ctblogger Posts

Via Facebook, Democratic 5th State House district candidate Leo Canty speaks out on the circus surrounding his never-ending primary recount fiasco.

5 weeks since election day - it's still a tie. No Democratic Nominee has been selected for District 5 - ballots are being printed and Nov 6 is 7 weeks away.

Now we found a ballot that was cast by a dead person - and not counted - but we find out rumors of her death were greatly exaggerated. Now her ballot is in court - and may count....should it be opened?? This is a 1 vote election and it all hinges on Bertha's vote and the world will know how she voted ..if it is opened. Drama in the slow courts - legal delay tactics - questions of the process and sanctity of secret ballots? big city politics?? Dead people living to vote??? the most bizarre form of democracy found anywhere on this planet.

Almost as bizarre as the Mittster.

CTNJ has the latest...

Rumors of an elderly Windsor woman's death have been greatly exaggerated, and since she's still alive it's possible her vote which is still sealed could decide the Democratic primary contest between Leo Canty and Brandon McGee.

The absentee ballot found Monday during a second recount of Windsor's ballots could determine the outcome of the race, if Superior Court Judge A. Susan Peck decides to have the envelope erroneously marked "deceased" opened Wednesday.

John Kennelly, an attorney for McGee, said he's not sure he will ask the judge to unseal the ballot, which could decide the election.

"At this point we're not ready to answer that question," Kennelly said.

Thomas McDonough, an attorney for Canty, said he would have to do some more research before deciding whether he would ask the court to unseal the envelope.

[...]

A second recount of Hartford's absentee ballots Tuesday found that there was an empty envelop which contained no ballot at all. Solving at least one of Peck's questions.

Last week, Peck said she had no reason to doubt Hartford City Clerk John Bazzano when he testified that he delivered 79 absentee ballots to a Hartford polling place, but at the end of the evening on Aug. 14 were only 78.

"It appears, pretty persuasively, that if something happened to the ballot, it happened on election day," Peck said Friday.

[...]

The recount of absentee ballots in Hartford yielded no changes to the vote count it had completed on Aug. 14, which means Canty and McGee are still tied.

Judge Peck will have to decide Wednesday whether to open up the Windsor woman's ballot. She could also order a revote if there were questions of electoral conduct, and she may have to decide whether to toss three Windsor votes because the voters were not properly checked in by the poll workers.

Stay tuned as the circus is set to begin again at 2 PM.

Watch quickly before Linda attempts to have the video removed...

You can watch the full documentary on the dark side of the WWE under Linda's watch at the following link.

Tidbits

• UCONN/COURANT CT SEN POLL: Murphy ahead, 37 percent, Linda 33 percent, 30 percent undecided

  With nearly 30 percent of voters still undecided, Republican Linda McMahon and Democrat Chris Murphy are locked in a statistical dead heat in the race for U.S. Senate, according to a new University of Connecticut-Hartford Courant poll.

  The poll showed Murphy ahead, 37 percent to 33 percent, but with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, the race is basically a tie, poll Director Jennifer Dineen said.

  The poll found that Democrats have more undecided voters than Republicans, that there are no significant gender gaps and that there are pronounced geographical pockets of support for each candidate:

  Click here for the poll crosstabs

• CT 04: Dave Kostek breaks down Jim Himes approach for addressing the budget while wondering (along with everyone else) where his opponent stands (press release).
  

  Bill Clinton's speech to the convention is stuck in my head. He made a very simple, very compelling, point: we need people in DC who understand arithmetic.

  As a former math teacher, I am partial to Mr. Clinton's argument.  As a citizen concerned about our nation's fiscal future, I know that we have to get the numbers to add up.

  Jim Himes understands the fiscal challenge we face and has been very specific about how to solve it. Jim has won accolades for his commitment to fiscal responsibility; the non-partisan Concord Coalition is even presenting him with the Paul Tsongas Economic Patriot Award this week.

  I began to wonder... how could I get the word out about the plan Jim supports and the fact that his opponent refuses to say what specific spending he'd cut and how he'd bring in the revenues we need to get it to balance. You know, arithmetic.

  So I dusted off my white board, grabbed a set of markers and made this video to explain how the budget arithmetic tells you exactly why Jim Himes deserves your vote in November.

• When it comes to Linda McSham's laughable lack of knowledge regarding the details of her financial hardships, Littman nails it.

  I mean, SERIOUSLY?! Mrs. "Vote me cause I'm a BIDNESSWOMAN" never SAW her own financial papers? How stupid do you think we are?— realsaramerica via web

• STATE SEN 24: In accepting the NACCP debate, Jason Bartlett highlights State Senator Birther Mike McLachlan's close ties to ALEC and accuses the most disliked state lawmaker at the Capitol of scrubbing his website.
  

  Former State Representative Jason Bartlett accepted an NAACP invitation to debate on October 6th in Danbury.  In accepting he renewed his assertion that more debates are needed as new information about Senator McLachlan's legislative affairs come to light.  Bartlett said, "Senator McLachlan is a soldier in the war on women, and a proxy for corporate interests and is getting free vacations in return for advocating extremist positions.  This is why we need to have debates," Bartlett said.

  "It is a common practice for legislators to take trips and attend forums to learn best practices and professional development.   ALEC and Barton's Wallbuilders are anything but professional development conferences.  These are all expense paid junkets held by extremist organizations to entice legislators to promote their agendas."

  Bartlett is referring to $5,000 worth of free vacations that McLachlan took as a member of American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and David Barton's extremist organization Wall Builders.  McLachlan reported to the State Ethics committee that he took four trips paid for by these organizations.  ALEC came to the national media's attention when it was exposed that the "non-profit" organization was giving conservative legislators model bills to introduce in their states that were directly dictated by large corporations. The group came under more fire recently for advocating voter suppression legislation and Florida's controversial Castle Doctrine.  Since the allegations, companies such as Wal-Mart and McDonalds have cut their ties to the organization

  "There is a pattern of Senator McLachlan vacationing with ALEC and then returning to Connecticut to introduce Connecticut's version of their model bills.  Senator McLachlan has kept his bargain with ALEC by introducing anti-union legislation, voter suppression laws and the castle doctrine," Bartlett said.

  In addition, McLachlan attended Wall Builders legislative advocacy forum in Dallas, TX in November of 2010.  McLachlan is a devout fan of revisionist historian David Barton whose radical beliefs include that anti-bullying rules are homosexual indoctrination and that God has drawn this country's national boundaries.  McLachlan met Barton at the forum and tweeted,  "I had the pleasure of meeting David Barton today as he signed the book "Original Intent"  What a message!"  Nov 12, 2010.

  Bartlett said, "While I have been surprised at McLachlan's embrace of these figures and organizations it is important for the voters to know that Mike says one thing in the district but is advocating for these extremist organizations in Hartford.  Perhaps that is why he has expunged a picture with Barton from his Facebook page recently."

  

  McLachlan is already making excuses for possibly skipping the debate.

  McLachlan said while he looks forward to the event, he has yet to formally accept the invitation while he awaits word on the format of the debate.

  "I welcome the opportunity, but I need some more details," he said.

It's refreshing to see the State House Republicans being honest regarding their sham of a hearing on the state's risk reduction credit/early release program.

Following the disclosure at a hearing today that the state failed to properly monitor convicted criminals released early from prison for "good behavior", House Republican Leader Larry Cafero today said the Risk Reduction Earned Credit program should be suspende

[...]

Judiciary Committee Republicans (including state Reps. Themis Klarides, John Hetherington, Christie Carpino, John Shaban, Rob Sampson and Bill Simanski) staged the hearing after Democrats and Malloy administration officials refused to explain how the controversial program is administered.

It's astonishing that anyone would take the State House Republicans seriously.

Here's what Mike Lawlor, Under Secretary for Criminal Justice in the Office of Policy & Management had to say about the Republican sideshow.

"The Republicans are just flat out wrong.  We haven't refused to explain anything.  I have personally been in touch with many Republicans on this issue, including members of the Republican leadership and the Judiciary Committee.  What we have refused to do is take part in what the Republicans themselves today admitted is a 'staged event.'  They actually use those words in their own press release.  While we appreciate the intellectual honesty regarding their motivation here, it's clear they're not interested in a serious public policy discussion.  They're interested in playing cheap politics.  If they were interested in a serious discussion they'd know that fewer people are getting out of prison on average today than at almost any other point since 2005.

"Crime is at 40 year lows.  And this program is designed to make sure that crime continues to go down.  It's worked in other states, and it will work here."

UPDATE 2:50: The Chris Murphy campaign released the following video from an interview Linda McSham did with WTNH that further shows her approval of Romney's outrageous remarks.

