Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

GM faces hard road back to profitability, Bankruptcy filing brings risks for automaker, investors, taxpayers, June 1, 2009, msnbc.com, Roland Jones, It�s an outcome that was nearly unthinkable just six months ago. General Motors, a company once synonymous with America�s industrial might, is following its smaller rival Chrysler into bankruptcy court for a government-forced reorganization.

Now, for the sake of taxpayers, investors and the economy as a whole, GM needs to emerge from the largest industrial bankruptcy in U.S. history as a leaner company that makes cars people want to buy. By every measure, it�s a tall order. Chrysler, which filed for a government-backed bankruptcy April 30, has demonstrated that it is possible for a large enterprise, pushed by the strong arm of the federal government, to move smoothly and rapidly through bankruptcy court. Chrysler, which plans to sell most of its assets to Italian carmaker Fiat, is nearing a quick exit from bankruptcy protection. Continued at �. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31004038/

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North Korea Puts Long-Range Missile on Launch Pad, Reports Say
John M. Glionna, The Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2009: "North Korea has positioned its most sophisticated long-range ballistic missile at a launch site for a test firing that could come within weeks, a newspaper here reported Monday. Pyongyang, which last month raised tensions worldwide by conducting a nuclear test, could even fire its missile when South Korean President Lee Myung-bak meets President Obama in Washington on June 16, according to the report."http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-north-korea-missile2-2009jun02,0,4799191.story

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MORE AUTO BAILOUT NEWS�.

General Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York

http://www.courant.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-automakers,0,6987632.story

General Motors will close 9 more plants, idle 3 others as part of reorganization, http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-gm-plant-closures,0,3781988.story

Analysis: Obama now owns GM, though he says he is taking it only for a short time

http://www.courant.com/business/sns-ap-us-automakers-obama-analysis,0,645527.story

Federal bankruptcy judge approves sale of most of Chrysler's assets to Fiat

http://www.courant.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-chrysler-fiat,0,7654469.story

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Senator fined for forgery, By Paul Hughes, Republican-American, May 28, 2009 � HARTFORD � State Sen. Joseph J. Crisco Jr., D-Woodbridge, agreed to pay a $4,000 fine Wednesday for falsifying sworn election filings. As part of the settlement, state election officials agreed not to initiate further proceedings against Crisco, including referring his case for possible criminal prosecution.� Crisco admitted to the State Elections Enforcement Commission that he filled in the signatures for his designated campaign treasurer and deputy treasurer on registration forms and affidavits.� The filings contained notices that clearly warned that making false statements on the forms could lead to criminal penalties, including up to one year in jail, a maximum fine of $2,000, or a jail term and a fine�.
He said he has paid the $4,000 penalty. The settlement stated that Crisco's violations of election laws were "material improprieties" and represented "substantial noncompliance" with the requirements of the publicly-financed Citizens' Election Program.� It additionally said that Crisco "grossly failed to appreciate the seriousness of the requirements of the Connecticut campaign finance laws and the CEP, as well as the significance of legal signatures."� To read the complete story see Thursday's Republican-American or our electronic edition at http://republicanamerican.ct.newsmemory.com.

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Lawmakers Bill Taxpayers for TVs, Cameras, Lexus� WASHINGTON, May 20, 2009, Wall Street Journal On Line -- Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings spent $24,730 in taxpayer money last year to lease a 2008 luxury Lexus hybrid sedan. Ohio Rep. Michael Turner expensed a $1,435 digital camera. Eni Faleomavaega, the House delegate from American Samoa, bought two 46-inch Sony TVs.�� The expenditures were legal, properly accounted for and drawn from allowances the U.S. government grants to lawmakers. Equipment purchased with office expense accounts must be returned to the House or the federal General Services Administration when a lawmaker leaves office. Continued at �.. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124364352135868189.html

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Government Taps Bailout Contractors With Conflicts of Interest, Firms With Ties to Banks Can Work Both Sides of Rescue , The Washington Independent, May 30, 2009, As the Wall Street bailout nears its first anniversary, the controversy over giving public money to private banks has become public knowledge. But an equally risky aspect of the financial rescue has flown largely under the radar: the government�s reliance on private contractors � many with potentially significant conflicts of interest � to help revive the stalled economy.

