Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

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January 11, 2012

From The Federation of Connecticut

Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.�
Contact Susan Kniep, President

Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com

Telephone: 860-841-8032

****The State of the State****

Read the article:� Ten States That Cannot Pay Their Bills

Connecticut is on this list!� Check it out!

Check the List: Read: Ten States That Cannot Pay Their Bills

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According to the article Best and Worst Run States in America - Yahoo! Finance Connecticut is ranked among the worst with our state debt per capita at $8,088, the 4th highest in the country.

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State used borrowed funds to meet expenses

Ed Jacovino - Journal Inquirer - Jan 7, 2012

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Obama urges CEOs to invest in US

Dynamics shift as GOP hopefuls hit states with high unemployment

Malloy frames education reforms as human rights issue By Mark Pazniokas CTMirror.org Jan 11, 2012� Gov. Dannel P. Malloy promised today in a wide-ranging radio interview that his planned education reforms would be "the most far-reaching in our state's history," a bold assertion certain to raise expectations about how he intends to improve troubled districts in an era of tight finances. In a one-hour interview on WNPR's "Where We Live" about his first year and the year ahead, Malloy said his administration is preparing to concentrate attention and resources on 29 under-performing school systems that are failing students - while somehow maintaining aid to all municipalities. He has yet to say whether he will cut state funding to wealthier districts.� Audio of full interview

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Federalist Society Sponsoring Free Event,

Open to the Public, Followed by Q&A on

ObamaCare and the Individual Mandate

Speakers are Zachary Janowski of the Yankee Institute and

Dr. Roger Pilon of� Cato's Center for Constitutional Studies.

Date:� Wednesday, January 18, 2012�� Time:� Breakfast 8:00 AM, Event �8:30 AM

Location:� Legislative Office Building, Room 1 C at 300 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Directions:� Click here.� RSVP: Federalist Society at ctfedsoc@gmail.com

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Our unpopular Congress

Professor, Arrested And Suspended, Still Draws Salary Jon Lender January 8, 2012 Ravi Shankar, poet in residence at Central Connecticut State University, has two public events on his schedule Thursday: a literary reading at Yeshiva University Museum in New York City, and an appearance on felony charges in New Britain Superior Court. Continued at �..

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-lender-column-ravi-shankar-0108-20120108,0,4806944.column

Online gambling a bad bet?

Journal Inquirer

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State of Connecticut Employees Earning 250,000 Dollars to 2,403,224 Dollars

In Salary and Benefits During Fiscal Year 2011
Information Obtained from - State of CT Transparency Website

State Employee Pensions of $100,000 and More

http://www.ctact.org\upload\home\PensionNew.xls

From the State Transparency Website: In 2010, payments were made to 41,950 retirees or beneficiaries totaling over $1.26 billion. Additionally, the State administers the Alternate Retirement Program (ARP), a defined contribution program for some higher education employees.

For additional information on state administered pension plans go to the following web link� http://transparency.ct.gov/html/pensionOverview.asp

State Pensions, Part 2: Recent Retirees Raking In More By Jon Lender, Government Watch, Hartford Courant� Records of more than 1,000 recent state-employee retirements tell a story taxpayers might not want to hear � but here it is anyway: Those retirees' final-year salaries and starting pensions are up markedly from previously known levels. Continued at �.. http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-lender-column-pensions2-1225-20111224,0,3774565.column

Government Watch: OT Inflation Pervades State Pension System By Jon Lender, Government Watch, Hartford Courant�� Critics have focused on news disclosures this year that some state "hazardous duty" employees � such as troopers, correction officers and prison nurses � inflate their salaries with overtime pay during the three years on which their pensions are calculated. Continued at http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-lender-column-pensions-1218-20111217,0,6738677.column

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Union Says Malloy Is �Wasting Our Taxpayer Dollars� by Christine Stuart | Jan 11, 2012 CTNewsjunkie.com� At the top of LeConche�s complaint list is the $569 million Hartford to New Britain busway, a project championed by the unions. LeConche said he was surprised to learn a �significant $150 million contract� was recently awarded to Middlesex Construction of Massachusetts. �But Malloy scoffed at the notion there was anything he could do as governor to help Connecticut contractors win competitive bids for something like the busway project which is funded largely by federal funds.�We�re a nation of 50 states. There�s a commerce clause built into the constitution so that you can�t decide who receives a contract particularly if it�s a bid contract,� Malloy said Tuesday.�� Continued at �.. http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/union_says_malloy_is_wasting_our_taxpayer_dollars/

Revamping military to have mixed impact on state defense industry By Ana Radelat� January 10, 2011 ��President Obama and the Pentagon have rolled out a plan for a leaner military. Their strategy is meant to accommodate about $489 billion in defense cuts over the next 10 years, an overhaul that could shake up the state�s large military contractors like United Technologies and Electric Boat and the hundreds of subcontractors in the state that depend on these defense giants Continued at �.. http://ctmirror.org/story/15009/military-overhaul-have-mixed-impact-connecticut�s-defense-industry

Bad Year for Pensions Ends Badly: Deficit for 100 Largest Corporate Pensions Reaches a Record $464 Billion, Says Milliman (Sacramento Bee) �SEATTLE, Jan. 6, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the results of its latest Pension Funding Index, which consists of 100 of the nation's largest defined benefit pension plans. In December, these pensions epitomized the poor performance of 2011, experiencing a $59.7 billion decrease in pension funded status. The bad month cemented a bad year, leaving these 100 pensions with a $236.4 billion increased deficit as corporate pensions faced record underfunding. Continued at �.. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/06/4167765/milliman-analysis-bad-year-for.html

