Our tone deaf speaker of the house

Chris Donovan just doesn't know when to quit. First we find out that he wanted to hire the just-ex-speaker Jim Amann as his special assistant at a salary (read: cost to taxpayers) of $120,000.

Both Donovan and Amann, who is planning to run for governor, decided it wasn't a wise plan, after it was publicized and the tax paying constituents went apeshit.

Now this. Donovan, who seems to have a special gift for making decisions which will resonate like a sour note to constituents, has hired a press secretary at a salary of $165,000 a year.

As a writer, far be it from me to complain about one who has figured out how to pull down $165,000 a year. And he was making $245k at his last gig. But it pains me to think that I own a communications business, with employees, and we all pay taxes to hire a state employee who is pulling down a good bit more than me, and has a benefit package that is the envy of any private sector employee.

And his job?

To make the Speaker of the House look good.

Well, it looks like the speaker will need someone to burnish his reputation at this rate.

BTW, kudos to Jon Lender and the Hartford Courant for the diligent work and the good sense to expose the weaknesses of our leaders. It seems to be a common thread among the Courant's columnists, as Colin McEnroe and Susan Campbell and Kevin Rennie and Helen Ubiñas take up the same theme.

Look up the word feckless in the dictionary, and it's illustrated with a map of Hartford.

Sticking it to Amann

It's so good to have Helen Ubiñas back in town.

This morning in the Courant, she allows prospective gubernatorial candidate Jim Amman enough rope to hang himself, and predictably, he does:

But I thought I'd give him another shot at redemption, so after Tuesday's press conference I asked him one more time: Shouldn't a guy hoping to be governor have seen this conflict a mile away?With all due respect, he said, he just didn't see the conflict. Oh, man. Just when we've started to put the memories of Johnny Handout behind us, here comes Jimmy Paycheck.

In an editorial, the Courant calls into question the judgment of Amann and the person who was about to appoint him to a high-paying position, House Speaker Chris Donovan.

What lays at the heart of the controversy for most taxpayers is the fact that there are legislative staff jobs (for a part-time legislature, mind you) which pay $120,000 and generous state benefits. It demonstrates to Connecticut residents that hard work, competence, experience and intelligence have less to do with landing a cushy state job than does good political connections.

It shouldn't be surprising, but it's time state Democratic leaders walk the walk. They let Joe Lieberman off the hook saying they were following the example of Barack Obama of forgetting past transgressions and looking to the future. Yesterday, Obama set a huge example by repudiating the secretive cronyism of the Bush administration. This is an example Connecticut State Democratic leaders must embrace.

Losing faith in political leaders close to home

(State Dem leaders laugh at you.)

Don't let the dreamlike optimism of Barack Obama's impending inauguration lull you into a false sense of complacency that the Democrats who represent you are "the good guys."

There's plenty of evidence right here in Connecticut this week that power and money are the fuels which power our professional political class.

First we learned how new Connecticut State House Speaker Chris Donovan, a man whom the Hartford Courant portrayed as motivated by high ideals and progressive policies, stooped to insider politics immediately by hiring former Speaker James Amann as a $120,000 adviser. Amann, who is running for governor, will have his new salary paid by you and your fellow taxpayers.

Read Colin McEnroe on Donovan's first betrayal of his "ideals."

And today, the Courant reports twice about the ongoing misdeeds of powerful Democratic State Senator Thomas Gaffey. The reports reflect badly on Senate Democrats who refused to take up an investigation of Gaffey. It also indicts Senate leader Don Williams, to whom Gaffey is a trusted adviser, and the Elections Enforcement Commission, which seems to be leaning toward a toothless negotiated settlement.

This has lead Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy to request that Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane launch a criminal investigation into Gaffey's actions.

If the facts are true, that Gaffey double-dipped for years into his PAC, and state funding for his ongoing political expenses, then the Senate ought to drum Gaffey out. Instead, they seem to be protecting him. Read what Kevin Rennie has to say.

These are the Democrats who will "save" us from Republican Governor Jodi Rell, and the punitive politics of the Bush era.

Right.