Election Regulators Move Forward in Case Against Democratic Party,
Malloy Cuts $103
Million from Budget, Ganim is Back,
Public Sector
Pensions, How Does Your High School Rank,
Mapping the
European Refugee Crisis
September
19, 2015
From: The Federation of Connecticut
Taxpayer Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website:
http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
Election Regulators Move Forward in Case Against Democratic Party
CTNewsJunkie.com by Elizabeth Regan September 17, 2015
Posted to: Campaign Finance | Courts | Election 2014
A civil trial that could force the Connecticut
Democratic Party to comply with a subpoena from the State Elections Enforcement
Commission will take place next month even as the party moves forward with its
own lawsuit to squash the commission’s investigation into campaign finance
violations.
Hartford Superior Court Judge Antonio Robaina, who met with the parties Wednesday behind closed
doors, approved a timeline that gives the SEEC two weeks to review the
Democratic Party’s answer to the subpoena enforcementcomplaint before the
trial begins on Oct. 27.
Judge Robaina will
decide if the Democratic Party must provide state election regulators with
financial documents and records of correspondence revolving around several
October 2014 election mailings featuring Democratic Gov. Dannel
P. Malloy. Continue reading
at ….. http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/election_regulators_move_forward_in_case_against_democratic_party/
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Drop In Stock Market Prompts Nearly $103M In Emergency State Budget Cuts
CTNewsJunkie.com by Christine Stuart September 18, 2015
Posted to: Business, The Economy, Health Care, Labor, State Budget, Taxes,State Capitol
Based on the poor performance of the stock
market, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget office
announced Friday it would rescind nearly $103 million from the 2016 state
budget.
Office of Policy and Management Secretary Ben
Barnes said in his monthly
letter to
state Comptroller Kevin Lembo that volatility on Wall
Street and uncertainty about the future have led him to rescind nearly $103
million from the state budget to make sure they end the year in the black.
“OPM’s estimate of
capital gains has decreased for the current fiscal year,
and it would be reckless to expect these revenues to grow when the S&P 500
is down more than 6 percent since May,” Barnes said. “Only once since 1994 have
we seen positive capital gains revenue growth when the market was down.
Conversely, five times in the last 20 years a down market has led to
significant revenue drops.” Continue
reading at ….. http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/drop_in_stock_market_prompts_nearly_103m_in_state_budget_cuts/#more
Search begins for tax reform, not more
revenue
By: Keith M. Phaneuf | September 16,
2015 CTMirror.org
The panel studying Connecticut’s tax system got some sobering
news Wednesday morning in separate reports detailing the state’s struggle to
recover from the last recession and the challenge of closing the wealth gap
between the cities and wealthy suburbs. Continue Reading →
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Ganim's Back: Bridgeport Votes For
The Crook
Hartford Courant By Editorial contact the reporter Sept 18, 2015
State residents awoke Thursday to the almost incredible news
that Joe Ganim, the former Bridgeport mayor who spent
seven years in prison on federal corruption and racketeering charges, defeated
incumbent Bill Finch in the city Democratic mayoral primary…………..In 2003, a
federal jury convicted him of racketeering, extortion, bribery and mail fraud,
among other felonies, for squeezing city contractors for more than $500,000 in
cash, meals, clothing, wine and home renovations. As was said at the time, his
appetite for luxury exceeded his ability to acquire it honestly. He went to
prison for almost seven years. Read
entire publication at
http://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-ganim-the-crook-wins-in-bridgeport-20150917-story.html
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Hamden, Connecticut Hopes to Shield Pension
Fund in Volatile Market (Kate Ramunni / New Haven
Register)
By Kate Ramunni, kramunni@nhregister.com, @kateramunni on Twitter
Sept 13, 2015
It’s been a rough few weeks for the stock
market, and the town’s pension fund is feeling those effects, according to the
town’s financial adviser.
On Tuesday, David Lee of Dehab
Associates delivered an update to the Legislative Council, which had requested
a report on the pension fund after the town took out $125 million in pension
obligation bonds to shore up the failing fund.
Even so, it’s only about 40 percent funded,
Lee told the council.
With the volatility in the markets over the
past few week, the fund has earned less than 1 percent
for the year, Lee said, but should end the year much higher than that. Continue
reading at …..
http://www.nhregister.com/government-and-politics/20150913/hamden-hopes-to-shield-pension-fund-in-volatile-market
Get More News for Connecticut » Pension Tsunami
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10 Implicit Fallacies [Still Being] Used to
Justify Opulent Public Employee Pensions (Richard Rider / FlashReport)
by RICHARD RIDER Sept 2015
There are many implicit rationalizations
justifying paying generous government pensions. Here are my nominations for the
top ten bogus excuses:
1. “Public employees deserve high pensions
because of their low pay.”
FALSE. Perhaps true at
one time, but not anymore. In many if not most instances, today’s government
employees are earning the same or more than their private sector counterparts,
but with much better benefits, far superior job guarantees and more holidays.
2. “Government employees should not have to
save for retirement.”
FALSE. They can use
retirement accounts to add to their nest eggs — just like the rest of us. They
can invest in stocks, bonds, real estate, annuities — just like the rest of us.
3. “Government employees deserve to retire
earlier than private sector employees.”
FALSE. If they do
“need” to retire early, they can get another job to supplement income (as do
most military retirees).
- See more at:
http://www.flashreport.org/blog/2015/09/17/ten-implicit-fallacies-still-being-used-to-justify-opulent-government-pensions/#sthash.YsIAoKG1.dpuf
Get More at Pension Tsunami
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From Mike “Mish” Shedlock…..
Mapping the European Refugee
Crisis and Where the Path is Blocked; Chain Reactions! Walking Distance
Posted: 18 Sep 2015 06:47 PM PDT
As the refugee crisis in Europe
builds, inquiring minds may be wondering where the refugees are coming from,
where they want to go, and where they are blocked.
Here's a map I put together starting from a map posted in the Financial Times.
Related Headlines
September 17: Bulgaria Deploys 1,000 Troops at
Turkish Border
September 17: Migrants Inundate New EU Crisis
Hotspot Croatia
September 16: Hundreds Seek to Cross Turkey-Greece
Border
September 16: Chaos at Hungary Border as Police Tear
Gas Migrants
September 15: Hungary Rejects All Asylum Requests
September 3: Bulgaria detains 125 migrants, sending
message to others
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