These Are Meaningful Tax Cuts?

 Tax cuts are usually hailed by our elected officials as being manna from the heavens.  Tax cuts are finally voted on and then presented as being thoughtful and Utopian in nature.  When there are tax cuts In Connecticut,  it is an indicator that there has been over taxation taking place and a state election is on the horizon.  In the case of the infinitesimal tax cuts that were given to Connecticut Taxpayers this year, it shows again the imbalance in economic reality for Connecticut's elected officials and for the Connecticut Taxpayers who must pay for Connecticut's ineffective, inept, bloated and corrupted state government.

This year's "bipartisan" state income tax cuts were comical in nature given the Democrat Party runaway inflation and loss of personal wealth Connecticut Taxpayers had to endure since Democrat President Biden took office in 2021.  The state income tax cuts may be summarized as follows:  A family of four earning $125,000 a year will get a $600 cut in taxes, a single-parent family with two children earning $80,000 a year will get a $300 cut in taxes, a single man or woman earning $40,000 a year will get a $250 cut in taxes, and a single parent with one child earning $30,000 a year a year will get a $220 cut in taxes.  Connecticut's Governor "King Ned Lamont, the Unaccountable" expressed great joy for these tax cuts.  Both parties commented on the importance and great tax cuts that were passed as well.  Placing these cuts into perspective, the last announcement of Ned Lamont's yearly income was a yearly total of $54,000,000 publicly or roughly $147,945 a day.  His income is not disclosed as to how it was earned as the public was not shown the actual tax return nor can gain transparency into it either.  Nor does it shed light on "The Unaccountable's" financial family benefit from SEC-verified documents reflecting interests owned in secret tax havens. In juxtaposition, these puny tax cuts in no way, shape, or form will economically help Connecticut's Taxpayers, since the unending runaway inflation of the Democrat Party rolls on unabated and unchecked in 2023. 

Placing another perspective on these tax cuts, how do they promote a more "tax friendly" state?  There was no meaningful tax reform passed in 2023.  Connecticut still ranks as a top five- highest taxed state in the country along with a bottom-five state in business and economic development.  Connecticut Taxpayers monies are given away daily in futile programs that supposedly create jobs, get politically connected companies to move into the state and to invest into companies, some of which have documented political connections to Ned Lamont's family hedge fund.  Can we draw a possible parallel to the Governor's $147,945. daily income to some of the Connecticut Taxpayers tax monies?  We will never know as that is forbidden to be seen nor investigated by Connecticut's largely obedient  and fawning  state run media.

What will you do with your tax cut for the year?  In the opinion of many not much, as it does little to offset the Democrat Party induced runaway inflation you must deal with on a daily basis.  Empty promises, a lack of transparency, a lack of accountability, a lack of ethics and daily incoherent economic gibberish is the "real"tax cut you get as a Connecticut Taxpayer governed by multi-millionaire politicians like Ned Lamont.  No more and much less.  Remember that $147,945 daily your Governor is making as you toil day-to-day being a honest Connecticut Taxpayer getting your $600 or less in tax cuts.  Connecticut's economic and governmental failures live on for another year , as it is 1776 all over again.

Connecticut's Constant and Continual Debt Crisis

Democrat Connecticut's euphoria of its recently passed $51.1 billion dollar "we cut taxes!" biennial budget is endemic of the 33 year political tango of fiscal denial where the state will certainly face fiscal Armageddon in the near future.  Contrary to the shouts of joy from Ned Lamont and his Connecticut Democrat Party, Connecticut has a massive spending and debt problem.  This economic downward spiral started with the advent of the Utopian state income tax in 1990-91 in the opinion of many. Debts continue to pile up for Connecticut to a point of no return.

How does a state as small as Connecticut and with as small a population of legal citizens as Connecticut, spend as much as it does?  Yearly,  the state spends a massive amount of money each year on state employee salaries, benefits and pensions for both its management and non management employees along with interest on its' debt.  It also has borrowed and bonded enormous sums of money.  Bonds get paid off and then are immediately renewed into new bonds.  It is fascinating to see that Connecticut will spend a mere $823.3 million dollars of Connecticut taxpayers monies in its new budget for "economic development". Much of this bulbous sum will be uselessly paid to a failed and non-transparent "quasi-public" entity oxymoronically known as the "Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development". Even with this massive amount of money that is spent for such "economic development", Connecticut continues to rank at the bottom or near the bottom in most business and economic categories in the country, and still can not pull itself out of the 2008 recession level of job formation, since so many businesses have closed and or moved out of state.

What is Connecticut's actual debt?  I can only estimate it since hard figures seem to be in short supply when analyzing this debt.   In this year's budget (https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/OPM/Budget/2024_2025_Biennial_Budget/Budget_WebPage/GovBudget_2024-25_Final-Web-Version.pdf-A18,19)  the summary of principal and interest that the state has outstanding through 2043 for bonding functions is a mere $24,174,979,627 billion dollars.  There is also outstanding principal and interest on this fiscal nut through 2043 for special tax obligations is $9,935,799,580 billion dollars.  It is difficult to find more figures from the state budget as to a "true" amount of how much actual short and long term debt along with unfunded liabilities exist.  Estimates may range from $100 to $150 billion dollars.  Here, the major problem is the actual amount of unfunded state pension debt.  How much is it?  Does anyone know? This was magically resolved by an economically irrational and fiscally illiterate Democrat Party plan to lower current payments and have future generations figure out how to pay for it.  State pension reform seems to be an issue that one is forbidden to discuss in the state legislature by either political party, as both parties are on record for cheering this faux "pension reform", neither willing to bite the bullet necessary to change this drastically bad course.

