Connecticut’s Democrat Leaders are Missing Reality

By State Senator Joe Markley

Connecticut Democrats have come up with a mind-blowing new response to concerns about the direction of our state. House Speaker Brendan Sharkey claims that by pointing out our problems, we’re making people worry, and that’s why things are going wrong. Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff goes even further, and denies we have anything to worry about at all.

“The news over the last several months is undeniable,” says Duff. “Connecticut’s economy has made major gains… The state unemployment rate fell to 5.7 percent—its lowest point since July 2008. Connecticut has recovered 94.3 percent of the private-sector jobs that were lost during the national recession…”

Does it seem strange to Senator Duff that he’s bragging about the fact that, seven years after the recession, we still haven’t gotten back to where we were—while almost every other state in the nation has?

And does it seem strange to you that a politician is bragging about an economy that seems simply dismal—so bad that it is driving people out of our state?

We need to be honest with ourselves, especially if we’re responsible for public policy. For nearly a quarter of a century, our great state has been dead last in economic growth in the nation. Not coincidently, both our per capita tax burden and state debt are the highest. We’re in a hole that to me seems very deep and dark.

We have had big government big time in Connecticut, and it hasn’t worked. Dan Malloy and his legislative minions (who did not have the nerve to challenge a single one of his foolish vetoes) know no better than to double down: when their prescription makes our economy worse, all they can think to do is increase the dosage.

Reality for the Democrats is whatever you can make people believe: relentless spinning is both their strength and weakness. If the truth were simply opinion, the drumbeat of Republican warning about our state’s suffering condition might seem damaging. But to steer right, the truth matters, and in truth our state has gone the wrong way, expanding government far beyond our ability to support it.

The only way out is the way back. We need genuine limited government which is: realistic about what it can do and what it ought to do, respectful of local control, allowing our communities to govern themselves, and committed to personal liberty and responsibility. Those are the principles which made our state and nation great, and only those principles can restore prosperity.