While the US job market continues to grow robustly this year, adding 1.3 million jobs through August, Connecticut’s has stalled. The state has added only 400 jobs in a state of 3.6 million people, translating to 1/36th the rate of job growth as seen in the rest of the country.
It remains the only state other than Wyoming that has yet to recover all the jobs it lost since the Great Recession began in December 2007.
Nevertheless, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont marked the end of his first legislative session this summer with a peculiar victory lap around New York City. Lamont appeared on CNBC and MSNBC and visited the Wall Street Journal editorial board to promote the effectiveness of his agenda.
Because of his party’s reforms, “Connecticut is in a turnaround,” Lamont told Joe Scarborough, whose band performed at the governor’s inaugural ball. His rosy report is the fulfillment of the Democrat governor’s campaign promise to deliver “change” to Connecticut from eight preceding years of unitary Democrat government.
The reality in Connecticut is entirely different. Lamont and the Democrats, with large majorities in the legislature, have delivered more of the same this year, but in higher doses. They’ve raised taxes to fund an increasingly bloated government and given more power and privilege to the politicians and special interests. It is little wonder job creation virtually stopped during Lamont’s liberal legislative binge.
If Connecticut is in a turnaround, it’s a full 360 degrees.
Little wonder that there's been no change, given that the voters return the same people from the same political machine to the state house, year after year.