What is the plan (if any) to pay off this debt?  I have seen nothing mentioned about it over the years.  Connecticut spends a massive amount of money each year.  There would seem to be a great deal of wasted spending in the budget each year also since there is an excessive amount of debt in the state.  The state budget is also unexamined at any real length since the Connecticut Democrat Party introduces it with little time to even read the hundreds of pages of accounting information and check for accurate figures at the last minutes of the legislative session.  The marching orders are simple: Just vote on it and make sure the politically connected of Connecticut are rewarded and have their palms greased by grants, subsidies and other types of goodies funded by Connecticut Taxpayers with no oversight or accountability.  These are the same taxpayers who have absolutely no say whatsoever in where their hard earned monies go.   Taxpayer- be-damned seems to have been the common theme of the Democrat Party controlled State Legislature for years now.  It is truly taxation without representation and the identical reason as to why the Colonists threw the tea in the river in Boston some years ago.  It is 1776 all over again.

Connecticut's Failed "Two-State Solution"

 

Connecticut is a tale of two states.  One tale presents an incredible Utopian view of the state where there is economic and personal freedom, prosperity, law and order, low taxes, a state government that is completely transparent, checks and balances, flourishing businesses in a conducive environment, a great environment to raise children due to a wholesome and devoted public education system and a whole lot more!  The other tale represents a much more realistic view of a lack of economic and personal freedoms, economic recession, a difficult business-hostile environment, economic turmoil, rampant crime, theft and murders, one of the highest tax rates in the country, a total and defiant lack of transparency in state government corrupted without checks and balances, businesses moving out of state and or going bankrupt, a horrific environment to raise children in with liberal mind control and gender change as the curriculum, and sadly, a whole lot more.

Depending upon your political point of view, Connecticut's two state solution allows one side to control most aspects of life in the state.  The other side has a daily battle to survive in an obvious socialistic state as they fight for economic and personal freedom.  To an outsider, and to those actually living and working in the state, one wonders most of the time why incoherent gibberish is deemed as truths and facts in the state.  This past legislative session in the opinion of many made it clear that Connecticut is truly a tale of two states.  A state for the ruling political elite, and a state for the economic slaves called Taxpayers who are forced, by law, to support this dysfunctional and corrupted mess called state government.

Since the advent of the pie-in-the-sky state income tax, we have all been told how much greater Connecticut would be with a stable source of revenue coming in.  And 33 years later, Connecticut is still pretty much in a nonstop economic recession with a net migration of population moving out of the state, businesses bankrupted and or moving out, a excessively high tax rate, a poor infrastructure,  rampant crime, theft and murders, an illegal drug crisis and many more issues that truly impact the quality of life in the state.  This legislative session again presented the two states of Connecticut clearly with massive bills being voted upon without the ability to read them and or know what was in them, more money being thrown at social issues as it has been for 33 years to correct them, more thrown at the desperate attempt to keep young people in the state, and the never decreasing state spending that always solves the state's problems (when it never has).  The pox of government pensions was resolved magically through a Democrat Party plan by just paying less now and forcing future generations to figure out how to pay for them, later.  Somehow it saves money along the lines of what happens when one pays the minimum due on a credit card each month,  but who cares anyways?   And this legislative session confirms once again how badly Connecticut state government operates and works for the entire nation to see.

In the opinion of many the only resolution to Connecticut's two states is simplistic.  Move out. Move out of Connecticut if you are one of the economic slaves called Taxpayers who are forced by law to support this dysfunctional mess.  Many have already, especially those who are receiving a state taxpayer funded pensions that now laugh at those remaining in Connecticut to pay those pensions. Move to a more free state and a lower taxed state, because state government shows no care for you, anyway.  Move to a state that allows for a better quality of life.  It is not Connecticut by any means.  Connecticut has become a state where a King-like Unaccountable Democrat Governor can use the state as his families personal profit making tool with zero transparency.  It has become a state where local towns no longer can control their zoning laws or property planning.  It has become truly a state that has raped its economic resources to a point of no return.  And it is 1776 all over again. 

The Connecticut Courtship of Communism

 What is communism?  Communism is defined as "a theory advocating the elimination of private property".  Communism is a failed political system in which its citizens have no rights,  possessions nor freedoms.  Communism is a failed political system where an elite ruling class own all the possessions of the economy having freedom and money and while dictating to others what they can and or cannot have.  Communism is hated by most of the citizens in formerly Communist countries such as Czech Republic, East Germany, Poland and Hungary to name just a few.  The past two weeks I had an opportunity to travel to several former Communist Eastern European countries and experienced first hand what is actually going on there.  Freedom is alive and well in these countries and there is still a great hatred of all things Communist from their past history.  Americans could learn a great deal by this type of travel and experience.

