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.

Why Is 40% The Biggest Number In Connecticut?

 In the alternative universe of the once-great State of Connecticut, omnipotent Democrat One Party Rule clutches to economic failure, destruction, and confusion much like to someone exiting a burning building would clutch to a bungee rope. As a continual model for failure, the political leadership of Connecticut arrogantly hails economic bankruptcy and skyrocketing crime as progressive triumphs as they trumpet their ” care” for their people. Concurrently, President Donald Trump is aggressively moving toward a campaign of business repatriations, border security, “drill baby, drill” energy independence, and the sharpest and best tax policy I have seen in decades. But for the dogged efforts of stalwart independent journalists on social channels, Connecticut residents would have never heard about Trump Accounts, enhanced Opportunity Zones, and enhanced tax breaks for business asset purchases. Any rational person would think that Connecticut Republicans should be championing and pounding on these issues and benefits daily. Instead, we see a wan, late-to-the-dance effort in the Legislature to push the “no tax on tips, overtime and Social Security” provisions of the Trump OBBBA Act of 2025, (without mentioning the ruinous word “Trump”) and done only by public outcry as my friend and colleague Tony De Angelo was mentioning this six months ago on the Lee Elci Show, WJJF - New London, CT . With no mention of any other serious matters of tax and economic policy, we see a series of dumb and unfunny videos performed by Republicans lending no focus nor seriousness to the critical matters and benefits at hand helpful to all Connecticut citizens. But apparently, none of that matters in the grand bizzarro world of the Nutmeg State, where Democrats spin fictions, Republicans try to add humor to weak or fruitless matters while much more serious things slide, and meanwhile, over 40% of the adult-voting population of the state flounders in a tunnel of non-representation and continued aggrievement.

You may wonder why I used the figure of 40%. Forty percent is the figure of Connecticut residents that voted for Donald Trump in 2024. 40% of Connecticut residents voted for safe communities, lower taxes, (only) two sexes, cheaper energy, and financial empowerment. 40% of Nutmeggers voted against boys in girls sports and legal immigration. But close to 100% of the Connecticut State Legislature really does not give a care about any of that 40%. Presumably, it is because 40% of the population aligns themselves with a horrible individual wanting them to live free and prosper and start stock index accounts for their children. Could this selective ignorance be generated in fear, jealousy, or shame? I submit to my readers that it is a form of all three of the above.Therefore, the operative question then becomes: If 40% of the voting population of Connecticut wants and believes the policies of President Trump, why is there never an effort to seek out and develop another 11% of what would be these unwashed masses?

Imagine a Country on fire. Imagine a state like Connecticut on fire. Can you imagine if President Trump was actually allowed to govern without his two hands tied behind his back all the time?  Can you imagine if the Democrat Party, who is currently in the minority on a federal level, actually tried to govern with the President rather than spew their never-ending hatred for the man on a daily basis? Can you imagine what would happen if our stoic Connecticut Republican party acted like Republicans and applied themselves to sound economic and tax principles and policies rather than a new generation of “Ned Lamont Goes To Nashville” videos? It really would be the dawn of the Golden Age of America.

The key to victory, especially in Connecticut, in the November election, is to reinforce that 40% of Connecticut Trump voters and cultivate 11% more. The gags and the videos are useless. Policies will drive this election. And the many successful policies of President Trump should primarily be communicated to voters on a daily basis. True Republican policy changes have historically created an avenue of positive change for our society and economy that will fuel economic expansion overall. Instead of making gags, this should be the Republican Job #1, every day, in every way.

The campaign for state offices should not be an automatic write off for the Republicans, yet this election is starting off as it has normally for many years now. As a gross insult to the 40% of state voters affirming the Trump principles, over thirty state office seats were unopposed by Republicans in 2024. This gap  facilitates the plan of the corrupt Democrat Party to ram “emergency legislation” down the throats of Connecticut Taxpayers while crying that such egregious conduct is necessary because the Republicans hold up critical pieces of legislation such as earmarks to Democrat political cronies, biased public education policies, and much more bad legislation. It is the same rhetoric that the Connecticut Democrat Party throws out without a bit of questioning by the obedient state run and paid-for media. But operatively, Connecticut never gets out of its "emergencies" and or its ongoing "crises". It is still in a horrific economic recession with no economic growth. It is one of the highest cost of living states in the country with high state and local taxes, high insurance costs, high electric rates, and high transportation costs. It continues to have a poor business outlook unless you are Ned and Annie Lamont or you fall high up on the Great Administrative State Food Chain. But these issues just never get addressed and have not been addressed for 36 years as Connecticut still is stuck in a perpetual economic recession that it can never extricate itself from.

Of course, anything Connecticut has tried has skidded right to failure. Therefore, what would be lost if Connecticut Republicans led the charge to a bold and different approach? Why couldn’t Trump-like policies that attack some of the many issues that are impacting Connecticut be part of the campaign in the upcoming election? Why couldn't economic issues be front and center of this campaign. For example, are there any solutions whatsoever being offered to the crushing Connecticut state debt? Why does Connecticut spend so much and still have so much debt? Why are people continuing to leave Connecticut, especially young college graduates? How many more Stanley Black And Decker’s will be lost due to the endemic and inept business practices of Connecticut and its leaders? Isn't the "affordability" crisis a making of poor economic policies by the Democrat Party with years of gross fiscal mismanagement? Isn’t “affordability” a direct coefficient of “energy prices?” Has any Connecticut politician ever mentioned that critical coefficient to you? I am happy that you now know.

A logical economic and social plan can end Connecticut's Democrat Party omnipotent one-party rule. A promotion of strict economic policies of cutting state spending, a Citizen-DOGE like state office to eliminate fraud and waste in state government, full Freedom-of-Information of all entities, cuts in both personal and business taxes, a real anti-drug program to get drugs off the streets and eliminate the profitability of illegal sales, a legal system that takes hardened criminals off the streets and makes the entire state safe, and lastly the end of financial support for those illegal immigrants that crowd the state with deportations would dramatically create a bright future for Nutmeggers present and future.  A strong platform would gain traction in the state and show leadership that is sorely lacking in the state with the incoherent Democrat failed programs that are force fed to the masses and create a rebranding of Republicans which they have never had in any recollection of memory.

Just remember that 40% of Connecticut voters have no representation in the state, and elected office holders do not acknowledge that. Just remember that state spending increased in a 35-year period by over three hundred percentage points with roughly the same amount of population. Just remember, the cure-all issues of the Connecticut state income tax have increased over the years, and the state still has never-ending debt and unfunded liabilities. Maybe just maybe voters could have real alternatives this election and finally change the state's direction. For if not, look forward to another eight-year reign of a self-dealing fatuous King and the constant destructive pandering of his connected winners over losers.

