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June 30, 2009

June 30, 2009

From:� The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact:� Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032

TAX TALK JUNE 30, 2009

BREAKING NEWS � Rell Ready With Executive Order To Pay State Bills

�http://blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/2009/06/rell-ready-with-executive-orde.html

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Also In this edition of Tax Talk�..

� PACER:� Great website to access court cases http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/ - Example:� GM Bankruptcy Filing

� Did William DiBella, the current Chairman of the MDC Commission, Pay the Court Ordered $791,000?�

� Hastings concerned about pace of government spending

� � Commentary: Sotomayor reversal not a first

� �STATE DEMOCRATS PASS BUDGET WITH A $2.5 BILLION TAX INCREASE

� The Journal Inquirer Reports:� Democrats� budget riddled with holes

� Connecticut State Marshals Reporting Net Income of $1.1 Million

� CAP AND TRADE Passes House 219 to 212 (see how they voted)

� Court Deal Strips Madoff Wealth

� How Congress Will Steal the Recovery

� Bankrupt Banking System Bailouts & Stimulus , You Can't Borrow Your Way Out of Debt

� Iraq Set to Seek Foreign Oil Bids

� Congress Members Grabbed or Dumped Stocks as Market Crashed

� Retirement Incentives Likely To Mean More 'Double Dipping'

� Thousands Demonstrate Silently in Tehran

� Lawmakers Vote To Bail Out UConn Health Center

� Chrysler won�t pick up taxes tab

� Analysis: Obama faces balancing act on economy

� How the bailout bashed the banks

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GET PACER

For inquiring minds who want to keep current on court cases, sign up for Pacer today.� The process is simple and the cost is minimal.� You can access Pacer at the following website http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/ or contact them as follows�.

PACER Service Center, P.O. Box 780549, San Antonio, TX 78278
(800) 676-6856, (210) 301-6440

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By Susan Kniep �� Re U. S. District Court Case 04-1342��

DID WILLIAM DIBELLA, CHAIR OF THE MDC COMMISSION,

PAY THE $791,625 JUDGEMENT?

William DiBella is Chairman of the MDC Commission.� http://www.themdc.com/

The Commission has initiated a $2 Billion, publicly funded, Clean Water Project.� http://www.themdc.com/mdcfeb08.pdf

�

In March of 2008, the SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION released the following:��

Litigation Release No. 20498 / March 14, 2008

SEC v. William A. DiBella, et al, Civil Action No. 3:04 CV 1342 (EBB) (D. Conn.)

Court Orders William DiBella, Former Majority Leader of the Connecticut State Senate, to Pay Over $791,000 in Connection with Fraud Relating to State Pension Fund

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on March 13, 2008, the Honorable Ellen Bree Burns, United States District Judge for the District of Connecticut, entered a judgment imposing sanctions against William A. DiBella, the former Majority Leader of the Connecticut State Senate, and his consulting firm, North Cove Ventures, L.L.C. for their roles in aiding and abetting then Treasurer of the State of Connecticut, Paul J. Silvester in a fraudulent investment scheme. Pursuant to the scheme, Silvester had invested $75 million in state pension funds with Thayer Capital Partners, a Washington, DC-based private equity firm, and arranged for Thayer to pay DiBella a percentage of the investment, though he did not do work to justify the payment.�

The announcement is continued at the following web link http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2008/lr20498.htm

Many to include myself called for Mr. DiBella to step down from the MDC.� http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/local_politics/dibella_survives_ouster_attemp.php

Per Court records, in January, 2009, the SEC issued a subpoena to Guilford Savings Bank seeking records related to an account held by DiBella�s wife.�

In February, 2009, Ms. DiBella filed an Affidavit in support of a Motion of Quash the subpoena and on March 5 filed the Motion to Quash.

The SEC countered Ms. DiBella by disputing her application of The Right to Financial Privacy Act.

It appears Judge Ellen Burns agreed. The following are excerpts from the May 30, 2009 findings of Judge Burns:

� For the reasons stated below, DiBella�s motion to quash subpoena duces

tecum [Doc. No. 150] is DENIED, and Plaintiff�s motion to strike

affidavit of Donna Dibella [Doc. No. 154] is GRANTED.

