As the capitalist media, corporations and their soulless management prepare for the “holiday” onslaught of constant media brainwashing, senseless greed, manipulation, practices of usury to enslave, and on and on and on; not to mention the sickening music with which to march the lemmings to their malls of worship ~ [...]
The state Capitol will be quiet today because of a state employee furlough day that was enacted under law as part of a budget-saving measure in a difficult financial year.
Many state offices will be closed, but the courts will remain open for those involved in criminal and civil cases.
The next [...]
We have all seen and felt the devastating impacts of so-called Free Market Capitalism. We are now experiencing “officially” reported double digit unemployment, when including the “underemployed” we know unemployment exceeds 15%, while exceeding 30% within a number of communities. Connecticut reports an 8.8% unemployment rate though we know that [...]
To all our readers - and there are many thousands of you each month - Happy Thanksgiving!
This blog, which was created on less than two days' notice at the end of the 2007 legislative session, is fast approaching a milestone of 1,000 posts.
Thanks for reading along for the latest in Connecticut' [...]
The state's nursing homes are highly concerned about Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell's proposal to cut Medicaid rates for nursing homes by 2 percent.
The cuts, however, cannot be made with approval by the Democratic-controlled legislature. Matthew Barrett, a former state employee who now serves as executive vice president of the [...]
While the highways, airports, and train stations fill with travelers, enjoy an evening open forum.
The Governor wants a special session before Christmas to overhaul the Citizens’ Election Program and re-balance the budget.
U.S. Senate candidate/prospective CT Governor candidate Tom Foley speaks.
Were you excited for the sales tax cut that [...]
Lou Dobbs, the former CNN business anchor, might run for the U.S. Senate in 2012 from his home state of New Jersey.
Dobbs, who was one of the best-known faces on CNN for years, recently stepped down from the network in an abrupt announcement on his program.
The details are at [www.courant.com]
[...]Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell is calling the Democratic-controlled legislature into special session on December 15 to cut state spending and try closing the state's projected budget gap.
Rell also wants lawmakers to make changes in the new campaign finance reform law, which has been the subject of controversy and a federal [...]
It's official.
The state's planned cut in the sales tax will not take effect January 1. Many legislators had predicted that the contingent tax cut would never happen because of the continuing weakness in the economy.
But the blocking of the tax cut did not become official until the state comptroller certified - [...]
Per CT News Junkie, State Health Care Advocate Kevin Lembo is running for … Lt. Governor?
“Sometimes the governor leaves office and no one has really vetted the lieutenant governor, who is suddenly charge of $18 billion budget,” Lembo said. “Twice in recent history, Connecticut’s lieutenant governor has been asked [...]
The three candidates remaining in the now sharply smaller Republican senatorial field will undoubtably work to secure the backing of those who supported the two candidates who left the race today, state Sen. Sam Caligiuri and former ambassador Tom Foley.
Rob Simmons got an early start. Just hours after Caligiuri announced he was leaving [...]
Our colleague Rick Green weighs in on the Republican political shake-up that involves former Ambassador Tom Foley considering dropping out of the U.S. Senate race and running for governor.
It's at [blogs.courant.com]
On Sen. Chris Dodd, he also says [blogs.courant.com]
[...]Connecticut Democrats are closely watching the shake-up across the aisle. Party spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said today's departures of Sam Caligiuri and Tom Foley indicate a growing consensus among the GOP that Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd may not be as easy a conquest as they had initially hoped.
"For an allegedly 'vulnerable' incumbent, Chris Dodd may" [...]
State Sen. Sam Caligiuri announced his intent to end his bid for the U.S. Senate and instead run for the U.S. Congress in a press release today.
His new website can be found at: [www.samforcongress.com]
The move shakes up races for both the US Senate and the House. On the Senate [...]
Tom Foley on Nov. 9, 2009, the day Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced she would not seek reelection:
"As a candidate for the U.S. Senate, I look forward to working with others to make sure a Republican Governor is elected in 2010," Foley said in a statement.
Tom Foley on Nov. 24, [...]
Former U.S. Senate candidate Sam Caligiuri announced today that he'll be running for Congress from the 5th Congressional District.
UPDATE: Here's state Democratic spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan's take on Caligiuri's switch.
"Languishing in last place in the U.S. Senate race, Sam Caligiuri is shopping around for a campaign to run like most people" [...]
Tom Foley, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, released the following statement this morning:
"Last spring I entered the race for the United States Senate because I wanted to serve the people of Connecticut. Recently, the political landscape in Connecticut has changed. We no longer have" [...]
The Hartford Courant reports that according to Kevin Rennie’s Facebook page, one of his friends says that:
GOP Senate hopeful Tom Foley told the West Hartford Republicans last night that he is considering hightailing it into the less competitive race for governor. He’ll decide in 2 week’ developing…’sounds like decision [...]
From: New Fairfield Citizen-News, November 18, 2009
Stop Digging
Why It’s Time To Try A Different Kind Of Budget
Not even two months have passed since the new state budget was implemented, and yet the State of Connecticut already finds itself $624 million in the red.
To remedy this situation, [...]
Kevin Rennie breaks the following news on Facebook (via Capitol Report)
'a friend reports that GOP Senate hopeful Tom Foley told the West Hartford Republicans last night that he is considering hightailing it into the less competitive race for governor. He'll decide in 2 week' developing...
...'sounds like decision has been made'
Justin' [...]
Despite raising taxes and holding the line on spending, the state is still facing a huge budget deficit for the current fiscal year.
With that in mind, the administration of Gov. M. Jodi Rell is reminding all commissioners and agency heads that they must continue to watch their budgets closely. An internal [...]
