More Connecticut Taxpayer Cryptocurrency Losses

 Cryptocurrency is unique.  From my view as an economist it is illogical to me.  Because why would I want to take my dollars and or Euros and convert them into an unknown virtual currency that is secured only by cryptography. This is what cryptocurrency really is.  It has no backing by any government, and has no oversight by any governing agencies.  It is unique in its difficulty to understand, and when you cash in cryptocurrency you apparently get your American dollars and or Euros back.  And you can just as easily lose money in your investment.  Just ask the Connecticut Taxpayer.   Because the taxpayer seems to have lost a great deal of money with Democrat Governor Ned Lamont's "unique" job creating indirect investment into the now bankrupt cryptocurrency giant, FTX.  How so? You may have read along the way that The State of Connecticut was very generous with Connecticut taxpayers monies by pledging $5 million dollars to Digital Currency Group ("DCG") to fictionally "move and grow" 300 jobs to Stamford, CT.  DCG now has had a great deal of its capital worth diminished to the implosion of FTX and its investments therein.  To further thicken the plot, the Lamont family Hedge Fund (Oak HC/FT) was an admitted "early investor" in Digital Currency Group  but Lamont maintains they divested of the investment before this sweetheart deal took place, even after trade-source verified multi-million dollar investments were uncovered by this fund, immediately after the election in November.  It is another episode of perfect timing for the Lamont family and the Connecticut Democrat Party. 

Once again in his weekly segment on the Lee Elci show on WJJF 94.9 this past Tuesday 1/24/23, Tony De Angelo has uncovered even more stunning Lamont connections to cryptocurrency.   The latest scandal again involves an even more complex connection between the the Lamont family Hedge Fund ("Oak HC/FT"), DCG, and its Genesis subsidiary's unregulated "Crypto" lending bank known as "Gemini Earn".  This lending bank is the latest casualty in the industry contagion caused by the collapse of FTX and a devastating blow to a business once at the heart of Barry Silbert’s DCG.  The company listed over 100,000 creditors in a massive  bankruptcy filing, with aggregate liabilities ranging from $1.2 billion to $11 billion dollars, according to bankruptcy documents.  How much money will Connecticut Taxpayers lose due to this bankruptcy?  Apparently, new and extremely questionable investments by Oak HC/FT were made right before the bankruptcy of Genesis in a major capital infusion of $25 million dollars to the bankrupted DCG on December 1, per reliable industry sources.  This happened one day after withdrawals were stopped from the Genesis "Crypto Bank" by DCG. Isn't limiting a depositor while using cash to benefit others a violation of what securities laws are supposed to be for?  Why was this done and how is this legal according to my limited understanding of SEC and banking laws?  Is there not a grave conflict of interest with a Democrat Governor who earned $54 million dollars in income (of which no one is allowed to see its source) having his family's hedge invest in companies that received Connecticut Taxpayer funding, especially at the onset of a bankruptcy?  

There is a huge ostensible disconnect in our political system.  Connecticut is a good example of the disconnect and reveals a gaping lack of transparency and any credibility in state government especially when looking at the finances of Democrat Governor Ned Lamont.  Connecticut taxpayers still have no clue how he made a mere $54 million dollars in income as Governor.  I truly wonder how much was made from companies that Connecticut Taxpayers were forced to invest in that are owned by his family's hedge fund?  I wonder how much was made by his investments in cryptocurrency during this FTX/Digital Currency debacle.  I also wonder how much money Connecticut Taxpayers have lost by investments made both in public and in secret by the Connecticut Department of Economic Community Development ("DECD"), Why isn't this information made public in a state as small as Connecticut that has over $150 billion dollars in short and long term debt along with unfunded liabilities? Why does no known political figure whatsoever call for dissolving DECD? In my opinion DECD is just as corrupt as Governor Ned Lamont, and should be shut down.   

