Governor Dannel P. Malloy (D-CT) has a brilliant idea to help fix his state’s budget shortfall:

Got a coupon for 30% a Blu-Ray player? If the Connecticut governor gets his way, you’d still be paying sales tax on that player’s full price.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy isn’t earning many fans with his proposal, one of many measures his government is considering in the face of a huge budget shortfall.

“It’s true, it’s a new tax. It sucks,” the governor’s budget chief said. “Every single one of those, however many, 20-odd taxes is a new tax and it sucks. I don’t know how to hide it. These are new taxes.”

And as Dan Haar, a business columnist for the Hartford Courier, points out:

Rule No. 1 of business, taught to every 10-year-old at the knee of his parents, older siblings, aunts and uncles: The real price of the item you’re buying is the price you pay. There is no other price. There’s no such thing as a special deal.

And there’s no way to levy a tax on a price the buyer never would have paid. The problem is not that it’s unfair — it’s downright impossible. There are too many offers out there in too many forms, too many twists and turns.

The Jos. A. Bank website listed suits Monday for $169, regularly $550 – “3 Days Only.” Is that a coupon? Should the buyer pay a $24 sales tax on the difference? No, said Ben Barnes, Malloy’s budget chief, because it’s offered to everyone who goes into the store.

But lots of stores offer their cut-out coupon discounts to everyone. And the ad does use dotted lines. In reality, it’s not a $550 suit — never was, never will be. If the store ever charges it, it’ll throw in a suit or two extra, no charge.

What about employee discounts? What about cut rates for loyal customers? Or online discounts? Or matching competitors’ discounts? Or mail-in rebates, or automatic rebates like the ones we see for cameras, where no one pays full price?

I don’t know, and neither does Malloy.

Connecticut elected a Democratic governor (Malloy) for the first time since 1986. They’re stuck with Malloy until 2014. Good luck!  ..bruce w..

Courtesy of the Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — At a private meeting on Tuesday afternoon, George Soros, a longtime supporter of progressive causes, voiced blunt criticism of the Obama administration, going so far as to suggest that Democratic donors direct their support somewhere other than the president.

The Hungarian-American financier was speaking to a small side gathering of donors who had convened in Washington D.C. for the annual gathering of the Democracy Alliance — a formal community of well-funded, progressive-minded individuals and activists.

According to multiple sources with knowledge of his remarks, Soros told those in attendance that he is “used to fighting losing battles but doesn’t like to lose without fighting.”

“We have just lost this election, we need to draw a line,” he said, according to several Democratic sources. “And if this president can’t do what we need, it is time to start looking somewhere else.”

Hat tip to Ace of Spades.  ..bruce w..

If you are interested in politics at all, you should read this post, in which the author (nom de plume “Zombie”) explains just how redistricting works and why the real story of last week’s election is the massive Republican gain in statehouses across the country.

What makes things complicated is that not every state is consistently under the control of the same party census after census. So while the Republicans in a given state may have gerrymandered the district boundaries after the 1980 census, the Democrats may have had a majority after the 1990 census and counter-gerrymandered the existing districts; in 2000 a divided legislature may have argued over and re-re-counter-gerrymandered those districts, and so on. The end result is often what we see today: ludicrous, labyrinthine district boundaries that are the detritus of decades of back-and-forth gerrymandering attempts.

Read the whole thing.  Hat tip to Ace of Spades. ..bruce w..

…a certain someone may be planning a rematch:

PORT MORESBY – US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton vowed to work with the new Republican-led House of Representatives as she prepared to leave Papua New Guinea on Wednesday during an Asia-Pacific tour. . . .

‘You can build coalitions and you can make your case and you can find allies on issues that are in America’s interests and in the furtherance of our security and our values,’ said Ms Clinton, who pointed out that she worked as part of a Senate minority for several years.