Pink slips given to top higher education officials ��By Jacqueline Rabe Thomas CTMirror.org�� on January 9, 2012 Backers of the higher education merger promised it would save the state millions, and last week numerous highly paid top officials at the Connecticut State University and the community college systems received pink slips to ensure it would. "We're talking about saving almost $5 million a year," said Michael Meotti, executive vice president of the new Board of Regents for Higher Education that is responsible for the 100,000-student merged system. "We are not keeping any associate chancellors." In total, 24 positions, with an average salary of $141,000 each, are being eliminated. But most of those laid off will remain on the job for the next 12 months because system policy requires that long a notice. Three of the eliminated positions were already vacant and will not be filled The U.S. Department of Education reports that the average salary of a professor at Connecticut State University is $95,000. Read more at http://www.ctmirror.org/story/15001/pink-slips-given-top-higher-education-officials

Blog: The Historic Debt�� Ethel C. Fenig� Happy end of 2011--the US had a debt of $15,222,940,045,451.09 at the close of Friday, December 30! on December 31, 2010 the country's debt was $14,025,215,218,708.52, an increase of over a trillion dollars and lots of change in just one year. When Obama took over from President George W. Bush (R) on January 20, 2009 the national debt was $9,188,640,287,930.39, it has zoomed up over $6 trillion in just four years. Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/01/the_historic_debt.html

Lawmaker wants to cap state�s �hidden� gas tax �By Register Staff / Contact Us� Jan 5, 2012� HARTFORD � State Sen. Len Suzio, R-Meriden, will announce a proposal Thursday to cap what he calls the state�s �hidden� tax on gasoline. �Most people don�t know it, but Connecticut actually levies two taxes on gas sold in Connecticut,� Suzio said. �The official state gas tax is 25 cents per gallon, but the state also levies a second hidden tax, called the �gross receipts tax� on the wholesale price of gas. When the wholesale price goes up, so does the hidden tax.�� When state and federal taxes are combined, drivers in Connecticut pay more in gas taxes than anywhere else in the nation.� According to the American Petroleum Institute, drivers in Connecticut pay 49.6 cents in state gas taxes, plus 18.4 cents in federal gas taxes, totalling 68 cents in taxes for every gallon of gas, only slightly higher than drivers in New York, who pay 67.9 cents in taxes per gallon. Continued at �.. http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2012/01/04/news/doc4f0507de0ae61777616736.txt?viewmode=fullstory

IRS Estimate: 17 Percent Of Taxes Owed Went Unpaid - TheStreet

Super PACs: The WMDs of Campaign Finance� �Jan 6 2012, 11:50 AM ET 34 The Atlantic�� How the opaque and increasingly powerful organizations are shaping the future of American elections -- and how they might be stopped.

Super PACs are, of course, the progeny of the Supreme Court's January, 2010 decision in Citizens United, which declared unconstitutional the legislative provisions that had prohibited corporations and unions from their organizational treasuries to pay for ads, even if those ads were made independently of a candidate's campaign. �..many Super PAC donors will be tax-exempt "social welfare organizations" or trade associations or "issue organizations" organized under the Internal Revenue Code -- the so-called 501(c)(4), 50l(c)(6), or 527 entities. And, under long-standing IRS rules, such tax-exempt organizations are not required to disclose their corporate or individual donors, who will thus not be listed in Super PAC reports filed with the FEC. In 2010, 80 Super PACs registered with the FEC. In this election cycle, more than 250 Super PACs have already registered. This includes a pro-Obama Super PAC (Priorities USA Action), a behind-the-curve pro-Gingrich one (Winning Our Future), a number organized by prominent Republicans like Karl Rove in a reprise of 2010 (e.g. American Crossroads), and even one promoted by Stephen Colbert (Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow). Super PACs spent $90 million in 2010. The amounts they spend this year will be many multiples of that ($32 million has already been raised, and the war has barely begun). Complete article at �� http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/01/super-pacs-the-wmds-of-campaign-finance/250961/

McCain: Super PACs will result in scandal, corruption

The 20 Biggest Donors of the 2012 Election (So Far)�� The casino mogul betting $5 million on Newt Gingrich, Wall Streeters investing in Mitt Romney, Obama's Hollywood pal, and the other 1 percenters trying to sway the race.

�By Gavin Aronsen and Dave Gilson� �Tue Jan. 10, 2012 3:00 AM PST

Throughout the year, we'll be keeping taps on these superdonors (many of them couples who double up or spread out their gifts). As primary season heats up, here's a list of the current top 20 political givers based on donation data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics. http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/01/top-donors-2012-election-romney-obama-gingrich

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Refer to the Federation�s January 10, 2012 Publication to View the Following�..

� Lawmaker Wants to Prohibit Early Release of Sex Offenders

� Answering The State's Biggest Challenge: Jobs

� State's cash flow problem sparks partisan feud

� Walmart Blacklisted By Major Pension Fund Over Poor Labor Practices

� NEW: State police investigating possible corruption in New London department

� The Recess Appointment(s) Obama Hasn't Made

� Medtronic paid millions to influential UW chairman�

� Living in poverty but feeding the rich�

� Most schools still resist push for longer school time

� Public Employee Unions: The Year in Review (blog - Mary Pat Campbell / The Conservatory)