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All politicians are stealing our wallets. But I seriously think that CT has more of a problem because it is the hedge fund capital of the country. These guys are super wealthy and have the politicians in their pockets. This state has become a tax shelter for these rich guys.
I work in finance for an incredibly successful small company (50 employees) with hedge funds and we are not the big bad guys. My co-workers drive Fords and live in places like Fairfield, Trumbull, and Oxford. Only the top tier management is what would be considered rich, and they're not that rich. We do not have the politicians in our pockets and each and every employee is restricted from giving any political donations to people at a local or state level (leaving only contributions to Presidential candidates open.) You're crazy to think that the financial centers in CT have ANY type of swing here. Also, everyone in my company but 2 people are conservatives; if we really have politicians in our back pockets, why on earth are liberals getting elected that tax the hell out of us? I can only imagine what an even WORSE place CT would be without the tax contributions from financial centers and hedge funds; income taxes and the sales tax would already be higher than they are now to pay for these godawful non-essential costs.
All politicians are stealing our wallets. But I seriously think that CT has more of a problem because it is the hedge fund capital of the country. These guys are super wealthy and have the politicians in their pockets. This state has become a tax shelter for these rich guys.
Yup. And it doesn't help that there are people in here making 75-80K who will defend this practice to the death.
However, a couple of additional points:
1) Everyone's screaming that it's the dem's that always raise taxes. Probably true. However, I would ask you to consider this: We've had many years of Republican governorship in Connecticut? What exactly did they do besides (at least passively) exacerbate this situation that lead to the current crisis? Realistically, we all knew it was coming about it, and it's a bit disingenuous to scream about a Democrat trying to raise taxes in isolation of the previous Republican administrations roles in getting us here.
2) I'm not really planning to move (and let's face it-- neither are many of you!) so I am looking to long term soulions. I don't want my taxes raised as much as the next guy, however, I don't see much of a choice right now. Can we cut more programs? Maybe. However, I am afraid of the effect that would have on our social safety net and education. Let's face it-- Much of the money budgeted has allocated itself through salaries mandated through union contracts.
3) We have to increase the commercial tax base. That's made difficult by the fact that it seems you have to bribe companies though tax abatement to move here. This means we have to encourage home grown entrepreneurship and innovation. It seems like much of Connecticut is waiting for the "manufacturing plant to re-open" and that's not happening. We CAN create an entrepreneurial environment here. We have the smarts and the education. The state has to work on building an environment that challenges and supports innovators. The private and university community have a role here too. To that end, I am building my Connecticut based company as fast as I can. We are 300% bigger than we were in January 2009 and seek to keep growing...
4) We've go to put an end to these municipal pensions. We can't have all of our municipalities and state paying three workforces-- The one that works now and the two that retired previously. There are plenty of successful investment instruments geared towards municipal employees that are modeled after successful 401K's in the private sector.
As for the tax proposal: I really hope the sales tax isn't increased, though adding more tiers to the income tax was likely inevitable. Haircuts and all that should probably have been taxed all along: almost every other service is taxed so why such an odd exemption? Spending cuts could possibly help but there's no sign that it would overcome the economic power that would be lost. Really though, Connecticut towns and cities should reconsider how they plan... a lot of the high COL could be offset with good cheaper housing (which was the bane of mortgage originators in established communities).
~Cheers
Last edited by JayCT; 02-16-2011 at 07:21 PM..
Reason: Removed Off topic comment
Kristin85, If you work for "an incredibly successful" company, and your bosses are not "that" rich, than you already proved my point. You and guys like you are detached from middle class life. And no offense, but when I say "you" have the politicians in your pocket, I don't mean people at your level. If you are denying that rich people (and "not that" rich people) don't have connections with government, and they have the big bucks to lobby for their interests, you are REALLY detached. There are loop holes to getting around giving political donations.
This is not a democratic/republican thing. Look at the lies Chris Dodd told about his knowledge of the bonuses being given out with taxpayer monies?? And he was on the financial board that was supposed to regulate financial firms to stop them from gambling with other people's money. He went soft.
And thank you, I used to live in Scarsdale, NY and heard this argument all the time: "You can hate us, but you need us and our money". Actually, no. Financial institutions have made a mess of this countries' finances. Another thing you seem to be totally detached about.
"Everyone's screaming that it's the dem's that always raise taxes. Probably true. However, I would ask you to consider this: We've had many years of Republican governorship in Connecticut?"
If CT is anything like CA, it has nothing to do with the governor and everything to do with the state senate. Even though Arnold was a Republican, the democratic-controlled assembly wouldn't agree to a single cut, ever. He wouldn't agree to a single tax increase (until he sold out). Look where he got that state.
There is so much more possible outiside of tax or cut. How about streamlining? How about making CT a right to work state like VA? Democratic politics have ruined virtually every state they prevail in. Is it any wonder that practically the only states in the black are red?? And really, are hedge funds ruining the NE, or is it unions and over-bloated state programs?
I personally don't favor huge breaks for the truly rich, but increasing taxes on familes making $250K in CT (Obama's plan on top of CT's new taxes) while giving a break to a family making $249K in Alabama isn't really fair, either. Truly, if we could move to a lower taxed and cost of living area, we would in a heartbeat.