Look who's trying to run away from these comments made by Mitt Romney.

"I am sympathetic to the struggles that millions of Americans are going through because I've been there," McMahon said. "As a young couple, Vince and I lost our home and our car. With two small children it was not an easy time for my family."

Yeah right, this is the same Republican senatorial candidate who, when she actually took questions from the press, stated that had no problem reducing the minimum wage.

Ted Mann, The Day: Should it be reduced now? Since businesses are struggling, as you all described? Would you argue for reducing the minimum wage now?

McMahon: "We have got minimum wages in states, we have got minimum wages in the (federal) government, and I think we ought to look at all of those issues in terms of what mandates are being placed on businesses and can they afford them. I think we should get input from our business community. We should listen to our small business operators and we should hear what it is they have to say and how it's impacting their businesses and make some of those decisions."

Linda McSham can't run away from the facts, she lock in step in support with Mitt Romney when it comes to his irrational plan to provide MORE tax breaks to the rich at the expense of the middle class.

You know what to do...

The latest...

• Tied again!

  The candidates seeking the Democratic nomination in the 5th Assembly District are back to being tied Monday after a recount of all three polling places in Windsor.

  Judge A. Susan Peck ordered the unprecedented second recount of the Windsor polling places and Hartford's absentee ballots on Friday. Hartford will count the absentee ballots at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

  The race was moved back to a tie Monday when election officials in Windsor found the alleged missing ballot for Brandon McGee stuck to another ballot in the stack. There also were three absentee ballots cast for which election officials failed to cross off the name of the voters on a master list. Those votes were counted, but it's unclear how the judge will handle them since it's a violation of election regulations. It's possible those votes could be thrown out.

  There also is one uncounted, sealed ballot in Windsor from a voter who died between the time they voted and the Aug. 14 primary. That vote hasn't been counted.

• Looks like some people think their above the law (press release):
  

  The Obsitnik and Roraback campaigns are making solicitations for a September 18 fundraising event, failing to properly note who paid for solicitation materials, or who will get the funds from the event.  

  "Campaign finance laws are intended let voters know where the money is going, and to keep everyone operating within the same legal framework.  Both Roraback and Obsitnik are violating the law," said Connecticut Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo.  "That is unacceptable for candidates seeking to make federal law."

  Federal election law stipulates a joint fundraising notice must be included with every solicitation for contributions.   Obsitnik and Roraback should have formed a joint committee to solicit contributions for this fundraiser.  Additionally, individual campaigns are not allowed to coordinate regarding the logistics of an event, the vendors used, and the distribution of proceeds from the event.  Obsitnik and Roraback are holding an event on the same date, at the same time, at the same location, and with the same speakers - again violating the law.  

  "This is just another symptom of Obsitnik's desperate attempts to look like a legitimate candidate.  Obsitnik already has a record of padding his meager fundraising report.  Now, he is failing to comply with campaign finance law.  For a candidate who rarely bothers to vote in elections, a lack of concern for campaign finance requirements isn't too far off."

  "Roraback may be eager to join his fellow Republican candidates in raising money for their shared cause - ending Medicare as we know it to pay for tax breaks for millionaires, but as a sitting member of Connecticut's state Senate, Andrew Roraback should know better."

• WWE continues to hide their past from voters.
  

  WWE videos simulating sex, one between a couple on stage in a wrestling rink, and another where a man partially undresses a "corpse" before climbing into the casket, were posted for several hours Monday by the Connecticut Democratic Party after the wrestling giant had scrubbed a group of racy videoa from YouTube last week.

  The Democrats earlier in the day said they felt they were protected by the fair use exception under copyright law when they put up copies of the material through Vimeo.

  "We thought it was important to inform voters about her qualifications," said Elizabeth Larkin, communications person for the party, referring to Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon, who was chief executive office of the wrestling giant when the lewd skits were performed.

• Vindicated!
  

  A judge threw out an "interfering" charge against a woman arrested for refusing to hand over her cellphone to a sergeant she recorded stomping an out-of-control club-goer-setting the stage for a possible lawsuit against the city.

  Judge Maureen Keegan took the action Thursday in state Superior Court on Elm Street.

  She dismissed the interfering charge against Jennifer Gondola, the 36-year-old Ansonia woman who encountered Sgt. Chris Rubino in the Temple Street courtyard outside the Pulse nightclub in the early hours of June 2. The case sparked an internal police investigation and a possible rethinking of the police department's policy on the rights of citizens recording the actions of cops.

  "This should have happened the first time we came to court. There was never any merit to it," Gondola's attorney, Diane Polan, said after Keegan's dismissal Thursday. It was her fourth court appearance in the case.

  Polan said she's now considering filing a civil suit against the City of New Haven over Gondola's June 2 arrest.

• Ha ha!!!!
  

  The ink runneth dry for Lee Whitnum.

  A petition drive by Whitnum to run for U.S. Senate has come up short by 1,289 signatures, the Secretary of the State's office announced Monday.

  Whitnum needed the names of 7,500 registered voters to get onto the ballot.

  "So she didn't make it," James Spallone, the deputy secretary of the state, told Hearst Connecticut Newspapers in a telephone interview.

To mark the third anniversary of Linda McSham's laughable, on-going campaign for U.S. Senate, the Connecticut Democraitc Party sent out the following press release:

Three years and close to $70 million later, Republican millionaire Linda McMahon is still trying to lie, distort, kick up mud, say, do, and spend whatever it takes in her desperate quest to pull the wool over the eyes of Connecticut voters and buy this election. Well, it's not going to work.

"Middle class families here in Connecticut understand Linda McMahon's history of gaming the system at the expense of the middle class, they know about her plan to cut taxes for millionaires like her, and they know about her history as a wrestling tycoon laying off 10% of her workforce while taking $10 million taxpayer-funded giveaways. Republican Linda McMahon can spend every last penny she took in peddling wrestling and taking advantage of her workers, but she can't change the facts."

"Republican millionaire Linda McMahon could have made much better use of her $70 million than her three years of lies and mud-slinging."

LINDA McMAHON'S $66 MILLION WOULD PROVIDE...

9.5 of the $7 Million Tax Cuts That McMahon Could Receive Under Her Extreme Right Wing Tax Plan. [Hartford Courant, 8/31/12]

$33.60 to Each Active Voter in Connecticut. According to an annual report published by the Connecticut Secretary of State's office, the total number of "active" voters in the state is 1,962,905.  [New Haven Register, 7/13/12]

8 ¼ Years Of Work For The 60 People McMahon Laid Off In 2009. The Associated Press reported in January 2009 that "Sports entertainment company World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. said Friday it will cut more than 60 jobs, or about 10 percent of its staff...yielding expected annual savings of $8 million in compensation and benefit costs."  [AP, 1/9/09]

15,000 Employer Health Insurance Premiums, to Help Cover the Hundreds of Workers McMahon Refused to Provide Health Insurance Coverage to For the Next Few Years. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average employer contribution for a single premium for employer-based health insurance coverage in Connecticut was $4,390. McMahon and WWE classify a significant but unknown number of their workers as "independent contractors" to avoid paying them health insurance and other benefits. [StateHealthFacts.org, accessed 9/15/12; New York Times, 7/16/10]

1,894 Connecticut Residents A College Education.  The tuition at the University of Connecticut for a resident of the state is $8,712 for the 2012-13 academic year, thus, $34,848 for a four-year education. [UConn.edu, 2012-13]

1,045 Teachers for Connecticut Classrooms For One Year. According to the National Education Association, the average teacher salary in Connecticut is $63,152 [NEA.org, accessed 9/15/12]

1,047 Police Officers to Keep Connecticut Safe For One Year.  The Connecticut Department of Labor's Statewide Occupational Employment & Wages for Q1 2012 show an average salary of $62,995 for police and sheriff's patrol officers. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, Q1, 2012]

1,171 Firefighters to Protect Connecticut's Neighborhoods for One Year. The Connecticut Department of Labor's Statewide Occupational Employment & Wages for Q1 2012 show an average salary of $56,326 for firefighters. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, Q1, 2012]

1,229 Registered Nurses to Care For Connecticut's Sick For One Year. The Connecticut Department of Labor's Statewide Occupational Employment & Wages for Q1 2012 show an average salary of $53,700 for licenses practical and licensed vocational nurses. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, Q1, 2012]

120 More Powerboats for the McMahons to Name the "Sexy Bitch."  Coast Guard records to indicate that the McMahon's boat is a 47-ft power boat manufactured by Fountain Powerboats Inc.  Fountain Powerboats 47' boat is the "Lightning."  According to Powerboat Magazine, the new version of that boat retails at $550,000. In March 2010, the Stamford Advocate reported that the McMahons' boat was named the "Sexy Bitch." [Powerboat Magazine, undated; Fountain Powerboats Official Site, undated; Stamford Advocate, 3/14/10]

Another day and another misleading, dishonest ad from Linda McSham's campaign hits the airwaves.

