Fifth District Candidate Addresses Economic Options

By Eliza Hallabeck

Justin Bernier is seeking to win Republican backing in the August 10 primary election against fellow Republican Sam Caligiuri before taking on Congressman Chris Murphy in the November election. To that end, he visited town to give his brief tutorial on the current economy in Edmond Town Hall’s Alexandria room on Monday, July 12.

An image of a car under water flashed in a slideshow presentation. The next slide showed a crane being used to hoist the car out of its soggy resting place, but the crane failed.

Mr Bernier compared the car to the economy and the crane to government tactics to correct the situation. When the first crane failed, a larger crane was brought in on the next slide, but that did not work either.

“They are one-trick ponies down in Washington,” said Mr Bernier. “They are going to spend and borrow, spend and borrow, until we get different people down there.”

He also shared a graph, which showed an economic recession graph showing dates after World War II.

“Look how far our job line has gone down,” he said, “and how deep it is compared to any other national recession.”

While the graph illustrated the current path of the economy, Mr Bernier said he wants to find a different one. By reducing spending, lowering taxes, investing in private businesses, finding ways to lower energy costs (he noted that Connecticut is second in the country behind Hawaii in the cost of energy), reevaluating insurance, and more, the candidate argued that a different path can be found.

“I believe we can get out of it,” said Mr Bernier, “and we can make spending cuts to get us where we need to be. And that is why this election is so important.”

The upcoming election, he said, is going to be about the issues, because the decisions made this year will affect the economy for decades to come.

Before opening the discussion for questions from the audience, Mr Bernier urged registered Republicans in the room to vote for him on August 10. He also asked any supporters who may be members of other parties or unaffiliated to consider registering as a Republican before the primary vote.

In answer to a question, Mr Bernier said he is the right candidate because he has a background in international security and economic policy.

“Most importantly, I am the candidate talking about the big issues, and what is going to fix the future,” said Mr Bernier.