The Treasury Department knows that the law firms and investment managers hired to aid its salvage effort could be influenced by their ties to bailed-out banks; in fact, the department released a rule in January aiming to mitigate the problem.� That rule, however, has raised questions from watchdogs by asking contractors to identify and police their own conflicts of interest. And a careful review of bailout hiring agreements reveals an inconsistent set of rules applied to the types of private deals that contractors can make while serving as agents of the U.S. government. �It�s just a wonderfully closed circle,� Simon Johnson, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund and leading critic of the bailout, said in a recent interview.� Continued �. http://washingtonindependent.com/44659/fed-taps-bailout-contractors-with-conflicts-of-interests

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From the Economist.com - Barack Obama's budget - Wishful, and dangerous, thinking - The president has not explained to Americans that if they want bigger government, they will have to pay for it� �.� A PRESIDENT�S first budget proposal is more than a set of figures. It is also an outline of his philosophy of government. The plan Barack Obama delivered on February 26th envisages an ambitious and costly expansion of the government�s role in the lives of Americans. Its centrepiece is a big expansion of state-provided health care�for which he has budgeted $634 billion over the next decade while admitting that yet more will be needed. He will fill in the details in coming weeks (see article) while insisting the plan meets several criteria: it must extend insurance to the 15% of Americans who now lack it, it must help slow the growth in costs, and it must be paid for.� Add increased spending on education, energy and other initiatives, and federal expenditures, excluding defence, would rise to a new high of 18% of GDP in the coming decade. Small-government conservatives fume, yet this is what Mr Obama victoriously campaigned on and, at least in the case of health care, what Americans seem to want. The ranks of the uninsured have grown as care becomes more expensive and more employers, through whom most workers get insurance, drop or curtail benefits. Losing a job often means losing health insurance too, making unemployment doubly traumatic. Continued at � http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?STORY_ID=13237211

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Connecticut�s Revenue Collections have Fallen $1.2 billion

Connecticut House Finds $154 Million In Budget Savings, By CHRISTOPHER KEATING, May 23, 2009 - For the fifth time this fiscal year, the House of Representatives voted Friday to reduce the state's gigantic budget deficit. But the projected deficit will still be $820 million � and state officials have yet to tackle the budget for the next two fiscal years.� Friday's action was necessary because the Wall Street collapse and the deep recession have caused the state's revenue collections to fall by $1.2 billion from the original amounts the state expected to collect when the budget was crafted. Continued at �. http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-deficit-house-0523.artmay23,0,4064592.story

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Who Pays Connecticut�s Income Tax

By the Yankee Institute

http://www.yankeeinstitute.org/blog/wp-content/incometax.pdf

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Is this a joke?

STATE UNIONS ARE PAYING OVER $100,000 FOR TELEVISION ADS TELLING OVER-TAXED TAXPAYERS TO TELL THEIR STATE REPS TO INCREASE TAXES WHILE SOME UNION MEMBERS RECEIVE 6% WAGE INCREASES AND OTHERS A TWO YEAR NO LAYOFF GUARANTEE.�� IN THE REAL WORLD, MANY PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYEES HAVE NO OPTION � THEY ARE FORCED TO GIVE BACK THEIR JOBS!��

STATE UNIONS SHOULD CUT THE ADS AND DONATE THEIR MONEY TO THE THOUSANDS OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS IN CONNECTICUT!!!!!!!!!!!

Statewide Teachers' Union Affiliate Agrees To Concessions In Guilford

The Hartford Courant by� Don Stacom , May 26, 2009 �. In Guilford, school administrators met with the union's executive committee for months to reach a deal. In mid-May, they announced that they had traded a no-layoff guarantee and an early retirement incentive in exchange for teachers' giving back about half of their roughly 4 percent raise that takes effect July 1. �
Continued �. http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-local-budgets-givebacks-0526.artmay26,0,5479978.story

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Conn. House Votes To Open Health Insurance Plan HARTFORD, Conn._Connecticut legislators voted Wednesday to open the state's employee and retiree health insurance plan to municipalities, small businesses and nonprofit agencies even though the governor had already vetoed a similar bill.� Supporters of the change, led by Democratic House Speaker Christopher Donovan, said pooling everyone will save money because of the greater bargaining power and the ability to spread out more of the risk.� Continued at �. http://www.insurancenewsnet.com/article.asp?a=prod_lh&neid=uLE9xsHxy4KYRa2SfMwqtJJnrRGYCRfcz-1_cfNvCX48E9nRnERL7DUdgJGXzkgy796WnRkOsr0qgC6NvJIPhw**

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Visit Dowd Muska at

http://dowdmuska.com/

D. Dowd Muska is a writer, commentator and lecturer.

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A short video with Jeff Benedict, author of Little Pink House - A True Story of Defiance and Courage (Grand Central Publishing 2009), which tells the backstory to the infamous Supreme Court eminent domain decision Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005) (available from Amazon here).

http://www.inversecondemnation.com/inversecondemnation/2009/05/video-of-kelos-new-london-neighborhood-with-author-jeff-benedict.html

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