FRANKSMITHSAYSNB EDITORIAL:
Scott Whipple's column in the 1/9/10, New Britain Herald, [Business leaders:"State headed down wrong path"] ,a must reading. Nowhere in Connecticut are the premises of this column more true than right here in the city of New Britain. A quote from the late Paul Tsongas, "Brennan said Paul Tsongas, the late Democratic Senator from Massachusetts, summed up the situation when he stated, “You can’t be pro-jobs and anti-business.”
Tell that to the Democrat controlled by Sherwood and Trueworthy of the New Britain Common Council. Phil Sherwood and his Council followers are determined to block any effort forwarded by Mayor Tim Stewart in New Britain to bring New Britain out of the economic doldrums. They insult potential investors, falsely accuse the City's auditors of fudging figures and saying that the City hid a $10 million deficit in its budgets. Why? Because they are more interested in partisan Democrat politics than they are in the well being of New Britain and its residents.
Another quote, “Businesses are concerned about the growing anti-business sentiment in the legislature and have lost confidence in our lawmakers. " with ability to take actions that will stimulate the economy and increase business investment,” said Joe Brennan, CBIA’s senior vice president of public policy. “Only through investment can our companies remain competitive and keep our residents employed.”
Connecticut and its legislators are by and large, anti business and pro Democratic partisanship.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
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The recession officially began 4th quarter of 2007. As a small business owner of twenty plus years we have been through recessions in the past. In early 2008 we started to feel the economic downturn and we started to adjust our business plan to weather the storm. We eliminated our debt, cut back on expenses, had a hiring freeze, managed our inventory and kept our prices steady if not a bit lower.
We see a federal government under both Pres Bush & Obama spend trillions of dollars (printed of course) to bail out corrupt and outright crooked banks as well as defend the politicians that loosened the regulations on banking; maintained the out of control Congress slush funds called Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by,just last week, giving even MORE freedom to spend trillions more in unregulated mortgages, mortgages that got us into this mess; give Fannie and Freddie CEOs massive bonuses for their failures; bail out a failed auto company with our money; and now want us to believe only they can run health care through a federal system.
In Connecticut, businesses big and small have been leaving in record numbers, our college graduated youth decide to look elsewhere for work, retirees from both the private and public sector move to escape the high cost of living all the while the legislature keeps their head in the sand, failing to even acknowledge or address the budget crisis. Their solution: tax increases.
If the existing small businesses can weather the fiscal storm through budget cuts, hiring freezes, stable or reduced prices, and lowering debt why can't government do the same?
Mark Bernacki
The Hartford Advocate Tuesday, December 29, 2009 edition with NB Rock 'n' Roll Reporter Rick Guinness...
As with most Newspaper stories, it helps to start at the beginning — not all the way to 1880 when The New Britain Herald's first issue appeared but to 1995. That year the Journal Register Company (JRC), a Pennsylvania-based newspaper chain, which owns the New Haven Register, purchased The Herald and promptly set about running it into the ground.
It also shifted The Herald's focus using its New Jersey papers as a model, the chain pushed New Britain Herald reporters to be more sensational, one-sided and aggressive — in a word, more tabloids – casting New Britain as Rock 'n' Roll City with its Award Winning Reporter Rick Guinness whose reporting style was a great tool for the Democratic political common council machine in New Britain.
Even today, The Herald employees happily badmouth the JRC as abusive and out of touch. It's no surprise that The Herald's circulation which stood at 33,000 when the JRC took over dropped to 7,000 by 2008.
When the JRC threatened to fold The Herald more than a dozen local politicians and officials gather together and sent letters to 16 media companies, imploring them to buy the endangered JRC papers, even offering them tax breaks, sweetheart loans and other economic incentives.
Scott Whipple's recent column in The New Britain Herald, [Business leaders:"State headed down wrong path"] is must readings for all CT taxpayers since Connecticut and its legislators are by and large, anti business and pro Democratic partisanship. Amen!
Being a Democrat is automatically anit-business, since their party stands for a bloated government with ever increasing taxes meant to "punish" businesses and business owners for having more than someone else, even if that someone else sits on the front stoop drinking beer (paid for by welfare funded with our tax dollars) all day long.
Business owners need to be punished because it isn't fair that they have more wealth than someone on welfare.
The right to work states have it right:
No worker may be required to belong to a union or to pay dues to a union as a condition of employment. That not only applies to the private sector, but government jobs as well, so there are basically no such thing as unions in these states, and guess what, the people seem to be happier, and the state budgets are in better shape!
