Volume 11, Issue 1I March 12, 2014 [email protected] IN THIS ISSUE: 2) Solutions for Connecticut 3) Keno 4) Minimum Wage 5) Veteran Goes Out for a Limb 6) DeLauro, Queen Money Launderer 7) Gun Control? 8) Dr. King Visits Yale 9) 4th District Candidates Debate 10-11) Tax Reform 12) Education Reform 13) Global Warming 14-15) Himes’ Darwin Obsession 16-17) Assisted Suicide 20) ‘Tooned In” with Torello 21) Obama Foreign Policy? One theory on why CT ranks last Governor Malloy sells access to the corridors of power in Hartford. State government is a tool used for his political ends. Circulation of zero to 9,000 in ten months — The Fairfield County Patriot has become The Connecticut Patriot — and we are shaking up the Nutmeg State. Last month Bob Steele and State Rep. Tony Hwang sounded the alarm on Malloy's Keno gamble This month they explain how we turned back this horrible idea. This highlights our commitment to Limited Government, Fiscal Accountability and Personal Success. Limited Government remains under attack. Toni Boucher takes on Governor Malloy's drive to increase the minimum wage. Maria Naughton addresses the overreach of the Common Core. Few things are as important as taking care of Veterans, and George Stadel's piece "Veteran Goes Out for a Limb," will break your heart. The montage of Obama Foreign Policy failures shows how difficult it is to support a disengaged President in the one area where Limited Government should have a strong hand. Malloy accepts campaign contri- butions from executives at Northeast Utilities ($46,500). Northeast Utilities is eligible to impose rate increases by December 2014. Malloy offers $115 million to move a company from Westport to Stamford. To rebuild his strained relation- ship with teachers, Malloy proposes ending state taxes on teacher retiree pensions and postponing implementation of new teacher evaluation legislation. A well funded campaign contribu- tor to the Connecticut Democratic Party (in amounts later determined to violate campaign finance laws) orchestrates the takeover of Bridgeport schools, actions later ruled illegal by the Connecticut Supreme Court. CONNECTICUT PATRIOT HITS ITS MARK From Connecticut to Washington, there is a lack of Fiscal Accountability. Taxes are the number one concern of Connecticut State Senator Jason Welch’s constituents. Bill Malchisky describes the ongoing effort to simplify the Federal Tax code and make it pro growth. There is dignity in achieving Personal Success through hard work. There is disgrace in achieving it through politics. Chris Shaefer's piece on Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro raises serious questions as she games the system for personal financial benefit. The pieces on Republicans running to replace Jim Himes and Himes’ effort to create Darwin Day show a stark contrast between those who want to free us for success and those who want to mire us in doctrine debates. Plus, there is the home-grown political humor of the Patriot’s cartoonist, Alex Torello. Thank you for your support. Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS Seeking Citizen Solutions For Connecticut — Senator Jason Welch I recently sent out a survey to more than 13,000 residents living in our district. It was entitled Talk to Me. Well, overwhelmingly, you put pen to paper and responded. My office has taken the results and analyzed them and this is what we found. PAGE 2 ment and the gold plated benefits while putting the brakes on spending. That will go a long way in balancing our budget honestly. What other steps do you think Hartford should take to improve our quality of life and make Connecticut a better place to live and work? Answer: A number of different steps were suggested to make quality of life better in Connecticut. The ideas included the following: Encourage business and manufacturers to set up shop so citizens and college graduates can find jobs Do you believe Connecticut is headed in the right direction? Find more affordable housing for seniors living on a fixed income Answer: Of the nearly 100 responses only four people said yes. 96 people said no. Add toll booths so there is revenue to fix roads Stop funding the New Britain to Hartford busway and instead use the money to fix bridges Establish more severe penalties for corrupt government officials Change state employee pensions to 401k plans This speaks volumes to me. Connecticut residents have persevered and worked hard to support their families and run their businesses under difficult economic times. Our unemployment remains above the national average and the tax burden in Connecticut is heavy. We need to change course and do more to alleviate the pain residents are feeling. During the next few months in Hartford, I will be working to reduce that burden and will push for property tax relief and sales tax relief. I also have my eye on labor issues. We need to get people back to work. I will support efforts to hire veterans who are out of work and also work towards a common sense solution to keep Bristol Hospital, a key employer, strong during this evolution in the health care industry. What is your number one concern or issue that you believe Hartford should be addressing? Answer: Overwhelmingly the top concern was taxes. Many commented that Connecticut’s taxes are too high and there are too many of them. I couldn’t agree more. Governor Malloy raised taxes across the board when he entered into office and as a result we still have a budget that is not balanced. The outlook for the budget in 2015 and 2016 is bad, and includes an estimated $2 Billion deficit. State government should be reducing the size of govern- Do you have an issue you would like to talk directly with me about? Answer: Several topics were mentioned by a number of people including: Repeal of the new gun law Common core education concerns Relief from the high cost of college tuition Many people were kind enough to say thank you for asking for their opinion and for listening to the people who live in our district. It is I who should be thanking you for sharing your thoughts, concerns and great ideas on how to make our state the best it can be. Sen. Welch represents the communities of Bristol, Plainville, Thomaston, Harwinton and Plymouth Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS Public Pressure Causes Malloy to Cave on Keno — Robert Steele (Essex) and State Rep. Tony Hwang (Fairfield) Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and state legislative leaders finally bowed to public pressure this month and began a hasty retreat on keno, the bingo-like gambling game legalized last year but not yet implemented. The Democratic-controlled legislature passed keno as part of the state budget in an effort to raise $28 million annually by authorizing the game for restaurants, bars and convenience stores, but did so without hearings or debate, drawing sharp criticism from Republicans and the media. The governor, House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, and Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams all defended keno as a money-generator being used by a number of other states. Did Alex Torello’s Cartoon Make the Difference? PAGE 3 think this is the way they enacted a bill that would spread a gambling game equated to crack cocaine across the state. Fortunately, a number of key legislators refused to go along. For example, Senate and House minority leaders John McKinney and Larry Cafero denounced keno from the start, and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Andrea Stillman, DWaterford, was the first to break with her party's leadership by introducing legislation to repeal keno. The task now is to move forward and actually repeal