Republican Tony Nania is considering a run for Congress in the 5th Congressional District.

Nania, a lawyer and businessman from the Falls Village section of Canaan, was a state representative for three terms in the 1980s. He has talked to a couple dozen folks and has drafted a fundraising letter.

He poses a serious challenge to the declared Republican candidate, state Sen. David Cappiello of Danbury. In 1984 underdog Nania knocked off an incumbent Democratic Majority Leader, John Groppo, to win office.

Nania is the GOP’s “escape hatch” candidate — should the media discover ethical lapses by Cappiello that force him to step aside partway through the campaign, Nania’s presence lets the party shift gears without losing a year of fundraising and campaign-building.

[...]

From what I am hearing, the “architects” behind the Tony Nania candidacy in CT-5 are former State Senator Lou DeLuca, former GOP Chairman Dick Foley & former GOP Senate Chief of Staff George Krivda.

Remember, DeLuca told the Associated Press he was disappointed that many of his former Senate colleagues did not support him, including David Cappiello.

Armed squads bursting into homes in the dead of night with shotguns and automatic weapons, terrorizing families and taking away anyone who lacks identity papers, even if they have raided the wrong house. It may sound like Baghdad, but it is the suburbs of New York City, the latest among hundreds of communities around the country where federal agents have been invading homes and workplaces in search of immigrants to deport.

Federal officials say the raids are a focused campaign to catch gang members and other fugitives. That would be good if Immigration and Customs Enforcement were carefully extracting the dangerous criminal sliver from a population of 12 million illegal immigrants. But as immigration raids have vastly increased, they have become something murky and ugly.

ICE is catching modest numbers of undesirables, but also a much larger by-catch of peaceable immigrants. Its agents have set off waves of fear and outrage, not only among illegal immigrants, but among citizens whose privacy and security they have violated, through unchecked aggression, carelessness and incompetence.

Last week, dozens of federal agents fanned out across Nassau County, Long Island, to execute warrants on accused gang members. County Executive Thomas Suozzi and Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey were so dismayed that they have refused to cooperate on further raids until ICE gets its act together.

They described a seriously botched “cowboy” operation by dozens of ICE agents — some in cowboy hats — who had not trained together, used inappropriate weapons and mistakenly drew them on Nassau officers. They said that ICE misled them — that what was supposed to be a targeted gang crackdown was actually something much more sloppy and indiscriminate. They said the agency ignored repeated invitations to check its list of targets against Nassau’s up-to-date gang records and ended up raiding many wrong homes.

The raids were stunningly ineffective. Nassau says they caught only 6 of 96 fugitives. ICE, using a looser definition of “gang member,” said it got 13 in Nassau and 15 in neighboring Suffolk. There, Peggy De La Rosa-Delgado, an American citizen, said her Huntington Station home was raided by mistake last Thursday at 5:30 a.m. It was the second predawn raid looking for the same man at the same wrong address. Her husband and three teenage sons, legal residents, were terrified, she said.

ICE officials callously shrug off such mistakes as collateral damage, but advocates for immigrants have filed a class-action lawsuit asserting that recent raids in the New York City area were unreasonable searches conducted by agents who did not show warrants and misidentified themselves as police officers. Mr. Suozzi has written to the Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, asking him to investigate the Nassau debacle.

Before city officials rush to sign an alliance with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, Danbury would do well to put those plans on ice.

On paper, the ACCESS program -- Agreements of Cooperation in Communities to Enhance Safety and Security -- appears to be a valuable tool, a means to give local police the power to enforce immigration law.

In truth, it's a dangerous key to the city, a blank check waiting to be cashed without accountability, without warrants.

Just ask David Nyce, mayor of Greenport, N.Y., a town of about 2,500 residents on the eastern end of Long Island.

Two months ago ICE enlisted the help of that area's police department, then roared into town on the premise of making gang-related arrests.

