[Kreliroth]

Originally Posted by Chazbme99

Connecticut has been a joke the past 8 years under the horrible job that Malloy has done. If anyone thinks voting for Lamont is fine they are clueless. The Democrats need to go. Change is needed top to bottom. The state legislature has failed to help the voters and taxpayers of this state. A vote for a third party candidate is wasting your vote. Stefanowski might not be the best Republican but he is a lot better choice for Connecticut than Lamont. Polling is not accurate. Polls had Hillary easily winning election over Trump. People do not give out honest opinions in polls. The media and polling companies are not to be trusted. Connecticut voters need to wake up and try to save our state. The cities are going broke and are destroying the state.

Polls had Hillary winning the national popular vote, which she did.

I'll grant you polls also had her winning the rust belt, but (at least so far) Lamont's margin in CT is bigger than Hillary's in the Rust Belt was.

[NewBritainCT_native89]

I’m not sure why people compare Malloy to Lamont. You can’t generalize Democrats to Dan Malloy or Republicans to Rowland.

[Stepfordct]

Originally Posted by NewBritainCT_native89

I’m not sure why people compare Malloy to Lamont. You can’t generalize Democrats to Dan Malloy or Republicans to Rowland.

Lamont wants to raise taxs and min wage. Malloy 2.0
Ct is lagging way behind the nation since Malloy came in 8 yrs ago. His policies hurt us. Lamont wants to double down on Stupid.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by CTartist

I am not the biggest fan of Malloy but as an Independent I can put things into perspective.

Malloy takes over as Governor after about 30 years of mismanagement by the politicians and Governors that preceded him. And he took it over in the 2nd worst depression/recession in a 100 years.

“The hen is the wisest of all the animal creation, because she never cackles until the egg is laid.”― Abraham Lincoln

I see all the Republicans on this site and on Facebook doing a lot of cackling about what a Republican Governor will do. It's going to be interesting to see what happens if this Stefanowski gets in as Governor. Don't forget he wants to do away with the state income tax. How the hell is he going to do that and balance the budget is my first question to all the Republican cacklers?

6.35% sales tax to 8% if get rid of state income taxes, higher registrations fees at DMV, other fees

[Newtohartfordct]

Originally Posted by Kreliroth

Polls had Hillary winning the national popular vote, which she did.

I'll grant you polls also had her winning the rust belt, but (at least so far) Lamont's margin in CT is bigger than Hillary's in the Rust Belt was.

The polls were within the margin of error. Nate Silver gave Trump a 30% of winning. Add that with two radical islamic terror attacks, 3rd party candidates getting a lot of attention on the dem side, comey FBI investigation a very unpopular democratic candidate and divided dem party. Most of the polls were correct, she won the popular vote by 2.5. I think they predicted 3 and lost the electoral vote in 3 states by 77k.

CT is a blue state, only a moderate republican could win. The issue is that there is a very unpopular president and the party out of power historically has seen larger turnouts. The chances of a republican win are small, mostly because the democrats hate trump and associate anything with an R to Trump. They will be voting in large numbers. The republicans do the same thing though.

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by BPt111

6.35% sales tax to 8% if get rid of state income taxes, higher registrations fees at DMV, other fees

Thanks a lot. Regressive taxes to screw the poor, middle and working class.
Do you realize how many regressive taxes that have to be raised to make up for doing away with the state income tax?

The highest state income tax rate is 7% now so bear that in min while reading the following.
https://ctmirror.org/2018/03/01/stat...-revitalize-ct

Reducing reliance on the income tax......The plan is centered on an overhaul of the state tax system which, since 1991, has been built around a personal income tax.........The commission’s plan would set a new top rate of 5.75 percent. The 5 percent rate would be reduced to 3.5 percent.

The $2.1 billion potential loss in annual income tax receipts would be covered in three ways, according to the commission report:
*Raising the base sales tax rate from 6.35 to 7.25 percent to generate an extra $1 billion per year.
*Eliminating $750 million in tax breaks. More than $4 billion of the $6.4 billion in credits and exemptions
*And by boosting corporation taxes by $475 million.

The sales tax would have to go up to 7.25% (almost 1%) with only cutting the state income tax 1-1/4%. To make up for no income tax we would need over 12% on the sales tax.

So in the wealthiest state in the US this is what we are going to do to our poor and working class? Really? And go take a look at the states without a state income tax. Those states tend to have the worst schools, healthcare, high crime etc. in the nation. Is that what we want in in CT. A bunch of rich people on Wall Street and everyone else a bunch of serfs and peasants?

[RunD1987]

Originally Posted by CTartist

Thanks a lot. Regressive taxes to screw the poor, middle and working class.
Do you realize how many regressive taxes that have to be raised to make up for doing away with the state income tax?

The highest state income tax rate is 7% now so bear that in min while reading the following.
https://ctmirror.org/2018/03/01/stat...-revitalize-ct

Reducing reliance on the income tax......The plan is centered on an overhaul of the state tax system which, since 1991, has been built around a personal income tax.........The commission’s plan would set a new top rate of 5.75 percent. The 5 percent rate would be reduced to 3.5 percent.

