Zoning Law Blues In Democrat Connecticut:Raised H.B. No. 6890

Raised Bill H.B. No. 6890 is a scary and hideous eight-page law proposal,whereby any clear thinking person can quickly perceive its mission to remove local cities and towns from oversight of their zoning laws and regulations. It should alarm most local taxpayers as to what they will have to look forward to in their communities. The Bill, also known as "Work, Live, Ride" will give incentives for what is known as “transit-oriented development” within a half mile of bus and train stations. This horrific plan would be executed under the auspices of an autonomous new "Coordinator"working in the new "Office of Responsible Growth" within the Intergovernmental Policy Division of the Office of Policy and Management. This position creates a non-elected state bureaucrat "Zoning Czar" to override local zoning laws within the areas of bus and train stations for the purpose of promoting grant-subsidized housing. What methods will be used to obtain these properties? Eminent domain? Forceful taking combined with insufficient compensation? Unfortunately, none of this methodology has been shared to date.

The leading proponents of this bill are an organization called "Desegregate Connecticut", which is described in the website(https://www.desegregatect.org/about): As is stated therein, "Desegregate Connecticut emerged in June 2020 during a period of rising public awareness about inequities in our society as exposed by the twin pandemics of COVID and racial injustice. It is a program of the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit that for 100 years has advanced ideas to improve economic health, environmental resiliency, and quality of life in the NJ-NY-CT region, and that has a century-long record of public engagement and service in Connecticut. With 80+ organizations, aligned with the goal of tackling segregation in land use laws, we have helped change the public conversation and achieve reforms at both the state and local levels, including the passage of zoning reforms in 2021."

Admittedly, “Desegregate Connecticut” relies on funding, mentoring, and logistical support from this Regional Plan Association (RPA), which is a New York City based not-for-profit group. RPA lists as its top donors of $100k or more an ostensible “who’s who” in the real estate field; The Durst Organization. RXR. SL Green Management. Suffolk Construction, and others. Thus, it seems that “Desegregate Connecticut's main financial source (besides apparently Connecticut Taxpayers monies) is obviously backed by several large corporate interests that would profit from this type of development near these locations. Thus, one can conclude that there is an economic profit motive to these subsidized housing developments that “Desegregate Connecticut” is demanding as a matter of human and environmental rights. 

 Connecticut taxpayers and local Planning and Zoning officials should be beyond alarmed at this bill. And I truly wonder how this bill makes Connecticut "desegregated"? Who has defined the segregation of Connecticut? Is it the Democrat Party that has run the state for many years now and its major cities into the ground?  Isn't crime a major issue of the major Democrat Party run cities of Connecticut such as Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford? How does this solve crime and create jobs? Who, (or what) defends the safety of commuters around transit in these districts when police are unsupported? Connecticut already has a massive Taxpayer funded subsidized public transportation system in these same cities and towns with its own inherent financial and safety issues. That said, it looks like Connecticut Taxpayers will be subsidizing additional and massive grant-supported housing projects in their hometowns on top of the high property taxes they pay.

 Raised H.B. Bill No. 6890 is a great overreach of the state government's power. It causes Connecticut's cities and towns to basically lose their authority of their own communities for the sake of more liberal rhetoric from non-elected "experts" in all things “woke”.  It destroys the character and stability of communities and systems that have taken years to build. Connecticut's economy and supposed housing issues would be much better solved by the private sector without chronic governmental interference and pandering politicians, and without Taxpayers monies being spent. Liberals need to understand that this country was founded on self-sufficiency and independence.  Liberals need to open up a history book and read about the great transit-designed public housing disasters of days gone by such as “Southfield Village” in Stamford, “Fr. Panik Village” in Bridgeport, and the legendary “Cabrini Green” in Chicago. Connecticut Taxpayers are sick of being force fed Democrat Party dependency and loss of personal freedoms that Raised H.B. Bill No. 6890 shamelessly exhibits. This bill contributes to the never-ending onslaught of failed policies that has brought us to the point of 1776, all over again.

 

Murder In Crime-Free Democrat Connecticut

 The murder of one by person to another person is a horrible and wretched crime in our society.  In Connecticut, a person who commits a murder of another person will not be sentenced to death as in other states.  Life imprisonment is sometimes the sentence, and in other cases it is a sentence for a period of years.  The person who was murdered has lost their life and the families of those who have been murdered must deal with the horrific aftermath of the loss of their loved one for years to come.  The person who was murdered is never coming back.  This past week it was discovered in Connecticut that 44 sentences for murder were some of the sentences commuted in 2022 by the Board of Pardons and Paroles.  The Connecticut Board of Pardons and Parole consists of appointees made by the Governor.  They are appointed unilaterally and with no oversight, which is the Gold-Standard of governance in Connecticut.  Apparently in June of 2021,  the Board of Pardons and Paroles policies were updated, resulting in the increase in the number of commutation applications and a corresponding increase in commuted sentences.  When and where this information was communicated is a mystery as these commuted sentences came as a shock to some in the state, especially to the affected and wounded families of the people who were murdered by those whose sentences were commuted. 

