Look at the economy, stupid!

Everyone surely recalls a presidential contender who's mantra was;
"It's the economy, stupid!"

Remember that?


Good - get a load of this, because like him or not - this guy delivers:




Job Creation Continues – More Than 8.2 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003

June 2007 Marks 46th Consecutive Month Of Job Growth



Today, The Bureau Of Labor Statistics Released New Jobs Figures – 132,000 Jobs Created In June. Since August 2003, more than 8.2 million jobs have been created, with more than 2 million jobs created over the twelve months ending in June. Our economy has now added jobs for 46 straight months, and the unemployment rate remains low at 4.5 percent.

Americans Are Working And Taking Home More Pay


Real After-Tax Per Capita Personal Income Has Risen By 9.9 Percent – Nearly $3,000 Per Person – Since President Bush Took Office.


Real Wages Rose 1.1 Percent Over The 12 Months Ending In May. This is faster than the average rate during the 1990s, and it means an extra $729 in the past year for the typical family with two wage earners.


The Economy Has Now Experienced Over Five Years Of Uninterrupted Growth, Averaging 2.9 Percent A Year Since 2001. Real GDP grew a strong 3.1 percent in 2006.


Since The First Quarter Of 2001, Productivity Growth Has Averaged 2.8 Percent. This is well above average productivity growth in the 1990s, 1980s, and 1970s.


Purchasing Managers Reported Manufacturing Expansion For The Fifth Consecutive Month In June. The Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index rose to 56 in June.

The President's Agenda Will Help Keep America 's Economy Strong, Flexible, And Dynamic



President Bush's FY 2008 Budget Lays Out A Detailed Plan To Balance The Budget By 2012 While Keeping Taxes Low. Tax and spend is no way to balance the budget. The President's Budget keeps annual spending under control and addresses our long-term budgetary challenge – the unsustainable growth in entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security.



Strong Economic Growth Has Helped Produce Record Levels Of Tax Revenue, Which Is Helping Reduce The Federal Deficit And Meet Our Goal Of A Balanced Budget. Record tax revenues helped us reach the President's goal of cutting the deficit in half three years ahead of schedule. Receipts have increased nearly 35 percent since the tax relief was fully implemented in 2003, and the deficit has declined by $165 billion in the last two years.


The President Will Veto Appropriations Bills That Threaten Deficit Reduction With Overspending. The Administration supports responsible spending to achieve the goal of a balanced budget by 2012.


President Bush Has Called On Congress To Pass Legislation To Achieve His "Twenty In Ten" Goal To Reduce U.S. Gasoline Consumption By 20 Percent Over 10 Years. President Bush commends Congress for considering legislation to help bring America closer to meeting his "Twenty In Ten" goal, and challenges them to take a bolder approach to strengthen America's energy security. Achieving this goal will benefit the economy, national security, and the environment.


President Bush Has Called On Congress To Help Keep America Competitive In The 21st Century By Reauthorizing And Strengthening The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act This Year. NCLB is working – during the most recent five-year period on record, the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows nine-year-olds made more progress in reading than they did in the previous 28 years combined. Strengthening NCLB will help ensure that all children graduate high school ready for college and the global economy, will better help struggling schools, and will empower parents with more choices.

Cleone Campbell Post Hageman

Much of my political perspective is due to this woman.



April 29, 1921 - June 17, 2007

Cleone Campbell Post Hageman passed peacefully, Sunday June 17, 2007 at the age of 86 in Southington, CT.
Born April 29, 1921 in Albany, NY Cleone was the eldest daughter of Cleone (Rich) and C. W. Post. She was predeceased by both her brothers Benjamin F. and Richard Post and sister Nancy M. Lange.

Cleone graduated from Albany Academy for Girls and continued her studies at Alfred University in New York State. At Alfred, Cleone studied Ceramic Art. It was there where she met and married L. Coulson Hageman, in 1942. The couple was happily married for 47 years until Coulson passed in 1989.
During those 47 years Cleone and Coulson lived in the Berkshires, Cape Cod, Ohio, Pennsylvania and for many decades in Colorado.