 

Connecticut: The Economy Stinks. So, Let's Make Things Up.

 

“Small businesses are the heart of our communities and economy. Yesterday in Southington, I toured F&F Concrete Manufacturing, spoke with local business owners, and visited Southington High School to hear from students about their goals.”

“Showing up and listening matters.”

(Ned Lamont, Governor of Connecticut- “X” Post- January 15, 2026)

As more and more businesses leave the state or close up in the face of that irrepressible “Ned Mojo,” https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/new-haven/macys-closing-cheshire-south-windsor-distribution-centers-cutting-over-1000-positions/, as small business farmers are being driven off of their farms due to tax policies that are abysmal even by Connecticut standards, https://www.wfsb.com/2026/01/13/state-leaders-push-moratorium-some-farms-see-300-increases-under-new-assessment-rates/ and as irrational energy policy is not replaced by simple and effective fixes, (Study: Nuclear, natural gas would save New England hundreds of billions over renewable mandates)  any sane person can only wonder if Governor Lamont is the least bit sane as none of his nattering represents the sad reality of the crumbling of Connecticut. 

(https://hartfordbusiness.com/article/study-nuclear-natural-gas-would-save-new-england-hundreds-of-billions-over-renewable-mandates/)

Several prominent historical figures (most recently, Presidential candidate H. Ross Perot) reminded us that if we do the same task repeatedly with the hope of achieving different results, we are insane. Mr. Perot should have moved to Connecticut, where insanity has been the Gold Standard of the ruling Connecticut Democrat Party and the Connecticut administrative state for many years. The “moderate businessman” Governor Ned Lamont in professing his continual love for Connecticut, is the equivalent of Mark David Chapman who expressed his love for The Beatles by assassinating John Lennon in 1980. There simply is no rationality or reason for the economic dealings of Connecticut where destruction and business closure is now an almost daily event. And for solutions, that is easy. There has never been a problem that the Democrat-run state government cannot “solve” by simply throwing more Connecticut taxpayers’ money at it.

The true reality is that Connecticut still suffers from many of the same problems it has faced since 1989. The economy in particular is consistently ignored and overlooked, as it has been for more than 35 years. Connecticut has never economically recovered since that recession of 1988–89. According to the September jobs report published in December, Connecticut is losing jobs. The state ranks 50th in payroll growth from 1989 to 2025 and is one of only three states that have failed to fully recover from the Great Recession.
(https://hartfordbusiness.com/article/carstensen-federal-budget-cuts-structural-gaps-put-ct-jobs-at-risk/utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Equipment%20supplier%20buys%20Southington%20building%20for%20%241%204M%20%7C%20Developer%20buys%20CT%20office%20tower&utm_campaign=HBJ%20Today%20011326)

Since 2020, the state has continued to lose jobs while state spending has grown dramatically since 1989. During this same period, Connecticut’s population depending on the year, has either declined or remained stagnant. Businesses come and go, with fewer new business formations occurring unless subsidized by taxpayer-funded incentives and goodies from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (“DECD”). But in Connecticut, facts do not matter. According to a recent U.S. News & World Report ranking on fiscal stability, Connecticut ranks 48th out of 50 states.
(https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/fiscal-stability).

Given these facts, why isn’t Connecticut’s economy the central theme of the 2026 election? Why aren’t Republicans screaming about this, daily? Why are they silent on these most critical matters? There is ample data showing that Democrat control has coincided with long-term economic decline since 1989 . Year after year, we hear the same rhetoric: more spending here, more spending there, more “SomethingCT”- type organizations need to be set up, more funding is needed for nonprofits, more cash for state employees, more cash for education, and more spending ad infinitum. And this increased spending has produced dismal results. Businesses continue to close, residents move out of state, crime persists, illegal drug abuse remains widespread, and infrastructure continues to decay.

None of Connecticut’s political class questions why the state spends roughly $27 billion annually with little to no measurable economic growth or meaningful resolution of these chronic problems. At the same time, the state ignores between $100 and $150 billion in short- and long-term debt and unfunded liabilities. How is this a successful economic policy? And how does it benefit Connecticut businesses or taxpayers?

But Connecticut is extremely good at one thing. Faking. Faking of grandiose faux economic programs. Faking of grandiose economic programs such as “QuantumCT”    https://www.quantumct.org/, where the state has committed $121 Million dollars to fund a dream concept of quantum computing that will save the state of all of its ills. A review of the website indicates no commitment in this regard of any economic worth. The resident economist of the University of Connecticut has clearly stated that this project will take years to bear any fruit, if it ever does. The usual state GOP silence on matters such as this has become deafening. (My friend and colleague Tony De Angelo did an excellent job of covering these economic farces on the January 15 THIRTY WITH TONY) THE CONFIDENCE GAME THIRTY WITH TONY JAN 15 2026 

Regardless of the continued taxpayer-supported efforts at prevarication and fakery, the reality is that Connecticut has massive economic problems. Connecticut has massive debt problems. Connecticut has massive illegal immigration problems. Connecticut has many serious challenges not aided a historically docile Republican party yet Democrat Party leaders are more concerned with exempting themselves from the laws they impose on others, while engaging in daily incoherent and irrelevant attacks on President Trump and common sense.

Pick almost any topic. Can anyone clearly explain why criminals appear to have more rights than victims in Connecticut? Or why illegal immigrants should be supported without question by Connecticut taxpayers? Or why Connecticut forbids police to arrest and detain illegal aliens? Or why Connecticut’s state government stripped citizens of their right to earn a living during the pandemic while Governor Ned Lamont’s hedge fund was able to profit?

Connecticut desperately needs change from top to bottom in its stale, entrenched Democrat-controlled state government. That government has driven the state into an economic quagmire with no clear path forward.

Perhaps Republican candidates for state office can finally have the courage to make this the central issue of the election: You are not better off under the Democrat Party regime that has governed and failed Connecticut for decades.

With lower taxes, less spending, a renewed commitment to law and order, real accountability, and transparency at all levels of government and new leadership, Connecticut can once again become a vibrant state. 

The time for that change has finally come.

 

 

The Poisoned Economic Nutmeg Of Connecticut- Where The Political System Destroys Business Economics (And It Could Care Less).

