Ex-CTLawyer

@AAQ
Although a 5th generation American citizen in a family that reaches to the 9th generation (I descend from the 8th of 9 children in generation 2), I still consider myself a Jewish American, not an American Jew.

That said, it gives a different perspective than those whose parents or grandparents arrived either in the early 20th century or post WWII.

My paternal grandfather was drafted into the US Army in 1917 for the First World War. Uncles on both side served in the US forces during WWII, dad worked in Washington, DC during the war.

After the war, grandpa signed sponsorship papers for hundreds of survivors stating they had jobs in His clothing factory and housing in his buildings in Brooklyn. Although Litvish Misnagid, 90% of those sponsored were Satmar and the remainder Sanz. I still get a major welcome in Williamsburg and Kiryas Yoel and Kiryas Sanz.

As a Euro-traditional Jew who grew up OOT I never got all the factionalism in orthodoxy. I was brought up to respect and support all Jews as best we could.

That said, I am keenly aware that all worldly wealth and power is transient, and the peaceful prosperous life we have had for 150 years here in America is a gift from KBH and could disappear at any time. But, not having been forced to live in ghettos or the Pale and have professions officially closed to us. We learned how to live with the other Americans in Harmony (without giving up our Jewishness).
We are all better off when everyone in society prospers

@AAQ
Law firms in CT ( and most places) cannot have non-attorneys have an ownership interest in the firm.

My father had a regional chain of clothing stores from 1952 to the 1990s. Every full time employee received stock in the corporation each January. When the company was sold and dad retired at age 75 his employees received a lot of money for their shares (approx one-third of the sale proceeds).

Maternal grandfather was an eye doctor, no employees in his professional practice.
Paternal grandfather was clothing manufacturer, but used contractor factories. His design and sales staff were partners in the business. Grandma was bookkeeper, other partners� wives were rest of office staff.

@Akuperma
I am a lifelong Democrat, my parents and grandparents were lifelong Democrats and my adult children are Democrats.
However, none of these 4 generations were ever �working people� we are/were professionals and business people who believed in the betterment for all.

Even detestable Trump was a Democrat, til he figured out he could hoodwink the Republicans, hijack the party and line his pockets

@yungerman5

The OP was made in 2008. There was no Biden administration then. Your ignorance is not hidden by your hatred of Democrats.

@Sol82
Money spent keeping a sim-in-law in Kollel is an investment. Money spent to ensure others in Kollel can remain and the Kollel stays in operation is Tzedaka hand that is money well spent.
If the son-in-law remains such it is a good investment, if the marriage breaks up it was not a good investment.

@Neville
I have always contended that tax dollars should not be spent to pay for private education. I don�t care if it is secular or religious.
I worked hard to send my children to day schools then Yeshiva for high school (that was the choice here at the time). I also made sure that they got an education. And a profession that would allow them to send their children for Yeshiva education.
I have donated to and raised scholarship funds to assist those who cannot afford the tuition.
I believe it is the Jewish people�s obligation to fund our children�s religious education, not the general population.

One of the things we saw OOT that you don�t see in the big cities is that the Jewish community (of all denominations) kicks in to fund the local day schools and Yeshivos. They are constituent agencies of Federation and receive funds. Local Jews, frum and non-frum donate and support these institutions because they are vital to the community. When I was a teen, my next door neighbor was President of the �Reform Synagogue� in town. He was a tire dealer and his wife an attorney. They gave enough each year to the local Lubavitch Day School and its boys and girls high schools to pay the costs of 10 students� tuition. They didn�t practice what most here consider Judaism, but they believed its continued existence was crucial for the local Jewish community. In the 50-70s money could be raised from the non-frum community using Holocaust guilt. By the time those who were adults during WWII were reaching their late 70s and retiring to Florida this source of funding started dying off.

@AAQ
This is not the thread for a discussion of school vouchers (which I oppose, and for non-Jews are a way to pay for whites to attend private schools that are defacto segregated).
That said, the majority of special education funding for public schools is federal, not state money. The federal government did not saddle the states with an unfunded mandate in this case.
Local government has major problems with all the unfunded state mandates on public schools

I am a family law attorney (along with wills and trusts with decades of experience.
My daughter all have college degrees, and professional degrees and are licensed professionals.
That said, they did not leave with college debt. I would much rather pay to make sure they have earnings capability than to support a son in law in Kollel.

WHY?????
Having handled far too many divorces over the years for Jews and non-Jews. The young lady will never lose her education and earning ability if the marriage ends in divorce, but the investment in a son in-law learning in kollel is thrown away money after the divorce.

