Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

By pewsocialtrends.org� August 22, 2012�� As the 2012 presidential candidates prepare their closing arguments to America�s middle class, they are courting a group that has endured a lost decade for economic well-being. Since 2000, the middle class has shrunk in size, fallen backward in income and wealth, and shed some�but by no means all�of its characteristic faith in the future. These stark assessments are based on findings from a new nationally representative Pew Research Center survey that includes 1,287 adults who describe themselves as middle class, supplemented by the Center�s analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Federal Reserve Board of Governors.� http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/08/22/the-lost-decade-of-the-middle-class/

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Overview

Chapter 2: Middle-Class Demographics

Chapter 3: Middle-class economics

Chapter 4: Middle-Class Mobility

Chapter 5: Middle-class politics

Chapter 6: Census trends for Income and Demography

Chapter 7: Income and Wealth, by Income

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Book Release:� Amazon.com: Shadowbosses: Government Unions Control America . and Rob Taxpayers Blind� Publication Date: August 21, 2012 SHADOWBOSSES tells a story of intrigue, drama, and corruption and reads like an organized crime novel. But it is actually a true story of how labor unions are infiltrating our government and corrupting our political process. This compelling and insightful book exposes how unions have organized federal, state, and local government employees without their consent, and how government employee unions are now a threat to our workers' freedoms, our free and fair elections, and even our American way of life. And, Mallory Factor reveals what's coming next: how unions are targeting millions of Americans--maybe even you--for forced unionization so that unions can collect billions more in forced dues and exert an even greater influence over American politics. A chilling expose, SHADOWBOSSES is also a call to citizen action against those who really hold power in America today.

Flood of Secret Campaign Cash: It's Not All Citizens United ... �ProPublica by Stephen Engelberg and Kim Barker� Aug 23 2012 The emergence of nonprofits as the leading conduit for anonymous spending in this year's presidential campaign is often attributed to the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling, which opened the money spigot, allowing corporations and unions to buy ads urging people to vote for or against specific candidates. But a closer look shows that there are several reasons that tens of millions of dollars of secret money are flooding this year's campaign. Actions � and inaction � by both the Federal Election Commission and the Internal Revenue Service have contributed just as much to the flood of tens of millions of dollars of secret money into the 2012 campaign. Congress did not act on a bill that would have required disclosure after Citizens United and other court rulings opened the door to secret political spending. Continued at � http://www.propublica.org/article/flood-of-secret-campaign-cash-its-not-all-citizens-united

How Nonprofits Spend Millions on Elections and Call it Public Welfare

CNN last week provided insight into the following which every parent and taxpayer should become informed on��California teachers union kills anti-pedophile law and Pedophile Teachers in California: Easier to Prosecute than Fire

Romney invokes Mass. health law ahead of Republican convention� By Elise Viebeck - 08/25/12 06:00 AM ET�� Mitt Romney is invoking his Massachusetts healthcare law in the lead-up to the Republican convention, alarming conservatives who argue it�s a losing issue for his campaign.� Romney's new willingness to talk about the issue could be a sign that he thinks the Massachusetts law could help him in November.� "My healthcare plan I put in place in my state has everyone insured," Romney told a CBS reporter on Thursday. In a second interview, he called the law an "important accomplishment" that is "working, by and large, pretty well." �� Continued at �.. http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/politics-elections/245445-romney-invokes-mass-health-law-ahead-of-republican-convention

Obama's economy: A snapshot

Ex-Official Told To Repay $411,688 In Disability Pension Funds�� Hartford Courant, Jon Lender, August 25, 2012,� A longtime deputy state environmental commissioner was allowed to retire in 2006 at age 50 with an $85,000-a-year lifetime "disability pension" because of a degenerative spinal condition � but now he's been told to give back $411,688 in pension payments, after a ruling that he wasn't sufficiently disabled in the first place. David K. Leff, now 57, of Canton, is fighting the Feb. 15 decision of the state Medical Examining Board, which conducted a hearing on his case last Dec. 9. Leff says that his disability causes him constant pain and that the board is ignoring medical evidence submitted by his doctor of 21 years. A hearing is to be held in November on his request for the board to reconsider. The medical board is rescinding his disability pension retroactively to the day it started: April 1, 2006.� Continued at �. http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-lender-column-pension-rescinded-0826-20120825,0,3538734.column

State of Connecticut Pensions for 2011

From $100,000 to $263,000

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

State announces locations for 10 new Family Resource Centers� By Nicholas Rondinone Aug 22 2012�� The centers, which by law must be located in public elementary schools, provide a number of services, including screenings for child development needs, before- and after-school care, high school equivalency classes, and English as a Second Language (ESL) programming, Malloy said.� The education reforms passed during the 2012 legislative session earmarked about $1.9 million to fund the Family Resource Centers around the state. About $800,000 of that amount will support programs at the 62 centers already in existence, with the remainder fundingthe 10 new centers. The new centers will be located at:

