State Sen. Martin Looney’s recent tirade in the Hartford Courant proved just how out of touch 44 years in the legislature will make you.
Looney paints a rosy picture of Democrat “unity.” The truth? His party is in chaos. Just ask Ken Martin, the newly elected DNC Chairman, who admitted, just days into the job, that he wasn’t sure he even wanted it anymore. The DNC even had to redo its vice chair elections after botching the process and giving men “an advantage.” If that’s what passes for unity in Looney’s Democrat Party, then it’s no wonder voters are running away from it in droves.
On the same day Looney was busy spinning his fantasy, The New York Times was busy reporting the truth: Democrat enrollment is cratering across the country. And here in Connecticut, thousands of voters have left the Democrats since 2020. Where have they gone? Many of them have joined the Republican Party. That’s not a coincidence. It’s a referendum on failed Democrat policies.
Then there’s Looney’s claim that President Trump is “ending medical research.” Nonsense. What Republicans are doing is putting an end to the waste. Nearly 30% of research grants go to bloated overhead and bureaucracy instead of actual research. Universities with billion-dollar endowments don’t need taxpayer handouts to pad their balance sheets. NIH dollars should fund cures, not campus luxuries.
But the most laughable claim in Looney’s screed? That Democrats have “crafted the building blocks of a rewarding middle-class life” in Connecticut. Really? Tell that to the tens of thousands of families fleeing our state every year. Under one-party Democrat rule, Connecticut has become one of the most expensive, least competitive states in America. We rank 4th worst in tax competitiveness, with crushing income, property, and sales taxes. And as if that wasn’t enough, Senator Looney is pushing for a statewide property tax—on top of the highest-in-the-nation local property taxes. If that’s “rewarding,” I’d hate to see what punishment looks like.
Thankfully, Republicans are offering real relief. In Washington, we expanded the SALT deduction to $40,000, finally giving Connecticut taxpayers some breathing room from the Democrats’ endless tax hikes. Over 700,000 Connecticut senior citizens will benefit from a $6,000 per person tax deduction, protecting those on fixed incomes from ever-rising property taxes. Workers in service industries will keep more of their tips. Parents will save thousands through expanded Child and Dependent Care Tax Credits and flexible spending accounts. And employers now have stronger incentives to provide affordable childcare, helping both workers and businesses thrive.
Every Connecticut Democrat in Congress voted against all of it. They voted against tax relief for seniors and working families. They voted against expanded childcare. They even voted against protecting our communities from fentanyl. That’s the reality of the Democrat agenda: higher taxes, higher costs, fewer opportunities, and weaker families.
Looney and his fellow Democrats want to pretend they’ve built a middle-class paradise. In truth, they’ve built a tax trap that punishes work, drives away businesses, and forces families to pack up and leave the state they love. They have forgotten the very principles our country was founded on—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Instead, they’ve embraced control, division, and ever-expanding government power.
Connecticut deserves better than this alternate reality. We deserve leaders with common sense, who will lower costs, strengthen families, and restore opportunity. Martin Looney has had his time. And his time has long since passed.
Ben Proto is Connecticut Republican chairman.