After raiding several homes, ICE arrested 11 undocumented immigrants. Just one of those immigrants was allegedly involved in gang activity. The other 10 had no prior criminal records.

"My experience with ICE was nil," Nyce said Tuesday. "I wasn't informed of the raids before they happened.

"I'm trying very hard to make it clear this is a national issue. Greenport is a very small village. But in the absence of a comprehensive federal policy on immigration, it's left to local municipalities to deal with immigration.

"The police department here has set themselves back by participating in this raid," Nyce went on. "It took a long time for them to get the confidence and cooperation of (the immigrant community)."

[...]

By definition, the ACCESS program is flawed.

Just look at the words: Agreements of Cooperation in Communities to Enhance Safety and Security. This program has little to do with public safety and everything to do with perpetuating negative stereotypes.

In a 2001 study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice, researchers concluded that over the last century immigrants have committed a smaller proportion of crimes than the general population -- the U.S. citizens, if you will.

An inventory of America's criminal justice system supports those findings.

Consider: There are 2.2 million in federal or state prisons or local jails. Nine out of 10 of those inmates are U.S. citizens, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

In a 2001 report -- the most recent available -- it cost taxpayers about $22,000 per year for each of the 1.5 million inmates residing in state and federal prisons, according to Department of Justice spokesman Stuart Smith. That's $33 billion a year going to house, clothe, feed and supervise inmates, most of whom are not undocumented immigrants.

Just as all U.S. citizens aren't shining examples of impeccable character, most illegal immigrants aren't riffraff without jobs and dreams.

"We find ourselves here because of the failure of the federal government to operate and enforce an appropriate immigration policy," DeStefano said. "By not fixing the system, the problem has gotten so big that it's impossible to deport 13 million to 15 million people. The economy, or even basic American values, will not allow it to happen."

Extending ICE's reach into the community, without regard for probable cause and human dignity, is not the answer.

At best, ICE and the city of Danbury are dangerous bedfellows. At worst, they're a recipe for vigilante enforcement.

State Sen. David Cappiello is pushing for tighter standards for mortgage loan officers, including a licensing procedure, education requirements and possible penalties.

Cappiello, R-Danbury, joins a growing list of lawmakers and experts who have called for changes in the mortgage industry in response to a recent subprime mortgage crisis that resulted in home foreclosures.

MITT AND THE MUSLIMS....Via Democracy Arsenal, here's what Mitt Romney told Mansoor Ijaz recently about the possibility of appointing a Muslim to his cabinet:

I asked Mr. Romney whether he would consider including qualified Americans of the Islamic faith in his cabinet as advisers on national security matters, given his position that "jihadism" is the principal foreign policy threat facing America today. He answered, "...based on the numbers of American Muslims [as a percentage] in our population, I cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified. But of course, I would imagine that Muslims could serve at lower levels of my administration."

Hmmm. I thought Republicans were the ones opposed to identity politics and quotas? Let's just check their party platform and....let's see....aha, here it is: "Finally, because we are opposed to discrimination, we reject preferences, quotas, and set-asides based on skin color, ethnicity, or gender."

Sorry, my mistake. There's no mention of religious discrimination there, so I guess Mitt's on solid ground. Quotas for Muslims are OK.

A top immigration official, who has been criticized for her youth, inexperience and poor judgment, took a question from a government employee posing as a reporter during her very first press conference last year, RAW STORY has learned.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Julie Myers called on an agency spokeswoman who was standing with about a dozen other reporters during a February 2006 press conference in San Antonio. Critics had criticized Myers as an unfit nominee because of her lack of immigration experience and close ties to the Bush administration. Her performance at that first press conference was panned when she "struggle[d] to pronounce Nuevo Laredo," a Mexican border town that is a hot spot of criminal activity and drug trafficking into the US.

The ICE employee was told not to ask any questions, and she was verbally reprimanded after doing so, according to a letter delivered last week to the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Committee chairman Bennie Thompson requested the Department of Homeland Security review its press-relations protocols after the Federal Emergency Management Agency was found to have staged a fake press conference in October to respond to raging California wildfires, causing the press conference's organizer to lose a promotion.