The Chris Murphy for Senate campaign debunks the nonsense.

This afternoon the Murphy campaign is releasing a new video responding to more of Linda McMahon's desperate and misleading attacks that lie about Chris Murphy.  The new video highlights serious questions that remain unanswered about McMahon's own past, highlighted by her decision to gamble on shady tax shelters and shaky stunts which ultimately led her into bankruptcy which allowed her to skip out on paying creditors.  McMahon frequently cites her bankruptcy story on the campaign trail but with no real details about the actual proceedings.

McMahon's attacks on Murphy have already been discredited ever since she began launching them last week. The Hartford Courant wrote that there is "no evidence" to back up McMahon's claims and multiple experts have agreed that "available evidence does not support her allegations."  One publication also noted that McMahon's attempt to make hay out of this issue was nothing more than a cheap "publicity stunt." 

[...]

"Linda McMahon can't talk about her record so she has resorted to cheap attacks that have already been discredited as lies," said Taylor Lavender.  "Even more troubling than McMahon's inability to tell the truth are the unanswered questions about her past. The fact is that she gambled on shady tax shelters and shaky stunts, filed for bankruptcy so she didn't have to pay back her creditors, and has since refused to come clean.  She owes voters some answers and should come forward with all the details of her shady bankruptcy," added Lavender.

You can read more below the fold...

FALSE ATTACKS AND LIES:McMahon Launches More Smears and Distortions To Try and Hide Her Record of Hurting Workers and Putting Her Profits First

 

FACT: Linda McMahon Continues to Use False, Negative Ads Filled With Lies to Hide Her Extreme Right Wing Agenda, And Record of Hurting Others to Help Herself

Hartford CourantEditorial: McMahon "Makes No Apologies...For Clearly Being Out Of Her Own Interests."  McMahon "minimizes her own [vulnerabilities] - lax drug policies and degrading imagery at the company she and her husband own - as byproducts of the entertainment business. The unflappable Mrs. McMahon makes no apologies for a fortune earned from fake fights in a bawdy ring. Or for clearly being out for her own interests - lower taxes and less regulation - which, she would argue, Calvin Coolidge-style, are good for creating jobs in the worst times since the Great Depression...But she doesn't have Mr. Blumenthal's depth or breath of knowledge on essential matters such as foreign affairs and the law. She has avoided straight talk on issues such as Social Security, which isn't sustainable on its current path. (Mr. Blumenthal also avoids straight talk by saying Social Security 'seems to be financially on strong ground right now' and opposing 'any reduction in the present Social Security commitment.') She has a spotty history of voting in elections." [Editorial, Hartford Courant, 10/24/10]

 

"McMahons Have Become Known For Hard-Nosed Tactics And Have Been Accused Of Putting Profits Ahead Of The Well-Being Of The Wrestlers."  On July 16, 2010, the New York Times reported that "over the past quarter century, Vince and Linda E. McMahon have built the W.W.E. from a small regional operation into a $1.2 billion empire operating in 145 countries. But along the way, the McMahons have become known for hard-nosed tactics and have been accused of putting profits ahead of the well-being of the wrestlers who attract millions of fans with their daredevil stunts and cartoonishly sculpted physiques." [New York Times, 7/16/10]

 

McMahon Called Financial Reform "Ridiculous," An "Overreaching By The Government," And Said It Would Put "Regulation In Place That We Just Don't Need." "Linda McMahon is a petite and friendly woman with that magnetic smile that political consultants crave. But when she starts talking about the Democrats' financial reform package, she gets a bit of an edge in her voice. 'It's 2,300 pages. It's just, I think, ridiculous,' she said in an interview with The Daily Caller. 'It's overreaching by the government...It's putting regulation in place that we just don't need. And it's just a typical government solution.'" [Daily Caller, 7/11/10]

 

New York TimesEditorial: McMahon Made "Lots Of Money By Running...A Noisy, Demeaning Business" And "Her Policy Positions, When You Can Discern Them, Are Remixes Of Failed Trickle-Down ideas." "We have larger concerns with the Republican, Linda McMahon. She made her name and lots of money by running World Wrestling Entertainment, a noisy, demeaning business. Her policy positions, when you can discern them, are remixes of failed trickle-down ideas. She has aligned herself with groups that oppose the minimum wage - even though she now says she would not cut this meager safety net. She essentially expects voters to take it on faith that she will do as well in government as she did in spectacle wrestling. She is ready to spend as much as $50 million of her own money to win the race, but she does not seem ready to take on the issues of war, the economy, public welfare and justice in Washington." [Editorial, New York Times, 10/13/10]

FALSE ATTACK:McMahon Claims Murphy Skipped 80% of Meetings

FACT: McMahon's Attack On Murphy's Record Is Blatantly False

Rick Green: Accuracy Not Key to McMahon Attacks - Murphy Hasn't Skipped 80% of Meetings. Wrote Rick Green of the Hartford Courant, "Accuracy is not an essential part of this deconstruction formula. For the record, Murphy hasn't skipped 80 percent of the meetings "for his job." McMahon's jobs plan is as much of a work in progress as Murphy's. (Notably, she declines to say how she would pay for the tax cuts at the center of her proposal.) Murphy also leads a bipartisan initiative looking for compromise in Congress. This is a simple and classic marketing recipe: Say something so many times that people will believe it." [Hartford Courant, 9/10/12]

 

FACT: Murphy Has a Strong Voting Record and Has Been an "Outstanding Congressman" For Connecticut

Murphy Voted on 97% of Votes Held while in Congress. [www.govtrack.us]

 

August 2012: News-Times: "Chris Murphy Has Been an Outstanding Congressman..."According to an endorsement editorial in the News-Times under the headline, "Murphy Deserves Support of Voters," "Chris Murphy has been an outstanding congressman for the people of the 5th District for the past six years, and we believe he would be the best and strongest candidate the Democratic Party could put up for the US Senate seat from Connecticut in the fall election...He has proven himself to be a hard-working, conscientious public servant who devotes himself to representing his district's interests and providing strong constituent service. In an era of bitter partisan bickering in Congress, Murphy has distinguished himself for his ability to get along well with members of both parties and his leadership of the Center Aisle Caucus that aims to bridge the gap between the two major parties." [News-Times, 8/5/12]

 

The Day Editorial: Murphy "Most Effective If Elected..." According to an editorial in the Day, "the main concern for Democratic voters should be choosing the candidate who will make the stronger general election contender and be most effective if elected to the Senate. We believe that candidate is Congressman Chris Murphy..." [The Day, 8/5/12]

FALSE ATTACK: McMahon Attacks Murphy For Rent And Mortgage Payments

FACT: Murphy Immediately Paid Bills When He Realized They Were Outstanding

Murphy Has Been Clear: When He and His Wife Realized Mortgage and Rent Weren't Paid, They Paid the Bills.Wrote the editorial board of the Hartford Courant, "On Friday, Mr. Murphy elaborated, first on the 2007 mortgage. He said it was a hectic time in both his personal and professional lives. He got engaged in 2006. He had been paying the bills, but as he prepared for marriage, he and his fiancee, Cathy Holahan, began sharing the fiscal duties. Meanwhile, he had just been elected to Congress from the 5th District and was spending considerable time in Washington setting up a congressional office and doing the other things a new member must do. The couple had two mortgages on the home, one for $180,000 and another for $22,500, both initially from Webster Bank. He said the smaller loan was kept current, but the larger went unpaid for several payments, until its new owner, Chase Home Finance, began a foreclosure action. What happened, he said, was that he and his wife - they married in 2007 - each thought the other was paying the mortgage, so neither paid it. He said when they realized their mistake, they contacted the bank and paid the bill...On the rent question from 2003, he said he had an "overloaded work schedule," serving in the legislature during the day and doing legal work at night, and somehow got behind in the rent. He said when it was pointed out to him, he paid it." [Hartford Courant, 9/8/12]

 

Hartford Courant: Neither of These Cases is a Big Deal. Millions of People Have Had Similar Problems. Wrote the editorial board of the Hartford Courant, "There is no evidence that Mr. Murphy received preferential treatment. If he didn't, then neither of these cases is a big deal. Millions of people have had similar problems. Indeed, Ms. McMahon faced foreclosure on her West Hartford home in the 1970s and filed for bankruptcy to discharge her debts. Mr. Murphy at least paid his." [Hartford Courant, 9/8/12]

 