Let the man’s parents pay for it if they want to, but it is not the woman’s parents’ responsibility.

@Neville
Regarding liqour sales in CT
When I was a child, stores could be open 6 days a week from 8am til 11pm No one could own more than 2 stores. The mom&pop owners got the state to cut hours to 8am-8pm as they did not want to work so many hours.
in 2012 when Sunday sales were allowed, it was again the liquor store owners who asked that it only b 6 hours 11am-5pm to restrict how many hours these mom&pop operators worked in a week. The number of stores you can own increased to three. So for an eample, only 3 of the Costco locations in CT can sell booze.
You cannot buy wine in a grocery store, only beer.
Liqour store can n ow be open til 9, but most close at 8, with a few open Frioday and Saturday til 9.

The last vestige of the Blue laws, was that auto dealers could not be open on Sunday. The dealers fought this saying they were losing sales to NY, MA and RI. The law changed a few years back, but most dealers, not on the state borders remained closed on Sunday.

I was born and grew up in New Haven, where you still don’t find car dealers open Friday nights. Back then the dealers were almost all Jewish and Friday night was reserved for family, not business. Today, most dealers are not Jewish, but the closed Friday night tradition continues.

@Neville
The CT Blue Laws had far more to do with business activity and public displays of affection on the Sabbath, then liquor sales.
They were done away with starting in 1909, 1979 did away with ban on Sunday retailing and 2012 allowed Sunday liquor sales.
When I was a kid, my family’s retail stores were open Sunday and closed Saturday in compliance with the laws.
CT Liquor store owners opposed Sunday openings, as we have no chains, mom&pop didn’t want to work 7 days per week.

@Lakewhut
Regarding Danbury Baptists and their letter to the federal government seeking redress.

CT (my home for almost 70 years) like most of New England was settled by the Puritans (Congregational Churches). Each village had a parish and the minister served as head of government and tax collector. This continued to the middle of the 1800s, long after the USA was a country and the US Constitution in force.
My small town has 4 distinct neighborhoods, each was a parish and still has an active Congregational Church bearing the name.
Until the early 1900s, any religious institution wanting to operate in CT had to get a Charter from the State of Connecticut. My shul received its charter in 1881. My FIL is buried in a local Jewish cemetery that received its charter in 1918.

This issuing of charters (and requirement thereof) established State approved religions in direct violation of the First Amendment.
BTW, males who wished to vote in the State of CT before approx 1850 had to be members of the Congregational Church in their Parish and current with tax obligations. Another violation of the First Amendment.

@Neville
My fiscal conservatism is not just from my personal pocket, but society as a whole.
That�s why I believe in user fees, such as tolls (which don�t exist in CT) so the user pays for the upkeep of the roads.

As for the orthodox synagogues of my youth. They did not have mechitzas, they had balconies.

@coffee
I haven�t been called a �lefty� since I was protesting the Viet Nam War and burning my draft card more than 50 years ago.
Yes, I am a proud Democrat, but that doesn�t mean I support every idea floated by every Democrat. At the State and National Conventions I am viewed as old fashioned and right wing.
I am socially liberal but fiscally conservative. I am anti-gun and believe no private citizen unless a sworn law enforcement officer or member of the National Guard (the well regulated militia mentioned in the 2nd Amendment) should possess a gun.

I have watched American Orthodoxy move to the right over the past 60 years. While I may not find all the moves to my taste, I support the institutions.
I am one of the final generation of American Euro-Traditional Jews. What was called Orthodox in my youth. We were the children of business owners and professionals. Many attended public school and Yeshiva as well as university and professional schools. What we didn�t do as a whole is become professional Jews, deriving our income from Jewish organizations, instead we fund those salaries and positions.

@Mentsch1
Since our dogs range in weight from 6-13 lbs, the risk of them eating us is not a concern.

Send Cruz back to the country if his birth

@coffeeaddict
I don�t decide which �news� articles to post
I merely answered the OP�s question

@lakewhut
The OP did not ask a question about the current POTUS

@zeruth
I voluntarily had two Covid-19 vaccinations and three boosters including the bivalent. I don�t allow non-vaccinated into my home of office.

@americanyeshivish

Better the shooter is dead at the beginning of an intended shooting spree, having killed him/herself,

Take all guns away in the USA unless the possessor is a member of the National Guard, law enforcement or corrections (our well organized militia, satisfying the 2nd Amendment).

