State of Connecticut Archives: on Budget & Economy

Bob Stefanowski: Remove excess bloat from the budget and keep the necessities

Prasad Srinivasan: Connecticut regulations are choking growth

This pattern has to end. We can make it happen. Our businesses tell us repeatedly that our regulations are choking growth, that our business climate is unpredictable and that we are taxed to the point that it is difficult to compete. Without strong businesses, people in Connecticut will not have the jobs and opportunities they need to provide for their families. We therefore must ensure that our businesses, the backbone of our state's economy, flourish. When businesses do well, we all do well. But when businesses fail, poverty and unemployment follow.

David Walker: Revise and respect the Constitutional spending cap

Financial Condition: Connecticut has the highest liabilities and unfunded promises per taxpayer of any state. It's time to recognize reality--Connecticut's state government has grown too big, promised too much, and needs to be restructured. Connecticut must develop a comprehensive strategy to appropriately restructure the related programs and gain better control of its commitments.

Susan Bysiewicz: Tax securities transactions $150B to fund mortgage relief

Bysiewicz said the economy will not fully recover until the housing crisis is dealt with. She favors a plan to charge a small tax on every securities transaction. Such a charge would generate $150 billion annually; she said she'd use the bulk of the money to provide mortgage relief to middle class homeowners. The rest would be invested in renewable energy projects, she added. Murphy said he also supports a transaction tax.

Christopher Shays: OpEd: Spent $200M on "Bridge to Nowhere"

Christopher Shays: OpEd: Voted to raise the debt ceiling 8 times

McMahon responded with an attack of her own. "You voted to raise the debt ceiling eight times,'' she said. "I don't think your record speaks to a conservative Republican."

Jodi Rell: Financial crisis came from unbridled greed & lax oversight

Unfortunately, other than unbridled greed by far too many on Wall Street and almost criminally lax oversight by far too many in Washington, there are no easy answers.

No easy answers, but lots of questions. Lots of concerns. These are the worst financial times any of us can remember. Let's face it, it's scary.

But one concern people should not have is a state government they cannot afford--which is what they have right now. And cities and towns will need our attention as they also struggle with the fiscal pressures of the economy.