Gay Marriage Comes to Connecticut

It has happened. The Supreme Court of Connecticut has issued its long-awaited decision in the Kerrigan case, and has effectively legalized homosexual marriage by judicial decree.

I haven't read the decision yet, but you can download a copy here (large PDF file).

As a recovering lawyer I will give you my analysis at some point FWIW.

There are several dissenting opinions:

• Justices Borden and Vertefeuille (who always did right by me when I appeared in front of her)
  

• Justice Vertefeuille separately
  

• Justice Zarella.

Kudos to Justice Zarella, who bravely stated:

The ancient definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman has its basis in biology, not bigotry. If the state no longer has an interest in the regulation of procreation, then that is a decision for the legislature or the people of the state and not this court. Therefore, I conclude that the equal protection provisions of the state constitution are not triggered. I further conclude that there is no fundamental right to same sex marriage. Accordingly, I dissent.

Connecticut budget woes coming

Says Mrs. Rell:

Rell's budget office estimated Monday that state's budget deficit for the current fiscal year will be about $300 million, more than double previous estimates. Rell said much of that projected red ink is due to falling state revenues, especially from the income and sales taxes and the state's share of the slot machine take at Connecticut's tribal casinos.

The estimate does not account for any fallout from the recent large fluctuations on Wall Street, she said.

Of course, those "fluctuations" will likely hurt us, given how much of our State's income depends on a relatively few people having big capital gains, mostly in Greenwich, as the Courant recently pointed out:

As the good times rolled in recent years, the state budget became increasingly dependent on Greenwich. Despite having only about 60,000 people, the town contributed nearly $600 million in state income taxes in 2006 — more than three times the income taxes paid by the combined populations of Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven and Waterbury. With only 1.8 percent of tax filers, Greenwich provides nearly 13 percent of all state income tax, helping to pay for schools in West Hartford and road repairs in Rockville, not to mention every other cost related to running the state.

Saying goodbye to Connecticut

Sure, we have the McMansions. (We have the real kind, too.) Sure we have political candidates of all stripes visiting us to collect some green - four big names have hit Greenwich in the several weeks alone. We have upstate money and downstate money, too.

What we don't have is young people sticking around to join the party. They can't afford to.

Astronomical house prices may be good for longtime property owners, but it's discouraging the state's 25- to 34-year-olds, according to a new study that says 10 percent of that age group is moving out of state.

In fact, Connecticut leads the nation in the portion of its young-adult population that has decamped the state, searching for a more affordable life, said the study's author, Bruce Bluestone, director of the Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University. Bluestone said that more housing stock, especially affordable homes for young families, is a key to the state's future. (Emphasis added.)

"The high price of housing is indeed a significant factor in the decline in employment and population in Connecticut," Bluestone said. "An increase in housing supply could actually 'inoculate' Connecticut homeowners against the possibility of a long-term precipitous decline in housing values." During an extended presentation in the Legislative Office Building on Monday, aimed at increasing legislative support for a bill that would give towns and cities a flexible and more affordable way to create housing units, Bluestone joined lawmakers, young adults, housing experts and economists in warning about potentially dire economic consequences.

So says the Connecticut Post, no right-wing alarmists they. In their rush to wreck other aspects of our life, what is the Legislature doing about such an appalling statistic? It looks like there is an affordable housing program in the works, but will it be enough?

This young gentleman tells us why he is getting out of here as fast as he can:

....My highest-paying job after graduating from Southern Connecticut State University was - I kid you not - as a pizza deliveryman. With tips, I made $15 an hour. Not bad, but that's not what I went to school to become.

That stint ended when I found work at a university library. As someone who had worked as a library assistant in college, I thought my job was safe and that eventually I could apply for a better job within the university. Less than a month after going to work, however, my supervisor pulled me aside and told me that the job was not for me.

It was a hard winter for me. To pay the bills, I worked part time for a media research company. However, at 20 hours a week, I couldn't even afford to pay my car insurance. In March, I thought things were finally picking up. I had an interview with a manufacturing company that wanted a technical writer. At last my hard work and perseverance had paid off. But it was not to be. During the interview, the supervisor told me that many in the company believed that my purpose at the company was to train workers overseas. I shook his hand and walked out the door.

But the nail in the coffin isn't Connecticut's present - it's the future. Connecticut is stagnant in several key categories. We rank 49th out of 50th in job growth and per capita federal spending. We rank behind Alabama in tax funds appropriated for operating expenses for colleges and universities, for student aid and for state higher-education agencies, according the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University.

What's worse, our elected officials are rewarded, rather than castigated, for exacerbating the problem. While neighboring states New York and New Jersey have passed property tax reform to ease the tax burden on middle-class families, Connecticut has done no such thing. While Massachusetts has become the first state in the union to have universal health insurance, Connecticut also has done no such thing.

OK, he's a little confused, not realizing that universal health insurance would probably bankrupt us completely, but he's got it - it's taxes.

Don Pesci of Connecticut Commentary lays it all out for us as he explains, memorably, "...Why Florida Is A Boom Town and Connecticut A Wreck":

The city of Hartford is forced to go begging for a reprive from the legislature because a) the city itself has not minded its spending, b) revaluation has enriched the government of Hartford while impoverishing its people, c) the city now finds it must reverse an earlier prudent decision to eliminate a tax that is punishing to businesses because people simply cannot afford the hike in taxes.

The good news is – they can always more to Florida, where the weather is fine, the taxes are low and business is booming.

