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Stocks
hit 2-month highs
October 22, 2011
From Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut
Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
Malloy administration watching danger signs in state budget
By Keith M. Phaneuf Oct 22, 2011 Gov. Dannel
P. Malloy's budget office warned this week it is watching some negative fiscal
trends that could threaten the modest surplus currently projected for this
year. And the $75.6 million fiscal cushion reported Thursday by the Office of
Policy and Management is already committed to the cause of gimmick-free
accounting. http://ctmirror.org/story/14290/malloy-administration-watching-danger-signs-state-budget
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Municipal Leaders in Connecticut!
Are you up to the Challenge?
By following East Hartford in
Providing Greater Transparency to Your Constituents!
The engines of government rely upon the fuel of taxpayer
dollars to keep it running. Throughout
the country, a demand is being made for greater transparency at all levels of
government to provide the information necessary to determine where taxpayer
dollars are being spent by utilizing government managed web sites. In July, 2011 the State of Connecticut introduced transparency.CT.gov.
This month, East Hartford’s Mayor Marcia
Leclerc and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Zito took the lead among municipalities in Connecticut and introduced
similar information through their respective web sites which can be found
within the following, captioned Leaders in Government Transparency in
Connecticut. The Federation encourages all municipal leaders in the remaining 168
Connecticut
towns to provide similar information to their constituents, and we suggest
taxpayers encourage them to do so. As other Connecticut towns come
on line, the Federation will keep the public informed.
|
Leaders in Government Transparency in Connecticut
|
|
The Yankee Institute, Former Farmington State
Representative Demetrios S. Giannaros,
East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc, and East
Hartford Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Zito
The Federation of Connecticut - Taxpayer Organizations - Oct
19, 2011
|
********************
A Decade of Slack Labor Markets - Up Front Blog - Brookings ...
The following is from a recent Brookings Institute analysis … Job opening
and unemployment data released in recent weeks paint a stark picture of just
how tough it is out there for those looking for work. There are somewhere
between three and five out-of-work job-seeking Americans competing for each job
opening. As shown in the chart below, competition for jobs among the unemployed
remains greater than any time before the financial crisis, stretching back to
the Great Depression. Continued at ….. http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2011/0909_jobs_winship.aspx
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, government
workers have the lowest unemployment rate of any industry or class
recorded, at 4.7%, while the
national unemployment rate is 9.1% – nearly twice that of public sector workers.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t14.htm
Economic News Release
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/bls/newsrels.htm
********************
Here is a message
from the editor of CTMirror.org, an online news publication, which keeps us
current on what is transpiring on the hill in Hartford. Click on the subject which is underscored to
learn more…
From Michael
Regan, Editor,CTMirror.org: The debate continued over the state's role in developing
jobs. Mark Pazniokas tells us Blue Sky Studios is
expanding, again with state aid. And Keith Phaneuf brought us
details of the governor's $516 million jobs package to be taken up next week in special session.
Jan Ellen Spiegel gave some perspective to a piece of that package. A new effort on developing brownfields is seen by some environmental lawyers as
"window dressing."
Jacqueline Rabe
Thomas seems to be the only reporter who read the Malloy Administration's
289-application for Race to the Top funds. She found a
surprise: The governor is promising
a major expansion of preschool programs.
Remember the $170 million in efficiencies the
state unions promised to identify? Phaneuf discovered it never happened, so the administration is making cuts
on its own.
As Linda McMahon promised to be a little less
aggressive with her mailings in her new Senate run,
that begged the question: What exactly did she spend last time? Pazniokas told us it turns out she spent $12 million just on mail, more than her opponent's entire campaign budget. He also
reported on her outreach to women, a demographic that is eluding her.
Tired of pink? One of the week's most-read
stories was Arielle Levin Becker's take on the backlash over the marketing success around funding for breast
cancer.
************************
Remember to
check out CT News
Junkie, another great online news
publication bringing you info on what is happening in the State Legislature. http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php
And the
excellent reporting by the Journal Inquirer as noted below…..
|
Another grab for power by the teacher unions
|
|
Today in Connecticut
anyone can inspect the evaluation of a police officer, a firefighter, a
sanitation worker, a road crew member, or any other public employee, but not
the evaluation of a teacher
Chris Powell - Journal
Inquirer - Oct 10, 2011
|
'Stimulus 2.0'? Senate
rejects bid to revive parts of Obama jobs bill.
