Connecticut-The Zone Of Opportunity Lost

 Why does Connecticut have so many economic problems?  It seems for the past 35 years Connecticut has had one economic problem after another.  Not much changes over the years.  And contrary to the standard party rhetoric on how safe and economically robust Connecticut is, there is still a massive crime and drug problem and economic malaise that has impacted Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven for years, all of which have become incredibly exacerbated since the takeover posture of Covid-19. 

For these cities, and for the state, it is insulting the definition of the word “obvious” that the solutions offered by the Connecticut Democrat Party have been nothing but destructive.

As just one example, last week on the 94.9 “Lee Elci Show”, my friend and colleague Tony De Angelo well-covered the farcical and arrogant “economic development” endeavors of the Federally-Investigated Connecticut (should-be-abolished) Department of Economic and Community Development, such as “The Pizza Trail” and the multi-million dollar “QuantumCT” (TONY DE ANGELO-LEE ELCI- LEE ELCI SHOW 10 14 2025) . To me, the biggest point that Tony made was that while these bogus endeavors continue, real economic endeavors and opportunities are completely blown by self-aggrandizing and delusional leaders, even though these opportunities are producing extremely well in other places. 

Perhaps the biggest of these blown opportunities is the reinstatement and establishment of new Qualified Opportunity Zones (“Opportunity Zones”).

In a simple definition, Opportunity Zones offer great tax savings to private investors in designated depressed locales if they stay invested for a decade, and this is exactly the medicine that poor urban areas in Connecticut need. No taxpayer contributions are required. Presently, Connecticut has 72 federally designated Opportunity Zones, and due to the sad economic state of the state can have 150 more under OBBBA, thereby taking up 25% of the entire state. Development tracts in Connecticut cities and rural areas are crying for any new capital and economic life. However, at the rate Connecticut is proceeding, it is in danger of losing its presently existing Opportunity Zones along with the potential of establishing more as there are strict deadlines. But money will move elsewhere. Stupidly, finite investor capital will find its way to better and more competent locales. And what investors want, is facility and fluency from government. 

To this end, I would bet you five dollars if you walked up to most any Connecticut elected official and asked them what an Opportunity Zone is and what it does, you will be greeted by a blank stare and a shake of the head.

But sadly, people believe what they want to believe. Perhaps this ignorance is fashioned in the delusion that Connecticut is this magically wonderful place that is sought after by millions as Connecticut continues on its current path. If one reads about Connecticut through the eyes of political bureaucrats, one may wonder what state they are talking about since it certainly does not sound like Connecticut.  For example,  the state's website, in the area they discuss "Why CT”,  "Connecticut ranks among the nation's top states for quality of life. Great public schools, scenic suburbs, a low crime rate, vibrant yet manageable cities, access to exceptional healthcare, and a diverse array of recreational options are just a few of the reasons why so many enjoy living here."... "Long known as a leader in advanced manufacturing, aerospace, finance and insurance, Connecticut is also home to thriving sectors in bioscience, green energy, technology and digital media. This array of rapidly advancing industries positions the state for continued growth".   (https://portal.ct.gov/ChooseCT/Why-CT ) If Connecticut is so great than why does it have 72 federally designated Opportunity Zones? Why can it have 150 more? Why do the arrogant powers that be not take advantage of great amounts of private capital that will revitalize these tracts? How can it be considered a leader in business when Connecticut ranks as a bottom five state in most business economic activities and one the highest taxed states in the country? 

Why do these economic birdbrains persist in these farcical “something CT” economic endeavors that continually do nothing but give the illusion of economic vitality but simply burn taxpayer money? 

Why do Republicans never attack and criticize this sham of the Department of Economic and Community Development?

(Sadly, I can go on).

