received a bonus lately. I know I did not. I know in the three jobs that I have I have not received a raise in three plus years at two of them and the other one it has been two years. But for employees of Connecticut state labor unions it was payday with $2000 plus bonuses being paid out this week as part of the secret SEBAC agreement that was negotiated by Governor Malloy and the state unions. This bonus agreement just cost Connecticut Taxpayers $80 million dollars at the beginning of the new fiscal year 2018-19. The new fiscal year already has massive projections of major budget deficits in it.
The second piece of bad news for Connecticut Taxpayers is that they get to pay for a $10 million dollar political study for the implementation of tolls in the state. Even though various toll bills have been voted down and testified against by many drivers and groups in the state, the Malloy regime wishes to force feed the tolls on the state as yet another tax cure all. Tolls and the shear volume of them that the state wishes to install would make Connecticut one of the most heavily tolled set of roads in the country. But then again when is any tax is disliked by the Connecticut Democrat Party?
The third item that engages good old Connecticut Democrat Party political patronage is the appointment of former former Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra to fill a vacancy on the state Workers’ Compensation Commission at a salary of a mere $160,000 per year all along with all of the fringe benefits that the job comes with. Segarra lost his bid for re election in 2015 to hand appointed Malloy wonder boy candidate Luke Bronin who has done little if anything as Mayor of Hartford other than beg for money. Segarra as you may remember thought he should have been appointed to a judicial nomination by the governor under a secret process after he lost his election. That process included a closed-door vote in his favor by the state Judicial Selection Commission which was brought to light and subsequently led to his withdrawal for that position. But don't worry political payoff came for Segarra through this political patronage taxpayer funded job a little later than what was promised by the Connecticut Democrat Party.
Thus is was yet another bad week for Connecticut Taxpayers thanks to the Connecticut Democrat Party. More money wasted to add to the $60 to $80 billion dollars of short and long term debt along with unfunded state liabilities that Connecticut Taxpayers owe. And voters should remember these horrific, economically destructive and long years of omnipotent one party- the Connecticut Democrat Party rule on election day in November. It is time to take back Connecticut in 2018.
First I wonder how many of my readers received a bonus lately. I know I did not. I know in the three jobs that I have I have not received a raise in three plus years at two of them and the other one it has been two years. But for employees of Connecticut state labor unions it was payday with $2000 plus bonuses being paid out this week as part of the secret SEBAC agreement that was negotiated by Governor Malloy and the state unions. This bonus agreement just cost Connecticut Taxpayers $80 million dollars at the beginning of the new fiscal year 2018-19. The new fiscal year already has massive projections of major budget deficits in it.
The second piece of bad news for Connecticut Taxpayers is that they get to pay for a $10 million dollar political study for the implementation of tolls in the state. Even though various toll bills have been voted down and testified against by many drivers and groups in the state, the Malloy regime wishes to force feed the tolls on the state as yet another tax cure all. Tolls and the shear volume of them that the state wishes to install would make Connecticut one of the most heavily tolled set of roads in the country. But then again when is any tax is disliked by the Connecticut Democrat Party?
The third item that engages good old Connecticut Democrat Party political patronage is the appointment of former former Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra to fill a vacancy on the state Workers’ Compensation Commission at a salary of a mere $160,000 per year all along with all of the fringe benefits that the job comes with. Segarra lost his bid for re election in 2015 to hand appointed Malloy wonder boy candidate Luke Bronin who has done little if anything as Mayor of Hartford other than beg for money. Segarra as you may remember thought he should have been appointed to a judicial nomination by the governor under a secret process after he lost his election. That process included a closed-door vote in his favor by the state Judicial Selection Commission which was brought to light and subsequently led to his withdrawal for that position. But don't worry political payoff came for Segarra through this political patronage taxpayer funded job a little later than what was promised by the Connecticut Democrat Party.
Thus is was yet another bad week for Connecticut Taxpayers thanks to the Connecticut Democrat Party. More money wasted to add to the $60 to $80 billion dollars of short and long term debt along with unfunded state liabilities that Connecticut Taxpayers owe. And voters should remember these horrific, economically destructive and long years of omnipotent one party- the Connecticut Democrat Party rule on election day in November. It is time to take back Connecticut in 2018.
Saturday, July 14, 2018
The Future Of Connecticut?