The seeds of economic discontent are constantly sown for Connecticut taxpayers who must shoulder the economic burden of this political corruption that is a given daily event.  Think about your hard earned tax dollars being given free of charge to the DCG and others like SEMA4 and the infamous "First Five" that will never be seen again.  Think about the continuing silence from Connecticut's state run media on these dealings.  And yet think about how true the truths of 1776 resonate louder than ever in Connecticut at this time with all of its filth, waste and deception that is proudly called state government. 

Soon Connecticut Democrats Will Own And Raise Your Children From Birth

I can remember a few things from when I was 12-years-old.  I remember that I had a Mother and Father, who loved me and took care of me.  I also had an older sister who until this day I am still close to.  My parents provided me with a home to shelter me that my Father helped to build with his own hands, clothing and food to eat.  My Father worked full time as a Tool and Die Maker to support our family and I was expected to do work around the house and yard to help with the chores.  We did not have a house cleaner, chef, meals to go, lawn services, and or any extras at that time so we pretty much did everything ourselves.  I went to school, studied, played sports with my friends, read books from the library, went grocery shopping with my Mother and visited my Aunts, Uncles and Grandmother during the year. 

I can see that my life growing up at 12-years-old is much different than those children the same age in 2023, especially in Connecticut.  For if I had a child who was 12-years-old today, I would move out of Connecticut as quickly as possible given the conditions, possible laws and propaganda being force fed to my child on a daily basis.  Personally, the nail in the coffin is the proposed bill that would allow 12-years-old children to get vaccinations of any kind without getting a parent’s or guardian’s consent.  This nightmare of a bill (H.B. 5480) being put forth by Democrat State Representative Kevin Ryan, is “an act allowing children 12 years of age and older to receive a vaccination without the consent of a parent or guardian.”  I wonder if this passes, which it very well may, will open up many more laws giving up parental rights in Connecticut and ceding them to the state government.

Given the acuity level and the lack of forward thinking on the part of most Connecticut legislators, I can envision the following bills becoming law in progressive Democrat-led Connecticut in the future:  State-mandated gender change for all children, no matter what age level and without parental permission, to be paid for by health insurance companies and or state funds.  Mandatory Critical Race Theory being taught starting in preschool classes, with those preschool classes being mandated by law for children three-years-old.  Mandated teaching of alternative sexual lifestyles in grammar school.  How about "Why legalized drugs are good for you and should be bought by all children at their local legal marijuana state store?".  Or as an elective,  let's have kids take "The in's and out's of legalized abortion as the right choice when getting pregnant".  The possibilities of brainwashing your children is endless if this bill gets passed in my opinion. 

Connecticut parents now have a new fight on their hands when it comes to their children.  Never mind the issues of dealing with runaway inflation, unchecked crime and murders, a massive legal and illegal drug problem, forcing your children to wear masks in school, taking your children out of the classroom with remote learning during the never ending pandemic, and an incoherent, illogical and biased public school curriculum that will not prepare them for much of any type of functional skills and or career when they graduate thus becoming more dependent on the state.  They must now fight against this utterly demeaning piece of socialistic health legislation taking away their parenting rights, while it steals their children from them by an out-of-control socialism cancer that has help to ruin Connecticut endorsed with the blessings of the Connecticut Democrat Party.

I have to hand it to the Ned Lamont led Connecticut Democrat Party, as in my opinion and many others, they have absolutely no ethics, morals, shame, or regard for the truth when it comes to ruining an economy and society.  This bill along with many others they have developed is a demeaning rape of Connecticut parents in raising their children.  Children who by the way according to state law become adults at age 18.  Not at age 12, not at age 8, nor at age 3.  Not by state decree.  This is a sickening power grab of parent's rights.  And it should never be allowed  by any sane adults. And it is truly 1776 all over again.