The $2.1 billion potential loss in annual income tax receipts would be covered in three ways, according to the commission report:
*Raising the base sales tax rate from 6.35 to 7.25 percent to generate an extra $1 billion per year.
*Eliminating $750 million in tax breaks. More than $4 billion of the $6.4 billion in credits and exemptions
*And by boosting corporation taxes by $475 million.

The sales tax would have to go up to 7.25% (almost 1%) with only cutting the state income tax 1-1/4%. To make up for no income tax we would need over 12% on the sales tax.

So in the wealthiest state in the US this is what we are going to do to our poor and working class? Really? And go take a look at the states without a state income tax. Those states tend to have the worst schools, healthcare, high crime etc. in the nation. Is that what we want in in CT. A bunch of rich people on Wall Street and everyone else a bunch of serfs and peasants?

Income tax could be done away. Would prefer sales tax done away with first. Drop sales tax to 4% in 4 years, 2% in 8 years, and eliminate it in 12 years. Take away sales tax on clothes, alcoholic beverages, auto/boat purchases, and gas immediately.
Increase gas tax to 65 cents per gallon. In 10 years drops to 40 cents. In 15 years to 20 cents. In 20 years drops to 10 to 15 cents. $1 bridge toll M-F on major bridges in the State.
Reform business tax to a flat 4%.
Excise tax of 12 to 15 percent on alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana.
Reform income tax. First 8 years: During the year income under $50,000 is taxed at a 4% rate. Income after $50,000 is taxed at 8%. 8 years and forward: Income under $50K taxed at 3% and $50,000 or more 6%. 12 years flat income tax rate of 3%.
A $50 fee on car registrations to fund DEEP.
2% tax on businesses to help improve CTs environment.
Eliminate car taxes. State collects car taxes distributes amount collected to towns/Cities based off percentage of population.
Allow sales tax in Cities and Towns of up to 2%. Allow Cities and Towns to implement a School Tax of 2% on automobile, boat, and home property.
Work with Towns/Cities to consolidate Government employee benefits to reduce cost.
Increase State Employee contributions to benefits. Replace pensions for those with 5 years or less with a 403B & 403A. Cap max pension salary at $100,000. Increase employee numbers in majority of departments and raise salaries by 5%.
Create 100% tuition reimbursement at State Schoold for State Employees and 10 years of service Student Loans State Employees have will be 75% paid by the State.
Modernized and Privatize various State services and agencies.
Retired State Employees eligible for Medicare should apply and State Inssurance will be supplemental and cover gap insurance.
Cap State Spending at $40 Billion with 10 percent of State revenues going to pay CT debt off over course of 20 years. Any revenue left over for the year goes to the a Raining Day Fund.

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by RunD1987

Income tax could be done away. Would prefer sales tax done away with first. Drop sales tax to 4% in 4 years, 2% in 8 years, and eliminate it in 12 years. Take away sales tax on clothes, alcoholic beverages, auto/boat purchases, and gas immediately.
Increase gas tax to 65 cents per gallon. In 10 years drops to 40 cents. In 15 years to 20 cents. In 20 years drops to 10 to 15 cents. $1 bridge toll M-F on major bridges in the State.
Reform business tax to a flat 4%.
Excise tax of 12 to 15 percent on alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana.
Reform income tax. First 8 years: During the year income under $50,000 is taxed at a 4% rate. Income after $50,000 is taxed at 8%. 8 years and forward: Income under $50K taxed at 3% and $50,000 or more 6%. 12 years flat income tax rate of 3%.
A $50 fee on car registrations to fund DEEP.
2% tax on businesses to help improve CTs environment.
Eliminate car taxes. State collects car taxes distributes amount collected to towns/Cities based off percentage of population.
Allow sales tax in Cities and Towns of up to 2%. Allow Cities and Towns to implement a School Tax of 2% on automobile, boat, and home property.
Work with Towns/Cities to consolidate Government employee benefits to reduce cost.

All this is way too complicated. When designing a tax it needs to be easy to implement, enforce, and collect. Making all those wacky changes would require far too much oversight. And that oversight will need to be provided by state employees who will receive sweet benefits and pensions. We know how much people hate state employees here.

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by Stepfordct

Lamont wants to raise taxs and min wage. Malloy 2.0
Ct is lagging way behind the nation since Malloy came in 8 yrs ago. His policies hurt us. Lamont wants to double down on Stupid.

Can you list here what polices of Malloy's hurt us ? If its been going on for 8 years it should be an easy list to make with many choices.

[RunD1987]

Originally Posted by MrGompers

All this is way too complicated. When designing a tax it needs to be easy to implement, enforce, and collect. Making all those wacky changes would require far too much oversight. And that oversight will need to be provided by state employees who will receive sweet benefits and pensions. We know how much people hate state employees here.

That is why CT should create the position of Secretary of General Information like other States to audit and clean up fraudulent Spending in State Agencies. Assist in making Government spending more transparent.