Despite being the richest state in the nation, Connecticut is on the verge of bankruptcy and is near the bottom among the 50 states for growth. Just a few months into the fiscal year and Connecticut facing $250 million revenue deficit in Hartford, despite having passed a balanced budget just a few months ago.
For nearly 40 years, Democrats have controlled the state legislature and with it the state budget, to include spending and tax policy. They have followed a tax and spend philosophy that they hoped would stimulate economic growth with disastrous results. The growth never came and the debt continued to pile up. In response, they raised taxes on the wealthy and corporations to the point that Fortune 500 companies, such as General Electric, jobs and top income earners have left the state. The state is losing jobs left and right, and for every three people moving into the state, four are leaving and they make $150,000 or more. They are taking both their jobs and income tax revenue with them to another state.
Even though the wealthy and corporations are leaving, the debt that the Democrats in Hartford have amassed at the state level will remain and must be paid for. Couple that with the most generous public employees benefits package in the nation and an agreement signed by Governor Dannel Malloy (America’s least popular Governor) that makes it nearly impossible to lean out the state government, and you end up with liabilities that exceed your revenue. That means that the state must either raise the sales tax, cut services, or pass the debt to the towns and cities through cuts in aid, just as Governor Malloy had proposed doing this past fall. Malloy’s planned cuts in aid are the blue print for the future if Democrats retain control of the state house and governor’s mansion. No growth and higher taxes would be inevitable and this scenario is not unique to Connecticut.
If you raise the sales tax, cut services or pass debt to the towns which can only be serviced by raising property taxes, then the middle class, poor, and seniors on fixed income will get hit the hardest. So, despite the promises made to them, those who can least afford it will be stuck holding the bag after decades of irresponsible Democratic Party spending and bad policy.
The state is experiencing a perpetual cycle of poverty and a lack of upward mobility for the middle class.
After nearly 40 years of control of the legislature and eight years of the governor’s mansion, state Democrats should be able to run a campaign this fall on their record. The problem is that they can’t. Their record is one of financial ruin for the once prosperous state. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. In this case, that would be sending Democrats back to Hartford and expecting them to fix the state’s economy.
Connecticut voters will have a say this fall.
Alex Plitsas is a national security professional. He is a combat veteran and a former Pentagon official.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.