Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

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 SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

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�� The following is contained in today�s Tax Talk:

� Governor Rell: Budget Will Become Law Without Her Signature � and Without Pork-Barrel Spending

� The coming debt debacle: Top economist says President Obama must slash spending, now

� AG, auto body association call for auto insurance investigation

� Insurers Respond To Blumenthal's 'Steering' Claims�

� Ethics complaints target Ryan Barry, hundreds of others

� State�s top court asked to reconsider FOI jurisdiction

� Drug giant Pfizer to pay record $2.3B fine

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Governor Rell: Budget Will Become Law Without

Her Signature � and Without Pork-Barrel Spending

Governor Will Not Sign Bill, But Will Line-Item Veto $8 Million

in Earmarks, Other Spending Added at Last-Minute

Listen to Gov. Rell

See the list of earmarks to be cut with Governor Rell's line-item veto authority.

Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that she will neither sign nor veto the state budget given final approval by legislative Democrats early Tuesday morning, allowing the bill to become law without her signature according to the state Constitution. However, Governor Rell said she will exercise her line-item veto power to remove new earmarks and new �pork-barrel� spending items added to the bill.

�Democrats have repeatedly called this budget a �compromise,�� Governor Rell said. �It is hardly a compromise. Last week I put a new budget proposal on the table � my fourth � in which I accepted tax increases I did not want in return for cuts in state spending. The Democrats just could not cut, once again showing they are unwilling � or simply unable � to make meaningful reductions. They refuse to accept the reality that families and businesses accepted months ago: We must live within our means.

�Instead, this budget calls for more borrowing and vague plans for future savings,� the Governor said. �Worse still, in the hours before this budget was brought to a vote the Democrats had the audacity to add more spending. It is as if they believe the people of Connecticut do not care, are not watching and will not notice.

�Because of this complete disregard for our taxpayers, I will be using my line-item veto to eliminate all of the new earmarks and pork-barrel spending. The total is some $8 million � not an overwhelming amount in the scheme of the two-year budget. But this spending is an insult � a slap in the face of our taxpayers.

�I will not veto the entire budget,� Governor Rell said. �However, I will not sign it into law, because I do not believe in this budget. I do not want, by my signature, to put a stamp of approval on their spending, their inability to make cuts or their levels of borrowing, revenues and taxes.

�But a veto will not bring significantly different results, I fear � and the people of Connecticut are starting to truly feel the effects of our stalemate. This budget crisis has lingered longer than any in state history. Struggling families, people who have lost their job or their home, people with disabilities, cities and towns, schools, state agencies and non-profits � all have been left wondering about the future. They need to know state resources are in place and available. Now they will know.

�Let me repeat: This budget is not the compromise I sought � but it is a fight that has saved our taxpayers billions of dollars,� Governor Rell said. �By digging in my heels, I have forced the Democrats to sharply lower their demand for new taxes. They went from $3.3 billion in new taxes in their April budget to $2.5 billion in the June budget, dropping to $1.8 billion in their July budget � and $900 million in the current proposal.

�This budget reduces the corporate surcharge that the Democrats first proposed at 30 percent to 10 percent over the next three years, and excludes nearly all small- and medium-sized businesses in the state. This budget makes significant changes and reductions in the inheritance tax and requires the state sales tax to drop. And it does cut some state spending. Most importantly: This budget crisis must be resolved. For the good of our state, this crisis is now resolved.�

Under the state Constitution, the bill automatically becomes law without the Governor�s signature five days after passage. Continued at � http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/cwp/view.asp?A=3675&Q=446108

