From: Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc. (FCTO)
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@aol.com
860-524-6501
March 13, 2007
Welcome to Tax Talk 98
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
And
Please forward to your email lists!
TAX DAY AT THE CAPITOL
Hosted by The
Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Thurday, March 22, 2007
10:30 AM to 2:00 PM
Legislative Office Building - Room 1C
A special thank you is extended to Theresa McGrath, President of the West Hartford
Taxpayers Association, who is the inspiration and one of the facilitators of
this event. Theresa is well known for
her hard work on behalf of taxpayers throughout our State and was highlighted
recently in the Hartford
Advocate for her efforts on behalf of Proposition 2 ½.
Connecticut property owners pay one of the highest property taxes in
the nation, second only to New Jersey. Annual increased property taxes, driven by
unfunded mandates and revaluation, put Connecticut
property owners at risk of losing their most prized possession, their
homes! For this reason, legislators need
to enact immediate and effective
Property
Tax Reform!
On Thursday, March 22, 2007, The
Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc. will host a forum to
discuss Proposition 2 ½ which is currently in effect in Massachusetts.
Leading the discussion will be
Connecticut State Representative Arthur O’Neil of Southbury who has proposed
state legislation which would allow each municipality in Connecticut to
incorporate Proposition 2 ½ into their Town Charters to control local spending,
and in turn, local property taxes.
Also participating in the forum will be other state
legislators to include Sean Williams of Watertown and Lile Gibbons of Greenwich. Mike Guarco, Finance
Chair of Granby, and a leader in
the Connecticut Municipal Consortium for Fiscal Responsibility, which is
comprised of local officials concerned for the impact of state mandates on
their local budgets will also participate.
A more extensive agenda will follow in the next couple of
days.
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Again,
thank you to all who have contributed to our latest Tax Talk publication
through your editorials, news articles, etc.
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CONGRATULATIONS
TO ROBERT GREEN
Bob is a FCTO Board Member and a Member of the
Salem Board of
Education. His excellent editorial which
follows received much praise from readers of the Waterbury Republican where his editorial
appeared.
Great Job Bob! Bob can be reached at rgreen619@snet.net
Among the justifications for the
initiatives the President explained in his State of the Union address was his
insistence on the reauthorization of “No Child Left Behind”; perhaps the
cruelest hoax that could ever be placed upon America’s youth. The fact that members of Congress are
meeting with the President to discuss renewal of NCLB, in my view, continues
the sellout of America's youth; all in one more effort to continue and expand
the usurpation of control of state and local governments and put it in the
hands of Washington bureaucrats; all while our state representatives bow in
submissive obedience.
The accolades about NCLB’s
improvements in public education espoused by Margaret Spellings and the
President have been shown to be mere myths according to the recent reports by
the Harvard Civil Rights Project, NAEP, PACE, NWEA, the Center on
Education Policy, and the National Center for Fair and Open
Testing (to name a few). They conclude that any documented
improvements in our nation's schools are the result of changes in place at the
state and local levels prior to NCLB. They also cite, however, that NCLB
can be credited with one major contribution: the slowing of the rate of
improvement in performance of schools. A major area of concern all
educators was closing the education gap within the minority student
population. Prior to NCLB, progress was being made in that effort.
Since NCLB, progress has remained stagnant and, in some cases, has begun to
widen again, especially in reading and math. According to the Thomas B.
Fordham Foundation, the number of failing schools has increased 44 percent over
last year alone, and that number is expected to swell sharply by the
thousands over the next few years. Even more startling is the fact that
over one quarter of our nation's K through 8 schools have failed to make AYP
for at least more than one year. Now, included in the President’s
push to renew NCLB is the expansion of its influence into our
high schools.
So while we (Connecticut)
sit on our collective hands and cry "poor" to Washington over
not enough funding, our children suffer, because our representatives in Hartford refuse to accept
their mandated responsibilities in providing the necessary support and
resources to ensure the success of our public education systems. Instead,
they turn to Washington and
sing praises to the Golden Calf that is supposed to be the savior of the
classroom. We can sue Washington
three ways to Sunday over the issue of inadequate funding, but Congress
ultimately decides what it perceives as adequate funding. Michigan has
been given that message already, and I believe Connecticut will be handed
its hat as its case goes to court on the same issue. It already has had a
majority of its arguments denied as its case winds its way through the judicial
system. However, a glimmer of hope is on the horizon. Kansas now is
reconsidering its participation in NCLB, and more school districts
nationwide are refusing Title I funding, because they don't want to be shackled
with the ropes and anchors that come with it.
We only can hope that our elected and appointed representatives in Hartford and Washington
will have an epiphany on how NCLB is steadily leaving all children behind,
while it stifles classroom creativity and decimates the budgets that must meet
its mandates. Until then, they must be
reminded regularly of the myths of NCLB.
I am convinced that the results of the
November 2006 election weren't so much about the Republicans losing control of
Congress. It was about the President getting the Congress he needed to
pass his agenda. Renewal of NCLB is part of that agenda. We can reap
the benefits of its non-renewel or we can pay for it
later in the shackles on our ability to provide our students with the
best education they deserve.
