Week in Quotes from the Campaign Trail
Read what the candidates for governor are saying in their own words. Then follow the links to post comments on the original source articles to set the record straight or recognize their support for working families.
Michael Fedele:
“We need to do a line by line examination of the budget. We need to ask ourselves is it working. If it’s working, can we do it better? If it’s not working, why are we spending money on it? We have to do it. We have to do it for reasons that you just mentioned. Our friends, our neighbors are out of work. We’re being taxed to death. We’ve had 300% growth in spending over the last 20 years by the federal government and people of the state have had enough of it.”
“The next Governor has to have courage, the ability to say no and stick to it. I’m the only candidate on both sides of the aisle that has not only said I won’t raise taxes but I will veto any bill that comes across my desk that talks about revenue.”
“We’re going to have to go back to talks and have them (the unions) be part of the solution and explain to them that we can’t afford it. One example, was a report that came out the other day. In 2019, how we’re paying pensions out of the state, we’re going to be broke – we’re not going to be able to provide pensions for those people. Are we gonna hope that people retire and die before 2019? Of course not. We need to put together a system that not only guarantees people a fair and balanced pension but one that the state of Connecticut can afford.”
Mornings with Ray Dunaway, WTIC – 7/21/2010
http://wtic.cbslocal.com/2010/07/21/lt-gov-michael-fedeles-run-for-governor/
“I don’t think this legislature gets any more revenue,” Fedele, who has been lieutenant governor under M. Jodi Rell since 2007, said during a recent interview in his West Hartford campaign headquarters. “We clearly have been spending more than we have been taking in, but the new norm is that things are not going to be like they were.”
CT Mirror – July 19, 2010
http://www.ctmirror.org/story/6851/fedele-insists-he-can-find-budget-solutions-others-cant-three-times-over
“I don’t have an exact number,” he said. When asked for any perspective on the role cuts in personnel spending would play, Fedele added. “I don’t have an exact proportion.” After several additional clarifying questions he conceded, “They could be a major piece.”
CT Mirror – July 19, 2010
http://www.ctmirror.org/story/6851/fedele-insists-he-can-find-budget-solutions-others-cant-three-times-over
“Governor Rell got the best deal that she could,” Fedele said, adding that she also relied on “some economic assumptions that were too rosy. I think you have to be pretty sure about what the economy looks like before you sign that right (to order layoffs) away.” Fedele said he’s hoping layoffs don’t have to be part of his budget solution, though he concedes that downsizing through other means, namely annual attrition, is all but certain.
CT Mirror – July 19, 2010
http://www.ctmirror.org/story/6851/fedele-insists-he-can-find-budget-solutions-others-cant-three-times-over
But Fedele said he also believes much of the safety net can be retained and run more cost-effectively by turning to the private sector. “If we can’t do something most cost-effectively than the private sector, maybe we have to ask ourselves, ‘Should we be in that business?’” he said. “I think we’re at that point.”
CT Mirror – July 19, 2010
http://www.ctmirror.org/story/6851/fedele-insists-he-can-find-budget-solutions-others-cant-three-times-over
Fedele said he is comfortable with the state’s current income tax system, which taxes most income at 5 percent, though it levies a 6.5 percent rate on earnings above $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for couples. A personal exemption and a 3 percent rate levied on the first $10,000 each individual earns also ensure most households with incomes below $35,000 pay little or no income taxes.
“Is it balanced? Is it fair? Yes,” he said, disagreeing with those who argue it is not progressive enough and that it overburdens middle-income households.
CT Mirror – July 19, 2010
http://www.ctmirror.org/story/6851/fedele-insists-he-can-find-budget-solutions-others-cant-three-times-over
“We’ve done too much borrowing in this state,” Fedele said. “In my administration, discipline is the operative word.”
CT Mirror – July 19, 2010
http://www.ctmirror.org/story/6851/fedele-insists-he-can-find-budget-solutions-others-cant-three-times-over
Dan Malloy:
“Connecticut’s tourism and hospitality industry is a major driver of economic activity,” said Malloy, who announced the plan alongside his running mate, state Comptroller Nancy Wyman, during campaign stops at Mystic Seaport and Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration. “If we can make better targeted and more effective investment in this sector, it will pay our state back in countless ways. Connecticut tourism helps grow jobs, increases state revenue, and preserves the art and culture that makes Connecticut such a great place to work, live and raise a family.”
CT Mirror – July 20, 2010
http://www.ctmirror.org/story/6868/malloy-says-its-time-spend-promote-tourism-conn
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