Congressman Himes praises Connecticut's response to pandemic

By Scott Benjamin

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-4) says Connecticut has “done extraordinarily well in getting the virus under control” in the seven months since the pandemic began.

He said that due to “our proximity to New York, as was the case in New Jersey, we got it very bad” in March and April

“We have responded well,” Himes said regarding the steps taken by Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich). “We did the right things, and as a result we had a very good summer.”

However, he said there has been a tepid economic recovery in his district, which has 17 municipalities stretching from Greenwich to Ridgefield and Shelton.

“Small businesses are hurting,” Himes said during a Zoom interview. “People who lost their jobs in the spring are not being rehired.”

The Day of New London recently reported that according to economist Donald Klepper-Smith of DataCore Partners, the state lost 269,000 jobs in April, which is more than twice the jobs gained in the previous 10 years as Connecticut climbed out of the Great Recession.

Klepper-Smith, who chaired former Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s (R-Brookfield) economic team, indicated that more than half of those job losses in April have been regained since then.

Himes, who lives in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich, criticized Republican President Donald Trump for announcing on October 6 that he was suspending until after the November 3 election negotiations between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a new package that would provide between $1.6 trillion and $2.2 trillion in economic stimulus.

“It’s a disaster,” he said. “You don’t have to take it from me, you can take it from the chairman of the Federal Reserve.”

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell has called on Congress to provide more stimulus for a economic recovery that has slowed in recent months.

The Associated Press reported that Powell said in a speech to a group of business economists that, “The expansion is still far from complete.”

Remarked Himes, “He is not ordinarily telling Congress what to do, and he painted a dire picture.”

Trump has since reversed course and sought a limited stimulus package before the election.

“I would vote for a $1.6 trillion bill in a heartbeat,” declared Himes, who faces Republican Jonathan Riddle, a financial advisor, of South Norwalk in the upcoming election.

Himes added, “I think that $1.5, $1.6, $1.7 trillion would make a difference for a lot of people in this country. Businesses need the help. Our states and municipalities need help.”

The congressman said he “absolutely” agrees with New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, who wrote in May that there are two types of workers – the “remote,” who make up 37 percent of the population and can easily work from home, and the “exposed,” such as shop owners, waiters and sales associates, who need to have a physical presence.

Stephens wrote, “For the remote, the lockdowns . . . have been stressful. For the exposed, they have been catastrophic.”

Himes said the pandemic has taken a toll on such “essential workers” as truck drivers and grocery store clerks.

In July Stephen Moore, a member of Trump’s Economic Recovery Task Force, and Casey Mulligan, an economics professor at the University of Chicago and author of a recent book on Trump’s economic policies, opposed an unemployment benefits extension in a Wall Street Journal column.

“The unemployment benefits extension would discourage work,” they stated. “According to the Congressional Budget Office, it would pay 5 out of 6 workers more to stay unemployed than to return to their jobs.”

Himes said the unemployment benefits extension could eventually be a concern, but the economy has not yet recovered to where that would be a factor.

“The point is that now is not that moment,” he said. “Right now it is not a disincentive to work, it’s that you can’t get a job.”

Regarding tax policy, Himes said, “I think we need to repeal” the $10,000 cap on state and local property tax deductions, which reportedly has had an impact in the Gold Coast of Fairfield County, which is a prime part of the Fourth Congressional District.

The 2017 Trump tax reform imposed the cap after there had previously been no limit on the deduction.

Pelosi and U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York have vowed to eliminate it if the Democrats take control of the White House and Congress.

However, Christopher Pulliam and Richard Reeves of the Brookings Institution wrote in September in The New York Times that, “Why on earth then, are Democrats fighting for a $137 billion tax cut the richest Americans.”

Himes countered that many people move to affluent towns because they “want good schools and good services.”

He said that under the cap on the state and local taxes, he believes “the federal government is penalizing people for doing that.”

Himes added that he supports Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s proposal to increase the corporate tax rate from 21 to 28 percent, and said he believes the reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent under Trump “was paid for by removing the [unlimited] SALT [state and local taxes] deduction.”

He added that “21 percent is crazy” for a corporate tax rate.

Biden, who attended a fund-raiser last fall at Lamont’s Greenwich home, also wants to raise the top individual tax rate from 37 to 39.6 percent, where it had stood under former Democratic President Bill Clinton, who submitted four consecutive budget surpluses during his second term.