But if you look hard, you see a fake effort made on the Department of Economic Development state website . Here, we see this description  "To encourage additional development, DECD has been authorized by the legislature to identify, market and ultimately sell up to 10 (COUNT EM, 10) vacant state-owned properties located in Opportunity Zones. Various agencies within Connecticut state government are also working collaboratively to identify other incentives to maximize the investment in Connecticut’s Opportunity Zones." (Ibid)       But ask yourself something: All the tax credits, gimmes, and free Taxpayers monies in the world for the past 35 years has never resolved the economic problems especially by the failed Connecticut Department Economic and Community Development.  The department that offers no transparency and has been a failure in the money it continues to give away with no accountability as to whether it gets paid back. The Department that is watching serious capital go to other landscapes while it promotes "pizza".

Just look at the no answers to the SEMA-4 debacle of Connecticut Taxpayers monies and the involvement of the Department of Economic and Community Development with that.  Go all the way back to the Malloy "First Five" , the farcical "Back-9 Network" and the bulbous and wasteful over-building of UCONN, now crashing under its own weight. As politicians back-slapped each other with all of these pies in the sky, honest taxpaying citizens received boots to their posterior regions.

One must also wonder why a state as small as Connecticut has potentially 25% of the state qualifying as sufficiently depressed to be Opportunity Zones?  This comes about from a variety of factors including, (but not limited to), businesses leaving the city and state due to high taxes, high crime, high workers compensation costs, a lack of skilled workforce for that industry and a poor infrastructure. 

It is often said that Connecticut needs more housing which is particularly puzzling in a state with a decreasing population. But take one look at the dastardly and destructive anti-landlord rental laws of Connecticut. Houses and apartment buildings in the inner cities of Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and Bridgeport have turned into many cases of being drug dens and slums.  Thus, the buildings and areas they leave are often neglected due to the landlords not having rental income coming in.  No income equals no monies for upkeep.  This also leads to bankruptcy of the individuals and companies that own these same buildings.  Government officials came up with the stoic plan of using Taxpayers monies in the form of zero interest loans, tax credits and cash incentives to try to rebuild these failed areas.  However, it is evident that if things do not change in a hurry,  the same problems of  high taxes, high crime, high workers compensation costs, a lack of skilled workforce for that industry and a poor infrastructure will again be the stumbling blocks of economic prosperity for any decent economic effort put forth in Connecticut.

In addition, many economically inane Connecticut politicians are fixated also on building both low- and high-income housing near train and bus stations in the state, overriding local zoning officials.  Any sane person knows that these deals are bound for failure as you can build all the "affordable" and or non-affordable housing you want, but if there are no jobs for these people nothing will change. And if you cannot build an economy by using real economic drivers and genuine business instead of pizza and computer concepts, you will not have workers to support the project, leading to the greatest slum developments since Father Panik Village and the gold standard of Cabrini Green in Chicago, which all ended in a hail of needles, bullets, and destruction.

However, the fiction of Nutmeg-wonderfulness continues unabated.  What is really funny is this public relations gem: "Governor Lamont, his administration and the state legislature are committed to helping businesses thrive in Connecticut. Already, they’ve implemented a host of measures to enhance the state’s long-term fiscal stability, control taxes and streamline state government." (https://portal.ct.gov/choosect/opportunity-zones). Sort of like Lamont's measures to enhance his family's hedge fund profits through Infosys Limited, Digital Currency Group and its affiliates, "ADVANCECT", Boston Consulting Group, UNITE US (CT), Mt. Sinai Genomics, "Thermo Fisher Scientific", "Sema 4", " Core Informatics", "Ocrulus", "Urjanet", "1life Healthcare", "Galileo Health", "Castlight Health", "Paladina Health", and "VillageMD"“The Horsebarn Hill Investment Fund”, McKinsey, “CT Next”, and Tidal River Fund, to name a few. 

It is quite clear that any “commitment to fiscal excellence” in Connecticut is limited to the elite on the Lamont bench. Further, Connecticut still has $100 to $150 billion dollars in short- and long-term debt along with unfunded liabilities well more than the “fiscal guardrails” we hear so much about  

Economic change in Connecticut is hard to come by as the political nepotism system of economics is still alive and well.  There is no transparency from an economics perspective in state government.  It is an entrenched political bureaucracy that sucks out the last breaths of economic prosperity daily.  Look at how many jobs and businesses were lost forever due to the draconian Covid-19 lie.  Connecticut would become an economic powerhouse with the elimination of the DECD and an overhaul from top to bottom in its state government, a sound and flat tax policy, and a commitment to business development by attracting new capital and business to 25% of the sad and decrepit state via the aggressive pursuit of Opportunity Zones as just one example.   