keno, which will require hearings and continued pressure from keno opponents. Moreover, we hope that the change of heart on keno doesn't simply reflect fear of losing votes in Since then, a Quinnipiac University poll has shown that this year's election, but indicates a growing appreciation nearly 60 percent of Connecticut residents oppose the ke- of the negative social and economic consequences of exno measure, numerous editorials have called for its repeal, panding casino-type gambling. This is an important including this newspaper, and there has been a rising tide question because of two looming gambling initiatives that of public opposition as people have focused on the fact could have a far greater impact on the state than keno. that the law would put a highly addictive form of gambling in up to 3,000 venues where it does not currently First, a legislative task force is considering legislation perexist, including restaurants where children are present. mitting the state to enter into an agreement with Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun that would enable the state to It took eight months, but the state's political leaders finally place 2,500 video slot machines at each of the off-track responded to the mounting opposition. On Feb. 12, Mal- betting facilities in Bridgeport, New Haven and Windsor loy stated that he would be willing to sign legislation to Locks. The plan would create three major slots casinos repeal keno if the legislature passed a bill to that effect. with 7,500 slots to go along with Foxwoods and Mohegan Keno was not his idea, the governor said. In fact, he had Sun's current 11,400 slots. nothing to do with it, he claimed, and was surprised when it was passed at the last minute. Second, Malloy has indicated he favors permitting in-state online gambling for Connecticut's two tribal casinos, Seemly taken back by the governor's defection, Sharkey which say they need it in order to defend and expand their and Williams said a week later that they would be willing customer base. In fact, Foxwoods just announced the to support repeal, but insisted the governor had been as launch of a test Internet gaming platform in anticipation of much a part of keno's passage as they had. "Everybody Connecticut legalizing online betting. was all in on this budget," Sharkey told a forum in Cromwell, according to The Hartford Courant. "Everybody More gambling is not an answer to Connecticut's financial agreed to what we were going to do - the House, the Sen- problems. Rather than encouraging people to gamble ate and the administration. It was simply a (last minute) away their paychecks, we need to attract productive, livrevenue option that was acceptable to the governor." ing-wage jobs, promote stable revenue streams, and end the runaway spending that has saddled the state with $52 While it is amusing to watch the state's highest elected billion in debt. officials scramble for the door and try to deflect blame for LOOK FOR FUTURE SURVEY ON GAMBLING a bad piece of legislation, it is extremely troubling to Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS Income Inequality Solved by Education PAGE 4 MINIMUM WAGE: – State Senator Toni Boucher (R-Wilton) “Embracing a higher minimum wage may be a not so subtle way to deflect public attention away from failing economic policies that have stymied job growth and produced high taxes and business costs in Connecticut. Those policies have led to an unemployment rate of almost 11%, when Connecticut’s shrinking labor force is taken into account. “The oft repeated argument that opponents of a high minimum wage have no compassion for low income workers is entirely false. It also overlooks the reality that the wages of Connecticut’s low income workers are far from their only lifeline. “The state of Connecticut pays 100% of the insurance premiums of low income citizens; it provides food, rental and heating assistance. Low income residents are eligible for the state Earned Income Tax Credit, which they receive in addition to the federal EITC. The EITC is a check distributed each year from taxpayers to residents who work but do not pay income taxes. “Collectively, these benefits amount to more than a minimum wage, but what Connecticut workers want most is a job and educational opportunities that allow them to advance to a higher salary. “The answer to income inequality lies not in raising the minimum wage, but in closing the education gap. Closing the income gap is directly related to higher levels of training and education. Too many good jobs go unfilled in Connecticut because we do not have the technically trained labor. ARE THEY ON YOUR TEAM? Obama huddles with Connecticut’s federal representatives. WHAT OBAMA ISN’T TELLING YOU If politics are the only guidepost as to what wage level is “fair,” then why not just solve the problem once and for all. The president should simply tell all private-sector employers what they should pay their workers. Or is there something he doesn’t care to admit? The president seeks the cooperation of business by suggesting wage increases will mean more consumers purchasing their products. Democrats want to increase the minimum wage because many union and government employee wages are tied to the minimum wage. Increasing this wage increases the wages of their constituents. Over the past decades, increases to the minimum wage have not reduced poverty. Increased wages must be paid for by increased prices (which takes more out of consumers pockets) or by substituting lower-cost automation or foreign labor. The CBO estimates that the proposed increase to $10.10 will The president isn’t offering a real solution. He is merely providing his party with a campaign issue. The laws of economics cannot be suspended indefinitely, except of course in Washington DC. Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS Veteran Goes Out for a Limb — George Stadel, Stamford There has been considerable discussion about the VA health care system lately. Local newspapers have published several letters on the subject recently, including one from me, (VA docs can’t cure bureaucracy woes). PAGE 5 When I tried to check in at the clinic, which normally takes 20 seconds, I was told that I had to use VetLink. I had no idea what that was. I found a VetLink “kiosk” with touch screen and tried to figure it out. “Swipe your VA card.” That didn’t work. “Or, hold your card in the bar code reader.” Where’s that? “For your security this will time out in 10 seconds.” What? “Eight, seven, six , @#$%^! ,’Four, three.” Senator Blumenthal was at the West Haven VA hospital A helper, hired especially for the purpose (government a short time ago to demand action on a VA IG report of technological improvements always require hiring more the hospital’s unsanitary conditions. C-Span showed a people), having finished with a vet at anSenate hearing on the VA in late other kiosk, came to help me in a pracFebruary. The consensus seems to ticed, calm, oily, baritone voice. “Last be that VA problems are largely four, birthdate.” Press proceed. “Your due to constrained budgets. I have name is George Stadel and you have an a contrary point of view. appointment at 2:15.” Already knew that, press proceed. “Your next of kin is so Last November, I went to the and so, do you wish to change?” “You West Haven VA hospital brace mean divorce? Not a chance. Proceed. and amputee clinic to try to get “We don’t have your mobile phone nummy defective mechanical parts ber.” Don’t have one. Proceed. .I noticed repaired or replaced. A layer of in the lower left hand corner, “Are you bureaucracy had just been added visually impaired?” VetLink sarcasm. to save money, so the head of prosthetics