FACT: Instead of Paying Her Bills, McMahon Used Bankruptcy to Dodge Debt, Stiff Her Creditors

McMahons Filed for Bankruptcy with a Million Dollars of Debt. According to an article in the Connecticut Post under the headline, "McMahons' bankruptcy a murky chapter in her rags-to-riches tale," "The couple filed for personal bankruptcy...after amassing...about $1 million in debt." [Connecticut Post, 10/1/10]

 

CT Post: "What McMahon Does Not Advertise Is The Fact That Some of That Debt Was Racked up by An Investment in a Spectacularly Bungled Stunt by Motorcycle Daredevil Evel Knievel." According to an article in the Connecticut Post, "The couple filed for personal bankruptcy...after amassing...about $1 million in debt. What McMahon does not advertise is the fact that some of that debt was racked up by an investment in a spectacularly bungled stunt by motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel." [Connecticut Post,10/1/10]

 

 Vince McMahon: "I Got Involved with People...and Let Them Tell Me that I Needed Tax Shelters." Playboy asked Vince McMahon in 2001 about his "first fortune" and how he "promptly went bankrupt."  Playboy asked, "[y]ou owned horses, had diversified investments. What happened?" McMahon said, "[i]t was visions of sugarplums. It was, 'Look how successful I am! I guess I really am somebody.' I got involved with people who weren't that bright and let them tell me that I needed tax shelters.  There was a construction company, a horse farm, a cement plant, and it all went belly-up. I felt bad about the bankruptcy. I wanted to pay what I owed, but there were other people involved, and finally the banks wrote it all off." [Playboy, 2/1/2001]

 

2012: McMahon Campaign Confirmed McMahons Did Not Repay Bankruptcy Debts.According to an article in the New Haven Register, "the records of the bankruptcy no longer exist, but the (McMahon) campaign...confirmed...that the McMahons did not repay their old debt." [New Haven Register, 9/7/12]

 

 2012: Hartford Courant: "McMahon Declined a Request for an Interview..."According to an article in the Hartford Courant, "In her campaign narrative, multimillionaire US Senate candidate Linda McMahon has often invoked the hardship of losing her home and filing for bankruptcy more than 35 years ago. But details have been scarce, and records of the bankruptcy itself are hard to come by...McMahon declined a request for an interview..." [Hartford Courant, 5/20/12]

The Day Column: "I Tried...to Get An Answer from the McMahon Campaign, But Didn't Hear Back..." According to a column by David Collins in the Day under the headline, "The McMahons, now wildly rich...have refused to say exactly how deep in debt they were when they filed for bankruptcy or how much their creditors lost at the time. And recently, the McMahon bankruptcy got even murkier, with a new interview on the Daily Beast website that suggests the McMahons went bankrupt in Maryland...I tried...to get an answer from the McMahon campaign, but didn't hear back from messages asking for a clarification." [The Day, 9/19/10]

 

CT Post: "Linda and Vince McMahon's Personal Bankruptcy...Is A Mystery the Candidate Herself Has Steadfastly Refused to Clarify." According to an article in the Connecticut Post, "Linda and Vince McMahon's personal bankruptcy, a key element in the rags-to-riches tale propelling her surging candidacy for the U.S. Senate, is a mystery the candidate herself has steadfastly refused to clarify." [CT Post, 10/1/10]

FALSE ATTACK: McMahon Falsely Claims Murphy Didn't Pay His Bills, But Got a Loan Normal People Couldn't Get

FACT: Experts and Editorial Boards Across Connecticut Agree - McMahon's Attacks On Murphy Loan "Nonsense" With No Evidence To Support Them.

HEADLINE: "McMahon claim a false start"[Connecticut Post, 9/12/12]

 

Connecticut Post Editorial: McMahon Claim "Nonsense," "Without a Shred of Evidence or Even a Shred of Logic to Support It."Wrote the editorial board of the Connecticut Post, "One of the many joys of football is the respite it provides from the nonsense of that other fall season: the political campaign. Nonsense like U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon's claim that her opponent got a fishy loan from a bank in exchange for a vote to help said bank, without a shred of evidence or even a shred of logic to support it." [Connecticut Post, 9/12/12]

 

Connecticut Post Editorial: "Mortgage and Credit Risk Professionals Agree There Was Nothing Questionable About the Loan." Wrote the editorial board of the Connecticut Post, "First, the home-equity agreement: What the McMahon camp neglects to say is that by the time Murphy received the line of credit, he had paid what he owed in the earlier matter, gotten married and his household income had more than tripled. Under those circumstances, mortgage and credit risk professionals agree there was nothing questionable about the loan." [Connecticut Post, 9/12/12]

 

Hartford Courant Editorial: "There Is No Evidence that...Murphy Received Preferential Treatment...Millions of People Have Had Similar Problems." According to an editorial in the Hartford Courant, "There is no evidence that Mr. Murphy received preferential treatment. If he didn't, then neither of these cases is a big deal. Millions of people have had similar problems. Indeed, Ms. McMahon faced foreclosure on her West Hartford home...and filed for bankruptcy to discharge her debts. Mr. Murphy at least paid his." [Editorial, Hartford Courant, 9/8/12]

 

Danbury News Times Editorial: McMahon's Charges Were "Overblown." "U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy has admitted to lapses in his financial past. But a charge of political corruption, made in an ethics complaint filed by his political opponent, appears overblown. Murphy, a Democrat running against Linda McMahon for a U.S. Senate seat, fell behind on payments -- in 2003 on the rent for an apartment in Southington, and in 2006 on the mortgage on his house in Cheshire...A number of financial experts have said the interest rate of 4.99 percent Murphy got from Webster in 2008 on the credit line was good, but not extraordinary... And, as the bank pointed out, Murphy's interest rate was still a percentage point higher than the 3.99 percent that Webster offers its best-rated customers." [Editorial, Danbury News Times, 9/12/12]

 

CT News Junkie: McMahon Complaint on Murphy Mortgage Called a Publicity Stunt.According to an article in CT News Junkie, "Unhappy with how the Hartford Courant editorialized...Chris Murphy's brush with foreclosure and failure to pay his property taxes and rent, his Republican opponent...filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics...But the complaint...may be more of a publicity stunt since the Office of Congressional Ethics can't forward the complaint to the Office of House Ethics 60-days before an election. But that technicality didn't deter the McMahon campaign from filing the complaint." [CT News Junkie, 9/10/12]

 

 CT Post: "Experts Agreed Available Evidence Does Not Support Her Allegations the Congressman Got a Sweetheart Deal or Engaged in a Quid Pro Quo..." According to an article in the CT Post under the headline, "Experts: Murphy's loan deal not unusual," "While US Senate candidate Linda McMahon is making a federal case out of opponent Chris Murphy's home equity line of credit from Webster Bank, experts agreed available evidence does not support her allegations the congressman got a sweetheart deal or engaged in a quid pro quo arrangement with the bank. [CT Post, 9/12/12]

 

Finance Professor: "I Don't See Anything Here." "I don't see anything here," said finance professor Michael Tucker of Fairfield University's Dolan School of Business. [CT Post, 9/12/12]

 

CT Post: Experts Agree: Terms of Murphy Loan Reasonable. "Experts contacted for this story...supported Murphy's defense that...the terms of the home equity loan Webster granted in July 2008 were reasonable..." [CT Post, 9/12/12]

 

Webster Bank: No Sweetheart Deal for Murphy. According to an article in CT Post, "Webster Bank...produced additional evidence that an official said refuted Republican Linda McMahon's claims that...Murphy received a special deal when he obtained a home equity line of credit. The bank said it reviewed 775 lines of credit issued at the same time as Murphy's and found that his interest rate was almost in the middle of those loans...a handful of experts with experience in the mortgage and banking industries told Hearst that, based on available evidence, Murphy's deal was not exceptional." [CT Post, 9/13/12]

 

Webster Bank: "Congressman Murphy Consistently Met the Terms of All of His Agreements with Webster." According to an article on CTNews.com, "Webster Bank is denying that...Murphy got special treatment on a home loan... 'The first mortgage and home equity loans conformed to all underwriting guidelines, were approved with no exceptions and were priced in line with the prevailing market rates and terms. Webster refinanced...Murphy's home equity loan into a home equity line of credit in 2008, again with no exceptions and at market rates and terms...Congressman Murphy consistently met the terms of all of his agreements with Webster." [CTNews.com, 9/7/12]

 

Bank Showed Murphy's Rate Was Significantly Higher Than the Best Rates the Bank Offered. Reported the Connecticut Post, "Webster said the 4.99 percent interest rate was well above the 3.99 percent rate enjoyed by the bank's most credit-worthy customers. The bank also noted real estate values generally had risen between 2005 and 2008. On Thursday Webster spokesman Sarah Barr produced a bank advertisement she said ran during the summer of 2008. The ad offered rates as low as 1.01 percent under what she said was the thenprime rate of 5 percent. The ad appears to have been from September, but the rates, according to the advertisement, dated back to late April. "At 4.99 percent the Murphy's were 1 percentage point higher than our best advertised rate," Barr said." [Connecticut Post, 9/13/12]

 

Webster Bank Said Murphy's Rate Was Right In the Middle of Applicants With His Credit Profile.Reported the Connecticut Post, "Barr also said that from mid-June to mid-August, 2008 Webster approved 775 lines of credit at rates ranging form 3.49 percent to 6.99 percent. "When you look at only applicants with credit profiles similar to the Murphy's, the rate spread was 4.74 to 5.24 percent. The loan for Murphy and his wife was right in the middle," she said." [Connecticut Post, 9/13/12]

Too funny!