3) We have to increase the commercial tax base. That's made difficult by the fact that it seems you have to bribe companies though tax abatement to move here. This means we have to encourage home grown entrepreneurship and innovation. It seems like much of Connecticut is waiting for the "manufacturing plant to re-open" and that's not happening. We CAN create an entrepreneurial environment here. We have the smarts and the education. The state has to work on building an environment that challenges and supports innovators. The private and university community have a role here too. To that end, I am building my Connecticut based company as fast as I can. We are 300% bigger than we were in January 2009 and seek to keep growing...
I absolutely agree with this. The problem is that every municipality and state got into the bribing companies model, and now there are serious problems all across the country. For better for worse CT didn't go as low as other places and we felt it with low job growth among big employers. Maybe we can't beat other areas in terms of tax rates, but maybe fix ourselves (start with energy costs) up a bit and get ready to promote everything Connecticut has to offer in other areas. Make it a decent trade-off.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlassoff
4) We've go to put an end to these municipal pensions. We can't have all of our municipalities and state paying three workforces-- The one that works now and the two that retired previously. There are plenty of successful investment instruments geared towards municipal employees that are modeled after successful 401K's in the private sector.
Municipal pensions as they were negotiated were terrible, and both sides knew it at the time but decided to ignore it. For unions they were able to go back to their members and proclaim a victory, politicians kicked the can down the road making promises they had no intention of keeping. But... it's not just the pensions though, it's also the health care packages which are a huge source of money hemorrhaging. Personally, I'd like to see pension promises lessened for new employees in return for minor pay increases with the option to buy in with their own money. Having a public option for health care, putting all state employees on it, allowing municipal buy-ins, possibly the state's medicaid commitments, and then finally allowing individuals and companies would go a long way at helping rates stay competitive in the state. Also, regionalisation could help a lot of the municipalities use economies of scale to lessen each load. Are these end all be all solutions? Absolutely not, but what we have in untenable.
"Everyone's screaming that it's the dem's that always raise taxes. Probably true. However, I would ask you to consider this: We've had many years of Republican governorship in Connecticut?"
If CT is anything like CA, it has nothing to do with the governor and everything to do with the state senate. Even though Arnold was a Republican, the democratic-controlled assembly wouldn't agree to a single cut, ever. He wouldn't agree to a single tax increase (until he sold out). Look where he got that state.
So when we had Republican governors ignore the looming disaster it was all about the legislature... Now that we have a Democratic governor who's addressing the issue it's the governor's fault? Sorry. Logical problem here, in my opinion.
Kristin85, If you work for "an incredibly successful" company, and your bosses are not "that" rich, than you already proved my point. You and guys like you are detached from middle class life. And no offense, but when I say "you" have the politicians in your pocket, I don't mean people at your level. If you are denying that rich people (and "not that" rich people) don't have connections with government, and they have the big bucks to lobby for their interests, you are REALLY detached. There are loop holes to getting around giving political donations.
This is not a democratic/republican thing. Look at the lies Chris Dodd told about his knowledge of the bonuses being given out with taxpayer monies?? And he was on the financial board that was supposed to regulate financial firms to stop them from gambling with other people's money. He went soft.
And thank you, I used to live in Scarsdale, NY and heard this argument all the time: "You can hate us, but you need us and our money". Actually, no. Financial institutions have made a mess of this countries' finances. Another thing you seem to be totally detached about.
Yes, I am denying that hedge funds in CT (the rich people that apparently have govt. connections) have any major connections to state government. Managers may know Senators/Congressmen in their communities by moving in the same social circles or living in the same neighborhoods, but there are no nefarious deals going down to make sure that financial centers and hedge funds get great, personalized tax cuts and deals. That is absolutely ridiculous. Hedge funds do not have lobbyists--most are run with very few employees and those employees are working on the most stressful, quick trades possible; they are not going to sit aroung wringing their hands over state government. Some CT hedge funds have been getting busted for insider trading in the past few months; you don't think those same companies would be getting busted on ethics charges if there were serious allegations? Please.
Chris Dodd was not a "real Republican"--as a few people have said on this thread, a Republican in CT is equal to a middle-of-the-road liberal. He didn't help manage state budgets. As for "regulating financial firms", the law is the law is the law. If the hedge funds aren't breaking the law, there is nothing he can or should do about it. Hedge funds give people with disposable income a great way to put their dollars into high risk investments that have huge returns if the market is played right; it's also a great way for people my age (mid-20s) to use savings since if I lose it all in the next 15 years, I have the rest of my life to rebuild a healthy retirement savings. Hedge funds are not innately evil regardless of whatever you've been told about them.
Also, since you said it: you can hate financial institutions, but you need us and our money.
No, it's always the legislature's fault. If the past governor was trying to cut but the legislature blocked every effort, and the new governon just comes in and increases taxes across the board to the merriment of the legislature, why is that the previous governor's problem?
Cut first, raise taxes last. Many times, as in CA's case, raising sales taxes actually DECREASES sales tax receipts as people quickly discover that they can get big ticket items elsewhere.
And as for raising income taxes and eliminating the property tax deduction, you are just making NY more attractive to city commuters, bringing down values in lower Fairfield, which reduces property tax receipts. Nothing ever happens in a vaccum. People can and do choose where they want to live.
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