Politics & Government
Klarides wants to end the war on fossil fuels
Convention-endorsed candidate in Republican U.S. Senate primary says tax cuts, less business regulation can help tame inflation
Themis Klarides, Leora Levy Peter Lumaj
Richard Blumenthal Donald Trump Barack Obama
By Scott Benjamin
Find out what's happening in Brookfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
MADISON – U.S. Senate hopeful Themis Klarides says trying to severely reduce “fossil fuels was one of the most irresponsible things that President Biden, Dick Blumenthal and the radical left did.”
“When you cancel pipelines and oil and gas leases, and then you wonder why gas prices are through the roof,” she said in an interview with Patch.com.
Find out what's happening in Brookfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
A recent Wall Street Journal editorial referred to the policy as a “war on fossil fuels.”
“You are relying on Russia and other countries that don’t exactly agree with our way of life,” declared Klarides of Madison, who faces Republican National Committee member Leora Levy of Greenwich and attorney and former U.S. Senate and gubernatorial contender Peter Lumaj of Fairfield in the August 9 Republican primary. Klarides garnered the convention nomination in May with 56.8 percent of the delegates.
Regarding fossil fuels, “We have to live with the reality that it is impossible to produce enough energy for the needs of this country,” commented Klarides, the former state House Republican leader. “The needs of this country are too great for just renewables. Those should be aspirational goals We should be educating people about renewable energy. There should be a holistic approach to energy.”
Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Greenwich, the former longtime state attorney general, is running for a third term in the November 8 election. He was re-elected six years ago with about 63 percent of the ballots.
His campaign apparently did not reply to a request for comment on Klarides’ criticism of Democratic policy on fossil fuels.
The Sabato Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia rates the race as “Safe Democratic” even though a Quinnipiac University poll this spring indicated that Blumenthal’s approval rating was the lowest in his tenure in the U.S. Senate.
Inflation is at 9.1 percent, the highest figure since 1981.
“It is not affordable to live in this country right now,” remarked Klarides, who served for 22 years in the state House of Representatives.
U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-4) of Greenwich recently told Patch.com that the 3.6 percent unemployment rate is one of the positive indicators in the economy. Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell has noted that the unemployment rate has only been below 3.6 percent in three months during the 21st century.
Klarides, who is pro-choice, said the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 Dobbs v. Jackson ruling on June 24 regarding abortion access was “a huge decision,” but noted that the comments she receives from voters as well as the polls indicate the economy is the most important issue.
Jonathan Wharton, a professor of Political Science and Public Affairs at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, said he agreed.
“The economy has been a big issue for quite a while and it is getting a lot of media attention,” Wharton commented in a phone interview with Patch.com.
Klarides said the economists offer dire warnings.
“Half will tell you we’re in a recession already,” she remarked in an interview with Patch.com. “Half of them will tell you we’re bordering on a recession.”
However, Klarides insisted there “are numerous ways to fight the inflation problem.”
Those steps would include making the 21 percent corporate tax rate permanent, reducing capital gains taxes as Republican former President Ronald Reagan did about 40 years ago and easing regulations on businesses.
“It’s going to increase growth and it will bring inflation down,” Klarides said.
She criticized the Federal Reserve Board for “printing too much money” and waiting too long to address inflation.
Klarides said when the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Act was approved in March 2021 the inflation rate was 1.6 percent, but surged two months later to 3.1 percent as too much money was placed in the market.
“It kept going up,” she exclaimed. “You don’t wait until it is eight percent to take steps.”
Over the last month, the Federal Reserve Board has raised rates twice by 0.75 percent - the biggest jump since 1994 – as it dashes to reverse its easy-money policies.
However, Klarides said she is against the $52 billion investment in microchips that was recently approved recently in both chambers.
Reuters has reported that U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo noted that two decades ago, the United States produced nearly 40% of all chips while today it accounts for only 12% of global production."
“That original bill was supposed to be a China competitive bill,” Klarides explained. “I certainly supported a conversation about a China-competitive piece of legislation.”
“The problem with this is it appears to be corporate welfare to a certain extent,” she said.
Klarides said, “The Wall Street Journal reported: that, the eight largest chip manufacturers had their equity decline by about 40 percent. There was too many of them. There was a glut in the market for these chips. So the price started to fall. I don’t understand why we should be picking winners and losers in industry.”
On a separate topic, she said she supports the proposal to have the federal government be able to negotiate prescription drug prices under Medicare and also wants to make the less-expensive generic drugs more available.
Now, two years after the start of the pandemic, what has been the impact on Connecticut?
“It’s closed down a lot of businesses,” Klarides said. “Just look at the restaurants. A huge percentage of the restaurants never reopened.”
As for the schools, “It impacted the most vulnerable people in the worst way,” she exclaimed.
Klarides said police have reported that students received computers from their schools and sold them to pawn shops. She said some students just logged in at the beginning of the academic day and did scant work.
Three recent federal Secretaries of Education – Arne Duncan and John Hill under Democratic former President Barack Obama, and Betty DeVos, under Republican former President Donald Trump - have supported more public funding or charter schools.
