In Governor M. Jodi Rell’s speech before the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce yesterday in Ansonia, she took the Democratically-controlled Legislature to task for not taking action on the state’s budget deficit:
“When our legislature can come in — gavel in and gavel out — and not accomplish anything but the pledge of allegiance, that’s a sad time for the state of Connecticut,”
These sentiments seem to be the echo of what many Nutmeg State residents are saying these days on the $549 million budget deficit, as evidenced by the spate of editorials in newspapers across Connecticut last weekend.
Despite the failure to act, it remains an open question whether Democratic Legislators will pay a political price for the budget fiasco. According to the most recent Quinnipiac Poll on the subject, the Legislature’s approval rating was at 33%.
The last time that the State Legislature was so unpopular was July 2003. In the 2004 elections, however, the minority party (Republicans) lost four seats in the State House and two in the State Senate.
Even in 1994, the model year of choice for Republicans, the results were mixed. The GOP picked up two seats in the State Senate, giving them the majority in that Chamber for the first time since 1984, but still lost five seats in the State House.
So while the discontent may be palpable among many in Connecticut, actually voting for new leadership in the Legislature seems unlikely.
17 responses so far ↓
I don’t think that the rable in Hartford that calls themseleves a Legislature will feel any significant backlash come November, though ne could hope. We will see more current legislators opt to not run for reelection because its a part time legislature in pay only, and many members are tired of taking days from work for a 10:00am session only to be kept waiting until after 8:00pm to start. The majority of voters in CT will complain and moan about politics and politicans but if you ask what they think about their own Rep or Senator they will say “he/she is fine, its the rest of them that need to go”. That kind of mentatlity allows the same deadwood to drift back into Hartford every two years.
Good question, Heath. It seems to me that with the extraordinary growth of alternative media over the past decade, the sort of meek, sheepish, “I’m angry but I’m not quite sure whom to vote against” sort of voter is becoming more scarce. For generations, the voters’ choice was shaped solely by the choices of the major media — in our state, the major newspapers. Those days are dead. This blog, others like it, Google News, Drudge, etc., have successfully wrested power of choice — that is, what gets covered — from legacy media to anyone with a website. It is due to that truth that people know of Dodd’s transgressions. He is so revered the major papers would never have followed up if the blogs hadn’t gotten Dodd in so deep.
Similarly, years back, the papers would keep the pressure on Rell in this situation, without noting the Legislature’s unwillingness to go halfway on spending cuts. Again, blogs like this one can make it abundantly clear. Many incumbents — in both parties — will lose, and thus that will hurt the Dems more than the GOP. IMHO
Not sure. I sense grapeshot in the air this year.
I believe that there will be no significant ” price to pay” with regard to the budget. The Republicans will be seen by the non-political public as much to blame.The other thing to remember is that the Democrats have many many legislative seats that go uncontested and have a built in edge over the Republican Party,who have much less uncontested seats.
The end of the Super Majority? OK. I’ll buy that.
A rush of educated voters into the hands of the GOP given the GOP’s current agenda (which doesn’t really exist. It’s the usual we’ll do with less agenda)? Naaah.
The first party to layout a true reformation of government and detail a new relationship between government employees and the taxpaying public will win.
Hint One: outsourcing. Hint Two: Department consoldiations. Hint 3: a 10% cut in state employees in 4 years. Hint Four: Layoffs. The elimination of existing job functions. to prevent rehire. Hint Five: Stop the growth of the Department of Corrections. Release the non-violent prisoners and wage garnish them going forward.
The simple answer is no.
I see a rush towards the GOP now that even moderates like Simmons have come to embrace their tea-bagger roots.
And Ms. McMahon? What a great new leader to emerge out of nowhere. (Who cares if she doesn’t know her ass from her elbow when it comes to economic policy?)
Not to mention Cafero!
What’s a teabagger? Is that some sort of anti-gay epithet or something?
No, it’s someone who is part of the Tea Party movement.
Here’s video of one of their candidates:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWaTfQiunK4
CTBob… no show at the Schiff opening? I bumped into a few CTLPers there and had fun… along with free apps!