A simple question that we all should ask is why did these sentences get commuted for murders committed?  Weren't these sentences made by a Judge in a court of law with in some cases a jury trial or with a negotiated plea bargain agreed to by the murderer and victim's family?  Why does a group of appointed individuals on this Board of Pardons and Parole have greater power to fully overturn the court's decision with regards to the murder conviction?  What then is the point of trials and plea bargains if the Board of Pardons and Parole can overturn them at some point in the convicted murderer's sentence?  If Democrat liberals are arguing that the death penalty is inhumane for a murderer in the state, one must be able to argue that is was an inhumane way to die for the victim who was murdered.  It was also inhumane for the families who have to deal with the aftermath of the their loved one's murder.  Maybe we can state without liberal bias and or prejudice that murder is inhumane, and that a murderer who murdered another human being should lose their freedoms, and victims and their families have more legal rights than the convicted murderer.  Sounds too simple?  It is, because we are now led to believe by woke liberal Democrat bias that the murderer has much more rights than the victims and their families, as exhibited by what the Board of Pardons and Parole just did in these commuted sentences. 

Can you imagine the outcry if a prominent Connecticut Democrat Party office holder and or politically connected individual has one of their loved ones murdered in cold blood by a criminal who has had multiple convictions in the past?  The outrage of it all!  The demand for immediate justice!  Justice for the victims family! The banning of guns or knives or whatever the murder weapon was!  The disgust with law enforcement officials and the police for allowing it to happen!   But when it is a common citizen who is murdered, somehow these voices are not heard in the false realities of a liberal judicial system that seems now to be skewed towards criminals rights rather than any functional type of rule and order that the legal system used to maintain.  Why should law abiding citizens have any more rights anyways in an incoherent liberal Democrat Party run legal system?  A system where victims really know they no longer have rights, while the criminal and murderer is untouchable for their crimes.  Sickening isn't it?

Thus in Connecticut, a group of non elected individuals who do not have to answer to anyone in the legislative branch of government supported with Connecticut taxpayers monies, get to pick who wins and who loses as far as sentences for murderers in the state.  It is totally horrific that the Connecticut Democrat Party does not understand that victims, especially of murders, have rights.   It is really too bad that the Connecticut Democrat Party does not understand that victims especially of murders should be treated with respect.  It is really too bad that the Connecticut Democrat Party does not understand that victims especially of murders, in some cases, agreed to plea bargains for the criminals who murdered their loved ones and those plea bargains should not be overturned. 

 

Murder is sickening.  Life should be precious.  Obviously in Connecticut life has little meaning and is expendable.  Just ask around.  Look at Connecticut's Democrat cities with the never ending crime and the murders that take place in them. Murder in Crime Free Democrat Connecticut seems to be just another problem that will never be solved by the political ruling class that will always lie to save themselves.  Especially when a murderer's sentence is commuted. 

 

 

What Is The Second Highest Taxed State in The Country? Democrat Connecticut Of Course!

Connecticut Taxpayers pay an incredible sum of their money on taxes for the honor of living in free speech-squelched Connecticut.  It seems to be getting higher and higher.  A new study released by wallethub.com (wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-states-to-be-a-taxpayer/2416) this past week ranks Connecticut as having the second highest local and state taxes in the country.  The report is a fascinating read on how a state as small as Connecticut can have the second highest taxes in the country.  For example, the difference between the effective total state and local tax rates on median United States households is 14.80% while Connecticut's is 37.47% higher than the average rate.  However, Connecticut residents are used to high taxes on mostly everything and anything in the state. Couple that with seeing mind boggling short and long run state debt along with unfunded liabilities that are well over $150 billion dollars and rising!  In the past, I have argued numerous times that Connecticut has a massive spending problem due to huge political patronage in our state government, along with 30-plus years of omnipotent one party rule that places the party well being over the well being of the Connecticut Taxpayer. 

Connecticut residents pay a myriad of taxes especially on income and personal property.  As if a state income tax is not enough, the state's Family Leave Act tax on income will have no choice but to go up in the future as claims increase. Even though Ned Lamont is dangling a minimal income tax cut for this budget it will be eclipsed by the runaway Democrat induced inflation that the economy has.  Property taxes are an excessive burden for those who own property in the state, especially in Connecticut's large Democrat run cities.  These same cities have turned into cesspools of crime and murders.  The state tax statutes are an incredible, complex and incoherent read of gibberish in the name of taxing literally every single thing in our lives.

