Connecticut: Are You Better Off Than An Illegal Alien?

 The forgotten men, women and families in the once great state of Connecticut really do not ask for much. They ask for clean and safe streets. Lower taxes. Reliable public education. Recreation. Economic opportunity. The chance to build equity and value. However, the twisted and putrid Democrat machine in Hartford continues to manufacture a directed effort to assail anything close to that for these innocent citizens. Week in and week out things continue to get worse in Connecticut. Every time you think things are getting better, the Connecticut Democrat Party dumps another piece of bad and unlawful legislation out to oppress the populace at that last minute. Below, we will now examine the latest piece of crap that is being force fed to Connecticut Taxpayers making their lives yet even more dangerous and defenseless.

This latest legislative brutality is known as Senate Bill 397 (An Act Concerning Democracy and Government Accountability. (“Bill”) Passed by the Connecticut Senate in April 2026. This Bill is stated to strengthen oversight of United States Immigration and  Customs Enforcement ("ICE"), permit lawsuits against federal officers for civil rights violations, and ban law enforcement masks. It creates "protected areas,” (e.g., schools, hospitals, and churches), where civil arrests are restricted, and limits data retention from automated license plate readers.

Upon reading the Bill it is quite clear that the fever dream of the deluded Connecticut State Senate is to see state officers in violent skirmishes with the officers of ICE. It is ostensible that if the state officers prevail (an extremely unlikely scenario especially given the force permitted in defense of the U.S. Constitution and the Supremacy Clause), this same state Senate could then set up a twisted and delusional banana state under its own control showing no mercy to its legitimate citizens.

But this sane or disaffected Connecticut citizen must come to grips with why the Connecticut State Senate wishes to destroy everything for which they have worked. This same citizen wonders why government would not work to protect what they have worked so hard for, especially as a good part of their tax dollars have been expended for such protection.

Perhaps at this juncture it would be helpful to review what ICE does, particularly with respect to Enforcement and Removal Operations ("ERO"). The ERO directorate upholds U.S. immigration law at, within, and beyond our borders. ERO's work is critical to the enforcement of immigration law against those who present a danger to our national security, are a threat to public safety, or who otherwise undermine the integrity of our immigration system.

ERO operations target public safety threats, such as convicted criminal undocumented aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have otherwise violated our nation's immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges. ERO deportation officers assigned to INTERPOL also assist in targeting and apprehending foreign fugitives or Fugitive Arrest and Removal (FAR) cases who are wanted for crimes committed abroad and who are now at-large in the U.S.

ERO manages all aspects of the immigration enforcement process, including identification and arrest, domestic transportation, detention, bond management, and supervised release, including alternatives to detention. In addition, ERO removes undocumented aliens ordered removed from the U.S. to more than 150 countries around the world. (https://www.ice.gov/about-ice)

When reading the above, it is quite clear that ICE does keep our country safe from the invasion of ten million illegal and undocumented people that entered our country during the Biden Administration as they try to apprehend the many criminals that were let in at that time. This also includes 1.7 million migrants detected by technology but not apprehended that have evaded Border Patrol. But the Connecticut Democrat Party, with zero regard for legitimate Connecticut taxpayers, wants open borders and to punish Connecticut taxpayers even more, by having them pay for these illegals. It is estimated that the state pays $1.3 billion dollars or more for them. But you will not get a real answer from your nontransparent Democrat state government as to the costs. Moreover, you will get the Governor and the Attorney General vehemently insisting that Connecticut is not a sanctuary state, during a time when every large city in Connecticut has deemed itself to be a “welcoming sanctuary city,” regardless of legal citizenship. This convoluted strategy is right out of Saul Alinsky's "Rules For Radicals". And this is the Connecticut way of governance.

I believe it is also valuable to try to refresh the Connecticut Democrat Party's memory as to why ICE is trying to enforce Federal Laws, and respectfully provide this piece from 2024: "The same disastrous catch-and-release policies that let the killers of Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, and Jocelyn Nungaray loose into the country are also still in use by this administration (Biden)––regardless of the consequences. In fact, this fiscal year alone, more than 1.2 million inadmissible aliens have received a “Notice to Appear” from CBP and have been released into our communities with inadequate vetting and screening. The list of preventable crimes committed by those here illegally unfortunately continued to grow last month. On July 28, Jorge Chacon-Gutierrez shot a San Antonio police officer who was responding to a domestic violence call. Chacon-Gutierrez reportedly entered the U.S. illegally through Eagle Pass, Texas, in November of 2023 and was released with an April 2026 court date. According to a DHS memo revealed on July 30, more than 1,000 known members of the Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua (TdA) are in the U.S. and have been encouraged to attack state and local law enforcement in our communities". (https://homeland.house.gov/2024/08/21/startling-stats-factsheet-nationwide-border-encounters-surpass-10-million-under-biden-harris-administration-as-americans-suffer/)

