The Same Old Same Old Blues
or What You Don't Want to Know Will Hurt Like Hell
Author’s Note: I don’t know if it shows up on any calendars this way, but today is Crunch Time in Connecticut. It’s primary day. Ryan Fazio is the lone Republican gubernatorial candidate since Erin Stewart spontaneously combusted. And Uncle Ned is facing nonexistent competition from Josh “The Invisible Man” Elliott. (John “Flapjack” Larson is facing off against Luke “The Spoiler” Bronin. But those two guys won’t effect us as much or as directly.) I’m no Buddhist, kids. But if we don’t help ourselves, we’ll have no one else to blame.
No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. (Buddha)
As regular readers of this Substack know, I’m not, nor will I ever be asked to be, president or even a member of the Uncle Ned Lamont Fan Club. Today’s primary is a red herring because Uncle Ned is going to walk all over his would-be challenger in the Democrat primary, Josh “Snowball in Hell” Elliott. But the November election will follow. And that’s where shit gets real.
The Republican challenger, Ryan Fazio, is running unopposed. But as I’ve written before, the two strikes against him count as three in Connecticut:
This is Connecticut.
He’s a Republican.
And so it is, in the hope that we might dodge the cannonball that likely will be headed our way on November 3rd, I share this opinion piece from New Haven Attorney, Alex Taubes. No, I don’t know Attorney Taubes. Yes. His piece is an endorsement for Ryan Fazio. But the story he recounts in the piece — “On August 11, Send the Invoice Back”— is telling because it’s characteristic of the man (I use the term very loosely) Uncle Ned is.
I’m going to leave this excerpt here:
A $310 million dock, a federal grand jury, and the reason voting for Ned Lamont is the most dangerous thing Connecticut Democrats can do on August 11. (Attorney Alex Taubes)
If you’re interested in the extent to which we’ve been hornswoggled since 2019, you’ll read Attorney Taube’s piece. If you’re not interested in Attorney Taube’s piece, it’s because you’re a Democrat, and you don’t know the extent to which we’ve been hornswoggled since 2019, don’t care, or both.
There’s Definitely More
Stand clear, kids. This one’s going to have a very loud ring of familiarity to it: “Connecticut businesses warn Lamont’s Medicaid fee could cost jobs”:
Connecticut leaders want the state’s largest employers to help pay for workers who rely on Medicaid … Gov. Ned Lamont argued that large corporations benefiting from billions in profits should contribute more toward healthcare costs … “By closing this loophole, we are defending Connecticut taxpayers and making our state a more affordable place to live, work, and do business” … “Isn’t this the same governor who frequently says, ‘Connecticut doesn’t need more taxes; it needs more taxpayers’?” said state Sen. Stephen Harding, Republican of Brookfield. Companies and nonprofits would likely respond to a new healthcare tax by passing on higher costs, hiring fewer people or cutting raises.
I’m fairly certain Sir Isaac Newton was neither an economist nor a politician. That doesn’t matter in this instance because his Third Law of Motion nevertheless applies to economists, politicians, gravity, rocket engines, fish, birds, and morons. Here it is:
Whenever one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first.
In almost every instance, this would mean if object A exerts a force on object B, then object B must exert a force of equal magnitude and opposite direction back on object A. But in this case, it means if party A (Uncle Ned) exerts a force on party B (large employers), that force will be stuffed up the asses of party C (consumers). That law will be true even if Uncle Ned swears on his millions (and his minions) that the force he exerts on party B is not a tax.
Shocking Audacity
In Uncle Ned’s infamous (and shamelessly fallacious) Sleeves Up ad, this is part of the bullshit he throws. The numbering is mine:
Here’s what we’re tackling next. [1] Getting universal, affordable health care for all Connecticut. [2] Tough reforms to take on Eversource to lower electric costs. [3] And no more corporate welfare. The biggest companies pay their fair share.
Here are the enumerated things that were edited out of the ad:
“Starting with illegal aliens, who get their healthcare on the taxpayers’ dime. The $80 million we’ve already shelled out will buy a lot of votes.”
“I knew this was on my To-Do list, but I couldn’t find the damn thing for eight years.”
“The tax breaks I’ve given corporations to keep them from leaving the state along with everyone else weren’t corporate welfare. And whatever you do, don’t ask me to define fair share.”
In response, Uncle Ned’s Republican opponent, Ryan Fazio, said this:
During [his tenure], he’s done the exact opposite of what he’s saying today needs to be done. The governor hasn’t been tough on the utilities and these are not new ideas that he is proposing now. If these are the right policies now, why didn’t the governor get them passed over the past eight years. Ned Lamont has spent his entire tenure as a reliable fighter for corporate interests, and the idea that he’ll suddenly become a champion for ratepayers two months before a primary is a jarring departure from everything his record shows.
When I asked Connecticut’s 265,500 state employees and Connecticut’s 826,068 registered Democrat voters if they knew about Uncle Ned’s record — or had heard or agreed with Fazio’s remarks — these were their most consistent responses:
Who?
What?
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Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former. (Albert Einstein)
We’re Going Down
If Uncle Ned wins the primary today, Connecticut can look forward to another four years of Democrat rule, ineptitude (but I repeat myself), deceit, and economic decline. Since it was what the orchestra aboard the Titanic was playing as the ship went down, Songe d'Automne will become the new official State Song. And the book below will become required reading.
God help us.