at the Boston VA hosThe same people, plus one, were in the pital, who now has to approve all clinic as in November, including the prosthetics in Connecticut, apvoice on the telephone and the Massapeared on a screen in the clinic. chusetts guy on the screen. The head docThe half dozen people in the clinic, a voice on the tele- tor asked Telephone Voice if he had the final estimate. phone and the image on the screen all were amenable to Yes, he got it in December. Screen Image said he hadn’t my requests. The doctor who heads the West Haven received it. The doctor told Telephone Voice to fax it hospital rehabilitation department typed everything into immediately to Boston. Can’t; fax machine’s broken. a computer and asked the screen image man to check it Boston finally received it on February 14th. That’s on his computer. Oops. The VA computer system in slower than an 18th-century mail boat in a headwind. Connecticut is not compatible with the one in MassaVetLink likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but chusetts. Sorry. their computer systems aren’t compatible, letters aren’t In ensuing weeks the prosthetics company sent a cost delivered due to insufficient postage, fax machines estimate to West Haven, who sent it to Boston, who don’t work and everything proceeds at sub 18th century found a mistake in a code and sent it back to West Ha- pace. VetLink kiosks ironically violate the Americans ven, who sent it to the prosthetics company. The pros- with Disabilities Act, as disabled vets have to stand to thetics company phoned West Haven to find out what use them. And they accomplish in 5 minutes what a the code should be, they phoned Boston,….. clerk used to do in 20 seconds. In mid January, tired of waiting, I made a phone call to Not long ago Stamford, under Mayor Dannel Malloy, West Haven. I was told that I was scheduled to attend a was going to spend tens of millions of dollars on a sewclinic in two days where my questions would be anage waste to energy project that would have produced swered. I knew nothing of this. I received the notice of less energy than was required to run the process. Meanthe appointment the next day. It had been returned to the while, the existing sewage facility was falling apart. VA for insufficient postage three weeks earlier. Some politicians like the flashy projects while neglecting core responsibilities. Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS champion of the safety net while at the same time being a champion of amassing great wealth for herself and her husband during her tenure in office.” ROSA DELAURO, Queen Money-Launderer — Chris Schaefer, New Haven Only five years ago, Rosa DeLauro was worth a mere $5 Million—thanks to Washington cronyism over 17 years of public service. Today, Americans struggle to recover from the worst economy since the Great Depression. BUT NOT DELAURO! In five years, HER net wealth has GROWN to an obscene $17+ MILLION! (2012). Insider trading gave her $4 million in 2009 alone —a rich reward for bailing out the biggest banks and hedge funds with her TARP vote. Records related to her insider trading are confidential. But there are other swindles that stick out like a sore thumb. This graph illustrates how most of DeLauro’s campaign donations are handed over to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), most of which is used to fund “research” by pollster Stanley Greenberg, who is DeLauro’s husband! As Human Events reported, “Federal campaign records reveal a self-dealing relationship between a senior Democratic Connecticut congresswoman [Rosa DeLauro] and her husband’s political consulting firm … The funds DeLauro donates to help the DCCC ultimately re-enter her household through her husband’s business, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, for polling and other services … It’s not just a conflict of interest, it looks bad. It looks like she’s raising money and giving it to herself. PAGE 6 Basically, her campaign funds her sumptuous lifestyle. Being a multimillionaire crony, careerist politician—while accomplishing virtually NOTHING in over 22 years—is a pretty good deal if you can get away with it! All in the Corrupt Family The family connections don’t end there. DeLauro introduced The Food Safety Modernization Act— purportedly to reform food safety monitoring. However, the introduction of this bill represented a conflict of interest: her husband, Stanley Greenberg, has a business relationship with agricultural biotechnology corporation Monsanto—the maker of Agent Orange and RoundUp, the world’s leader of GMO development, and (until 2008) the biggest producer of bovine growth hormone. Many FDA officials over the years have held positions at Monsanto. To complete this “triangle of deception”, Rosa DeLauro is chair of the appropriations subcommittee that funds the FDA. And Monsanto employees donate to Rosa’s campaign! Weaving a Web of Crony Deception The consulting and polling firm of DeLauro’s husband, Stanley Greenberg, was a prime architect of “greenwashing” BP as a “green” oil company—down to green signs with a sunflower logo—the same “green” company that caused the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Greenberg’s company created a sister political consulting company named GCS, which received hundreds of thousands of dollars in political polling contracts from the DCCC. To learn more about Congresswoman DeLauro, visit Rosadelauroexposed.wordpress.com “... Rosa DeLauro has established a persona of being a Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS PARODY OR TRUTH? PAGE 7 Gun owners do not consider themselves in violation of the law. Rather, they see themselves protecting every citizen of this country, by preserving the Constitution. Did Connecticut pass a law in violation of this founding document? The website Callthecops.com (self-described as America’s 27th most trusted source for public safety news) recently published an article on Connecticut residents’ (non) compliance with new gun legislation. Estimates are that as low as 5% of Connecticut gun-owners complied with the requirement to register their firearms. Parody and plausibility are perfectly captured. The elephant in the room is that “on paper” apparently tens of thousands of Connecticut residents are now felons. Who is going to confiscate their weapons? The police? What if the police are themselves not in compliance? If state government is unable to get law enforcement to comply, how are they to effectively confiscate weapons? Should police be fired or given amnesty? Shouldn’t all citizens get the same amnesty? The conundrums of criminalizing legal gun ownership are evident. Will legislators criminalize their own police force? Ironic. From RT.Com - March 4th In Connecticut, tens of thousands of gun owners are believed to be committing felonies by not registering their weapons in compliance with a new state law. Second Amendment advocates, however, say authorities “don’t have the balls” to enforce it. Legislation enacted after the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT requires that gun owners registered military-style rifles and high-capacity magazines with state officials by the end of last year. But only a few weeks after that deadline came and went, journalist Dan Haar of The Hartford Courant newspaper wrote that as many as 350,000 assault weapons remained unregistered and that “Connecticut has very likely created tens of thousands of newly minted criminals.” Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS PAGE 8 Dr. King Visits Yale --Nick Givas, Fairfield University I was invited to speak at Yale University this past Saturday. With me on the dais were Gubernatorial candidate, Ambassador Tom Foley, Chair of the GOP Urban Affairs Commission, Regina Roundtree, and the keynote speaker, Dr. Alveda King, niece of the famous Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Connecticut Patriot’s own Nick Givas pictured with Dr. As I stood up on the stage I knew that I wasAlveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King. n't as accomplished or experienced as my counterparts, but I knew that I had a duty to speak truth, through a message of hope and unity. Mainly, I tried to encourage people to open their I started off by quoting a famous TV show from ABC hearts and minds to new ways of thinking. Barack titled “LOST.” In the show, a group of strangers crash Obama's victory in 2012 forced our movement to relands on an island. As they run out of water and food, think our strategy. The GOP or any group for that they begin to turn on one another. They accuse each matter, cannot treat its constituents as numbers and other, fight, blame, and panic. Shortly after their de demographics. It has to treat them as human beings. facto leader (played by Matthew Fox) finds water, he The time for half measures and empty promises is assures them that though most of them are strangers, over....the time to fulfill our duty through our actions they must now find a way to join forces to survive. “If is now upon us. we can't live together., we're gonna die alone.” I echoed these remarks in the hopes that it would remind those present how serious this battle is. We as a people must strengthen our spirit. That begins with getting educated and involved in the political process. I stressed that electing the same politicians for 30 years in a row, or proposing further divisiveness in lieu of compromise and commons sense, would put us on a road to ruin. After I finished, Regina Roundtree, the head of Urban Affairs for the GOP spoke on her efforts to bring the state together. She has been on the ground, putting the right people together, thinking outside the box, and preaching the truth. I was honored to introduce her on stage and finally meet her in person to hear what she had to say. She is a leader within the CT Republican party that is a friend to the youth and is someone we can trust. People like her are in short supply. As a spokesman for the youth I sounded the alarm that they are quickly losing faith in the process. They see Republicans on one side: stuffed shirts smoking cigars in a back room somewhere, thinking of the fastest way to get rich. While the Democrats on the other side are seen as people who exercise power through government. They may “try very hard” but are grossly incompetent. If this outlook doesn't change, we will not see the brighter tomorrow. After her speech, Dr. King came to the podium. I had seen her many times before on television. On Fox News, The Blaze, and I will never forget her speech at the “Restoring Honor Rally” on the steps of the mall in Washington, DC. Her message of acceptance, love, and faith is something everyone should have the opportunity to hear. These are principles that have fallen by the wayside and we need to be reminded of who we are. She stressed non-violence to achieve our Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS goals and also spoke on the nature of hate. “Bitterness and hatred are bad for the spirit, soul, and body. It is rotten for our bones. Distress can cause headaches, stomach discomfort and aching joints. I know this firsthand.” Possibly the most amazing part of her speech was when she said that when she visited the White House, she told President Obama that she loved him. “I may disagree with his policies but that doesn't mean I don't love him as a human being.” I was so impressed with her ability not to let partisanship, opinions, or emotions get in the way of her loving her neighbor. She is a rare breed in that she practices what she preaches. I was instantly drawn to her. This is someone who is a person of character and can unite people. She can speak with experience and share her story to the benefit of so many. At the end of the event, I went over to Dr. King and spoke with her for a few minutes. Not only did we swap stories and promise to stay in touch, but she said a prayer for me and gave me a blessing. She had only known me for an hour. That day we were all brothers and sisters, bound by our faith in something greater than ourselves. God. I walked away from that event feeling stronger than I have in a long time. I used to think we were alone in this battle. Hopelessly fighting a lost cause. Now I see that there are more of us than we think. We can disagree on details but if we can start a dialogue, and find the issues where we stand “TOGETHER,” then we will leave this country better off than when we found it. PAGE 9 FOUR CREDIBLE, TALENTED CANDIDATES VIE TO UNSEAT JIM HIMES IN 4TH DISTRICT Unified in their commitment to end Jim Himes political career, four Republican candidates debated national issues on the Marty Heiser show on a chilly night in late February. The candidates responded to questions from a panel of guests and call-ins on the economy, Obamacare, gun control, evolution vs. creationism, and gay rights. The debate was moderated by Marty Heiser and is broadcast live each Thursday night on Comcast 23 Danbury. The first question the candidates answered was about gun control legislation, each supporting the 2nd Amendment. Citing the “deinstitutionalization” of the mentally ill, Dr. Joe Bentivegna emphasized the solution to Sandy Hook was better treatment of the mentally ill. Dan Debicella sought “common sense” compromises like background checks. Each candidate, however, disparaged the recent legislation passed by the Connecticut legislature, which had the effect of criminalizing legal gun ownership. Carl Higbie, a former Navy Seal, promised that if elected, he would seek to repeal Connecticut’s recent gun law. A caller from Ridgefield asked the candidates about teaching evolution versus creationism in the schools. All of the candidates supported science, but called it a false debate prompted by Himes recent proposal to celebrate National Darwin Day. “This was settled 100 years ago,” said Debicella. Bentivegna and Shaban both agreed decisions about what gets taught in local schools should be the province of local decision makers, not the federal government. “Its their taxes, its their money, they should call the shots, not big government,” said Bentivegna. To watch the full debate, go to Video of debate. Republican candidates for Congress Dan Debicella (Shelton), John Shaban (Redding), Carl Higbie (Greenwich), and Joe Bentivegna ((Fairfield) Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS PAGE 10 seen on approximately 1000 theaters nationwide. The movie will be in theaters for only this one day. Producer Craig Bergman created a powerful documentary covering — William Malchisky, Fairfield the effects of the income tax and its collection on the people in our nation, the abuses and potential solutions. This 2014 began with a three-pronged tax reform attack. movie is directed by the same director as the movie 2016. First, in anticipation of a House Ways and Means Com- The next issue of The Connecticut Patriot will provide mittee vote on tax reform, the volunteer group FairTax local theater locations and additional insight. You can reNation (FTN) held an education seminar on Capitol Hill ceive more information. Unfair The Movie on Facebook. to educate members of congress on HR25 - The FairTax Act of 2013. 