The State of Connecticut Has A Much Bigger Problem Than Crime And Incompetency

 The State of Connecticut Has A Crime Problem: Auto thefts surged by 33% in 2023 alone, jumping from 7,091 reported incidents in 2022 to a staggering 9,400, marking the third-highest percentage increase nationwide and leaving countless residents vulnerable to brazen juvenile offenders who often face minimal consequences. Persistent strings of car break-ins and thefts in 2025 continue to terrorize communities from Montville to Fairfield, underscoring a systemic failure to curb property crimes that erode public trust and safety. Almost every Connecticut city is a horrific and mismanaged hellhole. 

However, the gist of this article is not crime.

 The State of Connecticut Has A Competency Problem: Unhinged Liberal Incompetent Scraggly Bearded United States Senator Chris Murphy makes a fool of himself moment by moment on “X” with his repetitive nonsensical babbling reflecting his entire lack of conceptual understanding of any issue but also reflecting a crystal-clear hatred of President Donald J. Trump. Congressional Representative Rosa DeLauro, one of the oldest in Congress at age 82, is embarrassing in appearance and a babbling shame, shunning any suggestions of improvement or developmental vision for her pitiful Congressional district. Senior United States Combat Veteran Senator Richard Blumenthal lied about serving in Vietnam and lied about “not knowing” that he was addressing a Communist convention in 2021. Attorney General William Tong in his furious defense of illegal alien rights, called for a boycott of “Avelo Airlines” in New Haven, either not knowing (or caring) that the fiscally incompetent state Comptroller Sean Scanlon engineered the Avelo arrangement for the inadequate Tweed New Haven Airport campus, residential safety and noise pollution be damned. And not to be undone, Governor Ned Lamont (affectionately known as “King Ned, The Unaccountable”)  continues to move from fraud to scam, the latest being to corrupt the entire state with a new generation of incipient slum housing that helps along one of his wife’s investments, while he is trying to convince his wealthy neighbors in Greenwich that he has everyone’s best interests at heart. 

However, the gist of this article is not political incompetency.

Connecticut has many more problems too numerous to mention. But I submit unto you that Connecticut, (aka the State That Cannot Do One Thing Right) has a far greater problem than either of the above problems. It is horrible. It is insidious. It is crippling. It can send the state into bankruptcy and erode private capital and destroy any viability in the state whatsoever.

It is the Debt Problem.

Regardless of what the state-run media and the political system tell you, The State of Connecticut has a debt problem.  There is now an awareness and understanding of the debt and how much debt Connecticut is obligated to pay. Using real numbers, let us examine how much in debt Connecticut is in, and why this should be the number one issue in the upcoming state election in 2026.

To my knowledge, I am the only writer or reporter that has mentioned Connecticut has $100,000,000,000 to $150,000,000,000 (billion) dollars in short- and long-term debt along with unfunded liabilities. Certainly, no candidate or office holder has ever mentioned anything along the line. For a state as small as Connecticut and as small of a population that it has, this is a massive fiscal red flag. But it is not, as the Connecticut Democrat Party just cannot seem to tax and spend enough to satisfy its political special interest groups such as the state employee unions, myriad and unaccountable nonprofits, and politically connected state patronage jobs over the past four decades.

Here are some real fiscal facts that the entire political establishment avoids talking about as published in "The Financial State of the States 2024" report published by Truth in Accounting (https://www.truthinaccounting.org/library/doclib/Financial-State-of-the-States-2024.pdf). Connecticut in this report was given a "F" grade, ranking the state fifty out of 50 (or last) as far as its financial state of affairs. From the report found on pages 50 and 51, "Connecticut had $21 billion available to pay $85.9 billion worth of bills". This figure will increase in 2025 as some federal funding will no longer be available to the state. 

Trying to break down the $85.9 billion dollars’ worth of bills in complex and difficult to ascertain. Connecticut in each year's budget, which increases each year, also increases its bonding and borrowing within. Bonds are issued in the state for many reasons including building projects and other related items in the state. Bonds are issued to finance "debt" in the state. Total bonds in the state for 2024 were $34,355,859,000 according to the report. Also according to the report, Unfunded Pension Benefits were $38,010,340,000 and Unfunded Retiree Health Care Benefits were $17,091,549,000. In simple terms, this means every Connecticut citizen down to the smallest infant minimally shoulders a $25,000 debt of the state for which they did not cause. These figures are astronomical for a state as small as Connecticut and unsustainable in any way. Moreover, this massive obligation is more than the supposed "fiscal guardrails" that continue to be ignored by Connecticut's Political Fiscal Barons for what little value they provide. But more clear-headed people are seeing this horrific situation for what it is. My good friend and colleague Tony De Angelo also discussed Connecticut's per person state debt is his segment on Tuesday 9/2 on the 94.9 Lee Elci show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rJCaC5DusE)  

