Anderson wants to review federal stimulus before adding more

By Scott Benjamin

Justin Anderson, who is seeking the Republican nomination in the Second Congressional District, says the federal government should wait until life returns to close-to-normal before dispersing more stimulus funding in addition to the $3 trillion that has been signed into law since March 27.

Anderson of East Haddam said it would be better to slowly evaluate what steps need to be taken at a time when there are "zero percent interest rates."

The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said, "We need to hit pause for a while, see what has worked, what hasn't worked and see how much money - additional money - we need after the economy is opened back up."

The projected deficits are escalating as the national unemployment rate has soared to 14.7 percent, the highest since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Former South Carolina Gov. and former U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, who withdrew last fall from the Republican presidential race, wrote in February in The New York Times that, "We have never run deficits this big in peace time. The fastest growing spending item for the federal government is interest on the national debt."

When Sanford wrote his column - less than three months ago, and about a month before the pandemic - the federal budget deficit for the fiscal year ending on September 30 was projected to reach $1 trillion.

On April 27 the Congressional Budget Office distributed preliminary figures that the budget deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends in September, has grown from about $1 trillion to $3.7 trillion and it is estimated at $2.1 trillion for the fiscal year that will end in September of 2021.

CT Mirror reported on May 1 that the Connecticut state budget faces a $7 billion deficit over the next three years.

Anderson said he would support more stimulus funds for the Connecticut state government, but with the provision that it streamline its operations.

"We need to make sure that the state officials make good fiscal decisions," Anderson remarked.

"There are too many administrators and too many agencies," he added.

"Some states are fiscally responsible. There are some states that are not," Anderson said regarding the potential pitfalls in providing additional stimulus to the states.

Anderson said he believes the nation can avert a depression if the businesses can fully reopen by August.

He said that he would not support phasing out the president's 2017 tax reform so that money could diverted to programs to address the high unemployment.

"Ninety percent of the people have benefitted from the tax cuts," Anderson declared.

However, The Wall Street Journal reported that Democratic U.S. Senate Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said that there is a disagreement between Republican President Donald Trump and the Senate Republicans on what further steps need to be taken to boost an economy that as of the end of April had a 14.7 unemployment rate, the highest since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Trump has indicated that he wants the elimination of payroll or capital gains taxes on the table.
However, The Wall Street Journal added that many GOP lawmakers are facing pressure from conservative groups say infrastructure spending is a nonstarter. The newspaper also stated that they also are tepid about slashing payroll taxes paid by workers and employees.

Anderson said he would be willing to consider a massive infrastructure program, which would keep people working for years, and a payroll tax cut.

He said in a phone interview that he expects the other Republican contender, Tom Gilmer of Madison, to secure the convention nomination on May 11 at the virtual balloting.

Anderson, a decorated former Army infantry officer with an extensive resume of military-related accomplishments posted on his web site, said his campaign has been geared to annexing the nomination in an August 11 primary. The seat has been held by Democrat Joe Courtney of Vernon since 2007. Democrats have represented the district in 40 of the last 46 years and the Charles Cook Political Report rates it as "Safe Democratic."

Anderson said that the federal government should improve its oversight of the Paycheck Protection Program so that more of the funding goes to small businesses instead of the larger retail outlets.

Overall, he said he praises Trump's response to the pandemic.

"However, he needs to keep it to the key points in his briefings and not do so much analyzing and not take so many questions from reporters," said Anderson, a retired Connecticut corrections officer.

Ari Fleischer, the first White House press secretary for former Republican President George W. Bush, told Fox News media columnist Howard Kurtz that, “Standing at that podium for more than 30 minutes is kind of like being in a bar after 2 a.m. All the good stuff has already happened, and the only thing left is probably the bad stuff. So get out of the bar before 2, and get off the podium after 30 minutes.”

The Associated Press reported that Scott Reed, the senior political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has said the 2020 presidential campaign will be about "Trump versus the coronavirus and the recovery. Biden is a sideshow."

A Reuters/ISPOS online poll that was distributed on May 5 reported 43 percent for the voters surveyed supported Biden and 41 percent supported Trump. When asked about who was better to handle the pandemic, 37 percent named Trump 37 percent and 35 percent selected Biden.

Eastern Connecticut is known as the "Submarine Capital of the World." General Dynamics' Electric Boat shipyard in Groton is the largest employer in the congressional district with about 14,000 workers.

Courtney has said that he has helped provide funding to get two submarines per year for Electric Boat, instead of one, the first time that has occurred since the 1980s. He in a 2016 interview that the first thing he checks each morning are the Red Sox box scores and the job listings at Electric Boat.

Anderson lauded Trump for increasing the Pentagon budget, which has helped Electric Boat and the other defense major contractors in Connecticut - Lockheed Martin at the Igor Sikorsky facility in Stratford and Raytheon Technologies at the Francis Pratt & Amos Whitney plant in East Hartford.

He said that Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich) and other state officials should create training centers similar to Real Jobs Rhode Island plan enacted by the Ocean State's governor, Democrat Gina Raimondo.

Fred Hochberg, the chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank under former President Barack Obama, wrote in his recent book, "Trade Is Not A Four Letter World" (Avid Reader Press, 299 pages) that in Westerly, R.I. "the state worked with" Electric Boat to create a job center nearby with a curriculum and "in less than three years 1,800 locals have studied at the training center been hired by General Dynamics."

Last year Lamont appointed a 24-member Work Force Council that is scheduled to distribute recommendations by January 1. The governor has said for years Connecticut has had too many job openings that went unfilled because there were not qualified applicants.

Regarding exports and imports, Anderson said he supports the proposed United States Mexico Canada Agreement on trade that was negotiated by Trump and has been approved by the U.S. House. Supporters say the agreement would improve the labor and environmental standards that were established in the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement that was signed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton.

"I give President Trump credit," said. "It is going to mean more jobs in Connecticut."

Anderson said he supports the president's 2018 call for allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to increase their allocations.

"Some of them are not paying their fair share," he said.

On gun control: "I'm very big for the Second Amendment," Anderson explained, noting that he opposes the federal government enacting a backgrounds check program similar to the measure approved under former Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-Essex).

"The Connecticut plan doesn't make sense," he said. "It makes it really hard on the gun manufacturers."

On another topic, Anderson lamented that the recent pandemic has reduced personal contact with voters.

"It's always better face to face," he said.

The candidate said regardless of recent developments he agrees with Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, the 2018 Republican convention nominee for governor, who has told Patch.com that digital advertising "has become the broadcast network of the 21st century."

Remarked Anderson, "Digital is playing a bigger role."