Washington — In largely symbolic moves Thursday, the Senate made one last-ditch effort to avoid sequestration, or automatic spending cuts that will affect most government agencies and many federal programs and services. Now the sequester will take effect Friday. But its full impact is under debate — and could determine which party has an edge […]
Ana Radelat
Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.
Posted inPolitics
U.S. House Democrats name Himes as lead fundraiser
Washington — The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political organization in charge of raising campaign cash and planning strategy to get Democrats elected to the U.S. House, has named Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, as its lead fundraiser. Himes will succeed Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., as the DCCC Finance Committee chairman, said Rep. Steve Israel, […]
Posted inNews
Newtown residents push for assault weapons ban
Washington — Nearly three dozen Newtown residents, including family members of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, have joined an 11th hour effort to win congressional support for an assault weapons ban. “The damage done by an assault weapon, compared to a regular gun, is horrific,” said William Begg, an emergency room doctor […]
Posted inNews
Senators quietly craft a compromise on guns
Washington — Away from Washington’s heated debate on gun control, a bipartisan group of senators — none from Connecticut — are trying to salvage part of President Obama’s gun-control agenda. “We’re getting there. We’re working on things,” said Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a Democrat who has earned top marks from the National Rifle […]
Posted inNews
Another day, another Connecticut gun maker wooed to leave state
Washington — Oklahoma is the latest state to woo a Connecticut gun maker, telling it to bring over its manufacturing plant and jobs. Mark Malkowski, president of New Britain-based Stag Arms, said he’s been contacted by Oklahoma’s Department of Commerce, urging him to move to the Sooner State. Mark Malkowski, president of a New Britain […]
Posted inNews
White House details sequester’s impact in Connecticut
The White House released a state-by-state report Sunday that shows how sequestration, or looming automatic cuts to the federal budget, would affect Connecticut. The report says the $85 billion reduction to the federal budget, half of that cut to the Pentagon, would mean a reduction of $8.7 million in federal aid to Connecticut’s schools and […]
Posted inNews
Courtney gets his wish with school safety hearing
Just four days after the tragic shootings in Newtown, Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, wrote the Republican chairman and highest-ranking Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, asking them to make gun safety a priority. The leaders of the committee agreed, scheduling a hearing on school safety next Wednesday. “After tragic shootings on school […]
Posted inNews
Malloy discusses federal budget cuts with Obama
Washington — When Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy joined a number of fellow Democrats meeting with President Obama and Vice President Biden Friday, the main topic of conversation were looming cuts to the federal budget known as “sequestration.” “I’m very concerned about the effects of sequestration on our defense industry,” Malloy said after spending more than […]
Posted inNews
States with lax gun laws competing for Connecticut’s gun makers
Washington — A growing number of states, most of them in the South, are trying to lure gun manufacturers in Connecticut and other places with tough gun laws. The offers appear to be tendered by hopes of economic development and to appeal to gun rights voters. Republicans in Mississippi, South Carolina, Arizona and Texas have […]
Posted inNews
Sequestration’s impact to be broadly felt — in Connecticut and across the country
Washington — Congress is playing chicken with the federal budget again, and the results could have a broad impact across the country. Some of those affected will be air travelers, students, low-income mothers with young children, university researchers and defense industry workers. On March 1 — a week from tomorrow — $85 billion in automatic […]
Posted inNews
NASCAR honors Newtown victims
A car owned by Swan Racing, which aims to raise money for the Sandy Hook School Support Fund, qualified Thursday for Florida’s Daytona 500, the biggest and the first NASCAR race of the season. A Toyota painted green and white, the colors of Sandy Hook Elementary, and bearing the number 26 in honor of the […]
Posted inHealth
Connecticut wins federal health planning grant
Connecticut is one of 19 states to receive grants from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services aimed at overhauling state health care systems to provide better care and save money. The “State Health Care Innovation Plan” would affect Connecticut residents who are on Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Connecticut […]
Posted inNews
In votes, ideology, Blumenthal ranked most liberal senator
Washington — Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is the most liberal member of the Senate, and Connecticut’s House delegation is the fourth most liberal, according to the latest rankings by the National Journal. Blumenthal tied with Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., to top the list of the Senate’s most liberal members, a list that includes Democratic Sen. […]
Posted inNews
Obama honors slain Newtown teachers, staff
Washington — All in all, Bill Sherlach would rather have not been in the ornate East Room of the White House to receive the nation’s highest civilian award from President Obama. “A total life in obscurity would have been preferable,” he said. Sherlach, the husband of Sandy Hook Elementary School psychiatrist Mary Sherlach, and the […]
Posted inNews
Connecticut’s defense industry braces for ‘unthinkable’ Pentagon cuts
Washington — Once unthinkable, dramatic cuts to the Pentagon’s budget that would hurt Connecticut’s defense industry are now looking more and more real. The so-called sequestration could cost the state as many as 42,000 jobs, one study estimates. Congress has a deadline of March 1 to find billions of dollars in cuts to the federal […]
