Connecticut Resistance

A Pleasant Little Dinner Club

After the drubbing that Republicans received in this past election, one would think that the state party leaders would respond with an energetic, aggressive and well-organized action plan. But at the December State Central GOP gathering, just a few weeks after the recent election, State Republicans leaders demonstrated beyond any doubt why the party has sunk to such a low state, and why the prospects for a revival are dim.

A few observations:

The State Central Committee lacks youth. A quick review of the entire 72 person membership shows that many persons have been serving on this board since the first Bush administration (1989-1993). At one table during the December meeting, several people fell asleep after dinner. The group that led the Republicans to where we are today is not the same one to lead it back to success.

Attendance at the meeting was light, as it always is. This group is the Board of Directors of the Republican Party and a large portion never show up. After the humiliation of November, there should have been lines out the door of people demanding action. State party leadership is a responsibility that should be taken seriously.

The meeting started at 6pm. But cocktails and dinner went on until at least 7:30. After a full course meal and a few drinks, it is hard to imagine that any group of adults would then be ready to attend to the serious business that needed to be addressed. The next few months should be focused exclusively on the difficult challenge ahead of the party. Drinks and food can come later when there is something (like Victory) to celebrate.

The discussion was completely pro-forma and without passion. While the number of Republicans in the CT Legislature continues to shrink toward irrelevance, the GOP State Central dutifully read the minutes to the last meeting and heard the monthly Treasurer’s report. The agenda was followed without deviation. The highlight of the night was the announcement that a new photocopy machine had been purchased. At least the food was good.

It is time that Republicans Party leaders take off the gloves and start being aggressive. For instance, we need to show our outrage when democrats break the law. Each of the 72 State Central members should have submitted editorials or flooded local radio stations with calls on the many recent missteps by some of the better-known Democratic leaders. The silence and inaction or our State Central leaders speaks volumes.

Anything other than a complete makeover of this organization will do nothing other than to further solidify its reputation as a do-nothing group that is not only irrelevant, but completely ignored by Town Committee Chairs, Senior Party Leaders and even our Governor.

One final note. The grassroots organization that drove President Barak Obama to victory shows no sign of resting. In December, they organized a nationwide series of committee and town meetings to plan their agenda for 2009. Even up to the inaugural, their energy showed no sign of letting up. Several meeting were held in Connecticut and were widely reported in the press. Their sense of motivation, drive and enthusiasm was palpable. Meanwhile, the last item discussed at the December GOP State Central dinner party was a reminder to all members…that the January meeting was cancelled.

A simple conversation many months ago has led me on an interesting journey. Rob Kane told me in January while running for State Senate that Hartford gets $6.31 (now $6.65) in state aid for every dollar in state income tax its residents pay to the state. Rob then spoke that Woodbury, my town, gets $0.06 per dollar. My interest was high and I started to investigate. After some number crunching, I was outraged. I have always known that the income tax is a tool of the socialists to redistribute income. I did not know how true it is in CT.

The three cities that get the most aid: Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport get $676M in aid.

This is 28.46% of total state aid to towns and cities.
They pay 2.97% of the state income tax bill.
These three cities are 11.27% of the state population.

In addition, there are 36 towns that get less than 10% of their income tax back (total state aid vs. total income taxes paid). The state average is 51%. Those combined get 3.35% of the state aid and pay 43.83% of the income taxes. Those towns are as follows:

Guilford, Stonington, Brookfield, Branford, Glastonbury, Trumbull, and Goshen get 9%.

Sherman, Cornwall, Southbury, Simsbury, and Orange get 8%.

Old Saybrook, Sharon, and Fairfield get 7%.

Madison, Woodbury, Middlebury, and Salisbury get 6%.

Roxbury, Bridgewater, Old Lyme, Lyme, and Washington get 5%.

Wilton, Ridgefield, Essex, and Easton get 4%.

Avon, Redding, and Woodbridge get 3%.

Darien, Weston, Westport, and New Canaan get 2%.

Greenwich gets 1%.

I also looked at state aid vs. income tax and sales tax and the picture was basically the same. The cities get way more than they put into it. The supposed “rich” towns are the ones left paying the bill.

