Posts Tagged ‘Attorney General’

Jepsen Comments Strike the Right Tone

Friday, September 24th, 2010

JNEN was extremely heartened this week when we read the comments made by George Jepsen, the Democractic candidate for attorney general, in a recent interview with the Manchest Journal Inquirer. The full article is available online to subscribers of the publication, but within the highlights there were a few that caught our attention:

  • Jepsen said that after spending the last three months in meetings he had initiated with various corporate officials, he was determined to help “correct” the perception that Connecticut is a bad place to do business.
  • Jepsen during the hourlong interview also criticized the state’s economic development efforts, saying they have been ineffective and, in some cases, antagonistic to business.
  • [Jepsen said] “I’m less prone to litigate, I’m more into problem-solving…Before we go after somebody, we want to have a conversation.”

These comments are a breath of fresh air from the harsh and cynical views that have become all too common from some of our state leaders over the past decade.   As we have said before, the current business environment in the state has become far too grim to spur economic development and job growth in the state.   Connecticut has become known as a state that looks to penalize companies before it helps them.  It’s no wonder why companies are choosing to either open up their doors elsewhere, or shut them down completely and take their jobs with them.

Therefore, the comments from Mr. Jepsen, were a welcome sign to members of the business community who are looking for a region that can provide them an opportunity to become profitable and provide more positions of employment to the hardworking residents of the state.   Companies are not looking for a free-ride, or a pass on measures that keep the public safe.  They are looking for a region that will allow them to succeed and grow their business.  Whether Mr. Jepsen is our next attorney general is not the point, but whether others will recognize that our state policymakers need to be more welcoming to our business community and willing to work with them is of the utmost importance.

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DPUC’s Unprecedented Move Questioned By Some

Monday, October 5th, 2009

From this morning’s Hartford Courant: State utility regulators on Sept. 24 did something they had never tried before, something that lawyers of long experience said they have rarely, if ever, seen any government agency do. Regulators forbade private companies from laying off some of their own workers.

…
At a time when the nation’s president is more aligned with labor unions than any predecessor in at least a generation, and many workers have pent up anger over layoffs and lagging pay, DPUC’s bold move might suggest a controversial new way to restrain unemployment. But labor lawyers and scholars say deep government intervention in the day-to-day operations of private companies is unlikely to become commonplace.

“The corporate community would go ballistic at the mere proposal of widespread use of a mechanism like this to block layoffs,” Lance Compa, a labor lawyer and senior lecturer at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said of the DPUC’s action. “… I don’t think we have the political will to enact a broad policy of blocking private sector layoffs.”

To the extent that other government agencies try to forcibly forestall layoffs by private firms, it is likely to be “intermittent and ad hoc,” he said. The fact that at least one has tried “reflects the extent of the crisis that working people are facing these days.”

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DPUC's Unprecedented Move Questioned By Some

Monday, October 5th, 2009

From this morning’s Hartford Courant: State utility regulators on Sept. 24 did something they had never tried before, something that lawyers of long experience said they have rarely, if ever, seen any government agency do. Regulators forbade private companies from laying off some of their own workers.

…
At a time when the nation’s president is more aligned with labor unions than any predecessor in at least a generation, and many workers have pent up anger over layoffs and lagging pay, DPUC’s bold move might suggest a controversial new way to restrain unemployment. But labor lawyers and scholars say deep government intervention in the day-to-day operations of private companies is unlikely to become commonplace.

“The corporate community would go ballistic at the mere proposal of widespread use of a mechanism like this to block layoffs,” Lance Compa, a labor lawyer and senior lecturer at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said of the DPUC’s action. “… I don’t think we have the political will to enact a broad policy of blocking private sector layoffs.”

To the extent that other government agencies try to forcibly forestall layoffs by private firms, it is likely to be “intermittent and ad hoc,” he said. The fact that at least one has tried “reflects the extent of the crisis that working people are facing these days.”

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The details are important…but a new attitude would be even better.

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Interesting piece recently posted on the Wall Street Journal’s ‘Political Diary’ blog. For those of you who do not have a subscription, we have posted it below. The piece outlines the AG’s accusation that AT&T was removing 75 jobs from Connecticut, while preparing to spend $60 billion to purchase Media One, which was clearly inaccurate. More importantly, it is a reminder that some state policymakers are continuing to play the “blame-game” without much attention to details, when in fact they should be playing the “solution-game” in finding new ways to keep jobs and companies entering the state.

What kind of message are we sending to future employers with these kind of tactics? When will our policymakers start providing incentives instead of insults to lure more jobs back into the state? We hope our local leaders take note and begin to change their attitude…

Dick Blumenthal’s Flashback

You might wonder why a state’s top law enforcement officer is issuing a press release denouncing a private company for engaging in perfectly lawful layoffs. You might also wonder why Connecticut’s long-serving Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is getting mixed up about what decade he’s living in.

His office last week blasted AT&T in a press release for laying off 75
workers in Connecticut. The AG’s release stated: “Awash in money as it
stands ready to spend $60 billion to purchase Media One, AT&T is hanging up on Connecticut families and consumers.”

Now that’s just weird, since AT&T bought MediaOne (a cable TV business) way back in 1999 and sold it to Comcast in 2003. But then weird is Mr. Blumenthal’s conception of his office’s responsibilities, which includes frequent grandstanding on matters far afield from an attorney general’s normal concerns.

The episode became marginally less mystifying when Bill Henderson,
leader of the Communications Workers of America Local 1298, stepped up to take the blame for the faulty information. So Mr. Blumenthal is
issuing press releases denouncing private companies for engaging in
lawful behavior — press releases that are actually drafted by labor
unions?

Mr. Blumenthal’s political ambitions have been a perennial matter of
speculation in Connecticut. He has repeatedly passed up chances to run for senate or governor, seemingly because he doesn’t like the odds of any race that he might actually stand a chance of losing. He will soon be coming up on his 20th year as Connecticut attorney general. A risk that often afflicts long-serving office holders is that a certain lack of accountability goes to their heads. They get sloppy.

– Holman W. Jenkins Jr.

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