Where have Republicans been on the major issues?
Republicans across Connecticut are now deeply involved in the kind of election-year truth evasion, insults and general political stunts that turn people off to earnest public policy debate instead of engaging them and allowing them to see the benefits of smart, thoughtful legislation. The lecternpounding, made-for-TV outrage that the Connecticut GOP is now engaged in is a dangerous game to play, and their cynicism needs to be exposed.
Connecticut Republicans are barnstorming around the state right now, demanding that diesel prices be cut to help the 1 percent of Connecticut motorists who likely drive a diesel-powered car. The diesel tax, which lately has been at its lowest rate since 2011, increased slightly on July 1 to a rate that’s still lower than it was in 2015.
But if Connecticut Republicans are so concerned about fuel prices, the public should ask: where were they a few weeks ago when Democrats voted for a state budget that cut 25 cents off the price of gasoline from now until December? That Democratic budget is saving Connecticut motorists $150 million this year alone in gasoline taxes. So, despite the lectern pounding, the public might well ask: who really cares about cutting fuel prices in Connecticut? The answer is obvious: Democrats do. Republicans overwhelmingly voted “No.”
The same can be said of Republicans’ new demand that Connecticut not make any extra payments toward our 70 years of built-up pension debt that has hung like a lead weight around our state economy for decades.
Instead, Republicans — who haven’t proposed a state budget in five years, by the way — want to reject the Democrats’ budgeted debt payments and instead put that money toward an electionyear income tax cut. Disgraced former Republican Gov. John Rowland did the exact same thing back in 1998 when he was seeking re-election: he mailed out over $100 million in income tax rebates rather than put the money toward paying down state pension debt. Eliminating the pension payment will not only cost Connecticut now, but it will result in tens of millions of dollars in extra costs each year for the next quartercentury.
This is a truly surprising proposal from Connecticut Republicans, because for the past 15 years they’ve been pounding their fists on lecterns in front of TV cameras and demanding that Connecticut get its pension debt under control so businesses can flourish and our great-grandchildren won’t have to pay off
Everything Republicans are now barnstorming around the state claiming they’re for, they overwhelmingly voted against just a few weeks ago.
their great-great grandparents’ pension debt. Again, the public might well ask: who really cares about fiscal responsibility? The answer is obvious: Democrats do. Republicans overwhelmingly voted “No.”
And it gets much, much worse. Connecticut Republicans claim they’re now concerned about the high price of traveling, but they voted “No” on free public bus transportation in Connecticut until December. Republicans claim they want to provide middle-class tax relief, but they voted “No” on a $250 per-child tax credit for Connecticut families. Republicans shake their fists at taxes, but they voted “No” on capping local car tax rates at a maximum 32.46 mills (the benefits of which are arriving in mailboxes right now for many Connecticut residents) and they voted “No” to raising the property tax credit for homeowners. Republicans claim they want to help struggling elderly and low-income citizens,
but they voted “No” on phasing out taxes on pensions and annuities and “No” on increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit for working families.
In short, everything Republicans are now barnstorming around the state claiming they’re for, they overwhelmingly voted against just a few weeks ago.
Now, if this sounds odd to you — that someone can claim to be in your corner but is really undermining you with every vote they take — consider this: Last year (not an election year), half of the Republicans in the Connecticut General Assembly voted for a two-year state budget that was written and negotiated by Democrats. This year (an election year), only two Republicans in the entire General Assembly voted for a modified version of that very same budget, which now also provides two-thirds of a billion dollars in tax breaks for many Connecticut families.
Crazy? Yes. Call it election year posturing. But when you see all those TV images of pounding fists on lecterns, you might want to ask yourself one very important question: Where were these people a few weeks ago?