@ujm

I generally fly first class and have done so for more than 60 years.
I don�t do it for the wines and foods I cannot consume. I have done so for the comfort and quiet and ability to get work done.
In the 80s I flew about a half million miles per year with bi-weekly trips to Europe. I would leave my office here at 5pm, make a 8 pm TWA flight to London or Paris. I would work most of the night preparing for meetings that began at 9am soon after my arrival. I also made a half dozen flights each year to EY, South Africa and Brazil plus an annual flight to Australia.
By the 90s I was flying to China each month. My clients paid these costs but it was important to arrive fresh and ready for business.
That said, I do not like the modern pods that isolate First Class (and business class) travelers from each other. The pods defeat the ability for two of us to work together on a long flight. I really miss the days of an upstairs lounge in early B747s where we could spread papers out on a table and sit facing each other and plan strategies.
Nowadays, if three or more of us from the CTL law firm are flying together on business, we are likely to fly private. It is not much more expensive than first (for our clients) and they are not paying for us yk have to arrive at the airport hours early and pay X hundreds of dollars per hour for non-productive time. It also allows us to fly into smaller airports that may be closer to our destination and that also saves time and money.

If I am working on a 14 hour flight I do not want to be disturbed by children or bumped by people trying to get through the aisle to reach a lavatory or food service carts. Lastly, I need to protect the privacy of my work.

BTW, when I went to Budapest this month for my dental work, I flew premium economy (using miles). I was not doing any work and didn�t need the privacy and space. I flew home in a private jet that belongs to a client. His wife and children had been dropped off in Vienna and it was returning to Teterboro empty.

So back to Dental insurance and cost of dental procedures. It is now the end of March and I have been to Budapest for my two implants.
They were done in the same Swiss Method Dental practice at The Thermal Hotel and Spa where I had a few crowns done in 1988. They still had all my records.
My all in costs came to $4300. Locally, the cost was $20,000.
Medical and Dental tourism is a thriving international business.
Could I have paid the $20,000? Yes, but I don�t waste or squander capital, it is better spent on my grandchildren and Tzedaka.
>>>>>>>>>>�>>�����
As a side note, my original comments about the cost of Mrs. CTL�s care took place during the past few years with Covid protocols in place.
Her final 12 days in ICU required 200 masks, gowns and glove changes each day (every time someone entered the room they needed fresh PPE.
Our local hospitals are no longer billing a surcharge for these no longer required expenses

@Yeserbius123

You are not hated by everyone. I disagree with your political beliefs, but don�t hate you. I defend your right to express your beliefs and vote for the candidates of your choice.

BTW, it is possible to be a Democrat and be a law and order kind of guy. I would love to see Trump prosecuted, tried convicted and imprisoned. But I also would like that to happen to all crooked elected officials who have broken the law, as well as street thugs, blue collar criminals and white collar criminals.

@AAQ
Despite your name, sometimes not being asked is a relief.

@aaq
If coming soon, Moshiach would be better off speaking Spanish than Italian since the current Pope is Argentinian.

I, however, took 6 years of Latin in high school and college. I don�t listen to Radio Vatican, but it made law school easier for me than classmates with no Latin knowledge.

This post is a prime example why more time needs to be spent learning English in Yeshivos.
�Most likeliest �
Est ending means most.
What a waste of a modifier.
Bittul zman through ignorance.
No charge for this lesson in English grammar.
BTW, I thought Joseph claimed to be a teacher in the NY public schools.

Haven�t had ACA in about 5 years as I aged out. It gave me the savings benefit of a huge statewide group not the income based subsidy. It also had better benefits for same level plan from same carrier I had before ACA.
Connecticut did/does a much better job with ACA and our state exchange than most other states. Should the federal program cease due to court challenges or Congressional whim the Connecticut program will continue independently.
This afternoon a neighbor came by with some questions about tax forms for short term disability (he is having a knee replacement). I reviewed his situation, explained how to fill out the forms and then looked at his health insurance plans. We determined he would save more than 30% buying his coverage through the exchange than the small group from his employer. Since he recently had another child, I pointed out it was a qualifying life changing event and he could change his insurance despite being outside the annual enrollment period. We did it all on line. Not only will he save on his monthly cost, but his out of pocket for the surgery (all in) will be reduced by about $1000.
This was just a friendly chat with a neighbor, not billable client work. When Mrs. CTL died, his teens were here every day during shiva, setting up chairs, taking out garbage, parking visitors cars, etc. They are not Jewish but understand small town neighbors help neighbors without being asked.