God Bless the Gazelles...and the little hippopotami

A brief delude into the maniacal jocularities of the Connecticut House Democratic Caucus, courtesy of House Rules. And we wonder why we don't have a budget...

Vote on National Popular Vote Passes Because it Failed

Oh how I love irony in Hartford. Really, I do. Which is a good thing, considering the tremendous amount of irony there is up there.

A bill recently came up in the State House of Representatives, which would enter Connecticut into an interstate compact to elect the President by National Popular Vote. Basically, if this was to become a compact with enough states, when Connecticut's elector's go to the Electoral College to cast their votes for President, they will not be casting their votes for the candidate who won the most votes in Connecticut. Rather, they will be voting for whomever got the most votes NATIONALLY.

So, in 2004, when Connecticut overwhelmingly voted for Sen. John Kerry, our electoral votes would have gone to President George Bush. Every single resident who voted for John Kerry would have their votes thrown out. As State Rep. David Labriola (R-Naugatuck) during his speech on the House floor, "How undemocratic is that?". As Rep. Labriola said, "It's really just sour grapes about the 2000 election."

But really, the fun part here is in the leadership of the Democratic caucus. When the machine was closed, the vote totals on the top of the machine read: Yea: 72. No:73. The Bill failed.

But did it? No.

Thanks to the brow beating of House Speaker (and former "Community Organizer"/Union Rep....hmm shocking) Chris Donovan and other leaders in the Democratic Caucus, which was called a conversation he wished others had heard by Deputy Speaker Robert Godfrey, Godfrey asked to have his vote changed to yes. Followed by Deputy Speaker Buddy Altobello, and Democratic veterans Peggy Sayers and Peter Tercyak.

Amid jeers and "boos" from colleagues, 4 Democratic leaders were allowed to change their vote on a bill that complained about an election where someone really won, but then lost.

A bill that's dead in the Senate. Certainly a veto by Governor Rell. And yet the Democratic leadership made sure it passed it the House. Surely, time would be much better spent whittling down an $8 billon deficit. But when that vote is over, who knows who will change their minds. With the Democratic leadership we have in Hartford, it is really a wonder anything gets done.

CT Democrats Want Change...From Your Pocket

A month into this year's legislative session. Millions added to the current deficit. And the Connecticut Democrats still don't seem like they want to do anything about it. For a while, I have been worried about a more socialist driven agenda coming from the federal government. I'll be honest, it doesn't seem like it is going to be that bad. Our own state, however, now thats a communist of a different color.

Governor Rell has been wise, if not down right daring, in her attempts to trim the budget deficit over the coming fiscal years. In this time when Connecticut families are feeling the crunch of hard economic times, the Governor is doing her best to make sure that the State Government is not living a life of lavish style while its residents are stumbling and struggling to get by.

Let's take a look at those families for a minute. They need more money in the bank. There are two solutions to achieve that: bring in more money, or put out less. Well, these days companies are nowhere near the ballpark of providing raises, in fact many are imposing raise holds on their employees. So no extra money coming in. That means that output needs to go down. It is a lesson that the Connecticut Democrats need to learn.

In a time when many residents are trying to scrape up money to pay rising bill costs and pay down debts so they can stay in their home, they hardly have extra money to throw around for higher taxes. But that is exactly how the Connecticut Democrats want to trim the deficit. They are selfish, and care more about their own positions in the State Government than the people they serve.

If Connecticut residents are sending more of their money to Hartford, that is less of their money they can use to spend in Connecticut businesses. That is less of their money that is being injected into the American economy, at a time when families and businesses all across the country are feeling the economic impact.

Business creates jobs. Business stimulates the economy. And the Democrats don't care. They are stuck in a tax-you-back-to-the-stone-age mantra. They don't mind killing business, rising unemployment, and stealing money from the residents of Connecticut, as long as they still have $30,000 to tell them Asian Americans live in Connecticut.

We need to decrease the size of the government, not the size of our bank account. As Ronald Reagan once said, "Government is not the solution to the problem, government is the problem." It is time the Connecticut Democrats began keeping money in their constiutents pockets, rather than spend it for them. We need efficiency. We need to taper the size of our government. And the Connecticut Democrats need to stop being selfish.

Fiscal Irresponsibility: Now Showing at a State Government Near You!

It would seem that across the country, we see states in financial crisis, running up deficits equal to in some cases close to 20% of their operating budgets. At a time when families and citizens are tightening their belts and spending less, the governments across the country are doing nothing of the sort. Only a handful of state legislatures have taken steps to trim down the gross deficits of the recent and immediately forthcoming fiscal years.