Freedom is a precious gift that is taken away completely by Communism.  In these former Communist countries I heard many stories of life under Communist rule.  The stories in some cases were horrific and there is great hatred towards the former regimes.  Torture chambers, deaths, the splitting of families, families forced to move losing their land, farms and homes,  personal property seized for "the good of the country", Russian invasions of Czechoslovakia and Hungary while citizens wanted freedom, and other horrors were part of everyday life in these countries.  I learned of a Hungarian family that was forced to buy back their home they built and paid for when their country became "free".  I saw the elegant Communist buildings of the ruling elite while citizens were forced to live in literal slums.  I saw the history of Communism first hand.  I saw the beginnings of economic freedom that are still being developed 30 years later in these same countries even though they have high tax rates.  I see how their high tax rates and excessive social services especially in Hungary may negate its growth in the future at their current levels (27% VAT tax and a 33% social type income tax-flat rate).  But most of all I saw that people treasure their freedom and still look at America as a beacon of hope for economic prosperity, economic freedom and wealth.  This is undeniable there.

Freedom is a precious gift that continues to be eroded in Connecticut.  A sickening group of legislative bills were presented this session that clearly sync with Communist ideas and theories.  I have written about them in the past.  For example the constant global warming, climate change rhetoric of the left now takes a new twist by trying to make the state somehow become "carbon net zero" in a few years.  The freedom to heat and cool your homes as you choose is basically stripped away with this type of law and legislation being force fed by Connecticut Democrats.  The nightmare of new zoning laws that pretty much strip land owners their personal property rights is alive and well with the new zoning regulations being dictated by an non elected zoning "czar" who will dictate what can and can not be built in certain areas of the town you live in.  The illegal stifling of the freedom of speech and the First Amendment is proffered by a group of imperious and Constitutionally-illiterate legislators under the guise of preventing "gaslighting and abuses". Guns as we know well in Connecticut should be taken out of law abiding citizens hands and handled only by criminals and certain police officers (if any are left in the state) through tough "gun control" bills that are loved by Connecticut Democrats in Crime Free Democrat Connecticut.  There are also the perpetual cries of more money thrown at education, poverty, drug abuse, and other assorted social issues that remain perpetually unresolved.  Voting will now become even more meaningless now with literally unlimited voting and "ranked choice" voting that strips away yet another freedom you used to enjoy. To me and many others these bills and an oppressive one party Democrat Party rule led by an unaccountable King-like multi millionaire Governor with no transparency, brings us a new form of Communism to Connecticut.   

But Connecticut's form of Communism (even though you are not supposed to call it that) is pretty much the same type that former Russian Eastern European countries dealt with minus the tortures and deaths that ensued.  But please put a pin there. One can also argue that the deaths by criminal shootings occurring literally on a daily basis in Connecticut are equivalent to the tortures and deaths abroad especially in the inner cities, coupled with a flourishing illegal drug trade transacted on a daily basis.  Yet crime is somehow down in the state and prisons are now empty.  What a bunch of Communist-driven lies.  What a failed government.  Freedom has never been free. And we see even more clearly a new 1776 happening all over again if it is not too late for Connecticut.  I wonder if I am only one who can see this?

As 700 Bills Are Introduced In The Connecticut Legislature, State Policy Cripples The State

 The "Constitution State" of Connecticut has thousands upon thousands of legislative bills that are on its legal records.  In the course of your lifetime, you could not actually read them all and digest what their implications are and  their collective impact on Connecticut.  There have been bills signed into law that pretty much control all aspects of your day to day lives.  There have been bills that have been signed into law that pretty much tax everything and anything in the state.  There have been bills that have been signed into law that pretty much were vehemently opposed by Connecticut Taxpayers but were rammed down our throats by the Connecticut Democrat Party (think, the state income tax).  There have been bills that have been signed into law that pretty much have over-regulated business and industry in the state, to the extent it has moved out of the state.  There have been bills that have been signed into law that pretty much picked the winners and losers in the state economy. And there have been bills that have been signed into law that pretty much keep Connecticut as one of the highest taxed states and one of the lowest economically performing states in the country year in and year out, thereby making economic weakness the predominant "steady habit" in the land of Nutmeg.

Sadly in 2023, it has been no different in Connecticut's latest incoherent Legislative session with over 700 bills being introduced.  Many bills are just feel good liberal gibberish and incoherency conforming to the omnipotent Democrat one-party rule in the state.  These bills range from more taxation without representation, to the elimination of freedom of speech, to the far reaching consequences of eliminating male and female words from the state vocabulary.  Any opposing viewpoints coming from the opposing party or from constituents are greeted with a vile hatred, and are automatically voted down by the pompous ruling elites.  Thus Connecticut Taxpayers are disregarded and have not been heard by their supposed "elected" leaders for many years. This year is the same as it has been for over 30 years.  There is some talk of an actual tax break for the remaining working class but it is pitifully minimal given the runaway Democrat inflation that is ruining the economy at this time.  And it will not help overtaxed Connecticut Taxpayers since legal spending caps will be ignored and worked around by the Connecticut Democrat Party.  Connecticut has over $150 billion dollars in long and short term debt, along with its unfunded liabilities.  Unfunded pension liabilities were recently configured differently to push state payments down the road for future payments  by economics expert, Comptroller Sean Scanlon to the applause of political leaders. The effect of this act of financial genius will create a bigger fiscal bomb to be thrown on the backs of taxpayers in years to come. With economic vision such as this instance, we might as well toss "fiscal ignorance" in the same steady habit category as "economic futility", when we speak of all policies Nutmeg. 