But who gives a tinker’s dam about obedience to Federal law in Connecticut? Connecticut Democrats in the Senate pushed through Senate Bill 397 as discussed above, a Bill that Connecticut Republicans were not allowed to read . What residents are they talking about protecting? Illegal ones? Again let us refresh the Connecticut Democrat Party memories; What about “Operation Broken Trust” in August 2025 when ICE arrested sixty-five people in several Connecticut cities including Stamford, Norwalk, and Danbury, targeting individuals with connections to organized crime and serious offenses? These arrested individuals were linked to charges including sexual assault, domestic violence, child sex abuse, drug dealing, and weapons violations and some of these criminals had previously been convicted of serious offenses and were in the community prior to the ICE sweep.  Or what about illegal immigrant Edgar Gomez who beat to death a two-year-old child in Stamford? These people will be protected under Bill SB 397. Why? Can the Connecticut Democrat Party confirm that all illegal immigrants are out of the state and Taxpayers are no longer spending $1.3 billion dollars to support them? Why would they want these criminals living in the state?

The bill, S.B. 397, allows residents to sue federal law enforcement in state courts. It also designates churches, schools, and hospitals as protected areas. Under the bill, federal law enforcement would need a judicial warrant to enter. ICE agents and all federal law enforcement at all levels would be required to show their badges and are banned from wearing masks. Republicans blasted the bill on Tuesday, saying the state does not have the ability to tell ICE agents how to do their jobs. "Why are we doing this other than passing a bill that sounds good politically for them, and frankly is nothing more than a guise – an anti-cop bill," said State Sen. Stephen Harding (R-Minority Leader). Sen. Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) said that ICE's operations have "instilled a fear into communities across our state that is crippling and cruel." We’re taking action to make sure federal law enforcement has to follow the same rules that state and local police do. We’re making sure our local residents who are mistreated have recourse against those mistreating them. Against a backdrop of lawless violence and widespread discrimination, this bill tells Connecticut residents their safety is paramount," Anwar said in a statement following the bill's passing. ( https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/ct-senate-pass-bill-aimed-at-protecting-residents-from-ice-sends-it-to-house/3725724/)

Democrat State Senator Anwar who has been known for his proclivity for illegal and audacious conduct, appears delusional with his incoherent statements. His statement tells legal Connecticut citizens and Taxpayers to screw off and drop dead if you want to be protected from illegal and unlawful immigrants that roam Connecticut. He wants Connecticut to flourish in an unlawful, illegal manner with criminals roaming the streets, while featuring a flourishing illegal state-supported drug trade, human trafficking and much more. You see, the stream of illegal immigrants into the state to Democrats provides cheap labor and new voters to keep them in power forever. It is a Socialists dream.

Thus, we see another bad bill that hurts Connecticut engineered by a dangerous and totally out of touch Connecticut Democrat Party passing again with tepid Republican pushback. I, and many others, cannot understand how a bill like this could be legal and pass under Federal laws. But since your Connecticut government has no interest in protecting you, I end this article with some simple advice as found on the ICE website. Connecticut Taxpayers and Legal Connecticut residents can call 1-866-DHS-2-ICE to report suspicious activity. Further, I urge you to report this bill SB 397 and the people responsible for it. The Bill is suspicious activity and is neither legal nor constitutional.

Suspicious activity and illegality. This is the Gold Standard of governance for the twisted and putrid Connecticut Party in 2026, and it is safe to say that due to the failure of Democracy in 2026, only you and I can push for any change in this regard.

Representation of Connecticut in 2026- The Entire Place has Gone Bananas

 What is a representative democracy type of government? It is defined as; a government in which the power is exercised by the people through their elected representatives : a form of government in which the people elect representatives to make decisions, policies, laws, etc.

Many Connecticut Taxpayers and legal voters are asking this election year; who does Connecticut State Government represent? Is it those individuals who make all the decisions for everyone in the state whether it is a good or bad decision? Is it those legislators who somehow pass laws for everyone in the state whether a majority of voters are against the bill? Has Connecticut's state government become so nontransparent that both taxpayers and voters have no say in the government that they pay for? Are Connecticut state elections being carried out in a legal manner with no voter fraud taking place?  How does the legal voter have their power exercised by their elected representatives when those same representatives are completely out-of-touch with what is going on their districts?

