Leaders Fiddle While Connecticut Burns; “Kelly Gets It”

Article as it appeared on cttalking.com

Sikorsky Aircraft announced on Friday that it will layoff 600 employees, mostly in Connecticut. This comes on the heels of last September’s announcement that the Stratford-based helicopter maker was laying off 200 workers. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was in Washington, D.C. attending the National Governors Association conference, as Sikorsky delivered the news. The governors heard President Barack Obama talk about the minimum wage and the “income disparity gap.”

Malloy Passes Buck

Not to fear. In Malloy’s book, Connecticut is just percolating right along. When he was confronted by a Tea Party activist at last Wednesday’s town hall meeting in Norwalk, he simply spewed out some political jargon to refute the facts of Bob MacGuffie of Right Principles. MacGuffie showed the governor a chart of Connecticut’s growing debt. He reminded him of numerous stories, ranking Connecticut’s economy among the USA’s worst. The governor simply blamed the prior two governors for the mess, even though he’s been in office for three-plus years. The buck doesn’t stop at this governor’s desk.

Blumenthal Disappointed

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal expressed disappointed. No problem. He has a mission: ”focus on growing and protecting good, high-skilled manufacturing jobs in Connecticut and work with Sikorsky leadership as they develop long-term plans to keep these jobs in Connecticut.” What’s he been doing for the last three-and-a-half years? Oh, that’s right, focusing on how bad those high-energy drinks are and that other pharmacies should follow the lead of CVS and stop selling tobacco products.

Kelly Gets It

Connecticut State Sen. Kevin Kelly, whose district includes Stratford, said it best. The Republican released this statement: ”When a layoff of this scale occurs, it becomes clear that Connecticut is in trouble.”

He is right on. Connecticut is in trouble. It is trouble created by the policies of Malloy and Blumenthal, who embrace government overregulation and higher taxes. Obamacare may be the highest tax of them all. It is forcing companies to shed jobs.

There are other reasons jobs are being cut. The economy is not what the mainstream media or the party in charge -the Democrats – would like you to believe. The fact is, people are hurting. If President Obama, Governor Malloy and Sen. Blumenthal think raising the minimum wage to $10.10 is going to start this country on the road to recovery, they are sadly demonstrating how out of touch they really are.

And as for that income disparity. It goes back to the policies embraced by Malloy, Blumenthal and the gang. It is their party that has dominated Connecticut’s government for the last 30 years, despite two Republican governors before Malloy. It was Blumenthal, as attorney general, whose anti-business policies drove many businesses out of the state or forced them to reduce the workforce and keep wages low.

So let this crew continue to talk about minimum wage and an economy on the rebound, as layoffs abound and people scuffle for work. It only serves to remind voters how much they are fiddling, while Connecticut burns.