Critics attack governor prematurely over budget

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s first budget had not yet seen the light of day this week before political opponents began attacking the governor for raising taxes on Connecticut citizens. As details of the budget were leaked this week, political opponents of the state’s first Democratic governor in two decades claimed tax increases will result in the departure of wealthy citizens and corporations, who will pack up and leave the Nutmeg State to find lower tax rates.

Some Republican opponents of Malloy likened the proposed revenue collection to class warfare, in which poor people continue to make unfair gains over the disadvantaged and under-represented rich.

“At long last we see what many privately feared, that Gov. Malloy is more interested in rewarding those who feed off government rather than those who produce wealth and opportunity,” said state Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy. “While Malloy says he doesn’t want to punish success, his new tax rates and classifications will cause many citizens to either leave the state or roll up their businesses for more competitive locations.”

Wealthy citizens and corporations should be thankful to have Healy speaking up for them.

Other critics painted Malloy’s proposed tax increases as evidence that the governor has somehow broken a campaign promise by suggesting tax increases. One right-wing blogger has already referred to Malloy as the “tax man,” lambasting the governor for his attempts to find “shared sacrifice” in the proposed budget.

The fact is that Malloy said throughout last year’s campaign that difficult choices will have to be made to shore up Connecticut’s fiscal mess, which has been years in the making. As a candidate, he never offered a “read my lips” promise of no new taxes, and anyone who voted for Malloy knew what the terms “shared sacrifice” and “difficult choices” really meant.

After state government has spent years of ignoring and putting off Connecticut’s ballooning deficits, Malloy has already started on the path to fiscal accountability by immediately signing an executive order requiring the state to use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in Connecticut. Inheriting a projected budget deficit of $10 billion over the next three years, the governor knows he must work quickly to stop the bleeding, and part of that involves increases in taxes. Any town hoping for state funding for education in the coming years knows this money has to come from somewhere and that paying the bills is crucial to the ultimate goal of economic prosperity. Painful spending cuts will also be part of the equation.

Knee-jerk reactions from so-called fiscal conservatives, painting Malloy as a tax-and-spend liberal, are premature, irresponsible and ridiculous. A month into his term, the governor deserves a chance to develop and implement solutions to problems that others have swept under the rug.