Moreover, are there any people out there, anywhere in the universe of all people either elected or running that place your and my best interests at heart?

A very unpopular, but incredibly truthful premise is that Connecticut has suffered a great degradation ever since the onset of the Covid period in 2019. In addition to lockdowns and the destruction of what was left of the Connecticut economy, we saw unbridled fraud, election fraud, concealment, self-dealing, covert government operations and massive and redundant governmental hiring, all of which continue without aggressive political pushback, to this day. We also saw our governor, along with his spouse, attempt to “put one over” on the populace with several family equity investments  placed “in service” to the state (most notably Sema4 for Covid-19 testing), and neither situation was disclosed at the outset. We see a current situation of a similar Lamont-connected investment (Yuma Asset Management) being shrouded in the boiler-room operation of “Connecticut Innovations” (“CI”), and CI refuses to disclose any information related to it. We see a draconian and hostile vaccine mandate coming out of Hartford through a Department of Public Health led by individuals of highly suspect integrity, and no one operating in the Great Connecticut Administrative State or the Democrat Party gives one care to the will of the people rejecting this draconian and hostile mandate. And, in an election season where it would be expected that the state Republican Party and candidates would be swarming over these issues, there is an almost tacit acceptance of them with at least two of the three major gubernatorial candidates affirming the status-quo, with one stating that higher compensation be given to state employees.

But why is this so? Should not government and elected officials be representing people, and not the other way around? There are an enormous number of examples currently in Connecticut that show the complete disconnect that elected state officials, state representatives, state senators, and candidates have with those constituents they supposedly represent. Further, the citizen that speaks out against these abuses is usually ostracized by the system, the parties, or the “legitimate media” by not aligning with the problem as opposed to the solution.

The problem is much deeper than anyone in politics wishes for you to believe. For example, many people are entirely unaware as to the powerful provisions of the OBBBA of 2025 that can cause Connecticut’s economy to jumpstart in addition to other systems that could eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, which is a way of life in Connecticut. These same people are constantly told by government on both sides of the aisle that there is no solution other than the rotten procedures of state government, which in fact is the problem and the cancer leading the state to ruin ever since the enactment of the income tax in 1991. Connecticut has serious issues with regards to all of these issues which I have written about for several decades.  In my opinion, my friend and colleague Tony De Angelo did a terrific job of breaking this situation down for us on his April 9, 2026, THIRTY WITH TONY. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V9ohfs0C00&t=1080s

But regardless of what I, or Tony, or others of sincere and similar mindset may write or broadcast, the unification (if not Uni-party) of the Connecticut establishment continually persist in the bad practices of the past that somehow benefit itself at the exclusion of all others not politically connected.

It is inarguable that Connecticut's representative democracy resembles more of a third world nation's banana republic and/or a socialistic based dictatorship rather than a representative democracy for the good of the people. Connecticut borders on a lunatic fringe of a deep hatred of all things President Trump right across political parties while Democrats chronically blame the Republican Party for all the state ills that the Democrat Party and its enablers have nurtured since 1990. Lies are truth and truth are lies in Connecticut. It really is the modern-day version of the Book of Timothy in the Bible, where the truth is rejected for fables. But even the worst fable on many a day is better than the best day in Connecticut government.

For example: The establishment in Connecticut imperiously denies there is such a thing as widespread voter fraud. To that, we must look at the history of Democrat Party voter fraud in Bridgeport. The same Bridgeport that continues to reelect convicted felon Democrat Joe Ganim as their Mayor. To jog voters memories Ganim quit the mayor’s office in 2003 when he was found stealing from the city. he was Mayor from 1991 to 2003, then made a comeback in 2015 after a seven-year stint in prison and continues to rule Bridgeport with an iron hand helping lead it to economic ruin in 2026. For many years going back to the Mandanici era of copying names off of tombstones there have voter fraud abuses in Bridgeport with little resolution, including the extension of voting hours in state elections. And one has to ask how many higher office elections of Democrats were decided by mysterious ballots magically appearing as the polls closed. And one has to ask how many of these magic elections were presided over and won in the ninth inning by longtime operative Wanda Geter-Pataky and her minions? And one has to ask why said Wanda Geter-Pataky continually remains out of jail, and who would be implicated if she confessed?  The “legitimate media” never asks those questions, but you and I ask them constantly. Regardless, no answers are forthcoming.