The state therefore has a massive debt problem. It also does not have enough assets to cover all its debt. The Connecticut Democrat Party laughs about (or fails to comprehend) the debt issue by its usual incoherent economic gibberish. This incoherent economic gibberish includes the usual babblings that the wealthy do not pay enough in taxes, businesses do not pay enough in taxes, there are not enough social programs to help people, more funding is needed in education and that state workers deserve much higher wages and benefits. Economic reality does not exist in the state as Connecticut continues to be a bottom five state in many economic categories. This fact is glossed over by the new, younger incoherent leftist and socialist Democrat candidates that have announced their intentions to run Governor, United States House seats and state legislature seats. Where the money will come from to pay for all their "giveaways" remains a mystery to most educated voters, but not to them as they simply do not understand, let alone care.

It is a simplistic question that truly needs to be addressed by anyone running for Governor, on any ticket in 2026. Republicans that have continually failed to challenge Democrats on many  issues must first learn to understand this most critical debt issue and secondly challenge Democrats and Socialists continually. What is your plan for paying off the massive debt and unfunded liabilities of Connecticut's government in both the short and long run? What does the plan entail? How long will it take? What will you do to decrease state spending? What will you do to whittle the bulbous and often inept state workforce? These questions should be asked daily until there are specific answers to the same. But I am not confident that will ever happen, as courage is in short supply in Connecticut government.

You see, Connecticut's state government is like a drug addict. To feed the drug monkey an addict often lies and steals. It keeps taking drugs at all costs, looking for its next fix. That fix is your tax money wasted on another failed social program and or non-profit who could be pilfering as there are no financial controls on either. That fix is a long-serving state politician getting a simplistic state nonjob to help boost his or her state pension. That fix is to give money to a politically connected business or individual for their work in a campaign, with no worries as to how the money is spent and if it is ever paid back. 

And so, it remains in the indentured state of fiscally insolvent Connecticut. Connecticut Taxpayers are damned while the benefaction and veneration of the State's Political and Administrative Bureaucracy is the most critical work that our state government must perform. So let the state perform that critically valuable work all the way into bankruptcy. Regrettably, bankruptcy may be the only cure to eliminate the waste, fraud, crime, incompetency, and debt of Connecticut, once and for all.

Connecticut. The Crisis-Driven Disaster.

Well-run states and organizations govern objectives and goals. However, Connecticut continually governs by crisis. There just has to be one. There is always a crisis in Connecticut. No matter which party controls Washington, the continual omnipotent Democrat iron-fist one party rule in Hartford always makes sure that there is some self-perpetuated failure, somewhere, where a Democrat can stand on as a soap box to remind us as to how badly we need Democrats. Take any time, place, or date and just change the crisis, and there is always one present. The pathetic state government could have an infinite amount of cash flow and would still need more money and never touch the $100-$150 billion dollars in short- and long-term debt along with unfunded liabilities looming over the state like a tarpaulin. For a crisis must be created. It never ends.

As the 47^th President of the United States Donald J. Trump is causing a whirlwind of national opportunity and enthusiasm in word, action, thought and vision, you can set your watch to Connecticut Democrats manufacturing yet another crisis in response to that . A new and continuing crisis is the supposed lack of "affordable" food in the state. Due to the cratered Connecticut economy and the lack of industry and leadership, many families with school aged children can't afford food, thus the state and town must provide free/low-cost breakfasts/snacks/lunches. The food in theory should be "nutritional" and be healthy. Apparently Connecticut has been receiving federal funds through a Biden-era program; the “Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program” and the “Local Food for Schools Program” which paid schools and food banks to buy "healthier" food options from local farmers (https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/lfs). This program apparently has its roots from Covid-19 funding and is being cut by the Trump Administration since the pandemic is over and the economy should be able to function without it given normal circumstances. This is normal thinking. But when you are a beggarly, welfare-dependent state like Connecticut, you depend on government assistance as a way of life. You know nothing different and you do not care to learn anything different.

