Indifference manifests itself in ignorance, silence and acceptance. Turning our backs to the injustices suffered by the marginalized, vulnerable, and victimized in our local communities and around the world is a weak and heartless admission that the status quo is just fine with us when it doesn’t affect our lives directly — at least not yet. And that’s a very big “yet” because unchecked turmoil can arrive anytime at our doorsteps regardless of who we think we are.
Indifference, neutrality help the oppressors, not the oppressed
Posted inMoney
Malloy asks for ideas to cut the budget, but agency heads offer few
Most state agencies have responded to a request from the governor’s budget chief for ideas on where to further cut state spending either by declining to identify reductions, recommending increased spending instead, or failing to reply at all.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Blumenthal, Murphy help sink abortion bill
Updated at 7:10 p.m.
WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s Democratic senators on Monday helped block a bill in the Senate that would have outlawed abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Posted inMoney, Transportation
Dozen House Democrats vow new drive for tolls despite rocky road
A dozen House Democratic legislators pledged Monday to propose a bill in the upcoming legislative session to establish electronic tolling throughout highways in Connecticut – a pitch that has been made numerous times in recent years but has failed to win approval.
Posted inPolitics
Erin Stewart explores run for governor in a crowded field
New Britain’s young Republican mayor, Erin Stewart, opened an exploratory campaign for governor Monday to test whether Connecticut is ready to elect its first millennial to statewide office. She announced her plans on Facebook Live.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The federal tax cut is not the problem. The budget is.
This week it was announced that Gov. Malloy, along with Govs. Andrew Cuomo and Phil Murphy, is joining a lawsuit challenging the new federal tax laws that put restrictions on state and local tax deductions. Malloy argues the new tax laws discriminate against mostly blue states that voted against President Trump. However, what has these Democrats quite obviously excited is a cut to tax deductions unearths how poor these states’ budgets and taxes are.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
For community health centers, a catastrophe in the making
As the daughter of an immigrant who raised his two daughters to believe that this is the greatest country in the world, I have always been proud of what our country stands for. That’s why when the call came asking if I would attend this week’s State of the Union Address, I felt an odd mix of excitement and sadness. Excitement to be a part of an American tradition taking place in the history-ladened halls of our national Capitol; sadness because I knew why I was being singled out for this honor and opportunity. I am the CEO of Fair Haven Community Health Care, a community health center in New Haven, which provides care to over 18,000 low-income residents of our community. Community health centers in the U.S. are currently under siege, due to the chaotic bipartisan bickering that has come to be the hallmark of my beloved government. Congresswoman DeLauro’s choice for her guest is one way she can shine a spotlight on the plight of Community Health Centers.
Posted inHealth, Money
Panel: CT could reap big savings with more competitive bidding
A new report asserts state government could save as much as $260 million per year — and potentially more in the future — by ensuring all service contracts are subjected to competitive bidding.
Posted inPolitics
Rovero to retire, put a third House Democratic seat in play
Rep. Danny S. Rovero, D-Killingly, a fiscal conservative who repeatedly has broken with his caucus on budget votes, announced Monday he will not seek re-election this fall from the Quiet Corner of northeast Connecticut, a blow to Democrats trying to maintain a fragile majority in the state House of Representatives.
Posted inNews
The JI’s Chris Powell on civic engagement: ‘It’s collapsing’
Chris Powell, the managing editor of The Journal Inquirer in Manchester, has been a fixture in the Connecticut media for decades. Set to retire at the end of the month, he spoke with The Mirror about his career, his brief venture into Connecticut politics, and changing trends in the Connecticut news media and state and local government.
Posted inNews
Politics, politics, presidential and otherwise
Questions about immigration reform and the fate of the so-called Dreamers lingered last week after Senate Republicans and Democrats reached a compromise agreement to fund the government for another three weeks. But effects of President Donald Trump’s policies and politics are being felt on many issues everywhere.
Posted inHealth, Politics
As doctors drop opposition, aid-in-dying advocates pick next battlefronts
When the end draws near, Dr. Roger Kligler, a retired physician with incurable, metastatic prostate cancer, wants the option to use a lethal prescription to die peacefully in his sleep. As he fights for the legal right to do that, an influential doctors group in Massachusetts has agreed to stop trying to block the way.
Posted inNews
Big Pharma greets hundreds of ex-federal workers at the ‘revolving door’
A Kaiser Health News analysis shows that hundreds of people have glided through the “revolving door” that connects the drug industry to Capitol Hill and to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Posted inEducation
A last try: Lawyers ask Supreme Court to reconsider school ruling
Lawyers representing the coalition of parents, teachers and locally elected officials suing the state argue that the trial provided abundant examples of deficiencies in school districts. The coalition also asks the court to reconsider its conclusion that the state is not constitutionally responsible for paying to help students overcome societal deficiencies, such as poverty and other issues at home.
Posted inHealth
Lawsuit charges state hospitals hold committed patients too long
The Connecticut Legal Rights Project hopes to force the state to develop a mental health system that has capacity at all levels of care, with a priority for supportive housing, so that institutionalized patients in state psychiatric facilities can be discharged within 90 days after they are deemed ready.