Connecticut has the best tax code money can buy!

Another regressive tax is about to be passed by our beloved Connecticut legislators, even though our Governor is a Democrat and the House and Senate are controlled by Democrats.  If you didn't know by now, there has been a new breed of Democrats spawned over the last twenty-five years; extinct is the FDR species that gave us the middle class.  What we have now is a Democratic Party who gave us NAFTA, the repeal of Glass-Steagall, the Commerce Act permitting derivative trading, bailouts of banksters, the National Defense Authorization Act, and a host of other corporate goodies....

Yes, we have a new breed of Democrats, and they have a name:  blue-dog Democrats.  These Democrats are largely indistinguishable from Republicans regarding corporate policies.  Recall that last year and this year Obama proposed cutting the corporate tax rate, as well as agreeing to cuts in Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid.  Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are blue-dog Democrats; they are not of the FDR generation or tradition.

So is it any wonder then that our Democratic Governor, Dan Malloy, is also a blue-dog Democrat, as well as many of our Democratic State Senators, and State Representatives?  And is it any surprise that they will propose and support another regressive tax aimed at working and middle class families, sparring their super wealthy and corporate campaign contributors from progressive taxes?

This new found regressive tax to which I make reference is Raised Bill No. 6650, which proposes a 3.5 cent tax on every gallon of heating oil.  It is a regressive tax because it robs more disposable income on a percentage basis from the working classes than it does from that of those multi-billionaire hedge fund managers living in Fairfield County.

But did not our Democratic controlled leadership just recently increase the sales tax, another regressive tax?  And did it not also increase the state income tax rate on middle class families anywhere from 10% to 30%, while only increasing the rate on the super wealthy by a paltry 3%?

Isn't it bad enough that $2 or $3 billion-dollar-per-year hedge fund managers living in Fairfield County only pay a 15% carried interest tax rate on their earnings to the federal government while middle class families pay on average 35% of taxes in total on their earnings?  Do all tax increases now--even those at the state level--also have to be regressive in nature?

Sure, I know the Republican mantra:  don't increase taxes on billionaire hedge fund managers because if we do, then they will not create jobs for us.  (Just look at all the jobs they created over the past fifteen years.  See all those help wanted ads in the Courant?)  But I never expected Democrats to buy into that mantra, too.

Yeah, we have the best tax code money can buy, thanks to our blue-dog Democrats.