{"id":2672,"date":"2009-08-29T10:22:42","date_gmt":"2009-08-29T14:22:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=2672"},"modified":"2009-11-19T12:48:13","modified_gmt":"2009-11-19T17:48:13","slug":"wsj-connecticut-follows-trenton-and-albany-up-the-tax-charts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/29\/wsj-connecticut-follows-trenton-and-albany-up-the-tax-charts\/","title":{"rendered":"WSJ: Connecticut Follows Trenton and Albany up the Tax Charts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wall Street Journal takes Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell to task for her proposal to raise income taxes\u00a0 on individuals with incomes above $500,000 from 5% to 6.5% this morning… The editorial titled “Jodi Corzine” pulls no punches<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Connecticut grabs $7,007 in state and local taxes per man, woman and child resident, according to the Tax Foundation, more per capita than every state but New York and New Jersey. That’s hardly the company any state would want to keep these days, but the politicians in Hartford seem intent on following Trenton and Albany off the tax-and-spend cliff.<\/p>\n

This week Republican Governor Jodi Rell proposed a $1-billion-plus income tax hike, raising the top tax rate to 6.5% from 5% on individuals with incomes above $500,000 and couples with earnings above $1 million to close an expected two-year $8.5 billion budget deficit. The tax hike would be retroactive to January 1, meaning the government would snatch money that residents have already earned. Perhaps she aspires to the nether-world approval ratings of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine.<\/p>\n

Given the size of its deficit, it’s hard to believe that for 200 years Connecticut balanced its budget without any income tax and became the richest state in the bargain. That changed in 1991 when then-Governor Lowell Weicker pushed the state’s first-ever personal income tax with a promise that the rate would remain flat at 4.5%. But the next time the state couldn’t pay its bills, in 2001, the legislature raised Mr. Weicker’s tax to 5%. In 2007, Ms. Rell wanted more money for the schools, so she proposed raising the income tax again. That plan failed, but now comes her “millionaire surcharge,” which Democrats have eagerly endorsed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The most surprising and frightening statistic from the Journal’s editorial is this one:<\/p>\n

Since the income tax became law, Connecticut has experienced a long, slow exodus of jobs and people. The Yankee Institute notes the astounding fact that since 1992, the year the income tax went into effect, businesses in Connecticut have hired a grand total of zero<\/em> net new workers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gov. Rell and the state legislature would do well to remember that and the state’s declining population, Connecticut’s population\u00a0 has declined in every year but one over the last decade, while looking for solutions to our current fiscal crisis. Raising taxes and continuing to spend money we don’t have is not the answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Wall Street Journal takes Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell to task for her proposal to raise income taxes\u00a0 on individuals with incomes above $500,000 from 5% to 6.5% this morning… The editorial titled “Jodi Corzine” pulls no punches: Connecticut grabs $7,007 in state and local taxes per man, woman and child resident, according to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26,7],"tags":[209,821,1365],"class_list":{"0":"post-2672","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-economy","7":"category-politics","8":"tag-connecticut","9":"tag-jodi-rell","10":"tag-taxes","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfpI7-H6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2070,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/04\/26\/its-no-fun-being-chris-dodd-these-days\/","url_meta":{"origin":2672,"position":0},"title":"It’s No Fun Being Chris Dodd These Days…","author":"Jeff","date":"April 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Consider this anecdote from the Register Citizen, it illustrates Sen. Dodd's ongoing political troubles quite nicely: Just how much trouble is Sen. Chris Dodd in as he runs for re-election next year? You\u2019ve seen the surprising opinion polls showing record unfavorability, and other poll finding that any Republican \u2014 even\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1951,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/04\/17\/tea-party-impact-connecticut-republicans-introduce-no-tax-increase-budget\/","url_meta":{"origin":2672,"position":1},"title":"Tea Party Impact: Connecticut Republicans Introduce No Tax-Increase Budget","author":"Jeff","date":"April 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Republican legislators in Connecticut yesterday introduced a no tax-increase budget proposal... According to State Rep. Larry Cafero (R-Minority Leader), the Tax Day Tea Parties held around the state sent a very clear message \"What was, sort of, symbolized by the demonstrations yesterday in Hartford, and all over, is, people are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3898,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/09\/poll-connecticut-voters-not-happy-with-governor-taxes\/","url_meta":{"origin":2672,"position":2},"title":"Poll: Connecticut Voters Not Happy with Governor, Taxes","author":"Jeff","date":"March 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"A new Quinnipiac University Poll released this morning shows Connecticut voters aren't happy with Gov. Dan Malloy or his proposed $1.5 billion in tax increases: Connecticut's new governor, Dannel Malloy, gets no honeymoon as voters disapprove 40 - 35 percent of the job he is doing, with 25 percent undecided,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1548,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/19\/a-tax-for-paying-your-taxes\/","url_meta":{"origin":2672,"position":3},"title":"A Tax For Paying Your Taxes???","author":"Jeff","date":"February 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Back to the twilight zone... New York Gov. David Patterson has proposed a few interesting new taxes, including those on non-diet soda, digitally delivered entertainment services and haircuts, but the one that is sure to raise a few eyebrows is the $10.00 fee for filing your state income taxes on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1934,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/04\/16\/thousands-attend-tea-parties-around-connecticut-and-the-nation\/","url_meta":{"origin":2672,"position":4},"title":"Thousands Attend Tea Parties Around Connecticut and the Nation","author":"Jeff","date":"April 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Unfortunately work and family commitments kept from attending one of the Connecticut Tax Day Tea Parties yesterday... From what I've read they were hugely successful not just in Connecticut but nation wide. A couple things... First this video or one like it has been making the rounds on blogs, I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1583,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/26\/barack-obamas-2-illusion\/","url_meta":{"origin":2672,"position":5},"title":"Barack Obama’s 2% Illusion","author":"Jeff","date":"February 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"From the Wall Street Journal: President Obama has laid out the most ambitious and expensive domestic agenda since LBJ, and now all he has to do is figure out how to pay for it. On Tuesday, he left the impression that we need merely end \"tax breaks for the wealthiest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Economy"","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}