Is there hope in Democrat-driven Connecticut? Perhaps we will finally see the light going on in Republican camps all over the state aggressively attacking this horrific situation. But sadly, citizens have waited far too long for any effective advocacy and are odds-on favorites to see, yet, another opportunity, lost.

 

Editors Note; The next Swick Speak blog will be on Saturday November, 1. 

 

Connecticut- The Land Of Unsteady Anarchy

It is apparent to the most casual of observers that a number of events are taking place that were unthinkable to most in Connecticut just several years ago. Donald Trump is President, sending at least a third of the state into an emotional fit. Governor Ned Lamont, (the “Savior of Covid-19”) has been subpoenaed to testify in the Federal corruption trial of his former director of his construction office with relation to a clear and documented question about his surreptitious financial involvement with “Covid Test” company Sema4. The once-untouchable Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development is embroiled in a larceny scandal now under the microscope of a Federal Grand Jury and said Department is now being justifiably gored daily by citizen journalists like my friend and colleague Tony De Angelo. Angry parents thoroughly disrupted a “vaccine access panel” of legislators and the politically connected in September. Voting is proven to be suspect, but now, voters are aware of this fact as they no longer read or watch state-run news telling them otherwise. Citizens are rising up in many places to take on and challenge their local governing bodies. It is truly a wonderful time to be a witness to a great number of just desserts being consumed as humble pie by many in the politically connected stratosphere.

But one wonders if a large part of the upheaval described above is a by-product of an impending wave of anarchy. "Book definition" describes anarchy as a state of disorder due to the absence or nonrecognition of authority or other controlling systems. Does this sound familiar in 2025? If one exits the wasteland of local state-run news in Connecticut, it is most clear that a general sense of anarchy is occurring in our states, country, and the world.  The examples of this general anarchy are far-reaching and have done a great deal to erode our country. We have lost trust in local and state government along with seeing the daily hatred of all things President Trump. We have lost trust in our judicial system as non-elected activist judges create their own interpretations of law, and taxpayers will be damned if you do not agree with them. We have lost trust in our elected officials especially in Democrat run states like Connecticut where transparency in nonexistent. We have lost trust in our public schools and universities as they pound in the minds of the students the supposed greatness of socialism and totalitarian views in the minds of the students. We have lost trust in our safety as criminals are now the victims while victims are treated as criminals. We have lost trust in our society and societal norms. And in Connecticut, we have lost trust in anyone somehow connected with the state and local government.

Connecticut is unique in the political anarchy it provides with its Taxpayers. Years of inept one-party rule by the Democrat Party have taken a great toll on the state's economic vibrancy and health along with a general stagnation and dilution of the privately employed working middle class. The working middle class is burdened with excessively high local and state rates that do little to better their lives. The working middle class is burdened also with an out of touch with reality public school system and its hatred of opposing views. Citizen videos of board proceedings in places like Norwich, Groton and Newtown, Connecticut are watched in shocking reality-show fashion by startled thousands online. And to the viewer it is quite clear that none of these municipalities give a tinker’s damn about the views of their taxpaying citizens. The disregard for these citizens is beyond sickening.

 

 As a glaring example, a combination of the executive branch of state government, both political parties, and all state-run news has intentionally and continually failed to deal with a grave and despicable situation in Newtown, Connecticut which is now known world-wide due to the efforts of new media. If you are unaware, an activist, Newtown Public School therapist, Danielle Slaughter Lozer, is now famous across the world. As reported in the Connecticut Centinal, “Law Enforcement Today” and by my colleague Tony De Angelo, Newtown Taxpayers and parents must deal with the garbage described below in their school system while the Board of Education fights back against commentary concerning the same. 

