What's With the Dem Gov. of CT?--Our Version of Walker??

[DemocracyInaction]

WTF! Just caught a couple minutes on MSNBC this a.m. CT Dem governor demanding the public unions cough up like 2B in cuts, etc. or he will lay off 4,700 workers. They had an outraged public service union head on who was explaining what a lying, rip-off (a la Walker) it is. My God, is there any one (or party) left that isn't declaring war on unions and working folks! I'm beyond disgusted. Would love to know more about this from folks who know the situation. Progressives have to stop this bullshit within our own party or we really don't have any choices left at the ballot box.......

[CTyankee]

1. I don't believe he is in any way in Walker's league. I voted for him.

He is a lifelong Democrat.

I am dismayed by his cuts, too. But we have a serious situation here in CT, brought on by the incompetence and misconduct of his two predecessors. They screwed us ALL up in CT and now we are paying for it.

I have a very good friend who 100% for union workers as he is one. He worked for Malloy during the campaign as a union volunteer. Trying to get some info from him as to what is going on...I will get back to you...

[Larkspur]

2. You can check the following CT blogs for more information

Jon Pelto -- was a Malloy supporter during the campaign, but has become an outspoken critic since Malloy started paying more attention to the CBIA and the insurance companies.

My Left Nutmeg -- one of the top CT blogs. They often cross link articles from state and local newspapers and blogs, so this is a good place to start.

FYI, I supported Ned Lamont in the Dem primary, but Malloy did a good job since he lost the 2006 primary of getting the Dem machine behind him to win the primary in 2010. On My Left Nutmeg during the primary, the Malloy zealots kept saying that Malloy was more progressive than Lamont, but Dan has had a long reputation of being more pro-corporate and his nickname is "DLC Dan". When he was mayor of Stamford, he helped bring in the big box stores that crushed the Mom and Pop retail outlets. And of course Stamford got quite a bit of state funds to help it attract Wall Street businesses. Malloy claimed that as mayor he created 5,000 jobs, but over his 14 years as mayor, he lost 13,000 jobs for a net loss of 8,000 jobs, but the primary saw about a 20-25% turnout and those Democrats didn't pay attention to Malloy's history. They just felt that because he was mayor, he had the experience to be governor.

No one knows where Malloy got the $2 billion number to exhort from the public sector unions. Suspicions point to the CBIA (CT Business and Industry Association), which has a reputation for being CT's version of the Heritage Foundation, the group that gave Paul Ryan his numbers for his Plan to Prosperity.

[Larkspur]

3. And not only is Malloy trying to wring $2 billion from the public sector unions

he also is putting a quash on Susinet, CT's version of the public option health plan. Apparently, the in-state insurance companies pressured him to do so.

So we will have to pray the Vermont's experiment with single-payor succeeds and becomes the template for the rest of the nation.

[fredamae]

4. Is it possible he just Lied about

"being a dem"? Or perhaps he was confused, not clearly understanding the difference? I'm stunned, personally. Now "they" will say "It has some support even on the left" :(

[Larkspur]

5. No, technically he's been a member of the Democratic party for a long time

but he was also a DLC type Democrat and you know what kind they are -- DINO's.

FYI, Malloy lives in a $1-2 million dollar home in Stamford.

[madinmaryland]

8. Huh? There is housing in Stamford for less than $1 million???

I lived in Danbury and Norwalk for nearly 20 years before moving to Maryland a few years back. It is not that much of an anomaly in Stamford and Fairfield County.

[Larkspur]

6. And you'll love this... David Koch endorsed Malloy's budget

See my diary under Connecticut -- http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=143x5250

[hfojvt]

7. stuff like this

sorta disproves the whole "the working class is voting against its own self interest by not voting for Democrats".

From Kathleen Sebelius in Kansas to Jay Nixon in Missouri and Andrew Cuomo in New York, supposedly Democratic governors cannot bring themselves to raise taxes on the rich.

And yep, Connecticut is one of the most unequal states in the nation and they have a fairly flat state income tax.

http://itepnet.org/pdf/2006soistatemismatches.pdf

"Massachusetts and Illinois have personal
income taxes but impose a single, flat
rate, while Connecticut nearly does. (It
has two rates — 3 percent and 5 percent
— but roughly three out of five taxpayers
face the higher 5 percent rate.) Both New
York and California have weakened the
progressivity of their income taxes since
the 1990s, providing enormous tax cuts
to the very wealthy and leaving a lasting
legacy of structural budget deficits."