 Economics is many times misunderstood. Most citizens correctly believe that elected officials have little to no understanding as to how economics and our nation's market system works. The Democrat Party, with no conception of how an economic system works, is especially of the mind that government should be the sole provider of all things economic; public transportation, public education, public child care, public housing, public drugs and drug treatment, public groceries, public safety and many other "public" items, of course with no idea as to how to pay for them other than to yell “tax the rich” or “tax the white neighborhoods” (if you are NYC presumptive Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani). The free market system, if it is functioning, allows for both the consumer and businesses to address supply and demand conditions with regards to the needs of the society. In Democrat states like Connecticut, a socialist based command/government directive economy exists instead, and this economy is doing a terrific job of driving the state to total ruin.

At one time in recent memory, a ride through the State of Connecticut was a remarkable sight. Cities were alive, safe, and functioning with commerce and culture and culinary choices. Beautiful suburbs featured well-kept homes and bright clean and green parks. The finest public schools produced the best and brightest students. Office space was hard to come by. Many avenues for upward mobility were available to the motivated. But if we take that same ride in Connecticut 2025 we see decaying, dangerous, and drug ridden cities where illegal aliens are prioritized over taxpayers. We see office space begging for tenants. We see formerly thriving commercial buildings are adorned with “FOR SALE” signs. We see parks have strewn with the homeless and the addicted. Schools have failed. Colleges have become Woke-Liberal paradises training students for no practical purpose and leaving them in incalculable debt. Taxes are high. Productivity is non-existent. The stark change is so dramatic and devastating that one wonders where the train jumped the track.

I submit to you that the economic poisoning of Connecticut started with the imposition of the Lowell Weicker-inspired Connecticut state income tax in 1991. Ever since that time, the state's economy has exhibited profound wreckage, exacerbated by the horrific regimes of Governors Dannel Malloy (2011–2019) and “Businessman Governor” Ned Lamont, (2019–present). This policy onslaught triggered a corporate exodus beginning that very same year with Saab and UPS, followed by General Electric relocating its headquarters from Fairfield to Boston in 2016, Alexion Pharmaceuticals fleeing New Haven for Boston in 2017 (after receiving a huge state handout of tax dollars), Aetna shifting operations to New York amid threats of full departure, and more recently, the LEGO Group announcing its U.S. headquarters move from Enfield to Boston by 2026, alongside Subway's 2023 transfer to Miami. Every single entity cited some combination of taxes, business hostility and administrative state oppression in its decision to depart.

It is inarguable that Connecticut has regressed economically form the past 34 years, while the inept, incompetent, and enabling state government has had its  budget increase dramatically over the same time. The state's budget increased from roughly $7 billion dollars in 1991 to over $26 billion dollars in 2025. Connecticut's population was roughly 3.3 million people in 1991 and is roughly 3.6 million people in 2025, (not counting the illegal and undocumented within the state borders). Thus, for a net increase of 300,000 people in 34 years, the state has increased spending by approximately $19 billion dollars a year. And taxes have increased dramatically over that same period while the same inept, incompetent, and enabling state government ignorantly continues on its path to destruction, seeing no reason whatsoever to change anything it is doing.

As discussed in the past, "The 2025 Rich States, Poor States" report issued by the American Legislative Exchange Council Center for State Fiscal Reform (https://www.richstatespoorstates.org/states/CT/) shows Connecticut as currently ranked 44^th in the United States for its economic outlook."  

"Connecticut is currently ranked 48^th in the United States for its economic performance. This rank is a backward-looking measure based on the state’s performance (equal-weighted average) in three important performance variables shown below. These variables are highly influenced by state policy." 

"Cumulative GDP Growth, 2013 - 2023	43.80%	44th
Cumulative Domestic Migration, 2014 - 2023	-170,538	41st
Non-Farm Employment Growth, 2013 - 2023	2.05%	43rd"

If one looks at a state as small as Connecticut spending over $26 billion dollars a year and being ranked this low in these important economic categories, ostensibly there is a massive imbalance in the state between private industry and state government. "New data from CBRE show the Greater Hartford office market sitting at a 28.2 percent vacancy rate, while Cushman & Wakefield peg Fairfield County availability at 26 percent in the first quarter of 2025. In some downtown blocks, empty space now tops 50 percent, creating a drag on local tax bases and neighborhood vitality." (https://waittgrain.com/markets/stocks.php?article=abnewswire-2025-6-20-connecticut-firm-helps-struggling-owners-as-commercial-vacancies-rise-across-the-state) Could an actual decline of businesses being in the state be a cause of these vacancies? Could the decline in businesses in Connecticut be due to the high property tax rates of the state? Could the decline in businesses in Connecticut be due to the high minimum wage rate? Could the decline in businesses in Connecticut be due to the high workers compensation and unemployment insurance tax rates? Could the decline in businesses in Connecticut be due to the poor bridge, road, and highway systems? Could the decline in businesses in Connecticut be due to the wretched economic decisions by the Democrat Party especially with the dysfunctional and non-transparent Department of Community and Economic Development picking their politically connected winners and losers? Could it be that whenever Connecticut tries to fix massive economic problems it starts a "new" state taxpayer funded program incentive to "resolve" the same economic problem, with the invariable result of greater failures at increased costs?

Regardless of the lies you have been told, Connecticut's economic decline is due to years of omnipotent Connecticut Democrat Party rule with a lack of transparency in state government, a bloated state government bureaucracy, high state and local taxes, a quagmire of byzantine business laws and regulations including high workers compensations costs, high unemployment tax costs, high paid family leave costs, and a state GOP that has never fully and aggressively advocated for sound business principles of Republicanism, refusing to do so to this very day.

In light of the above, why would anyone in their right mind want to own and operate a business in Connecticut?

Connecticut's state election is coming up in 2026. For the state to be saved and/or be the least bit viable anymore  Connecticut truly needs courage, boldness, and new ideas and to address its bloated state debt, state budget and unfunded liabilities.  It needs leaders who will actually lead and not scream and bellow incoherent gibberish about their perceived "injustices". It needs Republican and Conservative candidates to rise that are truly part of the conservative solution and not an extension of the problem that has taken place for decades.

Despite all the nonsensical gibberish we hear from political people about “injustices,” the gravest injustice in Connecticut is continually perpetuated upon its legitimate taxpaying citizens via the Democrat-Socialist-driven disaster that has masqueraded as a state government. A government that worships and nurtures the oppressive and overpaid administrative state. A government that steadfastly refuses to simplify and cut taxes. A legislature where not one member therein cries for the abolition of the Department of Economic and Community Development especially considering the recent nonprofit scandal.  A government in full embrace of the Trump-Burgum energy policy leading to the dilution of the Eversource burden upon the state. A government in grave need of open source and timely access to all state documentation and the seating of a citizen no-holds-barred DOGE panel to tear the compounded horrors wide open. Hard? Brutal? You had better believe it. But all of the above in my estimation are necessary to right a sinking ship sabotaged by self-serving bureaucrats and politicians over decades of wreckage.