Cleone was a trained artist who had a love for creating, and invested her talents into landscape design and custom home projects. In the Denver metro market, she enjoyed a career as well in retail sportswear where she excelled. Cleone was a member of both the DAR and the Society of Mayflower Descendants.

In 2004 Cleone relocated to Southington, CT to share more time with her family.
Cleone is survived by her children: Douglas C. Hageman (Gail) of Southington CT and namesake, Cleone C. H. Johns of Las Vegas NV, and was predeceased by daughter Nancy S. Flibotte. (Donald R.) She is also survived by grandchildren Christine Bullard (Jay), Susanna Petrovich (Timothy), Mark Johns, Coulson Hageman and two great-grandchildren, Katrina, Luke Petrovich, and daughter-in-law Carol Hageman, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Cleone will be missed by all who had the pleasure to know and love her.

A memorial service is scheduled in Berlin, CT at Bethany Covenant Church at 11:00 o‘clock on Saturday, June 30. The family will receive friends at 10:00 at the church.

Interment will be in Hyannis Mass at a private ceremony. In lieu of flowers, friends may donate in her memory to the Bethany Covenant Church Scholarship Fund or Friendship #33 AF & AM (Freemasons) in Southington, CT

The family wishes to extend their deepest and heartfelt thanks to the caregivers at Farmington Care Nursing Home for the splendid care and attention provided to Cleone for the past year.

Healy Shows Backbone

In a recent Hartford Business Journal article, Dean Pagani writes that, “Chris Healy may be on the verge of doing something no one else has done in almost twenty years: Make the job of state party chairman relevant”. The revelation comes as a great surprise to some who doubted Healy when he ascended to the post in January, but as each day passes it becomes increasingly undeniable. Other Chairmen have served ably – Chris Healy has been superb.



Long known as a bomb-throwing backbencher in the Republican State Central Committee, Healy’s path to leadership has been a long arc marked by challenges to the status quo and ardent loyalty to fellow party members, punctuated by the perpetual whispers about his alcohol consumption and his penchant for a fight. Chris quarterbacked the Dole Campaign in Connecticut in ’96 even though the conclusion seemed forgone. He was the lead on the McCain Campaign in 2000 and bucked the national trend by delivering the state to McCain despite George W. Bush’s familial roots in Connecticut . And he helped Sebastian Giuliano become a Republican Mayor in Middletown – a phrase that few had ever uttered before 2005.



2006 was a year in which all of the pundits lined up and said that Republicans in Congress were going to be buried beneath a Democratic “wave” of backlash against corruption, Iraq , and out-of-control spending. Despite this sentiment, Healy took on the race of Congressman Rob Simmons, a perennial Democrat target in a fickle district comprised almost entirely of “backwater” Connecticut . With an Irish diligence, Chris guided the Simmons campaign to even on Election Day – in a year in which almost no targeted Republican kept their seat, Simmons lost an election in which 242,000 ballots were cast by 83 votes. Some people will pass harsh judgment and call it a failure. I call it respectable.



With the burn of the narrow loss still painful, it became clear that the Party was going to need a new leader as George Gallo moved on to other things. The Governor lobbied hard to keep Gallo in place – and then as Healy showed some interest in the job, she lobbied to keep him out of it. As the overwhelming will of the committee became apparent, Rell joined him because she couldn’t beat him.



