[Lincolnian]

Stefanowski's ads are horrible and misleading. He talks about auditing every department as if it is not being done. The state already hires independent auditors to audit every department. His call for audits are not likely to provide any meaningful insight regarding financial waste. The problem is that many of the duplicitous functions and related costs are the result of state and federal legislation with the defining factor distinguishing CT from the lower tax states being the additional state laws, regulations, and policies. Despite being a Democrat, Lamont has done a better job than his predecessors working within the restrictions in place to reduce costs, including staffing, where possible.

Regardless of who is elected as governor, they will have to face the realities of the structure in place. Any substantial change to the current governmental structure and accompanying taxation would require a considerable change in the make up of the 36 state senators and 151 state representatives. Approximately 64% of both the state senators and state representatives are Democrats. For the Republicans to take control they would need 6 more senators and 22 more state representatives. Despite the real possibility of a November house cleaning at the national level, it is far less likely that it will follow through at the state level.

[RoundTableKnight]

Republicans will hang Stefanowski (a nothing of a personality nerd) out to dry as to not damage someone else's reputation who could possibly be the face of the CT Republicans in the future. He has a much less chance this time around than he did in 2018. Not only do I think Lamont has done an okay job thus far, he's buying off votes from the undecided state employees by giving them bonuses and raises the next few years.

Originally Posted by Lincolnian

For the Republicans to take control they would need 6 more senators and 22 more state representatives. Despite the real possibility of a November house cleaning at the national level, it is far less likely that it will follow through at the state level.

Agree. This is a blue state no matter how badly some of us don't want it that way.

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by Lincolnian

Stefanowski's ads are horrible and misleading. He talks about auditing every department as if it is not being done. The state already hires independent auditors to audit every department. His call for audits are not likely to provide any meaningful insight regarding financial waste. The problem is that many of the duplicitous functions and related costs are the result of state and federal legislation with the defining factor distinguishing CT from the lower tax states being the additional state laws, regulations, and policies. Despite being a Democrat, Lamont has done a better job than his predecessors working within the restrictions in place to reduce costs, including staffing, where possible.

Regardless of who is elected as governor, they will have to face the realities of the structure in place. Any substantial change to the current governmental structure and accompanying taxation would require a considerable change in the make up of the 36 state senators and 151 state representatives. Approximately 64% of both the state senators and state representatives are Democrats. For the Republicans to take control they would need 6 more senators and 22 more state representatives. Despite the real possibility of a November house cleaning at the national level, it is far less likely that it will follow through at the state level.

Exactly. A MUCH better tactic would be if he offered specific, concrete examples of wasted money and said he's going to get rid of that. Just saying, "Well they are probably wasting money and my auditing storm troopers will find it!" is meaningless.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

Exactly. A MUCH better tactic would be if he offered specific, concrete examples of wasted money and said he's going to get rid of that. Just saying, "Well they are probably wasting money and my auditing storm troopers will find it!" is meaningless.

Right but Lamont is under a Federal investigation. Staffers have quit to avoid being linked. It makes no sense to make a negative ad if

1) 3rd parties are doing it already
2) There's a chance formal charges will be made late summer/early fall

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by JayCT

That’s true BUT he was still very tied to the Republican Party. How do you think the Income Tax passed? Without those strong ties, the measure to implement the unpopular tax would never had passed. Jay

The bi-partisan income tax was a monstrosity. Until its passage btw signs were posted on trains trying to persuade NY corps to come to Ct, and in the decades just before it passed, many did. NYC was in trouble economically in those same decades. Ct partially caused its demise of its business grand list in those decades.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

The bi-partisan income tax was a monstrosity. Until its passage btw signs were posted on trains trying to persuade NY corps to come to Ct, and in the decades just before it passed, many did. NYC was in trouble economically in those same decades. Ct partially caused its demise of its business grand list in those decades.

And the states revenue stream was up and down dramatically year to year so much so that we couldn’t pay for the basic services a state needs to provide. Why do you think the Mianus Bridge collapsed? The state cut services, in that case bridge inspection and maintenance, until it caused a catastrophe where people died. That’s not a good way to run a state. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

Exactly. A MUCH better tactic would be if he offered specific, concrete examples of wasted money and said he's going to get rid of that. Just saying, "Well they are probably wasting money and my auditing storm troopers will find it!" is meaningless.

I agree but the problem with that is it would alienate a lot of voters. And Stefanowski can’t afford to alienate any voters. If there was that much waste, it would be pretty evident but there’s not. That’s why the Republicans have failed to fifer alternative budget proposals the past couple years. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by mdovell

Right but Lamont is under a Federal investigation. Staffers have quit to avoid being linked. It makes no sense to make a negative ad if

1) 3rd parties are doing it already
2) There's a chance formal charges will be made late summer/early fall

Heck, most the politicians in our country have have been under federal investigation at one point or another. It has to go right up to the very top to make a difference. I doubt it will. Jay

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I agree but the problem with that is it would alienate a lot of voters. And Stefanowski can’t afford to alienate any voters. If there was that much waste, it would be pretty evident but there’s not. That’s why the Republicans have failed to fifer alternative budget proposals the past couple years. Jay

There's a difference between fraud, waste and abuse. I don't think we're seeing fraud here but potentially we could see some waste and abuse. It might not be a benign neglect.

It's really hard to make the argument about being in charge especially with covid and then saying you're not responsible. So far Lamont has not responded to the negative ads and generally from a political standpoint if you don't respond to something it means it's true. The other thing that could happen is if the investigation gets drawn out and say Lamont gets re-elected but then leaves and that'll put the lieutenant governor in charge which could also be interesting.

As of yet I have not heard of any single mayor or city councilor or town selectman openly endorsing Lamont. He had plenty of endorsements back in 2018 including the former President Barack Obama but now no one....

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by JayCT

And the states revenue stream was up and down dramatically year to year so much so that we couldn’t pay for the basic services a state needs to provide. Why do you think the Mianus Bridge collapsed? The state cut services, in that case bridge inspection and maintenance, until it caused a catastrophe where people died. That’s not a good way to run a state. Jay

It was called a temporary tax, and Weicker should have vetoed any bill w/o a defined sunset date. I would have found 3-5 years to sunset acceptable, btw.