News Flash: Connecticut Has A Bad And Incompetent Government

 Something is very obvious in Connecticut. Connecticut has a bad and incompetent government. Bad in the sense that it no longer represents its constituents. It no longer represents right versus wrong, truth versus lie, and fact versus fiction. It has produced many different incoherent, blabbering pieces of rhetoric to keep up a fictional lie of how well Connecticut is governed by the Connecticut Democrat Party. And the tipping point has been reached for Connecticut Taxpayers who are now seeing through the charade.

Connecticut has had bad government for many years, but ever since the devastation and oppression of the Covid-19 regime, the acceleration from bad to abysmal has become much more acute. Finger pointing has been perfected to an art form in the state by the Democrat Party. But have no fear. The Democrat Party takes no responsibility for the issues that are facing Connecticut in 2025, but of course, it never has.

The Horrors of Bad Government in Connecticut include (but are not limited to),

Excessively high local and state taxes inhibiting economic growth and economic and personal freedoms.

Excessively high insurance costs for auto insurance due to the rampant thefts and hijackings of vehicles, especially by repeat offenders along with the horrific mismanagement of residential crimes and the mishandling of natural disasters.

Excessively prohibitive costs of doing business in the state due to a myriad of complex rules, regulations and laws that increase the costs of doing business in the state and eliminate profitability for small businesses. (And as a tutorial of things to come with respect to the impending and disastrous "bipartisan" mismanagement of Artificial Intelligence for state businesses, please watch my friend Tony De Angelo’ THIRTY WITH TONY show of May 22, 2025, dealing with the horrors of “Senate Bill 2”

THE SHOW STUPID POLITICIAN TRICKS PART 2 THIRTY WITH TONY 5 22 2025 )

THE SHOW STUPID POLITICIAN TRICKS PART 2 THIRTY WITH TONY 5 22 2025

 

A constant illegal drug problem further exaggerated by the legalization and taxation of marijuana, while “psychedelic mushrooms” are moving from the on-deck circle to the batter’s box as the next legal drug of choice.

An irrational and sickening excess of the promotion of the harm and exploitation of children through sex changes, boys playing in girls’ sports, pornographic reading materials in libraries in schools, and the condemnation of parents having responsibility of their children. 

This should sicken everyone in the state.

The state's takeover of local zoning laws and regulations. (Communities be damned).

Fiscal guardrails that are shunned and destroyed by the Democrat Party.

No acknowledgement whatsoever of the 100 to 150 Billion Dollars of short- and long-term liabilities and unfunded liabilities weighing on the state. (Hint: The celebrated and oft-repeated Fiscal Guardrails do not even touch this grievous liability).

The state’s complete lack of transparency in how and why it governs and lack of disclosure of whosoever else may be involved.

A state ethics department that one would compliment to call it a joke.

 The continuing saga of the legal and ethical quagmire of Governor Lamont, the self-deals of the Lamont family, and the highly questionable (and non-transparent) dealings of First Lady Ann Lamont in matters of state government.

A bloated state bureaucracy of excessive and overpaid state employees, state commissioners, state assistant to the assistant employees, state departments, state committees and mythical "nonprofits" that are secret from the public view and whose dealings are intentionally exempted from Freedom of Information, (such as ADVANCE CT where state business policy involving Eversource, Yale, and other big players is engineered under shroud of secrecy, citizen be damned).

This is not the way Connecticut should be governed. This is not the way the Grand Duchy of Fenwick should be governed. This is bad government in action. This is worse than "Lord of the Flies". And what can be done about it? Can the Connecticut Taxpayer trust anyone in their government? Why should they? Maybe it is time to start all over in the state.  Connecticut's problems never go away nor does the constant spending of Connecticut Taxpayers monies resolve anything. The passing of greater laws does not resolve anything but create added benefits for the masses to benefit a privileged few. Connecticut has the same problems year in and year out. All of the excessive laws and excessive taxation just further exaggerates the same old problems.  Nothing changes. Why is that difficult to see in plain sight?

Term limits, spending caps, administrative salary reductions, and an overhaul of state laws/regulations and ethical politicians would be a great start in ending Connecticut's bad government. But in a state that has veered this excessively to the socialist left it is not possible. Or is it? Time will tell as the stale incoherent leftists and their incoherent and incompetent rhetoric fall on the deaf ears of the Connecticut Taxpayers and they start to scream loudly about this mockery masquerading as government.

The Malfeasant Manifesto Of Connecticut Attorney General William Tong

According to state sources, "The Attorney General (“AGO”/”AG”) is the chief civil legal officer of the State of Connecticut. The Attorney General's Office serves as legal counsel to all state agencies and acts to protect the public interest for the people of the State of Connecticut. Among the critical missions of the AGO are to represent and advocate the interests of the state and its citizens as vigorously as possible, to ensure that state government acts within the letter and spirit of the law, to ensure that public resources are protected for present and future generations, to ensure that the quality of life of all our citizens is preserved and enhanced, and to ensure that the rights of our most vulnerable citizens are safeguarded."

And now, we fast forward to 2025 and we focus on the current Connecticut Attorney General, William Tong (aka “Tong”).

Ever since the election of President Donald J. Trump, the myriad wanderings, meanderings, rantings, and ravings of William Tong have been everywhere. Tong has become a one-man riot squad, cheerleader and champion for persons that are present in the state of Connecticut illegally. Need we remind Tong of his purpose and Oath as the Attorney General:  "The Attorney General is the chief civil legal officer of the State of Connecticut. The Attorney General's Office serves as legal counsel to all state agencies and acts to protect the public interest for the people of the State of Connecticut. Among the critical missions of the AGO are to represent and advocate the interests of the state and its citizens as vigorously as possible, to ensure that state government acts within the letter and spirit of the law, to ensure that public resources are protected for present and future generations, to ensure that the quality of life of all our citizens is preserved and enhanced, and to ensure that the rights of our most vulnerable citizens are safeguarded."(https://portal.ct.gov/SOTS/Register-Manual/Section-I/Attorneys-General).

It is beyond ostensible that Tong forgot what "the letter and spirit of law" and “the interests of the citizen” mean by his bizarre actions over the past few weeks. Readers will note that I wrote about his actions in a previous blog article on 12/14/24 (https://swickspeak.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-attorney-general-advocate-for.html). Obviously, Mr. Tong took no opportunity for repentance and correction over these past several months and is continuing hell-bent as the No. 1 Champion for all persons illegally present in the State of Connecticut.

