Is Dan Malloy Serious?

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's budget is being picked apart, in hearing rooms at the state Capitol, on talk radio and the web, and in town hall meetings across Connecticut. But the real debate is about the essence of the man, not the details of his budget.

Malloy: 'I'm the new quantity here.'

Is the first Democratic governor in 20 years really intent on demanding $1 billion in labor savings -- a 20-percent giveback? His tax package is a political disaster, seemingly calculated to mobilize as many opponents as possible, raising income and sales taxes and whacking a popular property tax credit.

Conservatives are aghast at his endorsement of an earned income tax credit, money that would go to the working poor. Liberals are furious he won't hit the rich harder, digging dollars from the only demographic that gained in the past decade.

He can't be serious, can he?

Malloy loves the question. He is sitting at his desk on a Thursday afternoon, hours after jousting with reporters, a diversion he enjoys. Ahead is another town-hall meeting in Torrington, then a trip to Washington D.C., for a governors' meeting--and a little more face time on cable news, this time on CNN. He was on MSNBC the previous day, defending unions.

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