NSA, Early Childhood Debacle, and Say Hello To Texas

Our weekly news roundtable, The Wheelhouse keeps cranking tomorrow. Our guests for the hour are Bill Curry and the Hartford Courant’s Dan Haar – some chemistry we haven’t experimented with yet.

Among the topics for discussion…

Surprise! Your phone and email communications are being logged.

George Takei’s (or at least his writer’s) take on the NSA and our love of sharing (via Facebook)

How do we balance national security, with our right to privacy? And when you log online or make a call from your iPhone, how private do you think your activities really are? In addition to Dan and Bill, we’ll be joined by law professor Glenn Sulmasy who argues in favor of government surveillance.

This 21st century war is different and requires new ways and methods of gathering information. As technology has increased, so has our ability to gather valuable, often actionable, intelligence. However, the move toward “home-grown” terror will necessarily require, by accident or purposefully, collections of U.S. citizens’ conversations with potential overseas persons of interest.

Tying up loose ends from the session.

Despite approving funding for the Office of Early Childhood, the legislature did not pass the bill that would actually create the office. The legislation’s failure is being linked to a bill that would’ve allowed Sunday bow hunting of deer. One of the strongest supporters of the early childhood bill is Senator Beth Bye, who said on WNPR’s Morning Edition ”This is probably the most discouraging situation I’ve run into since I’ve been in elected office.”

The CT Mirror’s Jacqueline Rabe Thomas will join us for this segment to help us understand what happened and what the future of the Office of Early Childhood could be.

Also, there was a lot of talk about the state spending cap during the budget discussions. Bill Curry wrote in a Hartford Courant op-ed that the implementation of the spending cap was a failure from the get-go.

It was written hurriedly and under great pressure by people — income tax supporters, mostly — who didn’t really want a cap. It was meant to contain the political damage of adopting the tax as much as it was meant to contain spending.

First they took George W. Bush…

Rick Perry is coming to the state later this week in an attempt to lure Connecticut businesses and workers down south. And even if you don’t see Gov. Perry when he’s here, you may see this ad on TV:

We’ll talk to Dan Haar about Perry’s visit, which he calls the “Yankee Come On Down” tour.

Perry, like his sometime political enemy and stylistic mentor, George W. Bush, is smarter than his yeeeeee-haw manner would make us believe. The campaign is short on gun totin’ cowboys and long on showing bioscience research and advanced manufacturing.

Do you think Texas is a viable location for businesses currently in Connecticut? Share your thoughts on this week’s news here, or give us a call tomorrow morning between 9-10am at 860-275-7266.

“Can we really blame (teenagers) for not being concerned with politics?”

Today’s show asked a question that has entered many minds over the years: What’s government good for? That feeling is understandable, especially this week (the IRS scandal, the Justice Department secretly collecting phone records from AP reporters, and the Robert Braddock Jr. trial happening here in Connecticut).

Our in-studio audience are students in the Introduction to American Politics class at Bulkeley High School in Hartford, CT.

Kyle Phillip is a senior from Bulkeley High School. He raised the question of political apathy among his classmates. But he demonstrated that he’s not apathetic himself.

Listen to the full show with Christine Stuart from CT News Junkie and Urania Petit, the Working Families Registrar of Voters in Hartford.

Primary Day Polls Not Hopping

As expected, polling places across Connecticut are not handing out many stickers today.

Photo by Catie Talarski.

On this morning’s Where We Live, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said this Primary Day turnout will be similar to previous years. “Sad to say, I’d be happy with 30%,” said Merrill.

All day long, we’ll be talking to those who are showing up to the polls. The Colin McEnroe Show is talking with “Citizen Reporters” about what they are (or aren’t) seeing. WNPR reporter Diane Orson talked with voters in North Haven and Bridgeport this morning. Frank Giordano cast his vote for Linda McMahon in North Haven. He said Chris Shays isn’t the change that he’s looking for in Washington. “He was there for too long. And a lot of these politicians have been there for too long,” said Giordano. “It’s time for a change.”