‘And I will be working very hard in the weeks and months ahead to get to know new members and new leadership and to work with them on behalf of the United States of America.’– AFP

I’ll bet. Next two years should be interesting.  ..bruce w..

It’s about 11:30 pm (Mountain Time), and several key races are still undecided (including Senate races in Colorado, Washington and Alaska), but here are my initial thoughts.

First, the most significant story (IMHO) is the gap between how Republicans did in the Senate and how they did everywhere else. Make no mistake: the 6-seat gain (so far) in the Senate is double the mid-term average. But given the overwhelming change of House membership — now estimated to be around 65 seats — the Senate results are disappointing. Even more curious are the Senate races had polls that showed the Republican candidate in the lead going into the election, yet that same candidate lost by a significant percentage. That suggests that the Republicans — and, in particular, the National Republican Senatorial Committee — did a lousy job of convincing people to vote for Republican Senatorial candidates. Someone should lose their job.

The next most significant story is how well the Republicans did everywhere else. It appears the gains in the House are exceeding anything since World War II and possibly well before that. As importantly — with the 2012 election just two years away — Republicans have picked up several key state governorships and (according to Larry Sabato) appear to be picking up several state legislatures as well. Between redistricting and shifts in the voting habits in key Electoral College states (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida), as well as the number of vulnerable Democratic senators who are up for re-election in 2012, it appears that the 2012 elections could allow the Republicans to take over both the Senate and the White House, while holding onto the House of Representatives.

Third is that some losses may turn out to be political blessings for the Republicans. Not having control of the Senate — and especially having Majority Leader Harry Reid back — may avoid the post-1994 problem of making the Republicans look like obstructionists. If the Republican-controlled House passes budgets and tax bills that the public favors and the Senate rejects, the public (or a significant portion thereof) will hold the Democrats responsible. Likewise, Jerry Brown’s apparent victory in California will, in my opinion, lead to even more financial and regulatory problems there, and Brown may find himself the target (and ultimate victim) of a general recall election, as happened with Gray Davis.

Fourth, if the pundits think the Tea Party revolution is over, they are very, very wrong.  ..bruce w..

By the way, my official, over-the-top prediction for tomorrow is that the Republicans gain 75 seats in the House and 11 in the Senate.  ..bruce..

Five weeks and counting until election day. Look for more posts here.  ..bruce..

This has been a test of the 2010 Midterm Elections Emergency Broadcasting System. In case of an actual October Surprise by the increasingly desperate Democratic Party, you will be presented with a set of links describing and critiquing it. We now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast.

Hat tip to Gerard Van der Leun at American Digest. ..bruce w..

…but only because Stupak caved. And for what? A meaningless Presidential declaration and $726,409 in airport grants. Once again, I am reminded of “A Man for All Seasons“:

MORE:  I have one question to ask the witness. (RICH stops) That’s a chain of office you are wearing. (Reluctantly RICH faces him) May I see it? (NORFOLK motions him to approach. MORE examines the medallion) The red dragon. (To CROMWELL) What’s this?

CROMWELL:  Sir Richard is appointed Attorney-General for Wales.

MORE:  (Looking into RICH’S face, with pain and amusement) For Wales? Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world . . . But for Wales! (Exit RICH, stiff-faced, but infrangibly dignified)

Sen. Ben Nelson is probably thanking his lucky stars tonight that someone else will now get the blame for Obamacare.

As for me, well, I plan to spend several thousand dollars between now and November helping to defeat the Democrats who voted for this abomination.

UPDATED (03/22/2010 — 1222 MDT)

And I’ve started. I’ve sent $100 to Dr. Dan Benishek, who’s running against Stupak (thanks to Daniel Blatt over at GayPatriot for the pointer as well as to the link my ‘Stupak caves’ post). I even gritted my teeth and donated $200 to the GOP’s “Fire Pelosi” campaign. (The teeth-gritting is not because I don’t want to see Pelosi out as Speaker, but because I fear the GOP will find some way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.)  ..bruce w..