WASHINGTON — If Connecticut’s last U.S. Senate contest was a battle between two of Fairfield County’s rich and famous, the financial wherewithal of the candidates vying for retiring Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman’s seat next year is not quite so eye-popping. Democratic hopeful Susan Bysiewicz owns some undeveloped property in Middletown, but it’s worth almost nothing […]

WASHINGTON — Republican congressional candidate Lisa Wilson-Foley and her family own about 70 different companies in Connecticut. Their holdings range from the AllStar Therapy Corp., a physical therapy firm that generated as much as $5 million in income last year, to the Rock n Bowl recreational facility in Simsbury, which netted no income at all. […]

WASHINGTON — Two years ago, Benjamin Freund’s dairy farm was teetering on a financial precipice as plummeting milk prices and skyrocketing feed costs squeezed his 270-cow operation in East Canaan, a village in the northwest corner of Connecticut. “It forced us to go right to the end of our credit lines,” Freund recalled. “We owned […]

WASHINGTON — Talk about a bumpy road ahead. When Congress gets back to Washington next month, lawmakers face a possible legislative pile-up over the federal gas tax, an important source of funds to Connecticut and every other state with transportation infrastructure needs. That 18.4-cent levy on every gallon expires on Sept. 30. And it could […]

WASHINGTON–On July 1, a Washington health advocacy group issued a dire warning about a small but significant Medicare provision on the table in the debt talks. “Under some of the proposals being discussed, seniors could pay as much as $7,500 per year out of pocket for medical care,” read the alert from the Partnership to […]

WASHINGTON–A Westport-based bio-medical company is immersed in an unusual lobbying campaign, trying to sell a high-tech burn remedy to counter-terrorism experts in Washington who decide what to buy for the government’s public-health-emergency stockpile. But while the product and the company, Advanced BioHealing, may be cutting edge, their Washington strategy is old-school. To press their case, […]

WASHINGTON–Republican Chris Shays is gearing up to run for Connecticut’s open U.S. Senate seat, a source familiar with the former congressman’s plans said Wednesday. Shays plans to make his bid official in the coming weeks, and he will make a full-fledged run regardless of whether other possible GOP contenders, including Linda McMahon, also join the […]

WASHINGTON–With a debt deal done and default averted, Congress can move on to other pressing issues now, right? There’s certainly a crushing legislative agenda awaiting lawmakers when they return from their August break: Rewriting No Child Left Behind. Finalizing a multi-year transportation bill. And finding a long-term fix, instead of an emergency patch, to keep […]

WASHINGTON–The debt-reduction deal passed by Congress this week may have eased concerns about default, but it has ratcheted up anxiety on other fronts–particularly among health care providers. Doctors, hospitals, and others in the health care industry are deeply worried about how the agreement–in particular, a second phase of deep spending cuts to be outlined later […]

WASHINGTON–After essentially deferring hard decisions on budget cuts, Congress went on vacation this week without resolving an impasse over reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration–a move that is costing the government millions in lost taxes, keeping thousands of workers off their jobs, and leaving a small Connecticut airport waiting for a safety upgrade and runway […]