Ned Lamont has taken the tragedy of abortion and turned it into a business development opportunity. Can our governor, who only a month ago tacitly approved of a country & western song touting our marijuana and gambling laws, sink any lower in his quest for revenue? He is clearly not a serious chief executive for the state of Connecticut.
Connecticut, once the wealthiest state in the union, sits at the bottom of nearly every economic metric from cost of living to business creation to business friendliness. Regardless of one’s opinion of abortion, trying to use a social issue to showcase business opportunity is an incredibly cynical and narrow view of how or why businesses are created. Worse, it is an insult to the creative, industrious citizens of this state who drive the economy.
Lamont has missed a huge opportunity to identify the obvious flaws in our economy – heavy taxes, oppressive business regulations and the high cost of living – and correct those flaws to create a robust, attractive business environment. Instead, he dilly-dallied with tolls – no, yes, maybe, only on trucks – and let the legislature run roughshod over the citizens. Four years later, our economy languishes. Why? Lamont will tell us Covid. A total lack of leadership and ignorance of how the free market system works best to create jobs and wealth for citizens seem more likely reasons.
The number of jobs in Connecticut still has not caught up to its pre-2008 recession level. The state lost over a thousand manufacturing and construction jobs in May alone. That’s inexcusable. If not for the defense industry, Connecticut’s economy would be on life-support.
Lamont’s cozy relationship with Biden and the Washington establishment has kept Connecticut’s finances afloat via Federal tax dollars. But ominous signs loom, with 8.6% inflation; $5-per-gallon gasoline, a litany of federal and state unfunded mandates, and a forecasted recession. We’ve seen this scenario before: revenues dry up, state pensions go unfunded, legislators raid the State Transportation Fund, our debt diet goes on a binge, more companies relocate, and taxes rise for all of us that remain.
One would hope we’ll some-day reclaim our self-respect and hire lawmakers who sell Connecticut on its real merits, not with some cheap cynical pitch that exploits a woman’s soul-wrenching decisions.
Robert Ham lives in Cheshire.