Remarked Klarides, “I’ve been a big supporter of charter schools my entire career”
“I think kids need as many choices as possible,” she said. “One size doesn’t fit all. “It may be an arts high school for one child. It may be a technical high school for another child. . . I think we should be talking about this to second-graders, third-graders.”
In 2010 Obama endorsed a 197-day academic year, saying the United States trailed other developed countries in that category.
“I don’t know that it is so much adding 17 days to the academic year,” Klarides said. “There has got to be accountability.”
Biden has reportedly considered erasing part of the current college student debt.
“I understand the impulse to want to,” Klarides said. “I think it is very difficult to erase everyone’s college debt. I think it is problematic for our economy. I think it is problematic for kids.”
Gary Rose, the chairman of the Government Department at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, told Patch.com three years ago that he thought that the future of Connecticut’s economy would partly depend on the Pentagon budget, since the state has three major defense contractors – General Dynamics with Electric Boat in Groton, Lockheed Martin at Igor Sikorsky in Stratford and Raytheon with the Francis Pratt and Amos Whitney operation in East Hartford.
Klarides said she is confident that the defense contractors in Connecticut will remain busy.
“There is no reason to believe they won’t,” she commented. “They are state-of-the-art internationally-renowned defense contractors.”
“I’m a strong supporter of military spending,” Klarides added.
University of Melbourne Social Policy Professor Max Holleran stated in his recent book, “Yes To The City,” (Princeton Press, 216 pages) that the Yes In My Backyard Movement is trying to convince the public that dense cities don’t have to be overpopulated slums, but instead can be developed into market-rate housing for millennials.
“I think it depends on the state and the cities,” Klarides said regarding the viability of the movement. “In Connecticut it is different than New York City.”
“I think it is about living in states that are affordable,” she commented. “Connecticut, is one of the highest taxed states in the country, and people can’t afford to live here.”
Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons told Patch.com last year, when she was a candidate for that office, that 30 percent of the commercial space in The City That Works was currently vacant and could possibly turned into housing, which might be vital with the increase in work-from-home.
Said Klarides, “That’s opening up another problem. If you’re in the commercial real estate business, you’re not happy right now.”
“People are working from home, and I think that is going to continue,” she remarked. “That’s going to become the new normal – working from home, saving time on the commute, saving gas, saving wear and tear on the car, the ability to take your children to school. I think that will be a big change in our lives going forward.”
Levy, a philanthropist who was raised considerable money for Republican candidates across the country, and Lumaj, who was the GOP candidate for Secretary of the State in 2014, are considered more conservative than Klarides, particularly on social issues.
Wharton said that some reporters have noted that Klarides won the convention with a platform that differed from the national GOP base and she also acknowledged that she wrote in the name of Larry Cafero of Norwalk, her predecessor at state House Republican Leader, on her 2020 ballot instead of voting for Trump.
However, he said that it is no surprise that she prevailed.
“She is very well respected,” said Wharton. “She has that legacy.”
Susan Patricelli Regan of Granby, who sought the 2022 Republican gubernatorial nomination and hosts the Valley Views cable television interview show, said part of Klarides’ success at the convention resulted from her decision this last February to depart the gubernatorial campaign and instead run for the U.S. Senate.
“They didn’t want to have interference with Bob’s run,” she said in a phone interview with Patch.com regarding the party leaders’ desire for Madison business executive Bob Stefanowski to have less opposition in his bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Stefanowski easily captured the nomination. He had annexed the 2018 gubernatorial nod in a primary.
Klarides said that between May and August of last year her trips to events across the state during her gubernatorial bid would have equaled driving from “Connecticut to Los Angeles and back.”
State Rep. Stephen Harding (R-107) of Brookfield said in a phone interview with Patch.com that he thinks Klarides has been even more effective as a U.S. Senate candidate.
“She has a proven track record of someone who can promote common-sense principles with other lawmakers,” he explained, noting that Klarides was a prime author of the 2017 bipartisan budget agreement that over the ensuing years has directed more money into the state rainy day fund.
However, Harding, who has endorsed Klarides, lamented that there appears to be less interest in the U.S. Senate primary than there was in 2018 for the five-way GOP gubernatorial primary.
Wharton said, “Turnout is going to be crucial. If you rally enough of the base, they will show up.”
Regan said that regardless of who wins the GOP primary, “I think that everybody needs to draw from the unaffiliated” voters in the general election.
Harding said that Klarides can capture a lot of moderate voters, indicating that her positions on the issues are similar to those of former longtime Connecticut Republican U.S. Reps. Nancy Johnson and Chris Shays – who a generation ago as centrist candidates were easily getting re-elected.
Klarides has made appearances in recent days with moderate Republican governors Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Larry Hogan of Maryland.
However, has Trump changed the party’s political dynamic?
Wall Street Journal columnist William Galston wrote shortly after the 2020 election that Trump “remade” the Republican Party.
“I don’t know that I would agree that he remade the party,” Klarides said. However, “The Republican Party is being looked at more as the party of the middle class.”
Resources:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/memory-chip-prices-fall-from-pandemic-highs-11657194553
https://patch.com/connecticut/...
https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2022/...
https://patch.com/connecticut/brookfield/shu-professor-insists-state-should-reduce-individual-taxes