Here are some excerpts from the Centinal article:

"A behavioral therapist for the Newtown Public School district is under fire after her inflammatory social media posts in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination caught the attention of parents in the community. The therapist, Danielle Slaughter Lozer has been busy locking down her social media profiles since the complaints against her emerged, but not before parents were able to screenshot the kinds of things Lozer had been posting.

Lozer's post that sparked the complaint described Charlie Kirk as a "white, gum-heavy, devil" who "constantly trashed Black people like we were garbage" and blamed him for "poisoning" other people's children with a platform "built on hate." "Death doesn't change your legacy, it reveals it," wrote Lozer. "And now, that voice of hate is gone and I'll be damned if you'll catch me feeling sorry for him or any of you who loved him so dearly! I said WTF I said!" (https://connecticutcentinal.com/newtown-school-behavioral-therapist-under-fire-hateful-racist-posts-parents-calling-for-dismissal/)

Why in Heaven’s name would you want your behaviorally challenged child to be seen by this lunatic? And why is the Newtown Board of Education not overtly and preemptively resolving this situation? And why is no one in the state Republican Party (including presumptive gubernatorial candidates) calling this situation out for the abomination that it is? One can also see that Danielle Slaughter Lozer is part of much broader issue in public education today with her hatred of white people and all things President Trump. How does she separate her personal and work lives? Does a harmless child coming into school with a MAGA hat face trouble from her? This Newtown Public School therapist needs to be fired. What if she were a Caucasian lady wearing a "KKK" cap and posting about Black hatred online? Parents of the children she has seen need answers, now. It is clear in the Land of Unsteady Anarchy that Freedom of speech is for only the fringe side and not for anyone that is normal.

But the poison of Connecticut "business as usual" is still pervasive. On a state level, taxpayers still do not get any answers from state officials on the corruption seen at the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development  which continues to operate even after a Federal Grand Jury investigation for malfeasance and ostensible theft continues. Money continues to flow to such dubious efforts as “QuantumCT” and “The Pizza Trail” with no examination of their economic viability. The Connecticut Department Economic Development faces no pushback by anyone in politics and has no boundaries. No bid contracts, no bid consulting contracts, unlimited cash with no questions asked for non-profits who in many cases need a profit to support their overpaid management teams, all issues that go unanswered and forgotten about. The Department of Economic and Community Development is a great example of political anarchy in the state.

Tied in with the Department of Economic and Community Development, Governor Ned Lamont, depending on his mood and which fringe Democrat political hack is pulling his frayed chain at the moment, will continue to speak out of both sides of his mouth. His anarchy is very hypocritical as his rich man poor man bravado hides his family's hedge fund profits from Infosys Limited, Digital Currency Group and its affiliates, "ADVANCECT", Boston Consulting Group, UNITE US (CT), Mt. Sinai Genomics, "Thermo Fisher Scientific", "Sema 4", " Core Informatics", "Ocrulus", "Urjanet", "1life Healthcare", "Galileo Health", "Castlight Health", "Paladina Health", and "VillageMD"“The Horsebarn Hill Investment Fund”, McKinsey, “CT Next”, and Tidal River Fund, to name a few.  The real Ned Lamont expresses his grave concern that Zohran Mamdani will become the Mayor of New York City and thereby will economically destroy Connecticut. (https://nypost.com/2025/10/07/business/connecticut-governor-warns-wall-street-at-risk-if-mamdani-wins-nyc-mayors-race/). The real Ned Lamont would like to coordinate with the Trump Energy Department for real and practical and affordable energy solutions for the state, much to the displeasure of the dingbats in his own party for even he sees the farce that is Connecticut energy policy. However, the real Ned Lamont does not care about any of it, them, or you or anyone else for that matter. For the real Ned Lamont is governor only for his family interests and will continue in that role doing whatever it takes, true or false, for as long as he is allowed to do so. 

If you do not believe me, just check the record.

