Editorial
The anointment of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal as the Democrats’ heir apparent to the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd ought to give Connecticut businesses pause. (No intentional disrespect to fellow Democrat pretender Merrick Alpert, who entered the race nearly a year ago, but soon after Blumenthal threw his hat into the ring January 6, it became evident that the state and national Democratic leadership was closing ranks behind the AG.)
Over the course of his 19 years on the job, Blumenthal has carved a national profile for himself as the ultimate regulator of business by aggressively reining in corporate practices with which he disagrees.
As the Hartford Courant’s Dan Haar pointed out in a January 7 column, Blumenthal tried to halt layoffs at two of America's largest corporations, portraying them as “illegal”; he lobbied the Federal Reserve to cap credit-card rate increases; he twisted the arms of bankers evicting a family from a long-foreclosed house; he settled local and national industrial pollution cases; and he tried to stop the sale of outdoor wood furnaces.
And those actions, Haar added, all took place in just the last month. Blumenthal has been on the job for 228 months.
But now he wants a new job. Say what you want about Chris Dodd, he was at least friendly to the banking industry, especially bankers like Countrywide Mortgage’s Angelo Mozilo, of whom Dodd was a special “Friend.”
Blumenthal is another kettle of fish. As the state’s point person for burdensome business regulation, he is part of the reason Connecticut consistently ranks among the most business-hostile states in the nation by business groups of nearly every flavor. (The state’s crushing tax burden — a consequence of state legislators’ utter refusal to live within their means — is an obvious other reason.)
Whether the national backlash against government intrusion into nearly every arena of public and private life will result in a national Republican landslide in November is beyond the scope of this modest editorial. However, the GOP opponent Blumenthal will likely face in the general election will almost certainly have solid pro-business credentials with which to flog Blumenthal. Former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons spent two years as the state’s small business advocate (a position Democratic lawmakers tellingly eliminated last year). And Linda McMahon of course is running mainly on her experience as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment which, regardless of how you feel about the spectacle of pro wrestling, is undeniably a billion-dollar enterprise.
Against the backdrop of a still-struggling state and national economy and high unemployment, a Blumenthal-Simmons or Blumenthal-McMahon general election may well shape up as a referendum on what kind of economy Connecticut voters wish for their state: one that is fueled by innovation and risk-taking entrepreneurship, or one in which the only real growth industry is government.
