MALLOY AGONISTES:  THE EXQUISITE PAIN 

OF THE WORST GOVERNOR IN AMERICA

by Cort Wrotnowski, Editor

DATELINE:  Oct. 28, 2017

SOURCE:  Freebeacon.com

Civility might suggest a kinder tone for Connecticut's current governor.  After all, he is the leader of Connecticut. Right?  Given the time in office, we should be able to expect some sense of how his time has been spent.  Comparison with his colleagues around the nation is perfectly reasonable and we should not be surprised to find his standing somewhat wanting.

Somebody has to be in last place among all 50 governors in America.  But why should it be him? Going on 8 years, I think we can say he earned it.

I offer a slightly different take on the idea of "Agonistes".  John Milton wrote a piece titled "Samson Agonistes".  It is a telling of Samson's struggles after his all powerful hair is cut off and he humbles himself before God.  Well, we are not quite there yet in the plot with Gov. Malloy.  Humility eludes him, as does any sense of responsibility for the crumbling temple falling all around him.

No, this Agonistes is in Hell, but he still doesn't know it.  That's pretty amazing.  I find it pretty hard to believe that he remains so unaffected by Connecticut's decline under his tenure.  Somewhere in his heart of hearts is the realization that he has done something very wrong.

Out of all the statistics one can cite about relative standing among the states, the budget numbers or anything else, the recent employment statistics should be the definitive statement.

Peter Gioia, who is the economist for CBIA (Connecticut Business and Industry Association), recently released his results for analyzing the job environment in Connecticut.  In the last three months alone, the state has lost an estimated 7,900 jobs.  National employment is up.  Labor participation rates in America are at recent highs.  The national GDP is hitting 3% which is good news.  But Connecticut? No, we are going in the opposite direction to the rest of the nation.

One needs to stop and reflect on this for a moment.  In 2016, CT lost some 3,000 jobs.  Just in three months, we lost nearly triple that number, and the year isn't over yet.  The 7,900 figure reportedly wipes out whatever gains there might have been between January and July.  Six months to struggle up to a point, and three months to crash down to the same level.  What is wrong here?

In a word, leadership.  The state is devoid of any real leadership to guide us out of this mess.  What we are left with is a suffering soul about to tear down the temple.  Lovely.  The temptation is to conclude that years of decline are the product of an angry, vindictive, governor who can't seem to get anything right.  He can call his job a thankless task due to an increasingly rancorous legislature.  But we have seen two budget cycles now where his own party was abandoning him.  That should tell you something.

Leaders like to use the cliche "I'm a uniter, not a divider".  Not only has Malloy Agonistes not even come close on that point, he seems to have studiously moved towards ever greater division.

Well, I offer a diagnosis.  Malloy Agonistes has always prided himself on being a deal maker.  Well, he has dealed himself into a hole on a series of bad decisions.  On this, there is no climbing out.  He's stuck.  He could use a little humility about now.  He needs to come to terms with the dark side of his deal making skills.  More than that, he needs to realize that good deal makers make for lousy strategists and even worse leaders.  Such people lose sight of the big picture that constitutes a "Sense of Governing".  He lack its totally.  Instead, all his decisions about turning this state around have been tactical in nature, and we see the results.

Maybe, in the fullness of time, some of his decisions will bear fruit for the future of Connecticut.  But they are sufficiently well hidden in a dark and foreboding climate for which there is no silver lining and no sense of an end.  His exquisite pain will have to be lived out in his remaining days in office.  We can only hope and pray to God that those who remain in this fight find the right people for the upcoming elections.  Pray and get active.

DATELINE SEP. 22, 2017

BUDGET BOMBAST PUTS GOVERNOR MALLOY IN THE HOT SEAT
by Cort Wrotnowski, Editor

The only missing ingredient from the ongoing drama over the state budget in Hartford is the famous announcer known for saying "Let's Get Ready to RUUUUUMMMMBBBLLLE!!!

I am waiting for some tag team wrestling moves to make this really interesting.  For now, we have in one corner the democrats and republicans who voted for the latest budget bill.  In the other corner we have Governor Malloy and his legislative stalwarts who failed to keep the party in line.  The rules for fighting this round are still being worked out.  But Malloy originally signaled he is going to take his marbles and go home with a veto of the bipartisan budget.  Amazing what a little time to reflect can do.

There is still a chance of some tangling.  If the posturing about negotiations is at all real, then we should see some real fighting.

Yesterday's piece in the CT Mirror has Malloy going from pounding his chest to gesturing in a way that can be confused with some form of reconciliation, if not negotiation.  Mere hours from the writing of this piece, he will be meeting with Republican leaders.  Oh to be a fly on that wall.  Of course, the good governor must stay in the good graces of his own party.  After all, he IS the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.  A backlash from his own party he does not need.

Is it possible that Governor Malloy will listen to reason instead of his donors?  A quote from the Mirror article is full of implications all their own. "I’m not sure everyone understood the implications of the Republican budget, so we’re examining it. That’s what I said I would do” (1).   Well, that is not exactly what he said originally. Let's be honest.  The governor was probably just a little tired, upset and not thinking clearly when he said he would just veto it. Now that some time has passed, and he has had a chance to listen to some wise counsel, he is "softening" his tone.  That's a good thing.

He seems to have become tone deaf about the serious short comings of the democrat designed budget proposal.  We have heard  the criticisms before.  It's a job killer, the new tax structure will only drive more people and companies out of the state.  The added debt reportedly pushes the state from spending 25 cents of every budget dollar on servicing debt, to 33 cents on every budget dollar.  Roughly speaking, when you look at the debt loads in other states, the average is around 10 cents on the dollar.  Clearly, the democrat designed budget is moving in the WRONG direction - that is unless you are a municipal bond investor with an appetite for risk.

