The state budget for Connecticut passed the House yesterday in Hartford in a very close vote. It provides for cuts of about $850 million from the previously approved spending plan, but it solves none of the problems that the state is facing. The estimate is that next year, the state will face a multi-billion dollar deficit, and since the state estimates are normally too rosy, it's safe to assume that the deficit will be truly enormous.
The newly passed budget could have started down the road of correcting the structural spending problems of the state government, but governor Malloy and the Democrats chose to ignore those problems. They're hoping for some sort of miracle that will happen before next year. At the same time, Malloy and his party are doing all they can to prevent any such miracle. Let's be clear: the reason that the state had to cut the budget this year is that revenues received by Hartford have fallen way below projections. How could that be? The Democrats jacked up the taxes on the wealthy and then waited for the cash to roll in. But something predictable happened; wealthy people moved out of the state or at least moved their business out of the state. Remember if just 100 families making over one million dollars a year move out of the state, it cost the state something like fifteen million dollars in lost income and sales taxes from those who depart alone. Then there's all the business and jobs that those who remain lose because these families departed, and there's lost taxes on that group as well. But it wasn't just 100 rich people who left. The statistics show that our state is losing people. We're one of the very few that have that problem. Some, like West Virginia, are losing folks because the coal industry is being destroyed by Washington and therefore losing jobs. Connecticut is the only one that is being driven into population losses by its state government. I've lived here for more than thirty years. When I moved to Connecticut, there was no income tax and the sales tax was much lower. Now, after decades of tax increases, our income tax tops out at 9% and the sales tax is steep too. Why wouldn't older residents move to Florida where homes are much less costly, prices in general are lower, and there's no income tax either? Why wouldn't others move to New Hampshire which has low taxes? Connecticut is nice, but not nice enough to overcome such a financial difference for so many folks.
So why couldn't the legislature stare making real changes to the budget? We have commissions and agencies put in place by liberal legislatures to deal with pet causes. I don't know all of them, but I'm sure our state has a board to promote the hiring of left handed cab drivers of mixed races. We have everything else. It's a way that the legislators can claim to do something while also providing a nice cushy state job for some friends who actually do nothing.
It's time for a revolutionary reorientation of the Connecticut legislature. The voters need to dump all the idiots who just spend and spend and spend. I know they won't. Still, we will all pay the price if we don't.
The newly passed budget could have started down the road of correcting the structural spending problems of the state government, but governor Malloy and the Democrats chose to ignore those problems. They're hoping for some sort of miracle that will happen before next year. At the same time, Malloy and his party are doing all they can to prevent any such miracle. Let's be clear: the reason that the state had to cut the budget this year is that revenues received by Hartford have fallen way below projections. How could that be? The Democrats jacked up the taxes on the wealthy and then waited for the cash to roll in. But something predictable happened; wealthy people moved out of the state or at least moved their business out of the state. Remember if just 100 families making over one million dollars a year move out of the state, it cost the state something like fifteen million dollars in lost income and sales taxes from those who depart alone. Then there's all the business and jobs that those who remain lose because these families departed, and there's lost taxes on that group as well. But it wasn't just 100 rich people who left. The statistics show that our state is losing people. We're one of the very few that have that problem. Some, like West Virginia, are losing folks because the coal industry is being destroyed by Washington and therefore losing jobs. Connecticut is the only one that is being driven into population losses by its state government. I've lived here for more than thirty years. When I moved to Connecticut, there was no income tax and the sales tax was much lower. Now, after decades of tax increases, our income tax tops out at 9% and the sales tax is steep too. Why wouldn't older residents move to Florida where homes are much less costly, prices in general are lower, and there's no income tax either? Why wouldn't others move to New Hampshire which has low taxes? Connecticut is nice, but not nice enough to overcome such a financial difference for so many folks.
So why couldn't the legislature stare making real changes to the budget? We have commissions and agencies put in place by liberal legislatures to deal with pet causes. I don't know all of them, but I'm sure our state has a board to promote the hiring of left handed cab drivers of mixed races. We have everything else. It's a way that the legislators can claim to do something while also providing a nice cushy state job for some friends who actually do nothing.
It's time for a revolutionary reorientation of the Connecticut legislature. The voters need to dump all the idiots who just spend and spend and spend. I know they won't. Still, we will all pay the price if we don't.
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