Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

Some commentators, "Morning Joe" among them, may have missed the snarling irony of the moment. Governor Dannel Malloy, a frequent guest on "Morning Joe," will soon approve the Democratic Party budget, the most progressive budget in state history and Connecticut’s second most expensive budget in state history. Mr. Malloy’s first budget, launched at a time when his state was caught in the toils of a malingering recession, was a tad more expensive. In passing, one may note that Connecticut, unlike all the other states in the union, still has not recovered the jobs lost in the crippling Bush/Obama recession. Is it not possible that businesses in and outside the state are reacting to Connecticut’s counterproductive progressive economic policies? Three of the state’s largest job providers – Travelers, Aetna and General Electric – seem to think so.