World Wrestling Entertainment announced late Thursday night it is removing "some dated and edgier footage" from the web, an apparent effort to keep the clips from becoming fodder in the Senate campaign of its co-founder, Linda McMahon.

"Some of this footage has been misused in political environments without any context or explanation as to when it was produced. This damages the corporate reputation of our company," said Brian Flinn, a senior WWE official.

Flinn, the senior vice president for marketing and communications, made the announcement in an email sent at 11:16 p.m. He said the statement was not a reaction to the recent use of WWE clips in a political ad.

[...]

One of the clips that was used by McMahon's opponents in GOP primaries and in 2010 and 2012 featured her husband, Vince, ordered a female wrestler to strip, get down on all fours and bark like a dog. It is now unavailable on YouTube as a result of the WWE asserting its copyright.

This is a joke plain and simple. Regardless of the whining from the WWE, Linda McSham made her money peddling smut to children during what was called the "Attitude" era...this included images a necrophilia, misogyny, and graphic violence.  

But scrubbing of Youtube by the WWE has nothing to do with McSham's campaign...

A pretty good cross post from Ken Krayeske (a.k.a. the former man with the 40 yr plan)

If politics is warfare by other means, then Linda McMahon's self-financed campaign for U.S. Senate is a masterful information warfare campaign, where McMahon is sold to the public as someone she is not.

I've never had much faith in the Democratic Party to bear the torch for progressive thought, but this election cycle, Chris Murphy is all we have to combat Linda McMahon and her phony for-the-people campaign. Since he has so little money, here is some free strategy for him. He can take it or leave it.

McMahon appears well into a three or four year plan to purchase a seat in the United States' Senate. History shows her failed challenge to Senator Richard Blumenthal in 2010. A Republican with a pulse would have done better than she did for her $50 million in 2010.

This year, though, with only $15 million so far, McMahon has managed to poll a dead heat with Rep. Chris Murphy eight weeks from election day. So at a total $65 million investment, McMahon may walk away with the ability to stop any piece of legislation in its tracks.

Imagine there is a bill to regulate violent television entertainment. McMahon could put a secret hold on it. She is trying to purchase power she cannot buy through lobbyists. Her constant repetition of "Linda" and "Senator" may be enough to convince people she is electable.

This is stunning, and reveals how weak democracy is in the face of massive campaign dollars. Yet the U.S. Supreme Court's equation that speech is money prevents the citizenry from stopping McMahon from buying power.

And, she is doing all this without the press, through a closed campaign that denies media access and accountability. One hopes that Murphy can best her in debates and show how one-dimensional she is.

But two or three hours of debates in two nights is not enough to beat back months of constant repetition of Linda, Linda, Linda.

McMahon's her strategy is to present herself as more in touch with people, and more populist than Murphy. Her well-funded public relations machine is convincing Nutmeg voters that she is may be a one percenter, wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice, but she is no oligarch.

McMahon presents herself as a benevolent creature, devoid of character flaws that Blumenthal exploited.  Two years later, the curse of the short-memoried public haunts Murphy, who cannot seem to dredge up the anti-porn and violence fervor McMahon once incited.

Read more below the fold...  
Murphy is no Ned Lamont.  Murphy has said that if elected, he would be the poorest member of the millionaire's club that is the U.S. Senate.

Lamont's own multi-million investment into upending Joe Lieberman worked partially in 2006. Lamont purchased ad space in bulk, and recruited an army of volunteer bloggers to draft messages and create earned media. Murphy has not been good at earned media. Murphy needs to go viral, and go quick. But how to catch lightning in a bottle?

Lamont's campaign had an urgency - ending the Iraq War - that Murphy's lacks.  Despite a terrible economic slump and the arrival of the Second Gilded Age for the McMahon's of the world, Murphy has not been able to generate the palpable excitement and grassroots support to guarantee him a victory in November.

This week, he beggared himself at the Democratic National Convention down south, looking for corporate donations to offset McMahon's staggering war chest.  In doing so, he precludes himself from espousing a stronger populist rhetoric.

As an incumbent Congressman who failed to champion certain measures in Congress, Murphy cannot run on increasing the minimum wage, or ending student loan debt, or increasing taxes on the rich. The party bigs at the DNC will not give him money, and he doesn't have this kind of a record to run on.

Not that I ever expected Murphy to be a Fighting Bob LaFollette, so perhaps there are more creative ways of attacking Linda McMahon that Murphy could espouse.

For example, why not work harder to tie McMahon to the national GOP platform? As soon as Missouri Congressman and Senate candidate Todd Akin mouthed off about "legitimate rape," McMahon differentiated herself from Akin's vision of the GOP.

Don't think for a second that Akin's vision of the Republican Party is not mainstream. Even though Karl Rove may joke that if Akin is mysteriously murdered, don't go looking for him, other members of the GOP hierarchy have Akin's back.

Current GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has sponsored bills with Akin in Congress regarding no-exception abortions even in the event of "forcible" or "legitimate rape." Of course, Ryan has since backed off of that.

Ryan has also backpedaled off of his boast that he ran a sub-three hour marathon. He didn't. It was an outright lie. Can anyone here see Harry Truman saying he ran a 100 meter dash in under 11 seconds if he didn't actually accomplish that? Me neither.

Murphy would have an easier time of running against Todd Akin than Linda McMahon. Congressman Akin said that student loans are a stage three cancer of socialism.  So why doesn't Murphy try to tag this belief onto McMahon?

If Akin wins in Missouri and defeats incumbent Claire McCaskill, it is easy to see Akin submitting legislation to ban student loans. Today's GOP is not the party of Republican Senator Robert Stafford of Vermont, who introduced federally-backed student loans.

Perhaps Murphy could portray McMahon as an untested neophyte who lacks the spine to be independent of party thought (like a Lieberman), and imply that she would back a guy like Akin.

Or maybe Murphy should try to highlight other absurdist GOP platforms, like the one from the Texas Republican Party that calls for abolishing the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, direct elections of Senators.

Previous to 1910, U.S. Senators were elected by state legislatures.  While Murphy would have a much better chance than McMahon of being senator if the 17th Amendment never existed, a Ned Lamont could not have happened that way either.

McMahon is pretending she is not a Republican.  She is running away from the GOP.  Her campaign color co-opted the traditional Democratic Party's blue.  So the uninformed voter, the one who hasn't made up their minds by November 1, may be stupid enough to see blue, and think, Linda is a Democrat.

Why? The word Republican appears once on her front page, and that is in really small type.  None of her lawn signs or ads say "Republican."

She made her own campaign logo - a circle with an "L" in it, that almost makes it look like she is her own party. The Party of Linda. Linda. Linda. Linda.

Connecticut is not a Republican state right now. Murphy needs to tar McMahon with the national insanity of the GOP.  The GOP accepts outright liars amongst their midst: consider that their Vice Presidential candidate lied about his time in a marathon. Why would anyone do that?

The GOP denies science, like with Akin saying that female bodies have a way of preventing pregnancy during rape.  Or with constant global warming denials.

Murphy should be running against the GOP and tying McMahon to her party, the GOP of the sociopathically rich.  The GOP uses all of these stupid politician tricks and social issues as a wedge to hide their real motives of class warfare of the rich, for the rich and by the rich.

While a McMahon win would make her the 18th woman in the U.S. Senate, it would be a shame for her to be the 51st vote for the GOP.

The latest.

• It's official, Steve Obsitnik's (a.k.a. the Republican who is challenging Jim Himes that NO ONE knows) Communications Director is a moron.

  Anyway, this entire topic came up because of a kind of weird Twitter exchange between Rosenbaum and Jim Himes yesterday, which was September 11th. Jim posted someone about remembrance of the day, which drew a bit of a nasty retort from Rosembaum:

  

  

  The guy attacked the Congressman over his 9/11 statement. Jesus! With roughly two months to go before the election, isn't it possible for a campaign to take one single day off from partisan hackery?

