Socialism, Socialism! Or, How We’ve Gone Crazy

By JAMES LISKA

If I hear one more word about America becoming a socialist country, I will explode. Honestly. I am constantly amazed and frustrated at the people in this country who think that, as a result of President Obama’s leadership, we are transforming into a socialist country. I’ve met people personally who believe that the government is poised to take away their guns, redistribute their income, and force them all to convert to Islam. And these beliefs are not organic – they’re rumors and lies made legitimate by the talking heads.

It’s really shameful, the way these falsehoods have been ingrained in a certain segment of the population. I am certain that people like Rush Limbaugh are supporting these rumors. Rush has millions of listeners who are willing to believe anything he says. Case in point: I was having a discussion with a fellow citizen in my town about our local political scene. In the course of the discussion It was discovered that I was left-leaning, and to this discovery my interlocutor made some flippant comment about being afraid of a “certainly approaching” American socialism. At that moment I felt a twinge of sadness for this man, because he fell for the terrible propaganda hook, line, and sinker.

Furthermore, I am disappointed at the lack of understanding about what socialism actually is. Socialism, Stalinism, Marxism, communism, and Leninism are all totally different things. Can any average Joe tell the difference? Probably not. I’m sure Rush doesn’t know either. And I’m sure he doesn’t care. People like him to do not care about what they say, so long as it elicits a response. So, dear readers, don’t fall peril to lies and reactionary nonsense from either end of the political spectrum. Know what it is you are hearing, and know what it is you are saying if you choose to repeat it. Only this way can we combat ignorance, defeat rumors, and make our political discourse that much more honest.

Challenge the Future We Are Being Given

By DAN MALLOY

The internet is abuzz over what’s transpired at our state’s capitol in recent days. The legislative Democrats voted successfully to override Governor Rell’s veto of the SustiNet health care bill and six other pieces of legislation. Governor Rell vetoed a staggering 20 bills during this legislative session, many of which were bipartisan efforts.

It’s been two decades since Connecticut last saw so many vetoes

It’s been two decades since Connecticut last saw so many vetoes, and 35 years since so many were overturned in a single session. Even legislative Republicans were unhappy with some of the governor’s vetoes, casting a total of 89 votes to overturn them. It all just goes to show how out of touch Jodi Rell has become.

But the people of this state continue to inspire me as I explore my run for Governor

Behind all of the political maneuvering, beyond the stall tactics and the ongoing lack of leadership on the budget, it’s become clear that the voice of the citizens of Connecticut is no longer heard at the governor’s mansion. Who is advising Governor Rell on issues like health care? It’s certainly not the working families of Connecticut. As I travel across the state, I hear stories of the struggles that families are experiencing during these difficult times. Stories of challenge, courage, and capability that contrast so heavily with the political games Governor Rell has chosen to play.

These are the stories that have inspired me, and informed my thoughts as I continue to meet with many of you and explore a run for Governor. It has never been more obvious that the state of Connecticut is in need of a shift in leadership. We truly need change, and the sound of your voice is the single most powerful tool we have for bringing it about. As many of your voices have gone unheard in Hartford, I invite you to participate in our ongoing dialogue, and to share your stories, concerns, and hopes for a better Connecticut. To make change a reality, it is essential that we continue to communicate with one another in significant and meaningful ways.

Together, we can continue to push for a better Connecticut

Make no mistake, these are tough times for Connecticut. Yet we must stand together, and not sit idly by as the problems facing our state go unaddressed. Join our team at DanMalloy.com and become part of our ongoing efforts. Together, we can overcome adversity. Together, we can continue to push for a better Connecticut. Together, we WILL bring change to Hartford.

Progress on Health Care

By DAN MALLOY

Today, the Democrats in the State Senate and State House today voted to override Governor Rell’s veto of the SustiNet Bill (HB 6600), to which I issued this statement:

Democratic senators should be proud of what they accomplished today, and the people of Connecticut should be grateful to them – and, of course, to Democrats in the House. Their action on the SustiNet bill will make health care more affordable and accessible for many people in Connecticut, and they’ve helped put us on a path to universal health care. While it’s unfortunate that other health care vetos – such as those of the Pooling and Standard Wage bills – were not similarly overridden in the Senate, that failure rests squarely at the feet of the Governor.”

“The fact is, the Governor should’ve had the good sense to sign all of these bills instead of vetoing them. Time and again — almost without fail, whenever she’s given the choice – the Governor comes down on the side of special interests and against people who need health care. It’s disturbing, to say the least. I really do wonder who she and her staff are meeting with, talking to, and listening to when it comes to this issue. As I’ve said before, it sure isn’t the average person in Connecticut.”