But of course, the Tong apple does not fall far from the rotted Connecticut Tree. Let us revisit the Gold Standard of Attorney Generals Past, in the person of  Democrat/Communist Brave  Vietnam Combat Veteran United States Senator Richard Blumenthal, who as the AG set the tone for an overreaching, anti-business, ultra socialistic Attorney General's Office in his 20 year reign as Attorney General from 1991 to 2011.  Not to be undone, Tong is Blumenthal on steroids fighting for illegal immigrants, abortion at all costs, green energy, and all the failed Democrat/Socialist agendas. For , this is The Connecticut Way. This is an example of the Connecticut Attorney General speaking: “This is a war on our environment, waged by a reckless President on behalf of his fossil fuel industry backers who do not care if our air and water are toxic so long as they make money. Decades of scientific consensus prove that the climate threat is real and that we have a limited window now to mitigate its worst harms. Washington has failed for decades to address the climate crisis, and like just about everything else right now, it has fallen on states to protect our families. Donald Trump is happy to do Big Oil’s bidding, but I’m not about to let him stop the sovereign state of Connecticut from doing what is necessary to address this existential threat. The Department of Justice needs to do its job and enforce our nation’s environmental laws, not waste time ‘investigating’ undeniably constitutional state laws,” said Attorney General Tong. (https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2025-press-releases/attorney-general-tong-statement-regarding-trump-executive-order-on-behalf-of-fossil-fuel-industry). Connecticut elected officials are also extremely talented individuals, as I did not realize that Mr. Tong was a scientist as well being well versed on the climate and an economist based on this press release in addition to an advocate for the greater public welfare. Doesn't Connecticut already have one of the highest electric rates in the country? Doesn't Connecticut follow "Clean air" California in its environmental standards? Is Connecticut really a "sovereign" state anymore? Does Tong care the least bit about you, Mrs. Legal Homeowner if Eversource and the state legislature are ripping you off royally as you pay for their myriad failures and public benefit charges in your utility bills?

But always keep in mind that Governor Ned Lamont said Connecticut’s “Business Mojo” was back! Further keep in mind the myriad political magpies that have crowed Connecticut is open for business! Here is an exemplar for you! Avelo Airlines has provided a narcotic to the Democrat run Socialist/Communist city of New Haven and the Sovereign state of Connecticut by using Tweed New Haven airport as a destination to fly in and out of. Avelo pays a great deal in local and state taxes for this honor. Democrat Comptroller and present-value-of- a dollar-fiscal and investment wizard Sean Scanlon has taken credit numerous times for his role, single handedly, to bring Avelo to this airport when he was the political appointee running Tweed. But all this changed with this recent "Tong-ism" and vituperative letter attack to and against Avelo Airlines for making a simple business decision in transporting illegal aliens:   As written to Avelo by Tong, “Violent criminals should be arrested, prosecuted, and where appropriate, deported. But Trump’s cruel and reckless deportation program has unlawfully undermined legitimate law enforcement by ensnaring innocent parents, students, and children. And even when Trump’s own lawyers admit to errors, they claim no ability to right their wrongs.”  

Can Tong name all the supposed ensnared parents, student, and children?  Were they all "legal" citizens of Connecticut? As we ask a stupid question, Tong ranted on: “None of these abusive practices are required to secure our borders, promote public safety, or effectively enforce our immigration laws. These flights are cruel by design and enormously wasteful of taxpayer resources, and no business should be complicit. “No one is forcing Avelo to operate these flights. If reporting is accurate, Avelo has freely chosen to profit from and facilitate these atrocities. The State of Connecticut has an obligation now to review this business decision and to consider the viability of our choice to support Avelo,” Attorney General Tong states in the letter.

The letter seeks answers to the following questions no later than April 15, 2025.

1. Please provide a copy of Avelo’s contract that relates to its work for Department of Homeland Security, or its agent, contractor, or subcontractor.
2. Can Avelo confirm that it will not operate deportation flights from any Connecticut airport?
3. Can Avelo confirm that it will never operate flights while non-violent passengers are in shackles, handcuffs, waist chains and/or leg irons and unable to safely evacuate in the event of an emergency?
4. Should restraint be necessary for a specific individual to protect public safety, can Avelo confirm that it will never operate a flight without a safe and timely evacuation strategy for all passengers?
5. Can Avelo confirm it will never operate flights with shackled children?
6. On Saturday, March 15, a federal judge ordered the immediate return of a deportation flight destined for El Salvador operated by GlobalX. The Trump Administration refused to comply. Can Avelo confirm that it will never operate deportation flights in defiance of such court orders?
7. Can Avelo confirm it will never operate a deportation flight involving passengers for whom there is no valid order of removal?
8. Can Avelo confirm that it will never operate a flight to deport a child born on American soil? 

If I were the head of Avelo Airlines and received a letter like this, I would respectfully stop all flights out of Connecticut and sue the Attorney General for economic damages due to his baseless accusations rather respond to this letter. Does Mr. Tong believe he can stop legitimate interstate commerce in Connecticut based upon his own personal whim and whimsy? Does Mr. Tong advocate that illegal immigrants, especially criminals caught in illegal activities, remain in our country as free "citizens"?  Why does the illegal criminal have more rights that the victims of their crimes? Apparently, the Attorney General approves of the paid protestors picketing at Tweed New Haven airport against the "evil" profit earning Avelo Airlines.  Will he next march protestors out in front of jet planes in violation of the United States Constitution and its attendant Commerce Clause to stop air traffic? Given the unhinged and out of control actions of Mr. Tong, none of that is far-fetched anymore. However, in fact and law, the protestors actions block legal Taxpayers from all states their right to choose Avelo Airlines for their transportation. But that is absolutely fine because the failed Democrat/Socialist gibberish and its resulting oppression is much more important to Tong than those useless "laws" and legal citizens" he chooses to ignore in "Sovereign" Connecticut.

Would you like some butter for your toast? Let us not forget abortion and as to how it helps drive Connecticut's economy. For in this vein Tong wants Planned Parenthood fully funded. '“There is no role for partisan pandering and interference when it comes to our healthcare. Abortion and contraception are safe, legal, and accessible in Connecticut, and we’re not about to let Donald Trump change that. This cruel act seeks to abruptly deny healthcare to tens of thousands of women and patients across our state, and we stand with Planned Parenthood to fight back,” said Attorney General Tong. " (https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2025-press-releases/attorney-general-tong-statement-regarding-trump-attack-on-planned-parenthood-of-southern-new-england).