  Although, two years ago I remember the Tea Party rally held in Bridgeport, and one of the stars of partisan hackery, Ms. Ann Coulter, stood in the rain and used the national day of remembrance to lead a hate-fest directed at the president, complete with signs comparing Obama to Hitler.

  So yeah, I guess it might be asking too much to expect some Republicans to show a little respect on 9/11.

• SHOCKER: Linda McSham is dishonest.
  

  An American University lecturer and author of "Why Congress Matters"  is demanding that Linda McMahon's campaign cease from using her comments in a mailer that she says egregiously takes them out of context.

  Hearst Connecticut Newspapers quoted Ilona Nickels, a former resident scholar for C-SPAN, in an Aug. 22 fact check story on the claims in McMahon's television ads that Democrat Chris Murphy missed nearly 80 percent of committee hearings during the 110th Congress.

  An analysis of the Congressional Record proved to be consistent with the attendance figures reported by McMahon's campaign.

  "On the face of it, it doesn't look good. That's a lot of hearings to miss," Nickels told the newspaper.

  Nickels cautioned that the voters of Connecticut shouldn't rush to judgment on Murphy's work ethic based on one legislative session, however.

  And here's the quote that Nickels says McMahon's campaign twisted:

  "Every failure to attend can't be chalked up to, he's a lazy SOB. He doesn't want to do his work. He's a slacker," Nickels said. "Members are overtaxed."

  A mailer sent out by the McMahon campaign shows a photograph of Murphy with the quote, "He's a slacker," which it attributed to the Connecticut Post, a Hearst newspaper.

  Nickels only learned of the mailer, which does not mention her by name, from an e-mail she received this week from someone who received McMahon's campaign literature.

  Soon thereafter, she fired off an email to McMahon's campaign manager Corry Bliss with the subject line "misuse of my words" that was obtained by Hearst Connecticut Newspapers.

  Here's an excerpt:

  "Mr. Bliss: please cease and desist using my words in such a blatant out of context and dishonest manner.

  I have spent 30 years building a career as a non-partisan independent analyst and scholar and you have harmed that profile.

  I don't know either candidate in your race; I have no vested interest whatsoever in the outcome. But I do have a vested interest in preserving my academic reputation."

• Former employees of The Journal Inquirer continue to take the newspaper to the woodshed online over it's latest bankruptcy filing.
  

  John Paton and his cronies ran the papers into the ground in their effort to "modernize" the company. They were killing off print and and they openly admitted it. They cut jobs with abandon, set unrealistic individual production goals and local benchmarks, attempted to clone community engagement efforts everywhere without regard to local demographics or values, and - as the other employee stated - constantly spewed the company line about how great Digital First is and how we all need to get on board. (Aside: I'm 30, very active on social media, and grasp the concept of live online updates, but clearly Digital First did not provide the solution to the company's problems.)

  Then, this week, Paton blamed the continuing budget problems on pensions - on the very employees doing the work in the field every day - the very employees who hear complaints in the community about how "this used to be such a great newspaper - it's so thin now, there's nothing worth reading in it - the online version is so buried under popups and other glitzy ads that you can't even find the news anymore and it's just not worth bothering." This, we heard in the community.

  In the office, our technology was so slow and awful we couldn't perform basic functions - including loading those very same clunky news pages so we could update the copy with breaking news and information. We watched as the company poured what could have been salary money into remodeling or relocating offices. One property that had been moved out of downtown was relocated back into the downtown. Another property, which was too far for anyone to walk to, was remodeled to make room for community media labs and community engagement efforts.

  He lays the blame on pensions? Give me a break. Without employees, you have no product - but, oh, wait: Perhaps that's why we all were forced to help our local JRC property recruit 500 free community bloggers last year. So Paton wouldn't have to pay anymore employees. Way to value the people, Paton. Way to reward them for trying so hard to support your goals.

• Somewhere in Connecticut Ken Krayeske is doing a happy dance.
  

  Jim Calhoun sat in the front row of a near-empty Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday and he watched Kemba Walker, now in the NBA, push the ball up and down the court with the current UConn men's basketball players. Calhoun's legs were crossed, he was smiling.

  "Life is full of tough decisions," Calhoun said when asked about his possible retirement. "We're having the discussions we need to have about moving forward ..."

  Then, picking up the crutch he needs to get around with his fractured hip, he walked out to his car and drove off. It was hard to imagine it ending this way, that this would be the last time that Calhoun, 70, walked off the court at UConn as head coach, but he had at last made that tough decision, even though he was not ready to say so publicly. That will come at a press conference Thursday at 2 p.m. at which Calhoun will announce his retirement after 40 seasons (26 at UConn), and Kevin Ollie, who played for Calhoun in the early to mid '90s, will be named his successor.

• Only in Shelton.
  

  The City of Shelton says former finance director Sharon Scanlon took "at least" $348,616 in public money in part by depositing city checks into her personal accounts without authority.

  The information comes from 25 pages of documents a city lawyer filed last week at Superior Court in Milford.

  The documents say the city is about to commence a lawsuit against Scanlon and asks a judge to attach her Crescent Drive home to the case to secure the $348,616 she allegedly took.

  A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for Sept. 24 at Superior Court in Milford.

Today, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee joined the Chris Murphy for Senate campaign in the dismantling of Linda McSham's laughable resume.

I'll get the DSCC break down the details (PRESS RELEASE):

After months in which Linda McMahon has had a near monopoly of the airwaves, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is setting the record straight about Linda McMahon with its first ad of the cycle in Connecticut. The DSCC is launching a new ad today that highlights how McMahon has put profits before people, criticizing McMahon for laying off 10 percent of her workers and refusing to pay for her employees Medicare and Social Security, all while taking a $46 million paycheck for herself.

[...]

"Connecticut voters deserve to know the real Linda McMahon," said Matt Canter, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "McMahon laid off 10 percent of her employees - even workers in Connecticut - and didn't pay Medicare, Social Security and unemployment for her wrestlers. But Linda McMahon took home $46 million a year. Now, as a Senate candidate, she's proposing to give herself an up to $7 million tax cut. Linda McMahon takes care of herself, no matter who pays the price."

Click here to read the fact sheet...  

9/11 Memorial, Danbury CT

Remember...

Nice to see what side Linda McSham is on when it comes to the Republican's on-going war against women

"McMahon can't run away from the Republican Party or her own partisan agenda that is ripped right out of the national Republican playbook, complete with massive tax giveaways for millionaires like herself, cuts to Medicare, education, job training and veterans services,'' Murphy spokesman Ben Marter said.

McMahon, Marter said, supports "the Romney-Ryan plan to gut Medicare and the Blunt amendment, which would deny Connecticut women access to birth control and basic health care services from their employers." The amendment would have allowed employers to deny health care coverage for contraception and other medical benefits that they oppose on religious grounds.

[...]

McMahon would have "reluctantly" voted for the Blunt amendment, [McMahon spokesman Todd] Abrajano said, "but not because it had anything to do with birth control.''

"For Linda, it was more about religious freedom and overregulation of business. The Blunt amendment would have alleviated those two concerns for her."

Religious freedom? The Blunt amendment would allow ANY employer to opt out of providing birth control and ANY health services to women due to "moral objections"...ANY employer.

Have a objection to providing women services such as HIV or HPV screening, prenatal sonograms, or any vaccine due to "moral or religious" grounds? Well don't fear, the Blunt amendment give you the green light to deny that coverage.

In short, the amendment is the most outrageous attack on the rights of women in recent memory...and McSham is in support of the proposal.

Upon learning what side McSham stands when it comes to women's rights, the Chris Murphy campaign came out swinging.

PRESS RELEASE:

"The Blunt Amendment would deny women access to birth control and basic health care services like mammograms and cervical cancer screenings from their employers-and Linda McMahon supports it," said Murphy spokeswoman Taylor Lavender. "McMahon says she's pro-choice, but she's not. Her support for the Blunt Amendment would cut off access to critical non controversial health services for tens of thousands of women in Connecticut."

According to the New York Times "The amendment...would have allowed any employer or insurance company to refuse coverage for any activity to which they claim a religious or moral objection. That would have meant that any employer who objects to cervical-cancer vaccines could have refused to provide health insurance that covers them. The same goes for prenatal sonograms for unmarried mothers, or birth control, H.I.V. screening or mammograms."

Lavender added, "Linda McMahon has spent the last three years waffling on women's health issues. She supports repealing Connecticut's law to require insurance coverage for birth control, she covets the endorsement of the right wing, anti-choice Family Institute, and now she supports repealing the ban of treating gender as a pre-existing condition. Connecticut voters deserve to know that a vote for McMahon is a vote against women."

