Ken Dixon's Blog-O-Rama

Tuesday April 14, 2009

The Judiciary Committee this morning overwhelmingly approved a bill that would require towns and cities to seize vehicles involved in illegal street racing. Under the legislation, which next heads to the House, the offenders’ vehicles would be seized for 30 days and the owners would be charged for all towing and storage costs, plus bus fare for the four weeks that the alleged knuckleheads would be on foot.

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Tuesday April 14, 2009

Yesterday’s news about Joe “I Will Be Fully Vindicated” Ganim trying yet another legal maneuver to get out from under his federal corruption sentence, reminded the Blogster that we haven’t checked up on another crooked Bridgeport ex-pol.
Ernie “I’m The Moses of My People” Newton, 53, ensconced on his own corruption charges, is in the lower-security men’s camp at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. His projected release date is August 13, 2010, nearly a year ahead of Ganim.

Monday April 13, 2009

The Blogster knows it’s early, so he won’t make fun of the $129,675 Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy raised in February and March, in his exploratory steps to run for governor again.
The first-quarter fundraising report he filed today with the State Elections Enforcement Commission is the first step in a long march, if the mayor wants to do this all over again four years after losing to New Haven John DeStefano in the 2006 Democratic primary.
Malloy’s campaign said 509 people contributed during the first eight-week effort.
“We’re excited that we exceeded our goal for this fundraising period, but much more importantly we are energized by the support demonstrated by these contributions,” Malloy said in a statement.

Monday April 13, 2009

The Hamden-based Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance says that the legislative Democrat’s budget, which includes proposed higher taxes on the wealthy, is fiscally responsible and keeps commitments made to children and families.
“The Democrats’ proposal shows that including 16-year-olds in the juvenile justice system can be done with minimal impact on the state’s budget,” The alliance said in a statement.
“Governor Rell signed Raise the Age into law in 2007 and said that her proposal to delay implementation was based on financial considerations alone. Likewise, all arguments against the bill have centered on cost — not on any philosophical objection to treating minors as juveniles, which is already the practice in 47 other states.”
The bill recently passed by the Judiciary Committee would raise the age that juveniles are treated as adults in the criminal justice system to 17 next January and 18 on January 1, 2012.
“Even in hard times, it is essential to invest in our state’s future,” the coalition said. “Each non-violent minor diverted from the adult system is far less likely to sink into a long-term criminal career and far more likely to become a productive and tax-paying citizen.”

For more information about Raise the Age and Family Support Centers, visit: www.sayyesct.org.

Wednesday April 8, 2009

You can tell Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch misses the Capitol, where he once was called “senator” and now is called many unprintable things as he glides in the cockpit of his city’s fiscal calamity on a wing and a prayer.
Finch may have been the highlight of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities’ news conference this afternoon.
Finch:
“You know what I found out when I got elected? My job is to redistribute income backwards.I take it from people who make $36,000, a year, who have no health care, who barely can hang on to their home. I have thousands of foreclosures when this tsunami is done hitting me and they pay for people not to work on retirement for twice their income. I’m kind of a liberal guy. I don’t like taking from people who have $36,000 a year income and giving it to people who aren’t even working who have health care at twice the money. It’s a shock when you become the mayor of a Connecticut city, especially Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport because there’s no there there.What do you do? You tell me. I’m open to all ideas.
.Reporter:
“Do you think alot of people up here just don’t get it until they get into your shoes?”
Finch: “I didn’t.”
Cue the laughter and applause.

April 7, 2009

It’s not going to happen this year, but eventually, the General Assembly could make it legal to hold house lotteries for homeowners to get rid of their dwellings. Say your house is worth $500,000, but you can’ find anyone to buy it. Under this law, you could sell, say 500 tickets at $1,000 a pop and the winner presumably not your sister- takes the property.
The Legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee this afternoon narroiwly approved a bill that would create a task force to study the issue.Rep. Steve Dargan, D-West Haven, co-chairman of the committee, voted against it. The bill next moves to the House.
“I’m not too fond of it,” Dargan said, adding that Democratic leadership is frowning this year on the formation of new task forces.He’s worried about the potential for fraud, such as the case where a homeowner would sell only a few tickets and would be tempted to abscond with the money.
“It brings up a number of questions,” Dargan said. “I just think it’s a bad direction to go for the state.” He said only one state allows such lotteries and if a Connecticut lawmaker wanted to look at it and come back with proposed legislation, it would be fine with him.
Rep. Penny Bacchiochi, R-Somers, a member of the committee, said the issue was brought to her by a constituent.
“Because of the real-estate market people are looking for ways to think outside of the box,” she said. “I don’t know that this can work for some troubled homeowners, but they deserve some help from the General Assembly. We need that in this economy.”
Rep. Jason Perillo, R-Shelton, a member of the committee, said it could be a good idea. “People are having a hard time selling their homes,” he said in an interview. “It could be a solution, if we can see this intellectually as something that makes sense.”

Monday April 6, 2009

Today was the deadline for the Democratic co-chairmen of the Appropriations Committee to come up with $220 million in “sweeps” among state agency budgets that could have money to raid and offset the current billion-dollar deficit. Well, the work day’s over and no word on the money that a few weeks ago, Speaker of the House Chris Donovan, D-Meriden, likened to change found in one’s couch cushions.
So can majority Democrats deliver, or are they just cock-eyed optimists?

Friday April 3, 2009

And the reaction to yesterday’s post on political operative Roy Occhiogrosso has resulted in extensive nit picking along the Memory Lane of Blog-o-rama readers.
Roy was the adviser for Barbara Kennelly when she was steamrolled by John “Why Should I Resign If I’ve Done Nothing Wrong?” Rowland in the 1998 gubernatorial race.
Still, just because Occhiogrosso’s advising stricken Sen. Chris Dodd, doesn’t mean the GOP will come up with someone who can unseat him, even with that snake’s belly-low 33-per approval rating exposed in yesterday’s Q Poll.