Ten Connecticut billionaires have a combined net wealth of $30.3 billion dollars. The richest man in the state, Steve Cohen, 55, is a hedge fund king from Greenwich worth $8 billion, according to Forbes Magazine.

 

The state of Connecticut has a $3.3 billion budget deficit for this coming year, according to Gov. Dannel Malloy.  If we took half of Cohen’s net worth, $4 billion, we wouldn’t have to worry about taxing anyone who makes $50,000 an extra $500 a year.

 

People in Meriden liked this idea of taxing billionaires when I presented it to Gov. Malloy at the “Town Hall” meeting on Tuesday, March 15 at the Lincoln Middle School in Meriden.

 

Yet Malloy has been relentlessly pushing this idea of taxing a middle class earner who makes $50,000 a year an extra $500 a year. I have trouble swallowing that, when I don’t see how Cohen would miss $4 billion, considering he would still have $4 billion, which is enough money to run the city of Hartford for eight years, give or take.

 

But I can’t seem to get politicians to buy into the idea of confiscating large portions of wealth owned by the super rich. I wasn’t the only one telling Malloy to tax wealth, plenty of people at Malloy’s packed town hall in Meriden Tuesday night fully engaged the concept of soaking the millionaires.

 

After reading the news accounts of Malloy’s meeting the night before in Bristol, I understood that only 16 people might get questions in. I tried to get there early, say, 6:15, but at that point, the line was already 25 deep.

 

First in line was Julissa Antigua, a senior from Wilcox Tech in Meriden. She arrived at 5:20 pm.  “It is important that my voice is heard,” she said. She saved her friend Samantha Roccappriore a spot in line, too.

 

Both young ladies, who study culinary arts, oppose Malloy’s plan to give the state operated technical schools to the towns in which they reside. 

 

“I care a lot about the technical school system,” Antigua said. She had few ideas about closing the budget. I asked if she thought the billionaires could pay their share. She wasn’t sure.

 

“I guess rich people are more fortunate than others,” Antigua said.

 

More students from Wilcox Tech dominated the start of the line. Mixed in between them were activists of all stripe, advocating for the environment, unions, corporate responsibility, hair care and health care.

 

Cathy Pecor of Durham has been a hairdresser for 30 years. She arrived at 5:10 pm to get her fifth spot in line. She charges $22 for a woman’s haircut. She has to pay $823 monthly for health insurance. That is a lot of haircuts.

 

She opposes Malloy’s proposal to tax haircuts via the sales tax. I would agree, for different reasons. The sales tax is regressive and disproportionately impacts the poor. Pecor said it will put her out of business because haircuts will go underground.

 

“People will start cutting hair in their houses,” she said. She would be happier if the state let her buy into its Blue Cross/Blue Shield health care plan. She also lamented the difficult future awaiting young people who take out $19,000 in student loans to learn how to cut hair.

 

Behind her was Deborah DeVivo, a state employee with the Department of Developmental Services (formerly the Department of Mental Retardation).

 

DeVivo arrived at 6 p.m., but was able to get sixth in line because union activists saved her a spot.  When another union member didn’t show up, the placeholder sacrificed her spot in line for me. Thanks, union placeholder, I owe this column to you.

 

DeVivo battered Malloy with questions about Bank of America’s failure to pay corporate taxes. Malloy batted back that he heard the question at some of the previous seven town halls, and asked his staff.

 

They said BoA does pay taxes, and banking fees. He couldn’t say how much, but he said he was looking into it.

 

DeVivo wants to see big corporations pay their fair share, if this is shared sacrifice. “Huge corporations aren’t being held accountable,” she said. “This is horribly inequitable.”

 

Malloy disagreed.  “We need to benchmark how we treat corporations,” Malloy said. “We want to make sure we are not sending corporations out of state.” He noted that we can’t lower our nine percent unemployment rate if we drive corporations away.

 

When my turn came, I thanked Malloy for actually doing the town hall meetings, which represented a marked change from the previous administration. I told Malloy I voted for him, and wanted him to represent my point of view.

 

I asked him to tell President Obama to end the war in Iraq, as it approaches its eighth anniversary. Economist Joseph Stiglitz says it costs America 20 percent of our gross domestic product annually to finance the war. That money belongs here.

 

Malloy said that he had spoken with Obama about the wars. Malloy defended Obama’s policies, stating that we had no active combat troops in Iraq – they’ve all been drawn down, and Obama was planning to do the same in Afghanistan in July 2011.

 

A Democratic governor like Malloy cannot go against his party’s leader’s policies. But really, no combat troops in Iraq? What about contractors? Rather than haggle over foreign policy, I held my follow up for my last question.

 

I pitched Malloy the net worth tax on billionaires concept. Looking at the tv footage on Fox 61, I seemed a little angry when I spoke. Maybe I was focusing on being heard over the cheering crowd. Or maybe I am angry, all things considered.

 

Malloy said that the billionaires will leave the state. I responded that I didn’t care. I want their money, then they can go. People cheered again.

 

Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman, standing guard next to the microphone, asked me for the printout of the ten billionaires that I had in my hand. I gave it to her.        

Her state police bodyguard asked her for the sheet of paper. She demurred. I though it was strange that the state cop would try to protect her from something she asked for.

 

Lori Perez of Fox 61, in her report on the Meriden Malloy meet-up, noted that the net worth tax probably won’t fly.

 

A certified public accountant I know said the accounting on that would be a nightmare. Probably. But isn’t it a nightmare for the elderly on a fixed income who could be left homeless next year when their taxes increase?

 

I’d rather see the bean counters have a tough time figuring out how to value the billionaires assets for public confiscation over the potential homelessness senior citizens.

 

After speakers implored Malloy to fund Sustinet, the public option health care plan, the theme of class warfare returned. Sue Pearson of Meriden approached the microphone armed with the statistics that 19,000 families in Connecticut make more than $2.5 million a year.

 

She wanted them to pay more in taxes. Malloy countered that the tax rate on them had risen 36 percent in the past two budget cycles. In fairness, he said, you have to tell the whole story.

 

In fairness, Pearson countered, why don’t you break down the tax burden on millionaires the way you do on someone who makes $54,000 a year, the median income in Meriden.

          
To recover from 22 years of net job loss, Connecticut can’t treat millionaires any worse than neighboring states like Massachusetts or Rhode Island or New York or New Jersey, Malloy said.

 

He said we want millionaires to stay because they are the entrepreneurs with the capital that will help invest in businesses to create jobs. To me, that line of logic doesn’t seem to be working, otherwise, with 10 billionaires worth $30.3 billion, we’d have more jobs.

 

Speaking next was Helene Figueroa of Meriden. She wasn’t buying Malloy’s line either.  Those who are the losing end the last few decades have been the middle class and the poor, she said. It’s not the people on the high end of the income scale who are losing.

 

For the first time all night, Malloy condescended, challenging her on what she would to cut the budget deficit, asking her about earned income tax credits. She stuck to her guns, and demanded progressive income taxes on the wealthy.

 

I agree. The answer is simple: tax the billionaires. A lot. 

          

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