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.

1%

By MICHAEL K. NORRIS

Last fall, I visited Houston, Texas. My wife and I did not rent a car and walked in the cooperative weather or took the delightful light rail system as far as it would go. At one store, we agreed that we wanted to go to another that was less than two miles away, but we didn’t know how to get there. We asked a clerk for directions, and five seconds into her response (her first or second use of the term, ‘U-turn’) we realized she assumed we were driving. My wife told her we were going on foot, and the clerk just couldn’t follow.

 “It’s less than two miles, isn’t it?”

“It’s less than two miles, but it’s not walking distance,” said the clerk.

“But wait, we’re walking there,” my wife said again. “We just need to know what streets we should walk down.”

“It’s not walking distance.”

My wife, who lived in New York City for several years and never owned a car, went through it again.

“But you said it was less than two miles!”

“It is, but it’s not walking distance.”

Eventually, we got it straightened out, and laughed about it as we walked to our destination. It wasn’t the clerk’s fault she couldn’t understand why we didn’t have a car. Some towns and cities have the automotive infrastructure so firmly in place (on both the landscape and on the mindset) other means of transit don’t occur to them. When I lived in rural New Hampshire and wanted to buy groceries or see a movie, I knew had to drive my car 2 miles and 20 miles, respectively. Walking to the grocery store along a busy road that didn’t have a sidewalk never occurred to me.

Five years of living in Stamford (the first city I ever lived in) I think I’m finally starting to get it. I have a 3,200 pound SUV, a 35 pound bicycle, and a pair of sneakers too light to weigh. I have a ten-trip Metro North ticket in my wallet with three trips left, and a MTA card that may or may not have another NYC subway ride left on it. On the back of that card is the following: “Every full rail car keeps 75 to 125 cars off the road.”

I care about a good automotive infrastructure as much as the next motorist, but I’m more interested in getting from one place to another as safely and conveniently as I can. That kind of mentality, that there are plenty of ways to get around that need to be supported, was reflected yesterday by a bill passed by the Appropriations Committee that would require cities and towns to set aside 1% of road funds to improve bicycle and pedestrian access. The Stamford Advocate covered the story.

I hope a bill that’s as forward-thinking and sensible as this one makes it through. Giving people choices to get to their destinations and back again will give this state a great return on what is truly a tiny investment.

Education Comes First

By DAN MALLOY

This past weekend, I spoke to the Connecticut Education Association conference about the present challenges and future goals for education in Connecticut.

Please take a few moments to watch the video:

Especially in times of economic difficulties, we must not turn our backs on one of our communities’ hardest working and often under appreciated groups- our teachers.  Now, more than ever we must invest in education to ensure the success of future generations.  Our children deserve nothing less.

The challenges facing our state are too great to ignore, and the journey to build a new and better Connecticut is just beginning. I ask you to join our team as we work together to spark an important dialogue and get the job done.

If Only Heart Disease Made Good Television

By MICHAEL K. NORRIS

Well, the media got its wish today: the first death in the U.S. attributed to swine flu. I say ‘wish’ because I couldn’t help noticing a story yesterday covering an interview with Dr. Richard Besser, acting director for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. He said that U.S. deaths from swine flu would be likely. Because of what he said, the words “deaths likely” was splashed on headlines across the country.

This is one of those times I can’t help admiring the media in a Lex Luthor sort of way. It’s not that they’re lying or being evil, but they’re cherry-picking information to make a story scarier. Case in point: Dr. Besser said in that same interview the ordinary flu kills about 36,000 people annually in the U.S., but that stat didn’t find its way into nearly as many headlines as ‘deaths likely.’

Speaking of death, according to more statistics from the Centers for Disease Control 2,448,017 people died in this country in 2005. The most common cause: heart disease, which took the lives of 652,091 people that year. Swine flu has taken, well, far fewer, but you wouldn’t know it by the current coverage.

Can you imagine if heart disease inspired the same kind of fear swine flu does? We’d be banning red meat less than 99.9% lean, setting fire to the headquarters of cigarette companies, and making all Americans pay a certain share of their taxes in sit-ups. Instead of seeing people walking around in face masks, we’d see them jogging in place with free weights at shoulder level.

Government leaders and agencies do have a responsibility to prepare for dangerous outbreaks, and while citizens can prepare too (i.e., washing hands with hot, soapy water) it’s just as important to keep a proper perspective and separate fact from what-sells-newspapers.

Earth Day

By DAN MALLOY

Tomorrow, I will leave my car in the driveway and ride my bike to work.   It’s only three miles, but along with the thousands of other people walking, biking, carpooling or taking energy efficient modes of transportation to work on Earth Day, it’s a small way we can make a point about going the extra mile for the environment. 

Earth Day gives us a chance to reflect on how much we’ve been able to accomplish together, how much more there is to do, and how important it is to continue to make the ultimate investment in our children’s future by protecting the planet.  Too often, environmental initiatives can fall by the wayside during an economic downturn and unfortunately we’ve seen funding for environmental protection diminish over the past few months.

In Stamford, we make every effort to ensure that the environment remains a top priority in the long term  without compromising fiscal responsibility by looking for ways to make our community more environmentally friendly without adding extra cost.  For example, as part of a comprehensive environmental plan for the city called “Stamford Cool & Green 2020,” we implemented over 70 energy efficient projects within existing buildings and new construction, investments that save millions of dollars in energy costs in the long term and most important –reduces our dependence on an overtaxed grid.

Let’s take the opportunity on this Earth Day to make at least one change in our lives that will help pass along a clean and green legacy for generations to come.  From investing in energy efficient light bulbs to conserving water to forming an office carpool, your contribution can help make the planet- and your wallet- a bit greener. 

Happy Earth Day!