Meanwhile, back in the Capitol Building, I really do not know what can be done to eliminate the illogical amount of legislative bills being introduced every year.  State legislators apparently are showing the Connecticut Taxpayers what a great job they are doing with all the ridiculous bills they sponsor.  However the grim reality for Connecticut is that most of these bills do little to improve the state other than to suffice and pad the pockets of the lobbyists, special interest groups, and political hangers-on that control the state hand-in-hand with the Ned Lamont Democrat Party. 

Thus another legislative year will be closing soon.  Connecticut Taxpayers have once again been forgotten about, and will once again see more personal freedoms removed from them and pay higher taxes of some sort so that the ruling Connecticut political elite and its public unions benefits.  Connecticut Taxpayers will also be told that this group and that group along with state universities, unions and public schools are in desperate need of more money and more sources of funding.  Connecticut Taxpayers be damned once again.  In a state filled with rampant crime, corruption, an unsustainable debt and a failed economy, over 700 bills offered, will once again do little to improve the state.  How could it not be 1776 all over again with a failed state government oozing distress and despair and fiscal ineptitude, while promoting a spoils system, all while Connecticut burns daily?

The Horrific and Illegal Connecticut Democrat Party Sponsored House Bill 6410 ("HB 6410")

 The First Amendment of the United States Constitution states; "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."  Freedom of Speech is a guaranteed right in our country.

 However, in Ned Lamont's Democrat/Socialist Connecticut, HB 6410 is an act establishing a working group concerning safe online practices.  The bill states: "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: That a working group be established to create guidelines and best practices for the reporting and enforcement of abusive, offensive or threatening harassment of state and municipal elected officials on social media platforms.

 Statement of Purpose:To create guidelines that find a balance between making elected officials accessible to the people whom they serve and protecting them from abusive, offensive or threatening online harassment."(https://www.cga.ct.gov/2023/TOB/H/PDF/2023HB-06410-R00-HB.PDF)

 What does the bill mean?   The bill means that the penalties for "abusing or harassing" an elected official online will increase substantially. The bill means that strict guidelines will now be established on how our elected officials may become available and accessible to the citizens they are purported to represent.  This bill means that a working group (whatever that means) of politically-connected individuals will be established to monitor how we interact with elected officials online.  This working group will be appointed mainly by the Democrat Party majority and their progressive leadership.  This bill simply means your Constitutional First Amendment rights will be limited and overturned by Connecticut's Democrat Party majority progressive leadership and Ned Lamont if they apparently do not agree with what you saying.  This bill means you may actually face jail time for your comments perceived to be against a Connecticut elected official.

 It is obvious to many that the Connecticut Democrat Party no longer wishes to hear any criticism of any sort from the incoherent and draconian acts it imposes on Connecticut Taxpayers and our freedoms in general, especially on social media platforms.  Although HB 6410 is a direct violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and longstanding SCOTUS precedent, that is not a deterrent to steamrolling this bill through the Legislature.  After all, laws seem to be for other people in Connecticut and they no longer apply to either Ned Lamont or his Connecticut Democrat Party.  Or placed in more realistic terms, a political power that must have total control, obedience and hold the legal and financial slavery of its citizens that it imprisons on a daily basis, will now implement laws such as HB 6410.

  Ned Lamont and his Connecticut Democrat Party truly do not answer to anyone.  Opposition voices to their dictatorship must be and will be silenced through this bill.  Connecticut Taxpayers who question their government, who question vaccines for Covid-19, who question how much profit the Governor and his family's hedge fund made off of Covid-19 testing, who question excessive taxation without representation, who question the blatant theft of personal financial and genomic information, and who question election integrity all must be silenced immediately!  Why?  Does stating real truth mean an end to their never ending game of corruption, profit, theft, and the continued defrauding of the Connecticut Taxpayer?  

 In the opinion of many, HB6410 is one of the worst bills to ever be introduced in Connecticut's history.  Freedom of Speech is a legal and sacred right in our country, being anathema to the views of Ned Lamont and his political regime.  Freedom of Speech must be preserved at all costs.  And we see even more seeds of discontent being planted by a corrupt and incoherent Connecticut Democrat Party onto the Connecticut Taxpayers.  The same Connecticut Taxpayers who truly see the charade of state government as they are living anew 1776 all over again. They are living a new 1776 in a state driven mad by their leaders disgust and hatred of freedom of any sort.   Enough, is simply, enough.