My question of the evening was if Schiff supported S604, Bernie Sanders’ Federal Reserve Sunshine Act. Schiff supports it wholeheartedly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-kdyGPQUtY
And of course Jane Hamsher let us all know that Senator Dodd (Political Class – CT) opposes auditing Ben Bernanke’s printing press.
I have no idea where Simmons or McMahon stand on S604.
And for anyone who missed it, the Banking Committee voted to support the Bush / Obama man – Bailout Ben. The vote was 16-7 with Dodd voting in favor of Wall Street.
Tim, I was totally there with Anderson Scooper, around 7PM. I even got a minute or so with Schiff on video, but everyone was yakking so loudly that the audio is pretty much unusable. So I had a glass of wine and some munchables and went over to the Milford DTC Christmas party at Stonebridge. Sorry I missed you guys.
Mr. Scooper,
With all due respect, in polite and mature circles, a member of the tea party movement is referred to as a “tea party patriot” or “tea partier” and over at the New York Times, as “tea party folk.” Only in the liberal blogasphere and on MSNBC do people suffering from Tea Party Derangement Syndrome refer to conservative political activists as people who engage in dangerous sexual practices. I would respectfully request that you refrain from further spreading that specious and vulgar turn of phrase with regard to the tea party movement here in Connecticut. Your obvious comfort level with referring to the placement of parts of a man’s reproductive organs in your mouth in such a public forum denotes your familiarity with the practice, and, therefore, I would never presume to request you cease and desist with referring to the term all together. After all, the heart of the tea party movement is individual liberty and personal responsibility. What you do in the privacy of your own bedroom is no one’s business but yours. So please, it would be much appreciated by those fighting for your freedoms and liberties if you would keep your sexual practices to your self and not project them onto us.
Finally, if you caught the recent Wall Street Journal article on Rob Simmons and his relationship with the tea party movement, you would have seen that there isn’t one. The writer of that article interviewed me for 45 minutes and it was made perfectly clear that Simmons is not the tea party candidate, regardless of his recent addition to his pocket Constitution.
NHTEA, don’t be offended by Scooper. He does provide us with some necessary comic relief. He is from the far left fringe but I frankly have grown to like him but have learned not to take him too seriously. This forum has all kinds of opinions and people but we all pretty much get along.
I look forward to reading more of your post and btw, Tea party people are patriots so, you have my respect and keep up the good work!
Dear Mr NewHavenTeaParty…..You claim that the heart of your movement is “individual liberty and personal responsibility” and I will not take issue with you on that except to say that our Constitution and Bill of Rights is the genesis for individual liberty and personal responsibility and your movement doesnt appear to offer anything new that I already cannot get by reading and understanding the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
As a former radical myself…I was in Students For A Democratic Society and The Weathermen ( and knew Bill Ayers)…I can fully appreciate your movement’s embrace of a robust use of your 1st amendment rights,while disagreeing with the substance of your movement’s positions.
To get back to the original question – Will the legislature suffer for its inaction? Short answer – NO. As noted earlier, most folks are satisfied with their local Rep and Senator even though frustrated by the group as a whole. The Rs also have to come up with viable opponents in Democratic districts. It is surprising the number of good, moderate Republicans that are First Selectmen, Chairs of Boards of Finance, etc. but they don’t make the transition to the State Legislature. IF GC were still around making his great maps, it would be an educational comparison to show the difference between the local executive and the local legislator. However, I agree with the Norwich BULLETIN and the New London DAY that the legislators need to get new leadership. Seniority seems to lead to mediocore leaders who value the legislative process over the needed results. This combined with the weak executive leadership provided by Governor Rell/COS Lisa Moody has led to the current impass. There is an old phrase we used in the Navy -”Nothing hard is every easy”. The legislature needs to face up to that and act accordingly.
And, that’s what honest discourse is all about. Well said, Bruce.
>>>As a former radical myself…I was in Students For A Democratic Society and The Weathermen ( and knew Bill Ayers)…I can fully appreciate your movement’s embrace of a robust use of your 1st amendment rights,while disagreeing with the substance of your movement’s positions.<<<
I thought the phrase originated back in April when Teabaggers er, sorry, Tea Partiers, threw tea bags on the White House lawn, causing the White House to be evacuated.
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