Tag Archives: Connecticut

Welcome to Walley World! by MN Gordon

Several Democrat-controlled states are running big surpluses, thanks to payments from Washington, but they’re still trying to pass tax hikes. From MN Gordon at economicprism.com:

One of the fringe benefits of Washington’s stimulus program has been inflated stock portfolios.  This has delivered a great boon for certain state governments.  In Connecticut, for example, a state that taxes capital gains as regular income, this year’s budget surplus is projected to be $470 million.

That’s quite an achievement.  Especially when you consider the state’s rainy-day fund will hit an all-time high of $4.5 billion.  Federal coronavirus stimulus is also bringing $6 billion into the state.

Yet for the greedy fellows in the Connecticut state legislature the budget surplus is not nearly enough.  They want to soak the rich for the noble purpose of helping people.  Lawmakers are proposing a “surcharge” on high earners; single filers making more than $500,000 will be subject to a combined capital gains rate of 8.99 percent.

But that’s not all.  The state legislature also wants to create something it calls a “consumption tax.”  People earning more than $500,000 would pay 0.7 percent of their adjusted gross income.  That rate would rise to 1.4 percent for those earning $2 million, then 1.5 percent over $13 million.

The dillweed state planners already have grand plans for these coercive funds.  The money would go into a new Equitable Investment Fund that would be managed by an Equitable Investment Council.  The intent of the fund, in addition to collecting fees, is to reduce income inequality and redistribute wealth to certain disadvantaged groups.

Democratic Governor Ned Lamont recently had the gall to oppose the proposed taxation schemes.  And for that, hundreds of protestors showed up at his house and staged a mass ‘die-in’.  In this novel protest, freeloaders pretended to die in front of Mr. Lamont’s house because they want more free stuff…and he doesn’t want to give it to them.

This behavior, no doubt, has been conditioned in numerous states across the USA…

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Connecticut: Where Ridicule is a Crime, by Alan Dershowitz

The First Amendment is under siege, particularly at the state level. From Alan Dershowitz at gatestoneinstitute.org:

  • Among the most fundamental First Amendment rights is to ridicule — regardless of the reason. The same is true of holding people or groups up to contempt. Were Connecticut’s absurd statute to be upheld — which it will not be — it could be applied to comedians, op-ed writers, politicians, professors and other students.
  • And what about “creed”? Is being a conservative or a Trump supporter a creed that cannot be ridiculed?… [T]herein lies its greatest danger: selective prosecution based on current political correctness. Precisely the kind of unpopular speech which the First Amendment was designed to protect…

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It’s Not Just Illinois: Connecticut Faces Friday Day Of Reckoning, by Tyler Durden

SLL didn’t post separate stories for New Jersey and Maine, but they are also on the list with Illinois and Connecticut of states that can’t put together a balanced budget, and will have to suspend some or all of state operations starting this weekend. From Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com:

With Illinois facing a Friday night deadline by which it has to come up with its first fiscal budget in three years or face a downgrade to junk resulting in what a policymaker called a “death spiral“, another mini drama is taking place in Connecticut, which is also facing big budget problems as wealthy residents, hedge funds and major corporations flee the state’s high taxes and its fiscal future gets murkier by the day.

Just today, we reported that Aetna, the insurance giant founded in Hartford where it has been for the past 164 years, announced it would move its headquarters to New York City despite intensive lobbying efforts by Connecticut officials. The move, which followed a departure by GE of its Fairfield HQ of 40 years, is a blow to the company’s hometown, which is facing severe financial problems. Hartford’s problems are a representation of the troubles facing the entire state: while Illinois’ story is familiar, Connecticut has the distinction of the third-worst ratings in the country, only behind Illinois and New Jersey after S&P, Moody’s and Fitch all downgraded the state last month in what officials described as a “call to action” for state leaders.

“We’ve been downgraded by everybody in the last six months, and in the last year two or three times,” Senate Republican President Len Fasano said cited by Fox news. “If we don’t pass a budget, I think we will see a further downward spiral.”

And, just like Illinois (and 14 other states), Connecticut faces a Friday day of reckoning: the state has yet to pass a fiscal 2018 budget by the June 30 deadline.

To continue reading: It’s Not Just Illinois: Connecticut Faces Friday Day Of Reckoning