And now Chris Healy has gotten himself in trouble – the recovering alcoholic’s worst nightmare – a relapse and arrest for driving under the influence. To his credit, he didn’t protest, he didn’t attempt to wear his position as a shield; he didn’t shirk from the responsibility that he must bear – for himself. He stood before the members of the State Central Committee and in faith and honesty laid out the situation for people, and answered any questioner’s query. He has nothing to hide. In the world of politics, in which so much time and energy is wasted on the ignoble maintenance of fool’s pride, Healy came clean. He probably could have covered it up – Lord knows there are only two weeks until the Chairman’s election – and he could have gotten away with it. But he chose not to do so. The scrutiny of Chris should be severe – and all should reiterate that driving under the influence of alcohol is a danger to everyone in society. But we need also remember that preaching accountability and responsibility means that you have to be responsible and accountable. The Chairman of the Connecticut Republicans has done that. And Republicans across Connecticut should stick with him because of it.

Governor Rell Signs Energy Bill

Governor Rell Signs Energy Bill But Strikes

Two Appropriations Sections Using Line-Item Veto



Governor Says Eliminated Sections Violate Constitutional Spending Cap



Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced she is signing into law House Bill 7432, An Act Concerning Electricity and Energy Efficiency, but will exercise her line-item veto to remove two sections making appropriations that are not permitted by law.



Specifically, Governor Rell said she was using the line-item veto – granted under Article IV, Section 16 of the Connecticut Constitution – to remove Sections 126 and 128 of the bill. Both sections make appropriations in the current fiscal year that would push state spending well above the limit set by the constitutional spending cap. In addition, the Governor said, it is unwise public policy to make such large appropriations on a bill-by-bill basis, especially without a comprehensive budget agreement for the next two years.



“While House Bill 7432 does little to offer immediate relief to the struggling ratepayers of Connecticut, it will make a number of substantial and beneficial changes to our long-term energy policy,” Governor Rell said. “The sections I have vetoed would appropriate $100 million in the current fiscal year – more than enough to push state spending this year well over the cap. Under law, exceeding the cap requires a declaration of fiscal emergency by the Governor – a declaration that I was not asked to sign and that I am not willing to issue at this time, especially since the bill brings no immediate or emergency relief to ratepayers.



“There are also a number of nettlesome provisions and drafting errors in the bill that cause me concern,” the Governor said. “Some deal with how bond money is distributed among state agencies; others deal with oversight of energy projects and sales tax exemption drafting errors. I want to note these reservations and encourage the Legislature to deal with them in separate legislation during the remaining days of the session. But it has taken two years to develop and pass this legislation and I have no desire to veto the entire bill because of these problem areas.”



Section 126 would have appropriated $95 million to buy back bonds and help restore the funding balances in the Renewable Energy Investment and the Energy Conservation and Load Management funds. Both funds have been tapped in the past to help balance state budgets, depleting the balances in both accounts.



“Replenishing these funds is a worthy goal, and in fact I recommended doing so in my February 7 budget,” Governor Rell said. “But it cannot be done through the means contained in this bill.”



Section 128 would have appropriated $2.5 million for a one-time program to help people who have high outstanding utility bill balances pay off those debts. The section would also have appropriated a total of $2.5 million to help fund and expand Operation Fuel Inc.



“While I am a long-time supporter of Operation Fuel and believe the goals of the bill are laudable, here again the method is unacceptable,” the Governor said. “These goals should be achieved in the framework of an overall budget agreement that spells out the handling of the current year’s surplus and the spending plan for the next two years.”



Among the remaining issues Governor Rell would like to see addressed are provisions in Sections 10 and 78 that would make the Institute for Sustainable Energy responsible for setting a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) exemption applicable to state and commercial buildings. That decision should be made by the Executive Branch rather than an academic institution, the Governor said.



Other provisions that need attention, the Governor said, include sections that allocate bond funds to the Department of Public Utility Control rather than the Office of Policy and Management; the creation in Section 101 of an unnecessarily cumbersome process for undertaking energy projects in state buildings; and effective dates for sales tax exemptions that should be July 1 rather than June 1.



“I am very hopeful that the General Assembly will be willing to work with my Administration to address the remaining concerns about this well-intentioned legislation,” Governor Rell said. “That is why, in addition to sending my signing message to the Secretary of the State, I am writing to all members of the General Assembly explaining my actions and calling on them to do just that before the session ends on Wednesday.”