Most of the right to work states have budget surpluses!
According to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association’s 2009 survey of Connecticut businesses.70% of businesses surveyed believe that the state legislature has negatively influenced their ability to operate a successful, profitable business in Connecticut; 58% have communicated their concerns to state and local legislators.. Almost two-thirds of businesses (64%) had to trim their workforce and almost half (48%) had to reduce employee compensation and benefits. While the price of energy was the single greatest concern for 38% of businesses just One year ago, only 6% of businesses identify energy prices as their greatest concern today. Instead, national economic uncertainties (56%) top the list. Despite widespread cutbacks, the vast majority of companies (98%) continue to provide health care benefits for their employees. Most also offer their full-time employees paid vacation (93%), retirement/401(k) plans (70%), bonuses (62%), and training/professional development (61%).
According to Susan Coleman Ansley Chair of Finance, University of Hartford,
“In this economic environment, jobs are the name of the game. Were as a state should be doing everything we can to bring new jobs into Connecticut, to keep the jobs we have, and to create jobs in new and existing industries. An anti-business environment and anti-business legislation will not accomplish any of those things.”
When Stanadyne disclosed that they would be closing their CT plant Steve Langin, the company's chief financial officer, said the cost of doing business in Connecticut contributed to the decision to close the Windsor plant,
Quoted in the Hartford business journal economist Fred Carstensen, who is director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis said Connecticut is facing two crises right now, a short-term one related to the global economic meltdown and a long-term one related to an overall decline in the competitiveness of the state economy. “We are getting hit by a double whammy and these business closings should remind us of that,” he said. “Long term, Connecticut is not the place to be.” Carstensen said Connecticut is one of a few states that has fewer businesses now than it had in 1989. At the same time, the state continues to shed high-wage, high-skill jobs, is experiencing a shrinking working-age population, and lacks any long-term economic-development strategy. He said the current budget crisis will only make things worse. “Clearly, the state is going to cut expenditures, raise some taxes, and do a significant amount of borrowing,” Carstensen said.
Andy Markowski, Connecticut director of the National Federation of Independent Business, agrees that it’s not just the recession that is impacting companies in the state. “I don’t think it is any secret that Connecticut is not a friendly place to do business. Some of this has to do with the national recession, but this started in Connecticut long before the economic downturn,” he said.
Clearly Connecticut legislators need to get to work.
Yes. You can be pro-jobs and anti-business. Become a democrat. What sector of the economy benefited from the federal stimulus?
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.
The D's continue to whack businesses EVEN IN A RECESSION while growing government. In a recent poll only 3% of government workers think the economy is bad while over 50% of private sector employees think the economy is bad.
And why not! Government employees make 30% more in salary, have annual guaranteed raises, have cadillac health care and pension plans while "regular" private sector employees go with NO jobs, NO raises (some have had to endure pay CUTS), significant co-pays on health care and self paid 401k's.
Who's the jerk?
"Connecticut Jobs Now" Plan....
Senator Donald DeFronzo and other CT State Senators have rolled out a "Connecticut Jobs Now" plan that would use $1 billion in state bonding to invest in transportation infrastructure, housing, energy conservation, clean water and higher education.
Picking up where the federal stimulus hasn’t gone yet, State Senate Dems describe the policy as an aggressive plan to create jobs, stimulate Connecticut’s sluggish economy and promote economic recovery.
Senator DeFronzo also stated: Connecticut needs jobs, and needs them now; that we have a responsibility to create and sustain jobs in our state. The unemployment rate in Connecticut is 8.2 percent; construction industry employment is upwards of 25 percent. Our current market conditions offer an unprecedented opportunity for the state to make wise capital investments in new facilities, clean water projects, roads and bridges, mass transit and many other projects that could be bid and under construction in a very short period of time.
Senator DeFronzo is also Senate Chairman of the Legislature's
Transportation Committee and General Bonding subcommittee.
With "Connecticut Jobs Now", promising a 12-month push to create 16,000 jobs, calls for the funding of only those projects that were previously authorized. Wyman and other state officials would most certainly oppose any new bonding given the high levels of current debt incurred by state government from the Rowland/Rell years.
The Jobs Now strategy calls for allocation of those projects that
could be implemented within 90 to 120 days. Several state agencies, including the state Department of Transportation and Department of Public Works have already developed project lists that meet the recommended criteria.
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