Three Years Later, and Still No Answers To Ned Lamont's Sema 4 Debacle

Connecticut's secret Democrat and illegally-used non-profits are a fascinating look at the non- transparency of Ned Lamont's Democrat Connecticut Party's inner workings.  They are very difficult to understand and follow.  They are designed that way so that Connecticut's Taxpayers are kept in a perpetual state of confusion and ignorance while profits are being made off them, and other abuses are fashioned from them.  For three years now, Tony De Angelo, in his weekly radio segment on the Lee Elci Show heard on 94.9 WJJF, New London, CT has been discussing these abuses in these non-profits and their agreements especially with Sema4.  Connecticut embraces a hybrid of quasi public/private organization having ties to state government and at the same time having no accountability to Connecticut Taxpayers to show where money has traveled.   I have written about Sema4 several times over the past three years.  Given the perpetual information failure of Connecticut state-run media, coupled with the willful blindness (and/or) ignorance of almost every elected state official on this issue, it is time to revisit it once again.

Sema4 is an excellent example of a complex maze of secret agreements, offshore tax-haven partnerships, personal data mining, and a general rip-off of Connecticut Taxpayer's monies.  Ned Lamont and his family's hedge fund, Oak HC/FT Partners were heavily invested in Sema4.   By way of review, Sema4 obtained $45,150,000 in fast and easy state cash with little to no oversight in Covid-19 and Genomics testing from the State of Connecticut.  It received a $15 million dollar 2% interest-only "sweetheart" loan made by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development with little oversight, of which over 40% of said loan was forgiven by hitting bogus propped-up "job targets" paid for by the very loan proceeds made to Sema4.  It had loans and unknown billings and payments that in many cases continue not to be reconciled nor disclosed as of today.  Last year, Sema4 laid off 250 Connecticut employees and its Branford location closed.  It then moved to Maryland.   And many questions still remain unanswered such as is the loan being paid back?  Why was the loan given in the first place?  Was it given due to the involvement of Oak HC/FT Partners to prop Oak's investment and IPO using state tax money?   Is this a conflict of interest for Ned Lamont's family hedge fund, Mount Sinai Genomics/Sema4, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development that a Governor in office can allow this type of agreement to be in effect? What happened to all the information and data with regards to the undisclosed Genomics testing for which state contracts are in effect?    How about a full disclosure as to what was done with this data and why?  Finally, were the "Covid Tests" made by Sema4 reliable indicators of a China-sourced virus? It is silence as usual from the Lamont Administration.

Connecticut Taxpayer's still do not have answers from three years ago as to the companies that have had investments made in them by Oak HC/FT Partners relating to the Covid-19 crisis.  Some of the companies include "Thermo Fisher Scientific", "Sema4", " Core Infomatics", "UNITE US" "Ocrulus", "Urjanet", "1life Healthcare", "Galileo Health", "Castlight Health", "Paladina Health", and "VillageMD".   They seem to all have ties to Connecticut also in the form of contracts to do business with the State of Connecticut, its non profits, or surrounding states with no bid contracts.    Will Connecticut Taxpayers ever find out how much profit was made by Oak HC/FT Partners and the Lamont family from these contracts and or companies?  Why is this information secret? 

Sema4 and its ties to Connecticut with its apparently forgiven loan are just a small part of the never ending amoral and unethical "deals" that are made behind Connecticut taxpayers backs with the full blessings of state government.  Why does continue to happen?  What can be done to prevent these issues in the future?  Obviously laws are immaterial to the Ned Lamont Democrat Administration.  The rule of law obviously can get in the way of the income and profits that can be earned by Ned Lamont, his family's hedge fund and other politically connected individuals.  Shameless and unscrupulous economic acts and deals are the norm for Democrat Connecticut.  They always have been and must be accepted for the masses, and those that advocate against this massive cloaked racketeering scheme are vilified.  Connecticut Taxpayers are the slaves supporting this plantation called the Constitution State.  A state that in the opinion of many lacks ethics, morals and true representation of its legal population due to unchecked years of omnipotent, stale and corrupted Democrat Party rule.  Changes are on the horizon since we relive daily the coming of the new war for the precious freedoms that were declared and battled for in 1776. 

 

More Bad Tax News In Democrat Connecticut For Connecticut Taxpayers: Senate Bill No. 999

The news is never good when it comes to taxes and tax policy in Connecticut.  King Ned Lamont The Unaccountable and his Omnipotent ruling Democrat Party are now backing much higher property taxes for Connecticut residents through Senate Bill No. 999, "AN ACT INCREASING THE UNIFORM ASSESSMENT RATE FOR PROPERTY TAX".  This bill would increase the state-wide assessment ratio on property from 70% to 75%, effective with the assessment year commencing on October 1, 2023.  This proposed change will produce immediate tax increases in municipalities across the state by a large amount.

As it stands, Connecticut already has some of the highest property tax mill rates in the country.  In economic terms, this increase in valuation from 70% to 75% allows for municipalities to further increase their tax bases and their tax revenues. Raising property valuations by 5% increases property taxes by 14%, thus ratcheting Connecticut into being one of the top five highest property taxed states in the country in addition to being one of the worst five economically.

