Sen. Joe Lieberman and former Rep. Chris Shays are expected to take part in the launch next month of a new national group dedicated to restoring civility in politics, Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman reports. The message of the group, called “No Labels,” is is that the nation is facing a “crisis of governance.” “We are […]

Sen. Joe Lieberman won’t be hard to find on Wednesday. He’ll be on Fox News, then MSNBC, first thing in the morning. And then both again at lunch. His reason for blanketing the airwaves? Touting the newly released Pentagon report on the impact (minimal, the study says) of repealing the ban on gays serving openly in […]

Congress has voted to temporarily avert a 23 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors that was scheduled to take effect this week, postponing the cut for another month. But that might not be enough to keep Connecticut doctors from limiting the number of Medicare patients they see, according to a new survey by the […]

BRIDGEPORT–Almost a month past Election Day, long after Tom Foley conceded and Gov.-elect Dan Malloy began assembling his administration, volunteers gathered at long plastic tables here Monday to figure out how, exactly, the city voted. They hunched over piles of ballots, scrutinizing them one-by-one, trying to unravel an electoral mess that kept Connecticut in suspense […]

WASHINGTON–Can Congress come up with a real cure for the maladies of the Medicare physician payment system? Lawmakers have proven themselves adept at applying Band-Aid solutions, passing repeated short-term fixes to stave off steep payment cuts to doctors who treat Medicare patients. But physicians in Connecticut and across the country have said these temporary steps, […]

Is retiring Sen. Chris Dodd Hollywood material? The Motion Picture Association of America apparently thinks so. A report in the New York Times this morning says that Dodd, who will be leaving Congress next month after more than three decades, is one candidate under consideration to become the MPAA’s top lobbyist. One problem: Dodd has […]

Governor-elect Dan Malloy told MSNBC this morning that sales-tax exemptions are going to get a hard look by his administration as it looks to close a deficit of as much as $3.7 billion. “We’re going to take a serious look at what we’re not taxing,” said Malloy, a guest on “The Daily Rundown,” a political […]

Manchester Community College student Tina Gilbert plans to get a degree someday, possibly as early as next year, but she still faces one obstacle that stops many college students in their tracks: remedial math. “I struggle with math–the fractions,” said Gilbert, who graduated from Windsor High School more than two decades ago and is one […]

Is bankruptcy the way out of states’ fiscal morass? Writing in the DC Examiner, Michael Barone says states like California and Illinois can’t expect much federal help for their desperate financial problems now that Republicans control the House of Representatives–but maybe Congress would pass legislation allowing them to declare bankruptcy. A Depression-era law allows local […]

Rep. Rosa DeLauro will vie to keep her top post on the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, her spokeswoman said Monday. The 3rd District congresswoman currently serves as co-chair of the steering committee thanks to an appointment from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In the aftermath of the elections, Democrats voted to curb Pelosi’s power to […]

State officials ordered as much surplus spending over the past 12 years as the entire deficit looming over the next fiscal year, according to a new report from nonpartisan legislative analysts. Past and present governors and legislators spent $2.76 billion from surpluses as soon as they were available, and took another $696 million left over […]

WASHINGTON–Lawmakers will tiptoe into a political minefield this week when President Barack Obama’s bipartisan debt commission releases detailed recommendations for tax increases, spending cuts, and other painful steps that could put the nation on firmer fiscal ground. And within Connecticut’s congressional delegation, the fault lines already are emerging. Liberals, including Reps. Rosa DeLauro and John […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell reversed herself Monday, pledging to oppose any cuts to Metro-North branch line rail service–less than one week after her budget office suggested such reductions to help close a shortfall in the state’s winter heating assistance program. “I can understand the confusion and questions that people have so let me be quite […]

The legislative panel charged with improving state government efficiency tentatively endorsed more than $250 million in new cost-cutting measures Monday, particularly targeting state health care services for the poor and elderly. The Commission on Enhancing Agency Outcomes, whose final report is expected Dec. 15, also issued recommendations regarding state contract awards, energy costs, agency consolidations […]

WASHINGTON–Proponents of an alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter are mounting an 11th hour lobbying effort to win fresh funding for the project, even as lawmakers in the lame-duck Congress prepare an austere budget. Lobbyists for General Electric are working with top lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee and other key panels to […]