Linda McMahon is expected to win tonight but Chris Shays and his supporters haven’t given up yet. Pat Redding is one of those supporters who acknowledges the uphill climb the former Congressman faces but is holding out hope. “It’s hard to compete against that when you can’t get your name out, when there’s an oversaturation of negative ads, pro-ads for Linda McMahon..that’s stuff you can’t beat,” said Redding. “But I’m hoping for the best. I’m hoping for a solid turnout for him.”

Diane Orson caught up with a supporter of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Susan Bysiewicz, who is also facing a tough battle in her campaign against Rep. Chris Murphy. But Bysiewicz got the support of Rita Wozniak who likes her for representing the ordinary citizen. “She understands some of our problems and I love her attitude. She’s determined to do something to help,” said Wozniak.

At the end of this morning’s Where We Live, Colin McEnroe called in to share what he’s seen around West Hartford. He didn’t see much and called the turnout “shockingly low.” There were also very few people standing outside the polling places with signs in support of candidates. That’s coming from someone who has been through every primary since Lancelot Phelps first held the 5th District seat in 1835.

We’ve heard from people on Twitter about voter turnout too.

• @RosieDeRobertis: Husband & I were the only ones there. Realized 3/4′s of the political TV ads I’d seen are not for our district.
• @saultert: Hardly anyone there. A coworker just told me they don’t vote because they don’t think primaries count. Sad.
• @danielschwartz: Yes, I voted. And there wasn’t another person who was voting at the same time around 7:15 in Avon. Very quiet.
• @jancdavis: as an independent I would vote if we had open primaries in CT

This low turnout wasn’t unexpected. When Ned Lamont beat Sen. Joe Lieberman in the 2006 primary for the Democratic nomination, 43% of Democrats showed up. The big issue during that election was the Iraq War. There isn’t an issue like it this time around. Lamont joined us on the show this morning and said that this crop of candidates are very similar on the issues. “They have to make up differences,” said Lamont. “There’s nothing of substance that really gets people to drive to that polling booth and cast their vote.”

Remember to follow WNPR’s Primary Day coverage with the CT Mirror, culminating tonight with a live broadcast from the Red Rock Tavern in Hartford. The Mirror also has a great page dedicated to Primary Day news today.

As always, let us know what you’re seeing as you vote today. Are you in the 5th District where voter turnout is expected to be slightly higher? Or are you in Hartford voting by yourself?

Governor Malloy Loves February 29th

Photo by Chion Wolf (January 11, 2012)

Tomorrow is one of those rare days that only comes around every four years. Yes, of course I’m talking about February 29…or as Governor Malloy calls it: an extra work day.

In January, he joined us in-studio to discuss his first year in office. Towards the end of the show, John from Kensington called in and asked Malloy, “Where do you get your energy?”

In response, Malloy shared a story:

I remembered that this was a leap year so I quickly went to my calendar and I looked at the calendar and I realized that February 29th is a workday so I actually get to work an extra day and everybody else does this year as well. So I’m very happy because to have a leap year fall on a Saturday or Sunday just isn’t the right thing to do. I like to work and I don’t complain about it. I’m happy when I’m working, thank you!

If Malloy isn’t friends with James Franco yet, I think they’d get along well:

Pelto and Scully Will Be In-Studio…Together.

By Tucker Ives

Right now, Jonathan Pelto and Patrick Scully are not best friends. They’ve been going back and forth in their blogs and newspaper columns over their criticism/support of Governor Malloy. It started back in July when Pelto wrote:

I am  disgusted by the Malloy Administration’s failure to do the right thing…

And I want my 2010 gubernatorial vote back.

Foley instead?  At least with Foley we would have had a Legislature Branch of Government that was willing to stand up and do the right thing.  Now we don’t even have that.