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The coming debt debacle: Top economist says President Obama must slash spending, now By John B. Taylor , NYDailyNews.com,� August 31st 2009 - New federal budget numbers released last week by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) ought to be a game-changer for Congress and the Obama administration. Even before the new estimates, opinion polls revealed serious concerns of most Americans about large deficits and exploding federal debt. Those concerns will only intensify now, because the new estimates show that the budget problem has worsened considerably: The federal deficit will be $2 trillion higher than earlier estimates over the next decade, bringing the debt increase under the administration's budget policy to $10 trillion. Adding to the worry is that this large $2 trillion upward revision took place over the very short span of five months since the CBO's previous estimate in March. The revision is mainly due to higher estimated interest payments on the debt and new spending. Continued at �. http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/08/31/2009-08-31_the_coming_debt_debacle.html

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AG, auto body association call for auto insurance investigation|stamfordadvocate.com

Insurers Respond To Blumenthal's 'Steering' Claims By ERIC GERSHON The Hartford Courant, Sept 2, 2009 Property casualty insurers lashed out at Attorney General Richard Blumenthal Tuesday following his call for federal scrutiny of auto insurers' practice of directing consumers to preferred auto body repair shops. "This seems motivated by a lobbying campaign by disgruntled auto body shops who are only concerned about their own bottom lines, and not about consumers," Paul Magaril, regional manager for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, said in a statement. Megaril said direct repair programs -- which Blumenthal says may amount to illegal steering -- simply offer consumers suggestions that promote proper and timely repairs, sometimes at lower cost. Continued at � http://www.courant.com/business/hc-insurers-blumenthal-0902,0,5081027.story

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Ethics complaints target Ryan Barry, hundreds of others,

By Alex Wood, Journal Inquirer, Published: Wednesday, September 2, 2009 10:10 AM EDT

Manchester state Rep. Ryan P. Barry is one of more than 500 lawyers in 47 states against whom a Norwich bankruptcy lawyer has filed legal ethics complaints, claiming they use promotional Web sites that constitute prohibited, for-profit lawyer referral services. �The bankruptcy lawyer, Zenas Zelotes, says local grievance panels in Connecticut have found �probable cause� to believe that five lawyers have violated ethical rules by using the Web sites at issue. Those lawyers are entitled to hearings before subcommittees of the Statewide Grievance Committee, and any action the committee takes can be appealed to Superior Court and ultimately to the state�s appellate courts.� Barry is a member of the legislature�s Judiciary Committee. Zelotes on Tuesday sent an e-mail to the Democratic co-chairmen and ranking Republican members of the committee saying he considers it �ethically impermissible� for Barry to serve on the committee while �under judicial investigation for criminal and/or professional misconduct.� Continued at �. http://ctact.org/default.asp?callcontent=yes&filename=Ryan%20Barry.htm%20%20%20&location=Ethics&buttonname=Ethics

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State�s top court asked to reconsider FOI jurisdiction, By Alex Wood, Journal Inquirer, Published: Wednesday, September 2, 2009 12:14 PM EDT

Just three years after the Connecticut Supreme Court limited the Freedom of Information Commission�s jurisdiction over judicial records, a media group is asking the court to reconsider.� In a legal brief submitted to the court on behalf of the Connecticut Council for Freedom of Information, lawyer Daniel J. Klau of Hartford argues that the court should return to positions it took before 2006 on the limits of the FOI Commission�s jurisdiction over court records.� By doing so, he argues, the court can avoid �a direct constitutional confrontation� between the judicial branch of state government and the legislature. The court has scheduled oral argument for Sept. 24.� Continued at �. http://ctact.org/default.asp?callcontent=yes&filename=State%20tOP.htm%20%20&location=Tax_Talk&buttonname=Tax%20Talk

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Drug giant Pfizer to pay record $2.3B fine By Carol Cratty, CNN, Sept 2, 2009,� WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has agreed to pay a record $2.3 billion settlement to resolve criminal and civil liability for illegally promoting certain pharmaceuticals, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. Officials from the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services said the world's largest drug company promoted four drugs for use on certain ailments or at dosages that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. One of those drugs was the anti-inflammatory medication Bextra, which Pfizer pulled off the market in 2005 after it was linked to increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Continued at �. http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/09/02/Pfizer.fine/index.html