Not to be outdone, Connecticut Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo released the following statement...

"Linda McMahon's steadfast support of the Blunt amendment is alarming. The Blunt amendment takes critical health care decisions out of women's hands and would allow insurers and employers to deny women vital health care coverage, like mammograms and cervical cancer screenings, because of personal objections.

Linda and her right wing agenda are the opposite of what Connecticut women want and need. A vote for Linda McMahon is a vote in support of Republicans rolling back the clock on women's rights."

This should give you a better understanding why McSham is busy playing sleight of hand with her PR stunt against Murphy...we know that avoiding questions from the media regarding her judgement is at the top of Linda's priority.

Here's some reading material for the start of the week.

• Bigelow gives his thoughts regarding the warning signs on the 5th CD (a.k.a. the "unity" around Elizabeth Esty).

  Roraback may be benefiting from a divided Democratic Party in the aftermath of a bitter primary and from the goodwill he's earned in his part of the state. Esty is still largely unknown, and this is likely hurting her right now. This is also a district with a strong conservative pedigree, no matter the margin of Murphy's wins here. This is the district that gave landslides to Nancy Johnson, after all, and the only Connecticut county to support George W. Bush in 2004 was Litchfield.  As for Obama, his position is probably secure here, but large parts of the coalition that elected him by a wide margin in 2008 have slipped away. It helps that one of Romney's more convincing personas is that of a New England Republican.

• PELTO: "Chicago Teachers Go On Strike...On behalf of all Public Education!"
  

  For the first time in twenty-five years, school teachers in Chicago are going on strike.

  President Obama's confidant and former chief of staff, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, set up this strike over two key issues - merit pay and evaluation.

  700,000 students out of school, 30,000 teachers and support staff on the picket-line because Emanual, a Democrat, wants to introduce even more "education reform," and this after Paul Vallas and Arne Duncan spent years privatizing and undermining Chicago's public school system.

  The spin from Mayor Emanual, like the spin from ConnCAN and the Connecticut "education reformers" is "we're just trying to help the children."

  In fact, the mayor said, "The kids in Chicago belong in the classroom...Our kids do not deserve this."

  Oh how right Emanual is.

  The Democratic Party has taken a sad and self-destructive turn.

  Here in Connecticut a Democratic Governor introduces the most anti-union, anti-teacher "education reform" bill in the nation and in Chicago, a Democratic Mayor forces a strike and confrontation with its teacher union.

  Debate within the party on key issues is not only understandable, but appropriate.

  Seeking to destroy a key partner in the Party is never the right thing to do.

• Linda McSham attempts to keep their smear campaign in the headlines.
  

  Unhappy with how the media is covering Chris Murphy's brush with foreclosure and failure to pay his property taxes and rent, Linda McMahon brought her story to the Office of Congressional Ethics Sunday.

  McMahon is the Republican running against Murphy in the U.S. Senate race. The two are locked in a "too-close-to-call" race for the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

  The complaint filed by McMahon's campaign manager Corry Bliss alleges that Murphy received preferential treatment from Webster Bank when they agreed to give him a 4.9 percent interest rate on a $43,000 home equity line of credit in 2008. Bliss noted that the interest rate was extended to Murphy after he defaulted on his 2007 mortgage, which was sold by Webster to Chase Home Finance. Bliss also noted that it was after he had a tax lien placed on his home in 2005 for failing to pay his property taxes.

  [...]

  But the complaint, which was given by the McMahon campaign to Politico earlier Sunday afternoon, may be more of a publicity stunt since the Office of Congressional Ethics can't forward the complaint to the Office of House Ethics 60-days before an election.

• Look who landed a new gig.
• Wednesday...
  

  The state Supreme Court, moving swiftly, will hear oral arguments Wednesday on whether Republicans should replace Democrats at the top of the ballot in November.

  In a lawsuit filed only one month ago, the state Republican Party argued that it should receive the top ballot line after the complicated results of the 2010 gubernatorial election.

  The high court's ruling will have a direct impact in November, when much of Connecticut's political world is up for election: a U.S. Senate seat, all five Congressional offices, 151 seats in the state House of Representative seats, and 36 in the state Senate.

  The matter will be determined by the seven justices, who have been nominated by governors and approved by the legislature through the years.

Before the main event kicks off, here's some viewing material.

Make sure to view Lon Seidman's amazing pictures from the convention floor.

NHI's Melissa Bailey has an amazing write-up on CTDREAMER's presence at the convention.

It appears that Cathy Malloy's remarks (and back track) overshadowed her husband's speech.

LIVE VIDEO STREAM:

The CT delegation are ALL OVER Twitter and you can follow along by viewing below.

WashPo:

A new GOP survey from pollster Adam Geller shows Republicans leading the race for Senate candidate Rep. Chris Murphy's (D-Conn.) seat, 42 percent to 35 percent.

One word: yawn.

NEWSFLASH: This is an INTERNAL poll! Adam Geller is the CEO of National Research Inc., a Republican poll whose unreliability was recently on display in Gabrielle Giffords COngressional district when the pollster predicted Tea Party favorite Jim Kelly would beat Democrat Ron Barber by four points...Barber easily beat Kelly by six points.

The DCCC came out with a poll earlier that painted a different picture in the race for Chris Murphy's old seat but in reality, no one has a clue how this race is going to turn out...but the spin is funny reading material.  

Cross post from Jon Pelto's Wait What?

The concept that Connecticut taxpayers need to pay the world's biggest hedge fund $115 million dollars to stay in Connecticut is, understandably, a hard thing to truly understand.  They managed to pay their CEO $3.9 million last year and we have to cough up $115m (or about 3 percent of that amount), or they'll move?

But of course, Bridgewater is not the only private corporation that taxpayers are subsidizing.

In fact, while cuts are being made to vital services, more and more companies are demanding what is, in essence, a ransom.  If we taxpayers don't pay the ransom, they won't relocate to Connecticut, or even worse, they'll leave and take their jobs with them.

Take, for example, the situation that occurred two months ago, when on Sunday, July 8, 2012, more than 400 people joined Governor Dannel Malloy, Mayor Bill Finch, Johnny Morris, the founder of Bass Pro Shops and a "host of outdoors celebrities from the world of fishing, bullriding and NASCAR," for a press conference at Bridgeport's Steelpointe Harbor industrial site.

The event was to announce that Pro Bass will build a 150,000 square-foot store, a store that will serve as the anchor tenant of Bridgeport's plan to develop the now vacant Steelpointe area.

According to press reports, the agreement was the product of nearly a year of negotiations between the State, the City and Bass Pro Shops.  The full subsidy package remains vague, but according to the Malloy Administration, the project "is expected to generate at least 250-300 jobs."

Governor Malloy proudly proclaimed, "This is about jobs, and its great news for the City of Bridgeport...Bass Pro will be a draw for people from throughout the region, one that will help revive the local economy."

And Mayor Bill Finch added, "Today's announcement marks a historic moment for the City of Bridgeport and Steelpointe Harbor. Bass Pro Shops' investment in Bridgeport will create hundreds of jobs, generate new tax revenues and bring economic growth to the City. They are a proven brand that will generate interest and attract customers from throughout the region. Bass Pro Shops is committed to Bridgeport and we are proud to have them as a major anchor tenant at Steelpointe Harbor."

On behalf of the business community, Joe McGee, vice president of public policy with the Business Council of Fairfield County, and a former commissioner of the Connecticut Development Authority (the state agency responsible for attracting business to the state) said, "Bass Pro is not just a Bridgeport opportunity. It's a regional opportunity. A Bass Pro competitor - Cabela's - continues to enjoy significant success at the other end of the state in East Hartford several years after opening."

For the politicians and business leaders in attendance, the day could not have gone better.

There's more below the fold
So what about the Cabela's story:

Six years ago, almost to the day, a different Connecticut governor and a different major outdoor retailer held a similar press conference.  Governor M. Jodi Rell, the Mayor of East Hartford and the corporate leadership of United Technologies Corporation and Cabela's, held a press conference at East Hartford's Rentschler Field to announce an agreement that Cabela's would build a 200,000-square-foot "superstore," its first store in New England.

The onlookers were told that Cabela's is "a significant cash generator" and the new store at Rentschler would "benefit the Hartford area."

In Cabela's situation, the Connecticut Development Authority wooed Cabela's with a $10 million incentive package for the company and another $12 million to build roads and make other infrastructure improvements on the site.  To sweeten the deal, East Hartford's Town Council approved a ten-year tax abatement plan that would save Cabela's $6.7 million in property tax payments.