Quite frankly, dear reader,  I think there is a case to be made that the governor in fact suffers from a huge blind spot when it comes to business and economic development.  He talks a good game, but it has not been born out in his 7 years in office.  Note to governor: Connecticut is not Stamford.  He has suggested the republican budget passed by both parties destroys his efforts for economic development.  We need to pause here.  A disturbing counter-example to his claim in the biotechnology sector in Connecticut.  The governor has gone out of his way to attract biotechnology companies to this state.  It is a good idea, but when you fail to understand what kind of economic climate you need to create jobs and new companies, you are just acting in a self-defeating way.  The democrat budget he supports reflects that self-defeating mindset in service of what is really the status quo with the state employee unions.

The wrong-headed nature of his "strategy" for building business in Connecticut has really been put on display with the recent announcement by Alexion Therapeutics that it is moving to Boston (2).  Governor Malloy ends up looking more like a jilted lover as the company hands back the engagement ring, while keeping the rest of the wedding gifts as they head off to Boston.  What was it?  $65 million in incentives to move from Cheshire to New Haven?  Also a $6 million grant to boot?

Note to Governor:  No amount of money can keep someone in a room that stinks.

Odds makers may conclude that as more time passes, the chances of the republican designed budget getting signed by the governor only get better.  They have taken too long.  Too much bad blood has already been spilled just within the democrat party.  The political optics for Hartford just keep getting worse with the passage of time.  So, governor, I leave you with timeless wisdom from that great American philosopher, Winnie the Pooh.  Who, when realizing that he and Eeyore were lost in the woods by following the same path simply said, "Let's do the opposite". They found their way home.



1.  Pazniokas, Mark "Malloy:  My GOP budget criticism is vetting, not kvetching", CT Mirror, Sep. 21, 2017.
2.  http://wtnh.com/2017/09/12/reaction-to-alexion-leaving-new-haven-for-boston/

-YANKEE TEA NEWS - 

DATELINE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

DANCING IN NEW LONDON
by Cort Wrotnowski, Editor

The New London City  Council faced a polite but insistent crowd of people not only from Connecticut, but out of state as well who gathered on the plea of Lori Hopkins-Cavanagh to testify before the council on the need to both restore Columbus Day and reject any proposals to take down the city's statue of Christopher Columbus.  Monday night, Sept. 18th, became a marathon session for the council.

There we were, some dozen strong, ready to send the message to the council, over and over again in 3 minute sound bites.  It was remarkable to see how each person had a different take on the same subject.  Equally remarkable was how bored and disengaged the council members seemed to be.  But we soldiered on nonetheless.

Last year, the New London Board of Education had unilaterally decided to eliminate Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples Day.  There was no public discussion, no consulting with parent's of any kind.  The school board went ahead on it's own to make this decision.

This action, no better than a backroom deal, caught the attention of radio talk show host, Lori Hopkins-Cavanagh.  She decided to make a battle out of this for various reasons.  The lack of public engagement, the assault on American values, the disrespect shown to the Italian and Latino communities, and the anti-Catholic undertones all contributed the her decision to make a public issue out of this matter.

Also, the recent pressure by cultural marxists to take down statues of historically important figures in American history they deemed racists and worse has raised increased concerns among citizens around the country - including in Connecticut.

A quick look at several school systems shows a mixed picture for Columbus Day

New London  -    Gone
East Hartford -    Still there
Hartford -            Gone
Bridgeport -        Gone - replaced with Italian Heritage Day
Southington -      Still there
Cheshire -           Still there
Norwich -           Still there

The "star witness" was a gentleman working on a new book on Christopher Columbus.  His research challenges the revisionist accounts of what Columbus did in his journeys.  He traveled 12 hours to get to this meeting in order to make the case for restoring Columbus Day in New London.

Efforts to get him more than 3 minutes to speak were thwarted by the chairman of the council.  He got into a duel with Lori Hopkins-Cavanagh over whether or not Robert's Rules of Order could be used for speakers.  The chairman was concerned with establishing what he saw as a bad precedent.  Lori stood her ground, and the tension level in the room was rising.  The parliamentarian there ruled in favor of the chairman.  But Lori kept looking for a solution.  She ultimately went back and sat down frustrated.

From there the people who had signed up to speak took their turns.  For the next hour or so, the author and others addressed a range of issues meant to support preservation of Columbus Day.  There were cultural arguments based on the heritage of the New London communities of Italians and Latinos.  There was the argument that Columbus represents the spirit of exploration that is part of America's very DNA.  There were arguments that any culture needs positive messages and images that define a nation's identity.  It was asserted that calls around the nation to get rid of the statue of Christopher Columbus were nothing more than attempts to denigrate America.  The point was made that no historical figure is without warts; that you really cannot separate the good from the bad if you are being honest.

Then one of the council members called for a recess of five minutes.  But he could not get a second to go ahead with his proposal.  Then other members of the public got up and made various comments.  After that, as the chairman was speaking, Lori spoke up in an effort correct something the chairman was saying about the presentations.  He told her not to interrupt.  She kept interrupting.  At this point, the council  DID call a five minute recess in order to stop the growing acrimony.  During the recess, Lori and the chairman continued their discussion while other people milled about.

Lori became upset and decided to leave.  Others left with her.  Some stayed longer.  The upshot was that the council refused to consider the issue.  However, Lori's group will not let this issue lay.  So, dear reader, stayed tuned for updates.

It is not out of place to suggest that cultural marxists and others are pushing harder and harder to pull down the foundations of America.  We see too many examples around the country, and some cases right here in Connecticut.  Make sure you join in this fight to save our history.