"[T]he intent of staff involved in each instance was different, but both episodes were foolish and completely unacceptable," J. Edward Fox, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, wrote to Thompson. "Nothing can be more important than credibility and integrity when communicating with the public."

Fox's letter said the San Antonio press conference happened in January 2006, although the San Antonio Express News reported Myers' first press conference after garnering a controversial recess appointment as a DHS assistant secretary was not until Feb. 3, 2006.

DHS spokesman Russ Knocke, who discovered the fake question in a review of department press conferences, told RAW STORY that he was unable to determine the precise date of the press conference, which some employees remembered as happening in late January while others remembered the date as early February. Furthermore, he said his investigation did not reveal exactly what question was asked.

"There's some fog," Knocke said in a phone interview Monday. "Most folks who were present do not recollect exactly what the question was."

The immigration spokeswoman, who Knocke refused to name "because of obvious HR restrictions," asked Myers a general question about her feelings on ICE's relationships with other law enforcement agencies, he said based on general characterizations of the question. No transcript of the event exists in DHS or ICE records, Knocke said, although some employees he spoke to gave general characterizations of the question.

According to Fox's letter, the spokeswoman told her supervisor that she wanted to ask Myers a question and ignored her boss's admonition not to question Myers. In "short order" after the press conference, the spokeswoman was verbally reprimanded by her immediate supervisor and a public affairs official at ICE headquarters in Washington, Knocke said.

Myers called on the staff member by name "for purposes of concluding the press conference," after she had answered several reporters' questions, Knocke said. After responding to the staffer, Myers continued to take several more questions from reporters.

The ICE spokeswoman was "well known amongst San Antonio media," Fox wrote, and Knocke said she worked as a reporter in the area before joining the immigration agency. Reporters covering the press conference, which focused on an earlier immigration bust that netted $1 million in cash, drugs and heavy weapons, apparently did not mention that the spokeswoman was among the questioners. Attempts to reach reporters for further comment were unsuccessful Monday.

[...]

More recently, Myers was forced to apologize after an ICE employee showed up at a costume party in what many thought was a racist costume and she was on a panel that judged the costume "most original."

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), who sits on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, has placed a temporary hold on Myers' nomination because of her failure to condemn the costumed employee, who reportedly showed up at the party wearing dark makeup, dreadlocks and prison stripes.

[...]

Myers' recess appointment expires in January, and even some Republicans doubt whether she could or should be confirmed.

"The way things are going, we may not ever vote on her nomination," Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., who is a second cousin of Myers' husband, told the Associated Press earlier this month. "Our nation's immigration enforcement agency needs non-controversial leadership. That would be best served by going in a different direction with this nomination."

Why am I supporting Gov Romney (particularly when most of the state is supporting Mayor Giuliani)?

[...]

2. Illegal immigration is also a mess. Romney will address this issue in a fair and realistic manner.

Mayor Boughton, 11.24.07

November 2005: Romney Supports McCain-Bush Immigration Bill, Saying They Are "Quite Different" From Amnesty. According to the Boston Globe, in November 2005 Romney spoke "approvingly of efforts by McCain and Bush to solve the nation's immigration crisis, calling them 'reasonable proposals.'" In the November 2005 interview, "Romney described immigration proposals by McCain and others as 'quite different' from amnesty, because they required illegal immigrants to register with the government, work for years, pay taxes, not take public benefits, and pay a fine before applying for citizenship. 'That's very different than amnesty, where you literally say, 'OK, everybody here gets to stay,'" Romney said in the interview. 'It's saying you could work your way into becoming a legal resident of the country by working here without taking benefits and then applying and then paying a fine.'" [Boston Globe, 3/16/07]

