Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

An FBI investigation into a construction manager who is close with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is widening and now extends from Stamford to Trumbull.

Both municipalities find themselves involved with the Justice Department in connection to Al Barbarotta, the head of Bridgeport-based AFB Construction. Continue reading at http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/FBI-subpoenas-trove-of-records-for-contractor-9191623.php

Inside the political fundraising game - Connecticut Post

By Ken Dixon, Angela Carella and Neil Vigdor August 28, 2016

A dozen contractors barred from contributing to state political candidates gave almost $1 million to the Democratic Governors Association, which in turn funneled $3.9 million to a PAC supporting Gov. Dannel P. Malloys 2014 re-election campaign, a Hearst Connecticut Media analysis has found. Continue reading at http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Inside-the-political-fundraising-game-9186979.php

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August 30, 2016

From: The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032

BREAKING NEWS FROM CTMIRROR.ORG

CT Supreme Court rules in FOI case involving Ritter, CRRA

By: MARK PAZNIOKAS | August 29, 2016

The opinion

A unanimous ruling Monday by the Connecticut Supreme Court in a case involving a prominent lawyer-lobbyist, former House Speaker Thomas D. Ritter, seems to narrow the circumstances when a lawyers business or political advice is protected by lawyer-client privilege. Continue Reading →

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BREAKING NEWS from the NEW YORK TIMES

Huma Abedin, a top adviser to Hillary Clinton, is separating from Anthony Weiner amid a renewed scandal over lewd texting

Monday, August 29, 2016

On Monday, Huma Abedin, the wife of the former Representative Anthony D. Weiner, announced that the couple were separating in the wake of a report that Mr. Weiner had been involved in another texting scandal.

Mr. Weiner, who resigned in 2011 after it was revealed he had been sending lewd messages and photos to random women online, apparently deleted his Twitter account on Monday after The New York Post reported that he had exchanged sexual messages with an unidentified woman last year. Read more

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Dan Haar: Why Hartford Is Headed For Bankruptcy

Hartford Courant, August 29, 2016

Will the city of Hartford file for bankruptcy protection? That question is on a lot of minds these days, from city hall to the state Capitol to the offices of firms that handle the citys bond debt. For now, it remains only a whisper. READ MORE

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Shocking Government Report Finds $6.5 Trillion in Taxpayer Funds 'Unaccounted For' (Tyler Durden / Zero Hedge)

by Tyler Durden Aug 20, 2016 Twitter Facebook Reddit

Last week, we first touched on a topic which, in any non-banana republic, would be a far greater scandal than what Ryan Lochte may or may not have been doing in a Rio bathroom: namely, government corruption, falsification and potential fraud and embezzlement, which has resulted in the Pentagon being unable to account for up to $8.5 trillion in taxpayer funding.

Today, Reuters follows up on this disturbing issue, and reveals that the Armys finances are so jumbled it had to make trillions of dollars of improper accounting adjustments to create an illusion that its books are balanced. The Defense Departments Inspector General, in a June report, said the Army made $2.8 trillion in wrongful adjustments to accounting entries in one quarter alone in 2015, and $6.5 trillion for the year. Yet the Army lacked receipts and invoices to support those numbers or simply made them up. Continue reading at http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-19/government-report-finds-65-trillion-taxpayer-funds-unaccounted

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The Killing Streets of Chicago, yesterday, took the life of a young mother walking her baby in a stroller as reported by Reuters in their article captioned Two Chicago brothers on parole charged in murder of NBA stars cousin noting the following CHICAGO POLICE ON SUNDAY said they have arrested two brothers and charged them with the fatal shooting of basketball star Dwyane Wades cousin as she pushed a baby in a stroller, a murder that has stunned a city plagued by a surge in gang-related violence. In a case that has emerged as a talking point in the U.S. presidential race, Darwin Sorrells Jr., 26, and Derren Sorrells, 22, are facing charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder in the death of Nykea Aldridge, a 32-year-old mother of four, police said.

Floridas Department of Corrections lends some insight into the formation of Chicago street gangs which years ago had sought and received and we quote: $1.4 million in federal anti-poverty funds. These funds were then used to support the groups illegal activities. A federal grand jury uncovered the funds mismanagement and Jeff Fort was sent to federal prison. Continue reading at http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/chicago.html

In April, 2016, USAToday reported , April, 2016 Chicago murder rate soars 72% in 2016; shootings up more than 88%.

In May, 2016 the New York Times reported Chicago Murder Problem - The New York Times noting and we quote: In Chicago, homicide rates correspond with segregation. While many areas have few or no killings, the South and West Sides are on par with the world most dangerous countries, like Brazil and Venezuela, and have been for many years.

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Jon Lender Hartford Courant Reports

DCP Public-Affairs Chief Takes State-Approved Leave To Work For Clinton In Ohio

News surfaced in February that Gov. Dannel P. Malloys administration had begun replacing some veteran communications officers at state agencies with politically active Democrats after the Democrat-controlled General Assembly quietly removed those posts from the state merit system

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Watchdogs warn of serious conflicts of interest for Clinton Foundation

By Mike Lillis Thehill.com August 26, 2016

"The Clinton Foundation has posed a very serious conflict of interest for the entire time that it existed," Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist at Public Citizen, said Thursday. "The conflicts of interest are very real, and that gives Trump some ammunition to throw at it, and we are going to hear about it [until the campaign ends]."

Holman said Clintons recent vow to bar all foreign and corporate donations to the Clinton Foundation if she wins the presidency is "a big, big step in the right direction." But, he quickly added, that alone is not enough to eliminate the "pay to play" perceptions now dogging the Clinton campaign following revelations that top State Department aides acted on the foundations behalf when Clinton headed the agency.

Read the full story here

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Judge orders State to begin releasing Clinton emails next month

Aug 26, 2016, Thehill.com

Read the full story here

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The Fiscal Times Reports

Two Big Reasons Prescription Drug Prices Are So Much Higher in the US

By Eric Pianin August 25, 2016 Powered by Newsmax.

It is no secret that Americans have long spent far more on prescription drugs, on average, than consumers in most other industrialized countries.

Per capita prescription drug spending in the United States, particularly for costly brand names, was $858 in 2013, compared with an average of just $400 for 19 other industrialized nations, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Read more...

FBI:CONNECTICUT CRIME

https://www.fbi.gov/@@search?SearchableText=connecticut&pageSize=20&page=1

EpiPen lobbying campaign targeted Connecticut

CTMirror.org By: ANA RADELAT | August 29, 2016

WASHINGTON Connecticut, one of 11 states that approved a law requiring schools to stock EpiPens, is on drug maker Mylan sizable lobbying list. According to the center, Mylan, under fire for its steep price hikes of the EpiPen, expanded its lobbying presence in state houses to Connecticut and 35 additional states between 2010 to 2014. Continue Reading