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Kudos to Judy Aron
Member of the West
Hartford Taxpayers Association and
Board Member of FCTO
Judy’s Blog cannot be beat. It is informative and entertaining.
http://www.yedies.blogspot.com/
Here is
an Excellent Editorial by Judy captioned
2007 -
Proposed CT Legislation
Marching
This State To Socialism
Judy Aron, imjfaron@sbcglobal.net
Good intentions or larger plan? If you examine the proposed
legislation (see below) it should become clear to what is slowly being rolled
out in CT regarding how early child education, public education and mental
health initiatives are all being combined.
It is already happening in other states in the country, like Illinois, Minnesota and New Jersey for example.
The underlying agenda is to have children attend school as early as 3 years
old, with health (including mental health screening) services to be
administered from schools instead of your own family care. Medical facilities/resources will be located
at the school. This is all taxpayer funded. While “Universal Taxpayer Funded
Preschool” is now just being proposed on a voluntary basis here in CT, once the
infrastructure is put into place, the compulsory school age will be lowered and
all children will be required to attend school at age three. Government/taxpayer funded universal
preschool is offered in most European countries, and “Social Progressives” are
pushing those initiatives here. Most children in Britain already start full-time
school -- in so-called "reception" classes -- at age 4. Standards and
developmental benchmarks have been set by the State and woe to the parent of
the child who doesn’t meet those standards which include nutrition and
weight. Click on the following to read all of Judy’s editorial ….. http://nheld.com/socialistct2007.htm
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Roy Duncan, royldunc@aol.com
(Past President of Taxpayer Advocates for Bloomfield)
Bloomfield
Letter to the Editor, Hartford
Courant
Feb 20, 2007
Connect the Dots - In
the Courant’s 2/20/07 edition there was an article (Rell School
Plan Faces Opposition) and an op-ed piece by William Baxter and Dick Ohanesian (Reform Prevailing Wage Law). The article focused on Gov. Rell’s proposal to reduce the state’s contribution toward
the construction of new schools. That
would save the state money and shift more of the responsibility to
municipalities. The opinion piece
discussed the prevailing wage mandate imposed by a state law that drives up the
cost of school construction, and all public projects, by as much as 30%.
Let’s connect the dots.
The connection is clear. The
article and the opinion piece demonstrate both a problem as well as its
potential solution. If the state wishes
to save money and to force more accountability on the towns for the cost of new
school construction, why doesn’t the state make step #1 the abolishment of the
antiquated and costly prevailing wage law?
The cost of constructing all
public projects, including schools, would decrease drastically. Any financial blow to the municipalities
brought on by the Governor’s proposed reduced cost sharing plan would be
lessened if the cost of building schools were to be reduced by as much as 30%. The Governor would win and the towns would
win.
So, why aren’t the Governor, Senate President Pro Tem Donald
Williams and the entire General Assembly asking questions about the wisdom, and
the necessity, of striking the prevailing wage law from the books? The biggest obstacle to change, of course, is
labor unions and their cozy connection to Connecticut politics and politicians. But, if the Governor and the General Assembly
are serious about saving state dollars and implementing real property tax reform
(instead of just talking about it),
they will have to tackle this delicate issue.
If they are not serious, then they will assiduously avoid this
discussion. Avoiding the issue is the
easy way out. It will inevitably lead to
the kind of increased taxes Gov. Rell has
proposed. When cost-saving measures are
tabled or ignored, the only possible outcome is increased taxes. Roy Duncan
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AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY FOUNDATION
http://www.americansforprosperity.org/
1726 M Street NW, Washington D.C. 20036
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 13, 2007
Contacts: Ed Frank or Annie Patnaude
(202) 349-5880
National Taxpayer Group Calls on Central Connecticut
State to Not Shower
Elected Officials With Free NCAA Tournament Tickets to
Facilitate Pork-Barrel Earmarks
Data Shows Central Connecticut
State Spent $580,500 Lobbying Congress Since
1998, Little-Known Loophole in New Congressional Gift Ban Allows Free Tickets
From Taxpayer-Funded Lobbyists
NEW BRITAIN, CT – The national free-market grassroots group
Americans for Prosperity today released a letter urging Central Connecticut
State President John Miller to declare publicly that the school will not
provide free NCAA Basketball Tournament tickets to any Members of Congress or
Congressional staffers in violation of the spirit of recently approved ethics
reform legislation.
On Jan. 5, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives
adopted H. Res. 6, which included strict new ethics guidelines, including a ban
on almost all gifts from registered lobbyists. Specifically, Section 203
of the resolution stipulates: “A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner,
officer, or employee of the House may not knowingly accept a gift from a
registered lobbyist or agent of a foreign principal or from a private entity
that retains or employs registered lobbyists.”