55 people attended including democrats, UNFAIR THE MOVIE plays nationwide April 15th. independents, and republicans from both the House and Senate. Second, this week House Ways and Means committee Chairman Representative Dave Camp submitted for consideration his tax reform legislation, entitled the Tax Re-form Act of 2014. This creates significant taxreform momentum. His bill is viewed as bold, particularly as many in the both parties do not want to tackle tax reform during an election year. The American Action Forum (AAF) scored Rep. Camp's bill and feel there would be a 5% GDP increase, 500,000 new jobs created, plus a $1.5 trillion deficit reduction. There full analysis is here: American Action Forum. The Tax Reform Swarm My favorite part is the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) full repeal. The rest of the bill helps businesses by reducing the corporate tax rate to 25%, paid for by eliminating several tax deductions, com-presses all the federal income tax rates into two brackets, and either lowers or removes U.S. taxes levied on income returned domestically when earned overseas. Although Rep. Camp's Bill faces resistance from Harry Reid's Democrat Senate and Obama, it is a great start. For the Tax Reform Act of 2014, For the Tax Reform Act of 2014, this article has a great dissection of the bill: House Ways and Means Tax Reform Proposal. For those unfamiliar with HR25, the FairTax closes the IRS, allows all W2 employees to receive more take-home pay by removing all Federal tax deductions from their paychecks, fully funds the federal government, and makes 15 April just another fine spring day. It is a more efficient tax collection system and does not touch spending, which occurs through appropriations. HR25 establishes a progressive national retail sales tax created through the concept of a prebate, the amounts of which are based upon the poverty line tables. If one is at or below the poverty line, then one exists tax free at the federal level. The prebate In addition to Rep. Camp's legislation, the bill at the forecheck becomes a smaller percentage of one's gross pay the front of the tax reform battle is The FairTax. With 74 cofarther from the poverty line one lies, thus creating the sponsors, HR25 is the leading tax reform bill in Congress graduated effective rate. All citizens with a Social Security and is due for a historic vote within this the House Ways number get the prebate, which is the same amount for each and Means Committee. It has $22.5M in economic republished demographic (e.g. married couple with two desearch to fortify its premise and showcase the positive efpendents or single with dependent). As we get closer to tax fect on the national economy, including bringing jobs back day, The Connecticut Patriot will provide additional inforto our shores and creating a natural stimulus without govmation on HR25 - The FairTax. For more information, ernment spending and their picking winners. Currently, the visit the AFFT website fairtax.org or fairtaxnation.com. Joint Committee on Taxation is in the process of scoring the HR25. Upon completion, the House Ways and Means The full text of the bill: HR 25. Committee will review the findings, then begin the committee level discussion culminating in a vote. Third, on Tuesday, April 15th, UnFair the Movie will be Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS Online: The Connecticut Patriot PAGE 11 V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS Education reform: One size does not fit all PAGE 12 School climate The new plan is causing towns to have to budget for outside help to meet these labor-intensive requirements, thus diverting resources away from students, while others are — Maria Naughton, New Canaan disputing the validity of the methodology. In New Canaan, our work started even before the mandate was finalized The developments in Connecticut last week surrounding and has undergone almost four years of research, design, education reform are not only promising, but serve to sharpen the focus on misaligned mandates and their impact development and implementation costs, expenses which on towns. Federal demands to unify practices across states were likely increased in the effort to conform to stateand promote “educational equity” in a one-size-fits-all na- imposed (but federally-influenced) practices which are now being met with criticism. tional model are showing signs of failure. The growing dissatisfaction within our state is evidence that districts In another example, the school climate mandate and social must retain flexibility and autonomy to meet local needs, emotional instruction require the allocation of resources to especially when adopting unproven measures. non-academic programming which might be best delivered with a greater degree of flexibility. Addressing the whole Last week’s events were significant: a brave Connecticut middle school teacher’s editorial about destructive educa- child is effectively supported by current research, and is needed in many towns. In assessing our own unique comtional policies went viral on social media; hundreds of teachers raised concerns at Connecticut Educator Associa- munity, however, we are fortunate to have an inordinate tion’s sponsored events; State Sen. Toni Boucher issued a level of family and community support, evident in faithbased youth groups, civic youth groups, sports, and call to pause Common Core implementation to gather feedback from parents and teachers; Rep. Gail Lavielle and arts/theater groups. Ensuring solutions are calibrated to the Education Committee held a press conference seeking community need and parent choice will honor our ability open public discussion among stakeholders; Gov. Malloy to remain autonomous while realizing a correlated cost quickly announced formation of a Common Core working savings. group, and a delay of teacher evaluations for another year. And finally, all districts have had to adopt Common Core. Perhaps the most clearly-articulated statement came from We now read every day how students are struggling with these new standards and how early childhood experts beThomas Scarice, superintendent of the high-performing Madison school district. In his letter to state legislators, he lieve they are developmentally inappropriate. It may not be shared a list of concerns regarding education reforms. He readily evident in New Canaan how these untested standexpressed the importance of accurately framing a district’s ards might impact our students, simply because we have own “problems of practice,” and the need for flexibility in the resources and community support to help those struggling. Ultimately, we will end up in the same place of sucapplying research-based solutions. cess, but we will be working harder and spending more to For example, all districts, including ours, have allocated get there. time, money and resources to meet the Student Success Plan mandate (where children set personal and career goals While the developments in Connecticut are promising, it is starting in sixth grade and revise them annually). In New not enough to simply delay these federally-driven reforms; Canaan, facilitating student success has never been probgenuine autonomy must exist. Communities within every lematic. Therefore, the Student Success Plan is an experi- state are too unique, and children come with unending difmental solution to a non-existent problem, costing student ferences in abilities and learning needs. To be locked into a time and taxpayer dollars. national reform movement that seeks a one-size-fits-all model is an experiment with an unknown outcome. DisAnother rigid mandate relates to the Teacher Evaluation tricts must demand flexibility in meeting the needs of our plan. To meet prescriptive statutory requirements, districts own unique communities. had the choice of revising existing evaluation plans, or accepting the state’s template. The new requirements place This article also appeared in the New Canaan Advertiser. heavy emphasis on standardized test scores and exponen- Maria Naughton is an educational consultant, former tially increase the tasks required for teacher observations, teacher and mother of four children in New Canaan Public calling for scripting of lessons, follow-up paperwork, tech- Schools. nology needs, and data-entry. Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS PAGE 13 I WANT GLOBAL WARMING (FAST!) — Glenn Stefanovics, Branford Many politicians insist the greatest issue of our age is global warming or “climate change.” Out of this, humanity is being divided into two categories: believers and skeptics. Believers laud themselves as intelligent people, supported by global scientific consensus, policyNiagara Falls freezes over makers, and the media—and gleefully characterize skeptics in unsavory terms. I find global warming plausible. Here’s why. in a state of much elevated temperature. Liberal radio talk show host Thom Hartmann recently explained the onset of global warming. As energy-rich fossil fuels are burned, tens of millions of years’ worth of dense carbon is released as carbon dioxide (CO2), while only a tiny portion is reabsorbed by today’s plant life. The balance remains in the atmosphere, warming the planet. To me, Hartmann’s explanation sounded succinct and sensible. He convinced me that anthropogenic or manmade global warming can happen. However, he did not convince me that it’s a bad thing. To do that, he would have to demolish all the evidence of dinosaurs. Long before the dinosaurs, the Carboniferous period saw an explosion of plant life due to warm temperatures from high atmospheric CO2. The great coal beds of the Pennsylvanian sub-period were laid. Sweltering tropical temperatures in the age of dinosaurs caused plant life to flourish, which provided immense food supplies for the largest creatures ever to walk the Earth. In the Cretaceous period, mean atmospheric CO2 content was about 1700 parts per million or six times the pre-industrial level, and surface temperatures averaged 4°C above today’s. A mass extinction may have been All of us have marveled at colorful illustrations of dino- caused by a meteor strike at the end of this period, but saurs. These imaginative works were based on paleonto- even this catastrophe did not disrupt the long-term clilogical and geological evidence of conditions in those mate nearly as much as seaweed. times. In most cases, dinosaurs were drawn surrounded by steaming tropical forests. In fact, geologic formations According to researchers, the Eocene epoch saw a landfrom the “age of dinosaurs” show the entire planet was locked Arctic Lake absorb vast quantities of CO2 through abundant seaweed, sequestering it in the sea floor. The result was a much cooler Earth – one susceptible to repeated Ice Ages, drawing two-mile-thick ice sheets over what is now Connecticut. Looking at the geologic evidence of the past, and the trajectory of human growth today, I am convinced that only a warm Earth -– one that permits agriculture from pole to pole -can possibly sustain the ten billion humans expected to dwell upon its surface in the next century. By this logic, any liberal policy that attempts to cool the Earth is inherently genocidal and must be considered more dangerous to humanity than Al Gore’s doomsday forecasts of hurricanes and rising sea levels. But since this winter has been so fierce, perhaps the Ice Age loving liberals are having their way? Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS Himes calls for “National Charles Darwin Day”- Seriously — Dan Debicella, Candidate for Congress The Connecticut Post reported yesterday that Congressman Jim Himes is co-sponsoring legislation that advocates for a National Charles Darwin Day. PAGE 14 first elected. Out of the 5 bills Himes has sponsored so far this year, not a single one has to do with creating jobs. In addition to his record on jobs, Himes’ job performance on healthcare continues to worsen. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a report finding that ObamaCare will push 2 million more workers out of the labor market. “You have got to be kidding me—who cares?” said State Senator and candidate for Congress Dan Debicella. “Fairfield County families are hurting, with high unemployment and exploding healthcare costs—and this is what Jim Himes thinks is important?” “Jim’s actions are hurting families like the one I met in Trumbull who now faces more than a $10,000 increase to their health insurance,” continued Debicella. “Not only is this the same family that Jim told on October 11th of last year that they could keep their insurance, but when he had the opportunity to help them and fix it—he “Jim Himes and his Washington consultants have concluded they need to change the conversation to anything voted no. Jim voted against the bipartisan legislation but the economy and healthcare. His political tactic here that would have allowed them to keep their current is to try to pick a fight that has been settled (teaching health insurance. evolution in schools), and try to create controversy around it. Our families deserve better than these cynical “Fairfield County voters are smart, and will not be fooled by Jim Himes’ attempts to change the conversapolitical moves.” tion. He will be doing this again and again in the next nine months, but voters will see through these cynical According to the Wall Street Journal, the moves to hold Jim Himes accountable for his record on economy remains 1.3 million jobs short of where it was when Congressman Himes was the economy and healthcare.” Himes Gets an F in Science With his constituents losing their jobs and their health insurance, Darwinism is all all-to-prevalent reality for many Connecticut citizens. Instead, Himes deflects attention. He resorts to straw man arguments on the need to protect science from religion, Congressman Jim Himes’ recent proposed legislation call- throwing in the obligatory shot at those who question the ing for celebration of National Darwin Day begs the ques- climate-change agenda. He demeans those who believe tion: Does Himes even understand Darwin’s central thesis? God created Man and then defaults to political sleight-ofhand by equating questioning climate change with an overOnly the fittest survive. expressed fear “creationists” seek to disavow science entirely. Himes is either truly desperate or just plan selfish. Himes has lead the charge for Obamacare. Despite clear evidence that none of the President’s promises (e.g., you can keep your health insurance, you can keep your doctor, Darwinism is at work in Himes’ district. The only survivinsurance costs will go down) are true, Himes continues to al Himes is concerned about is his political one. His constituents should promote Obamacare at the expense of the health and well give him an F in being of his constituents. Many have lost their coverage, Science. Then exand the remainder are experiencing unaffordably higher premiums for lower-quality plans. Now the Congressional pel him in NovemBudget Office predicts Obamacare will be directly respon- ber. sible for the loss of 2.5 million jobs, despite the President’s promise the legislation would mean the growth of 4 million jobs. — Christopher Murray, Ridgefield Himes, epitome of elitism. Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS Himes Sponsors a CheapShot Against Religion Bob MacGuffie, Fairfield With all the pressing issues of the day, Congressman Jim Himes continues to vote to increase the $17 trillion national debt, while he focuses his mind on sponsoring legislation designed to ridicule those who believe in God. Himes seeks to deflect our attention from the economy and jobs, issues Washington has failed on. In addition to supporting ObamaCare's mandates, which attack the religious beliefs of Catholic hospitals and the Little Sisters of the Poor, he is now burnishing his ideological bona-fides by sponsoring House Resolution 467, calling for a national "Darwin Day" on February 12th. PAGE 15 Himes's information there are thousands of international scientists who have researched all available historical data and reach a different conclusion. Climate Depot. Since his comfortable win in the last election, Mr. Himes is showing his true colors as a rigid statist, trying to codify into law a symbol of his ideological beliefs. He is willing to denigrate and treat as dangerous those who hold beliefs and views different from his. He denigrates them to curry favor with and satiate his extreme leftist base. Another Alinsky tactic in action — divide and conquer. With the U.S. economy still stalled four years after the recession ended, his constituents expect actions of substance from Himes, not cynical legislative ploys. But this is what happens when our representative goes to Washington. Rather than represent us, he instead joins the ruling class and proceeds to legislate against Both the text of the bill and its press material make plain the will of the people and without the consent of the the bill is a stick in the eye of his constituents who begoverned. We need a strong representative focused on lieve God imbued us with an eternal soul. Rather than preserving our unalienable rights as Americans, rather just credit Darwin for his scientific research, in true than exploiting federal power to rule over us from his Alinsky style it isolates "creationism" as the bane of ed- elitist roost in Congress. Just how much of this are you ucation today. To quote the bill, "the teaching of creawilling to take? Mr. Himes no longer represents us and tionism in some public schools compromises the scienneeds to be replaced this November. tific and academic integrity of the U.S. education systems." If anything's compromising academic integrity, it's Himes's opposition to school choice. In addition he supports his fellow ideologue's pushing of curriculums which fail to educate our youth on the workings of our Constitutional Republic, but instead intimate the U.S. is the source of all that's wrong in the world today. The bill's wording also employs the Alinsky demonizing tactic when it says "the advancement of science must be protected from those unconcerned with the adverse impacts of global warming and climate change." So now, according to Mr. Himes, certain scientific opinions have to be protected from other scientific opinions. For Mr. Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS Patriot Bookshelf Deadly Compassion: The Death of Ann Humphry and the Truth About Euthanasia by Rita Marker PAGE 16 out adequate health insurance, like America, where people who really want to live might choose death rather than bankrupt their families. Deadly Compassion is essential reading for anyone who has misgivings about giving From the Book Jacket: “Ann Humphry’s suicide in 1991 made headlines worldwide. One of the reasons her doctors the right to kill. it is death was so compelling was her allegation, in her sui- also the story of the senseless cide note, that she was driven to kill herself by her hus- death of a sensitive woman who discovered that her band, Derek Humphry, co-founder of the Hemlock Soci- life’s work was a dreadful mistake…” ety and author of the best-seller Final Exit. Online: Deadly Compassion In Deadly Compassion Rita Marker relates the explosive details of this tragic death and the dark side of the euthanasia movement. Combining the shocking, true-life story of Ann’s despair and suicide with compelling arguments against ever allowing the legalization of euthanasia, Rita Mar ker has written a book that is disturbing, moving, and thoroughly convincing. Rita Marker tells Ann’s account of her life with Derek Humphry: from…co-founding the Hemlock Society to his leaving her after she was diagnosed with cancer. Here is the story of Ann’s terrible guilt after she and Derek helped her parents kill themselves – with Ann smothering her mother to death with a laundry bag when the pills didn’t work – and her belief that Derek would allow her no grief and no remorse. And her e, too, is the story of a remarkable friendship. When Ann felt alone and abandoned, she turned to Rita Marker – knowing Rita only as her most vocal opponent on the subject of legalizing euthanasia. In Deadly Compassion, Rita Marker also explores all of the issues surrounding euthanasia – and some of the most famous right-todie cases….the career of Jack Kevorkian, who has written articles advocating medical experiments on death-row prisoners – while they are still alive. And she explains the ramifications of euthanasia in a country with- Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS ‘POISON PILL’ BILL BEING CONSIDERED IN HARTFORD - Bill O’Brien, President, Connecticut Right to Life Corp. If a bill pending in the Connecticut legislature this year becomes law, some doctors, rather than kill their patients’ pain, would help their patients to kill themselves. Physician-assisted suicide (PAS), when a person provides the means for another person to commit suicide, concedes that there are some lives not worth living. The Public Health Committee of the CT General Assembly is expected to hold a public hearing this month on HB 5326 “Compassionate Aid in Dying for Terminally Ill Patients.” PAGE 17 People with disabilities would be threatened by judgments on their “quality of life,” usefulness to society, or financial cost. In Oregon, where PAS is legal, statistics indicate people do not seek PAS because of pain. Pain can be relieved. Many people seeking PAS are depressed. Depression can be and should be treated. But suicide is cheaper than treatment. One Oregon woman asked for authorization for medical treatment and instead received a kit with instructions for PAS! Suicide is not Health Care. Allowing PAS would devalue life and reduce opposition to suicide. In Oregon, since PAS became legal, suicide rates for non-medical reasons have risen. Suicide is already the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, with nearly 37,000 deaths by suicide in 2009. One risk factor for suicide is exposure to the suicide behavior of others. Full of legal and medical language about a patient’s ability to “self-administer” “medication,” this, in fact, means that instead of treating a patient’s disease or injury, or relieve pain, or treat depression, the doctor will Although suicide rates in Connecticut have been among give the patient a poison to take to kill himself. the lowest in the nation, in 2011 the number of suicides in Connecticut reached a 20 year high. We should value When done by a physician, this bill calls it a “medical practice.” For anyone else who causes or assists a per- life and seek ways to prevent suicide, not encourage it. son to commit suicide, even with the best of intentions, For millennia, physicians took an oath that said, it will still be called “manslaughter” or “murder.” “First, do no harm.” When doctors change from being agents of life into agents of death, how can Legalizing killing, by whatever means or by any perpatients trust their physicians if the physicians son, even by oneself, opens a Pandora’s Box that besometimes prescribe death as health care? comes impossible to close. Legalizing PAS would imply that it’s ok to kill yourself. Eventually this could lead to patients being pressured to die. This is not speculation. It not only