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I remember well the last time an even split between Republicans and Democrats loomed over Connecticut’s  state Senate. For three days in November 1994, each side faced the prospect of an 18-18 division.Democrats in those fraught few days insisted there would have to be a comprehensive power sharing agreement that gave neither side an advantage if they won the only race in doubt.

A recount that delivered the 19th seat to the Republicans (discovery of an 80 vote error brought a rare win in the Democratic 3rd district) put an end to 72 hours of maneuvering by Senate Democrats, then led by William DiBella. The Hartford Democrat was not one to give ground on critical institutional matters when pressing a point for his own or his party’s benefit.

The lieutenant governor has a role in the state Senate, but it is not as the 19th member of her party’s caucus. It is far more limited. In the organizing meeting of the Senate, the lieutenant governor plays no part.  The secretary of the state swears in the senators and then presides at the organizational meeting that follows. She has no vote. The senators organize themselves by electing one of their own as the chamber’s leader.  Then the lieutenant governor is invited to join the senators. In a gubernatorial inauguration year, the incoming lieutenant governor is usually otherwise engaged in the dreary inaugural parade ritual while the new Senate is sworn in.

Senate Democrats are in a high state of panic over the implications of a 50-50 split for their caucus budget. An even division of funds for the second half of the budget year will mean layoffs of its bloated staff and tears for a caucus that guards its privileges. Its  appalling charade over the health of outgoing state Senator Andrew Maynard’s precarious condition for the last two years was chilling proof of that.

Victorious Republicans, looking forward to more gains in 2018, appear ready to stand their hard-won ground and make January 4th a day of drama. If change is to begin, let it start then.

Silly Party faces off against Sensible Party.

Democratic incumbent state Senator Steve Cassano is in trouble. The three-tern incumbent has not been able to match the energy of Republican challenger Lorraine Marchetti. Private polling has shown the Glastonbury Republican edging ahead in the final weeks of the long campaign.

Democrats cannot afford to lose the four-town district they have held for 20 years. They cannot turn to unpopular incumbent Governor Dannel P. Malloy for help. He is wildly unpopular with state voters. Instead, Daily Ructions understands, some voters in the district have received robocalls from President Obama boosting the tax increase-loving Cassano.

Congratulations to Marchetti for making this a race that requires the President of the United States to try to heave a tired Democratic incumbent across the finish line first–and endorse policies that continue to fail.

Trouble in Berlin, according to a union document provided to Daily Ructions. Union troops spent valuable GOTV time last week on House Majority Leader Joseph Aresimowicz’s re-election campaign. Re-election should be a walk for Aresimowicz, who is expected to become speaker if Democrats retain their majority. That was before Republican Christopher Morelli, who was 18 years old when the campaign began, mounted a relentless door-to-door campaign for the suburban seat.

Aresimowicz is the House face of Democratic Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s unpopular policies. An Aresimowicz defeat would call to mind the upset Kevin Witkos, now a state senator, scored when he defeated the Duchess of York, speaker aspirant Jessie Stratton, in their 2002 contest.

Volunteering to help Aresimowicz and others seen to be in close races could get a union foot soldier a cash prize:

A Morelli Win would send a powerful message to state Democrats and Republican House leader Themis Klarides, a close Aresimowicz associate.

Put out more suggestion boxes. Malloy administration loyalist and budget chief Benjamin Barnes made an election eve request of legislative leaders for ideas on budget cuts. State employee salaries and benefits, according to the Barnes letter, will increase spending by $1.1 billion in the next budget year. There is no prospect, according to Barnes, of tax revenue covering this.

Here’s one suggestion: Insist the legislature vote on the contracts and reject increases the public cannot afford. Here’s another:  Negotiate contracts without salary increases. Barnes has his own team in place. Let them produce results that reflect the state of Connecticut’s stagnant economy.

