Trumbull Times Talks to Jim

Trumbull Times, Thursday, October 14, 2010

What a difference two years can make.

In 2008, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, unseated incumbent Republican Chris Shays by turning the election into a referendum on a sluggish economy and a president with low approval ratings.

Now seeking a second term, Himes is facing Republican state Sen. Dan Debicella of Shelton, a challenger who is using essentially the same strategy that Himes used against Shays two years ago.

The 4th District includes most of Fairfield County and is considered slightly Democratic-leaning.

Himes recently sat down for a 45-minute interview with members of the Hersam Acorn Newspaper staff. In a wide-ranging conversation, he addressed the economy, Social Security and transportation problems in Fairfield County, among other topics.

The economy

Throughout his term, Himes has held numerous meetings with residents in the district. The primary topic at all of them has been the economy, he said.

“The economy and jobs are number one on everyone’s mind,” Himes said. “We’ve made some progress, and people are starting to feel a little more comfortable. Frankly, though, it’s not very satisfying yet.”

Himes credited the federal government stimulus funds with helping prop up the economy, but said there was still a long way to go.

“People are still anxious, but most small businesses are feeling that the economy is no longer getting worse, and may be getting better,” he said.

To speed the economic recovery, Himes said he supported the Small Business Credit and Jobs Act, tax reductions for small businesses to increase their cash flow. The act would pick up where the stimulus left off.

“You have to remember that two years ago, we were staring down the barrel of a depression rivaling that of the 1930s, and it took the combined efforts of three federal programs, all of them politically controversial, to pull us out of recession,” he said. “We seem to have stopped the unemployment rate at about 10%, which is admittedly unsatisfying.”

Still, Himes said the country is much better off financially than it was two years ago, but the still-fragile recovery could collapse if the federal programs of the last two years were reversed.

“At this time, we have to be very careful,” he said. “In an uncertain recovery, do you start slashing budgets? That’s what happened in 1937. The time to fix the deficit is when everyone is working and paying taxes.”

The tax cuts

On the topic of paying taxes, Himes criticized Debicella’s comments taking Democrats to task for adjourning Congress before voting on extending the 2001 tax cuts. Himes said there were two reasons why the adjournment, which passed by a single vote, was a non-issue.

“One, the Senate had already announced it would not act on the tax cuts this session, so regardless of what the House did, nothing was going to happen,” Himes said. “Two, the tax cuts are set to expire Dec. 31, so there is plenty of time after the election to go back and visit the issue.”

Himes said he supports extending, but not making permanent, the tax cuts.

“I would have preferred the vote happen sooner, but it didn’t matter once the Senate decided not to act.” he said.

Himes also took issue with Debicella’s proposal to rescind allocated but unspent federal stimulus money and instead give the country a six-month tax holiday. Debicella has said there is $400 billion in unspent stimulus money available. Himes pegged the number at $65 million.

“Bridgeport got $5 million in stimulus funds to hire 20 police officers and pay their salaries for three years,” Himes said. “So these guys are hired, but they haven’t been paid, so the money is still unspent. Do you take the money back? What about the road improvements in the district? The contractors are working. Do we shut them all down?”

Energy policy

Himes said the U.S. needed to gradually increase the price of carbon-based energy production — energy from coal and oil burning plants, in favor of a mix of cleaner technology such as nuclear power, fuel cell technology and wind and solar generation.

“At the end of the day, the only way to get venture capital into the energy market is if we correctly price carbon energy,” he said. “But at the same time, we need to respect that states like West Virginia have an economy that is based on coal production.”

Making alternative energy sources cheaper in the long run was the best way to move the country away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy production, he said.

Transportation

Himes supports construction of a New York rail tunnel to help get trucks off area highways. Currently, all freight going into New York City travels on trucks. A freight tunnel, which would take years to build, would alleviate congestion by taking thousands of trucks off the roads, he said.

Himes also is a co-sponsor of a bill creating a National Infrastructure Investment Bank, a $3 trillion bill that would allow private investment to fund public road and infrastructure improvement. The investors could then receive tax credits in return.

“Think of it as an infrastructure bond,” he said.

Social Security

Himes said he opposes moving funds from Social Security into private accounts, but conceded that the government needed to find a way to close a nearly $8 trillion funding gap.

Some proposed solutions include raising the retirement age and raising the cap on taxable income, which is currently $110,000. Though he has not voiced support for either, Himes said the government could be forced to do both.

Means testing eligible seniors before paying out Social Security benefits was another option, Himes said.