� On March 20, 2008, a judgment was issued against William DiBella in the amount of $791,625.45, pursuant to a jury trial and this court�s order [Doc. No. 134].

� The SEC claims that William DiBella has not paid any money toward the order to date.

� The SEC has engaged in post-judgment discovery and claims to have uncovered evidence that William DiBella has transferred interest in at least one asset to his wife, Donna DiBella. The evidence suggests that Donna DiBella received two wire transfers totaling $352,698.28 from 1000 Main Parking, LLC into her Guilford Savings Bank account.

� Plaintiff further claims that the evidence shows that DiBella owned no interest in 1000 Main Parking, LLC prior to the transfers but that William DiBella did.

As President of the Federation of CT Taxpayer Organizations, I suggest that both Mr. DiBella�s interests and the public�s interests would best be served if he were to remove himself from the MDC Commission and dedicate his time to working in cooperation with the SEC to resolve his outstanding issues.��

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Subsequent to the aforementioned on William DiBella, Don Michak of the Journal Inquirer provided additional information on this subject in his article captioned -

SEC: DiBella transferred asset to wife and won�t pay up�

By Don Michak, Journal Inquirer

Published: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 9:37 AM EDT

Metropolitan District Commission Chairman William A. DiBella has yet to pay any of the $791,500 in fines imposed by a federal judge 15 months ago after the longtime Democratic powerbroker lost a civil fraud lawsuit filed by federal regulators, court records show.

Moreover, the documents reveal that lawyers for the Securities and Exchange Commission have charged that after losing the lawsuit, DiBella transferred his interest in �at least one asset� to his wife, Donna DiBella.

They say Donna DiBella has claimed that she was due a $352,698 payment from her husband in connection with a loan she had made in 1999 to a company in which he held a 19.6 percent stake, but in which they say she never owned an interest.

Don Michak�s article is continued at �.. http://ctact.org/default.asp?callcontent=yes&filename=DiBella.htm%20%20%20&location=Hall_of_Shame&buttonname=Hall%20of%20Shame

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Hastings concerned about pace of government spending By Michelle Dupler, Herald staff writer , Published: 06/30/09 � KENNEWICK -- Rep. Doc Hastings has been doing some math lately, and he doesn't like the way the numbers are adding up. Federal spending, the national debt and the budget deficit all are rising to unprecedented levels, and that's cause for concern or at least debate, said the Republican congressman from Pasco. "Man, we are spending money," Hastings told the Herald's editorial board Monday. The first number Hastings crunched was the ratio of federal spending to the gross domestic product. Since World War II, spending has been slowly increasing, but mostly hovering around 20 percent of GDP. Continued at �. http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/795398.html

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Commentary: Sotomayor reversal not a first By Lucas A. Powe,� a professor of constitutional law at The University of Texas and the author of the recently published book, "The Supreme Court and the American Elite, 1789-2008." He clerked for Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas�.. AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) -- Monday, in the much anticipated New Haven, Connecticut, firefighters' case, the Supreme Court reversed an opinion joined by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. The reversal was expected and is not the first time an appointee has been reversed by the court he was about to join. Indeed, two of Chief Justice Warren Burger's opinions for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals were reversed in 1969, the year he joined the court. One was Watts v. United States, in which the defendant had been convicted for threatening the life of the president. Continued at �. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/29/powe.new.haven/index.html

�Sotomayer Discrimination Case Reversed�. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529409,00.html

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STATE DEMOCRATS PASS BUDGET WITH A $2.5 BILLION TAX INCREASE

As Governor Rell denounces a State Tax Increase, the Democrat-controlled state legislature passed a budget with $2.5 billion in new taxes after giving state employees an $86 million contract with some receiving 6% wage increases.�� http://ctact.org/default.asp?callcontent=yes&filename=Democrats%20send%20budget%20to%20Rell.htm%20%20%20&location=State_-_Budget&buttonname=State%20-%20Budget

