Eddie on Watch

I have missed many flights due to my own fault but today was not one of them. Got to JFK T5 priority line 74 minutes before 6:59am domestic flight. Probably the earliest I’ve ever got to the airport because people said “there’s a line” and I said “ok I’ll get there early.” Priority line was two hours wait. So now I am … early … for the next flight … at 10.

Gooooooood Morning, Connecticut (and everyone else!) 😃☕️ Good news. All your screaming got results. There will be NO gas-powered leaf blower ban. Those electric leaf blowers are cool if you have a super small yard, but you still need 2 batteries, and you can't run a landscaping business that way. "There is no ban. There is no mandate," state Sen. Rick Lopes, D-New Britain, said of the revised bill. "There's nothing in it compulsory at all." "The committee voted 26-8 to advance a revised bill that instead proposes to authorize the Connecticut Green Bank to establish a loan program for landscaping and other businesses to purchase or lease battery-powered equipment." Hug your leaf blower a little extra next time you use it. Maybe even use the good gas. 🤣🍂

Today the legislature advanced three bills along party lines that would historically erode checks and balances in ours state government and undermine personal freedoms. The first, HB5554, is the least known, but would cause long-term damage by eliminating a vital check on executive power: a safety test for regulations proposed by the governor and bureaucrats. Currently, the Regulatory Review Committee has the ability to veto proposed regulations if and only if a bipartisan majority of legislators on that committee find that the proposed regulation does not follow the law. This bill would give Democrats 2-to-1 majority on the committee and make it very easy for the state bureaucracy to create new policies that do not adhere to the law with one party supporting it. For instance, Lamont's ban on new gas-powered cars and trucks would have passed if this were in effect. Second was the Education Committee bill imposing new regulations on the personal education decisions of homeschooling and some private school families. It passed by a very narrow vote only after several Democrats changed their vote after the cameras turned off. The bill will now advance forward to the House of Representatives for a full vote. Third was the Health Committee's medical mandate bills that give a single person, the Health Commissioner, power to require certain medical decisions herself and eliminate religious freedom protections for coconscious objectors. That bill will also proceed to the full House and Senate floor for potential votes on passage. All that said, your voice is making a difference in slowing down these efforts. But our state needs a change at the top. We need a governor and leadership that supports balance of power instead of centralized power, supports common sense over ideology, and will always protect our personal freedoms in Connecticut.

This is underreported story. But it’s important. Acts of domestic terrorism are predictably spiking in the aftermath of our attack on Iran - and Trump and Patel gutted the FBI counterterrorism team, leaving the country intentionally exposed.