Connecticut is typically the lead participant of free money programs and its never-ending giving/redistribution of Taxpayers monies. Connecticut's Covid-19 crisis was intentionally prolonged in order to receive more "free" money to get and spend. But what happens when that money gets cut off as in this case? It is the usual rhetoric and disgust as far as the cuts are concerned. Senator Chris Murphy stated: "most people who depend on food assistance in Connecticut work, adding that stagnant wages are not high enough to help them pay the bills...By ending these two programs, all you’re doing is hurting farmers and jeopardizing the food security of our families,” Murphy said. “These programs don’t save big amounts of money for the federal government; they don’t balance the budget.”  (https://ctmirror.org/2025/03/17/ct-schools-food-banks-local-farms/) It is inarguable that any savings would help balance the budget and lower the country’s $36 Trillion-dollar National Debt. Not to be outdone in crying the poor mouth, Senator Richard Blumenthal chimed in: "And while the pandemic exacerbated food insecurity across the U.S., (multi-millionaire Vietnam Combat Veteran) Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., argued that the White House is “taking the food off the table from working families so that the ultra-wealthy can have tax cuts.” (https://ctmirror.org/2025/03/17/ct-schools-food-banks-local-farms/) Can Senator Blumenthal directly trace the cuts in this program's funding with "Wealthy...tax cuts"? I find it hard to draw this correlation between the two, especially with a $36 Trillion-dollar National Debt. And wouldn’t job creation be the result of lowered taxes providing more free cash for spending? But again, these two fiscally incoherent Senators have been huffing and puffing for years and offer no solutions to our $36 Trillion-dollar National Debt and or the massive problems of the people they supposedly represent with affording food in Connecticut, other than to continually begging Washington.

Perhaps we can find some hope and perspective from the nonprofit and agency heads across the state! Like Jason Jakubowski, President and CEO of Connecticut Foodshare, whose last known salary was $291,114, other compensation of $54,529 and total compensation is $345,643 (https://givefreely.com/charity-directory/nonprofit/ein-061063025/)."Connecticut Foodshare was one of the largest participants in the program that had received about $3 million over the past few years. The group was set to receive another $1 million before the (pandemic) initiative was terminated." (https://ctmirror.org/2025/03/17/ct-schools-food-banks-local-farms/). One may wonder why Jakubowski is paid so much to "run" this nonprofit? Comparable private-sector executives with much greater responsibility and managerial accountability can look forward to half of his salary. His salary and those of his administrative staff if decreased, could be used to help feed people. But why do so many people in Connecticut need food assistance? Is it the excessively inflated cost of living due to high state and local taxes, high housing costs, high transportation costs, high insurance costs due to high crime rates and high electric costs? Does the bloated and politically connected state-run government contribute to the nanny state that distorts and destroys Connecticut's free market economy along with the state's affordability to live? Wasn't the above equilibrium minimum wage and state paid health/family leave insurance passed by Democrat legislative geniuses going to solve most of the state's affordability issues? And wasn’t taxing/taxing more the "rich" through the Utopian state income tax going to resolve once and for all the state's affordability issues so people could buy food on their own?  Why is this not happening? And why has the economic gap between the Connecticut state government, its state employees, and its programs fail year-in and year-out to resolve these pressing economic and social problems over the past 35 years? Just look at the costs of Connecticut's state government for salaries, benefits and pensions compared to the rest of the population that is not connected to government.

But to be fair, Connecticut does have a vision for economic growth and job development! There is a Connecticut Department of Economic Development! (“DECD”). The DECD serves officially as the state's primary agency for fostering economic growth and community development and is supposedly tasked with a broad mandate that includes economic development, housing, community development, transportation, education, and arts and culture. Its mission is supposedly to strengthen Connecticut’s economy by supporting businesses, promoting tourism, and fostering vibrant communities. The DECD employs approximately 100 full-time staff members. Daniel H. O'Keefe has been the commissioner of DECD since November 2023, earns more than his predecessor's $215,000 annual salary. However regardless of the bulbous spending of the DECD, Connecticut continually ranks last or near last in any reputable state poll comparing economic viability between states. A real economic development agency would be creating a business-favorable and job creating environment as opposed to consuming and wasting taxpayer dollars with little to no aggregate results. In fact, it is certainly a safe statement to say that the economic ranking of Connecticut would not be changed by one percentage point should the entire failed DECD model be dissolved and the funding expended be used to feed the hungry. This of course would not be the right answer. But neither is the continued wasting of tax dollars by crisis-driven leaders for little reason along with no vision or plan for real economic incentive and job growth.

Connecticut Taxpayers are now seeing through the stale, lost rhetoric of Connecticut's ruling political class. Connecticut Taxpayers should not have to forage to survive in a state that has no leadership, no ethics, no vision, and no results. Elected officials bellow at all times, and rant and rave against all of the injustices that they have helped to create in all of their never ending years of elected power and conquest.  The cut of the food aid program is just another example in the extensive line of economic failures pointing to the sad fact of there is never enough to be able to live a normal life in this once "Constitution" state that helped to found our country back in 1776. 

The Democrat-driven political cabal has never been the solution but is part of the fabric of the problem. Enough, is indeed, enough.