Issue Position: Jobs

Issue Position

A WAR ON UNEMPLOYMENT

These times are as tough as any we've seen in my lifetime, and we need Senators more interested in fighting unemployment than fighting each other. My record in supporting job growth is among the strongest in Connecticut's legislature. I will continue to be a leader in the United States Senate, where my first job will be to help drive economic recovery and long term growth while helping struggling families tackle the rising cost of living.

In states around the country, Republican governors and politicians are declaring war on working people. That doesn't make any sense. We need to declare war on unemployment.

And we have a lot of work to do. Between 2008 and 2010, Connecticut alone lost nearly 120,000 jobs. Unemployment remains staggeringly high. As your U.S. Senator, I will go to work every day with an almost singular focus on the most important job of our time -- creating new, good, sustainable jobs so our children have an even better chance at the American Dream than we did.

As part of my plan to create jobs, I'll fight to:

Help businesses hire. Companies nationwide are worried about the risks of taking on an extra employee.

People are at home, looking for work, receiving unemployment insurance. Let's solve both problems by making that unemployment check part of a new hire's wages.

That means we can help businesses with as much as $1300/month toward the cost of a new hire.
Compete for good, long-term advanced manufacturing jobs here in Connecticut and across the nation.

Build a first-tier research triangle here in Connecticut, coordinating government, universities, and business leaders.
Make a national investment in vocational and technical schools and science and math academies, opening five new vo-tech schools and science and math academies in Connecticut by 2018, ensuring cutting edge curriculum design and securing one-to-one corporate-government sharing of the cost of the expansion.

Fight hard for defense manufacturing contractors in Connecticut like Electric Boat, Sikorsky, and Pratt & Whitney to ensure our state gets its share of federal defense contracts.

Rebuild America and revitalize the construction industry by keeping our roads, bridges, and schools healthy. Maintaining our infrastructure is not a question of when, but of how much -- neglected highways cost more to fix and maintain.
Reauthorize the hugely popular Build America Bonds program.

$180 billion of these bonds were issued in just under two years, allowing states to go ahead with crucial infrastructure maintenance projects. That work is not done. Let's extend the program now through 2018, creating as many as 2 million jobs each year.

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