The battle between President Donald Trump and several Congressional committees intensified last week when Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee voted to hold U.S. Attorney General William Barr in contempt and the Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr. At the Connecticut Capitol, debate intensified over highway tolls; a radical new tax scheme and; in a marathon session, approval of the $15 minimum wage.

Paul Stern
Paul has more than 40 years of reporting and editing experience at newspapers in New Jersey, Florida and Connecticut. He worked 22 years at the Hartford Courant in various editing roles including as deputy state editor, assistant editor of Northeast Magazine, and as an associate editor at Courant.com. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University. A trained chef, he and his wife own and operate a bed and breakfast in an historic home in Mansfield.
Contempt for government’s most ‘co-equal’ branch
Congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump set out last week to see whose branch of government is the more co-equal; showing, if not literally at least figuratively, their contempt for each other’s authority.
For whom the highway tolls
The issue of tolls on Connecticut’s highways is shaping up to be a defining one for Connecticut legislators, Gov. Ned Lamont and two competing plans to improve the state’s transportation network.
The Mueller Report hits; little changes
The redacted Mueller report hit Washington like a political sonic boom last week, making a huge noise but apparently changing few minds in Connecticut or elsewhere about Donald Trump’s fitness to be president — or the propriety of his conduct.
Musical chairs on the UConn board
It was musical chairs in Connecticut politics last week, and when the music stopped, long-time University of Connecticut Trustee Denis J. Nayden had no where to sit. Neither did the board Chairman Thomas E. Kruger.
Reality in politics is what you say it is
Political events challenged reality last week when the president claimed his father was born in Germany and former mayor and convicted felon Eddie Perez asked his city to forgive his corruption and return him to public office.
A ‘pencil neck’ in Washington and, here, the ‘toll monster’
It was government by name calling and sound-bite rhetoric last week on two hot issues: the president’s ties to Russia and, in Connecticut, highway tolls.
Low-brow tweets, then high expectations. Now what…?
The nation is on edge today waiting to find out what it will learn from the release of some or all of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. In Connecticut the legislative sausage factory grinds on.
Hatred in New Zealand felt around the world
The monstrous slaughter of 49 Muslim worshipers in New Zealand by a single gunman spread alarm throughout the world last week. Mosques in the United States went on high alert against similar attacks; and the online world attempted to cope with the implications of the terrorist’s live video stream of his hateful work.
Tough sailing in a state with big debts
Connecticut’s ship of state was tossed left and right last week as the governor, lawmakers and members of the public tried to navigate through the strong economic headwinds caused by huge multi-year budget deficits.
Truth, lies, and government consequences
Politics in Connecticut last week seemed normal compared to the Congressional testimony of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former attorney.
Lamont’s big budget reveal goes as expected
Last week was Gov. Ned Lamont’s big budget reveal, when he attempted to satisfy hundreds of competing interests with billions of dollars the government doesn’t have.
Emergency declared, confrontation assured
Connecticut’s all-Democratic congressional delegation was uniformly outraged Friday when President Donald Trump declared a national emergency so he could use billions of dollars Congress declined to give him to build a southern border wall.
A trying week of presidentiality
It was a very presidential week, but not necessarily in a good way. President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union Address on Tuesday to a divided Congress that reacted as a divided Congress would: Republicans applauded the call for national unity and a firm approach to immigration – including construction of a border wall. Democrats dismissed Trump’s appeal for comity as an insincere pitch out of character with his regular use of insulting tweets and personal attacks.
Taxing groceries and building a wall
It is hard to say which idea is more popular in Connecticut – a tax on groceries or building a wall. Both concepts caused plenty of aggita last week in their respective political circles.