It is apparent that the excessive state and local tax burden in Connecticut is already driving out citizens and businesses from the state. Once can also argue successfully that these same high taxes have contributed to Connecticut's poor economic performance for many years now and has kept the state in a virtual, perpetual economic recession with little chance or change for economic growth.  One can also argue successfully that it is economically insane for the state to assess more high taxes and then turn around and give more Connecticut Taxpayer paid for-tax based, economic tax credit incentives, zero percent "sweetheart" loans with sickeningly low interest rates often leading to complete loan forgiveness, and to provide more unjustified giveaways to businesses and individuals for moving their businesses to the state with a false promise of expanding them.  This happened quite frequently with the integrity-bereft Lamont Administration channeling monies to Lamont family hedge fund and related companies such as Sema-4, UNITE US, and Vestwell. 

The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development ("DECD"), under the guise of secrecy, is the seeming arbiter of the winners and losers in Connecticut's economy.  DECD  does this through bulbous Connecticut Taxpayer-funded tax breaks that have been given with little to no oversight nor ramifications for both the lack of disclosure on their secret "deals" as for the loans and other aspects of the agreements. This situation becomes frighteningly clear when the businesses fail (and/or) move out of the state, most recently seen in the Lamont-based carpetbagging masterpiece known as Sema-4. 

As we have seen in this 2023 legislative session, the Connecticut Democrat Party can not tax Connecticut Taxpayers enough to pay for their socialistic agenda of political nepotism, the taking of personal freedoms, the stripping of personal wealth of the working middle class, the embracing of crime and criminals rights over the rule of law, a total disregard of the state constitution and the brainwashing of the state's young people.  The daily gibberish force fed Connecticut Taxpayer's through a state run media along with the lack of transparency in Ned Lamont's state government should scare both sides of the political aisle along with anyone having a pulse.  Yet it is embraced and rewarded through the corrupted political game called state government.

Higher taxes through this new Senate Bill No. 999 along with the all the other new and higher taxes on energy and other items will all help to cement Connecticut's economic failure for the rest of the decade.  Another lost economic decade is on tap as has been the case in the 90's, 00's, and 10's.  Connecticut still has a mere $150 billion dollars in short and long term debt along with unfunded liabilities that is ignored since those elected officials and state employees who helped to create this nightmare will be long gone out of Connecticut, fleeing to low taxed Republican governed states, when the real economic crisis of bankruptcy falls upon the state in several years.  The state's spending and debt is not sustainable.  Cutting taxes, cutting the waste and fraud in state government is never an option, nor is it ever discussed by the ruling class.  The economic end game of one of the highest taxed states in the country will help to create its bitter and horrific collapse. And we are again at a point in history, both socially and economically, that it is 1776 all over again. 

Crime Free Democrat Connecticut

Connecticut in the opinion of many, is a mess.  It has massive economic issues including, but not limited to, a massive short and long term debt situation along with unfunded liabilities of roughly $150 billion dollars.  It overtaxes its Taxpayers and is ranked as one of the highest taxed states in the country. It still lags in most economic categories, and is never able to get out of its recessionary malaise.  It has a poor business environment, and attracts no business except in the cases of a CT DECD bribe payment being made.  It has a decaying road and bridge infrastructure even though it spends a massive amount of money in supposed and/or redundant repairs.  It has serial and shameless corruption in its state government.  Nor does it have any transparency in its state government, nor does the minority Republican Party have any meaningful input in legislation or the budget process.

Connecticut is truly in a mess when it comes to crime.  I continually refer to Connecticut as "Crime Free Democrat Connecticut" due to the total denial by Ned Lamont and his Connecticut Democrat Party along with its lapdog state run media as to the severity of the crime problems that exists in the state.  Connecticut has massive problems with car theft by juveniles.  Connecticut has massive problems with catalytic converter thefts.  Connecticut has massive problems when women live in fear when they go grocery shopping and when they are pumping gas, with concern that they will be mugged and have their pocketbooks stolen from them in broad daylight.  Connecticut has massive problems with criminals being released from prison before their sentences are up and then going back out committing more crimes.  Connecticut has massive problems with its Pardons and Parole Board.  Connecticut has massive problems with murders committed.  Connecticut has massive problems with an illegal drug crisis and illegal drug trafficking.  Connecticut has massive problems with laws that are not enforced especially concerning crime. Moreover, Connecticut has massive problems with totally ignoring and disrespecting the victims of crimes.  

Why is this happening in Connecticut?  It is happening for a variety of reasons.  Connecticut's major cities of Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven and Waterbury has become cells of crime due to years of moral and social decay.  Connecticut Taxpayer monies for many years has been thrown at these cities with little result in improving the decaying parts of the cities and in improving economic conditions.  Crime is a much more profitable way of life than working at a menial minimum wage job with virtually no hope of escaping the horrific living conditions that are found in these cities.  These same cities all have had years upon years of Democrat rule.  

Another reason has been the Democrat Party's fixation in releasing as many criminals out of prison as fast as possible.  Why?  So they can go back out and commit more crimes?  How many early released criminals have gone back and committed more crimes?  The numbers, if they were advertised would scare law abiding citizens.  The early releases granted by the ostensibly unaccountable Connecticut Board of Pardons and Parole, are astounding.  Yet, as was just the case, the same members of this Board get renominated and continue to serve.  Why? Is it to help create more chaos and stress especially for the crime victims of these criminals that are released early?