“As I’ve traveled the state exploring a run for Governor, one of the issues I hear about most from just about everyone is health care. People who have it are having a hard time paying for it, and they’re worried about losing it. Owners of businesses of all sizes are getting killed by the costs, and then there are the people who are worst off: the ones who don’t have health care at all. When it comes to health care, Governor Rell has let the people of Connecticut down time and again.”

I encourage you to continue to look for further updates here at danmalloy.com

The Trillion Dollar Answer

By MICHAEL K. NORRIS

Let me get this straight: we have a popular president, 60 Senators – one of which used to write for Saturday Night Live - and a fat majority in the House of Representatives.  Yet somehow we might flat on our faces with health care reform.

 

The GOP couldn’t be luckier. They haven’t had to do anything new or innovative to rebut our arguments about how reform is necessary. Sure, we spend more and get less each and every year (the opposite of how a free market is supposed to work). Sure we have 46 million-plus people without insurance and one of every five people in an emergency room has no insurance. Sure, everyone has to navigate a maze of paperwork and voice mail trees just to be told their doctor’s visit won’t be covered because of a “pre-existing condition.”  But hey, a political victory is a political victory, and the strategy – that last worked in the early nineties – they are using is twofold:

 

1)      Dupe elected Democrats into believing the public doesn’t want health care reform (though many congressional Democrats were elected by promising to deliver health care reform).

 

2)      Scream that reform costs too much.

 

There is something we can do to combat step one and that is for you to call or write your representatives and tell them that you want health care reform. Then write a letter to the editor of a local paper explaining why you want health care reform. Then talk about health care reform with anyone and everyone. It’s too important to not discuss; especially with people who disagree with you about what this country needs.

 

Combating step 2 is pretty easy to think about when you get your mind right. Think of the scene in ‘Jaws’, when Richard Dreyfus wanted to take a photograph of the shark and Roy Scheider refused to stand on the gangplank in the foreground (“I need something in the foreground to give it some scale!” Dreyfus pleaded).

 

The GOP love using numbers that are big to scare people. The number we see in the press a lot is that health care reform is expected to cost $1 trillion over ten years.

 

That’s a big number. Until you remember that according to the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. had about $2.2 trillion in health care expenditures in 2007

Just one year. $1 trillion or even more over ten years is a comparative bargain, especially when you consider how much health care costs go up each year. And we already know most bankruptcies are linked with high medical bills, and when someone goes bankrupt there are a lot of negative affects that can’t be found in spreadsheets.

 

Not spending the money on reform is more expensive and dangerous than anything we’ve seen come out of congress so far this year, and that’s how we need to rebut complaints about the cost and keep from losing this debate once again.

Governor Rell, What Are You Thinking?

By DAN MALLOY

Today, the governor chose to veto two more very important bills on health care, the SustiNet and Pooling bills, after recently vetoing the standard wage and rescission bills.  I issued the following statement:

It’s stunning that at a time when the people of Connecticut are
looking to Hartford for help, our Governor has declared war on health
care by continuing to veto critical legislation passed by our
legislature.  Today, Governor Rell’s actions were wrong, and her
rationale for those actions was even worse.  It once again raises the
question – who is advising the Governor and her staff on health care?

“Unfortunately, what we’ve seen today is typical of Governor Rell’s
leadership style in Hartford.  She uses three excuses, none of which
are rational or good in vetoing these bills.  First, she claims that
these bills are too expensive, but the truth is we can’t afford not to
pass them – health care costs are killing us.  Then, the Governor says
we should set up another commission to study an issue that we have
studied to death for more years than I can remember.  If she is so
interested in studying this issue, why has it taken her years to do
it?  Third, the Governor says we should wait for Washington’s help.
While I’m thrilled President Obama and Democrats in Congress are
taking action on health care, since when has waiting for Washington
been a sound strategy on anything?

“I urge the legislature to override these vetoes, and once again do
the work that our Governor refuses to do.  Earlier this week I asked
the question of who is advising the Governor and her staff on health
care.  I’m asking it again today.  God knows it isn’t working families
or consumers.”

I hope you will join me in calling for the Governor to disclose her advisors on this issue, and give the citizens of Connecticut the health care initiatives they deserve.  Learn more and join the team at danmalloy.com.

Governor, Who’s Advising You on Health Care?