March 2006: Romney Supports A "Path to Citizenship," Opposes "Rounding Up" Undocumented Workers." Gov. Mitt Romney expressed support yesterday for an immigration program that places large numbers of illegal residents on the path toward citizenship… 'I don't believe in rounding up 11 million people and forcing them at gunpoint from our country,' Romney said. '[T]hose that are here paying taxes and not taking government benefits should begin a process towards application for citizenship, as they would from their home country.'" [Lowell Sun, 3/30/06]

December 2006: Romney Caught Using Undocumented Workers At His Own Home. "A lawn service used for several years by Gov. Mitt Romney, who is considering a run for president, employed illegal immigrants to work on the grounds of his suburban home, according to a published report. The Boston Globe said it interviewed in Spanish four current and former employees of Community Lawn Service with a Heart, and all but one who said they had worked on Romney's property said they were in the country illegally. The employees told the newspaper the company's owner, Ricardo Saenz, never asked them to show documents on their immigration status, which is required by federal law." [Boston Globe, 12/1/06]

May 2007: Romney Opposes Immigration Bill, Even Though It Includes Everything He Supports. "The record shows Romney repeatedly has demanded stronger border security. A campaign ad calls for tamper-proof identification cards. And in a debate last week, he said illegal immigrants need to go back to their home country and 'get in line' before they can become citizens. 'That's exactly what's on the table. All of those things are part of the immigration package,' said Marshall Fitz, spokesman for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, a nonpartisan organization of lawyers and professors. 'Romney and the other candidates who continue to beat their chests against this legislation are just playing to the conservative base.'" [Miami Herald, 5/25/07]

June 2007: Romney Now Calls Bill Amnesty. "Romney's response to the bill has varied with his audience. Most of his criticism has focused on the so-called Z-visa, a document proposed for registering the estimated 12 million illegal aliens in the country. Last month in South Carolina, home to the type of social conservatives Romney is courting, he said, 'I think we should not call it the 'Z' visa; we should call it the 'A' visa, because it's amnesty and that's what it stands for.' Yet a week later in Florida, he said, There are some who get involved in whether it is technically amnesty or not and I'm not really trying to define what is technically amnesty. I'll let the lawyers do that.'" [AP, 6/4/07]

August 2007: Romney Launches Ad Saying "Amnesty Will Not Work." Romney began running an ad in Iowa this week in which he says he will secure the borders and that "amnesty will not work." [Boston Herald, 8/15/07]

Click the play button below to hear former governor Mitt Romney discuss Senator John McCain’s immigration reform plan in a 2005 interview with the Globe (11/30/05).

Flap heard Mitt Romney being interviewed by Sean Hannity on his radio show yesterday afternoon bashing Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Senator McCain on the issue of illegal immigration and “Sanctuary Cities.”

Flap has said before and will say again: Mitt Romney is a hypocritical Flip-Flopper on this issue.

Why, does Flap say this, you ask?

Now, let’s look at HYPOCRITE Mitt:

1. Illegal Alien Guatemalans mowing his mansion grounds for ten years.

2. While Romney was governor, the commonwealth of Massachusetts became one of the six states with the largest growth in unauthorized migrant population, from 2002 to 2004, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, with somewhere between 200,000-250,000 new illegal immigrants.

3. In the past, Governor Romney supported more LIBERAL positions on illegal immigration than the 2007 recently failed Kennedy-McCain legislation. In fact, he supported President Bush and Senator McCain’s efforts to change current law in favor of “AMNESTY.”

4. And here is Mitt Romney FLIP - FLOPPING on illegal immigration positions:

Say what?

5. In 2006, Romney said “those that are here paying taxes and not taking government benefits should begin a process toward application for citizenship, as they would from their home country.”