 This is the “State” of Connecticut. The Land of Unsteady Anarchy, Unraveling fraud. Larceny. Failure to protect children. Governments unconstitutionally denying citizen rights. A governor who is accountable only to himself and his own. The dump that Connecticut has turned into needs to once and for all be cleaned up from top to bottom. But yet there is more than one happy hope that sunlight will finally break through the Charter Oak trees and establish itself again as the best disinfectant.

MSGA- Make Shutdowns Great Again

 The average American cares little for supporting the bloated and gargantuan monkey that has become our government. By way of the record, there have been twenty-one federal government shutdowns since 1974.These are periods when non-essential federal operations halted due to lapsed appropriations, leading to furloughs of federal employees. But in point of fact, the average American wants to live safely, drive over roads that do not crater, save, and buy things for his family and to see taxes and utilities low.

But government, in its present form, could care less.

Actually, the Federal government's budget process is highly complex and a difficult to understand process in many ways. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974, signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon, created an October 1 to September 30 federal fiscal year. Theoretically, this structure is to improve fiscal management and transparency for government operations. It supposedly is to allow more time for Congress and the President to plan and be more efficient in its spending. "One of the primary benefits of this fiscal period is its alignment with the federal budgeting process, which involves collecting taxes, accepting funding requests, creating budget proposals, and routing these proposals to Congress. This structured timeline ensures that the government can manage its financial activities without the rush and confusion that might accompany a calendar year-end. The flexibility of fiscal years, varying significantly between organizations and countries, allows entities to tailor their financial reporting and budgeting to their specific needs. For the federal government, this means a smoother, more predictable financial planning process that ultimately benefits taxpayers." (https://selectgcr.com/government-contracts/understanding-the-gov-fiscal-year-key-differences-benefits-over-the-calendar-year/). In review of the litany of overspending, waste, fraud, and abuse over decades, one can only question how fiscal management has improved and how much transparency has been seen over the past 52 years of this bill, especially in light of what DOGE found in wasteful spending over the past year.

However, it is being increasingly apparent to those same average working Americans that the bloat, arrogance, and ineptitude of government is something they can certainly live without and stop paying for. This clarity is now evident to these folks to where they now see a minority out of touch with reality Democrat Party shutting the government down by their refusal to vote for a continuing resolution to keep the government open until November. Apparently, the dysfunctional and incompetent Democrat Party is now led by New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who emphasizes all of the characteristics of a tin-horn politician by criticizing President Trump and Republicans in the hope of effecting a more palatable budget on one hand, while simultaneously fighting off the far-left lunatics in his own party who do not want for him to work out any agreement whatsoever with Republicans or with any semblances of sanity and fiscal responsibility on the other. This double-mindedness and lack of resolve on his part leads us to the fact that this truly is a “Schumer Shutdown.” But the whole idea of Democrats reasoning at all is false. The Democrat Party will not accept any cuts to their failed Obama Care-Biden program that temporarily extended premium subsidy eligibilities to those with income above 400% of the federal poverty level thereby taking away health care subsidies originally intended for those with lesser means.  It has been reported by Ge Bai, Professor of Accounting and Health Policy at Johns Hopkins University that these subsidies are indeed, bulbous and out of control: "A family of four in Arizona making $600,000, a married couple in West Virginia making $580,000, and a single individual in Vermont making $180,000.." (https://www.wsj.com/opinion/democrats-demand-return-of-bidenomics-ba452006). How was this situation ever allowed to come into being?

Perhaps one of the reasons such a situation came into existence was due to the yammering of fiscally-brainless politicians such as Connecticut's Socialist/Radical/Democrat Senator Chris Murphy, who actually uttered this gem: "I join with my colleagues in wanting this new budget to, at the very least, postpone the health care insurance increases that are coming for millions of Americans, that are going to ruin people’s lives in this country. 75 percent increases for people that are going to make this awful decision about whether they should continue to pay their premiums, whether they should put food on the table for their kids, or whether they should risk going without insurance. I think that’s a pretty reasonable ask - just don’t increase costs on families when it comes to health care, at a time when the cost of everything else is going up because of President Trump’s insane economic policies. But let me ask you this as well:  Why would we not also simply say that any budget we pass should stop the worst of the lawlessness? Stop the deployment to our cities. Stop the witch hunt of Comey and Soros and Senator Schiff. Stop using the FCC to censor speech. Stop unconstitutionally ignoring the budget, and spending only money that the President wants to spend.