happened in the last century in Germany, it is happening today in the Netherlands where patients are killed against their will by euthanasia, and in Belgium which recently approved euthanasia for children. Despite supposed safeguards written into the bill today, over time, those could be watered down or removed altogether, leading to elder abuse by anyone who benefits from the patient’s death. New Hampshire Euthanizes Assisted Suicide March 7 - The media and assisted suicide ideologues continually tell us that assisted suicide is unstoppable– the ultimate civil right. But America is not leaping off the cliff. True, Vermont became the third state to legalize last year, but Massachusetts voters rejected assisted suicide in 2012. Now, the New Hampshire legislature overwhelmingly euthanized “death with dignity.” New Hampshire Euthanizes Assisted Suicide Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS CT Businesses Pay for Government's Irresponsibility - Sen. Jason Welch (Bristol, Plainville, Harwinton, Plymouth) Connecticut still owes more than $573,439,548.60 to the federal government for its borrowing to pay for state unemployment liabilities. For the third year in a row businesses got the letter they dread from the Connecticut Department of Labor; “special assessments” are due. PAGE 18 enough to give seven of our employees a $0.50 an hour raise instead they will get much less. We pay our people from $9 to $12 per hour but it is hard to continue this or to pay more thanks to your generosity with our money. Being late with loan repayments is also not good for our state’s financial credit. The state of Connecticut is considered a FUTA Credit Reduction state. What is a credit reduction state? A state is a credit reduction state if it has taken loans from the federal government These assessments are basically a hidden tax on business- to meet its state unemployment benefits liabilities and has es. The money collected helps pay tens of millions of dol- not repaid the loans within the allowable time frame. A lars in interest Connecticut owes the federal government. reduction in the usual credit against the full FUTA tax rate In addition to interest costs, Connecticut and other states means that employers pay more for the state’s irresponsiwith federal loans outstanding for two consecutive years bility. Unemployment in Connecticut is at 7.4% still must make additional payments into the Federal Unemabove the national average. We are not adding new jobs at ployment Tax Act (FUTA) system to pay down the loan the pace the rest of the country is enjoying. There are principal. This year the FUTA tax rate will increase by 23,500 less residents employed now than when Governor 0.9%. For businesses like Joni’s Childcare in Harwinton it Malloy took office. Average weekly pay for private sector is a bill they are not happy about. It is estimated Joni’s will employees is down -2.8% from last year. Average hourly have to pay more than $6,000 in this hidden tax. The own- earnings are down 31 cents from 2012. And people are er recently sent an email to government leaders expressing working less than 40 hour work weeks in the private sector. his concern. When will government admit it can’t create jobs (but cerPlease stop the insanity. This is the third year that we have tainly knows how to destroy them)? been assessed an unemployment penalty because you decided how best to spend our money. The amount below is MALLOY ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDERS FOR POLITICAL SHOW, THEN FAILS TO FOLLOW THROUGH Immediately upon taking office, Governor Malloy issued an executive order which he claimed would fulfill one of his central campaign promises – to bring fiscal stability and integrity to Connecticut’s budget process by implementing Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). That year there were many legislative proposals to transition to GAAP, none of which the Governor endorsed. To transition the state to fiscal accountability under GAAP, the Governor promised to manage and report the state budget in compliance with GAAP standards which includes acknowledging debt load. The Governor also promised to make annual payments on this debt. He decried past policies which “kicked the can down the road” and burdened future generations. Three years later, not only has the Governor failed to operate his budgets using GAAP, but he has failed to pay one dime towards retiring the GAAP deficit. Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS NSA Surveillance Programs Scramble Political Spectrum - Vince Vitkowsky Public reaction to the recent disclosures of NSA surveillance programs has scrambled the traditional political spectrum. The programs were created by the Bush Administration, and continued by the current Administration. Within each party, there are divisions. Some people see the programs as useful tools that can save lives. Others are concerned about the scope of collection and the potential for invasion of privacy. PAGE 19 The luncheon featured a conversation among former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero, and Washington Post national security reporter Ellen Nakashima. Here is that discussion in an audio podcast: NSA Surveillance Program Podcast --Vince Vitkowsky is a lawyer in private practice in New York, and Chair of the Federalist Society's International and National Security Law Practice Group The Security versus Privacy conundrum is evident. The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a group of conservative and libertarian law- 1. Are the programs that began in response to 9yers, known as a forum for balanced debate. On Feb11 under the Bush administration now “out of ruary 24, it held a Symposium on The NSA, Security, control” under the Obama administration? Privacy and Intelligence in Washington, D.C. The discussion included experts from the national securi- 2. Are elements of our surveillance regime now beyond the law? ty community, liberal interest groups, technology advocacy groups, and libertarians. Here is the video: 3. Do ambiguities create political protection? NSA Security, Privacy and Intelligence POLITICAL VIDEOS Dinesh Dsouza versus Bill Ayers, at Dartmouth Government officials don’t know how much we are spending and how many killed and wounded in Afghanistan in the last twelve months. Inspiring Messages from Ronald Reagan Obama’s foreign policy has been reduced to scolding foreign leaders about being “on the wrong side of history.” It would appear Russia, Syria and Iran seek to create their own “history.” Megan Kelly’s Reaction to Senator Kay Hagan’s Defense of Obamacare Never Trust a Photocopier Online: The Connecticut Patriot V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS TORELLO TOONS: The Patriot’s political cartoonist, Alex Torello (Branford), keeps Connecticut ‘tooned in.’ Online: The Connecticut Patriot PAGE 20 V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E 1 I A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS Online: The Connecticut Patriot PAGE 21 V O LU M E 1 1 , I S S U E A FORUM FOR CONNECTICUT CITIZENS CONNECTICUT PATRIOT Editor Chris Murray Associate Editor Keith Miller Cartoonist/Designer Alex Torello, Branford Writers/Contributors Bob MacGuffie, Fairfield Mike Taylor, Stamford Dave Rybarczyk, Redding Linda Czaplinksi, Oxford Mary Nicholas, Wilton Nick Givas, Fairfield Mary Ann Marcella, New Canaan Ann Leatherwood, Darien Sean Archambault, Ridgefield Alan Shaw, Stamford William Malchisky, Fairfield Bob Lavelle, Ridgefield Glenn Stefanovics, Branford George Stadel, Stamford Andrew March, Florida David McMaster, England George Shuster, Rhode Island Online: The Connecticut Patriot PAGE 22
© Copyright 2024