6. Romney Couldn’t Even Enforce Immigration Laws In State Government Payrolls.

A Globe analysis of nine recent public works projects … revealed that of 242 workers on weekly payroll lists, more than a third appeared to lack legitimate Social Security numbers. On one of the payrolls reviewed, for masonry work on the UMass dormitory project, nearly two-thirds of the contractor’s 87 workers had bogus or questionable Social Security numbers. … A spokesman for Governor Mitt Romney said it was unsurprising state money was used to pay undocumented immigrants. ‘The governor is not surprised that our current immigration laws are a mess,’ said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom.” (Jonathan Saltazman and Yvonne Abraham, “Fake IDs Are Rife At State Job Sites,” The Boston Globe, 6/18/06)

7. As Governor, Mitt Romney Recommended Over $408 Million In State Aid To Massachusetts Sanctuary Cities Cambridge, Orleans, Somerville, Brookline, Brewster And Lexington.

8. During Romney’s Term, Proposed State Aid To These Sanctuary Cities Increased 4.07%, From $103,218,421 In FY2004 To $107,419,246 In FY2007.

9. Romney’s Last Minute Agreement With Federal Government To Allow State Troopers To Enforce Immigration Laws Was Rescinded Before It Was Ever Implemented.

“While it is technically true that Romney ‘signed an agreement with the federal government to allow state troopers to enforce federal immigration laws,’ he only did so in the closing weeks of his term, and the program never actually went into effect because it was rescinded by Romney’s successor even before the state troopers began training.” (Philip Klein, “Sanctuary Cities in Romney’s Massachusetts,” American Spectator’s Blog, www.spectator.com, 8/9/07)

So, why is Mitt Romney hypocritically attacking the Mayor and Senator McCain, when he has all of this political baggage?

Because:

Mitt Romney WILL Say and Do Anything to trash his opponents and get himself elected.

Is this who American voters want as their next President?

From the Left:

In a November 2005 interview with the Boston Globe, Romney described immigration proposals by McCain and others as "quite different" from amnesty, because they required illegal immigrants to register with the government, work for years, pay taxes, not take public benefits, and pay a fine before applying for citizenship.

"That's very different than amnesty, where you literally say, 'OK, everybody here gets to stay,' " Romney said in the interview. "It's saying you could work your way into becoming a legal resident of the country by working here without taking benefits and then applying and then paying a fine."

Romney did not specifically endorse McCain's bill, saying he had not yet formulated a full position on immigration. But he did speak approvingly of efforts by McCain and Bush to solve the nation's immigration crisis, calling them "reasonable proposals."

Romney also said in the interview that it was not "practical or economic for the country" to deport the estimated 12 million immigrants living in the US illegally. "These people contribute in many cases to our economy and to our society," he said. "In some cases, they do not. But that's a whole group we're going to have to determine how to deal with."
- Boston Globe, March 16, 2007 Read the article

From the Right:

In his appeals to conservative voters, Romney has made the Arizona senator's work on immigration one of his favorite targets. When McCain and other senators unveiled the latest reform bill two weeks ago, Romney called it the "wrong approach" and immediately launched a television ad slamming "amnesty" for illegal immigrants.
- Boston Globe, June 1, 2007 Read the article

From the Left:

Romney ran against Senator Edward M. Kennedy in 1994. During a debate, Romney declared: "I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time that my mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a US Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it."
- Boston Globe, March 2, 2006

"I respect and will protect a woman's right to choose."
-2002 Questionnaire for the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL)
Boston Globe, July 3, 2005

From the Right:

"I am pro-life. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I wish the people of America agreed, and that the laws of our nation could reflect that view. But while the nation remains so divided over abortion, I believe that the states, through the democratic process, should determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate."
- Boston Globe, Op-Ed, July 26, 2005

More from the Right:

"Every decision I have made as Governor in a very liberal state has been on the side of favoring life." – Governor Romney

- Robert Behre, "Romney Gets S.C. Support," Charleston Post-Courier, January 30, 2007

From the Left:

"Romney has decided to support experimentation on surplus frozen embryos from in-vitro fertilization procedures."
- National Review Online, February 11, 2005