What is the Connecticut Democrat Party's plan for the future of Connecticut? I really do not know since they have not articulated any logical plan to save Connecticut from economic destruction.
Since it is election time the Connecticut Democrat Party candidates running for office for the first time and for reelection are cautious in their thoughts. For example, State Representative for life Democrat Mary Mushinsky, Wallingford's 85th District has sent out a Connecticut Taxpayer financed reelection 4 color pamphlet extolling the virtues and benefits of what she has supposedly done for the past two years in Hartford. Mushinsky discusses liberal surface issues with no mention of the economic turmoil that has been dumped on the Connecticut Taxpayer by the Connecticut Democrat Party. Reading this pamphlet I could not help but laugh at her statement on Public Act 18-41 "An Act Concerning Prescription Drug Costs" Mushinsky stated: "By collecting more data and holding drug companies accountable, we can get closer to lowering drug costs for Connecticut residents." It is interesting to note that Wallingford's largest taxpayer, Bristol Myers Squibb (a drug company) sold their building, will not relocate in town or in Connecticut causing many jobs to be lost and a massive amount of tax money to be lost to Wallingford. I did not see that being mentioned in Mushinsky's reelection flyer. Nor did I see anything about a plan to address Connecticut's $60 and $80 billion dollars in short and long term debt along with unfunded liabilities. Oh well I guess that debt does not matter to the Connecticut Democrat Party.
The Connecticut Democrat Party's two candidates for Governor are equally economically inept to address Connecticut's $60 and $80 billion dollars in short and long term debt along with unfunded liabilities. Both ex felon current Bridgeport Mayor Joe Gamin and multi-millionaire liberal Ned Lamont have not mentioned any plans to resolve Connecticut's perpetual debt crisis in curbing both increases in taxes and spending. Both candidates embrace an economically unsustainable long term contractual agreement with its state unions who in turn embrace all things Democrat in the state. Connecticut Taxpayers can expect much higher taxes with either a Lamont or Gamin Governorship.
What is the Connecticut Democrat Party's plan for the future of Connecticut? Does Connecticut even have an economic future? I really do not know. Nor do I understand why anyone in November would vote for any of these candidates especially for Governor and here in the 85th District?
Connecticut is in desperate need of a change in their elected officials. It can only occur by voting differently this November.
Since it is election time the Connecticut Democrat Party candidates running for office for the first time and for reelection are cautious in their thoughts. For example, State Representative for life Democrat Mary Mushinsky, Wallingford's 85th District has sent out a Connecticut Taxpayer financed reelection 4 color pamphlet extolling the virtues and benefits of what she has supposedly done for the past two years in Hartford. Mushinsky discusses liberal surface issues with no mention of the economic turmoil that has been dumped on the Connecticut Taxpayer by the Connecticut Democrat Party. Reading this pamphlet I could not help but laugh at her statement on Public Act 18-41 "An Act Concerning Prescription Drug Costs" Mushinsky stated: "By collecting more data and holding drug companies accountable, we can get closer to lowering drug costs for Connecticut residents." It is interesting to note that Wallingford's largest taxpayer, Bristol Myers Squibb (a drug company) sold their building, will not relocate in town or in Connecticut causing many jobs to be lost and a massive amount of tax money to be lost to Wallingford. I did not see that being mentioned in Mushinsky's reelection flyer. Nor did I see anything about a plan to address Connecticut's $60 and $80 billion dollars in short and long term debt along with unfunded liabilities. Oh well I guess that debt does not matter to the Connecticut Democrat Party.
The Connecticut Democrat Party's two candidates for Governor are equally economically inept to address Connecticut's $60 and $80 billion dollars in short and long term debt along with unfunded liabilities. Both ex felon current Bridgeport Mayor Joe Gamin and multi-millionaire liberal Ned Lamont have not mentioned any plans to resolve Connecticut's perpetual debt crisis in curbing both increases in taxes and spending. Both candidates embrace an economically unsustainable long term contractual agreement with its state unions who in turn embrace all things Democrat in the state. Connecticut Taxpayers can expect much higher taxes with either a Lamont or Gamin Governorship.
What is the Connecticut Democrat Party's plan for the future of Connecticut? Does Connecticut even have an economic future? I really do not know. Nor do I understand why anyone in November would vote for any of these candidates especially for Governor and here in the 85th District?
