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Letter: Mixed Up Priorities at the Darien Democratic Town Committee

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To the editor:

Last week, the Darien Democratic Town Committee “went national” and came out with a lofty appeal to the U.S. Congress to censure the president over his alleged “racist behavior.”

The DTC got their priorities and those of their constituents all mixed up. The committee has been completely silent on the fiscal disaster of our state under Democratic leadership. In his two terms at the helm, [Gov. Dannel] Malloy has extended the state employees’ damaging contract, originally due 2017 (last year!) in his first term to 2022, and in his second to 2027, surrendering the fiscal health of Connecticut for at least ten more years. The untenable has now become untouchable. At the very beginning of the current biennial cycle, and despite the absence of a viable budget for the rest of us, the union concessions were signed, sealed and delivered to the state employees — and to their loud applause.

Letters to the Editor
Letter letters

Letter to the Editor: Connecticut Budget Crisis — Unresolved

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To the editor:

With much yelling and screaming and some delay, the Connecticut Legislature finally delivered its 2016/17 budget on Friday, May 13. The good news is that the $19.7 billion budget does not include new taxes and eliminates money for raises of state employees next year. The bad news is that the out-of-balance wages and benefits of state employees were not addressed in the long-run, leading to deficits of $1.3 billion in 2017 and $1.8 billion in 2018. Senate President Looney, a Democrat, pointed out that raising taxes on the rich (as proposed by the labor unions) was contemplated, but ultimately abandoned, as last year’s large tax increases led to “diminishing returns” and “volatility,” as he puts it. Well, hello, taxpayers and corporations are voting with their feet when taxes go up.

Government & Politics
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Letter: CT’s ‘Tax on Jobs’ an Assault on Local Businesses & Jobs

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To the editor:

After Malloy managed to chase large businesses from our state, the government has now targeted mid-size companies and franchises. The initiative comes from the Democrat-ruled Assembly (Senate Bill 391) and is euphemistically titled “The Economic and Fiscal Impact of Connecticut’s Proposed Statute to Recoup Costs Attributable to Low-Wage Employers.”

It should be called “Tax on Jobs.” That is shorter, more transparent and more accurate. The proposed law requires Connecticut employers to pay the state a tax of between 10 cents and $1 per hour for every hour worked by an employee who earns less than $15 an hour. The tax will be imposed on employers of 500 or more workers and on smaller companies if they belong to a franchise with 500 or more employees. As the National Federation of Independent Business has testified “many small businesses may potentially be impacted by the provisions that aggregate employees of franchises.