By Mark Pazniokas and Keith M. Phaneuf

www.ctmirror.org

The rocky path to a fiscal plan for the next two years ended Tuesday with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signing the budget adopted June 3 in the closing minutes of the 2015 session — and tax rollbacks passed earlier Tuesday in special session to quell an outcry from business interests.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signs the budget bills in Hartford today. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Ctmirror.org photo

“Massachusetts doesn’t have a budget. Maine doesn’t have a budget. Illinois doesn’t have a budget. New Hampshire doesn’t have a budget,” Malloy said after signing the documents at a ceremony attended by the legislature’s top leaders and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman. “We got a budget.”

The budget includes tax increases that violate a pledge the Democratic governor made during last fall’s close re-election campaign, and its passage exposes Democratic legislators in swing districts to attacks as they seek re-election in 2016, a campaign that the GOP already is waging.

Malloy did not directly answer a question about how he can reconcile the budget he signed with his campaign pledge. Instead, he said the GOP offered no practical alternative.

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U.S. Rep. Jim Himes said today he does not back an increased U.S. military presence in Iraq and “will not support the role of the United States locking down chaos in the Middle East.”

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes addresses today’s Westport Rotary Club meeting. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Addressing the weekly meeting of the Westport Rotary Club, Himes said the United States must be very skeptical about creep in U.S. military commitment in the region.

He said the 1,200-year-old history of Middle East conflicts make defining long-term U.S. strategy in the area difficult.

While the United States has achieved victories in removing Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi from power and killing Taliban leaders, he added: “We’re not very good at the next day.”