Cutting One Knot Won’t Be Enough
Once the elections come and go, the most pressing issue facing the new crop of elected officials will be a seemingly intractable $3.3 billion budget deficit for 2012. With some candidates pledging solutions without tax hikes and others making new spending promises, the budget’s Gordian knot seems poised to become a noose that strangles Connecticut’s [...]
» Read MoreReform Connecticut’s State Employee Pension System
On Monday, I talked to NBC Connecticut’s Tom Monahan about Connecticut’s $51 billion unfunded pension liabilities and how to fix the problem. According to recent studies, Connecticut’s pension system could be broke by 2019 and is in the 5th worst shape in the nation. Moving state workers from a defined benefit plan to defined contribution plan will save the state money and be more secure for employees.
» Read MoreA Rebuttal on Economic Development and My Response
On Saturday, July 10, the Courant published my essay on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the state’s economic development strategy. No one less than the Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development responded via a Letter to the Editor in the July 15 edition of the Courant.
» Read MoreResigning as Manchester RTC Chair
My letter of resignation to the Manchester Republican Town Committee: The reasons for this decision are all positive. In recent months, my employer, the Yankee Institute, has doubled in size and, as a result, my workload has increased. I am also a newlywed and am very much enjoying married life with my terrific new wife, Emily.
» Read MoreNew Online Tools Help Hold Gov’t Accountable
At Tuesday’s New Haven’s Social Networking Connecticut week panel discussion, panel guests discussed the ways that social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook are changing the way people interact with government. The New Haven Independent covered the forum, which was held at the King’s Block Building in New Haven.
» Read MoreIncumbent Democrats in Hartford Don’t Get It
Republican Town Committee Chairman Heath W. Fahle strongly criticized the actions of State Representative John W. Thompson (D-South Manchester) a day after receiving a taxpayer-funded mailer from the longtime State Legislator. “At a time when the economy is in the tank and the State budget is awash in red ink, Rep. Thompson’s shameless self-promotion is offensive to local residents,” said Fahle.
» Read MoreWhat a Long, Strange Journey Indeed
If there was a takeaway point to be gleaned from nine hours of Gov. Rowland powered by 50,000 watts, it was that his effectiveness as a communicator of ideas has not diminished in the years since he departed the Governor’s Mansion. He articulated the merits of free enterprise, economic development, and common sense in budgeting with considerable talent.
» Read MoreConnecticut Must Fix Business Climate
Published in the Hartford Courant on Saturday, July 10, 2010, my Opinion Editorial piece notes that Connecticut’s business climate doesn’t benefit from the band-aid economic development strategy pursued by the state government. Rather than tax subsidies to a few, Connecticut’s elected officials should make the business climate more conducive to economic growth.
» Read MoreJournal Inquirer a Day Late, Dollar Short on Nathan Hale
After the Manchester Board of Education voted to close Nathan Hale Elementary School, in direct contradiction to a promise made by three Democratic Members of the BoE during the 2009 election campaign, Manchester’s local paper of record, the Journal Inquirer, has vociferously advocated for the re-opening of the school. I wrote the JI a Letter to the Editor to remind them that their proposed solutions are exactly the same as the 2009 Republican campaign platform.
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