"At a campaign appearance at Brandeis University in June 2002, Romney strongly endorsed stem cell research."
- Boston Globe, December 17, 2006 Read the article

From the Center:

"Governor Mitt Romney set off a storm of criticism yesterday after he declared in a published interview that he favored banning a specific type of stem cell research. Scientists and the leader of the state Senate accused him of trying to block a promising avenue of research, even as antiabortion groups assailed him for declaring that he did not object to stem cell research involving embryos from fertility clinics."
- Boston Globe, February 11, 2005 Read the article

From the Right:

"I studied the issue for many months, and entered into conversation with experts from across the nation who were looking for consensus solutions, like Stanford's Dr. William Hurlbut. In the end, I became persuaded that the stem-cell debate was grounded in a false premise, and that the way through it was around it: by the use of scientific techniques that could produce the equivalent of embryonic stem cells but without cloning, creating, harming, or destroying developing human lives."
- Governor Mitt Romney, Op-Ed, "A Stem-Cell Solution," National Review Online, June 15, 2007

From the Left:

"When he ran for governor in 2002, Romney said he supported expanding access to the emergency contraception pill, a high dose of hormones that women can take to prevent pregnancy up to five days after sex . . . On a questionnaire Planned Parenthood gave to the gubernatorial candidates in 2002, Romney answered 'yes' to the question, 'Do you support efforts to increase access to emergency contraception?' "
- Boston Globe, July 7, 2005

From the Right:

"Yesterday I vetoed a bill that the Legislature forwarded to my desk. Though described by its sponsors as a measure relating to contraception, there is more to it than that. The bill does not involve only the prevention of conception: The drug it authorizes would also terminate life after conception."
- Governor Mitt Romney, Op-Ed, "Why I Vetoed The Contraception Bill," Boston Globe, July 26, 2005 Read the article

From the Left:

"All citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of their sexual orientation. While he does not support gay marriage, Mitt Romney believes domestic partnership status should be recognized in a way that includes the potential for health benefits and rights of survivorship."
- Romney's 2002 campaign website

"Mitt and Kerry Wish You a Great Pride Weekend! All citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of their sexual preference"
- A flier handed out at "Gay Pride" by the Romney/Healey Campaign  See the flier here

"We have discussed a number of important issues such as the Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which I have agreed to co-sponsor, and if possible broaden to include housing and credit, and a bill to create a federal panel to find ways to reduce gay and lesbian youth suicide, which I also support. One issue I want to clarify concerns [grammar in context] President Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" military policy. I believe that the Clinton compromise was a step in the right direction. I am also convinced that it is the first of a number of steps that will ultimately lead to gays and lesbians being able to serve openly and honestly in our nation's military. That goal will only be reached when preventing discrimination against gays and lesbians is a mainstream concern, which is a goal we share…"
- Governor Romney letter to Log Cabin Republicans, October 6, 1994  Read the letter here

From the Right:

Lopez: "And what about the 1994 letter to the Log Cabin Republicans where you indicated you would support the Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and seemed open to changing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military? Are those your positions today?

Gov. Romney: "No. I don't see the need for new or special legislation. My experience over the past several years as governor has convinced me that ENDA would be an overly broad law that would open a litigation floodgate and unfairly penalize employers at the hands of activist judges...As for military policy and the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, I trust the counsel of those in uniform who have set these policies over a dozen years ago. I agree with President Bush's decision to maintain this policy and I would do the same."
- Interview with National Review, December 14, 2006  Read the interview

From the Left:

"He [Romney] is a supporter of the federal assault weapons ban."
- Romney 2002 campaign website

More from the Left:

In his 1994 US Senate run, Romney backed two gun-control measures strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups: the Brady Bill, which imposed a five-day waiting period on gun sales, and a ban on certain assault weapons.

"That's not going to make me the hero of the NRA," Romney told the Boston Herald in 1994.