However, H. Res. 6 preserves a curious
loophole that exempts gifts from lobbyists paid for by state or local
governments. In those situations, there is absolutely no monetary limit
on the gifts that can be accepted. This exemption allows lobbyists for
entities like public universities and city governments to ignore the new gift
ban and attempt to unfairly influence Members of Congress and their staff with
free courtside or luxury skybox tickets to sold-out sporting events like the
Final Four or the Rose Bowl.
While this kind of unlimited gift-giving is
considered completely unethical or even illegal if it is done by lobbyists
representing private companies or not-for-profit groups like Americans for
Prosperity, for some reason it is considered perfectly legal when it is done by
taxpayer-funded government lobbyists, who are usually lobbying for additional
federal funding at the expense of the taxpayer. That’s the real
March Madness, said AFP’s President, Tim Phillips.
“I am writing to urge you to publicly declare that your
institution will not provide free NCAA Tournament tickets to any U.S. Senators,
U.S. Representatives, or any Congressional staffers through this gift-ban
loophole for government lobbyists,” Phillips wrote in his letter to
Miller. I also respectfully request that you contact the U.S. Representatives from your state and
encourage them to support and co-sponsor legislation introduced by U.S. Rep.
Jeff Flake (6th Dist. – Ariz.)
that would close this unfair loophole.”
Lobbying by public universities has exploded in recent years
to as much as $75 million, as has the number and expense of academic
pork-barrel earmarks. This year’s Tournament will include teams
representing public universities like defending national champion University of
Florida, which received $2 million in 2005 for “facilities and equipment for an
animal facility, and to Texas A&M, which received $1 million in 2006 for a
“Renewable Energy Animal Waste Project.”
Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s “Ending Earmarks
Express” road tour traveled more than 10,000 miles visiting the sites of 50
egregious pork-barrel projects in 37 states last year, including many public
universities. Questionable academic earmarks highlighted by the Ending
Earmarks Express included $300,000 to map the catfish genome at Auburn
University, $500,000 to study how to eliminate wasteful federal spending at the
University of Akron and $1.7 million to the University of Missouri to research
the cultivation of shiitake mushrooms.
NOTE: For more
information, including a ranking of every school in the Tournament according to
how much money they've spent lobbying Congress in recent years, visit: www.TheRealMarchMadness.com.
Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is the
nation’s premier grassroots organization committed to advancing every
individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing
the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual
productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages
citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional
limits. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org
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ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION WATCH
A special thank you to Len Chaponis
lchaponis@earthlink.net
of the New Britain Taxpayers Group CPOA for keeping us current
on the illegal immigration issue.
A law enacted in Hazleton,
Pennsylvania to curtail illegal
immigration is being challenged in the courts.
As hard as it may be to believe the plaintiffs will not have to testify
but simply submit depositions, rather than offer testimony and face cross-examination. This is a case worth following as it could
have a national impact. Click on the
headings highlighted in blue.
Testimony
contentious at times (News/Local News) March 14, 2007
City’s
IIRA to be revised Thursday to remove three words (News/Local News) March 14, 2007
Despite not taking stand to testify yet,
Barletta plays major role in proceedings (News/Local News) March 13, 2007
A tale of two cities: Hazleton’s IIRA
assailed, defended in trial’s opening (News/Local News) March 13, 2007
Anonymous
plaintiffs won't have to testify (News/Local News) March 11,
2007
Nation
watching for IIRA outcome (News/Local News) March 11, 2007
Hazleton’s illegals
law on trial Monday (News/Local News) March 11, 2007
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State Suing
Immigrants' Sponsors, Controversy
Centers On Public Assistance, March
1, 2007, By ANN MARIE SOMMA, Courant Staff Writer - The state says Madhvi Bahguna owes it
$20,178.22. She didn't neglect her
taxes. But her mother, who immigrated to the United
States from India seven years ago, used state
benefits to receive medical treatment for her diseased heart. The state
Department of Social Services is suing Bahguna and
about 300 other people in Connecticut
because they were sponsors of immigrants who received public support. http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-sponsors0301.artmar01,0,5384469.story?coll=hc-headlines-home
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One more reason to curb
spending,
March 3, 2007 Waterbury
Republican Editorial
http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=20362
…………And that gets us to Gov. M. Jodi Rell's
plan for a 10 percent income-tax increase, which would cost 142 towns and
cities more in taxes than they would get back in state aid next year while
diverting another $3.5 billion to public education over five years on the
insane theory that spending more for the same product would make it better.
(The irony is this disastrous proposal comes from a woman who was part of a gubernatorial
ticket elected in 1994 on the promise of income-tax repeal. The tax, however,
survived, leading to an avalanche in state spending and borrowing, a mass
exodus of jobs and people, and an economic malaise that continues to this day.) Given the inevitability of another recession
and considering that Connecticut, thanks to the profligate government spending
that the income tax enabled, has yet to recover from its last two recessions,
wouldn't an income tax increase now be, to quote the corpulent sage, "like
throwing gasoline on a fire"?
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Visit this great website
http://cttaxed.com
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