The Knives Are Out

It didn't take long for the liberals to unsheathe their knives as they face a total defeat on the state budget debate. Despite their post 2006 trash-talking, the House and Senate Democrats laid a big fat goose egg this year - due to their own hubris and the effective work of Larry Cafero and the "Fighting 44."

The Hartford Courant detailed some of the internal squabbling today's House Democrats spoke through gritted teeth on their inability to pass a massive structural tax increase on the Middle Class. Their "progressive" tax proposal and their attempts to hand over millions through a state version of the Earned Income Tax Credit vaporized during final deliberations led by Governor Rell and Republicans leaders.

House Majority Leader Chris Donavan, D-Meriden, who is headed to Ireland Monday for some reflective vacation time, was unable to herd his liberal band of fellow travelers. This will hurt his chances of assuming the House Speaker's chair in his fight with Democrat Steve Fontana, D-North Haven, who also failed to produce a energy bill in his role as chairman of the Energy and Technology Committee. Fontana is the fellow who wasted days and hours on a bill to prevent the use of bullhooks for herding elephants at the circus. You can't make this stuff up.

The death of the Earned Income Tax Credit was bemoaned by Democrats who had hoped for an easy handout to their base. The program, modeled after the federal construct, has long been plagued by fraud and abuse. Democrats had hoped the gains from the "progressive" tax would be enough to cover tax relief to those who don't pay taxes.

Slowly the public is catching on to what havoc they wrought by electing 107 Democrats to the House and 24 to the Senate. Many of these candidates sold themselves as reformers, pro-education types who talked about tax fairness and ending the corruption of Republican rule. Now many of them return to their districts in the summer and fall and have to explain why they voted to increase taxes and provide discount college tuition's to illegal immigrants.

Can't wait to see those Legislative Updates in the mail.