Another reason has been the Democrat Party's fixation in not enforcing laws especially when it comes to juveniles and car theft.  Liberal judges seem to abhor the laws and their enforcement that they are supposed to be overseeing.  The idea has been to merely book these juveniles and just let them go free so they can go right out and steal even more.

Are there any solutions?  Yes, there are but they seem to be too logical for King Ned Lamont and his liberal Democrat Party.   Private property laws need to be enforced in the state.    Criminals need to pay their debt to the state for their crimes.  Those juveniles who steal vehicles need to be arrested and be forced to pay back the owners of the vehicles they stole from.  Judges need to enforce current laws not ignore them and disregard them.  Victims of crime need to have more rights than criminals.  Sounds simple?  But of course it never is in Crime Free Democrat Connecticut.

What would happen if victims started suing criminals and their elected officials when a crime took place?  Would things finally change?

Crime Free Democrat Connecticut is what happens when you have over 30 years of omnipotent one party rule in a state. Crime Free Democrat Connecticut happens when there are no longer is any checks and balances in your government.  Crime Free Democrat Connecticut happens when an unchecked and incoherent liberalism rewards criminals while despising their victims.  Crime Free Democrat Connecticut is a nightmare for law abiding and taxpaying legal citizens.  And Crime Free Democrat Connecticut needs to end once and for all.  Law abiding, taxpaying legal citizens need to demand that laws be enforced and criminals be arrested and prosecuted.  They need to shout this daily.  And Ned Lamont and his liberal Democrat Party need to be held accountable once and for all for the mess they have created. 

Enough is enough.  It is 1776 all over again especially in the chaos and turmoil known as Connecticut.

 

The Crucifixion And Resurrection Of President Donald Trump

It is fitting that during Easter Holy Week that Radical Democrat Socialist Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg decided to construct his own law to prepare a crucifixion of former President Donald Trump.  Trump faces 34 illogical, non-legal and otherwise incoherent felony violations that do not rise to the level of a felony.  The 34 violations have been created from the imagination of Radical Democrat Socialist Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg, and are based on taking a single transaction of Trump's repayment of $130,000 to his former lawyer for a Non-Disclosure Agreement made to a 

"Stormy Daniels" .  This payment that took place over a period of time in 2017, and according to Bragg influenced the 2016 Presidential election and caused Democrat Hillary Clinton to lose the election.  It is important to note that Non-Disclosure Agreements such as this arrangement made to Stormy Daniels for an alleged affair that took place in 2006 are not illegal.  It is also important to note that this arrangement was investigated by several governmental authorities and none deemed the payments in violation of any laws within the statute of limitations. Bragg also has no jurisdiction over federal campaign finance laws.  The statute of limitations has expired over these supposed "felonies".  I wonder why Radical Democrat Socialist Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg and the rest of the American Democrat Party have such a hatred of former President Donald Trump?  And why are New York and American Taxpayers monies being spent on this case while New York City has increasing rampant crime and murders of innocent citizens?

Consider all of the time, effort and Taxpayers monies that have gone into trying to destroy Donald Trump.  From when he first announced he was running for President, during the time he was President, and now.  From impeachment, to the "woke" January 6th Commission of hatred, to the raid of Trump's personal residence, and now the assessment of 34 fake felonies.  What is it about Donald Trump that has led the Democrat Party and its apparatchik state run media to hate him so much?  Is it because he has great wealth?  Many elite Democrats including Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont have more wealth than him.  Is it because he did not work his way up through the political system to become President?  Is it because he gave hope and results for the forgotten working middle class of America?  Is it because he made America first through energy independence from foreign sources, a closed border to our country, a robust economy providing economic growth, law and order, minority opportunity, jobs and upward economic mobility for the forgotten working middle of class of America? The Democrat Party has provided Americans with runaway inflation, an open border crisis, an illegal drug crisis, rampant crime and murders, an energy crisis, a loss of personal wealth especially for retirees,  a lost war in Afghanistan,  a lost war with Russia and a banking crisis just to name a few issues currently in our country since the corrupted and feeble Biden Administration took office . This is supposedly better than the prosperity we saw during the Trump Administration.

What does former President Trump know about the Democrat Party of America and its officials and operatives that is so damaging for them to spend now seven long years of excessive, fanatical, obsessive, and tormenting means to destroy this man? What is it?  What does he know?  And why is the Democrat Party of America allowed to break laws themselves and not be prosecuted as we see in the Hunter/Joe Biden scandal.   A scandal that literally can destroy America as we know it with the corruption it entails. No, everything that is wrong with America is Trump's fault, even though it is glaringly obvious that the incoherent policies of the Biden Administration are responsible for the mess we are all in. Rather than taking corrective action, the only Democrat answers are to blame anything bad on Donald Trump.

Thus former President Trump gets crucified on Holy Tuesday of Easter Week.  And once again there will be a resurrection of Trump as has happened time and time again since 2016.  Maybe it is time for the over 51% and more of our country to demand greater accountability from the confused and incomprehensible Democrat Party of America for their ceaseless and incessant hatred of Donald Trump.  The Democrat Party of America has no leadership abilities nor understanding of how to govern. Any blue state or city such as Connecticut is an example of that.  Democrats have accelerated the Second Coming of 1776, all over again.  God Bless America.  And God Bless Donald Trump.

