February 29, 2012
From The Federation of Connecticut
Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Contact Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
CEO's arrest may
affect TicketNetwork's 'First Five' status Hartford - The founder and president of a company chosen as
an early beneficiary of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's
"First Five" economic development program is facing criminal charges
for alleged misbehavior at an Academy Awards party. According to an account in
The Hartford
Courant, an intoxicated Vaccaro touched and kissed
random women at the party and then grabbed the breasts of one woman with both
of his hands. When a bouncer tried to pry his hands off the woman and escort
him outside, Vaccaro became belligerent and
threatened the bouncer, calling him a "black mother-[expletive]" and
other insults. ….. The deal proposes a 10-year, $4.5 million loan to the
company at 2 percent interest. If TicketNetwork
creates 200 new jobs in addition to the 292 jobs it supported last summer, $2.5
million of the loan would be "forgiven." The state would also give a
$1.45 million grant to the company for employee training and an alternative
energy system. Continued at ….. http://www.theday.com/article/20120228/NWS12/302289930/0/OP
'First
Five' firm TicketNetwork skirts rules, pushes ethical
boundaries TicketNetwork uses elaborate system to get
more than its share of seats http://www.theday.com/article/20111030/NWS12/310309915
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Malloy stirs up feds with immigration
policy By Ana Radelat and Mark Pazniokas Feb 28,
2012 Add a Comment Washington
-- Gov. Dannel Malloy's announcement that he will
decide whether to turn over detained immigrants to federal authorities has
landed with a thud in Washington.
"We expect all local law enforcement to honor all of our detainers," said Ross Feinstein, spokesman for U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
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Menacing Message Points Back To DEEP
(Department of Energy and Environmental Protection) Official
Hartford Courant, Kevin Rennie - .......The call to David also comports with a
disturbing theme emerging in the Malloy administration. Some of its members,
including at times the governor, mistake power for truth. Malloy's narrow
victory gave him and his people power. They also believe it made them the
repository of truth. Those who disagree or cross them, whether it's a bond
ratings agency, Department of Transportation snowplow drivers, state police or
legislators who question the administration, are met with a harsh lash. Dissent
is not tolerated. The backlash is always disproportionate to the difference. The midnight call from Schrag's
cellphone caught the spirit of the administration he
serves in. Read complete article at http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-op-rennie-odd-phone-call-20120228-9,0,1127736.column
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Malloy offers plan to shield judges' salaries from
political debates By Keith M. Phaneuf on February 28, 2012
CTMirror.org Connecticut's judges, who
have been trying for the last five years to remove their salaries from the
political arena, might have their best chance to do so now through legislation
offered by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Although the
governor's bill still allows
legislators to block raises, a new, appointed Commission on Judicial
Compensation would have chief responsibility for ordering pay increases. Read
more http://ctmirror.com/story/15575/malloy-offers-plan-shield-judges-salaries-political-debates
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Retired Police Chief's Pension: $128,000 A Year, $272,000 Lump
Sum By JENNA CARLESSO and STEVEN GOODE, jcarlesso@courant.com, The Hartford Courant February 26,
2012 http://www.courant.com/community/hartford/hc-roberts-pension-0226-20120226,0,6058039.story
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'Super PAC' leaders profit from lack of
oversight Leaders of some of the new groups are taking advantage of
the mammoth donations and the lack of oversight to write themselves big
paychecks or hire their own companies. February 22, 2012|By Melanie Mason and Matea Gold,
Washington Bureau Reporting from Washington — The Red White and Blue Fund, a
"super PAC" backing the presidential bid of Republican Rick Santorum,
paid more than half a million dollars last month to a newly formed direct mail
firm. The owner of that company? None
other than Nick Ryan, a former Santorum aide — and founder of the Red White and
Blue Fund. Read complete article
at …… http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/22/nation/la-na-superpac-spending-20120223
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Restaurant Owners In Uproar Over
Proposal To Give Wait Staff Full Minimum Wage
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The Keystone Fight Is Uniting Tea
Partiers With Environmentalists
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Are your Town Officials telling you that certain signs cannot
be placed in yards due to Town
Ordinances and/or Zoning Regulations? If they are challenged by
you, there is a good probability you will win!
This issue has been tested in Connecticut
and throughout the country. Check it out
at …..
http://www.acluct.org/aboutus/pressroom/firstamendmentprevailsinno.htm
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Sun journalists 'ran network of corrupt
officials'
Video: UK police officer tells of
widespread corruption (7pm TV News NSW)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-28/police-chief-details-illegal-sun-payments/3856166
A British
police chief has detailed allegations that journalists at Rupert Murdoch's Sun
newspaper cultivated a network of corrupt officials who received illegal
payments in return for story tip-offs.