In a sharply-worded email, state Democrats are taking Republican Senate candidate Rob Simmons to task for failing to back a health-care plan supported by more than half of the state's residents.
Simmons, who is running for the Senate seat held by Democrat Chris Dodd, one of the architects of the health-care' [...]
Remember the Louisiana Congressman who was caught with $90,000 in cash in his freezer?
The case generated widespread publicity after Rep. William J. Jefferson's home was raided in 2005, setting off a torrent of commentary around the nation. The publicity increased about nine months later when FBI agents raided the New Orleans' [...]
Baseball fans in New Britain and throughout the Hartford area remember Joe Mauer from the days when he was the catcher for the New Britain Rock Cats.
Today, he was named the Most Valuable Player in the American League for the Minnesota Twins. That's not bad for a guy who was playing in [...]
Does anyone have access to information released today about the breakdown of delegates by Town for the GOP Convention. I was told that this information was to be released today, but haven’t seen head nor tail of it. Heath?
[...]U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman is a key player on health care reform and could potentially be the 60th senator.
That number is particularly important because it takes 60 votes to cut off a filibuster that could derail health care reform.
On NBC's Meet The Press on Sunday morning, Lieberman discussed the issue [...]
POLITICO has an interesting story today about the growing role South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is playing in competitive Congressional races around the country.
DeMint, it seems, has become the go-to guy for Republican candidates. Not just conservatives, the story states, but moderates as well: "[I]n a sign of his growing influence, several of the" [...]
Norwich’s Mayor-elect, Peter Nystrom, has a long four years ahead of him that will really get started when he gets sworn in on December 1.
But for the UPS driver-turned-Mayor, the days will seem as long as the years:
Mayor-elect Nystrom hopes to grab a 4:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. shift [...]
At an event in his hometown of Stamford, he was asked about a potential candidacy for Governor, Lt. Governor Mike Fedele said that an announcement would happen soon:
… Fedele said it would be “in the very near term.”
Rumors have been circulating in the Capitol about when exactly the Lt. Governor would make such an [...]
We have had reports that the blog has been looking kinda funky and we suspect it may have been one of the prior posts. So we have put this test post on the main page to see if folks are still experiencing problems seeing just this one post. Please submit [...]
How much money will wrestling entrepreneur Linda McMahon spend in her campaign to unseat U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd?
That question has been widely debated in political circles as McMahon has already spent far more money than any other candidate in the race - on television commercials, full-page newspaper advertisements, and brochures [...]
Sen. Chris Dodd said the nation is "one step closer to responsible reform" following tonight's vote in the Senate to allow full debate on a planned overhaul of the nation's health-care system.
"We will have a full and open debate on this important issue,'' Dodd said in a statement. "But [...]
This evening the Senate passed the motion for debate on the healthcare bill.
Here’s what Senator Dodd, who took over work on the HELP committee for his ailing friend and colleague, the late Senator Edward Kennedy, had to say:
if you’ve watched the debate here in the Senate over [...]
Toni Gold, resident and one of the panelists at this morning’s forum on transportation, commented that the POCD must be less timid and more aggressive if it is to be successful. The packed house of audience participants seemed to agree with her.
After some introductory comments from Chief Operating Officer David [...]
Former state Rep. Bill Dyson and media strategist Dean Pagani will be among the guests Sunday morning on "The Stan Simpson Show'' on Fox 61.
Dyson, the longtime co-chairman of the budget-writing appropriations committee who retired as the dean of the House of Representatives, and Pagani, the former chief of staff" [...]
Just as I was lamenting my inability to go see the Hartford Symphony Orchestra this year, I received notice from a friend that part of the HSO would be performing for free at Trinity College last night.
The performance was in the Trinity College Chapel, which I had [...]
Sen. Joe Lieberman isn’t worried about the political consequences of his stance on health care reform:
“I don’t think about that stuff,” Lieberman told POLITICO this week. “I’m just — I’m being a legislator. After what I went through in 2006, there’s nothing much more that anybody [who] disagrees with [...]
Rick Torres decision to run for the GOP nomination in CD4 against Himes, besides not making a heck of a lot of sense, also assists Sen. Dan Debicella as he seeks the nod. Torres is from the same town, the same Bridgeport GOP “club”, as it were, as former Sen. [...]
The University of Connecticut announced Friday that it has called off a controversial proposed merger between the UConn Health Center and Hartford Hospital - a deal that failed to gain enough support at the state Capitol.
The announcement came soon after the faculty at the health center voted this week to [...]
Wow. You take a few days away from blogging to focus on the job that pays and look what you miss:
1. Hearst’s drooling front page love fest on Linda McMahon
(see “McMahon’s wealth dwarfs resources of most GOP foes”).
McMahon’s money “makes her instantaneously … a formidable candidate,” [...]
According to Dennis House, former U.S. Attorney Kevin O’Connor won’t be running for Governor in 2010:
The 42 year old Republican made the announcement tonight during a taping of WFSB’s political program, “Face the State.” O’Connor is now an attorney with the Bracewell Giuliani law firm.
In the same upcoming episode [...]
The state's unemployment rate has jumped to 8.8 percent - although that is still lower than the national rate of 10.2 percent.
As the unemployment rate constantly increases, it becomes more and more of a political issue as the candidates head into the 2010 election.
"Today's announcement is yet another stark reminder" [...]
A report from Courant Staff Writer Edmund H. Mahony:
Kevin O'Connor, a Republican former U.S. attorney and former associate U.S. attorney general, said Thursday he will not run for governor, a decision that reshapes what is expected to be a hard-fought contest to replace Gov. M. Jodi Rell.
O'Connor, of West Hartford, [...]
The faculty at the cash-strapped University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington has voted to unionize.
The details are at [www.courant.com]
[...]