On August 7, Scully wrote a column for the Hartford Courant titled, “Malloy Labor Critics Should Count Blessings.” He specifically called out Pelto for his criticism of Malloy:

Former state Rep. Jonathan Pelto is a thoughtful and accomplished media relations professional who is deserving of being heard on the issues facing the state. He and other critics, however, are also hopelessly disconnected from the average Connecticut citizen and continue to wallow in the failed, far-left, now-fringe policies of 1970s.

George McGovern is no longer relevant, nor are his policies. Today’s Democrats (myself included) are in the camp of John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and, yes, Dan Malloy.

Of course, Pelto fired right back with a LONG rebuttal on his blog. Most of this was a defense of George McGovern but at the end, he addressed the current situation:

I appreciate Mr. Scully’s right to criticize me and others for our criticism of Dan Malloy and I certainly understand his concern that now is not the time to “wallow in the failed, far-left, now-fringe policies of 1970s.”

But that said, I’m pretty sure that fighting against a senseless war, preserving programs like food stamps, revamping the tax structure to support not punish working families and working to end hunger here and abroad don’t count as “failed, far-left, now fringe policies”.

I don’t doubt that there are “Good Democrats” who support both President Obama and Governor Malloy.  I too consider myself a “Good Democrat” and in that capacity I believe we have an obligation to speak out when it appears that either of them have stumbled from the path that got them elected – or even more importantly – are failing to implement the most fundamental principles and values that we Democrats stand for.

Scully seemed annoyed with Pelto’s fixation on what Scully called a “throwaway line” about McGovern:

Instead of countering my argument, Pelto launched into a lengthy defense of George McGovern. Pelto started with “My response [to Scully’s column] is rather long, but I hope you’ll take the time to read it in its entirety.” Not a chance. I started to doze after the first five or six paragraphs. I did notice Pelto saw the need to question my age—always an effective debating tool.

Next Wednesday (8/24), Pelto and Scully will be in-studio for a discussion about their feud, the SEBAC deal and Democrats in Connecticut…and I’m sure George McGovern will be mentioned at least once.

Pelto. Scully. Where We Live. August 24th at 9am.

This should be fun.

Meet George Jepsen! (The New, Low-Key AG)

George Jepsen, photo by Chion Wolf

by John Dankosky – When George Jepsen took over as Connecticut’s 24th Attorney General, he also forever changed the daily newsgathering habits of newsrooms across the state.  His predecessor, now Senator Richard Blumenthal, still  jokes about showing up for a “garage door opening,” and would make himself available at a moment’s notice – albeit in tightly scripted soundbites – to any media outlet willing to listen.

Blumenthal also crafted a persona as a “national” defender of consumers, joining in multi-state investigations and settlements with major companies.  His highest-profile case was the multi-billion dollar settlement with the tobacco industry, which resulted in millions coming into the state’s general fund (while very little was ever actually used to stop people from smoking).

In many ways, Jepsen is similar in his views on the position of AG.  He told the Connecticut Post in November, ”I grew up with a view that the playing field is often tilted against the average citizen. As an attorney general, you are an advocate in their corner.”  But in temperament, he seems at times to be the opposite of Blumenthal – very low key, even quiet at times.  If you want an example, listen to his appearance with opponent Martha Dean on Where We Live last year.  (Or maybe this (I)nterview with the CPBN Media Lab)

So far on the job, he’s waded into some of the territory we’ve become accustomed to traveling with Blumenthal.  He’s asked Apple and Google to divulge more information about how they’re tracking consumers with their smartphones; and he settled a fraud case with a mobster.

But in a unique settlement with pharmacy giant CVS, Jepsen may have hinted at a new way of doing business.  In an effort to get expired goods off of store shelves, Jepsen has CVS issuing coupons to customers who find out-of-date products on the shelves.  A kind of “crowdsourcing” watchdog effort.

He also lit up a bit when he talked about the deal on air, calling it “cool.”

Yes, today on Where We Live Jepsen was not exactly “high energy,” but did bring back some info from a trip to DC, where he’s working with other AGs on how to get mortgage companies to take better care of the millions of homeowners in the US who got caught up in dubious loan practices.  You can listen to today’s full conversation on Where We Live here. 

