[Henry10]

Originally Posted by East of the River

Well CT has the problem that we kicked the can with creative financing of debt, healthcare and pension obligations for more then 30 years. 15 Years ago when Roland gave every one a tax relief check he was really just kicking the debt down the road there was no surplus just creative accounting.

This means we have a lot to pay for what we avoided paying for in the past. This is similar to the problems in NJ and IL right now.

IIRC, every state in the country has a problem with unfunded liabilities, red or blue. However, some states are in much better financial shape than CT to shoulder this burden.

As bad as it it is -- that's a solvable problem, if you can solve "stupid."

[hartford_renter]

Originally Posted by East of the River

Well CT has the problem that we kicked the can with creative financing of debt, healthcare and pension obligations for more then 30 years. 15 Years ago when Roland gave every one a tax relief check he was really just kicking the debt down the road there was no surplus just creative accounting.

This means we have a lot to pay for what we avoided paying for in the past. This is similar to the problems in NJ and IL right now.

But there also differences in revenue streams.
WA both state and local government share in both property tax and sales tax (sales tax can be as high as 10%) While they don't have a corporate income tax the do have a business tax based on gross receipts not profits, this actually makes up 22% of their annual tax revenue vs CT Corp income tax being 9% of revenue. The real estate boom in Seattle also allows for better collection of property tax without high rates (kind of like Greenwich) Once you get out of the Seatac area Washington is a lot more rural then CT that makes it easier to build infrastructure. They also have huge growth resulting in large tax return (sales and business) receipts etc.

Are you personally against spending cuts? Will you cut Medicaid & cut education funding?

If so why not, doesn't that make you the one who is kicking the can down the road?

My problem is the ones making excuses and kicking the can down the road are part of the liberal establishment that prevents reforms from being made.

Why don't you get out of the way and let spending cuts commence?

[East of the River]

Originally Posted by hartford_renter

Are you personally against spending cuts? Will you cut Medicaid & cut education funding?

If so why not, doesn't that make you the one who is kicking the can down the road?

My problem is the ones making excuses and kicking the can down the road are part of the liberal establishment that prevents reforms from being made.

Why don't you get out of the way and let spending cuts commence?

I have said before we need to make cuts. I prefer not education but a little from medicaid. And Freezes or 5% reduction on most spending. I have also said 6.5 or 6.75% sales tax is fine with me. I also think we need to stop taking on any new debt for a couple years which means infrastructure needs to be on hold (unless we get fed funding)

I also think we need to stop crony capitalism development deals like Jackson Labs and just lower the corporate income rate for all business.

[East of the River]

Originally Posted by Henry10

IIRC, every state in the country has a problem with unfunded liabilities, red or blue. However, some states are in much better financial shape than CT to shoulder this burden.

As bad as it it is -- that's a solvable problem, if you can solve "stupid."

True we Were worse then average thou. Like I said we are more like IL or NJ then most other states which started more fully funding their obligations earlier then we did. And other sttates are raising taxes to pay for it just like us.

WA as mentioned earlier just raised their property tax to make up a 1.5 billion dollar short fall for instance.

[beerbeer]

Originally Posted by East of the River

True we Were worse then average thou. Like I said we are more like IL or NJ then most other states which started more fully funding their obligations earlier then we did. And other sttates are raising taxes to pay for it just like us.

WA as mentioned earlier just raised their property tax to make up a 1.5 billion dollar short fall for instance.

Those states still have growing economies. Under Malloy, Connecticut hovers near the bottom in economic growth. The Democrats have a bad spending and union problem but it is worse because of the lack of growth in the state. And it's tough to grow when you are taxing business right out of the state.

More taxes make the problem worse..

[BPt111]

"color-coded each state based on its performance in both increasing employment and growing its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP is just a fancy way of adding up the value of all the goods and services sold in an area. The colors are pretty easy to understand too: green is good, and red is bad."

"The northeast is still responsible for significant economic output. When you combine New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey together, they account for $2,438B in GDP alone. This is equivalent to the entire output of the 25 lowest states in the country. They still do it big in the Big Apple."


https://howmuch.net/articles/the-cur...of-usa-economy

[Raider111]

Originally Posted by BPt111

"color-coded each state based on its performance in both increasing employment and growing its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP is just a fancy way of adding up the value of all the goods and services sold in an area. The colors are pretty easy to understand too: green is good, and red is bad."

"The northeast is still responsible for significant economic output. When you combine New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey together, they account for $2,438B in GDP alone. This is equivalent to the entire output of the 25 lowest states in the country. They still do it big in the Big Apple."


https://howmuch.net/articles/the-cur...of-usa-economy

Thank You NY

Sincerely Yours,
CT

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by BPt111

"color-coded each state based on its performance in both increasing employment and growing its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP is just a fancy way of adding up the value of all the goods and services sold in an area. The colors are pretty easy to understand too: green is good, and red is bad."

"The northeast is still responsible for significant economic output. When you combine New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey together, they account for $2,438B in GDP alone. This is equivalent to the entire output of the 25 lowest states in the country. They still do it big in the Big Apple."


https://howmuch.net/articles/the-cur...of-usa-economy

great post

CT & WV on par regarding 5 yr growth (same subset-worst quadrant)

[hartford_renter]

Originally Posted by East of the River

I have said before we need to make cuts. I prefer not education but a little from medicaid. And Freezes or 5% reduction on most spending. I have also said 6.5 or 6.75% sales tax is fine with me. I also think we need to stop taking on any new debt for a couple years which means infrastructure needs to be on hold (unless we get fed funding)

I also think we need to stop crony capitalism development deals like Jackson Labs and just lower the corporate income rate for all business.

Hmm since no Democrat has ever cut spending, and since Malloy increased it by 20% over his 8 years in office I find you explanation suspect.

Anyway the point is if you confront people with the facts it is difficult for them to deny that spending needs to decrease.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by hartford_renter

Hmm since no Democrat has ever cut spending, and since Malloy increased it by 20% over his 8 years in office I find you explanation suspect.

Anyway the point is if you confront people with the facts it is difficult for them to deny that spending needs to decrease.

What CT is spending on for 20% increasing in spending