Watch The Banana Peel

Have you had enough of mad monkey, chomping chimp and gonzo gorilla headlines? I’m about to call Beardsley Zoo Director Gregg Dancho to settle this whole thing. Do chimps really have three times the strength of a man?

The national media needs to see the Bridgeport City Council in action. Pass the bananas.

Okay so let’s dream a little, we’re entitled in this economy. Tax cuts in our state have gone the way of the telephone booth, but is it possible to hold the line on taxes? Not if the Democratic-controlled legislature has its way. One Dem going against the banana grain is State Rep. Auden Grogins, the blonde banshee from Black Rock, who knocked off rapid Robert Keeley, the longest-serving legislator in Bridgeport’s history. Auden had campaigned to submit a bill that would cap property taxes in the city, and she’s not disappointing even though it will never see the light of day courtesy of the tax-loving apes in Hartford.

And do you remember that pledge by mayoral candidate Bill Finch in 2007 to cut your property taxes by $600? Yup, it was by virtue of a Homestead Exemption Act that he never even offered during his seven years in the State Senate. Yes, I love the way pols reinvent history. Now the mayor has to beg the legislature for the things he never even fought for in the State Senate. So it goes.

The blonde banshee at least has the guts to try. Some of the bills she has submitted:

HB 5349 AAC A HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION–To provide property tax relief through a homestead exemption.

HB 5352 AAC A LIMIT ON ANNUAL INCREASES IN PROPERTY TAXES–To provide property tax relief by limiting annual increases in property taxes to not more than three per cent.

HB 5353 AAC THE PROPERTY TAX CREDIT AGAINST THE PERSONAL INCOME TAX–To provide property tax relief.

Now, none of the above will pass, but no one can say she didn’t try.

Throw The Book At Me

If you want to meet a retired executive who knows a lot about saving a major financial institution during an economic tsunami, join David Carson and me at Borders Books, Post Road, Fairfield Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. We’ll be signing my Carson biography Bow Tie Banker which highlights Carson’s frantic efforts to save People’s Bank from the financial storm that wiped out a bunch of banks in Connecticut. Meet the man that beat the odds.

Himes Watch

Congressman Jim Himes officially opens his Bridgeport office today at 5:30 p.m. at 211 State Street. Stop in and say hello. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer visited the region on Wednesday. See Himes news release below:

Majority Leader Hoyer, Rep. Himes Highlight Job Creation Measures in Recovery Bill

Historic commitment to education, infrastructure, and middle-class tax cuts will help put economy back on track

U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Congressman Jim Himes today met with the Business Council of Fairfield County to discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which President Obama signed into law yesterday. The bill is expected to create over 40,000 jobs in Connecticut and help lead businesses and communities toward long-term economic prosperity.

“Our economic recovery begins now,” said Congressman Himes. “The Recovery Act will provide immediate relief to working families as we address the remaining pieces of our economic crisis. We must get home foreclosures and the credit crunch under control to complete our economic turn-around.”

Specifically, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will:

Create and save 3.5 million jobs to help rebuild America transform our economy

Give 95 percent of American workers an immediate tax cut

Invest in infrastructure, including needed upgrades to roads bridges and mass transit

Restore science and innovation as the keys to new American-made technology

Invest quickly into the economy – over two-thirds of the funds must be spent by next year

Provide unprecedented accountability and transparency to ensure that your tax dollars are spent wisely. There are no earmarks or pet projects, and all projects can be tracked at www.recovery.gov.

“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a critical step as we address this recession, and it will have a real, positive effect on our economy,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said. “This legislation provides tax relief to businesses so that they can create and save jobs and spur consumer demand. This bill also ensures that businesses will have the resources to grow and sustain a long-term economic recovery.”

“The national response to the global economic crisis is critical to the vitality of our region. By personally briefing business leaders from around the region, Rep. Himes is demonstrating how important the impact of Washington’s actions will be on Fairfield County,” said Christopher Bruhl, President & CEO, The Business Council of Fairfield County. “We appreciate the opportunity to hear directly from Representative Himes and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on the assistance to be provided and opportunities created by the recovery package.”

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15 comments

  1. *** Seems Finch has Grogins’ ear while he picks her brain on unpopular bills that sound good for Bpt. but he never tried to author but just talked about while he was up in Hartford. She has no clue & has already started arriving late to capitol meetings due to other obligations as usual, same M.O. And believe it or not, Himes just may end up being our only CT legislative savior during these hard times! Time will tell. ***

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  2. What all of these politicians State Local & Federal have to do is stop trying to be big brother to everyone. Stop passing laws that cost money. On the state level every time we had a state surplus these people in Hartford were like a bunch of drunken sailors on liberty. They spent the surplus. The programs they funded with this excess are still in place only there is no surplus.
    Finch’s promise to cut back taxes was pure bullshit from day one. On election day he asked me what am I going to do? I told him you had better come up with something or you are in trouble from day one.
    On a Federal level we are spending money on programs that most of the politicians that voted for these programs never read and don’t understand.
    The auto industry is back for another $21 Billion and they still don’t get it. The union contracts have to be brought into reality. If they are not no amount of money is going to save them. They know and the politicians know they need to go into structured bankruptcy so that they can get rid of these contracts and move forward.
    The government has to stop rewarding people and banks and companies that overextended themselves and now want us to pay for it. What’s next? Are we going to bail out the credit card companies? Enough is enough.

