The three leading gubernatorial candidates share their thoughts on several health care issues, including Medicaid work requirements, an individual mandate, the opioid crisis, the hospital tax and Roe v. Wade.
Taking the pulse of the gubernatorial candidates’ views on health care
Posted inPolitics
Quinnipiac: Lamont’s lead over Stefanowski shrinks to 4 points
A Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters released Tuesday shows Democrat Ned Lamont’s lead over Republican Bob Stefanowski has shrunk by half to four percentage points in Connecticut’s gubernatorial race and now sits precariously within the margin of error. Lamont leads Stefanowski, 47 percent to 43 percent, with Oz Griebel at 7 percent.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
On the soft bigotry of low expectations in schools
If you were moving into a new area and talking to your child’s new principal who said, “I’m proud to tell you that only 65 percent of our children fail to meet district standards in reading and writing,” how excited would you be about sending your child to that school? Yet, according to Jacqueline Rabe Thomas and Clarice Silber, in their excellent review of where we stand in Connecticut with magnet schools, “Statewide, 35 percent of students were at grade level in reading and writing.”
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Voters! Combat outside campaign spending with critical thinking
Freedom of Speech is meant to safeguard democracy, to protect people’s ability to freely engage in public discourse and govern themselves. But when outside donors (often unknown and untraceable) inject substantial sums to influence my community’s elections, such donors overstep the prerogative of choosing their representatives and encroach upon my community’s process of choosing our own.
Posted inEducation
Five things to know about Griebel’s plans for public schools, if elected governor
The independent candidate for governor spoke with the CT Mirror recently to talk about education. Oz Griebel shared where he stands on regionalization, magnet schools, the length of time students spend in school, and teacher pension payments.
Posted inPolitics
Himes knocks Trump foreign policy, Arora defends it
Rep. Jim Himes and Republican challenger Harry Arora on Monday night presented two different views on how the United States should treat friends and foes around the world.
Posted inJustice
Commissioners Semple and Schriro to leave before Malloy
Scott Semple, who has turned Connecticut prisons into a nationally watched laboratory of reform, and Dora B. Schriro, the state’s top public safety official, have notified Gov. Dannel P. Malloy they will leave state service ahead of his last day in office on Jan. 9.
Posted inPolitics
CT GOP candidates weigh Trump’s plan for immigration crackdown
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump plans to announce a sweeping border crackdown this week, days before the mid-term elections, in a “red meat” speech aimed at firing up the GOP base. While that speech may help GOP candidates in other states, a tough approach to immigration is likely to provide less of a boost to Republican candidates in Connecticut, although some embrace the plan.
Posted inPolitics
Democrats: Does Connecticut want an NRA-endorsed governor?
A weekend of grieving the shooting deaths of 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue gave way Monday to a hard push by Democrats to highlight Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski’s support from the NRA and the state’s largest gun-owners’ group, the Connecticut Citizens Defense League. “A governor with an A rating from the NRA elected in Connecticut? That’s the national headline,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Parents, your kids are failing math, reading, and writing!
Parents, you need to wake up and get in the game. Your child’s future is at stake. Or, your child will become one of the negative statistics. In some cases it is appropriate to blame the education leadership — especially the commissioner, superintendents, principals, and collective bargaining units — for the ineffective system. However, the love of learning must start at home with parents. It is the parent’s responsibility to make education their priority over all other activities. It is the parent’s responsibility to set high expectations for their child’s behavior and learning and it is the parent’s responsibility to be a positive role model for the child in helping to shape the child’s opinions and attitudes about learning.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Support for the autism community must be bipartisan
From the late 1980s and early 1990s, awareness about autism increased because of the hard work by families, professionals, and self-advocates. As a result, the community became powerful enough to influence the U.S. Congress. Since those eras, more methods like Affinity Therapy and Lego Therapy has been accepted and old methods like Applied Behavior Analysis improved to help future generations. As someone who is majoring as a disability specialist, I am excited to work for the autism community. Despite this excitement, I have a fear in the back of my mind. It involves the current political climate of the country and the possibility of autism policies becoming more partisan, instead of something legislators in both parties generally support.
Posted inPolitics
Aside from UTC gossip, business plays coy in race for governor
Over dinner at the Belle Haven Club in Greenwich, a member of United Technologies Corporation’s board of directors, Harold “Terry” McGraw, was talking about gubernatorial politics when, according to a fellow diner, the director asserted that UTC would would exit Connecticut if Democrat Ned Lamont is elected governor. The comment, which McGraw declined to confirm or deny, would be a striking departure for a corporate Connecticut that has strained for neutrality in this volatile race.
Posted inPolitics
An ‘army of young people’ propels and inspires Jahana Hayes
It was a wave of young voters that propelled Democrat Jahana Hayes into the Fifth Congressional District candidacy, and Sunday she told a crowd of young voters that they continue to be her inspiration as she attempts to become the district’s first black female representative.
Posted inPolitics
Aspects of a dangerous political season: toxic rhetoric and violence
The hyper-partisanship of current American politics found its most extreme expression last week when more than a dozen prominent Democrats, including two former presidents, were the targets of explosive devices apparently mailed to them by a fanatical supporter of President Donald Trump.
Posted inHealth
Booming economy helps flatten Medicaid enrollment and limit costs
Medicaid enrollment fell by 0.6 percent in 2018 — its first drop since 2007 — due to the strong economy and increased efforts in some states to verify eligibility, a new report finds. But costs continue to go up.