Bryant Hearing Set for Tomorrow

Tomorrow the Senate Judiciary Committee is set to conduct a hearing on the nomination of Superior Court Judge Vanessa Bryant to be a United States District Judge. As I previously posted here back in May, Judge Bryant is only the sixth federal court nominee out of 445 since 1999 to be rated unqualified by the American Bar Association. Of the five previous nominees to receive an "unqualified" rating, three were ultimately confirmed.

Notwithstanding the similar rating of the Connecticut Bar Association, Judge Bryant has the backing of both our senators, as well as Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. All three are expected to testify at tomorrow's hearing. For more details, see here.

The Hartford Courant has reported that if confirmed Judge Bryant would be the first female African American federal judge in New England.

WSJ Editorial: Lamont Race "Seems to Be Helping" CT GOP Congressional Delegation

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal contained an editorial concerning the recent primaries throughout the nation. Notably, the Journal editorial board opined, "Ned Lamont's victory last month over Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman seems to be helping the GOP retain its three vulnerable House seats in that state." We'll see.

"Connecticut's biggest gas price gouger is government itself"

Chris Powell, Managing Editor of the Journal Inquirer, has a fascinating piece on the factors contributing to the price of gasoline in the state. Consider it a "must read," especially in light of the recent reduction in the price of gas throughout the state.

The article begins:

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal strode before the television cameras in triumph the other day as he announced that six gasoline stations would pay the state $45,000 in fines for price gouging during the gasoline price spike after Hurricane Katrina last year. "Connecticut has zero tolerance for price gouging," the attorney general proclaimed.


But that proclamation is empty in light of the investigative reporting that was done soon thereafter by the Journal Inquirer's state Capitol bureau chief, Keith Phaneuf. He found that Michael Fox of the Gasoline and Automotive Service Dealers of America is right: The biggest price gouger in Connecticut is state government itself.

Later, the piece has the following startling revelation:

The gross receipts tax now stands as a hidden 6.3 percent sales tax on oil products and is scheduled to increase to 7 percent next July and 7.5 percent in July 2008. It is adding about 17 cents to the price of every gallon of gas at the pump, on top of the posted state excise tax of 25 cents. With the federal excise tax at 18.4 cents, Connecticut motorists pay about 60.4 cents per gallon in gas taxes, effectively a sales tax of about 20 percent, the second highest gas tax burden in the country, behind only California.

Check it out.

WP: All Three Republican Held Districts in CT Vulnerable

On Sunday, the Washington Post ran a lengthy article (linked above) on the status of the Congressional elections. Of note is the Post's conclusion that all three Republican held districts in Connecticut "could flip in November."