The Journal Inquirer Reports:�

Democrats� budget riddled with holes

http://ctact.org/default.asp?callcontent=yes&filename=ANALYSISJI.htm%20%20%20&location=State_-_Budget&buttonname=State%20-%20Budget

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Connecticut State Marshals Reporting Net Income of $1.1 Million

Legislator: State Marshal Double-Billing Is Illegal By MATTHEW KAUFFMAN The Hartford Courant June 23, 2009 Late last month, state Marshal John T. Fiorillo delivered a foreclosure lawsuit to a home in Wallingford, dropped off duplicates of the suit at two state agencies, and put several more copies in the mail. His take for the work: about $400. But at each stop, Fiorillo also included a copy of a "lis pendens," a three-page lien document filed in town hall as part of a foreclosure suit. And in keeping with the custom of marshals, Fiorillo, who reported a net income of $1.1 million last year, treated the delivery of those pages as an entirely distinct act, billing twice for service charges, twice for authenticating the papers, and even twice for round-trip mileage � moves that boosted his paycheck to nearly $700. Continued at �.. http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-marshals0623.artjun23,0,774046.story

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CAP AND TRADE PASSES HOUSE

219 to 212

(click party heading below to see how they voted)

	Yes	No	Not Voting
Democratic	211	44	1
Republican	8	168	2

THERE IS STILL TIME TO PROTEST

Per CNN:�� Having cleared the House, the bill now faces an unclear future in the Senate, where Democratic leaders have held off on introducing their own version of the legislation.

Contact Senator Dodd at

http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/3128

U.S. Senator Chris Dodd
448 Russell Building | Washington D.C., 20510
Tel: (202) 224-2823 | Fax: (202) 224-1083

30 Lewis St Suite 101 | Hartford, CT 06103
Tel: (860) 258-6940/(800) 334-5341 �CT only
Fax: (860) 258-6958

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Court Deal Strips Madoff Wealth, June 27, 2009, BBC News: "A US court has stripped disgraced financier Bernard Madoff and his wife of their wealth. Madoff forfeited rights to assets totalling $170bn (�103bn) - the figure prosecutors said passed through his investment firm over the years." Continued at �. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8122085.stm

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How Congress Will Steal the Recovery,Janet Novack and Brian Wingfield, 06.24.09, 06:00 PM EDT Forbes Magazine dated July 13, 2009 That rebound you are counting on in corporate profits? Washington is going to tax, mandate and regulate it away. The economy got stimulated. That was Act I. in Act II it is going to be smothered. Continued at �..� http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0713/business-mandates-corporate-how-congress-will-steal-recovery.html

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Bankrupt Banking System Bailouts & Stimulus , You Can't Borrow Your Way Out of Debt Jun 24, 2009, By: James_Quinn Time is running out. The public relations campaign being conducted by the Obama administration, Federal Reserve and nation�s largest banks is beginning to fail. The lies, half-truths, and cover-up regarding the solvency of the largest banks in the U.S. will be revealed as reality interrupts their master plan. The politicians and government bureaucrats know that 80% of the population don�t understand or care about economic issues. The plan is insidious, systematic and deceptively simple: Continued at �..� http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article11551.html

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Iraq Set to Seek Foreign Oil Bids, June 28, 2009, Ernesto Londono and K.I. Ibrahim, The Washington Post: "Iraq is poised to open its coveted oil fields to foreign companies this week for the first time in nearly four decades, a politically risky move in a country eager to shake off the stigma of occupation. Iraqi politicians and some veteran oil officials have said the deals are unduly beneficial to oil giants, which are viewed warily by many in this deeply nationalistic but cash-strapped country." Continued at �. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/27/AR2009062702233.html?hpid=topnews

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Congress Members Grabbed or Dumped Stocks as Market Crashed
Stephen Koff and Sabrina Eaton, June 28, 2009:� The Cleveland Plain Dealer: "As financial markets tumbled and the government worked to stave off panic by pumping billions of dollars into banks last fall, several members of Congress who oversee the banking industry were grabbing up or dumping bank stocks." http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/06/members_of_us_house_financial.html

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In Close Vote, House Passes Climate Bill
Measure Aims to Change Energy Use, By Steven Mufson, David A. Fahrenthold and Paul Kane Washington Post Staff Writers, Saturday, June 27, 2009

The House narrowly passed an ambitious climate bill yesterday that would establish national limits on greenhouse gases, create a complex trading system for emission permits and provide incentives to alter how individuals and corporations use energy.