Another unanswered question is why Connecticut will not release its voters' records to the federal government? What are they hiding? Why did former Secretary of State Denise Merrill mysteriously retire from a job that she loved in favor of the non-communicative and non-responsive Stephanie Thomas? Why is there so many foul things happening in one place with no resolutions forthcoming?

But again, what does Connecticut State Government represent? Clearly, not you. Looking at the Governor and his dealings, he represents all that is bad in our political system. One can safely state this as the corruption does get answered about  "Thermo Fisher Scientific", "Sema 4", " Core Infomatics", “Centrellis”. "Ocrulus", "Urjanet", "1life Healthcare", "Galileo Health", "Castlight Health", "Paladina Health", and "VillageMD",  the Lamont-related Cayman Island partnerships, large Cayman Islands deals such as the "Horsebarn Hill Investment Fund" hiding in the UCONN Foundation,  and other deals working through “quasi-public” organizations such as Lamont-connected (and covert) “Connecticut Innovations”. But this has been asked for several years and the silence is deafening from the non-transparent Lamont administration of profits. And no Republican candidate for his office ever raises these issues, which have all been documented since Tony De Angelo broke the stories of Sema4 and Digital Currency Group several years back, (inter-alia)  What is being hidden, and why? Who, is protecting whom?

 But again, who or what does Connecticut State Government represent? Corruption is still being investigated and no results are forthcoming with “Human Resources Agency of New Britain" where Democrat State Senator Rick Lopes of the 6th District received a great deal of Taxpayers monies for supposed services rendered. Or how about Democrat State Senator Doug McCrory and the misuse of $750,000 in funds for the now bankrupt "Blue Hills Civic Association" on top of untold millions connected to him that have disappeared before? Or, is there any political curiosity about the free cash and 2% “sweetheart” loans given away by both the failed and should-be-abolished Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development and the Connecticut Community Fund 2030? How about the billions given to the never-ending array of Connecticut Taxpayer funded "nonprofits" that unfortunately show little results in making Connecticut a better place to live by eliminating the massive amount of illegal drug use/trafficking, and or the many who are starving in the state and homeless? Or is that an affordability question to make legal drugs more affordable so that Connecticut can get more tax revenue and the state can seize land for their cronies for "affordable" housing? Does anyone care that you are paying for all of this? If so, who defends your right to protect your wallet and why do we not see cries for more Federal investigations?

Thus, we really have no clue who Connecticut's State Government represents. We see it really is not the working taxpayers of the state but an array of the political connected, the political czars, the politically affluent, The Great Connecticut Administrative State that both sides of the aisle continually fawn over, and the Democrat Party all rolled into one dictating what you can and cannot have. It is a Socialists paradise. And you, the taxpayer, be damned for questioning any of it.

Maybe, just maybe answers to the questions I presented above could become the focus of this year's state election? Even better, perhaps you can ask these questions directly to candidates at Town Halls and online meetings. Because for certain, neither anyone in the political system, administrative state, or the “legitimate media”, will ever do so.

 

Connecticut's Imploding State Government- Ten Long Years Later

 Ten years ago on April 2, 2016, I wrote a blog on layoffs in Connecticut's state government. (https://swickspeak.blogspot.com/2016/04/connecticuts-imploding-state-government.html). In review of the same, it was a shock, even to me, as to how far economic conditions in the once-proud Nutmeg State of Connecticut have sunk.

In 2016, there were 45,000 full time state employees. In addition, there were over 46,000 state pension retirees in 2014 that cost about $1.6 billion dollars to the state in both short term and long term liabilities (http://ctsunlight.org/pensions/).  Fast forward to 2026, and there are over 74,000 state employees, being an increase of roughly 61% in ten years. As of 2024, there were over 54,800 state pension retirees which is roughly an increase of 20% in ten years. (https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/all-employees-state-government-in-connecticut-fed-data.html) The costs of those retirees in 2024 were roughly $2.5 billion dollars in both short term and long-term liabilities, being an increase of roughly 67% (https://ctsunlight.org/pensions). Of course, logic and reason would lead one to believe that the added taxpayer spending is attributable to a burgeoning population. But mind us all, this is Connecticut where reason and logic have no place. 