Malloy: No Labor Deal? “We’ll Lay Off Lots Of People”

Governor Dannel Malloy, Photo by Chion Wolf

by Diane Orson and John Dankosky - Governor Dannel Malloy stopped by WNPR’s Where We Live to take calls from listeners and to talk about negotiations with state employee unions.  His stance seemed pretty clear: Without $2 billion in concessions over the two-year budget cycle, he’s got no more good options for balancing the nearly $3.5 billion deficit.

“You want me to cut the budget more? I’ll cut the budget more.  You want me to eliminate more programs I’ll do that.  And in the absence of reaching a restructuring agreement we’ll lay off lots of people. I don’t want to do any of those things.  Having thousands and thousands of state employees become unemployed in the midst of a downturn in the economy where we can reasonably predict that Connecticut will be one of the last states to recover from makes no sense, but if it’s the only option, it’s the only option to pursue.”

Malloy later told the capitol press corps that he’s working on, in his words, a “nasty and ugly” alternative budget in case state employees don’t  agree to concessions.

Commuter Rail Advocate Asks: “Where Are The New Cars?”

by matt.hintsa/flickr creative commons/A Metro North Commuter Railroad train arrives at Westport station

by John Dankosky - The Chairman of Connecticut’s Commuter Rail Council wants to know why new Metro-North train cars still aren’t in service.  He’s asked officials from the manufacturer and the company testing the cars to attend a meeting tonight in Stamford.

The new Kawasaki M8 cars were purchased six years ago at a cost of $866 million dollars.  They were meant to solve a big problem on the busiest commuter train service in America – the Metro-North New Haven line.

“The cars we have are a legacy of the neglect that the state has paid to transportation for decades.  They are 35 years old – they’re older than many of the passengers on the trains – they’re falling apart,” said Jim Cameron, the Chairman of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council.  ”The real question is where are the new M8 cars?”

Well, the answer is, they’ve been delayed again and again – first by a shortage of steel to make the cars, then because of problems found during testing.  Cameron has asked – unsuccessfully – for officials from Kawasaki and LTK, the consultants running the testing to appear in front of his council.  They’re not expected to be at the Commuter Council’s gathering at Stamford’s Government Center at 7 p.m. tonight.

“I don’t understand why commuters can’t get a straight answer from consultants that are getting paid 27 million dollars, who are involved with this testing on a daily basis, why these trains aren’t in service,” Cameron told WNPR’s Where We Live.

And, Cameron says they’re desperately needed, with the current fleet of cars being decimated by winter weather.  Because so many of the older cars are out of service, Metro-North has cut back its schedule on the New Haven line by ten percent.  Cameron says the new cars would help during what he’s called a “winter crisis.”

“Interim commissioner Parker of the DOT testified two weeks ago that the trains will probably be in service mid to late February.  Hello…it’s mid February, and their trains are no closer to being in service,” Cameron said.

DOT Commissioner Jeffrey Parker told Where We Live that the trains are in the final stage of testing, and should meet that deadline.  ”As I’ve always said, the testing is dynamic, and problems could crop up that would delay us, but as I stand here today, that’s what we’re headed for,”  Parker said.

And, Parker says that commuters should separate the long-term need for new rail cars, and the problems caused by the worst winter weather in decades.  He said that even if the new M8s were in service, it wouldn’t have led to “salvation” for the New Haven Line riders, jammed onto overcrowded trains.

Parker said the crowding on trains isn’t “terrible” this winter, but says that, on average, 1,000 to 2,00o more people are standing during their commutes than usual with the reduced schedule.   That’s out of 140,00 people a day.  But, Parker admits, “I’ve been on those trains, and forced to stand, and it’s not a comfortable thing.”

As for Cameron’s repeated request for Kawasaki and LTK to attend tonight’s commuter forum to answer questions about the delay, Parker doesn’t see the need.  He’ll be there, he says, along with a project official from Metro-North.  ”We really don’t want to have a real in-depth complex conversation about the inner workings of the car,” Parker told me.  ”Bringing in an electrical engineer who knows how the car works internally is not the best use of time for us.”