What does all this mean? The income tax in CT is used to confiscate money from wealthy and middle class citizens. The Democrats attack working people and steal as much as they can. This money is taken and given to cities without accountability and filled with giveaways to Democrat supporters such as labor union bosses, and lazy people who have no interest in being productive citizens. The biggest problem area for taxes is education. We spend over $13,000 per pupil in Hartford and where does that money go? It is sure not educating our children. 11% of Hartford 10th Graders reached the state goal in reading. Hartford schools, like most inner city schools, fail our children. They do not get the skills they need to become successful in life. Those who cannot read, write, or have needed job skills are destined to a life of poverty. This is now a serious civil rights issue that must be addressed. All of this occurs under the watch of CT Democrats.

The problem is not money, but accountability. The establishment exists to take care of itself, not our kids. This idea that Democrats work for the little guy is no longer true. When cities ask for more money, a lot of it goes to programs that do not produce results and the bureaucrats that “run” them.

The Republicans have fought this year for fiscal accountability with Senate bill 374. This would allow the state to audit any municipality that receives more than 35% of its budget from the state. This bill is designed to ensure that taxpayer money is being used wisely and the establishment refused it. Fifty members on the appropriations committee voted on this. It died in committee with a 25-25 tie. 15 Republicans voted yes, 10 Democrats voted yes, and 25 Democrats voted no, including State Senator Joan Hartley D-Waterbury. This is a non-partisan issue and all taxpayers should be angry.

Hartford and New Haven are now using our money to provide services to illegals, not to mention creating sanctuary cities. People who work for a living have their taxes go up and up, at the state and local level, every year. This money goes to cities without accountability or results. This is a complete outrage and the ones to blame are the establishment Democrats in Hartford. This establishment consists of self-serving, mostly career politicians who leech off the system for their own personal gain and profit, at the expense of working people.

The question becomes how can we fix this problem? First, as Barrack H. Obama states, we need change. The Democrats have run both the CT House and Senate for decades. It is time to fire them. Working folks can no longer sit on the sidelines. When they do, the inmates run the asylum and the working folks pay the bill. 45% of CT voters are unaffiliated. Doing so leaves them with no party and no influence where it matters: in the primary and convention process.

When you vote in November, there will be a question on your ballot asking if there should be a Constitutional Convention, vote yes. Then we citizens must push for referendum and ballot initiatives. Getting this will allow us to vote down the bloated, income redistributing budgets. We can then take the power away from the entrenched power in Hartford. Lastly, we should implement term limits. Too many legislators make a living off the taxpayer dollars. These lifetime bureaucrats and politicians are the ones who create these income schemes.

When, in the course of political events, it becomes necessary to expel the entrenched relics of the past that have failed to be honest stewards of the public trust, and replace them with true representatives of the people, an honest and faithful accounting of the reasons for such an action are owed to the electorate which for so long has suffered.

We hold certain truths to be self-evident, that:

• in spite of rumors to the contrary, the people still rule in Connecticut
• citizens of Connecticut deserve full-time representation
• arrogance of political leaders increases with extended terms in office
• leadership is by personal example, not by personal promotion
• a public office is a sacred public trust

Whenever any political leader, even one so lofty and powerful as King Dodd II, does take upon himself the airs of arrogance, remoteness and indifference associated with the petty despots of ages past, that it is the right, indeed it is the duty of the people, to cast off the affects of his oppressiveness and replace him with a true, honest and new representative of the peoples’ interest.

Such has been the patient suffering of the lowly vassals in the remote hamlets, towns, cities and counties of Connecticut that events compel them to alter their current representation in the United States Senate. The recent history of the present dreaded and lordly sovereign King Dodd II is one of shocking indifference, callous arrogance and flagrant violations of the public trust that the facts, as now available through a free press, are submitted for public view:

• that he has ignored his duty to his constituents while embarking on a failed quest for the presidency
• that during said campaign, he abandoned Connecticut and took up residence in a distance land known as Des Moines
• that as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, he was the one person on Planet Earth who was in a position to anticipate the present financial crisis and do something to prevent it, yet failed on both accounts
• that while carousing with lobbyists, he found time to arrange a sweetheart mortgage deal from one of the worst subprime mortgage companies in the nation..a company that was ostensibly under his jurisdiction that caused untold hardship to millions of innocent  people countrywide
• that in an era of full transparency, when in his own committee he has pontificated at length over humbled corporate executives about the need for rigorous public inspection, that he insulted his constituents, and the free press, with a redacted and edited transcript of documents that would have made Richard Nixon blush
• that he obtained a Presidential Pardon for a criminal who had stolen money from hapless investors
• that his 28 years of service to our State, which started well, is ending in an all-too familiar tale of greed, corruption and self-service

We therefore, the lowly, unwashed, irrelevant and unimportant tax-paying activists of Connecticut, now declare our desire that this state of Connecticut ought to be and should be fully freed and absolved of any obedience or allegiance to our sovereign and dreaded King Dodd II.  That it is our desire, that some humble person of lowly birth come forward and with a popular level of support, replace his mighty majesty and return to our peace-loving state the true, right, law-abiding roots from which it grew.