I sadly submit unto you that Connecticut's state population in the past ten years has stayed stagnant with estimates being between 3.6 and 3.7 million people (not counting illegal immigrants in the state). To accommodate this stagnant population that is largely supported by a handful of billionaires, Connecticut's state budget has increased in the past ten years by $7.5 billion dollars or roughly 40%. The costs of salaries, pensions and benefits now are roughly 20-25% of the state budget.

The costs of living have increased dramatically in the past ten years in Connecticut, with the state now having the second highest electric rates in the country that are marked up 20% as a “public benefit” to us all. Another evident result of the rot and decline of the state is that the business-toxic climate has driven the best, brightest, and most productive far from state borders. Major world-class players such as  General Electric, Aetna, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, United Technologies, Raytheon Technologies, Carrier, Otis, Edible Arrangements, LEGO North America, Duracell, Stag Arms, Frontier Communications, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Edgewell Personal Care, Schick, Unilever, Bayer, Pfizer, UBS, RBS/NatWest, GE Capital, People’s United Bank, Bob’s Stores, Eastern Mountain Sports, Lord & Taylor, Stanley Tool, Subway, Odyssey Logistics, Rogers Corporation, Diageo North America, Pitney Bowes, Xerox, ESPN, WWE, Charter/Spectrum, Connecticut Sun, Norwich Navigators, and the Bridgeport Islanders are just a partial list of the businesses that have either severely peeled back operations or left the state entirely. When higher-paid private-sector jobholders are replaced by either low-paid workers or those requiring state subsidies, taxes increase and genuine economic activity decreases. This is a simple lesson that a high school Distributive Education student could easily learn, but such lessons have ostensibly been lost on politicians for at least a decade, without a care.

To give more color to the business-toxic climate of Connecticut, kindly bear in mind that Connecticut has one of the highest tax rates in the country as it taxes many different goods, services and occupations but still has between $100 and $150 billion dollars in short and term debt along with unfunded liabilities. Powerful economic development incentives granted under the OBBBA of 2025 are summarily ignored by politicians of both parties as they cower at the name of "Trump" who enacted these incentives and spitefully persist in the failed and costly and shady patterns of the past. Connecticut technically has yet to come out of the recession of 1991 as it has not and can not create new jobs in the private sector. The only new jobs that can be created are even more state taxpayer funded positions and unchecked, non-transparent, never to be paid back non jobs paid through surreptitious exempt organizations, funded by Connecticut Taxpayers and hand-picked by the corrupted and should-be abolished Connecticut Department of Community and Economic Development. This sick and sordid ecosystem has been the norm of Connecticut, and if such were indeed beneficial, we would not be seeing and living such poor results.

Is it somehow possible that somewhere in the not-too-distant future this false house of cards will implode? How can the state maintain this exorbitant spending on nothingness and survive economically? Is every one of the current and more than 74,000 state employees necessary? Has their productivity increased to the point that the state somehow, despite the real horrific, economic statistics that are posted year in and year out, are essential to the betterment of the state? Are Connecticut Taxpayers missing something? State officials seem much more worried to protect abortion, illegal immigrants, removing parental rights, mandating proper photo ID to return cans and bottles (but not to vote), and the further erosion and destruction of the remaining personal freedoms to legal state residents, but seemingly will not give one iota of thought to what would be necessary to fix the state economically.  

And how can it be possible not to raise taxes to support this mess? Will the remaining Connecticut Taxpayers sympathize with the state employee unions who claim high-income taxpayers do not pay enough? Or will many actually notice how many have moved to lower taxed states as they have been for years and follow?  How much more do they want the top 1% of taxpayers to pay? Does anyone consider if the handful of billionaires supporting the state will finally throw up their hands in disgust and leave? Does anyone in government ever even consider these very real possibilities?

The state election is fast approaching. And it is shaping up to be a repeat of the past 36 years of elections in the state. Does any established politician in the state recognize the seriousness of the state's economic problems? And are you really better off than you were 10 years ago? 4 years ago? 2 years ago, and or yesterday? For today and every day, for weeks, for months and for years, Connecticut's state government continues to implode. Wasted economic resources and tax dollars continue to be seen daily in our state economy.

 

As I have stated many times now, Rome did burn many years ago. Connecticut burns daily to the point of no economic return as I stated some ten years ago. And the fire has become much bigger. And virtually no one gets that. 

Who, or what will lead Connecticut from the abyss of fiscal oblivion? It is a question in search of an answer for over a decade, exacerbated by the fact that hitherto no one has been willing or able to provide such an answer. Again, I pray, May God save the once great State of Connecticut.