Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

Dodd’s Big Bang It is never too soon to begin celebrating the legacy of a departing U.S. Senator. U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, soon to be replaced in the beltway club by his clone, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, started to leave office on a bad foot, according to Richard Graziano, the publisher of the Hartford Courant, and the paper’s Opinion Editor, Carol Lumsden. But he has since recovered. In “Polishing His Legacy,” The Courant shines the apple of one of its favored politicians . “Mr. Dodd,” the Courant editorial blushingly confides, was untimely thrust “into the chairmanship of the Senate health committee due to the fatal illness of Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Mr. Dodd played an important role in the passage of landmark legislation that guarantees Americans nearly universal health care coverage and that many hope will begin to reduce costs. “As chairman of the Senate banking committee, Mr. Dodd was the principal architect of the upper chamber's version of the ...

Don’t Mess With Gombossy In Sunday’s edition, The Hartford Courant’s new Consumer Watchdog, George Gombossy , brings the president of Connecticut Light & Power, Raymond Necci, to heel – with a little help from the paper’s friends. CL&P has been unable to shed it’s arrogance as Connecticut’s former state supported energy monopoly. It could not be brought to admit that its meters might possibly malfunction and overcharge its customers. When several consumers complained to Gombossy that their meters appeared not to be working properly, Gombossy produced a front page story on the issue, the paper enlisted the help of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, and before you could say “You’re gonna get sued,” the president of CL&P was on his knees, begging for mercy. In yet another front page consumer column in Sunday’s edition, Gombossy pulls no punches. “CL&P and its parent company, Northeast Utilities,” he writes, “are under pressure from the state attorney general's office...