Some of my otherwise sane fiscally-conservative friends like the idea of tolls, arguing that they have to pay them in other states while citizens from these states get a free ride in Connecticut. This makes no sense. Just because other states are ripping you off, why do you want to be ripped off in your home state too? These same friends also believe the money coming in from the tolls will repair our roads and bridges because the politicians will put the receipts in a “lock box” and only use the money for infrastructure repair. If you believe this, I will gladly sell you the Statue of Liberty for a mere $1,000.
Just say no to Connecticut tolls
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
High speed rail runs over Connecticut
In China you can travel by high-speed rail between Beijing and Shanghai (819 miles) in about four hours, averaging over 200 mph. Take Amtrak from New York to Boston and the 230 mile journey will take at least 3.5 hours (about 65 mph). Why the difference? Because the U.S. is a third-world nation when it comes to railroading. Our railroads’ tracks (rights-of-way) are old and full of curves compared to China’s modern, straight rail roadbeds.
Posted inHealth
While waiting for a state health-records exchange, medical society launches one
Frustrated that after 10 years of effort the state of Connecticut has yet to launch a functioning health information exchange allowing physicians, hospitals and other health care providers to share patient medical records, the Connecticut State Medical Society is offering one of its own. Health care providers will have to decide if it Is worthwhile to sign on or wait for the state system to pan out.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Inquiry opens into fiscal condition of Millstone nuclear station
After lobbying for financial relief for two years, Dominion Energy was non-committal Thursday about providing financial data sought by two state agencies tasked with assessing the financial viability of its Millstone nuclear power plant.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Sales tax hike seems an ‘inevitability,’ but questions remain
Connecticut’s top state senator said Wednesday he believes moderate Democrats are “growing increasingly comfortable” with a sales tax increase that could ease pressure to slash municipal aid and help break an impasse that has left the state without a budget.
Posted inMoney
CT job totals slip by 600 in July
Connecticut lost 600 jobs in July while the state’s unemployment rate remained stable at 5 percent, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.
Posted inPolitics
Malloy scolds CT Republicans for silence on Trump
Updated at 8 p.m.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy denounced Republicans on Thursday for suggesting they were too focused on Connecticut’s fiscal issues to repudiate President Trump’s mixed message about the hate groups that marched in Virginia last weekend and the demonstrators who opposed them.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Speaker: Mid-September vote is last chance to avert budget disaster for towns
As municipalities brace for a massive hit in state assistance this fall, absent a new budget, House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz said Wednesday his chamber may vote on a fiscal plan next month — even if it acts alone.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Municipal fund balances fall far short of needed financial buffer
The CT Mirror’s August 14 report on “The state of CT’s cities and towns in charts” is a detailed, reasoned analysis, consistent with the high quality of work we expect from the CT Mirror. Yet, one of the essential parts of the Mirror’s report — its analysis of municipal fund balances — falls short of presenting the most accurate and clearest understanding of this critical component of municipal finances.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Are union concessions ‘la bancarotta fraudolenta?’
The $5 billion deficit that had opened up for the biennial fiscal year starting July 1 continues to haunt the state government and the people of Connecticut. Republicans proposed to close the budget gap largely on the basis of a restructuring of bloated public sector pay and benefits. Gov. Dannel Malloy wanted none of this. He also did not accept the contention that most of the “concessions” the state received from its unions did not require any “deal” and could have been achieved unilaterally. Significant adjustments to the catalog of the outsized benefits of our government employees are set in statute and could have been addressed legislatively.
Posted inPolitics
CT Republicans fault Trump’s mixed message on hate groups
Connecticut Republicans unequivocally denounce the torch-wielding white supremacists and neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville, Va., while their criticism of President Trump’s insistence he saw “blame on both sides” of the violent protests and counter-protests was more muted.
Posted inEducation
Feds give nod to CT’s plan for education accountability
The approval comes one month after reviewers at the federal agency wrote a blistering evaluation of the state’s initial plan. The state education department quickly made changes to address the feds’ concerns — but stood its ground and prevailed on a key measure for grading schools.
Posted inPolitics
Aetna CEO: ‘I am ashamed’ of Trump’s behavior and comments
Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini has joined a number of corporate leaders distancing themselves from President Donald J. Trump in the wake of the events in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Posted inNews
UTC chief quits Trump advisory group as White House disbands it
WASHINGTON — United Technologies CEO Gregory Hayes said he was quitting President Donald Trump’s American Manufacturing Council. “As the events of last week have unfolded here in the U.S., it is clear that we need to collectively stand together and denounce the politics of hate, intolerance and racism,” Hayes said.
Posted inPolitics
Trump remarks roil CT Dems, and GOP colleagues
President Donald Trump’s revival of a declaration that “both sides” were to blame for the deadly violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., has drawn swift rebukes from Connecticut members of Congress — and a growing number of their GOP colleagues.