Every other week, John J. Ryan, a former Republican state representative, and Joshua Fisher, a Hersam Acorn Newspapers editor, share their back-and-forth about news going on around the state, among other items of interest.
Fisher: Schools are open, summer is nearly gone and our state government’s fiscal hopes continue to get dimmer.
Ryan: Are you saying you weren’t keen on the media’s summer revelations of recent state budget hijinks?
Fisher: The state is betting on sin with another poor man’s tax that has the potential do more harm than good.
Haven’t the politicians run out of fake rabbits to pull out of its budget hat? Isn’t Connecticut already overly dependent on lottery, casinos, Mega Millions and other ploys to take money out of the pockets of residents in the lowest economic strata?
And now, some of our neighborhood bars, restaurants and gas stations could be getting Keno, a Bingo-like betting game that tends to suck up the cash of the poor and expose children to gambling at an early age. See “Fernandez: Keno Will Hurt City’s Poor” (NewHavenIndependent.org, June 18).
Ryan: Our well-informed readers will also want to peruse “Is Keno coming, or was it a mirage to balance the state budget?” (CTMirror.org, Aug. 22), and “Keno moves ahead still, however, behind closed doors” (Courant.com, Aug. 21).
And if you need to note how the state’s gambling on casino revenues are going, see “Conn. lottery revenue tops casino spoils” (BostonGlobe.com, Aug. 11).
Fisher: The word mirage is an appropriate one for the state’s fiscal follies; remember all those savings that were to be generated by state employee “suggestions?” That seems to have worked out about as well as any private office’s suggestion box.
Ryan: As long as we are contemplating follies, I’m sure you recall our governor (and his pom-pom wavers) touting his recent job creation figures? Well, guess what: “Malloy’s job growth claim proves overblown” (CTMirror.org, Aug. 23).
And for some recent employment developments (and what is looking more and more like a trend), read “Electric Boat to lay off nearly 500 employees” (TheDay.com, Aug. 24) and “How low will Pratt go with Conn. jobs” (JournalInquirer.com, Aug. 19).
And this item caught my eye: “Law Firm’s Layoffs May Be Sign Of Things To Come” (CTLawTribune.com, Aug. 12).
Fisher: So it’s not all bad news.
Seriously, though, we could have included more items on job reductions in Connecticut as businesses are seeing that the way things are going it is cheaper to run a business anywhere but here.
Don’t forget, readers, you can read more about all of these news items and more when you view this column at NCAdvertiser.com.
Before we run out of space, Attorney Ryan, how about we share some good news?
Ryan: That, we can do. If you have not made it through the detailed (and now widely cited) recent Forbes analysis of the Nutmeg’s State’s woes (“How Did Rich Connecticut Morph Into One Of America’s Worst Performing Economies?”), the good news is that there is a terse piece with other compelling (and depressing) details: “State Policies Block Prosperity” (Courant.com, Aug. 23).
If you want good political news, I guess you could say that Carlos Danger is not a candidate for office in Connecticut. Or if you need real good news, somehow the Yankees are still not out of the pennant race! (See what real management skills can accomplish?)
Fisher: Maybe we should start a petition drive to put Brian Cashman in charge of Connecticut.
John J. Ryan is of counsel to the Fairfield County law firm Russo & Assoc., and served 14 years as Darien and Rowayton’s state representative — and has been writing this column for Hersam Acorn even longer. Joshua Fisher, who has been the New Canaan Advertiser editor since 2012, has been an editor with Hersam Acorn Newspapers since 2003.