From an economics point of view I do not see why cuts in state spending can not take place in proportion to cuts in state taxes?  Why is this so difficult?  Connecticut is definitely a study in two different realms of economic reality.  The first is a harsh economic reality for those legal residents who must toil daily to keep up with the excessive taxes and high cost of living in the state.  The second is the life of luxury and ease for those who are politically connected and profit from state government.  Just look at the amount of political patronage jobs in our state government.  Just look at Ned Lamont's $54 million dollars in secret undisclosed income he made while being a Governor.  Just look at the amount of money the state budget must spend each year for state employees salaries, benefits, pensions and interest on the state debt.  Sickening isn't it?

The solutions have always been simple but have never been advocated for. Cut spending, cut taxes. Eliminate "quasi-publics" and "nonprofits" functioning as government assists, and have a 100% open records law.   But by doing that, elected officials would be giving up their economic power, their economic supremacy, and their totalitarian economic rule over Connecticut and its demeaned and degraded Taxpayers.  These are the same Connecticut Taxpayers that must support this economic failure called state government.  Connecticut has the second highest tax rate in the country and is trying for number one.  It should be successful in increasing its rank in the future due to the current state of economic affairs.  Please note that "Taxation without Representation" is part of our history.  It is worth reading about as it is 1776 all over again.

 

More Connecticut Democrat Socialist Bills On Tap. Distorted Voting. A Bill Of Rights?

As the march to the quintessential Socialist state continues in Connecticut, here are a few more observations on bills and laws that are currently being entertained by the Connecticut Democrat Party in Hartford this year.  Just when you thought it could not get any worse for Connecticut taxpayers it most certainly has with the incredible array of incoherent and illogical Democrat based contemplated bills that normally are rammed down the throats of Connecticut taxpayers.  It is difficult to even comprehend the sheer amount of laws that have been passed over the past 34 years which have taken away personal freedoms and embraced a Socialistic way of life for the state.  Again, this year is no exception except with respect to the audacious and brazen way they are presented by the Connecticut Democrat Party.

Voting and apparently more voting for the Connecticut Democrat Party seem to the focus of several bills currently considered in Hartford.  HB 5714 would allow for “incarcerated individuals to become electors and to vote”.  A new amendment to the state constitution (which is largely ignored by the Connecticut Democrat Party) through HJ-19 that would allow 16 year olds to vote.  Proposed Bill 5721 would allow "That Title 9 of the General Statutes be amended to provide for ten days of voting prior to the day of election, and establish the hours of voting during such ten days.  HB 5704 calls for mandatory voting by all registered voters or face the wrath of its government by requiring “a valid reason or be fined for not responding” when presented with a state government inquest.  HB 5712 would study the complexities of Ranked Choice Voting which in my opinion destroys your vote in an election.  Ranked choice voting is a complex system of forcing voters to rank all candidates in an election and eliminates plurality elections.  If a candidate does not get over 50% of the vote in this type of election then the lowest "ranked" candidate drops off the ballot and a second election takes place.  In that round if again no candidate gets over 50% of the vote, a third ballot takes place, etc.  How is this logical?  And how much will this now cost taxpayers?  How does this "help" Democracy?  There truly is a simple solution to our elections.  It is showing a photo ID to vote on an assigned election day with only voters that have registered in a prescribed time period prior to the election (not the same day) and allow one vote only for one candidate for an office, and more than one candidate up to the legal amount for elections that involve Town Councils, Board of Educations, and offices of that nature.  Strict Absentee voter guidelines must be followed.  Seems simple doesn't it? These bills turn voting into more incoherent Democrat Party gibberish.

English, apparently at one time the unified language of our country and its states, is now insignificant.  New House Bill 6663, forced on the state by Governor Ned Lamont is a "Bill of Rights" for non-English speaking parents in the state and also allows for, "The right of an English learner student to attend a public school in the state regardless of such student's immigration status or the immigration status of such student's parent or guardian;" and also "The right of a parent or guardian of an English learner student to enroll such student in a public school without being required to submit immigration documentation, including, but not limited to, a Social Security number, visa documentation or proof of citizenship;". In reading this bill there is no mention whatsoever of the non-English speaking student being required to learn English so that they are able to speak the language as well as their native language.  I wonder how much this will cost Connecticut Taxpayers to hire all of these new translators for Connecticut schools?  I thought the English language is the foundation of our country?  My grandparents when they legally immigrated to our country many years ago were forced to learn the language to assimilate into their new country.  Why is it so different in 2023?  What has changed to allow for this? 

I really wonder what happened to the "rights" of the Connecticut Taxpayers who are forced to accept these socialistic based rules year-in and year-out, and laws that redefine to the Democrat Party's liking and approval as to what can and can not be allowed in the state.  The proposals this year make a complete mockery of the voting process and further erode any sense of respect or belief that we have a legal and coherent state government.  How can one believe in this type of government?  A state government that continues to cater to a ruling political elite who really now seems to only be concerned with their deadening grip on power and their corrupted political system.  It continues to ruin Connecticut.  It is unchecked.  This legislative session has shown the utter disregard its elected officials have on the legal citizens of the state.  And it is 1776 all over again.