By DAN MALLOY

This morning, I issued this statement following the Governor’s health care vetoes.  I’d like to share it with you here:

In the wake of Gov. Rell’s vetoing of the Standard Wage and rescission bills, with two other important health care bills awaiting her signature or veto, and with her silence on Anthem BCBS’s proposed rate increases of as much as 32 percent, Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy, who is exploring a run for Governor, today questioned who is advising Gov. Rell on health care policy.  Likening it to the way the Bush Administration dealt with energy legislation, Malloy said the Governor should “come clean and tell the people of Connecticut who’s advising her on health care policy.”

 

“The Governor’s veto of the Standard Wage bill left a lot of people without health care, and it will end up costing taxpayers a lot of money,” said Malloy.  “And the Governor’s veto of the rescission bill will not prevent health insurers from rescinding individual policies in Connecticut.  Both of these decisions were wrong.

 

“In addition, her silence on the outrageous proposed rate increases by Anthem BCBS – as much as 32% — is deafening.

 

“With a growing sense that she may well veto two other important pieces of health care legislation – the SustiNet bill, and the pooling bill – it’s time for the Governor to come clean and tell the people of Connecticut who’s advising her on health care – and if it’s her staff, then who’s advising them?  God knows it’s not Connecticut’s working families.

 

“Many people couldn’t understand why the Bush Administration consistently came down on the side of energy companies at the expense of the environment and consumers…until the American people later found out that the energy companies were secretly meeting with Administration officials to exert their influence.  Is something similar going on here?  When it comes to health care, exactly whose side is the Governor on?

 

“The Governor owes the State of Connecticut an explanation.”

I encourage you to stay posted for updates and go to danmalloy.com to join our team in calling for better health care for all of Connecticut’s citizens.

Rule of Law

By JAMES LISKA

Something came to mind the other day when the North Korean government sentenced two American journalists to twelve years of “reform through labor” for an illegal border crossing. This use of a trumped-up charge to silence dissent is not unfamiliar to today’s world, case in point the jailing of an Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi in Iran. These instances demonstrated to me how disrespected the legal process is in many parts of the world. Saberi was jailed and sentenced to eight years in prison for espionage.  She was tried and convicted in a one-day, closed-door trial with no access to evidence. Initially she was charged with trying to buy a bottle of wine, a crime in Iran, but those charges were dropped in favor of holding her on “reporting without proper accreditation,” after that “espionage.”

What really frustrates me about cases like these is how lackadaisical the justice system is in these countries. These countries have no concept of an “open” trial, and like Saberi’s trial, many of them are closed to the public when desired. In Saberi’s case, she is a journalist operating without a license in a country that has an authoritarian and paranoid regime in power. Like the Communist countries of the past, Iran does not allow any dissenting points of view to be expressed. Ditto with North Korea. Thus, Saberi posed a serious problem for the Iranian government. Since she was not regulated, and thus did not meet their stamp of approval, she would be free to speak out. So this sort of thing only happens in backwater barren desert countries, right? Wrong. It can happen right here in America.

A few months ago, I attended a lecture at my college by James Yee. Yee was the US Army’s Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo before he was arrested and jailed for almost 3 months with no charges levied. Eventually, after the government could not provide any evidence of his wrongdoing, he was released. Yee alleges that he was targeted by his former commanders – who called him,  behind his back, a “Chinese Taliban” – invented a charge of mishandling classified materials to send him to prison. According to Yee, this was to get back at him for advising his superiors against torture at Guantanamo. Yee was held as a pursuant to the USA Patriot Act, which is the United States’ version of a gray-area legal doctrine. My thoughts on the Patriot Act aside, Yee was held as an “enemy combatant.”

So, then, what is the grand meaning? Countries like Iran, just like many other countries in history, have clearly found ways of suppressing dissent by misuse of the legal system. In effect, there may as well be no legal system at all. Sham trials, forced convictions and trumped up charges all speak to a clear lack of respect for the legal system. This is setting a dangerous precedent, and we all need to speak out about it. Every country needs safeguards to prevent those innocent from being  imprisoned or charged without any evidence, trial, or reason. Yee sat in a Navy brig for over 70 days without being charged – and for what?  Because he was Chinese? Both these cases really represent a  serious miscarriage of justice. I suppose those in power will do anything to stay that way, and deal with any threat to that power – by legal means or otherwise.

This won’t hurt a…YEEEOOOOUCCH!

By MICHAEL K. NORRIS

The other day I read an article in the Stamford Advocate, Rell Train and Bus Fare Hikes Draw Fire (on the print paper, the headline could be read in the newspaper box from across a street). The story details the proposal by Governor Rell to, well, jack up train/bus fares to help cover a deficit. 

