It seems that the Democrats in Hartford are collectively auditioning for a remake of the movie "Clueless". How else can one explain their latest disaster in creating a state budget? Consider this: the Democrats who control the legislature and the governorship met in secret and without consulting anyone else (like the Republican minority) and decided to increase spending and to fund that increase with two of their favorite things, namely a millionaires tax and higher corporate taxes. One big corporate tax the Democrats agreed upon is a major increase in taxes for companies that have their headquarters in the state. So, if you headed a major corporation with worldwide activities that has its headquarters here, how would you react to the news that your company would be hit with millions of dollars of new taxes? It's no surprise; within 24 hours of the new tax being announced both GE and Aetna said they would move their headquarters out of the state if the new tax was enacted.
The response of the Democrats was laughable. Basically, they all ran for cover saying that they had no idea that companies might leave if taxes were raised. Really? These are companies that choose to be headquartered in Connecticut but for whom moving would be easy. They really had no idea that these firms might leave? By the way, the exit of these companies would cost the state tens of thousands of jobs.
Anyway, after pleading ignorance, the Democrats have now revised their plan for state spending. Oh, they did not cut spending at all, they just shifted the tax increase to others. That's right, the corporate headquarters tax is history, but the Democrats will instead raise the tax on cigarettes. The mostly poor people who smoke are now going to fund the waste that passes for government activity in this state.
It's a funny thing; the Democrats just don't seem to remember the history of this state. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Connecticut economy grew dramatically with a great many large companies moving here. The big draw was that Connecticut had no personal income tax. All manner of big companies moved from New York to Fairfield County. Stamford became a corporate headquarters city. Then, the state gave away its advantage; it passed an income tax. Since then the taxes in the state have risen to the point where they are among the highest of all the states. The economy has been stagnant. Over the last 15 years, Connecticut has just about the worst record of all states when it comes to job creation. Despite all this, the Democrats in Hartford refuse to recognize reality. They just keep raising taxes and spending more. If the spending made a difference, then there might be an argument that it made sense. The problem, however, is that the state seems unable to accomplish anything.
The response of the Democrats was laughable. Basically, they all ran for cover saying that they had no idea that companies might leave if taxes were raised. Really? These are companies that choose to be headquartered in Connecticut but for whom moving would be easy. They really had no idea that these firms might leave? By the way, the exit of these companies would cost the state tens of thousands of jobs.
Anyway, after pleading ignorance, the Democrats have now revised their plan for state spending. Oh, they did not cut spending at all, they just shifted the tax increase to others. That's right, the corporate headquarters tax is history, but the Democrats will instead raise the tax on cigarettes. The mostly poor people who smoke are now going to fund the waste that passes for government activity in this state.
It's a funny thing; the Democrats just don't seem to remember the history of this state. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Connecticut economy grew dramatically with a great many large companies moving here. The big draw was that Connecticut had no personal income tax. All manner of big companies moved from New York to Fairfield County. Stamford became a corporate headquarters city. Then, the state gave away its advantage; it passed an income tax. Since then the taxes in the state have risen to the point where they are among the highest of all the states. The economy has been stagnant. Over the last 15 years, Connecticut has just about the worst record of all states when it comes to job creation. Despite all this, the Democrats in Hartford refuse to recognize reality. They just keep raising taxes and spending more. If the spending made a difference, then there might be an argument that it made sense. The problem, however, is that the state seems unable to accomplish anything.
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