Connecticut, the New Taxachussets
11th August 2013
Steven P. Lanza, reporting in The Connecticut Economy, published quarterly by the University of Connecticut, found that “excessive regulation plays a role in hamstringing business owners and entrepreneurs who simply don’t have the resources of larger firms to cope with these constraints.”
Former U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern learned all this the hard way. In 1988, he bought, renovated and operated a 150-room hotel and conference center in Stratford, Connecticut. The business went bankrupt two years later. McGovern reflected on his experience in the Wall Street Journal: “My business associates and I lived with federal, state and local rules that were all passed with the objective of helping employees, protecting the environment, raising tax dollars for schools, protecting our customers from fire hazards, etc. While I never have doubted the worthiness of these goals, the concept that most often eludes legislators is: ‘Can we make consumers pay the higher prices for increased operating costs that accompany public regulation and government reporting requirements with reams of red tape.’ It is a simple concern that is nonetheless often ignored by legislators.”
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Connecticut’s tax base is eroding as more and more people conclude there’s a better future someplace else.