To me this is simple. We should not willingly pay the bills for the most serious assault on political freedom since the Civil War - an assault that may collapse American democracy as we know it."  (https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-the-senate-should-not-fund-democracys-destruction) 

The mad ramblings of Chris Murphy proceed quickly from insurance costs to Witch hunts to his real reason for living being his serial hatred of all things Donald Trump. Chris Murphy will never address the Biden Witch hunts against President Trump and all things Republican. He will continue to rant and rave about these same medical care programs such as Obama Care that his party shoved down the throats of Americans and their lack of affordability. Since Chris Murphy obviously does not pay for health insurance Chris Murphy does not understand how horrific our health insurance costs have become. Hasn't the Democrat Party "ruined people’s lives" enough times since the Obama Administration with its "affordable" health care programs? But what does Chris Murphy care? Chris Murphy pays for absolutely nothing himself and has never held gainful employment outside of politics.

However, as the shutdown or possibilities of the same proceed, hope springs eternal that the farcical bloat of a large part of government could mercifully be starved out due to a lack of taxpayer support. Could such a blessing come to Connecticut? In fact, many decent taxpaying citizens of Connecticut would love nothing more than to see the Democrat-run Connecticut government shut down and be starved out. Just think of the wonders of that scenario: No more billions of dollars wasted on an inept and largely inoperative administrative state. The starvation of DEEP. The CT-DOT being forced to act in an efficient manner having no excess funds to waste on administrators and superfluous bureaucrats and cronies and make-work obstructive and redundant construction projects. The merciful abolishment of the failed/should be abolished CT-DECD, thus saving the multi-millions of dollars wasted or pilfered by legislators throwing money at useless, inefficient, and redundant nonprofits. and laughable “economic development” initiatives such as the “Connecticut Pizza Trail.” The Legislature, without free-liquor and consequent DWIs by legislators finally giving way to people actually wanting to be sober and represent their constituents. A world without nebulous and shadowy organizations such as ADVANCECT, 4-CT, “QUANTUMCT” and a whole litany of (fill-in-the-blank) “CTs” redundantly doing some form of government but being entirely non-transparent and somehow feeding cronies on the Lamont food chain or other politically-connected individuals. (My friend and colleague Tony De Angelo covered this subject quite well on the October 2, 2025 edition of THIRTY WITH TONY “The Price of Idiocy” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrG0jrDwGFM )

As Louis Armstrong said years ago in song, what a wonderful world that would be.

But in returning to the Federal shutdown, the solution is the same solution that has been offered repeatedly. Congress needs to adopt an automatic continuing resolution to keep agencies open at prior funding levels until a new budget is passed each year. This resolution would take the political grandstanding and political blame game out of the equation. It allows for a functional discussion on what needs and does not to be paid for by United States Taxpayers. It provides for a coherent flow of the operations of government. But can this ever happen again in our current political environment with the hatred by the Democrat Party and of all things President Trump growing hourly over anything he does or says. In fact, can we actually govern anymore? Or is the real threat to Democracy the likes of Chris Murphy and his ego driven, self-centered, leftist Democrat Party and their desire to destroy any opposing voices in our society taking our society along with it?

Let the government shutdown continue and let us truly reform how our federal government spends Taxpayers monies. Let us force-feed fiscal responsibility to government as government is continually unwilling to do that in and of itself. Let's actually have a real federal budget for the entire fiscal year once and for all.  Let us actually have transparency in our government. And let us keep the happy vision in Connecticut of burning down the waste, fraud, abuse, and self-dealing so that this state can once again be safe, affordable, and livable.

Isn't that all a small price to save Democracy?