Ned Lamont's Democrat Led Connecticut Loves Vices Like Legalized Marijuana

 

I really believe Ned Lamont's Democrat-led Connecticut loves vices.  I know in actuality a majority of legal state taxpayers and citizens deplore them. But with the state-run media in step with the Lamont-led Connecticut Democrat Party, vice and corruption is now an accepted way of life and doing business in once was known as the "Constitution State".  With the new legalized marijuana taxed sales, all will be well with both state finances and for addiction to drugs in general. 

Legal marijuana sales is the new quick fix to solving Connecticut's now 34th year of economic decline and decay just like the state income tax was, the legalization of casino gambling was, the extension of lottery sales 24/7/365 was, the massive taxes on cigarettes were, and that online gambling was and many other nuisance taxes/fees were.  Vice taxes are essential to a state as small as Connecticut to help them continue to spend over $21 billion dollars a year while maintaining a mere $150 billion dollars in short and long term debt along with unfunded liabilities. 

The new euphoric legal marijuana tax is a mere 6.35% state sales tax, a 3% municipal tax, and about 10-15% state cannabis tax based on THC content.  The THC content is a complex formula that is computed at 0.625 cents per milligram of total THC for cannabis plant material, 2.75 cents per milligram of total THC for cannabis edible products and 0.9 cents per milligram of total THC for cannabis, other than cannabis plant material or cannabis edible products (whatever this gibberish means).  I really wonder how these guidelines will be enforced as they make little economic sense to me and I am sure is as confusing as possible for the "legal" sellers.  For Connecticut Taxpayers none of this money will going to any type of debt relief and or lower taxes. 

For fiscal years 2022 to 2023, 100% of the taxes will go to the "Cannabis Regulatory and Investment Account".  This account will then pay the new state legalized marijuana bureaucracy to help pay costs that the involved state agencies are spending for the implementation of the new law.  I wonder what happens if there is not enough money to cover these new costs?  However, things improve in fiscal years 2024 to 2026 as a whopping 15% of the tax goes to the bottomless pit slush fund of state government known as the "General Fund", while 60% goes to the "Social Equity and Innovation Fund", a fund that is a favorite of Ned Lamont and his political hierarchy giving  cash for business capital, technical assistance for business start-ups and operations, workforce education, and community investment, etc. of a predetermined class of people, and lastly 25% goes to the "Prevention and Recovery Services Fund" to help substance abuse programs deal with future societal wreckage as apparently legalized marijuana will help to create new drug abuse and abusers for the future.  Diminishing monies go into the General Fund until 2029 when then, it receives zero tax revenue while the bulk of tax monies reverts to this "Social Equity and Innovation Fund".  But Connecticut even does "wrong" worse than any other state, let alone doing "right!" in comparison to surrounding states that have started recreational marijuana sales, Connecticut has the highest taxes in the area. (https://portal.ct.gov/cannabis/Knowledge-Base/Categories/Business-Information/Retail-Sales).

Thus from an economic view I really do not see how the negative social and medical effects will not outweigh the hypothetical economic benefits for these sales/taxes.  Taxes being collected from legalizing marijuana sales apparently are going into secretive and hidden sources that will once again pick winners and losers in the state economy in the usual Connecticut/Lamont way that we have all come to know. If legalized marijuana sales are so great for the state economy and public welfare, why is money being funneled into substance abuse programs?  Isn't it logical to think that in state that already has a massive illegal drug problem, how does legalizing this drug not help to create a new legalized drug problem and far worse parallel consequences?  Connecticut Taxpayers once again get the short end of the stick with legalized marijuana sales. 

It is pathetic to see the downward social, economic and spiritual trajectory for Connecticut with these new Utopian legalized marijuana drug sales taking place. I really wonder how many elected officials of any party actually read the law and understood the taxing payments, tax policies and where the tax revenue actually goes when they voted on the bill.  But in a state where crime reigns supreme, political corruption and nepotism is a way of life, and an incomprehensible, massive and not sustainable state debt and unfunded liabilities crisis rolls on daily with some of the highest taxes in the country and a pitifully decaying infrastructure, why would Connecticut Taxpayers expect anything different?  Of course not, as an endless, omnipotent, terminally inept, and ruthless one party rule of Ned Lamont and his Connecticut Democrats continues unchecked while their Socialistic makeover of the once proud and independent "Constitution State"  keeps rolling on.  Enough is enough.