Tonight’s meeting of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council takes place at 7 p.m. at Stamford’s Government Center.

McDonald Says “Yes, New York!” To Cuomo

by John Dankosky – Not a big surprise that Joan McDonald, a favorite appointee of former Governor Jodi Rell, is leaving the state to take a job with New York’s new Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo.   She’ll be the commissioner of transportation in the state next door, a pretty big job.  That same position in Connecticut has yet to be filled, and many mass transit-oriented observers in the state think it’s Gov. Dannel Malloy’s toughest hire.

Now, he’ll also have to find a DECD commissioner to replace McDonald, someone he called a “hardworking individual, dedicated to helping create new jobs and engaging Connecticut’s business community.”   Despite that hard work, economists and business leaders continually told us that the state wasn’t doing enough to attract jobs, and kept using this term: “Dead last in job creation.”

In fact, we’re hearing once again from the state’s big employers that Connecticut has a “bleak future” if it doesn’t do to more to attract jobs.

Our program in December of 2009 presented this challenge to the state with a question: Who’s getting these jobs that Connecticut isn’t?  Turns out, one place is Virginia.  Why?  Well, check out these two websites.  The first one is what you get when you search for the Virginia Department of Economic Development:  
http://www.yesvirginia.org/

Yes, it’s called “Yes, Virginia” and gives you countless reasons why you should start a business there, and a road map of how to do it.

Now check out the Connecticut DECD’s site: 
http://www.ct.gov/ecd/site/default.asp

Where do you want to start your business?

At the time of that show, UConn economist Fred Carstensen told us that Connecticut needs an overarching economic development strategy, not band-aid solutions. But perhaps we could start with something every business needs…a marketing plan.

Rell Scolds Administration Officials For Coasting To The Finish Line

by John Dankosky – As Dan Malloy’s incoming chief of staff Tim Bannon told the Connecticut Mirror yesterday, “there are going to be hiccups in any transition.”  He was talking about the dust-up between the outgoing Rell administration and Malloy’s transition team over Michael Starkowski, commissioner of the Department of Social Services.  Rell’s all-powerful chief of staff Lisa Moody told The Mirror that it’s not “a big deal” that they’re temporarily forcing Starkowski out of a job, despite Malloy’s intention to keep him on in January.

This key line in Mark Pazniokas’ story speaks to what’s concerning Moody as she gets ready to leave the Governor’s office:

Moody said the Malloy transition team has not told the Rell administration how many commissioners and deputies the new governor would like to stay on an interim or longterm basis.

The obvious pique over this issue spilled into a Wednesday afternoon conference call with dozens of state agency heads.  Governor Rell sternly addressed them, saying she “wants to know” if they’ve been contacted by Malloy’s folks, because she doesn’t want to “look like a jerk” if she gets asked about their intentions and doesn’t know.

But the plea for disclosure wasn’t the only message Rell intended to send during the phone conference, which lasted around ten minutes.  She scolded department heads for letting their phones “go to voice mail” and not being available to her when she’s called during the last few days.  ”We’re still an administration,” she told the group.  It was a message she said she didn’t want to have to send during the holiday season.

As The Hartford Courant’s Jon Lender has been reporting, not everyone who’s been part of the Rell team is expected to be out of a job come January, and at least one Rell staffer we’ve come to know will stay in state employment.  CT NewsJunkie reports that Rell spokesman Donna Tommelleo will be moving over to the state Insurance Department.  Donna was always the most helpful member of a communications staff that most of the time ignored Where We Live’s requests for information or interviews.

I was pleased last week when she was assigned to be our “handler” during our exit interview in the Governor’s office.  While others in the media were kept on a tight 20-minute leash for these “speed recaps” of Rell’s political career, Donna sat by and listened, holding on her lap a “2-minute warning” sign that she never deployed.  I snuck an extra couple minutes out of the Guv.

Thanks, Donna, and good luck.