U.S. to pull out of Iraq after nearly 9 years of war
Millions mistakenly take education tax credits; IRS …
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
-- More than 2 million Americans received education tax credits in error last
year, according to a watchdog report issued Thursday, at a total cost to
taxpayers: $3.2 billion. http://www.wfmz.com/business/Millions-mistakenly-take-education-tax-credits/-/121698/3976530/-/sri1r/-/index.html
Postal union hires big guns to save service The Postal Service has until Nov. 18 to make a $5.5 billion payment
that's due to its retiree health care fund. But
the independent agency doesn't have that kind of money, http://www.kpax.com/news/postal-union-hires-big-guns-to-save-service/
Blue Sky Studios to
expand, again with state aid By Mark
Pazniokas Oct 18, 2011
CTMirror.org Blue Sky Studios, whose move from White Plains, N.Y., to
new digital animation studios in Greenwich two years ago was encouraged by $15
million in tax credits, is about to expand. And once again, it will be helped
by the state. http://www.ctmirror.org/story/14236/blue-sky-studio-expand-again-state-aid
End of
Collective Bargaining in California? A
Vote Could Be Coming Soon (blog - Mike Shedlock / Mish's Trends)
Big banks want your big bucks
End in sight, U.S.
veterans ponder pain of Iraq war
New GASB Disclosure
Rules Could Inject Truth Serum Into Public Pension
Fund Projections (column - Girard Miller / Governing Magazine)
Lawmakers Edge Closer on Jobs Bill « CBS …
The basics of the job creation legislation includes $50 million for small businesses, $20 million in
job creation tax credits, improvements to the permitting process, $25 million
for innovation, and workforce development dollars.
Two Opposing Views on Campaign Finance in Ct….
State doesn't wait for overdue union efficiency ideas By Keith M.
Phaneuf CTMirror.org Oct 21, 2011 State employee unions
insist they can make government more efficient, but they are fumbling their
chance to prove it. The labor-management panels that were to identify
efficiencies as part of last summer's concession deal haven't met yet. The
administration is making its own cuts Continued at ….. http://www.ctmirror.org/story/14266/state-budget-cutting-doesnt-wait-overdue-union-efficiency-ideas
How to Get Rich
in CA: Work for Govt. OCT.
13, 2011
By CHRISS STREET The number is shocking. Some retired
state and local workers will make in retirement nearly twice as much, on
average, as private-sector workers. For them, working as public servants
literally turned into a gold mine.
The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
just released an analysis, “Comparing Wealth in Retirement: State-Local Versus Private
Sector Workers.” It determined the wealth effect in retirement from
1996 to 2006 for former public employees versus the private sector workers at
age 65, after adjusting for workers with similar characteristics of education
and experience. http://www.calwatchdog.com/2011/10/13/how-to-get-rich-in-ca-work-for-govt/
Rush to Drill for Natural Gas Creates Conflicts With Mortgages
Unions, Malloy bump heads over public-private partnerships By Keith
M. Phaneuf CTMirror.org Oct 20, 2011
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's
up-and-down relationship with labor unions dipped again Thursday when his
administration introduced a proposal that seemed to open the door to
privatizing some state functions as part of next week's special legislative
session on economic development. http://www.ctmirror.org/story/14283/unions-malloy-bump-heads-over-public-private-partnerships
Undercover police
and the law: the men who … weren't there
Email Warned That Bank Up For Bailout
Was 'Disastrous'
by Marian Wang and Paul Kiel
An anonymous tip warned the Treasury that United Commercial Bank was troubled,
but the bank still got almost $300 million. Now the bank has failed and two
executives are facing criminal charges. http://www.propublica.org/article/email-warned-that-bank-up-for-bailout-was-disastrous
More coverage: Eye on the Bailout
TransCanada in Eminent Domain Fight
Over Pipeline - NYTimes.com
A Canadian company has drawn criticism for
threatening to take property from landowners in the United States for a
pipeline that has not been approved. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/us/transcanada-in-eminent-domain-fight-over-pipeline.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE – GREAT PUBLICATION
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/blog/2011/10/
Undercover Police And
The Law: The Men Who Weren't There
NPR-Affiliated Freelance Radio Host Fired for …
Protesting
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/10/npr-affiliated_freelance_radio.html
Is the National Security Complex Too Big to Fail? From TomDispatch: Bailing out America’s wars By Tom Engelhardt | October 20, 2011 "American taxpayers are shelling out at
least $1.2 trillion a year for the vast military, intelligence, and homeland
security combine that operates in their name ... When a country spends 'more on
defense than the next 17 top-spending countries combined' and can't win a war,
you should know that something's wrong, and that 'too big' and 'fail' do stand
in some relation to each other ... You, the taxpayer, bailed out a host of
tottering financial firms ... The only bright spot: those were one-time,
two-time, or three-time deals. The [military industrial] Complex is forever (at
least as its managers see it)." http://www.theamericanconservative.com/blog/is-the-national-security-complex-too-big-to-fail/
Underground Industry: Gas Pipelines Are
Big Business But Lightly Regulated by Nicholas Kusnetz | @nkus As natural gas
pipelines proliferate, a loose web of federal and state rules govern a network
of more than 2 million miles. http://www.propublica.org/article/underground-industry-gas-pipelines-are-big-business-but-lightly-regulated
More coverage: Fracking: Gas Drilling's Environmental Threat
