Last night I attended a public forum on taxes hosted by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy. The forum panelists consisted of Institute experts and local Republicans and was moderated by Joe Scarborough, who ran the proceedings much like his radio show, which is to say he mostly talked over his guests in his excitement to hear his own voice. The event was a commercial for the Republican party (we were told that Democrat invitees declined) but nonetheless they made their point: Republicans in Connecticut are a toothless minority and our economic tailspin will continue as long as control of the state budget remains in the hands of our one-party junta.
Consider:
- Based on wages, taxes, cost of living, unemployment, and workplace illnesses and injuries, Connecticut is among the top ten worst places to live and work in the US (MoneyRates.com).
- In 2014, Connecticut was ranked the worst state for job creation (Gallup).
- Though declining, Connecticut’s unemployment rate remains above the national average (CT News Junkie).
- Connecticut has the fifth highest gas taxes in the country (Tax-Rates.org).
- Connecticut was tied with New Jersey for having the latest Tax Freedom Day in 2015 (Tax Foundation).
- Although US population is growing overall, the population in Connecticut is declining; in 2013–2014, CT was one of just six states to lose people (US Census Bureau).
- Forty-nine percent of Nutmeggers would move out of the state if they could (Gallup).
Now, just weeks after passing the second-largest tax increase in state history, General Electric is considering moving their headquarters from Connecticut to Georgia. Governor Malloy is reportedly negotiating a package with GE to keep them here, but as my state senator Tony Hwang said last night, this kind of piecemeal approach — special tax breaks and corporate welfare for big boys, nothing for others — is not only patently unfair, it’s also a bald admission that broad tax increases damage our economy. GE pays an estimated $3.5 million $1.8 million in local property taxes annually, and the vacuum created by their departure will suck the loose change from the pockets of everyone living in my town. In their fervor to blast their favorite bogeymen, the Democrats aim their drones at the Taliban corporations but instead the bombs and missiles, as usual, fall on us luckless citizens sitting in our mud huts.
