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HARTFORDS DEMISE WAS NO SURPRISE
As we
had learned in Oct, 2016 that
Moodys Drops Hartfords Bond Rating Again
- Courant Community
And on
July 11, 2017 that
BUT IT WAS A SURPRISE TO
LEARN TODAY
From the article by Keith
M. Phaneuf of CTMirror.org captioned
Malloy recognizes his budget proposal is $121M out of balance
That Malloys
Concession Deal Pending before the State Employee Unions is Apparently Flawed
The following is an excerpt from Keith Phaneufs
article
The $40.6 billion, two-year budget Malloy unveiled on May 15
effectively assumes $46.7 million in labor savings in the first year and $74.5
million in the second that the administration now acknowledges it cant achieve at
least as originally planned.
Why? Because those cost-saving measures which largely
involve reducing staff and closing and consolidating facilities would require
layoffs that would be prohibited for four years under the concessions deal
pending before state employee unions.
And the governors budget relies on
the assumed savings from that deal, about $1.6 billion over two years combined,
to remain in balance.
In other words, the governor cannot achieve both the
concessions savings and the $121.2 million that would come from staff
reductions and closures and consolidations.
Continue Reading this
Excellent Report→
July
13, 2017
From:
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Org
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
For a deeper look at Connecticuts
state budget crisis, read Keith Phaneufs
acclaimed five-part series,
A Legacy of Debt
***********************
Also, taking issue with Malloys
Concession Deal is Bob
Williams, President of State Budget Solutions in his article
captioned
Concessions to Connecticuts
Public Employee Unions Erode Value of Reforms in Tentative Deal
Therein, Mr. Williams notes
In the end, the agreement will result in $1.5
billion in savings over the next two years compared with the originally
projected state spending levels. But with a projected $5 billion deficit over
the next two years, this $1.5 billion in savings represents just a partial
budget solution for the state with the third worst credit rating in the
nation. Locking the state into a contract for up to a decade could
worsen, rather than alleviate, the fiscal crises. Simply embracing the pension
reforms and a temporary salary freeze without this long-term benefits agreement
is a more prudent course of action.
Read Mr. Williams complete article at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/concessions-to-public-sector-unions-erode-value-of_us_59600fcbe4b08f5c97d069c5
***********************
If the staff writers of Saturday Night Live
have been keeping a watch of the antics which have been unfolding during the
past several months relating to the State, its finances and the budget, they
could win an Emmy if they put it to script!!!
But this is no laughing matter because it
will be the taxpayers of our State and its 169 towns who will pay the price for
the folly in which our Governor and State Legislators have engaged. And that
price could ultimately be the loss of homes through tax lien sales if property
taxes are raised due to the fiscal constraints of the State coupled with the
legally binding union agreements our State legislators have negotiated in
secret with the state public employee unions over the years which have brought
us to where we are today!
A STATE PLAGUED WITH A $74.3
BILLION DEBT!
A $5 BILLION DEFICIT! AND
THE STATE EMPLOYEE UNIONS IN
CONTROL AND
HOLDING THE STATE AND ITS
TAXPAYERS HOSTAGE!
***********************
And recently, the Record-Journal reported
CT House speaker: Its
OK to say you failed sometimes
First, many taxpayers in our State would offer this response
to the Democrat House Speaker
NO! NO! NO! IT IS NOT OK TO
FAIL WHEN YOU ARE GAMBLING WITH THE HARD EARNED MONEY OF CONNECTICUT TAXPAYERS!
Second, Mr. Aresimowicz, the
Speaker of the House is not just any elected official, he is also a UNION REP
who was fortunate to have the State Ethics Commission rule on his behalf as
highlighted within the CTMirror.org article captioned Ethics opinion: Aresimowicz
can be House speaker, union staffer.
Therein, the following is noted:
The Office of State Ethics has
advised Rep. Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, that nothing
in the state ethics code bars him from continuing his job as education
coordinator with AFSCME, an influential public-employee union, once he becomes
speaker of the House of Representatives. Continue reading at https://ctmirror.org/2016/12/30/ethics-opinion-aresimowicz-can-be-house-speaker-union-staffer/
Here
is a suggestion. Reform
the State Ethics Code and End the OBVIOUS CONFLICT.
And
imagine, if you can, that while all of this turmoil is ongoing, the State
Employee Unions are voting to determine our fate. Will they or Wont They accept
the concessions on the table?
So
you now know who really controls Connecticuts government and
$$$$$$. Not your State elected officials.But the State
Employee Unions,through LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACTS
called UNION CONTRACTS!
The
system of quid-pro-quo politics between State Democrats and State Employee
Unions has financially crippled our state. For over 30 years, Democrats
have controlled the State Legislature. Dan Malloy upon his election to the
Governors office proclaimed himself to be The Son of Organized Labor. And
of course that was befitting since Democrat Legislators have bestowed lucrative
wage and pension contracts on the state employee unions. And these
contracts were negotiated behind closed doors in secret. No member of the
taxpaying public participated in those discussions or in setting the terms
within these legally binding contracts. And the unions of course
have consistently shown their appreciation by endorsing the Democrats for
re-election.
Union dues can be lucrative for the Unions. Now you
may be surprised to learn that we, the taxpayers of the State of Connecticut, collect
these millions of $$$ in dues for the unions.
That practice should end immediately as it has in other
states as noted within use of a states payroll systems to
collect union dues is a state subsidy-Get the Government Out of the
Business of Being a Dues Collector Continue reading at https://nrtwc.org/get-government-business-dues-collector/. ;
Also read, Nebraska Senators Weigh Ending
Deductions for Union Dues
And Connecticut
has been making national news elsewhere. Two years ago, on June 5, 2015, the
Wall St Journal predicted the States demise. In a headlined article captioned Connecticut Tax Boomerang they wrote:
The last time we
visited the formerly great
state of Connecticut,
Democrats were preparing to raise taxes again after promising not to when they
ran for re-election in 2014. This week they did the deed, and the politicians
seem shocked that the business community is in revolt.
General Electric, long
a Connecticut fixture, protested that the state is retroactively raising taxes
again, which makes businesses, including our own, and citizens seriously
consider whether it makes any sense to continue to be located in this state. Aetna, the giant
health insurer and pillar of Hartford, said the bill would undermine the
competitiveness of companies and lead to an exodus of jobs and business from
the state. Continue to Read at http://www.wsj.com/articles/connecticut-tax-boomerang-1433544585
And the rest is history as last month we
read
First GE, Now Aetna-Connecticut Watches
As Corporate Giants Leave the State
You may also find the following articles of
interest
Public
Union Politics Hits the Wall in New Jersey, Illinois and Connecticut (editorial
- Wall Street Journal)$$
The
Blue-State Model Collapses in Connecticut
Union deal could saddle Connecticut
with 30 year labor contract
So
how much are we paying our State employees!
Click
on the following and browse
http://openpayroll.ct.gov/#!/year/2016/card/highest_paid_employee
And also check out http://transparency.ct.gov/html/main.asp