0.9 cents per milligram of total THC for cannabis, other than cannabis plant material or cannabis edible products.

Nothing Has Changed From Last Night. The Democrat Party Owns Crisis After Crisis.

 Nothing has changed in America since last night.  Americans on a daily basis deal with multiple crises that the Biden Administration and his Democrat Party have created and nurtured over many years now, that continue to damage both our society and economy.  

Americans deal with runaway energy prices due to the manufactured Democrat Party energy crisis.  In addition, the closing of American sources of energy by the befuddled and economically incoherent Biden Administration in the name of green energy, defies logic.  Because of their actions, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been drained to dangerously low levels, diesel fuel/heating oil has tripled in prices in some cases and is in short supply, electricity costs especially in Connecticut, have gone up over 50% in some areas and green energy is still not an affordable alternative for the country.  We must remember that during the Trump Administration that we had stable, low energy prices and were energy independent.  We are now energy dependent on a ruthless dictator's oil for survival.  What is the point of green energy anyways?  Electric cars still need to be charged with a base source of power that involves fossil fuels.  By making fossil fuels too expensive for the working middle class as in the example of $6 a gallon home heating oil how does this help our economy?  Can a Democrat explain this to me? 

Americans deal with a massive loss of economic wealth as a Biden-induced economic recession, coupled with runaway inflation intensifies in our economy on a daily basis.  Americans also deal with a daily supply chain crisis especially for food, that continues to grow with the lack of response by the Biden Administration. No matter which way the Biden Administration tries to spin the "lack" of inflation in the economy and/or the economically illogical reasons why inflation is occurring in our economy, inflation is damaging our economy daily.  And inflation is causing a massive loss of personal wealth for economic classes especially those citizens who are retired and living on a fixed income.  Why are there shortages of baby formula, food and medicines in the richest economy in the world?  In my economic opinion we would not be having a recession at this time in our economy if we had a cogent and orderly immigration policy and not the border crisis that the Biden Administration is responsible for.  We also would not be having supply chain issues if the Biden Administration did not reward non productivity in our economy through their massive debt fueled spending programs that yield little (if any) economic value to our economy.  We also would not be having a recession if we did not have the incomprehensible energy policies force fed to us by the Democrat Party.

Americans deal with a rampant crime crisis in our country on a daily basis thanks to the muddled legal system that protects the criminals and treats crime victims as the criminal.  Personal property rights seem to be disregarded by our legal system and by liberal District Attorneys who feel that they create laws, and not enforce them.  Law enforcement and the respect of our police men and women whose job it is to protect us from crime has become a farce in our country due to the Democrat Party's hatred of rules, laws and law enforcement for some incoherent liberal reasoning.  Crime and murder does not go away by not enforcing laws.  Crime and murder does not go away by eliminating the bond system.  Americans should not be living in fear when they go to a grocery store and or when they need to buy gasoline for their vehicles.  Americans still have private property rights, contrary to what the Democrat Party wants.

Democrat President Biden along with his amateurish, helpless and unqualified Administration have created these crises that Americans, especially in Connecticut, must now deal with on a daily basis.  Whether it is runaway inflation, a massive national debt crisis, a massive loss of personal wealth, an energy crisis, a border crisis, an illegal drug crisis, a crime and murder crisis, and or a total lack of good/effective government crisis at a local, state and federal level, the Democrat Party owns these failures.  Americans need and deserve a much better economy, government and crime free society for the enormous amount of local, state and federal taxes that they must pay to keep these incompetent,  inefficient and useless government officials employed who have in essence ruined our economy and country.  Truly we are reliving history as it is 1776 all over again for America or what is really left of it.  Enough is enough.