[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by Henry10

That's exactly the point. Put the Left out of business. Eventually we will. If not this generation, the next generation will.

The left will never be out of business in CT. Not in this generation and not the next.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by SteveM85

The left will never be out of business in CT. Not in this generation and not the next.

I agree. If anything they are going to get stronger as the older generations die off. Jay

[lair8]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Well the state’s revenue stream continues to exceed expectations. The budget is currently expected to have a $2.8 billion surplus. That’s incredible.

That may be because the US has full employment now. More people are paying into the system. When the recession hits in 2023 and people get laid off, that surplus could vanish.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

I believe in making any tax cuts or increases a function of surplus/deficit situation-not politics.

Simply put, Jay, I trust 0% of politicians.

PS: I am for a reserve, but the one we have now is far too large, and represents valuable $ sucked out of the productive private sector well past the needs to fund the government.

By law, Connecticut’s Rainy Day Fund cannot be more than 15% of its budget. That’s not a lot. Keep in mind it only took Jodi Rell less then two years to burn through the reserve back then. She was then force to borrow $1 billion to balance her budget. It’s not unfeasible that the next recession will last more than two years. There are some legislators that want to increase it in preparation of more lengthy downturns. Might be wise to consider it. Jay

https://ctmirror.org/2022/10/28/ct-r...15-20-percent/

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by mdovell

Well yeah about that. The foundations is going to have a significant impact economically based on the report. The labor market and commodities are tight and new buildings can take years to make. I'd argue the surplus is either going to go to buildings or pensions. If it doesn't support buildings that's fine but you can't block doing things online (Lamont ended virtual education)

The foundation report has been delayed a month. I think this is going to be ugly.
CFSIC is fine. It's an apolitical organization. I have no doubt and full confidence what they say is 100% the honest truth and they aren't hiding anything.

However
"The board of CFSIC has also determined that it wants to review the report on the pyrrhotite crisis and public use buildings before it is released to the public. The board has also indicated that it wants the report to be modified to include constructive commentary on Public Act 21-120 by way of suggested future enhancements to the Act as it relates to residential foundations and the improvement in those standards. As a result, the public use buildings report will not be published on November 10 as previously indicated, but will be published on or before December 20, once additional commentary has been built into the report concerning suggested enhancements to the Public Act."

On top of this is the federal investigation. I'd argue this is what is going to happen
1) The report reveals a significant number of public buildings have pyrrhotie
2) There will be a significant debate about what should be replaced and in what order
3) Funding - This is where this gets very tricky. The state might want to use the surplus to help communities (makes sense). But it can't. It can't because the federal investigation is still going on.
4) Either you have full control of this process by the state *OR* you have local control but you have to have strict state standards. The state mandates local procurement laws to be uniform in the state, same like Mass did after the UMass boston incident. If towns compete with other towns (both receiving state funding) and some get repairs much later is that fair?
5) We'll see more proposed regionalization and shared services
6) We'll see larger buildings depending on combined needs. So an emergency center that is a combined police/fire/ems center, K though 8 school instead of K though 6, Jrhigh/high school combined.
7) Covid era virtual learning is going to have to come back along with simply doing more online. There might be debates if some buildings really do need to be rebuilt.

I doubt that this will happen. It’s not like there were a lot of public buildings built during the operation of that gravel pit and there are a number of unaffected pits that could have been used instead. That greatly reduces the chances of a large number of public buildings needing replacement. To my knowledge only the school in Tolland was affected. Not aware of any others. Jay

[Henry10]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I agree. If anything they are going to get stronger as the older generations die off. Jay

Disagree. Historically speaking, tyrannical forces have been losing ground. Ebb and flow yes, but historical trajectory is unequivocal -- tyranny has been shrinking, and liberty has expanded.

Capitalism is very young, only 230 years (since French Revolution). It took Feudalism epoch almost 1,300 years to rise, develop and die. Previous epochs have taken even longer...

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Henry10

Disagree. Historically speaking, tyrannical forces have been losing ground. Ebb and flow yes, but historical trajectory is unequivocal -- tyranny has been shrinking, and liberty has expanded.

Capitalism is very young, only 230 years (since French Revolution). It took Feudalism epoch almost 1,300 years to rise, develop and die. Previous epochs have taken even longer...