Any sane person would question as to why Connecticut Taxpayers must fund Planned Parenthood through their tax monies when they have $57,330,020 in "net assets" in fiscal year 2023. (https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/60263565). We know Connecticut wants to be the vacation state for abortions and funding must not be cut according to Tong. And to make things even more pathetic, Tong’s Boss Ned Lamont has made a public declaration to welcome any corporation in from any non-abortion friendly state and to financially assist them in their transition to abortion freedom! As of the time of this writing, no business has taken King Ned The Unaccountable up on his offer, leading me to believe that even those among us with the most vile disregard for innocent and helpless human life are not quite that deranged in order to buy into that insane and irrational offer.

Again, in review of the above letters, actions, rantings and his recent actions at rallies against President Trump and his policies, William Tong certainly does not represent the legal Connecticut Citizens and Taxpayers who are forced to foot the bill for his liberal, self-driven, narrow-minded and borderline insane and twisted political agenda.  A twisted agenda that leaves out any opposing views concerning green energy, Avelo Airlines, Pro-Life philosophies, boys playing in girls’ sports and anything else that Tong and his socialists disagree with. The Omnipotent One-Party Connecticut Democrat Party rule have made Connecticut an economic failure and disaster over the past thirty years and are poised to do more damage in recent days.

Connecticut's Democrat Attorney General William Tong is a failure in his hatred and rhetoric he spews on a day-to-day basis. He is an embarrassment and an insult to every legitimate taxpaying and legal citizen of the state of Connecticut. He needs to resign forthwith, and if he does not, both parties must demand his resignation forthwith with Republicans taking the lead.

 

The Connecticut Democrat Party Gasoline Powered Leaf Blower Crisis- The Mother Of All Crises

 My friend and colleague Tony De Angelo often uses a Rod Serling “Twilight Zone” visionary style analogy which I feel is quite apropos to describing the “State” of Connecticut.

So let us start our hypothetical episode of the Twilight Zone- (Nutmeg Version) with this opening.

Picture if you will: Connecticut, once a jewel of New England, now a smoldering economic dumpster fire fueled by the arrogance of a one-party Democrat driven machine that wouldn’t know fiscal responsibility if it slapped them in the face! The horrors pile up like unpaid bills—skyrocketing energy prices from King Governor Ned Lamont’s The Unaccountable’s green delusions and a corrupted and conflicted electric provider, a housing market choked by regulation and the most destructive zoning plans known to mankind, and $100 million of our hard-earned tax dollars shoveled into the gaping maw of "economic development" schemes that only develop the bank accounts of political insiders. Meanwhile, the streets teem with despair: crime festers, food rots on shelves too expensive to buy, and the taxpayer is left to bleed out under the weight of it all with few elected officials willing to fight where necessary to make effective change. 

Humor aside, the greatest mission of Connecticut government is as to how many ways that the Connecticut Democrat Party can make legal Connecticut Taxpayers lives harder and more expensive and miserable. Connecticut has one of the highest tax rates in the country, one of the worst economic environments for businesses, a massive illegal (if not, encouraged) drug problem, rampant crime, a legal system that favors criminals over victims and fraud in its election process. In addition, there are also many other economic and social problems including $100 to $150 billion dollars in short and long term debt along with unfunded and unascertainable  liabilities, but just as vultures pick at defenseless prey, the Connecticut Democrat Party picks at nonsensical and incoherent "feel good" failed "green energy" issues that can do the most possible damage to their working and small business constituents.  This latest hit will be targeted upon those businesses and homeowners who use the deadly, noisy, polluting, cancer driven, inefficient, and horrific gasoline powered blowers that are typically used to blow grass clippings and leaves off yards, driveways, and roads.

 How we have lived with these dastardly kill machines for so many years with no issues is beyond comprehension. With this in mind, our great legislative leaders have constructed innovative legislation to set the masses free:

HB6263 AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE AND PURCHASE OF GAS-
POWERED HAND-HELD OR BACKPACK LEAF BLOWERS BY STATE
AGENCIES.

"On and after January 1, 2029, no person shall use, sell, offer for
sale or distribute in this state any gas-powered leaf blower, whether
hand-held or backpack style. The Commissioner of Consumer
Protection may adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of
chapter 54 of the general statutes, for the enforcement of the provisions
of this subsection. Each municipality may provide, by ordinance, for the
enforcement of the provisions of his section concerning the use of such machinery. "

(https://legiscan.com/CT/text/HB06263/id/3155062)

 
HB 6263 will ban all gas-powered blowers by 2029. It was sponsored by ten Democrat legislators who have ostensibly sworn off all uses of fossil fuels in their lives inclusive of tossing away their pens, coffee mugs, desk blotters, heaters, computers, and internet devices You, however, must be rendered inoperative. YOU must be forced to use electric blowers. But remember, as there are two major races in Connecticut (them, and YOU), YOU must be stopped. Of course, your electric blowers would still use fossil fuels as in electricity and would increase the costs of the remaining landscape and lawn businesses that would be able to afford to purchase them and find enough chargers to keep them running throughout their workday but more operatively killing small businesses is a Connecticut science. I wonder what the penalties would be for using an "illegal" gas blower? $10,000 fine? 1 to 3 years in prison? A criminal conviction so you would never be employable? Liens on real property? Ankle monitors? The damage this bill can do to the state has to make the Connecticut Democrat Party drool in delight as to its consequences it can force upon the Connecticut Taxpayer.

We all have heard the incessant, unabated, unceasing and perpetual rhetoric of green energy at all costs with the public be damned spewed by the Connecticut Democrat Party. Look at the sick, corrupt, and wasteful farce of the New London wind turbine project. Look at the "green" bus explosion of a Connecticut transit bus. Look at the many failures of governmental intervention on forcing green energy projects that have failed miserably while eating up precious Taxpayers dollars. What is the net result? More union building of prisons to house these horrible petroleum using felons that were just trying to work hard to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads?

The Connecticut Democrat Party will shrug this bill off along with the countless other bills that have damaged our state’s economy and social welfare with their total disrespect and disregard for the Connecticut Taxpayer. Remember, there is they, and there is you. HB6263 is just more of the insane dysfunctional-ism that is the norm for Connecticut's Omnipotent One-Party rule of a non-transparent and corrupt state government that rules the state without mercy. Citizen once again, be damned.

 

Deja Vu All Over Again Part V: The New $100 Million Dollar Connecticut Economic Bribe

$100 million dollars can buy a lot of things in our economy. It could help people pay off the medical debt that they owe. It could pay to comfort and house United States Veterans who are homeless and jobless. It could pay to increase border security and keep America safer at the Mexico/United States border. It could also be used to provide badly-needed tax credits and incentives for small business. It could even pay for a tax reduction. But in the usual Connecticut pattern of Democrats and their cronies sucking at the taxpayer trough, $100 million of Connecticut Taxpayers dollars will be handed out to the politically connected and anointed by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (“DECD”), this time using the new buzz word of "Innovation Clusters".

