Connecticut's Problems May Hit Home

When Dan Malloy won the job of our state Governor I was delighted, but not for the reasons that most of his fans and supporters were. While my friends were rather perplexed, and really did not understand my affinity for Mr. Malloy I had to clarify my support of him.

This support was mostly based on my disdain for partisan bickering in Hartford. I personally believe, and have seen, that whenever, a single branch of the state Capitol is controlled by another party the blame is quickly shifted on that branch of government as if they are the cancerous evil that is the demise of society. With the Democrats in firm control over all three branches of government we have addressed the issue of the "Blame Game" and since we are in a Great Recession who is better suited to fire state employees than the people and parties who they lobbied for and spent millions to put in office.

Dan Malloy is making Wisconsin's Walker look like a Liberal, not because Malloy is or is not a Liberal but because he inherited a state that is much like the HMS Titanic after it hit an Iceberg. While everyone on board in the State of Connecticut is going on as if all is well, and some feel that their years of service entitle them to job security, our Governor is swimming in an unbalanced pool of debt that some call an illegal budget. One person in particular challenging this "illegal budget" in court is Republican Tom Scott. The unions are currently panicked, their austerity vote was rejected, and last minute midnight deals and special sessions are in the works to make the impossible possible.

Unions are now blaming their own voting rules for requiring more than 51% to pass a wage measure. The state of Connecticut employs some 48,000 people and the numbers of layoffs have been estimated from as few as 5,000 to as many as 10,000. However in the words of our Independent Democratic senator Gayle Slossberg, she voted against the Malloy budget because it did not seriously address the issue of "New spending" in a serious financial situation.  Slossberg said that the "budget shortfall is so severe that the Governor could lay off all 48,000" employees and still not fill the budget gap. That aside she found it upsetting that the Malloy budget included funds for "the restoration of an Opera house" in the wake of layoffs.

As of yet no state employees have been let go, but the longer the structural deficit issue looms on, the more severe the budget constraints on the state labor unions become. These unions have many reasons to be concerned, not just over their loss of a job, but also over their pension obligations that are also  underfunded and set to fail sometime in the year 2019-2020. Ct not only cnnot afford its employees but it cannot afford their pensions either. The notion that layoffs will fix the problem is also a paradox because unemployment of that many people will hurt the state economy, especially if it accompanies a tax increase during a bad economic period. The state of Connecticut will also need to set aside 100's of millions of dollars to pay all of the expected unemployment claims that could linger on for up to 99 weeks.

Moving forward Milford's city leaders should start taking our wasteful spending issues seriously. There is a very likely event on the horizon that will require us to prepare for the inevitable and eventual cuts to our town. The cuts could entail and include our road improvement subsidies, our manufacturing credits, our grants, our education dollars or anything else they decide to eliminate. The final word of this post today should be to mention that Governor Chris Christie of N.J. is laughing at Connecticut's Solitaire playing legislators and Malloy's reticence to make effective management decisions.

The 2012 Enigma Why Should We Care?

Enigmatic as it may be the year 2012 certainly has been sensationalized. This has happened at the movie theater, on the History Channel, I have even heard of Mayan prophecies, and prophecies from Web Spiders, to the lost book of Nostradamus.

The conspiracies surrounding 2012 are everywhere, and they are more pervasive and disconcerting than the Y2k Computer bug could have ever dreamed. There is no shortage of paranoia when it comes to 2012, especially those wealthy elite who are creating an esoteric real estate market of under ground shelters. Companies like Bechtel are thriving with a shovel and a tunnel boring machine. The frenzy and paranoia is endless and the mad rush to be prepared for this epoch Mayan dooms day has become an industry on to itself.

Of all the theories none amuse me more than the Nibiru/ Planet X theory. This tall tale comes from the Ancient Sumerian texts that read more like an episode of Star Gate SG9 than a credible archaeological record. The mad rush to doomsday preparation is only exaggerated by the fact that no one can accurately predict the future, nor can we guarantee that there are undiscovered planetoids, comets, asteroids, or near earth objects that threaten Earth.

Looking back we must never forget the lesson of Schumaker Levy, the largest planetary impact of a space based asteroid. No real scientists disagrees that the potential for an asteroid or impact on the earth from a space object is impossible, as a matter of fact we are warned that the possibility is real and they have even named Apothis Earth's greatest future threat.

None of these, however are Nibiru, nor are any expected to arrive in the year 2012, so why all the hype? Personally I think there is much mis-information out there and those who have inordinate amounts of money are not inconvenienced by having the insurance policy of an underground shelter.

These people, perceived as eccentric by some are in-fact concerned about some real issues. Of all the 2012 conspiracies out there there are two that are very hard to dismiss. The one that I find most alarming is the current solar cycle that we are experiencing right now. The Sun, our Sun, is entering a period of intense activity and as many who study the Earth are aware, our planets magnetosphere is what protects life from harmful solar radiation.

The Earth's magnetosphere has been acting erratically and the magnetic poles have been moving erratically. These issues are particularly of concern to scientists because a weakening of the magnetosphere is very problematic when the sun is abnormally active. The CME's or coronal mass ejections have the ability to destroy satellites and wreak havoc on Earths ungrounded electrical grid. This is a real threat and one was recorded in the late 1,800's that destroyed the telegraph telephone system that existed then.

This threat combined with the decline of the Global economy, and the Austerity measures we see on T.V. make it increasingly evident that capitalism world wide has been compromised to rampant fraud and the induced indebtedness of every nation by the worlds largest criminal financiers.

Under current estimates, the U.S. and Europe will experience a currency collapse under the weight of these economic problems within the next few years. The solutions to the worlds debt may be the rebirth of the entire world economy, and end to the American economic customs and traditions we now hold dear.

The key decision makers have already amped up the rancour on the instability of global financial instruments, and the worlds middle and lower classes are en-masse letting their voices be heard during this transformation process that seems clearly underway.

While I personally cannot predict the future, I can see clearly and evidently that paper denominated assets, such Pension funds, dollars, 401k's etc. are in jeopardy of being fatally devalued. Americas protests are in large part over union issues, collective bargaining rights and balancing budgets all these are on the heels of the Federal government who itself is monetizing debt as the nations bond sales increasingly produce disappointment.

There is a clear recipe for a rebirth of the entire global economic picture that we have come to know. Those who are aware, educated and prepared for this transformation will fare well while those who are sceptical disbelievers may soon realize the Apocalypse of 2012 was little more than a cruel financial joke played on the worlds working class.