Himes said Biden wants the wealthy “to pay their fair share, and I support that.”

“I think there are better ways to do that,” he added.

Himes said among those ways would be reducing the “insanely generous” provisions on capital gains, which also is a part of Biden’s economic platform.

Wall Street Journal columnist Gerald Seib wrote in July that Biden also wants to “impose a new Social Security tax that would kick in at high income levels.”

Himes said, “I do believe there are ways to stabilize Social Security by means-testing in some ways, and by treating it differently for the wealthiest.”

On foreign policy, the Permanent Select House Committee on Intelligence, which Himes serves on, recently distributed The Deep China Dive Report, which indicated that the United States has “a lot of work to do” in responding to the growing presence of the Asian nation, which has 1.3 billion people, the largest population in the world.

“In some respects, China is an adversary,” Himes explained. “They’re an adversary in the South China Sea and in how they steal intellectual property.”

“We need to push back hard on the intellectual property and their trade practices while also looking to cultivate our commercial relationships with China,” he added.

Himes said Trump has “called out the Chinese for their bad behavior,” but that he did it by “slapping a whole of tariffs on them which hurt a lot of American farmers and hurt a lot of businesses in my district.”

According to Seib, The Wall Street Journal columnist, Biden wants to renegotiate the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which includes Japan, the third largest economy in the world, and other Asian countries.

Said Himes, “I think it is important.”

Former President Barack Obama negotiated the agreement but U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced in 2016 that the upper body would not consider the proposal. Both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton announced their opposition to the agreement, indicating that it would hurt American workers.

Himes voted in support of the fast-track authority that would allow the TPP to be considered on an up or down vote with no amendments. News reports indicated the TPP could not get approved without the fast-track provision.

“Trade is a difficult discussion,” exclaimed Himes, who was initially elected in 2008.

“However, we have a choice to lead and locate our values in Asia or let China do it,” he said. “China doesn’t have good values.”

Himes was the first Democrat in 42 years to be elected in the Fourth District and has been winning by comfortable margins in the recent elections.

In 2018, Alexandra Kasser of Greenwich became the first Democrat to be elected to the state Senate in 36th District in 88 years and Will Haskell of New Canaan was the first Democrat to win in 48 years in the 26th state Senate District.

CTNewsJunkie columnist Susan Bigelow wrote recently that the Fourth Congressional District “has been going more Democratic over the past 20 years as the moderate patrician conservatives of the old guard give way to highly-educated upper class liberals.”

Himes said, “I don’t think it’s a demographic change. I think primarily it is a change in the Republican Party.”

He explained that the was preceded in the district by two moderate Republicans – Chris Shays of Bridgeport, whom he defeated in 2008 – and Stewart McKinney of Westport, who served until his death in 1987.

Himes said that McKinney, for example, wrote the legislation that is the “cornerstone” for affordable housing.

“That is inconceivable today,” he said of the Republican philosophy.

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney, who had served with Himes in the U.S. House, wrote in his 2018 book - “The Right Answer,” (Henry Holt & Co., 240 Pages) - that the U.S. House should spend more weeks in Washington where business starts on Monday at 9 a.m. and adjourns on Friday at 5 p.m.

Delaney stated that, "We have persuaded our constituencies that they should expect us to function like mayors, going to one event after another, shaking hands, giving speeches and cutting ribbons. But that ought to be the province of local government officials."

"Would you rather have your U.S. representative spend time shaking hands at the country fair or working in Washington to gain grants for community colleges and secure funding for improving highways?" he added. "These days our time is so limited that all we can do is pop in and out of meetings.”

Himes said, “I agree with that.”

“But that is not the fundamental problem,” he elaborated. “The fundamental problem is polarization.”

“You have too many candidates who run to the extremes of their party to win a primary,” he added.

Patch.com has reported that Riddle believes Congress would be more effective if House members were limited to eight years of service and senators to 12 years.

On another topic, Himes said that he is “very pleased” with how Biden has run his campaign.

He noted that he had fended off attacks from Republicans claiming that Biden would be beholden to the New Left.

Himes said, “Joe Biden is a profoundly centrist and pragmatic” Democrat.

He said Biden also has acted properly as Trump has been criticized for paying little in taxes through the years and was soundly rebuffed by some commentators for his performance in the first presidential debate.

Himes remarked, “He’s done what any good politician would do: If someone is going to self-destruct, you stand by and let it happen.”