The Big Bang
or The Pain is All in Your Head
There are some things that would only make sense if we lived in a vacuum; that is, if we lived in an environment with no sources of information at all — no print, broadcast, or electronic media. And there are some things that are even more sad and disarming than they have to be because we don’t live in any such environment. Here are just three pieces of evidence to demonstrate we don’t live in a vacuum and to indicate just how sad and disarming these circumstances are:
Exhibit A: “Eversource to seek 11% rate hike in CT” …
Eversource announced its intention to seek a $503 million rate increase from its electric customers in Connecticut … The proposed rate hike … would increase customer bills on average by about 11% across all customer classes … PURA [Public Utilities Regulatory Authority] will review the company’s finances and spending to determine whether the requested rates are in the public’s interest.
I can save them some time. Even without reviewing the company’s finances and spending, I can tell them right now: It’s not in the public’s interest. But just when you think things can’t get worse, they do:
Exhibit B: “Lamont skewers Eversource rate hike plan, but his control is limited”:
Gov. Ned Lamont unleashed a scathing critique of Eversource officials … accusing the company of leaning on its customers to fund generous executive pay and higher profits for its shareholders … more than at any point in during his eight years in office, Lamont has little ability to influence the outcome of the company’s case … PURA had been dominated by Lamont’s former ally and chair, Marissa Gillett, along with other two other members serving at the pleasure of the governor … The message also comes as Lamont, who is seeking reelection for a third term in November, faces pressure from both sides of the aisle to provide relief from high energy prices. Connecticut currently ranks fourth-highest out of all states in average cost of electricity, behind Hawaii, California and Maine.
In other words, to mix my avian metaphors, Uncle Ned is a lame duck with no teeth. And to cap things off (except Connecticut’s utility prices), there’s this:
Exhibit C: “Surging gas prices shine spotlight on CT’s fuel taxes”. This one is particularly brutal because it’s being done deliberately as a matter of policy:
Connecticut motorists are paying some of the highest gasoline prices in the nation … Many motorists here are familiar with the state’s 25-cents-per-gallon retail gasoline tax. But few are aware Connecticut already has taxed that fuel once before: when a distributor delivers it to the local station. The state imposes an 8.1% tax on that wholesale transaction, and a government-approved surcharge effectively boosts that rate to 8.81% … The average wholesale price at the terminal in New Haven harbor, the single-largest fuel-importing site in Connecticut, closed at $3.57 per gallon Tuesday evening, according to the marketers’ association. If fuel were sold to a local station at that price, that would translate into a 31.4 cents-per-gallon wholesale tax. Station owners long have acknowledged they pass all that burden onto motorists, who already pay state and federal excise levies of $0.25 and $0.184 per gallon, respectively … Citing data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Nerdwallet.com ranked Connecticut sixth-highest among states for gasoline taxes in 2025 … Connecticut’s gasoline stations say the wholesale tax itself is fundamentally unfair.
To put it plainly, trying to live in Connecticut is like trying to win against marked decks, loaded dice, and slot machines with weighted wheels.
For Whom the Toll Tolls
I’m not going to put myself through the frustrating and pointless exercise of calling my representatives. 🙄 And I’m reasonably certain none of them will be calling me. Nevertheless, out of the goodness of my Irish heart, I’m going to suggest a remedy for the fiscal fiasco in which Uncle Ned and his Democrat cronies have buried this fair state, its residents, and its hapless voters.
Between 1983 and 1989, Connecticut removed tolls from all if its roads and bridges. That followed an accident on January 19, 1983, at the Stratford toll plaza in I-95. (I won’t blame you for thinking I made any of this up. I didn’t.) Charles L. Kluttz, the driver of a tractor-trailer truck carrying sweet potatoes, veered into a cars-only exact-change lane, slammed into three cars at high speed, which caused a massive fire and an explosion. Seven people died, all women and children. Several more were injured. And the cars were incinerated.
While 35 states still have some form of toll roads, bridges, tunnels, or express lanes, there are no toll booths at state lines. Drivers only pay when using those specific roads, bridges, tunnels, or express lanes, not when they enter the state. Attempting to charge a toll on entry would violate the Commerce Clause and the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
So, here’s my suggestion, based on two related truths:
While Uncle Ned and his Democrat cronies welcome and protect illegal aliens, their fiscal mismanagement causes Connecticut to lose between 9,000 to 13,500 legal residents a year.
The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly prohibit states from charging tolls on vehicles leaving a state.
Therefore, charging each resident a toll tax of $1,000 for leaving the state wouldn’t be any more or less fair than gouging us for utilities. It would give the state up to another $13,500,000 tax dollars — which it would call revenue — to offset, at least to some extent, what we’re being gouged for utilities. And if Uncle Ned and his Democrat cronies continue to get away with welcoming and protecting illegal aliens, that trickle of 13,500 people will likely become a deluge of the state’s roughly 3.69 million people.
As Uncle New would say, “Under my plan,” tolls would be up. Residents would be down. And the state’s tax base would go the way of Tiger Woods’s recent driving record. But don’t look at me. I’m just the Idea Guy. If you actually want to try to get anything done in Connecticut, you have to talk to Democrats.
Good luck with that.