A tale of two states: Connecticut and Massachusetts

There were two articles in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal that caught my eye, one involving Connecticut and one involving Massachusetts.

On the Connecticut side, the piece is entitled “The Anti-Christe”.  

If you live in Connecticut, you know who the “Anti-Christe” is.  For everyone else, the answer is Governor Dan Malloy.  As the piece points out, his budget for the upcoming year is loaded with a myriad of new, and/or increased taxes.  But, that still won’t balance the budget, so, he is hoping for some $1 billion in as yet unidentified “union concessions” to do the trick.

I suppose hope does spring eternal, but…

On the Massachusetts side, the piece is entitled “Wisconsin of the East”. 

It points to a bill that recently passed the House in Massachusetts, and was sponsored by House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Democrat.  It would dramatically change collective bargaining for public unions.  Among other things, it would require that all retirees enroll in Medicare.  The expected savings to the state…$100 million in the next budget year.

It would appear that even Democrats in Massachusetts were persuaded by,

[a] recent study by the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education [which] found that from 2000 to 2010 ‘health care consumed two thirds of the entire increase in state spending’ and reform has thus become ‘a critical education issue’.

In the past, when my Connecticut friends complained about their state’s taxes, I used to say, move to Florida.  Now I can say, move to Massachusetts, it’s a lot closer.

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SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

15 Comments

  1. winnie888 on May 2, 2011 at 7:07 am

    While I can’t move to Massachusetts, I can certainly buy my consumables (like gas & food & household items) there…and I am committed to doing so.?? While on some level it bothers me to take my money out of state and away from local businesses (of which there aren’t many left, sad to say), this is the only way Malloy and his crew in the legislature are going to get the hint.? If my expenditures in Mass. serve to help clean up the mess there, then so be it.? We don’t have a governor serious about getting spending under control and until we do, I’m happy to make a once/week trip 20 minutes away.? And I’m quite certain I’m not the only one:? There are more CT license plates at the Mass. pumps than there are Mass. plates.? I’m boycotting this entire state as much as I am able.



    • ricbee on May 2, 2011 at 8:57 am

      Starve the beast into submission may be the only way to remake Corrupticut into a viable state.



    • GdavidH on May 2, 2011 at 11:13 am

      A similar story about the Ct. budget and Malloy was published on the “Big Government” site.
      http://biggovernment.com/sberry/2011/04/30/connecticut-governor-pass-state-budget-without-union-concessions/ .

      Considering our familiarity with this subject, the most disturbing? part of the story was the comment section. People from around the country?are convinced that everyone in Ct. is a flaming liberal and deserve whatever we get. Apparently they forgot how close the election was, and forgot how the shenanigans in Bridgeport probably got us Malloy.
      This is a sad state of affairs.



    • Dimsdale on May 2, 2011 at 1:39 pm

      It seems many fellow nutmeggers agree with you, winnie, but the the people on the shoreline and NY border are effectively screwed, as the cost to drive to MA would be prohibitive.? But then, if you have other purchases to make, you might offset the loss.
      ?
      Maybe, like the buses to Canada to purchase subsidized (by Canadians) pharmaceuticals, Malloy could take that high speed bus line and instead, make a “gas train” to take cars on flatbed cars to MA to fill up….?? 😉



  2. Lynn on May 2, 2011 at 7:54 am

    I congratulate Mass., the signs were there when Pfizer moved and now I understand. Mass. legislature gets it. CT is contemplating letting Malloy have more power to make the budget. I don’t even know if this is good or bad. The General Assembly has failed miserably, but Malloy owes everything to the Unions.? Let’s see a despot or a corrupt legislature, which should CT pick?



    • Plainvillian on May 2, 2011 at 8:30 am

      Despot or corrupt legislature?? Don’t we already have both?



  3. momforamerica on May 2, 2011 at 9:05 am

    I worked for one of the remaining corporations in this state, and the politicians have just about killed it off. What’s more, we found that most of them didn’t know what the word “confidential” meant & couldn’t wait to go to the papers with any tidbit they were granted. As a result, we stopped talking to them! Now we have this POS whose answer to everything is to tax it. ENOUGH ALREADY, MALLOY!!



  4. ricbee on May 2, 2011 at 9:05 am

    Malloy is doing just what I expected. It seems he didn’t try to hide his intentions. I think for every tax he raises the state will get less money than it expects. I’ll get out of this decaying state & off to the sunny beaches of Florida in the next few years.



  5. momforamerica on May 2, 2011 at 9:06 am

    Just a footnote: I have a business now & will be moving it in 2 years. A friend of mine (a millionaire) just moved his to Florida (no state tax), and redomiciled there as well; thereby taking a tons of tax money out of this State. This is what your politicies are doing here, Mr. Malloy et al!!



    • Dimsdale on May 3, 2011 at 7:16 pm

      Finish that statement!? “…taking a tons of tax money out of this State” and giving it to Florida.
      ?
      The Laffer curve in action…



    • GdavidH on May 3, 2011 at 7:27 pm

      Unintended consequences? Again?

      What is it about liberals/progressives/socialists that the only boogeyman they CAN’T see are unintended consequences? I’m guessing that the Malloy/Dem tax plan of the biggest tax increase in?Ct. history brings in no where near the revenue they are planning on



  6. Dimsdale on May 3, 2011 at 10:27 am

    Dannel Malloy: we have to pass the legislation in order for you to start paying for it (unions: nevermind).



    • TomL on May 3, 2011 at 4:58 pm

      Dims you mean just like the kid president issuing an executive fiat wanting to know what everyones political donations were but the unions get a pass.



    • Dimsdale on May 3, 2011 at 7:16 pm

      😉



  7. GaryInSoGlast on May 4, 2011 at 1:37 pm

    I have lived in CT almost my whole life. ?I love the town I live in, my house, my children’s schools, the weather, and almost everything else. ?Now, for the first time, I feel like it may be time to leave. ?I can’t keep being expected to pay more and more for the “privilege” of living here. ?When does will this state stop taking people like me for granted. ?We (middle class and above) work hard and pay all these taxes, fees, and whatever other names they give to taxes. ?Then all we hear from our government in this state (and this country) is that we have to give more. ?I think I may have to consider leaving this state. ?I have the money, and the means to find another place to live. ?I will miss living here, but I don’t know if I have much choice much longer. ?Every time they raise the taxes, the make it harder to justify staying. ?Maybe it’s time to go Galt at least from this always leftist state.



Square - Malloy

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