Pond Scum calls for ethical reform???

U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy spearheaded an effort by freshman representatives Wednesday to call for an independent and bipartisan ethics panel to investigate complaints against lawmakers.
"Clearly the Ethics Committee that Congress has today doesn't work," said Murphy, D-5th Dist. "The process that's in place right now requires congressional members to investigate their friends and colleagues.

"It's time for a change. The voters sent me here to drain down the swamp that's become Washington, D.C. That's what I intend to do."

Murphy is calling for an independent panel, made up of members of the public, that could initiate and investigate complaints made against members of Congress.




Murphy and ethics in the same sentence?

Bizarre.

This is the Murphy that did a dog and pony show at a chamber of commerce breakfast held in a hospital cafeteria who went on and on about malpractice insurance; received oodles of cash from the doctors that attended and even more from their friends that they all dutifully called and then voted against any sort of relief for them?

A viper who so incensed the medical community that a non-political 70 year old OB Gyn took the day off to work the polls for Murphy’s opponent?
(1st time in his life he ever donated to a politician was to Murphy)

That Chris Murphy??

This is the guy that spread around that the incumbents son was terminal and the incumbents wife had lost it and was “up at the institute” having had a breakdown over her child’s illness and that the incumbent was in no position to serve? (None of it was true, that man’s son is receiving his Eagle Scout Award this Sunday, thank you very much)

That Chris Murphy???

Ethics and Chris Murphy in the same sentence is simply impossible.

The guy makes Billy Sol Estes look like Diogones.

Fred Thompson to keynote Bush Dinner

May 24th


Reserve your tickets now!

100 Days of Broken Promises

This in from Connecticut Republican Party Chairman, Chris Healy



100 days ago, the Democrats took control of the House and Senate promising real change in Washington and real results for the American people.

100 days later, we're still waiting.

They promised legislation, not investigation -- But they're so intent on going after Republicans that they're spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on outside investigators to make sure no score goes unsettled.

They promised that Congress would be in Washington working every week from Monday until Friday, just like the American people do -- But three months later, the five-day work week has fallen completely by the wayside.

They promised real results for the American people -- But 100 days later, the Democrat leadership has not managed to send a single one of Nancy Pelosi's self-identified 'legislative priorities' to the President's desk.

They promised to be as strong as Republicans in the War on Terror -- But three months after they came to power, they decided the war didn't even exist, instructing their staff members never to use the phrase "Global War on Terror."

They promised an end to pork-barrel projects -- But three months later, they tacked $21 billion in earmarks - including spinach subsidies, support for peanut farmers, and $16 million for additional office space for the House of Representatives - onto a bill that was supposed to provide emergency funding for our men and women in uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan .

Unfortunately, there are some promises the Democrats did keep.

They ran for office promising to force a retreat from Iraq , and that is precisely what they are attempting to do.

Their version of the emergency war spending bill includes a provision that would force U.S. troops to begin retreating from Iraq regardless of the situation on the ground.

The President promised to veto any bill that would force a retreat before Iraq is stable, but he never even got the chance, because the House and Senate fled Washington for their Spring Break without passing a final bill.

Our generals on the ground have made it clear that time and money are running out - as of April 15, the Pentagon will have to begin cutting back on equipment repair and training if the Democrats don't do their duty.

Our troops deserve and need that support, and soon.

They promised to raise your taxes, and they're doing exactly that.

As we approach Tax Day, the Democrats are pushing through budget plans to raise taxes by $400 billion - the largest tax increase in our nation's history.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the Democrat plan would raise taxes by:

- More than $2,700 per year on 48 million married couples.

- More than $2,000 per year on 17 million seniors.

- Almost $2,000 per year on 84 million women.


Who needs that money more - the government, or the hard-working people who earned it?