Canadian and Connecticut Budgets 2006

Finance Minister James Flaherty presented the new Conservative government's 2006 Budget in the House of Commons yesterday. I haven't had a chance to thoroughly review it, but after watching Flaherty's speech on CPAC yesterday afternoon, I was very impressed. After 13 years of dithering by the "Natural Governing Party," I forgot what it was like to have a government which actually kept its campaign promises.

Meanwhile, Connecticut hammered out its 2006 budget recently. A bright note is that towns in eastern Connecticut will see modest increases in state aid. It is not a perfect document, which is to be expected given the makeup of the Connecticut General Assembly. However, it still beats past years, when budget contention forced the state to operate on executive orders throughout much of the summer. With Governor M. Jodi Rell continuing to enjoy strong support, she should be able to guide the deferred, but needed reforms into the 2007 budget after winning a term in her own right in November.

NOTE: As usual, the heading graphic has been provided courtesy of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.