Connecticut is in desperate need of a change in their elected officials. It can only occur by voting differently this November.
Saturday, July 07, 2018
Connecticut's Poor Economic News Continues
While the Connecticut Democrat candidates for both state and national
office continue to condemn President Trump and all things Republican in
their campaigns, the states poor economic news rolls on. The
latest two economic issues that should be at the forefront of this
election but are not include the constant Connecticut budget deficit
which is now estimated at $595 million dollars and that Connecticut has
only recovered 81% of its jobs lost since the 2007-08 recession which is
now one of the lowest recovery rates in the country.
This news should scare any elected Democrat elected official but somehow is it ignored by both them and the media. It should front page news but it isn't. The voters of Connecticut are force fed the Democrat line of all of what President Trump is doing is wrong and what the Connecticut Democrats have been doing has made Connecticut a Utopia.
The continuing issues of a budget deficit will be a major problem for the upcoming fiscal year. Connecticut is broke. Its short and long term debt and unfunded liabilities are between $60 and $80 billion dollars. This is an enormous sum for a state as small as Connecticut. Years of continual Democrat rule has led our state to the path of economic ruin.
But who cares? Not the media nor the Connecticut Democrat Party. This election should focus on the state economy and its governments overspending problem. It is not. It is focused on President Trump and the dynamic national economy (that is not evident at all in Connecticut), transgender bathrooms and illegal immigrants supposed Connecticut Constitutional rights. These are Connecticut's most important issues? Are these issues going to help create non Connecticut Taxpayers funded jobs (unlike Connecticut Taxpayers funded jobs for Bob's Stores, Jackson Labs, etc.)? Are these issues an actual plan to pay off $60 to $80 billion dollars of short and long term debt along funding the exorbitant long term pension liabilities that have been promised to state workers who in some cases do not even contribute to their pensions?
No the Connecticut election of 2018 is more of the same stale rhetoric and avoidance of real economic issues by the Connecticut Democrat Party. And it is time for the Connecticut Republican Party to develop a clear economic plan and path to help create an economic recovery for 2019 so that the state can share in the current national economic expansion and prosperity that has been nurtured and enriched by President Trump and his economic policies.
How much longer do Connecticut Taxpayers have to be governed by the failed economic policies of the Connecticut Democrat Party? The time to the election becomes shorter each day. It is time to take back Connecticut in 2018.
This news should scare any elected Democrat elected official but somehow is it ignored by both them and the media. It should front page news but it isn't. The voters of Connecticut are force fed the Democrat line of all of what President Trump is doing is wrong and what the Connecticut Democrats have been doing has made Connecticut a Utopia.
The continuing issues of a budget deficit will be a major problem for the upcoming fiscal year. Connecticut is broke. Its short and long term debt and unfunded liabilities are between $60 and $80 billion dollars. This is an enormous sum for a state as small as Connecticut. Years of continual Democrat rule has led our state to the path of economic ruin.
But who cares? Not the media nor the Connecticut Democrat Party. This election should focus on the state economy and its governments overspending problem. It is not. It is focused on President Trump and the dynamic national economy (that is not evident at all in Connecticut), transgender bathrooms and illegal immigrants supposed Connecticut Constitutional rights. These are Connecticut's most important issues? Are these issues going to help create non Connecticut Taxpayers funded jobs (unlike Connecticut Taxpayers funded jobs for Bob's Stores, Jackson Labs, etc.)? Are these issues an actual plan to pay off $60 to $80 billion dollars of short and long term debt along funding the exorbitant long term pension liabilities that have been promised to state workers who in some cases do not even contribute to their pensions?
No the Connecticut election of 2018 is more of the same stale rhetoric and avoidance of real economic issues by the Connecticut Democrat Party. And it is time for the Connecticut Republican Party to develop a clear economic plan and path to help create an economic recovery for 2019 so that the state can share in the current national economic expansion and prosperity that has been nurtured and enriched by President Trump and his economic policies.
How much longer do Connecticut Taxpayers have to be governed by the failed economic policies of the Connecticut Democrat Party? The time to the election becomes shorter each day. It is time to take back Connecticut in 2018.
Wednesday, July 04, 2018
242 Years of Freedom July 4, 1776 - July 4, 2018
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
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