Oh yes; I almost forgot -- in Florida sprawl is pretty. Naples itself has sprawled and sprawled and sprawled; it keeps getting bigger and better all the time. This satisfies the town fathers, state politicians and those who depend on the large increase in tax revenue produced by the influx of nutmeggers fleeing south. The more people there are, the more tax revenue there is. And businesses follow. Businesses do not lobby legislatures in an attempt to pursuade graspng politicians to favor them over the vox populi. Between the two, there is an amiable truce; what is good for one is good for the other.

Here in the Land Of Steady Bad Habits, taxing is a zero sum game, and the fittest will survive -- or move to Florida, where everyone is happy, tanned and carefree.

Well said. At the rates things are going, taxes and spiraling home prices will soon expel everyone who can be expelled.

Will Mrs. Rell and the Legislature address taxes, especially in light of our surpluses?

Will we at least get our 25 cents a gallon gas tax down? Or will we only get more calls for investigations of the high gas prices?

Governor Rell's National Day of Prayer Proclamation

I haven't been able to find the Governor's proclamation on the State website, but here it is from the National Day of Prayer site. It reads:

By Her Excellency M. Jodi Rell, Governor: an Official Statement

Whereas, May 3, 2007 marks the 56th annual observance of the National Day of Prayer, and the theme of this year's nationwide celebration is "America, Unite in Prayer;" and,

Whereas, in 1988 legislation was unanimously ratified by both houses of Congress, and signed by President Ronald Reagan, stating that the National Day of Prayer was to be observed on the first Thursday of every May; and,

Whereas, it is fitting that we should give thanks for the freedom and prosperity enjoyed by this State and our Nation and to pray for continued guidance and comfort, which has graciously been bestowed upon this Nation since its inception; and,

Whereas, as caring citizens of this great State, we recognize prayer to be both powerful and peaceful; now

Therefore, I, M. Jodi Rell, Governor of the State of Connecticut, do hereby proclaim May 3, 2007 as the

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

in the State of Connecticut, and urge all citizens to observe this day in ways appropriate to its importance and significance.

s/s M. Jodi Rell
Governor

We thank the Governor for issuing this proclamation and may God bless our State tomorrow and always.

Governor Rell declares Sunday "Stupa Day" in Connecticut. What's a stupa?

A Buddhist spiritual monument known as a stupa is being erected in Old Saybrook and is being dedicated tomorrow with what our spiritual forebears would have called idolatrous rites.

The New London Day reports:

The squat, white monument in the midst of a New England farm field certainly catches the eye of drivers along Ingham Hill Road.

The structure, which stands about 15 feet high, is made of brick overlaid with stucco and painted a bright white. Around each side of the square monument are 13 steps that lead to a domed top. The steps, explains Rana Samphel, a Tibetan immigrant who has helped build the stupa, represent steps of enlightenment for those who seek reflection here.

While some stupas are big enough for people to enter, this one is not. When completed, it will be entirely enclosed, and a statute of Buddha will be placed behind glass in its domed top.

This week Samphel and Tsultrim Gyatso, a Buddhist monk from Middletown who has overseen the stupa project, placed the “life tree” in the center of the monument. The tree is a piece of cedar, taken from a live tree, that Gyatso has spent hours intricately carving with prayers. The cedar pole will protrude from the top of the stupa and then prayer flags and Buddhist spiritual symbols will be placed on it, Brown said.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell has issued a proclamation to the town proclaiming Sunday as Stupa Day in Connecticut, and about 1,000 people are expected to attend the consecration ceremony, planned for noon.

[Farmer and property owner David] Brown said the ceremony would be attended by several Buddhist monks, as well as clerics representing a variety of religions, including a Catholic priest, protestant ministers, a Muslim imam and a rabbi.

The town's first selectman, Michael Pace, also is expected to take part, along with state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

The New Haven Register adds more:

Brown says he first had a notion to build a stupa more than a decade ago. He’d lived in Asia for a number of years and seen them. But it wasn’t until two years ago that a friend urged him to finally act on the idea. Brown decided to visit a Buddhist lama in upstate New York for advice.

"He told me to talk to town officials," Brown says, stoking the wood stove in his studio. "He said to get permits for everything."

Brown followed those words of wisdom and got a zoning variance and a building permit, which he keeps handy for anyone to see. "The town planner even showed up at the mantra rolling," he adds. More on that mantra rolling later.

Nearly 50 people, including many people who aren’t Buddhist, helped dig the hole for the stupa’s cement foundation last summer. Brown and his friends also set up a bank account to collect donations to pay for construction.

"We’ve gotten a lot of contributions of manpower and money," notes Kelsang, who also is negotiating to obtain a Buddhist religious relic from India for the stupa. "It’s good for the town and good for the Tibetan community in Connecticut."

However, as Brown points out, "You don’t just go and build a stupa. There’s a ritual for every step of it."

What spiritual influence will be released into our State by this object?

I do not know to what extent the Catholic priests and Protestant ministers may be participating in the ceremonies.

What would our ancestors think if they could know that these days our officials are attending Buddhist ceremonies, while challenging the propriety of persons naming the name of Christ to even have a voice in the formulation of public policy?

Governor still standing by pledge to veto bill for same-sex marriage

Channel 8 reports that Governor Rell still intends to veto same-sex marriage legislation.

"I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. The vote in the committee does not change my mind on that," said Rell. "I will veto the bill...."

Peter Wolfgang and the leaders of the group most opposed to the bill [note: that would be the FIC] say that this committee was stacked against their position. They will now push for a constitutional convention to allow for a public vote on the issue.

"This goes beyond even the same-sex marriage issue. There are a lot of people from both sides of the fence on all kinds of issues who understand that the legislature is being less and less representative of its constituents every day," said Wolfgang.

Keep praying over this issue!