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  3. The unions … the unions …

    Be damned the working stiff.

    There is blame to go ALL around. An overpaid union employee cannot be the sole blame for a poorly designed and engineered automobile that has no more style and appeal than a Communist Bloc brick.

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  4. … No one can say she didn’t try …

    Drawing up ill-fated legislation isn’t exactly “trying” in my book.

    I’d like to hear that she is reaching out to the other members of the Bridgeport Legislative Mob, as well as other folks in Hartford in a similar plight–New Haven, Hartford, New Britain, Waterbury … The ‘burbs may not like us, but the other big-city delegations certainly would have to be a little more sympathetic–no?

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  5. I am not saying that the auto industry troubles are solely the unions’ fault. The automakers are just as guilty. At a cost of $73 per hr per employee and with what they owe retirees each car rolling off the line is a loss for the company.
    The wages and benefits need to come in line with what the foreign car manufacturers are paying their US workers.
    Bankruptcy seem to be the only way to readjust these costly items in the contracts. I do not want to keep subsidizing retiree benefits and pensions.

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  6. “There is blame to go ALL around. An overpaid union employee cannot be the sole blame for a poorly designed and engineered automobile that has no more style and appeal than a Communist Bloc brick.”

    Oh yes the overpriced union slug can be blamed for the downturn in not only the automotive industry but ALL of commerce as we know it.

    You union people are passé and have no business affecting the cost of anything. I am still amused that Finch promised the cops a pot of gold in a few years if they would concede any consideration at this time. Someone ask the cops and Finch where the hell the money to meet that obligation will come from when it is due.

    Unions … go (F Bomb deleted).

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    1. Ahhh yahooy–I appreciate the playful banter. Who else got a similar deal from Finch? Anyone?

      I can’t help but feel that as a child you were beaten up by a kid who went to Bullard Havens–thus your general detest of anything that works or produces and might fall under the banner of labor …

      The other “problem” with union retirements for the auto industry is that there are many americans still alive that worked in factories that were far less automated 10, 20 or even 30 years ago. So what does that mean? It took a whole lot more union labor to build a car back then, and thus a much larger number of people who earned a pension and are now a fiscal liability for the company. They knew the numbers that they employed, they knew the fiscal burden.

      Hopefully yahooy will live to see the day when most of those retirees are gone and all we will have to complain about is how robots don’t pay taxes.

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  7. Hartford Democrats will raise any tax they can as much as they can, because that is what they do. If Auden’s trying to stop the madness, good for Auden, even if she is tilting at windmills.

    Any predictions on where Bridgeport’s mil rate will land?

    Any predictions on whether we have a chance to avoid rebuilding the tolls? I keep hearing the argument that tolls would create revenue for a dedicated fund for infrastructure repairs. But isn’t that what the Transportation Fund is, fueled by the highest state tax on gasoline in the country?

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  8. Hey guys how is everyone doing? Len how’s it going? I think my election day celebration has just finished so I am back on here again. What’s new!!! Well let’s get to the point I am very proud of the job Obama is doing but what’s with the Republicans trying to block everything he does? Did you guys hear some Republican Gov might try to reject the money their states are getting? Lennie do you know if Rell is one of them who is trying to reject it??? This is why the Republicans can’t buy a vote because they are just for the rich. The only Republican I think who cares about the middle class is Rob Russo. I’m not in his district I am in Gomes’ district. But the point I’m trying to make is these mainstream Republicans are making it hard for actual good Republicans like Russo to survive in an urban area. I hope Rob continues to serve Bridgeport he is a good guy. If I were in that district I would have voted for Musto still. Is Musto doing a good job up there? Well I just can’t wait for three years ’til we have the chance to vote out Finch. I think Russo should run for mayor.

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  9. Let’s discuss the stimulus plan as proposed and passed by the democrats. The Republicans in the house had no input in the house versions of the bill plus there were a lot of things in the final bill that just were not stimulus, for example payment into states’ medicaid funds. National polls show the majority of people in the US who were polled were against this bill as it was passed. Just an aside not one politician in Washington read this bill before they voted for it. Rell will be accepting the money for the state. What choice does she have with the state having a substantial deficit?
    Obama’s housing bill that covers foreclosures is being better received than the stimulus bill.

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