At another campaign stop that year, he told reporters: "I don't line up with the NRA."
- Boston Globe, January 14, 2007 Read the article

From the Right:

"Americans should have the right to own and possess firearms as guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution," said Governor Romney. "I'm proud to be among the many decent, law-abiding men and women who safely use firearms."
- Governor Romney, News Release, January 12, 2007

"Governor Romney…imposed a slew of fee hikes and tax 'loophole' closures….The largest of these was $259 million worth of fee hikes in FY 2004, the bulk of which came from higher Registry of Deeds fees. Smaller fee hikes, including higher charges for boaters and golfers, we imposed in FY 2003 and FY 2005. Romney also sought $128 million worth of so-called tax loophole closures for FY 2004; $70 million for FY 2005; and $170 million for FY 2006, which were later reduced to $85 million due to backlash from business leaders."
- Club for Growth's White Paper on Mitt Romney

"Romney continues to oppose the flat tax with harsh language, calling the tax 'unfair.'"
- Club for Growth's White Paper on Mitt Romney

Romney didn't support President Bush's tax cuts in 2003. That earned him praise from liberal Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA)
- Boston Globe, April 11, 2003.

From the Right:

"I said no to a tax hike; raising taxes hurts working people and scares away jobs. I also said no to more borrowing; borrowing just shifts our problems to the backs of our kids...Instead, I went after waste, inefficiency, duplication, and patronage."
- Governor Romney, Boston Globe, October 24, 2005

NO NEW TAXES PLEDGE

From the Left:

In 2002, Romney broke with his predecessor, Jane Swift, and Republican governors before her by declining to sign a written vow not to raise taxes once in office.

- Boston Globe, January 5, 2007 Read the article

From the Right:

Almost five years after he refused to sign a "no new taxes" pledge during his campaign for governor, Mitt Romney announced yesterday that he had done just that, as his campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination began in earnest.
- Boston Globe, January 5, 2007 Read the article

Gov. Rell's Sentencing & Parole Review Task Force hears from the public today on ways to change how criminals are sentenced and paroled here in Connecticut. One woman in the crowd knows what it's like to feel loss, and she's fighting for change.

Ramona Rivera is a mom from Danbury and she wants this group to be responsible. Her 8-year old son was allegedly run down by a woman who was a repeat offender high on crack.

"Driving around high, committing offense after offense, feeling that you can get one deal after another, not even attempting programs. It just can't happen anymore," Rivera said.

Her son, Royel Messiah Taft, died in 2006. Royel and his older brother were playing outside when a car came barreling down a one way street and ran him over right in the front yard.

"My 8-year-old died in my 12-year-old's arms," she said. "Every day we struggle."

[...]

She says her son's alleged killer was convicted seven times on burglary, larceny and drug charges, but was still allowed to drive around.

"I was devastated," Rivera said. "I thought our system was also responsible for killing my son."

Ramona Rivera says her sons alleged killer is locked up in Niantic Women's prison and has yet to be tried or sentenced. Though she was offered was 12 years, suspended after 8. Rivera says a better deal would be the maximum 20 years.

William A. O'Neill never aspired to be governor, but was a good one. Good job, governor.

Connecticut citizens are, by and large, a practical lot. They are centrist in their politics, neither embracing bigger government to solve all their problems, nor naïve enough to think a totally unfettered approach to free enterprise can guarantee the greater good is served.

Perhaps that is why Gov. William A. O'Neill, who died Saturday at age 77, was such a popular governor for so long. Bill O'Neill was, above all other things, a pragmatist.

He was a political insider, but not in the negative sense that term has become equated with. He genuinely felt those who make politics their career and their passion are better able to select the best candidates to win a general election.

[...]

During most of the 10 years of Gov. O'Neill's tenure, including twice being elected in his own right, the state's economy would grow. Gov. O'Neill used the resulting increase in tax revenues to address state needs. State spending increased 140 percent during his service as governor. But this was not the product of an ideological belief that government had to play the primary role in improving society, but a result of Gov. O'Neill's practical approach of problem solving. Things needed to get done and the state had the money to pay for them.