You think the Democrats are “tyrannical forces”? Talk about a biased and a blind view. If anything the Republicans are much more guilty of tyranny than the Democrats.

Look at the lies told by the Republican Supreme Court Justices in their confirmation hearings. Look at the hypocrisy of Republicans in appointing those justices when it comes to how long they feel was needed to vet nominees. And more importantly look at the lack of support of the US Constitution from Republicans after January 6, 2021 and their lack of interest in holding people accountable for their actions. That clearly proves that if any party is tyrannical, it’s the Republicans.

Also sorry but if this election has proved anything is that voters are turning their backs on far right conservatism. Sure some very conservative states stayed Red but there was no Red Wave as the far right hoped and predicted. In fact many Red areas went Blue. And woman’s health and pro-choice rights overrode inflation as the No. 1 issue in many places and that was because of heavy turnout of young liberal voters.

Here in Connecticut long time Republican towns like Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Wilton, Weston and Fairfield voted Blue. Heck even Bob Stefanowski’s hometown Madison went blue. Below is a link to the election results in Madison.

https://patch.com/connecticut/madiso...22-polls-close

There is a great article on this in todays Hartford Courant about this. I believe you need a subscription to read it. Sorry about that. Jay

https://www.courant.com/politics/hc-...75y-story.html

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You think the Democrats are “tyrannical forces”? Talk about a biased and a blind view. If anything the Republicans are much more guilty of tyranny than the Democrats.

Look at the lies told by the Republican Supreme Court Justices in their confirmation hearings. Look at the hypocrisy of Republicans in appointing those justices when it comes to how long they feel was needed to vet nominees. And more importantly look at the lack of support of the US Constitution from Republicans after January 6, 2021 and their lack of interest in holding people accountable for their actions. That clearly proves that if any party is tyrannical, it’s the Republicans.

Also sorry but if this election has proved anything is that voters are turning their backs on far right conservatism. Sure some very conservative states stayed Red but there was no Red Wave as the far right hoped and predicted. In fact many Red areas went Blue. And woman’s health and pro-choice rights overrode inflation as the No. 1 issue in many places and that was because of heavy turnout of young liberal voters.

Here in Connecticut long time Republican towns like Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Wilton, Weston and Fairfield voted Blue. Heck even Bob Stefanowski’s hometown Madison went blue. Below is a link to the election results in Madison.

https://patch.com/connecticut/madiso...22-polls-close

There is a great article on this in todays Hartford Courant about this. I believe you need a subscription to read it. Sorry about that. Jay

https://www.courant.com/politics/hc-...75y-story.html

Actually, Jay the voters did not turn their backs on either party. It was the most status quo election of my life-few net House, Senate, Governors seats changed. The Senate will either change 0 or 1; House change should be about 7, governor change should be 1 or 2. Out of around 500 races, a total net change of about 10, or 2%.

Some of the cause of little change is GOP added 15 House seats in 2020, unprecedented in a year opposite party flips POTUS. For context, they had in pre election 2022, 35 more House seats than they held just before the 2010 wave election.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

Actually, Jay the voters did not turn their backs on either party. It was the most status quo election of my life-few net House, Senate, Governors seats changed. The Senate will either change 0 or 1; House change should be about 7, governor change should be 1 or 2. Out of around 500 races, a total net change of about 10, or 2%.

Some of the cause of little change is GOP added 15 House seats in 2020, unprecedented in a year opposite party flips POTUS. For context, they had in pre election 2022, 35 more House seats than they held just before the 2010 wave election.

Sorry Bob but the Republicans were very confident they were going to win big and that just didn’t happen. It was particularly hard on Trump Republicans who were pretty much turned down in like 2/3 of the endorsed candidate elections. You can spin it anyway you want but denying that the Republicans blew it just adds to the party’s problems. They are out of touch with the majority of voters in this country. Jay

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Sorry Bob but the Republicans were very confident they were going to win big and that just didn’t happen.

They were, and should not have been. They entered Election Day too strong in the House to gain much. In addition, the 2022 Senate map was the best Dems will see until 2028. We are an incredibly evenly split nation on Capitol Hill.