Political posturing...
The jockeying for the best seat around the negotiations table continued in Hartford yesterday.
The House passed its own version of a tax bill, that included the provision to implement a progressive tax where those who earn more pay a higher percentage. (The Senate had previously approved its plan in the wee hours of the morning.) But House Democrats added the amendment that would suspend the state tax on gasoline for the summer to its proposal (which now heads back to the Senate, where Sen. President Don Williams said the house version would be approved and sent to the governor.)
But the governor doesn't like the tax package - although she does favor the suspension of the gas tax - and has vowed to veto the bill if it gets there.
The Democrats, who hold "veto-proof" majorities in both chambers - failed to pass either proposal by enough votes to guarantee (or even threaten) and override of her veto. Too many Democrats jumped ship on this one, leaving leaders with a majority, but no veto override.
So now, Rell can point the finger at the Democrats accusing them of implementing a new tax when one is not necessary (forgetting that last February she proposed a 10-percent across the board tax on everyone), and Democrats are poised to point a finger back at her accusing her of not supporting her own party's proposal to bring some relief to those of us at the pumps.
And all that finger-pointing does it sets the table for the serious budget negotiations that have yet to begin. They are negotiating - the difference is they're not serious yet. We still have until Wednesday at midnight.
.
The House passed its own version of a tax bill, that included the provision to implement a progressive tax where those who earn more pay a higher percentage. (The Senate had previously approved its plan in the wee hours of the morning.) But House Democrats added the amendment that would suspend the state tax on gasoline for the summer to its proposal (which now heads back to the Senate, where Sen. President Don Williams said the house version would be approved and sent to the governor.)
But the governor doesn't like the tax package - although she does favor the suspension of the gas tax - and has vowed to veto the bill if it gets there.
The Democrats, who hold "veto-proof" majorities in both chambers - failed to pass either proposal by enough votes to guarantee (or even threaten) and override of her veto. Too many Democrats jumped ship on this one, leaving leaders with a majority, but no veto override.
So now, Rell can point the finger at the Democrats accusing them of implementing a new tax when one is not necessary (forgetting that last February she proposed a 10-percent across the board tax on everyone), and Democrats are poised to point a finger back at her accusing her of not supporting her own party's proposal to bring some relief to those of us at the pumps.
And all that finger-pointing does it sets the table for the serious budget negotiations that have yet to begin. They are negotiating - the difference is they're not serious yet. We still have until Wednesday at midnight.
.
posted by Ray Hackett at 8:37 AM
1 Comments:
If this was any other state, we would all be getting a tax cut.
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