J. C. Clark School, Hartford

Fair Haven Elementary School, New Haven

Franklin Mayberry Elementary School, East Hartford

John B. Stanton Elementary School, Norwich

Greene-Hills School, Bristol

Jonathan Reed Elementary School, Waterbury

Ridge Hill School, Hamden

Roger Sherman Elementary School, Meriden

Ross Woodward Classical Studies School, New Haven

Smith Elementary School, New Britain

McMahon Has A Plan, But UConn Economist Would Like More Details

U.S. Foreign Arms Sales Reach $66.3 Billion in 2011

Senate race poll: McMahon pulls up to Murphy

Three major insurers seek up to 14 percent rate hike for small business coverage

Report: Connecticut companies, CEOs, don�t pay fair share of taxes �Washington -- By Ana Radelat� CTMirror.org�� Travelers is among 26 large U.S. companies that paid their CEOs more than they paid in federal taxes last year, says a study by a liberal think tank. According to the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies, Travelers, whose insurance operations are based in Hartford, paid no federal taxes last year. In fact, an institute study said, Travelers received a refund of $176 million from the Internal Revenue Service, even as it made $1.4 billion in global profits and paid CEO Jay Fishman more than $15.8 million. The study also said Travelers and other large corporations, including AT&T, Boeing and Citigroup, used provisions in the tax code to pay little or nothing in taxes while their CEOs averaged $20.4 million in compensation. Lost tax revenues hurts people who depend on public services, the institute's study said. "These tax dollars are flowing from average Americans who depend on public services to the kingpins of America's private sector."�� Continued at �.. http://www.ctmirror.org/story/17268/report-connecticut-companies-ceo%E2%80%99s-don%E2%80%99t-pay-fair-share-taxes

Wall Street agency poses tougher test for state pensions' health By Keith M. Phaneuf�� Just as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's plan to bolster the state's cash-starved employee pension fund kicks in, a leading Wall Street credit-rating agency is posing a new way to test the pension system's fiscal health. Moody's Investors Service has proposed a new methodology that would offer a much grimmer assessment of public employee pension plans in Connecticut, many other states, and most municipalities.� But officials here, who have until Sept. 30 to comment on Moody's proposal, expressed confidence in the direction state pensions are heading. And the head of Connecticut's chief municipal lobby said cities and towns long have been aware of the challenges they face to maintain their pension programs, adding their fate will hinge on how well state officials preserve municipal aid and help control property taxes��..The Pew Center on the States reported earlier this year a $757 billion cumulative gap between the pension obligations of all states and municipalities nationwide and their resources to cover them. According to some projections, Moody's proposed method of assessing pensions would nearly triple that problem. University of Connecticut economist Fred V. Carstensen, head of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis and one of the biggest critics of past raids on the state's pension funds, said that while no methodology is perfect, the Moody's approach could offer important perspective. Continued at �.. http://www.ctmirror.org/story/17294/wall-street-agency-poses-tougher-test-states-fiscal-health

Justice joins suit against Gallup�� By Lisa Rein,� By Lisa Rein, Sunday, August 26, 7:07 PM� The Justice Department has joined a lawsuit against the Gallup Organization, alleging that the polling company inflated prices for contracts with the U.S. Mint, the State Department and other federal agencies. The lawsuit was brought by a former Gallup employee, Michael Lindley, who became a whistleblower. Lindley alleges that shortly after he went to work for Gallup, he discovered that the company was defrauding the government. Continued at �.. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/justice-joins-other-agencies-in-suit-against-gallup/2012/08/26/80294d46-efa9-11e1-adc6-87dfa8eff430_story.html

Judge Upholds Eminent Domain for Pipeline in Texas� By SAUL ELBEIN NYTimes August 23, 2012� PARIS, Tex. � The Canadian energy company TransCanada can take over land owned by a Texas farmer to build its Keystone XL pipeline, a county judge ruled on Wednesday night. In a 15-word ruling sent from his iPhone, Judge Bill Harris of Lamar County Court at Law upheld TransCanada�s condemnation of a 50-foot strip of land across Julia Trigg Crawford�s pasture here. The pipeline is being built to carry oil to Texas refineries from Canada. Ms. Crawford plans to appeal the ruling. �We may have lost this one battle here in Paris, Texas, but we are far from done,� she said in a statement. �I will continue to proudly stand up for my own personal rights, the property rights of my family, and those of other Texans fighting to protect their land.� The case has shed light on a loophole in Texas�s oil and gas regulation � one that critics say has given pipeline companies carte blanche to seize private land. Activists across the political spectrum have rallied behind Ms. Crawford�s cause, from conservative rural landowners and Tea Party organizations to environmental groups.� Continued at �.. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/us/texas-judge-rules-transcanada-can-seize-pasture-for-keystone-xl.html?_r=2

State of CT Office of Legislative Research Report

ENFORCING THE PREVAILING WAGE LAW AGAINST TOWNS

LABOR'S LAST STAND? Donovan's fall could shift Democratic base ...By Matt �DeRienzo, Staff Reporter� LAST STAND? Donovan�s fall could shift Connecticut�s Democratic base� Top Democrats in Connecticut saw a train wreck coming if Chris Donovan won the party�s nomination for 5th District Congress. But they were ready to let it happen. Gov. Dannel Malloy, Attorney General George Jepsen, Congressman Chris Murphy, the rest of the delegation, and others, were paralyzed by their dependence on future support from the state�s labor unions. Their fear, and it was no doubt well-placed, was that turning on Donovan would be perceived as turning on labor. So they stayed out of it. Even as the FBI swooped in to arrest more of his campaign staff. Even as the language in indictments brought the scandal closer to the candidate himself.�� Continued at �� http://www.ct5thdistrict.com/2012/08/15/labors-last-stand-donovans-fall-could-shift-connecticuts-democratic-base/

Connecticut Transparency Website