Connecticut Local Politics

Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman told the New Haven Independent that he is a “no” on health care reform initiatives that include a government-sponsored option as part of the package:

“If we create a public option, the public is going to end up paying for it,” Lieberman said following an hour-long confab with public-health experts at the [...]

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The financial lobbyists aren’t happy with Dodd. A recent Politico piece had the complaints of an unnamed lobbyist:

Financial lobbyists are grumbling that it’s difficult to get meetings with Dodd — and that the Connecticut Democrat engages with them only through press releases, such as the scorcher sent out last week titled “Dodd slams financial industry [...]

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The Connecticut Republican Party launched a new website today Calling Chris Dodd.  The site compiles many of Sen. Dodd’s ethical transgressions over the last few months into one really funny site, complete with voice acting and a bobblehead Chris Dodd.

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Though health care reform is President Obama’s top legislative priority this summer, embattled U.S. Senator Chris Dodd isn’t able to deliver:

Despite expressing hope a day earlier that the markup of a health care reform bill could be completed by week’s end, Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.) confirmed Wednesday that the legislation is unlikely to emerge from [...]

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Kent’s Democratic Town Committee has adopted a resolution of no confidence in Sen. Chris Dodd. The measure passed at their regular meeting last night by a vote of 8-5, following a debate.
The resolution is here (.doc): Adopted Resolution
Take a look at the text of the resolution after the “more” link.

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With just seven precious days left until the end of the second fundraising quarter, federal candidates are pushing hard to put up big fundraising totals and U.S. Senate candidate Tom Foley is no exception. 
According to DC’s The Hill, the former Ambassador to Ireland will be hosting a shindig in Greenwich tomorrow.

Foley is a former Bush [...]

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Per Politico, embattled U.S. Senator Chris Dodd announced that he has changed his position on gay marriage today on his Senate website:

Public officials aren’t supposed to change their minds. But I firmly believe that it’s important to keep learning. Last week, while I was in Connecticut meeting with members of the gay and lesbian community [...]

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The ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy has recorded an advertisement for Sen. Chris Dodd touting his work on health care.

Here’s the transcript:
SENATOR KENNEDY: Quality healthcare as a fundamental right for all Americans has been the cause of my life, and Chris Dodd has been my closest ally in this fight. Today more than ever, we have [...]

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Next Wednesday, the Obama administration is expected to announce comprehensive reforms on the way the financial system is regulated. One of the proposals thought to be contained in the plan is for an independent financial consumer protection agency.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Chris Dodd had been reserving judgment, but [...]

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In your Friday news dump today is a story about Sen. Dodd’s Irish cottage, which, as it turns out, is worth a lot more than he’s been reporting. According to the Courant Dodd has been using an old appraisal value for his cottage, from 2002, which does not reflect the rapid spike in Irish real [...]

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An editorial in today’s New York Times criticizes Senator Dodd for attending a dinner at which members of the Online Lender’s Alliance (an industry organization for payday lenders) were present, and then subsequently not acting in consumers’ interests to reform payday lending laws to cap interest rates.

When Arthur Delaney of The Huffington Post went [...]

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Roll Call (subscription required) is reporting that Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd is stretched thin these days between his role as a stand in for Sen. Ted Kennedy on health care reform, doing his normal duties as Banking Committee Chairman, and running for re-election. 
In what is largely a ‘Senate staff grumbling about their bosses on background’ piece, [...]

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Senator Dodd has an interesting op-ed on healthcare reform in today’s New London Day. As a self-employed writer with two kids with health issues (Type 1 diabetes, etc.) I’m one of those people that the Senator refers to in his op-ed who pays as much for health insurance each month as I do for my [...]

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Both the NY Times and Hartford Courant blogs are reporting on Senator Chris Dodd’s latest employment of technology for a listening initiative – seeking advice from constituents on health care reform via YouTube.

Viewers can share their ideas and vote on others at the YouTube Senate Hub channel.

“This is an opportunity to discuss [...]

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Republicans from across the Nutmeg State flocked to Stamford last night for the 31st Annual Prescott Bush Dinner, the party’s yearly gala fundraiser and awards dinner.  The room of nearly 800 elected officials, candidates, party regulars, and guests gathered to honor Lt. Governor Mike Fedele with the Party’s highest honor, the Prescott Bush Award.
In his moving speech, [...]

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Heath posted about this earlier, but the video for Dodd’s first ad is up. The ad is called “Years.”

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The Associated Press is reporting that U.S. Senator Chris Dodd will begin running the first television advertisement of the 2010 campaign season tomorrow with a 30 second spot that will air statewide.

The 30-second spot set to air statewide in Connecticut on Friday features Obama praising the Democrat for his work crafting the new credit card [...]

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Sen. Chris Dodd has gained on challenger Rob Simmons, according to the latest poll from Quinnipiac University, and is now only down by a handful of points. The number in parentheses is from April’s poll.

Simmons
45% (50)

Dodd
39% (34)

 
This is a ten-point swing in Dodd’s favor (Dodd now up by 5%, Simmons goes down by 5%), [...]

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Greg Sargent is reporting on his Washington Post blog that Libertarian Peter Schiff, the CT-based brokerage owner who is known for having predicted the financial meltdown, is “leaning towards” challenging Chris Dodd for Senate.

“It’s better than 50-50,” Schiff told me a few moments ago, saying he’d decide in the next “two to three weeks.”
National Dems [...]

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President Obama is not wasting any time backing up Sen. Chris Dodd, whose credit card reform bill was signed by the president today (see the signing ceremony on YouTube: Obama publicly praises Dodd).
Obama used the power of his email list to drum up support for Dodd, sending out a mass email that went to [...]

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