13 June—Being innocent and unsophisticated, I used to believe that buying votes was illegal. Or at least that it was done under the table. (I’m not that innocent and unsophisticated.) But Ned Lamont, with the enthusiastic collusion of his Democrat whores in the Connecticut General Assembly, is buying votes out in the open.

In actual fact, Ned has been buying votes brazenly, impenitently, and with impunity since he decided to seek another term as governor. That, although he didn’t announce it at the time, was right after he got elected in 2018. But I’ll just deal with his latest massive vote buy.

A couple of days ago, in a black neighborhood (where else?) represented by two of his favorite Democrats (who of course were on hand for the party), Ned announced that he and his henchmen, through a so-called Community Investment Fund, would be making $875 million available to distressed communities over five years. That sum is sure to increase as political expediency requires. And the emphasis was on distressed.

It’s no surprise that, while there are distressed White communities in Connecticut (like the Borough of Litchfield), the only ones getting the Democrat largess are black and Puerto Rican. Can that be because those self-described political minorities have a powerful caucus, which is very helpful in vote buying?

(Has anyone ever heard of a Honky Cracker Caucus? Or a Distressed Taxpayer Caucus?)

Talk about blatant racism. Heaven forfend. But it can’t be racism when blacks and Hispanics benefit to the disadvantage of Whites, can it? When people in (minority) neighborhoods with serious drug problems are given preference in getting commercial marijuana licenses, that certainly is stupid—but it can’t be racism.

Ned Lamont and his CGA cronies must be running scared for them to be throwing out the big bucks to neighborhoods whose votes they used to be able to count on almost for free. Can Connecticut Republicans be doing that well this year? And in all events, shouldn’t Ned be sucking up to the huge block of voters who may not be all that enthused with Bob Stefanowski?

Sure, the Connecticut House Democrats link on Google crows that they’re “Fighting to Cut Taxes.” If that’s true, they’re colossal failures and stupid in the bargain. It doesn’t take exceptional intellect to know that you don’t irresponsibly increase spending to cut taxes. Empirically, however, we know that the claim is clearly a lie, not just a misstatement. But all’s fair for arrogantly entrenched Democrats in Connecticut.

Incidentally, the U.S. Supreme Court has long held that what Ned and his comrades are doing isn’t illegal. Even if they—or their opponents, in the event of the opponents’ hoped-for victory—were promising publicly to pay cash from public coffers to a large number of voters, that would be perfectly legal. It’s done all the time. All the time. First Amendment, and all that. And the promise is sometimes honored. (And, in all fairness, electoral politics is all—and only—about buying votes, however it may be accomplished.)

A private promise to an individual, on the other hand, would be illegal, as would a pre-vote payment. That, too, is done all the time. Wholesale good, retail bad. Not that the payer can know how the payee votes. Unless . . .