The Wheelhouse

The language of politics--of America, really--has gotten quite a bit uglier over the last few years. And the last few weeks in Connecticut are a case in point. Female political leaders from both major parties faced online insults and threats, and prompted a call from the governor and others for a more civil tone. If that was the only hateful speech of the week, it’d be enough, but we have a...

Last night’s 12-person Democratic presidential debate proved a few things: 1. That’s too many people on stage. 2. Elizabeth Warren has become both the front-runner and the target of most of her colleagues. 3. Warren is proving to be a bit harder to attack than former front-runner, Joe Biden. This hour, we consider what happened on stage in Ohio, amid an impeachment inquiry and worsenin...

The House of Representatives is conducting an impeachment inquiry into President Trump for his call for an investigation of Joe Biden’s son by the Ukranian government; Trump now says he and his White House won’t cooperate with what it’s calling an illegitimate effort “to overturn the results of the 2016 election” - an obstruction that the House might use to consider a...

As impeachment news consumes Washington, more and more Americans seem to think that the House inquiry is a good idea.  The latest Quinnipiac poll shows a big jump in the number of people who support impeaching President Trump - basically an even split - but a majority now favors the House looking into his actions regarding Ukraine. This hour, we discuss this, the revelations that Trump wanted...

House speaker Nancy Pelosi took a long time to warm up to the idea of impeachment proceedings against President Trump. But the latest saga involving a whistleblower complaint about a call with Ukraine’s president, seemingly pressuring him to investigate Trump’s main political rival Joe Biden has gotten the impeachment train rolling, and all members of Connecticut’s congressional...

That whole debate about tolls was getting so old. Now, we get to talk about the new debate at the capitol - over rotisserie chicken! Yes, a plan to tax more prepared food - which already faced opposition - was rolled out by the Lamont administration in a way that he’s already walking back. Way more food items faced a higher tax than anyone expected. That comes as at the same time as a contro...

Primaries in Connecticut’s municipal elections could’ve been a dull affair, but that was certainly not the case last night.  You had a big upset: Justin Elicker, in his second try at the mayor’s job in New Haven, beating incumbent Toni Harp, a force in Democratic politics for decades. You had an incumbent mayor Luke Bronin easily beating back challenges from a former mayor a...

Governor Lamont is back from his Maine vacation and seemingly rarin’ to go. In just the last week or so, he overruled his health commissioner and will release school-by-school data on vaccinations, rolled out a big transportation plan, and committed to a no-carbon electric grid by 2040.  All that, and he STILL had time to dance like nobody was watching at Nedstock! This hour, we update...

U.S. Representative Jahanna Hayes (D-5th District) issued a press release Sunday accusing the news media of “clickbait journalism” in response to two recent stories she claims made “reckless assumptions” about her comments. President Trump has labeled the press the enemy of the people . At a time when trust in the media is low and anxiety over misinformation high, was there...

Connecticut’s three biggest cities have mayoral elections this year that could determine what’s next for New Haven, Bridgeport and Hartford. This week, we have a special program, talking with experts watching these races closely. We give you the latest on city politics, and why they matter to you, even if you don’t live there.  Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate See om...

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is among the state's public officials vowing to fight the Trump administration's latest anti-immigrantion measure. It's one that would broaden the definition of "public charge" and could be used to block green cards or legal citizenship to those deemed impoverished enough to require government assistance. Meanwhile, immigrant rights groups are protesting t...

Including this weekend's carnage in Texas and Ohio, there were 253 incidents in which four or more victims were shot in the first 217 days of this year, according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive . But is Congress ever going to take Connecticut's lead  and address any of them? That remains to be seen, though Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is hopeful about his new partnership wit...

From the moment they took the stage Tuesday night, progressive and moderate Democrats running for president clashed over who could win back the Rust Belt working-class districts that President Trump took in 2016. But what about urban districts? Can Republican candidates counter Trump's continued disparagement--Baltimore being the latest victim--of American cities? This week, we take out the electo...