From Politico:

“CONNECTICUT — Hospitals in the state have filed a petition to CMS alleging that Connecticut is “illegally administering” its Medicaid program by paying inadequate rates for treatment and imposing a $556 million tax on providers. “Connecticut’s Medicaid payment system has degraded to a point where provider payments are no longer sufficient to assure efficiency, economy, quality of care, and adequate access to care for Medicaid beneficiaries,” the petition says. The state’s hospital association and 20 hospitals also appealed a state court’s ruling on the tax to a state Superior Court. The group’s claim against the tax was denied by two state agencies last month.”

Note that Yale is not included as a signatory to the petition. It recently won approval from state regulators to take over Lawrence and Memorial Hospital. You decide if that has anything to do with Yale’s sudden satisfaction with Medicaid reimbursements.

Here it is:

RE: Pakistani Doctors

From:podesta@podesta.com (This is Tony Podesta, John’s brother)

To: john.podesta@gmail.com

CC: eryn.sepp@gmail.com

Date: 2015-07-17 17:44

Subject: FW: Pakistani Doctors

Promised vin that I would bring to your attention

Not sure if this can be moved or if 500k is important

Tony

Vins cell 202 351 1619

From: Vincent Roberti [mailto:vroberti@robertiwhite.com]

Sent: Friday, July 17, 2015 2:18 PM

To: Tony Podesta

Subject: Pakistani Doctors

Tony – We represent the Pakistani Doctors of America. They are 18,000 strong. They have their annual summer retreat this year from August 13th to the 16th. Essentially ‎Thursday thru Sunday. There will be more than 5,000 attendees. We have been negotiating with Dennis Chang and Michael Smith for nearly 2 months.  After weeks they came back to us and offered Wednesday the 12th.  Although we were clear with them how hard this was going to be given that most of the members have already booked their flights, we convinced the leadership of the group to push forward.  If they were to do this Friday Saturday or Sunday as we suggested I believe we would have been seven (7) figures no problem.  With the  change we down-graded it to 250k although I still believe we will hit 500k.  The response time has been terrible and frankly they have placed me in an extremely embarrassing position with my client, not to mention leaving the opportunity for 7 figures and more going forward. I can tell you that Nancy Pelosi would tolerate this for 2 seconds.   Email doesn’t do the situation justice.  I really need to have a conversation with John directly.

Thanks Vin

from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

Politicos and others get in a confused twist over what sort of identification voters need to present in order to cast a ballot at their polling place. You do not need a photo ID. You should present some sort of document that matches the name and address on the voter roll. A credit card with your signature should also satisfy the election official. Failing that, every polling ought to have a statement you can complete and sign that states the person signing is the same person whose name appears on the voter list.

The Secretary of the State’s office provides this explanation. Tell your friends who may not have a driver’s license, the most common form of ID in a state of drivers.

Juries seem pre-disposed to believing people in politics are corrupt. They also do not believe their testimony when they testify in their own defense. After a six week trial, jurors found two defendants–New Jersey Governor Chris Christie enforcers Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly–were found guilty of abusing their authority as government employees. The George Washington Bridge scandal–as it became known–involved members of Christie’s inner circle closing lanes on the New Jersey side of the bridge in 2013 in retribution for a local Democratic mayor’s refusal to endorse Republican Christie’s re-election bid.

The third member of the Christie bridge triangle, David Wildstein, made a deal with prosecutors and testified against his former colleagues. He is likely to get considerable credit when a sentence is imposed.

Connecticut Democrats under scrutiny in a criminal investigation of the financing of Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s 2014 re-election campaign may want to ponder the Wildstein example.

Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Peter Zarella announced this morning that he will leave the court at the end of December. Justice Zarella was appointed to the Superior Court in 1996 and elevated to the high court in 2001 by Governor John G. Rowland.

Justice Zarella spent his career before his appointment to the bench in private practice. He became familiar in political circles as the rare successful Republican party leader in the vote-rich suburb of West Hartford.

Justice Zarella has maintained his dignity and fought his corner in a court that has become notable for its public displays of vituperation and pettiness. He will join McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, in January.