 

The Connecticut Democrat Party Cannot Tax Connecticut Taxpayers Enough

There really is never enough tax revenue for the Connecticut Democrat Party to confiscate and to spend on themselves and their political connections.  Evidence of this comes from four new proposed bills that all raise taxes in one of the most highly taxed states in the country.  All of these proposals come at a time where the state has a $3 billion dollar surplus and/or in other terms has overtaxed its Taxpayers by $3 billion dollars.  The bills include the infamous TCI tax found in the premises of "Proposed S.B. 1145, (stating to) enforce the state's greenhouse gas emissions goals through the establishment of certain sector subtargets and authorize emission standards for certain small off-road engines." This horrific and nonsensical Orwellian bill mandates all sorts of fines and penalties for "emissions" and apparently carbon releases.  The bill will add a large increase to the state's gasoline tax and will force Connecticut into regional emissions programs that will raise the cost of energy overall.  Again Taxpayers were vocal in their objections to this incoherent bill before, and again the Connecticut Democrat Party disregards the public's vehement opposition to the bill.  Connecticut Taxpayer, you be damned.

The premises of Proposed S.B. 774 state that its purpose is "To adjust certain marginal rates for the personal income tax and establish a capital gains surcharge on certain taxpayers."  What does a capital gains surcharge do for any economy other than prevent economic growth and drive innovators and achievers from the state?  It also increases the state income tax rate for the highest income earners.  Why?  Hasn't Connecticut seen a mass migration of the high income taxpayers flee already?  This bill is ironic since we are told that Governor Lamont made $54 million dollars in income, but Connecticut Taxpayers have no idea if he paid a penny in state income taxes since neither he, (nor his SEC-documented connections to offshore tax-havens) are fully disclosed by him.

Proposed S.B. 776 increases the property tax "To establish a state-wide property tax on residential real property with assessed values of more than one million five hundred thousand dollars and to dedicate such revenue to fully fund the equalization aid grants under section 10-262h of the General Statutes".   Section 10-262h is: "For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, each town maintaining public schools according to law shall be entitled to an equalization aid grant as follows: (1) Any town whose fully funded grant is greater than its equalization aid grant amount for the previous fiscal year shall be entitled to an equalization aid grant in an amount equal to its equalization aid grant amount for the previous fiscal year plus sixteen and sixty-seven-one-hundredths per cent of its grant adjustment; and (2) any town whose fully funded grant is less than its equalization aid grant amount for the previous fiscal year shall be entitled to an equalization aid grant in an amount equal to the amount the town was entitled to for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022." (https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_172.htm#sec_10-262h)  What does this convoluted mess of gibberish mean as to where this new tax revenue is going? Let your imagination run wild for a moment.

Proposed H.B. 5673  in part, proposes: "(to) establish a state-wide property tax at the rate of 2 mills on commercial and residential real property with an assessed value of more than one
million five hundred thousand dollars; (8) increase the rate of the corporation business tax to eleven and one-half per cent; (9) extend the imposition of the corporation business tax surcharge and increase the
rate of such surcharge to twenty per cent; (10) require the Department of Revenue Services to hire fifty additional in-house auditors to assist in the closing of the state's tax gap by collecting taxes and assessing penalties and interest as applicable" (https://www.cga.ct.gov/2023/TOB/H/PDF/2023HB-05673-R00-HB.PDF).  Thus one can conclude that the state will become even more aggressive and hostile  in squeezing tax revenue out of Connecticut Taxpayers, will lose even more businesses as they flee the state due to new and even higher taxes and will ultimately drive Connecticut to be the highest taxed state in the country and last in all business climate categories.  In other words, it will help keep Connecticut in a perpetual Democrat Party induced recession, with no way out.

The Connecticut Democrat Party with its assorted enablers and facilitators can not tax Connecticut Taxpayers enough. The Connecticut Democrat Party can not tax Connecticut businesses enough.  The Connecticut Democrat Party has no understanding of economic growth and economic development, and is proudly arrogant in its ignorance.  Tax and spend is their drug, a drug that keeps Connecticut on the brink of economic ruin day and night.  To add more insult to injury, the Connecticut Democrat Party has no plan whatsoever to resolve Connecticut's massive short and long term debt along with its unfunded liabilities of $100 to $150 billion dollars.  And Connecticut taxpayers can be sure that this will not be the end to new and or higher taxes as they have seen since 1991.  Next year and the year after and the year after the same story the rich never pay enough taxes, the middle class never pay enough taxes, and there is never enough money for those truly in need.  It is the same incoherent social and economic gibberish the Connecticut taxpayer has been force fed since 1991.  32 years of the same stale rhetoric and lies, with no genuine vision to the contrary, ever.  All for political power and political gain.  Nothing more, nothing less.  And the Connecticut Taxpayer can never pay enough to satisfy the economic cancer and masquerade that is called state government.  It is 1776 all over again especially in the "Constitution" state of Connecticut.

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Murder In Crime-Free Democrat Connecticut

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

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

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

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

 

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