JI: Republican Budget Closest to Fitting Economic Circumstances
Who has come the closest to building a budget that meets demands of Connecticut residents fed up with tax increases? You guessed it: Connecticut House Republicans. And that’s not us talking, that’s writers at the Journal Inquirer. See an April 22 report, which tells readers: “Proposing to spend almost $2 billion less than what Governor Rell, a Republican, and the legislature’s Democratic leaders propose to spend, the Republican budget refuses to raise taxes. It would exact more concessions from the state employee unions than the governor and the Democratic leaders would, though far from what would be necessary to bring state employee compensation down to the level of the average taxpayer.” It’s been reported that a vast majority of participants in a recent Quinnipiac poll say they don’t want government to increase their taxes, instead favoring a search for spending reductions.
House Republican legislators, with their Senate colleagues, took that message to heart and sought innovative efficiencies that would create a leaner government that would cost less to operate.
Over the last few weeks, super-majority Democrats have said repeatedly that their budget spreads a fuzzy safety blanket over the state’s underprivileged. But the Journal Inquirer exposes a majority party tactic that many residents are starting to figure out, that Connecticut’s less fortunate “matter to the Democrats only insofar as they are good business, the best pretext for maintaining the lucrative patronage of state employment. After all, the poorer the population, the more government it can be said to need — which is how things in Connecticut have worked out for the last few decades as the state heads toward being half poor and half government.”
Loading ...
2 Responses to “JI: Republican Budget Closest to Fitting Economic Circumstances”
Don’t be swayed by Chris Powell. He thinks this is 1909, or at least he wishes it was. Ah, the good old days! No minimum wage, no safety requirements in the workplace, and best of all NO LABOR UNIONS. If only, eh Chris?
Comment made on April 24th, 2009 at 1:54 pmPlease this kook has been on an anti-state employee, anti-teacher, anti-public employee unholy Jihad since I can remember.
The republican minority is just that because the party has lost its way. I’ve voted Republican in many elections because I thought that the Democrats just couldn’t put up candidates more out of touch with the middle and working class but here in CT the Republicans have done just that, simply sell outs to the CBIA who pretend they represent small business but nothing could be further from the truth.
The party constantly fights even modest protections for workers when it comes to health care, sick days and health insurance.
The constant anti-union, anti-state employee, anti-working poor drum beat of the part will continue to doom this party in CT and the Northeast.
If the economy begins to improve in the next year or two I see the party losing even more ground.
Why, well it’s interesting that the party fought tooth and nail for no caps on executive compensation in the original Bush bailouts, they approved the lack of SEC oversight of the financial markets and look where that got us (technical term “Market Failure”) but when it came to unionized car companies they demanded all kinds of concessions from union workers while the CEO of GM walks away with MILLIONS, yeah the party of the people.
The Republican answer to the budget issue; sell state parks, bridges, roads, privatize state services, sorry but this is lunacy, its intellectual laziness, its simply fraud, but you jnow what I almost hope they do it, because I want to read Powells howls how some CEO is making millions off by charging residents to enter a State park, cross a bridge, mange Bradley, yes that would be sweet.
My opinion if the party keeps up the misinformation campaign on progressive State income taxes, if they keep showing a disregard for middleclass workers, if they keep pandering to the CBIA and Wealthy and if they keep pointing to lunatics like Powell as proving their worth then sadly this party is truly doomed.
Comment made on April 25th, 2009 at 3:05 pmLeave a Comment