Connecticut's five U.S. Representatives stood with their Democratic colleagues and four Republicans Tuesday in rebuking President Donald Trump for his Twitter attacks against a group of minority congresswomen who have become known as "The Squad." Now what? Today we look at what the House resolution, approved on a  240-187 vote, means for an increasingly divided Democratic Party, Trump's base...

Gov. Ned Lamont is in search of a new look at his State Capitol office, and we're not just talking about the new wallpaper and carpeting he wants to install. Staff changes also are in the works, including a new spokesman, NBC Connecticut political reporter Max Reiss. This week, we gauge what this all means for Lamont's agenda, as well as his relations with the media and state lawmakers. Legislator...

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced Tuesday his support for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The news arrived amid reports that the former vice president’s polling lead is shrinking, as California U.S. Senator Kamala Harris' numbers rise. On this episode, our panel of reporters and political experts weighs in on this and other top stories from the week. Support the show: ht...

Despite the many GOP losses in Connecticut races last election, state Republican insiders Tuesday night granted J.R. Romano a two-year extension as party chairman. In the end, only one challenger stepped up to oppose him. The vote wasn't even close . This week, we take measure of how Romano managed to hold onto the post, the hurdles he faces to make GOP candidates more competitive, and the role of...

If large corporations, like United Technologies , are increasingly eyeing urban hubs for future growth, what are we doing to put our cities at the cusp of that trend? Or more likely, what aren't we doing as a state? This week, we take stock of what cities such as Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport have to offer CEOs looking to relocate their companies, and where they fall short.  Access to m...

Last fall, after United Technologies Corp. announced it would spin off its Otis Elevator and Carrier divisions , then Governor-elect Ned Lamont vowed he would watch the Farmington-based conglomerate "like a hawk" to retain its workforce in Connecticut. But this weekend's news that UTC would merge with Raytheon Co. , and move its headquarters to Waltham, MA., came with little advanced notice to the...

With more than 24 hours to spare, the legislature's Democratic majorities on Tuesday evening delivered a two-year state budget to Gov. Ned Lamont. It doesn't raise income taxes on the rich, or deplete Connecticut's rainy day fund. So then, just how does the $43.4 billion plan add up? And how were enough lawmakers brought on board to get it across the finish line? Today, we dive deep into the budge...

It's been a half-century since the torture and eventual murder of wrongly suspected FBI informant Alex Rackney by members of the Black Panther Party. The racial tensions in New Haven that followed when party leaders were put on trial for Rackney's death led to the National Guard patrolling its streets. In some ways, the city has changed a lot since then. But many of the social problems that provok...

Governor Ned Lamont on Tuesday grudgingly accepted the increasingly irrefutable reality that highway toll legislation won't pass before the regular session wraps up on June 5. Instead, he said he's devoting his next two weeks to what may be an even bigger challenge: working out a compromise with progressive Democrats over the state budget. Proponents of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana...

State Attorney General William Tong says his office has diagnosed an aggressive cancer eating away at America's healthcare system. According to Tong, it's triggered by scheming executives at many of the largest pharmaceutical companies illegally working together to artificially inflate the cost of generic drugs . Forty-three other states are joining the effort spearheaded by Connecticut's AG to li...

The regular session of the Connecticut General Assembly adjourns at the stroke of midnight four weeks from tonight. So far, none of the biggest policy goals identified early on by majority Democrats have made their way to the governor's desk for his consideration. Not electronic highway tolls. Not legalizing recreational marijuana. Not sports betting. Not paid family and medical leave. Even increa...

For all the recent attention bestowed on Democratic Party progressives, there's new evidence so-called centrists aren't going to just fade away. Not with former Vice President Joe Biden taking a commanding early lead over the many 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls running to his left. National polls released Tuesday cast Biden well ahead of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and others vying fo...