As with Bridgeport's Steelpointe Harbor site, The Rentschler Field plan was looking to Cabela's to be the anchor tenant for a $2 billion development that would include stores, hotels, offices and high-tech companies. A study conducted by the University of Connecticut predicted that the Rentschler Field project would create 6,000 to 8,000 jobs and generate $40 million in state revenue and $57 million in local taxes, every year.

It wasn't long before officials had to admit that, "The presence of Cabela's, considered a retail super magnet, hasn't been enough to persuade companies and developers to invest money at Rentschler."

By the beginning of 2009, East Hartford Mayor Melody Curry was quoted as saying "I think we were expecting to see more growth and development than we've seen so far."

Now, six years after the State of Connecticut and East Hartford "invested" nearly $32 million in public funds to attract Cabela's, there is no sign of the projected $40 million, a year, in state revenue, nor is East Hartford getting its $57 million.  In fact, after letting Cabela's keep nearly $7 million in what would have been their share of local property taxes, in about 2016, Cabela's will finally start paying East Hartford about $750,000 a year in real estate taxes.  At that rate the taxpayers of East Hartford won't even recoup their investment until 2026.

The question arises, if Connecticut's taxpayers got burned in 2006, why did Governor Malloy and Mayor Finch engage in the very same strategy in 2012?

Was the 2006 experience just bad luck?

The answer can be found in an investigative report conducted by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a non-partisan, independent watch-dog group outside of Washington D.C.

The Franklin Center found that Bass Pro shops and Cabela's "received or are promised more than $2.2 billion from American taxpayers" over the past 15 years.

The study found that, "The stores are billed as job generators by both companies when they are fishing for development dollars. But the firms' economic benefits are minimal and costs to taxpayers are great."

The researchers noted, with some irony, that, "the amount of tax dollars that have been poured into these two companies would be enough to purchase every man, woman and child in the United States their own fishing pole."

The Franklin Center report, released in August, found that:

• "Cabela's has received $551 million in local and state assistance during the past 15 years.
• Bass Pro Shops received $1.3 billion in local and state assistance during the same period.
• The federal government helped ensure liquidity for Cabela's' credit card division by providing $400 million in financing for the purchase of the company's securitized debt.
• Both firms have a history of targeting rural or smaller suburban communities and negotiating deals that involve extensive borrowing on the part of the municipality to build a store.
• In fact, Bass Pro Shops often pays comparably little toward the construction of its own stores. While this sometimes is the case with Cabela's, its development schemes tend to involve elaborate agreements that include massive outlays for public spectacles in the midst of the retail setting."

According to the report, Stacy Mitchell, author of Big Box Swindle, said that Cabela's and Bass Pro always seek to convince elected officials that the store will be a major tourist attraction.

And even as Connecticut and Bridgeport were signing on the dotted line, it turns out the Franklin Center had discovered that, at least Cabela's, has "begun to rethink its strategy, which has reaped it hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives."  According to a top Cabela's corporate official, "We have come to the conclusion that the places that are most likely to offer incentives are the places we are least likely to want to build."

And as to the claim that the new Bass Pro will lead to jobs for Bridgeport residents, an investigative report by Brian Lockhart, a Connecticut reporter for the Connecticut Post and Hearst newspapers, discovered that both the Malloy Administration and the Finch Administration knew, but did not reveal, that Bass Pro was facing allegations that, "the company since at least November 2005 has denied qualified blacks and Hispanics retail positions."

As the Federal Government's lead attorney wrote, "Our investigation lasted over two years...(there was) a pattern or practice of discrimination...going on at virtually all Bass Pro stores across the country."

So, despite knowing that the promised economic nirvana that would come with helping build a Cabela's in East Hartford never occurred and that Bass Pro was facing discrimination charges for refusing to hire blanks and Hispanics, Governor Malloy and Mayor Finch told the assembled on July 8th of this year, "Bass Pro Shops' investment in Bridgeport will create hundreds of jobs, generate new tax revenues and bring economic growth to the City."

And on top of that, we still don't know what Malloy and Finch promised Bass Pro in order to get them to say they'd build a new store in Bridgeport.

Linda McSham won't be able to hide behind her PR machine...Chris Murphy is at his best when it comes to debates.

PRESS RELEASE:

Chris Murphy today announced that he has accepted nine formal invitations to debate wrestling mogul Linda McMahon before the general election on November 6th. Murphy challenged McMahon to a debate on jobs immediately after the primary election, but McMahon was not ready to discuss the number one issue on Connecticut voters' minds.

"I've spent my career fighting for middle class families and for Connecticut jobs, and I'm excited to take these public debates all across the state," said Murphy. "People deserve to hear from their Senate candidates face to face in an unscripted setting, and voters will be able to see firsthand the difference between the endless 30-second attack ads, and my plan to bring jobs back to Connecticut and strengthen our middle class."

"After over a month of coaching, let's hope McMahon is finally ready to talk about jobs and her miserable record of shipping them overseas," said Murphy spokeswoman Taylor Lavender. "People across Connecticut also deserve to see McMahon publicly explain why her tax plan gives her a $7 million tax break and guts critical funding for job training, education, and veterans programs."

Murphy has accepted the following debates:

September 24 - NBC Connecticut

October 7 - WFSB Face the State

October 10 - Waterbury Chamber of Commerce

October 11 - Fox 61/Courant at the University of Connecticut

October 15 - The Day/WTNH at the Garde Theater in New London

October 18 - Connecticut Broadcasters Association in Hartford

October 19 - WABC/New York Times/Univision

October 27 - NAACP in New Haven

Murphy has also accepted a debate hosted by the AARP in Bridgeport. AARP is currently working to find a date that works for both candidates.

Details for the debates will be released in the coming weeks.

The latest.

• Landslide Leo goes to court.

  Good thing for Leo Canty that Charlotte is only two hours by air to Hartford, with plenty of direct flights. The Democratic National Convention delegate from Windsor is flying home for the day Wednesday.

  He has an important little chore: a court appearance relating to his contested one-vote win in the Democratic primary for the 5th Assembly District of Windsor and a portion of Hartford's North End.

  Canty, who also is an AFL-CIO official, hopes he will be back Thursday in time to see Barack Obama accept the Democratic nomination for president.

• NHI: "Call him Surrogate General"
  

  When President Obama needed someone to warn of what's at stake if Republicans take over the White House, he called on Connecticut's governor to make the pitch. All day long.

  Gov. Dannel P. Malloy spent a full day Wednesday selling Obama at the Democratic National Convention here, including a speech on the floor of the convention at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

  In his six minutes in the spotlight, Malloy warned Republican nominee Mitt Romney would "shred the safety net," destroy Medicare and Medicaid, and rob women of their right to choose, if he beats Obama in the Nov. 6 presidential election.

• More on Congressman John Larson's speech at #DNC2012.
  

  It was a cameo, its early evening time slot -- 5:49 p.m. -- a mute indicator that not all that much was expected from Rep. John Larson, the veteran Democratic congressman from East Hartford.

  John Larson was expected to stand up, present an argument for the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and get off the stage.

  Instead, he used his personal story and his considerable speaking skills to go on the attack, raising heads and putting hands together all over the hall.

  He used the story of his parents, and even stacked up to all the inspirational family stories we've heard over the past couple of weeks at conventions, he did it exceedingly well.

• STATE SEN 20: State Sen. Andrea Stillman sparred with her Republican opponent.
• Only in Bridgeport
  

  he bystander who stopped Christina Ayala as she fled the scene of a hit-and-run accident warned a 911 dispatcher the legislative candidate could drive off again and also said she may have been under the influence of alcohol.

  "You need to hurry because, listen, she has kids in the car. She may be intoxicated," Kenneth Stokes, of Stratford, said in the emergency phone call following Ayala's Aug. 14 collision, released through a Freedom of Information Act request to Hearst Connecticut Newspapers on Tuesday.

  The police report did not indicate Ayala was tested for alcohol, but Police Chief Joseph Gaudett said the responding officer told him Ayala did not appear to be under the influence.

  Gaudett also said that officer -- Migdalia Ayala -- is not related to Christina Ayala.

  In a brief interview Tuesday Christina Ayala said she was not intoxicated.

  The accident took place 24 hours after Ayala won the Democratic primary in the 128th Assembly District to succeed her cousin, Andres Ayala, in the state House of Representatives.

  The city also released a 911 call from Krystal Velez, the 26-year-old whose vehicle police said Ayala struck after running a red light at the intersection of North and Briarwood avenues around 9 p.m.

  Ayala is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 11 on charges of evading responsibility, failure to obey a traffic signal and failure to renew her vehicle's registration.