NEWS 8 IS YOUR LOCAL ELECTION HEADQUARTERS…. AND TONIGHT…VOODOO ECONOMICS! CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT MARK DAVIS TELLING US HOW REPEALING THE STATE INCOME TAX IS THE LATEST HEATED TOPIC BETWEEN THE CANIDATES FOR GOVERNOR.
DEMOCRAT NED LAMONT IS OPENING A NEW FRONT IN HIS BATTLE AGAINST REPUBLICAN BOB STEFANOWSKI, CALLING HIS PLAN TO CUT AND ELIMINATE THE INCOME TAX, ‘VOODOO ECONOMICS.’
[LAMONT] “AS MOST OF THE REPUBLICANS SAID ABOUT BOB’S PLAN TO ELIMINATE THE INCOME TAX, QUOTE, ‘IT’S AN EMPTY PROMISE.’”
HE SAYS THE CENTRAL STEFANOWSKI CAMPAIGN PROMISE WOULD BE A DISASTER, CUTTING FUNDING FOR EDUCATION, VETERANS, THE ELDERLY AND CAUSE UPWARD PRESSURE ON LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES AS HAPPENED IN KANSAS WHEN A SIMILAR PLAN WAS LAUNCHED FIVE YEARS AGO AND LATER REVERSED.
[LAMONT] “NOT ONLY DID IT DEVASTATE SERVICES, NOT ONLY DID IT MEAN GREAT INCREASES IN THE PROPERTY TAX, BUT IT LEAD TO ENORMOUS UNCERTAINTY IN THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY.”
IN THE PRIMARY ELECTION, REPUBLICANS STEVE OBSITNIK, TIM HERBST, AND MOST NOTABLY DAVID STEMERMAN ALL SAID ELIMINATING THE INCOME TAX WAS NOT POSSIBLE. AND THE STATE’S HIGHEST RANKING ELECTED REPUBLICAN HAS EXPRESSED SIMILAR VIEWS. HERE’S WHAT HOUSE MINORITY LEADER THEMIS KLARIDES TOLD A RADIO INTERVIEWER THE WEEK BEFORE THE PRIMARY ABOUT ELIMINATING THE INCOME TAX.
[KLARIDES ON WNHH] “THERE IS NO WAY, AS SOMEBODY THAT HAS BEEN IN THOSE BUDGETS, THE DEVELOPING OF THE BUDGETS, THE ARGUING OF THE BUDGETS, THE DEFENDING OF THE BUDGETS, IN THEM 24/7 FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, THERE IS NO WAY TO FIND THAT MONEY NOW.”
[LAMONT] “THEMIS HAS BEEN THERE. SHE’S BEEN IN THE TRENCHES. SHE KNOWS HOW TOUGH IT IS TO BALANCE THIS BUDGET.”
BOB STEFANOWSKI HAD TWO EVENTS TODAY. THE NEWS MEDIA WAS NOT ALLOWED AT EITHER ONE OF THEM.
LIVE, FROM THE HARTFORD NEWSROOM, MARK DAVIS, NEWS 8 LIVE, FROM THE HARTFORD NEWSROOM, MARK DAVIS, NEWS 8.