As in past periods, glowing flowery language is required in order to propound the illusion. So here goes: "The Innovation Clusters Program will prioritize funding for catalytic capital projects that contribute to the development of a campus-setting and cohesive sense of place that complement the state’s existing transit-oriented investments and incorporate a strong focus on workforce training, economic development, neighborhood vibrancy and regional stakeholder collaboration." "Other criteria for funding include: Leveraging partnerships with local businesses, universities, and not-for-profit institutions to maximize investment; Attracting and developing talent; Supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts; and Ensuring local improvements through community benefit agreements." (https://portal.ct.gov/office-of-the-governor/news/press-releases/2024/05-2024/governor-lamont-announces-creation-of-the-innovation-clusters-program)

If you are a non-connected standard-language Connecticut Taxpayer trying to decipher what on earth the above paragraph actually means, you may be wondering about the hundreds of millions of dollars that the DECD has given out over the years that is fully kept secret to the public and never really accounted for in a continual litany of fantasy “business development” projects, that if not highly questionable or unethical, have turned to dust. However undeterred, we now have another $100 million dollars that will be used in an identical fashion, and as an added attraction, this is an election year where vote-buying is the objective. However, the state-run media and public relations firms tell us that this funding is critical for the economic development of Connecticut! Connecticut! Connecticut! The state which has ranked last and or near last in most business-related categories such as costs, business friendliness, regulations, transportation, and the like. Connecticut! The state with one of the highest tax rates in the country having 344 different taxes and fees! Connecticut! The state that has $100 to $150 billion dollars in unfunded liabilities along with short- and long-term debt, with no endgame in sight nor any plan to satisfy the debt.

Of course, there is little to no originality in the trough-sucking of the “Innovation Cluster” prop. There is no need for any added efforts. First, King Gov. Ned Lamont the Unaccountable approaches the venue at Yale University with rambling platitudes of Connecticut being a “leader in Fintech and scientific innovation.” Yale, being an institution of higher learning where The Unaccountable is quick to come crowing about fantasy visions of economic sugar plums, but being the same place where he was nowhere to be found during the time of Anti-Israel disturbances. Yale: A place where the Unaccountable’s venture-capitalist wife Annie Lamont holds a high-ranking seat with “Yale Ventures” providing her a birds-eye view to cherry-pick any investment she may deem worthwhile at taxpayer expense. Don’t leave out the usual blandishments from the likes of the writers of Hearst, CT Mirror, CT News Junkie, and the business journals. It is the same story and the same characters, but just a different year and a whole lot of new taxpayer money.

Even a drunken sailor on leave buying drinks for an uncooperative woman knows when to put his wallet away and try his luck elsewhere. But not Connecticut! Connecticut! Where normal common sense does not apply! Where more multi-millions of dollars are handed over without ever having to account for the money that was given to 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. Many wonder where all the jobs and tax revenue are from these companies? Again, we have deafening silence from the Lamont Administration especially when inquiring about the Lamont-based Cayman Islands Limited Partnerships. How much money has been spent, with little to no results from it? Does anyone in the political orbit seem to care?

Again, these are just some more examples of the Lamont-DECD-Oak HC/FT recurring theme of using Connecticut taxpayer monies to prop up questionable investments made by Oak HC/FT and others enabled via the uncontrolled and secretive DECD cash spigot leading to either taxpayer-supported profit but much more often, risk-free loss. Followers of my blog and of Tony De Angelo on 94.9's "Lee Elci Show" are well-familiar with this Lamont shell game. We have both been discussing these problems for several years now with no response from anyone in either this administration or the state-run media. Thus, the new "Innovation Clusters" is the same game with the same result. Connecticut Taxpayers creating profit for the Lamont's family hedge fund and the politically connected Democrat Party. The Lamont rip-off continues unabated to the deafening silence of a lap-dog media and a Democrat supermajority, sprinkled with the silence (or encouragement) of members of the Republican legislature. Once again, taxpayer be damned.

Deja Vu All Over Again. Part 3. A Taxpayer Never Gets a Break in The Land of Steady Habits

Connecticut is a state known by many names. The Nutmeg State. The Gateway to New England. The Constitution State. But perhaps the most apt name for Connecticut over the past few decades is the Land of Steady Habits. This name is incredibly apt and deserved as the steadiest of habits for Connecticut has been its insatiable desire to tax, to spend, and to add to its bulbous and inept Administrative State in grotesque proportions. Again, Taxpayer be damned.
Week in and week out and year and year out, Connecticut Taxpayers do not get a break from paying excessive, new, and higher taxes coupled with the daily fear of crime and having their vehicles broken into and or stolen. The Legislative session of 2024 arrogantly signaled to Connecticut Taxpayers that there will be no respite from paying excessive, new and higher taxes any time soon, and no respite from living with the daily fear of crime and/or having their vehicles broken into and or stolen. Rather, Connecticut Taxpayers received more of the same in review of just some of the brutal bills that will end up costing Connecticut Taxpayers more in taxes and the costs of goods and services they must purchase, thanks to the arrogant Connecticut Democrat Party.
As discussed last week, the horrific HB 5431 "AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE STABILIZATION SUPPORT AND ARPA REPLACEMENT FUND" did indeed pass. Unbelievably, it does mandate for Connecticut Taxpayers to pay for unemployment benefits for striking workers. Why did this pass? Why has the definition of being unemployed changed? Further, why does the burden in the Land of Steady Habits never shift from off the backs of the private sector and small business?
But unfortunately, the oppression does not stop there. These same beleaguered small businesses will now see increased costs from HB 5005 "AN ACT STUDYING PAID SICK DAYS" that expands the types of employees that receive annual paid sick leave. It will also gratuitously expand the definition of “family members” for family leave purposes. This Act will also increase the rate at which leave accrues and broaden the diverse ways leave days can be used. These changes will of course cause an increase in the costs of operating a business which will only be passed on to consumers in the form of higher costs for goods and services. Again, why is there yet one other job-killing business-hostile policy lifted on to the backs of tired and poor taxpayers and small businesses? Yet one is supposed to believe that this Democrat Party-driven policy is a great benefit and blessing to the masses, and the shrinking coffers of the private sector can be damned.
Of course, in Connecticut’s Land of Steady Habits there are never (ever) any proposals from the legislature to lower taxes, cut, cap and end pensions, eliminate "quasi-public" organizations, or to otherwise shrink and streamline the Connecticut Administrative State. But predictably, we see the opposite. As a matter of social justice and right, several bills were brought forth demanding new and higher taxes and or increases in capital gains. After all, this is the Land of Steady Habits! It is the habitual hissing and popping of a broken record, repeating and repeating the same old refrain. More of what we have heard about for the past 34 years. More money will solve all of Connecticut's social ills (like crime), more money is needed for failing schools, more money is needed for underpaid Connecticut state unionized employees, more money is needed for the big, dangerous and corrupt cities such as Bridgeport and New Haven. The list is always endless, and the results are always horrific since nothing is ever mentioned in the state-run media about The Land of Steady Habits having $100 to $150 billion dollars in short- and long-term debt along with a myriad of unfunded liabilities.
What do Connecticut Taxpayers really get for a $26 billion dollar plus yearly budget? What do Connecticut Taxpayers really receive for over $100 to $150 billion dollars in short- and long-term debt along with unfunded liabilities? Connecticut can't declare bankruptcy. It should, given its current insolvent economic state that has grown worse since the establishment of the Utopian cure-all state income tax. No matter how much your income is, you will never pay enough in taxes. No matter how much your taxes increase they will never keep up with the massive social ills, waste, and the increasing and crony driven Administrative State in The Land of Steady Habits that just keeps getting bigger and bigger year-in and year-out.
Taxpayers never get a break in Connecticut, but rather will be broken. The Democrat Party of The Land of Steady Habits will make sure of that forever.