We ask that the State of Connecticut overthrow our Senator, Chris Dodd.  He has served too long and is no longer an effective advocate for our needs.  It is quite fair to say we’re done with Dodd.  His competency as been called into open question, to the point that the next person in line behind you in the donut store would be better qualified to be our Senator.  Connecticut deserves better.

While declaring independence from King Dodd II, our candidate will embrace the principles that have made America great.  We declare ourselves free of the fear of standing up against the leftists who have overtaken Connecticut and the nation.

• We reject the notion that public service is a right.
• We reject socialism because it stands in the face of everything America stands for.
• We reject high taxes because citizens are best equipped to spend their own money.
• We reject appeasement of our enemy.
• We reject bail outs of failed business models.
• We reject the out of control government spending.
• We reject the Welfare State, not because we are mean, but because it enslaves individuals by forcing them to be dependent on government.
• We reject open borders and the marginalization of our culture.

We, therefore, as citizens of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, assembled in peace as enemies of the current regime, do solemnly publish and declare the state of Connecticut is of right, free and independent from any allegiance to the crown.  We rightfully conclude our business with the tyrannical crown that has ruled over us for 34 years on this day the 16^th of May in the great year of 2009.

Thomas Jefferson

The keys to success have never really changed.  It starts with a simple foundation of hard work, humility, and a handshake.

Hard work is critical to success.  Everything worth having is earned.   In a free market, capitalist system, your wealth is directly related to the value you provide the marketplace.  The greatness of our system is we are all given the same opportunity, not a guaranteed outcome.

In “the old days”, your word was your bond.  Your reputation was everything you had. People want to deal with people they trust.  All solid relationships start with this trust: marriage, business partnerships, and the like.  Marriage vows meant until death do us part, not until marriage is too much work, I find a much younger girlfriend, or I am too lazy to make it work.  “In the old days,”a deal was a deal.  If you shook on it, you had better honor it.

What we have today is millions of Americans who have no clue what this country was founded upon.  We have generations of families who have been enslaved to welfare and government dependence.  We have union bosses who buy off politicians to over inflate wages for their members.  We have trial lawyers who sue over everything.  We have a two-party system that is socialist and socialist-lite, neither defending the Constitution they were sworn to uphold.

We have the average Joe the Plumber who goes to work, puts in an honest days work, provides for his family, goes to church on Sunday, and minds his own business.  We now have a political party and movement who has declared war on him.  Us regular folks have decided to stand up and defend our values and way of life.  We have been called racists, nazis, domestic terrorists, and right wing extremists.  We have been beaten up at town halls for simply defending our way of life and expressing our opinions. This is not my America.

We see bailouts for companies who make bad decisions simply because they buy off politicians of both parties with donations.  We see people who buy homes they cannot afford get bailouts while those who can afford their homes get nothing but the bill.   We have seen spending that will leave our grandchildren in debt, if our economy will last that long.  Now we see our elected representatives take phone calls while we ask them questions, if they will even listen to us.  They make fun of and belittle people who they are elected to represent. This is not my America.

We have “do-gooders and know-betters” who tell us they will run our lives better than we can.  They tell us we have to wear seat belts for our own good, how much soda our kids can have, and how much sugar we should have in our ketchup.  No thanks, I can make my own decisions.  This is not my America.

I want the America of 1776 where we had a small federal government, not the smothering abomination of today.  I want the America where if I want to pray somewhere I can.  I want the America where I have the right to defend my home and family from the criminals who wish to violate it.  I want the America where I can be as successful as I want to, provided I will earn it.  I will stand up and sacrifice everything I have to do so.  I will work to defeat these crooked politicians who serve themselves long before they serve us.  I will never back down from what is right, no matter the cost.