Bysiewicz: End the Wars, Invest in the Future

For Susan Bysiewicz, there are a couple compelling reasons to run for the United States Senate seat that Joe Lieberman will vacate next year.

First, she sees it as an opportunity to help create job opportunities so young people will stop exiting Connecticut in droves. Second, well, seats in the U.S. Senate don’t open up every day.

On Tuesday night at a meeting with the Bethany Democratic Town Committee Bysiewicz discussed her reasons for undertaking this challenge as well as what her goals will be should she succeed in her bid to serve in Washington.

“There is so much to do to get our state back on track for the tens of thousands of people who have lost their jobs,” Bysiewicz said. “We are dead last in job creation.”

Part of the cure, she believes, is to invest in the state’s and country’s infrastructure, including mass transit. Another component, she said, is to be more supportive of small business, something she focused on during her tenure as Connecticut’s Secretary of State.

“Washington hasn’t worked to help entrepreneurs and small business people grow and thrive,” she said.

While Washington has bailed out big banks and big business, Bysiewicz said little has been done to address the challenges of the small business owners. Her proposal would streamline an overwhelming application process which often causes applicants to give up. This would enable them to gain access to credit and capitol.

“Shortly, we will have thousands of young people coming back to our state from Iraq,” she said. “Hopefully, some of them will want to open small businesses.”

Another area of focus, Bysiewicz said, would be renewable energy, something she said the town of Bethany already does very well.

“On the federal level, we don’t have a system in place to encourage renewable energy,” she said. 

Funding New Programs and the War

For Bysiewicz, funding proposed new programs and bringing American troops back from the war are intrinsically linked.

“I feel very strongly that we need to bring our young people back from Iraq and Afghanistan as soon as it is safely possible,” she said. “Every week we are spending $2 billion on our national credit card for the wars.”

And worse, she said, the country is not adequately taking care of its military.

“We are losing more people to suicide than to the war,” Bysiewicz said, adding that a California study done between 2002 and 2009 showed more than 1,000 young veterans committed suicide after returning from one or more tours of duty.

“Last week I unveiled a set of legislative initiatives to reform VA health care and make sure a health care system is in place to care for them.”

In this state, she said, one in four homeless people are veterans, particularly of Vietnam, and there is much to do to begin taking care of them.

How, then, would she find funding these new programs and initiatives?

“That’s why I feel so strongly we have to redirect that $2 billion a week [currently going towards the war] to our country’s future,” Bysiewicz said. “We need to get people back to work and paying taxes.”

And while on the subject of paying taxes, she said the tax code has to be rewritten so that it is fair and everyone is paying their fair share.

“I want to repeal Bush’s tax cuts,” she said, “which cost us in excess of $4 trillion dollars, while the wars cost just over a trillion.”

Questions From the Democratic Town Committee

Q: How do you feel about abortion and social issues?

“I have been a long-standing supporter of a woman’s right to make decisions, with her doctor, about her body,” Bysiewicz said. “It is important to send someone to Washington who is a supporter of Roe vs. Wade and a woman’s right to choose. I am concerned about the Supreme Court and who will be responsible for the complexion of that court.”

“Here in Connecticut we have marriage equality,” she said, adding that she is committed to repealing the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman.

Q: What are your views on public education, particularly our failing urban schools?

 “We have thousands of young people who don’t have the skills to compete in today’s economy,” Bysiewicz said.

What concerns her about No Child Left Behind is that not only are the tests required to monitor achievement not particularly helpful, they are actually indicating that more and more school systems are on the verge of failing.

“We need to fix it [No Child Left Behind], adequately fund it, or forget it and start over,” she said.

Q: How do you feel about what has been passed for healthcare laws?

“If you want to promote economic development, you have to promote healthcare,” Bysiewicz said. “There are some good things in that bill such as allowing kids to stay on their parent’s insurance.”

In the past, she said, she tried to convince the state to open up their insurance pool to small businesses. She said she likes the idea of the federal government opening up its insurance pool, as well.

Q: There is talk of changing Social Security or getting rid of it. What is your position? 

“I think we should work very hard to keep Medicare and Social Security in place because they work very well,” she said. “Social Security is solvent through 2030.”

Bysiewicz said the focus should be on ferreting out abuse and strengthening the system.

“I will be fighting very hard to keep these programs in place,” she said.

Q: Do you really think someone can make a difference in Washington?

“It is extremely disheartening,” Bysiewicz said. “There’s a quote that says many people went to Washington to change it, but Washington changed them. Who should we send? Who has a record of getting things done? I believe I’m the one with that record and can get things done. I am not afraid to stand up to Republicans, special interests or powerful people. And I am not afraid to ask people to join me in supporting all that we believe in.”

“Special interests are controlling the agenda,” she added. “It’s in all of our special interests to send people to Washington to change how business is being done for the good.”

Bysiewicz concluded her visit by saying her campaign has done its due diligence and polls have shown she has an excellent chance of winning. Having raised over a million dollars is another good sign of public support.

“I’m very excited and I think we are going to have excellent opportunities,” she said. “I am a person who is undeterred, and when I see injustice, it only makes me want to fight harder.”