Deja Vu, Part 2. More Bad Connecticut Democrat Party Legislation In 2024, For You. (HB5431)

Picture if you will the end of a state legislative session. The legislators, tired but fulfilled, congratulate each other, and relish the satisfaction of participating in a groundbreaking session of lawmaking and policy that sets a tone for fiscal stability, economic development, and citizen safety for the state. After a rousing address by the Governor, the legislature departs, basking in the glow of a job very well done in the best interests of the public.
And in stark contrast, picture the end of the Connecticut State Legislature’s term on May 8, 2024.
Since the late 1980's, Connecticut's State Legislature painfully ends every session after finding new ways of hemorrhaging more Connecticut Taxpayer money, taking away more personal freedoms, and helping wreck and destroy businesses in the state. The "short" 2024 legislative session was no different than all of the past 34 years of Democrat Party induced economic and societal decay and destruction. In true racketeering legislative style, the one bill that had no public hearing whatsoever and was summarily rammed through the wickets has been nicknamed by Democrats and labor leaders as "The Striking Workers Assistance Fund". It is HB 5431 "AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE STABILIZATION SUPPORT AND ARPA REPLACEMENT FUND" (https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/cgabillstatus/cgabillstatus.asp?selBillType=Bill&which_year=2024&bill_num=5431).

Rather than deciphering needless legislative Greek, you, I, and many others may be wondering what this law is and of course wonder how much it will cost Connecticut taxpayers. The bill’s creator, Democrat/Socialist State Representative Manny Sanchez of New Britain originally created a placeholder (aka dummy) bill that has been traditionally viewed as a piece of legislation that does not contain any content, later gets voted out of committee as a placeholder for last day or last minute legislation to be inserted, manipulated, and passed, over any objections by the minority party and of concerned right-thinking citizens watching from afar. Democrat/Socialist State Representative Manny Sanchez of New Britain facilitated the formation this deceitful work of pro-union labor/pro socialist-anti business rhetoric by changing the original name of the bill from “An Act Concerning Expenditures of the General Fund,” to “An Act Establishing the Stabilization Support and ARPA Replacement Fund.”

By way of information, "(t)he amended bill allocates $3 million of unspent funds from the “unexpended balance of funds appropriated to State Comptroller — Fringe Benefits, for State employees Health Service Costs” to create a new account dubbed the “Connecticut Families and Workers account.” Additionally, it mandates the Comptroller to devise a plan on how to spend the funds to support low-income workers."(https://yankeeinstitute.org/2024/05/07/the-house-masters-the-art-of-deception-advances-big-labor-priority-bill).
In simple terms, what is the need for a "Connecticut Families and Workers account" and what does it entail and why? Don't most Connecticut families and workers work to support themselves unless they are disabled or ill, and pay some of the highest tax rates in the country? Once the $3 million dollars in unspent funds is finally expended, how much in new or higher taxes will be implemented to pay for this new socialistic program and how many more cronies and politically connected will be hired with tax dollars to administrate said fund?
Also, from the limited information that has been provided, the bill forces Connecticut Taxpayers to pay for striking workers unemployment benefits. I wonder how this is legal given the current set up of the state's unemployment compensation benefits fund given the following statement:
"You can receive benefits if you meet a series of legal eligibility requirements
You must be monetarily eligible.
You must be totally or partially unemployed.
You must have an approvable job separation; the law imposes a disqualification for certain types of separations.
You must meet certain weekly legal requirements; weekly requirements include being physically and mentally able to work, being available for and seeking work*, and filing your weekly claim for benefits on a timely basis.
If you are identified as likely to exhaust unemployment benefits and are enrolled in the worker profiling and reemployment services program, you must fully participate in all assessment interviews, orientation, and referred reemployment services."(https://www.ctdol.state.ct.us/progsupt/unemplt/claimant-guide/eligibility.htm)
Can anyone explain how striking workers have an "approvable job separation" and who is responsible for determining said approval? By allowing striking workers unemployment benefits, hasn't the state basically redefined "unemployment", and thus ruled the unemployment benefits compensation fund of Connecticut invalid by definition? I will therefore assume that those businesses currently paying into this fund should stop, as the legal definitions of "unemployment" have changed, especially since humble private businesses must now support striking workers that often receive striker’s benefits. When and if enacted into law, should this bill now go to the Connecticut Supreme Court to rule on its legality based on the state's new and bizarre definition of one being deemed "unemployed"?

But as the sun sets over the Nutmeg State, we close the door on another legislative session where non-connected Connecticut citizens measure the success of the same by the smallest possible amount of damages sustained by acts of the Legislature. While bills concerning weighty matters like pizza and puppies become law, the reality 2024 echoes the same as years past where laws comprised on hundreds of pages handed out in the middle of the night must be voted upon with no debate nor any actual reading of the bill. Connecticut Taxpayers who generally have no legal representation in the Legislature must accept without questions the horrific, complacent, self-serving bills of King Ned Lamont The Unaccountable's omnipotent ruling Democrat Party. HB 5431 is just another step in the continuing economic quagmire of the Democrat conflagration of Connecticut Taxpayers and Businesses. And it is this scenario that the omnipotent and arrogant one-party rule Democrat Party demands re-election on in November 2024.

Continuing along this path, Connecticut will be truly damned.