Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell Governor Lamont remarked last week that he is thinking about property tax relief, apparently in the context of his campaign for re-election next year. Of course for decades the whole state has been thinking about property tax relief and many politicians have been prattling about it, so where is it? For theContinue reading “What property tax relief? And gasoline prices overtake TCI”

By Chris Powell West Haven may be providing the perfect metaphor for government and politics in Connecticut. The small city has been suffering from financial excess so long that since 2017 it has been operating under the supervision of the state’s Municipal Accountability Review Board. Because of a federal criminal indictment announced a few weeksContinue reading “Out-of-state marching band plays a dirge for Connecticut”

By Chris Powell Construing the results of the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections as rebukes for his party that justify his politically moderate stance, Governor Lamont remarked last week that he is Connecticut’s “first governor in 30 years who didn’t raise taxes.” Lamont, a Democrat, is far better on taxes than his predecessor andContinue reading “Governor is better on taxes but not as good as he claims”

By Chris Powell What do you do when state government policy doesn’t work? In Connecticut the answer is simple: You do more of it. So disaster may be the most likely outcome of a new state program that aims to reserve $175 million per year in bonding for improvement projects in 34 of Connecticut’s poorContinue reading “Tell the cities to ‘think big’? They did and only got poorer”

By Chris Powell Republicans did fairly well in Connecticut’s municipal elections this week, picking up many suburbs and smaller towns, holding the mayoralties in some smaller cities — New Britain, Danbury, and Norwich — gaining the mayoralty in Bristol, and nearly gaining the mayoralty in heavily Democratic and poorly managed West Haven, which was beingContinue reading “Connecticut Republicans cheer results but wait til Trump returns”

By Chris Powell Even as his party’s leaders in the state Senate kept insisting that Connecticut has no serious crime problem and that the crime clamor is a Republican contrivance, last week Governor Lamont called a press conference at the state Capitol to acknowledge the issue and pledge to act on it. The governor, aContinue reading “Juvenile crime wave compels Governor Lamont to strike a pose”

By Chris Powell Governor Lamont is in a “strong position” for re-election a year from now, according to the results of a statewide opinion poll announced last week. But while the governor, a Democrat, is surely the favorite, Connecticut being heavily Democratic, the poll was largely a con job, less interesting for confirming the governor’sContinue reading “State Democrats’ ‘push poll’ hints at Republican opportunities”

By Chris Powell As a practical matter “critical race theory” may be little more than the assertion that nearly everybody and everything is racist and that anyone who doesn’t comply with the demands of its advocates is even more racist. Whatever “critical race theory” is, it does not seem to be formally taught in schoolsContinue reading “Injection of race in schools deserves to be challenged”

By Chris Powell Two decades ago government corruption in Connecticut was a spectacularly Republican phenomenon. First state Treasurer Paul Silvester, appointed by Gov. John G. Rowland to fill a vacancy, was caught taking bribes for awarding pension fund management contracts. Silvester and nine others were convicted on federal charges and Silvester went to prison. ThenContinue reading “Corruption in Connecticut switches political parties”

By Chris Powell Writing last week in Connecticut’s Hearst newspapers, state Rep. Christine Palm, D-Chester, argued that raising gasoline prices by what she estimates as 5 cents per gallon under the Transportation Climate Initiative advocated by Governor Lamont would be no big deal, because people just shrug off rising gas prices. Yes, gas price increasesContinue reading “Imposing hardship is the point of another hidden gas tax for Connecticut”