Big Trouble for CT Gov. Dannel Malloy

The year, 2010, was a banner year for Republicans across the country, particularly the Tea Party caucus push-back against Obamacare and other progressive intrusions.

Governor Dannel Malloy (D-CT)

In New England, the Tea Party waves even covered New Hampshire, and helped out a little in Massachusetts (earlier, in January, with Scott Brown), but in Connecticut, a Democratic candidate (who had run for Governor in 2006 and lost), finally got the top office. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy won election with a margin of fewer than seven thousand votes.

Like Republican governors with their like-minded conservative legislatures, Malloy had at his feet a sympathetic, Democratic supermajority to enact a government centered world-view and policy shift. Washington Monthly listed his progressive accomplishments (in gushing terms, since one of Malloy's former interns wrote the piece):

He repealed the death penalty.

He allowed drivers licenses for illegal immigrants.

He raised hundreds of taxes.

He opened public bathrooms to transgendered individuals.

He passed extensive gun control legislation, de facto criminalizing three hundred thousand gun owners who refused to register their guns, or get rid of a wide range of firearms now classified as assault weapons.

How have residents responded to Malloy's tenure?

This letter, published in the October 4th, 2014 edition of the New Haven Register minced no words:

Connecticut is the worst state in which to retire; Malloy taxes pension benefits, and Connecticut is one of only 14 states that taxes Social Security income. Connecticut also levies a very aggressive estate tax of up to 12 percent beyond the $2 million exemption.

Our state income tax is 3 percent to 6.7 percent, sales tax is 6.3 percent and a mean property tax rate as a percentage of home value is 1.49 percent. Our highway system ranks 44th in the nation, even though our state gas tax is the second-highest in the nation.

Malloy has added over 100 new tax and fee increases. Despite these extremely high taxes, our state has a large budget shortfall every year and we have the second-highest percentage of debt in the nation.

Connecticut has one of the highest unemployment rates and is one of the worst for our college graduates to find gainful employment. State Sen. Ed Meyer recently wrote a piece describing his son’s exodus from Connecticut, so he could secure a job in his field.
 

Malloy courted and received teachers’ support, only to stab them in the back after he was elected. While pushing for reform, Malloy said that, “all teachers have to do to get tenure, was to show up for four years.”

Malloy has been one of the biggest supporters of Obamacare, along with all of the lies. You know, “if you like your health care plan, you can keep it.” Thanks to Malloy’s support of Obamacare, 75 percent of newly insured patients in Connecticut are on Medicaid. The federal government promised to cover 100 percent of the costs of the Medicaid expansion, but the state has yet to be reimbursed. Where is Malloy going to get that money?

Despite Malloy’s spin and negative campaigning, the picture is clear. He has done a poor job!
Connecticut is one of the worst run states in America and Malloy should be fired.

— Richard Mingrone Madison

Map of Connecticut

Could any letter be more scathing in its indictments against an incumbent Governor?

Yet are these allegations true?

The Hartford Courant painted a friendly picture of Governor Malloy's "shared sacrifice" budget:

The Malloy budget asks for a lot of sacrifice. The budget he proposes for the fiscal year beginning July 1 contains tax increases of $1.5 billion, with 81 percent paid by individuals and 19 percent by businesses. It seeks state employee concessions and other savings of $1 billion in the next fiscal year (and another $1 billion the following year). It calls for an additional $758 million in spending cuts that will affect those who use state services.

Did these budgets save the state from three billion dollar short-falls? In 2014, the Connecticut Mirror reported a $300 million budget shortfall. Nonpartisan analysts are predicting $3 billion shortfalls in the years to come. No, they did not work at all. Why? The CT Mirror reports that Malloy's promises to spare cities and school district budget cuts forced him to pass the costs onto the state, which it could not afford to do in the long-term.

Did Malloy actually tax individual residents' pensions? Yes. Does the state tax social security? Yes. Is Connecticut a terrible place to retire? Yes, according to US News and World Report.

What else has Malloy taxed? Property taxes, and this list of goods and services (and projected revenues):

• Car washes (raising $4 million in FY 2012)
• Pet grooming services ($1.9 million)
• Limousine services (4.5 million)
• Haircuts ($12 million)
• Manicure and pedicure services ($4.9 million)
• Non-prescription drugs ($18 million)
• Boat docking, storage, cleaning, repair, and tow services ($7 million)
• Hazardous waste removal ($4 million)
• Cosmetic surgery services ($5 million)
• Airport valet parking services ($1 million)
• Packing and crating ($1.1 million)
• Automotive storage ($.2 million)
• Automotive road and towing services ($.6 million)
• Yoga services ($.2 million)
• Cloth and fabric for non-commercial sewing ($.5 million).

What else about Malloy's tenure is spelling trouble for his reelection chances?

About unemployment, Connecticut lost  3,600 jobs, and the unemployment still hovers around 6.5%. Newspapers are wondering how this poor data will hurt Malloy's chances, too.

                           

He is one of the vocal champions of Obamacare. The state health exchange, Access Health CT, has been plagued with problems, including a federal data crash, system errors , inefficiencies, and rising costs. For all these negatives, liberal champions of the Affordable Care Act presented Connecticut as the successful model for state health care exchanges.

Other "'progressive reforms", like the transgender bill have instead created humanitarian nightmares like the case of Jane Doe, a boy who identifies as a female, now incarcerated in a state prison, even though he (she?) did not commit a crime. This state-sponsored abuse has only gotten worse with transgender legislation like Malloy's, yet the mainstream press has avoided discussion on this tragedy, although NBC reported on her attempt to escape last month.

Then there was the comprehensive gun control legislation after the Sandy Hook Massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. Malloy's gun control laws took national headlines not just for their sweeping changes, but the upswing of opposition, especially the en masse civil disobedience of thousands of gun owners:

On Jan. 1, 2014, tens of thousands of defiant gun owners seemingly made the choice not to register their semi-automatic rifles with the state of Connecticut as required by a hastily-passed gun control law. By possessing unregistered so-called “assault rifles,” they all technically became guilty of committing Class D felonies overnight.

Scott Lazurek

Police had received 47,916 applications for “assault weapons certificates” and 21,000 incomplete applications as of Dec. 31, Lt. Paul Vance told The Courant.

Just last week, one individual case  highlighted a culture of gun conscription bullying: Scott Lazurek, who refused to show his permit to a Connecticut police officer, because was not legally obliged to. Now the state is suing to have his gun permit taken away. Big Government has become a big bully under Governor Malloy. Of course, this should surprise no one, since Malloy's aggressive personality and abusive rhetoric has alienated many in the state:

About New Jersey Governor Chris Christie:

“People say things that sometimes don’t make any sense.This is a debate that’s more important than who’s got the bigger belt. It’s about policy.”

Malloy called Republican Congressman Ron Paul "an idiot" for his opposition to FEMA.
He also insulted Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal regarding his remarks about President Obama's minimum wage economy:

"I don’t know what the heck was a reference to white flag when it comes to people making $404 a week. I mean, that’s the most insane statement I’ve ever heard, quite frankly."

In town halls across the state, the governor shames opponents of gun control. See examples of this poor behavior here, on this link, and also here.


The Connecticut Republican Party is blasting Malloy's record on budgets, jobs, and taxes. With this train wreck of a track record, Malloy's polling in the Land of Steady Habits shows a steady lead for a GOP takeover for the Governor's mansion in November.



Malloy, one Democratic Governor likely to lose his seat this cycle