If it weren’t June, I’d think it was an April Fools joke.

There are times when politicians think a rise in this little fee or that little tax will provide what they think is a little pain to just a small group of people, but there are times, particularly now, they end up inflicting a lot of pain to everyone without taxpayers knowing it and without politicians acknowledging it. 

We’ve all been through this before. With transportation, all the pieces matter, and touching one part affects all the others. Make a bus or train harder to choose and driving may end up the choice.  When I ride my bike instead of drive, motorists benefit by having one less car on the road. And you want that. I drive slow. Also, when I bike, bus, or walk, there’s an extra parking spot for you to pick from when you get to where you want to go. And you want that. My car isn’t small. 

It’s unfortunate that Metro North Railroad had a deficit, but the train benefits more than just the people who take it. Keeping the fares reasonable, as Jim Cameron and State Sen. Bob Duff said in the article, takes pressure off the rest of the transportation infrastructure; and there are long term benefits to making the train and bus option easier for people to choose, even if some who don’t use the train or bus whine about the cost to the state (which is a pittance when measured up against what we’re spending on roads; some of which I have no intention of driving on but my taxes help pay for anyway).

Never plan to use the train or bus, ever? Happy with your car and your car alone? Well, get ready to welcome some new faces on your morning, noon and night commute. One will always drive the car in front of you that refuses to run the yellow light that precedes The Long Red. Get ready to allow more time in stop and go traffic; I recommend you make friends with a trustworthy brake mechanic. Get ready to spend more time looking for a parking space and brush up on your sign language/miming skills (Are you. Leaving. That space? No???). Exercise your middle finger so it won’t get sore from overuse. Time in your car will eat into your time at home as you allow more minutes getting to and from everything. And here’s the best part: get ready to did deeper into your wallet. More cars on the road means more demand on gasoline, and that’ll cost far more than the suggested penny-per-gallon gas tax increase that was proposed as an alternative to raising bus and train ticket prices. 

When you’re faced with all of these inconveniences, think of how nice it would be to have a governor that sees the entire transportation picture rather than one who doesn’t. I’ll see you at the next red light; be sure not to block the box.

Cans for CT: A Memorial Day Update

By DAN MALLOY

Last week, Team Dan Malloy for Connecticut created ”Cans for Connecticut,” a partnership with the Connecticut Food Bank that raises funds to help our communities’ neediest put food on their tables.  We launched the drive with a significant goal of $5,000 by June 1, and with your help, I’m proud to announce that we shot past our goal and raised an incredible nine thousand dollars in less than one week!

But we can do even better.  With a week to go until June 1, I am asking you to open your heart and your wallet and give back to those who need our help the most.  It is especially fitting to see such an outpouring of kindness and good will as we celebrate Memorial Day and commemorate our veterans, the brave men and women who are the ultimate embodiment of community service.  Veterans who serve our country give of themselves so that we have the freedom we’re fortunate to enjoy today and it’s our duty to honor them by living by their example.

It’s with heartfelt gratitude that I thank you for your continued support of this cause.  Click here to make a donation to Cans for Connecticut.

On this Memorial Day, I encourage you to reflect upon the sons and daughters from our community who are no longer with us, and offer thanks for their commitment and the enormous sacrifices they have made on our behalf.  Thank you to veterans throughout the ages, and especially for those still in harms way fighting wars today.  May God bless them and bring them home quickly and safely!

Cans for Connecticut

By DAN MALLOY

“Leave the world a better place for your having lived in it.” When I was growing up, that’s what my mother told me nearly every day.

Today, I’m inviting you to join me in doing just that. With tens of thousands of Connecticut residents out of work and local food banks reporting increases in need as high as 20 percent over the past few months, the need for Connecticut residents to band together and help each other is greater than ever. Our responsibility to make sure that the most basic needs of those who desperately need our help is at once more difficult, and yet increasingly more important.

So this week, Team Dan Malloy for Connecticut has formed a partnership with the Connecticut Food Bank and Connecticut Food share to create “Cans for Connecticut”, a virtual food drive that will help feed the hungry in all 8 counties in our state- with the goal of raising $5,000 in food by June 1st.

By simply clicking on the link you can quickly and easily make your contribution today. In doing so, you’ll be helping to put a healthy meal on the plates of people across our state – people who are struggling to pay their mortgages, keep their health care and pay their bills. Even the smallest amount can make a difference — just one dollar provides three meals and the five dollars you might use to buy lunch today can be used instead to buy 17 meals to feed the needy. 

If each of us makes a small contribution, together we’ll deliver a big result.  Please, take a moment and contribute today.