Teacher salaries were raised to keep good teachers working and attract educational talent to the state. Environmental regulations were passed and more aggressively enforced. The human services safety net was expanded to help the poor and fill gaps caused by federal social spending cutbacks during the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

When a section of the Mianus River Bridge on Interstate 95 collapsed in 1983, killing three, Gov. O'Neill led the drive for a $6.5 billion plan to rebuild much of the highway infrastructure.

Gov. O'Neill appointed the first woman chief justice and the first black justice to the Supreme Court and named the first woman attorney general. This ever practical man, who in 1969 had voted against a law allowing women to belly up to the bar, had changed with the times.

When the economy slowed, Connecticut confronted a nearly $1 billion deficit, and Gov. O'Neill supported a hodge-podge of new taxes to makes ends meet. The budget problems eroded his popularity and in 1990, after 10 years in office, Gov. O'Neill chose not to seek a third term.

It was left to his successor, Lowell P. Weicker Jr., elected as a third-party candidate, to push through an income tax that placed the state back on firm financial footing, at least for a time.

Gov. O'Neill never had an inflated sense of importance. He sought only to serve by succeeding in the endeavor he loved most and did best — politics. It was a path that led him — by his own account, unexpectedly — to the highest position in state government.

[...]

William A. Stanley, vice president of development and community relations at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London, and a former campaign press secretary for Gov. O'Neill, said it best:

“We're all better for knowing him.”

I had the honor of serving my first term in the Connecticut House of Representatives while Bill O’Neil was Governor. Let me note right at the beginning that it’s better with a Democratic Governor! The state made more progress, more people prospered, and the quality of life improved more with Bill O’Neil as Governor than with anyone else since.

First and foremost, he was truly the education governor. Not only did he push to increase teacher salaries (at a time when teachers were abandoning the profession for higher-paying private sector business jobs) through state formula grants to school districts, but he pioneered the state’s commitment to capital improvements both in public schools and in the state’s university system (hence the O’Neil Center at WCSU).

Second, he was the last Governor to propose investment in decent and affordable housing, famously noting in a speech to the General Assembly that such housing was a human right. Sadly, a string of Republican governors has abandoned this promise, even to the point of abolishing the Housing Department.

Third, he was a bold innovator. The best example was his proposal to repair and upgrade the state’s transportation system. Maintenance had been deeply cut by his predecessor, resulting with the infamous collapse of the Mianus river Bridge on the Connecticut Turnpike. He created the transportation fund, separate from the general fund, and into which went every penny of the gasoline tax, truly a users’ fee that apportions costs according to road use, and easy to collect without a huge bureaucracy or increasing motor vehicle exhaust. Revenue is totally dedicated to transportation improvements and operations.

Bill O’Neil was also the most decent human being to hold the governorship during my career. He came from humble roots, and never forgot them. Bill was a veteran, a tavern owner, devoted to his wife, Nikky, and enjoyed his vintage Thunderbird. He was uncomfortable in formal settings, but loved meeting people one-on-one. One of my special memories is his visit to a simple neighborhood bar near my house in Danbury, where he was happy swapping jokes and chatting with the locals. He also asked very little for himself. While in the legislature, even a Majority Leader of the Connecticut House of Representatives, Bill’s focus was on policy, budgeting, and helping others get their bills passed. Only once did he ask for a personal bill: 1978’s state song, “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” and even that was introduced at the request of his local fife and drum corps. His role model was Harry Truman, and the two were very much alike. He was quite content to retire to his home in East Hampton. He never missed the trappings of power, he never enriched himself, and he never felt any sense of entitlement simply because he had been lucky enough to rise to be the Governor of this state that he so loved.

Many thanks, Bill O’Neil. Godspeed.

Bob Godfrey

Deputy Speaker

Connecticut House of Representatives