In this country there are 27 state legislatures controlled by Democrats, 14 by Republicans, 8 are split between the houses, and 1 declared non-partisan. Of the 25 governments where party control is the same between the governor's office and the state legislature, 17 are Democratic.

Perhaps even more shocking, of the 37 states who face deficits 22 are increasing spending in 2009. Of those 22, 17 are controlled completely by Democratic legislatures. Only 3 are controlled completely by Republicans and 2 are split. In the two split states, Ohio and Pennsylvania, the House of Representatives, wher in most cases budget processes begin, are controlled by Democrats.

There is a simple explanation for this seemingly striking phenominon. President-Elect Obama. All of these state governments are waiting for a bailout package from President Obama that they believe will save them. But even if they do get a bailout package, how much is that honestly going to help? They will just use it to run up another deficit one, two, three years down the road.

Here in Connecticut, all of the bipartisanship and "roll up your sleeves for the sandbags" from new Speaker Chris Donovan has stopped. It seems to be just that: sand bagging. Governor Rell has already made it clear that cuts have to be made and she has started herself. Just the other day, she announced that Connecticut will begin to rollback its state vehicle fleet. She also announced looking into the necessity of junior level staff and commission jobs throughout the government. It is the price you pay when a do nothing legislature is in control.

Today was supposed to be the hearings in the State House for Governor Rell's required deficit mitigation plan. $300 MILLION were offered as cuts by Governor Rell. Only $134 Million were accepted by the Dems. We cannot sit back and let our legislatures take our money and then waste it!

The House Republicans offered an amendment that called for a 5% pay cut for the state legislators. AND ONLY ONE DEMOCRAT SUPPORTED IT! Here, in the simplest most obvious way for legislators to show they are serious about being fiscally responsible. And that is what it wall comes down to. The IRRESPONSIBILITY of Connecticut Democrats to do a single thing to stop wasting the money of Connecticut Taxpayers.

I don't mind paying some taxes and helping people out. I really don't. But the money needs to be going somewhere for good. But we need to find a way to KEEP money in the pockets of Americans, rather than put it there. We need to find a way, not to allow government to get control of us, but for us to get control of government.

But until we find legislators willing to do what is hard, not what is best for them we will never see that day. As long as democrats across the country expect President Obama to bail them out completely while doing nothing to mitigate the circumstances, we will see wasteful government spending and a ticking clock before we see our towns, our states, and our country run out of money.

Time is Running On, and Money is Running Out

Genius is a rare quality these days, but the CT Senate Republicans have managed to find it again. On a flat screen tv hooked up to a laptop in the State Capitol, the Senate Republicans have posted a deficit clock. Rising at $10.14 per second, it will reach $320 million by the end of June 30, based on the latest projections from November.

The Democrats have rejected this as a gimmick. That's probably just because they are scared, now that they realize their secret ain't a secret no more. They thought they could hide behind the government cloak and not really do anything about shaving the deficit. But those days are over. Welcome, Speaker Donovan to the transparency in government you talked about yesterday. Or was that just rethoric?


CT State Budget Deficit

Apparently, the Deficit Is a Myth

I have to admit, I wasn't planning on resuming Deficit Patrol posts until the session started a week from today. And it also looks like the Dem's weren't planning on resuming Deficit Ignorance for another week after that. The Day reported today that Democratic Leadership in the General Assembly will not begin working on the deficit until January 14. (http://tinyurl.com/6wh5hj).

Results will not come from inactivity, they won't just fly down out of the sky and say "Hey, I'm a surplus and I'm here to help!" Discussion, debates, ACTION need to happen and they need to happen sooner, not later. Delays will only allow the deficit to grow and become even more embedded in our already troubled economic times. There is no time for complacency in the mounting financial problem that looms over our heads.

Now, I understand some of the qualms about the special session that the Dems balked at for Friday. It comes only five days before a new session begins, and exerting influence after voters have elected some legislators out of office is an ethically grey area for me. So take the special session and use it for debate. A session does not have to come out with a vote, only a possible solution. But how can anyone talk, how can anyone debate if they are not in the same room? A solution will only be accepted when it is presented. And it cannot be presented there is no way to do it.

For 30 years, we have sat back and watched as the Democrats in Hartford have sat back and watched the world unfold without doing anything about it. We've had an income tax rammed down our throats. And now an unbalanced budget projecting a $6 billion dollar deficit 3 years out. A Balanced Republican alternative shot down as not germane. That's right, the incoming Speaker of the House objected to discussion on alternative budget saying that it has nothing to do with a budget. I guess he just wanted to save himself from doing any work.