Deputy
Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is leading the criminal investigation
into phone hacking, told the Leveson inquiry into
media ethics that the payments were authorised at a very senior level.
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Corrupt Freddie/Fannie execs bilk taxpayers for legal fees Examiner.com Jim Kouri Law Enforcement Examiner Feb 27, 2012
Excerpt: Overall, members of Congress have received
nearly $5 million in political contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in
the last decade, according to a reputable nonprofit -- Open Secrets -- that tracks money in U.S. politics. Among the top
recipients of Fannie and Freddie’s political largess: Former Connecticut
Senator Chris Dodd, then-Illinois Senator Obama,
Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, former Utah Senator Bob Bennett and Alabama
Congressman Spencer Bachus. http://www.examiner.com/law-enforcement-in-national/corrupt-freddie-fannie-execs-bilk-taxpayers-for-legal-fees
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House passes bill granting cities,
counties eminent domain over federal lands Deseret News Feb 27,
2012 Dennis Romboy
The
Utah House overwhelmingly approved HB511, which
would extend eminent domain authority of federal land to cities and counties.
The Legislature granted the state that power in 2009. The measure is one of
several states rights bills this session. SALT LAKE CITY — Gearing up for a
fight with the federal government over public lands, Republican state lawmakers
voted Monday to add what they see as another weapon in their arsenal. Continued at ….. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865551003/House-passes-bill-granting-cities-counties-eminent-domain-over-federal-lands.html
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Income, race and worker trends could lead to a
perfect storm By Uma Ramiah February 27, 2012 CTMirror.org Like Connecticut,
Florida, Georgia
and Texas
have aging working populations. But unlike Connecticut, those three southern states are
attracting younger, highly educated professionals who will replace older
workers when they retire. As soon as 2015, the size of Connecticut's working
age population will peak, and those replacing the state's retiring workers will
be disproportionately younger and of lower income and education levels, said a report released Monday
by Connecticut Voices for Children and written by Orlando Rodriguez,
the nonprofit group's senior policy fellow. "That's a problem for the
state," Rodriguez said. "The average earnings per worker are going to
go down. And at the same time, the state has billions in unfunded liabilities
and more importantly, those aging populations leaving the workforce are going
to require more state services."…………… The cautionary information in the
Voices for Children report was echoed in a report, also released Monday, by
the Connecticut Association for Human Services, which notes that
the median household income of black families in Connecticut is 58 percent of
that of white families, and that of Hispanic households is 53 percent. While
more than three-quarters of white families in the state own their own homes,
the numbers are much lower for black families, 41 percent, and for Hispanics,
36 percent. http://ctmirror.com/story/15556/income-race-and-working-population-trends-perfect-storm-connecticut
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WikiLeaks Publishes
Intelligence Firm’s E-Mails - … The New York Times News Service: By SOMINI SENGUPTA February 27,
2012 WikiLeaks said Monday that it had begun to expose e-mail correspondence
from the global geopolitical analysis firm known as Stratfor,
detailing the company’s work for clients.
WikiLeaks did not disclose how it had obtained
the e-mails, but Stratfor acknowledged in December
that its data servers had been breached by a group of hackers known as Anonymous. The loose-knit group publicly supports WikiLeaks.
Full Report at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/technology/wikileaks-publishes-intelligence-firm-e-mails.html?_r=1
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Ellen Brown: New State
Bank Bills Address …
Credit and Housing Crises by Ellen Brown Civil Litigation Attorney; Author, 'Web of
Debt' Seventeen states
have now introduced bills for state-owned banks,
and others are in the works. Hawaii's innovative state bank bill addresses the
foreclosure mess. County-owned banks are being proposed that would tackle the
housing crisis by exercising the right of eminent domain on abandoned and
foreclosed properties. Arizona has a bill that would do this for homeowners who
are current in their payments but underwater, allowing them to refinance at
fair market value.The long-awaited settlement between
49 state attorneys general and the big five robo-signing
banks is proving to be a major disappointment before it has even been signed, sealed and court approved.
Critics maintain that the bankers responsible for the housing crisis and the
jobs crisis will again be buying their way out of jail, and the curtain will
again drop on the scene of the crime. Read complete report at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-brown/banks-credit-housing_b_1301509.html
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