America's splendor owes greatly to its embrace of business. Nations that restrict business grow haltingly, if at all. Nations whose governments try to extract too much from their successful businesspeople lose them, their inventiveness, and their diligence.

This nation, and this state, should never lose sight of need for robust business. At the government level, that generally means getting out of the way. State government has to protect safety; beyond that, it should restrict with extreme deference to freedom. That means bargaining contracts, health care policies, hiring policies, retirement policies, and discrimination policies should be left to employees and employers in a beautiful cauldron called "The Free Market".

Yes, even employment discrimination. There are very few "crackers" left in Connecticut. If they are still so stupid as to not want to employ racial minorities, fine. Let them them lose their talents; and let them lose angry customers, minority and majority, to more enlightened competitors. Let the few misogynist employers who might still be left in CT also suffer the consequences of their stupidity.

Connecticut has been hurt by overzealous regulation. Connecticut's entrepreneurial class has been stifled by needless forms, unnecessary intrusions, restrictive regulations, and fear of law suits. Our legislators at times regulate the small to protect the powerful. That explains requiring 500 hours of hair styling school before a young woman can open a braiding business; it explains high barriers for a business to self-insure, and it explains why no small homeowner or farmer can become a solar energy generator (and thereby earn money on her property and reduce neighbors' utility bills.).

The state can be a good collaborator with business. In transportation and environmental hazard remediation the state has to. In education, it should. My largest expansion of state services to business is "First 500", so contractors can be building, shaping, and administering to schools. In incubating talent, the state would be wise to help our businesses more. We have loads of talented youngsters who will do innovative work for a variety of companies; we need to assure that regulations don't stymie their hiring or their continued training.