The bill passed 219 to 212 (click to see how they voted)� after a furious lobbying push by the White House and party leaders won over farm-state Democrats who had complained that it was too costly, and liberals who wondered if it was too watered down to work. Even after that effort, 44 Democrats voted against the legislation.

The bill, if it became law, would lead to vast changes in the ways energy is made, sold and used in the United States -- putting new costs over time on electricity from fossil fuels and directing new billions to "clean" power from sources such as the wind and the sun.

It would require U.S. emissions to decline 17 percent by 2020. To make that happen, the bill would create an economy that trades in greenhouse gases. Polluters would be required to buy "credits" to cover their emissions; Midwestern farmers, among others, could sell "offsets" for things they didn't emit; and Wall Street could turn those commodities into a new market.

Delaying the vote, Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) spoke for about an hour, reading long sections of a 300-page amendment unveiled at 3 a.m. yesterday. Continued at �. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/26/AR2009062600444_pf.html

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Thousands Demonstrate Silently in Tehran, June 29, 2009 CNN: "Watched closely by police, several thousand protesters moved slowly down a major Tehran thoroughfare Sunday in the first demonstration over the country's disputed presidential election that authorities have allowed in days. About 5,000 people shuffled in silence down Tehran's Shariati Street to the Ghoba mosque, where two of the opposition candidates in the June 12 election were to appear to honor a slain hero of the 1979 Islamic revolution." http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/28/iran.demonstration/index.html

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Retirement Incentives Likely To Mean More 'Double Dipping'

Jon Lender | Government Watch , June 21, 2009� More and more prominent, high-salaried Connecticut officials are planning to retire July 1 under the state's newly legislated retirement incentive program. But not all of them will be leaving their government jobs. How is that possible? Some of them plan to return after July 1 as "120-day wonders." These "re-employed retirees," as they are formally labeled, can work up to 120 days a year at their old salaries, prorated per day, while also collecting pensions that either approach or exceed $100,000 a year. So, even though the new retirement program is designed to save the state about $110 million a year in salaries, the retirements of at least a select few top officials won't initially result in much or any savings. http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-retirement-double-dip-0621.artjun21,0,3019515.column

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Lawmakers Vote To Bail Out UConn Health Center, By CHRISTOPHER KEATING | The Hartford Courant, June 20, 2009 With the state facing its worst deficits in decades, the problem got a little worse Friday.� The state legislature voted to bail out the cash-strapped University of Connecticut Health Center for the fourth time since 2000 � helping make the overall state deficit even larger.� The health center had projected a deficit of $11.5 million earlier in the fiscal year, but that gap has nearly doubled to $22.2 million. With only 11 days left before the fiscal year ends on June 30, lawmakers allocated the money to cover the deficit and keep operations running. Continued at �. http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-uconn-health-center-bailout-.artjun20,0,589003.story

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Chrysler won�t pick up taxes tab, McClatchy-Tribune News Service, June 20, 2009, KOKOMO � Taxing units in Howard County will not receive $6.1 million in personal property taxes owed by the former Chrysler LLC for the spring and will be down $12.3 million for the year unless an agreement is reached. http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/statenews/local_story_171204625.html

Analysis: Obama faces balancing act on economy
The Associated Press, June 20, 2009�� Polls show people in the United States increasingly are concerned about the government's record levels of debt, a sour legacy for future generations.� Continued at �. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iuajkVKMNPDzLAgo3vCFHSYFNszgD98UPDPO0

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How the bailout bashed the banks, They were rescued from a crisis of their own making, but the political thrashing has left bad blood between business and government. An inside look at the trouble with TARP. By Nina Easton, Washington editor, Fortune Magazine, Last Updated: June 21, 2009: 7:14 AM ET,� http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/19/news/economy/trouble_with_tarp_bailout.fortune/?postversion=2009062106

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