State Senate Passes Budget

The State Senate passed the budget today on a 33-1 vote. The House passed the budget on a 134-5 vote early Saturday morning. It now goes to Governor Rell who is expected to sign it.

Just for the record our State Senator David Cappiello voted YES.

State Budget Passes

Early this morning at around 2:30, the State House of Representatives passed the state budget on a vote of 134-5. All Republicans voted in favor, while five Democrats voted against it. Here is a look at how Danbury's four State Representatives voted:

Jason Bartlett (D-2) -- YES
Joe Taborsak (D-109) -- YES
Bob Godfrey (D-110) -- YES
Jan Giegler (R-138) -- YES

It is nice to see that the budget was passed in a very bi-partisan manner, and that we finally have one in place.

Mike Bloomberg & The Presidency

Somebody has recently asked me to express my thoughts on Mayor Mike Bloomberg and his possible Presidential run, so here it is.

To begin with, Bloomberg's political party affiliation change does make sense if you look at it closely. He is not a true Republican, and has only been registered one since 2001 when he ran for Mayor. He is not a left-wing Democrat, but he does have a small streak of being liberal in him. This really does make him more of an independent. However, his move does suggest that he will run for President because who just decides to change their party affiliation, even if they have been criticized for many years. I mean is this really the most important issue he was facing? Well, no, but it is if he is going to take a shot at the Oval Office.

He claims that he isn't running, but he hasn't ruled it out totally. Now, what you've been waiting for -- what are his chances and would he win. The simple answer is no, he doesn't have much of a chance no matter who the party nominees are. This is because he needs 270 electoral votes to win, and he will get a decent amount of votes, but he won't win states, which is the only way you can be elected. Besides New York (and that itself would be very difficult) what states could he actually win? People are upset with Republicans and Democrats, but not so much where they will elect an Independent.

However, Bloomberg does have the finances to run a campaign because he is a billionaire. This is a big reason why he won't announce until the two candidates have been chosen or very close to it. Who the Republicans and Democrats pick will probably also affect his decision. If Giuliani or Clinton are chosen he may opt out of running because he is very cordial with both, and wouldn't want to face them. If Giuliani and Clinton are the nominees than Bloomberg may also choose to run, despite who he would be facing. Hey, that would be some race, one he might not want to pass on.

So, who does he hurt most -- the Republicans or the Democrats. Well, at first I felt he hurt the Republicans more, but many have been saying the Democrats would be the ones in trouble. He would act as a Ross Perot or Ralph Nader, but I think that it will depend who the nominees are to see who he takes the Presidency away from. If Hillary is the Democrat, then Bloomberg could hurt her the most because the people that just can't stand her, but aren't happy with the Republican will vote for Bloomberg. Conservative voters who won't vote for Giuliani just won't vote because Bloomberg is even more liberal than he is on social issues and they won't vote for a Democrat. He could hurt a conservative Republican candidate because moderates may be attracted to Bloomberg. For example, in Connecticut, Bloomberg could take votes away from someone like Mitt Romney and secure a victory for the Democrat in our state. I have seen a few recent national polls that show the following would happen nationwide if Bloomberg runs:

Giuliani -- 41%
Clinton -- 39%
Bloomberg -- 9%

Clinton -- 40%
McCain -- 39%
Bloomberg -- 10%

This should sure be very interesting and we may not be able to predict at all what the outcome may be in a race that has Bloomberg in it. He may not even run, though I think that he will. What does he have to lose -- money? For the excitement and chaos he will cause he might as well do it.

National Security Key For Republicans

After reading in yesterday's News-Times about a Sacred Heart University Poll that showed Republicans have a chance at winning in 2008, it made me start thinking. The poll showed that if Republican candidates for President stress the issue of national security they would have a chance at keeping the White House despite the majority of people feeling that the next President will be a Democrat. The poll is right because while people in general are upset with Republicans they still are viewed as the party of fighting against terrorism and being strong on national security.

Now, it is surprising that Republicans are viewed as so strong on these issues because of the War in Iraq, but if this poll is right then there is only one person who is best to be the Republican nominee. He is a non-Washington politician, outspoken on fighting terrorism, critical of the War in Iraq but connects its outcome to our protection, and he believes that national security is by far the most important issue. The best candidate for the Republicans to nominate is Rudy Giuliani, if in fact they will focus on national security as their number one issue. This is because he isn't seen as the "Iraq" candidate such as John McCain is. He stresses national security which is something Mitt Romney tries, but his record as Governor is mainly on fixing the economic problems Massachusetts had, not focusing on security. Fred Thompson is a fresh new face, but doesn't have much experience, which may turn people off.

If Republicans focus on national security they need to be able to connect Iraq with it, but in a positive way because we all know that Iraq will be one of the biggest issues, and almost seventy percent of Americans disagree with it. Giuliani has something about him, where he will stress the importance of fighting terrorism because if we don't we will face another attack. It's something that no other candidate has. He is probably the best candidate to be able to put a positive spin on Iraq. Another thing about him is that he is very well liked, and has a good likability rate. He is probably the most positive Republican candidate, and people like what he did in New York after September 11th. He is truly America's Mayor, and is the most moderate Republican running who could beat someone like Hillary Clinton.

It should be interesting to see how far Republicans take the issue of national security because talking about it could seem like getting into a mess, and hurting them more. It should also be interesting to see how far Connecticut's congressional candidates take national security. I guess we will just have to see. I will say one thing, if Mike Bloomberg decides to run for President, we might as well start getting used to saying "President Clinton" once again because Republicans will not be able to pull it off, no matter how much they stress national security.

Tentative Budget Deal Reached

Last night negotiators reached a tentative budget agreement. No date has been set for State Legislators to vote on it. the budget is said to increase spending for health care and education. However, it also keeps the property tax credit the way it is now.

All things said it seems pretty fair as no new tax increases will take place, except a slight increase on cigarettes. You can read the news here from the Hartford Courant.

Rowland Comments On Rell

There was a very interesting article in today's News-Times about former Governor John Rowland's feelings towards current Governor Jodi Rell. You can read it here.

In it, Rowland says that Rell "threw me under the bus when it got rough". He claimed that Rell put politics first before defending her current boss when he was in the middle of his ethic scandal. Jodi Rell was Lt. Governor to Rowland for over nine years.

The article goes on to say that Rowland considered himself to be power-hungry, and he wanted to benefit from everything. He claims that he also goes through times now where he has to realize that fame and power should not run your life because it can go straight to your head, like it did with him.

It really makes you think about the person who led our state for nearly a decade. The only thing I can say is that Governor Rell didn't owe Rowland anything, and what he did was a disgrace to the people of Connecticut.

DeLuca Resigns As Leader; Successor Chosen

State Senator Lou DeLuca (R-32), resigned his post as Minority Leader yesterday. However, he has pledged that he will remain a Senator. You can read the article here from the News-Times.

Our State Senator, David Cappiello (R-24) released the following on DeLuca:

"I think Lou needed some time to take in what was happening and ultimately I believed he would do the right thing," Cappiello said. "I've known and worked with and been friends with Sen. DeLuca for 15 years and I think it was appropriate for me and the other senators to give him a little breathing room to come to the right conclusion himself."

Today, Senate Republicans reacted quickly to the resignation and chose Senator John McKinney (R-28) to become their new leader. McKinney is in his fifth term. You can read the article here from the News-Times.