Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
 

cali

(114,904 posts)
Sun Jun 14, 2015, 04:01 PM Jun 2015

Meet Jim Himes, one of the Dems supporting the TPP, former vp at Goldman Sachs,

Jim Himes has introduced such legislation as rolling back portions of Dodd-Frank, but we'll get to more of his legislative record in a bit. Himes has a sterling record on social issues like abortion and LGBT rights. He's the first dem to represent the district in ages. (Full disclosure, I grew up in New Canaan and most of my family still lives in the area, so I know Fairfield County and its politics well). The denizens of the Gold Coast towns as they're known, are fiscal conservatives and socially pretty liberal. For ages it was Rockefeller Republican territory. As the republican party grew wackier (and in the eyes of these folks, increasingly declasse, or tackier if you will) more of them started to vote for dems., but Greenwich and New Canaan and Darien are all still heavily majority Republican.

He also represents CT's 4th district, home to Bridgeport, a crumbling impoverished city. Here are the demographics:

<snip>

As of the 2010 census, there were 144,229 people residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city residents was 39.6% White; 34.6% Black or African American; 3.4% Asian; and 4.3% from two or more races. A total of 38.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.[40] Non-Hispanic Whites were 22.7% of the population in 2010,[40] compared to 74.6% in 1970.[4

<snip>

The median income for a household in the city was $34,658, and the median income for a family was $39,571. Males had a median income of $32,430 versus $26,966 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,306. About 16.2% of families and 18.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.8% of those under age 18 and 13.2% of those age 65 or over. Since 1849, FSWINC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization has provided care for individuals living in difficult socioeconomic situations in both Bridgeport and Fairfield.[42][43]

According to 2010 census data, the Bridgeport MSA, containing all of Fairfield County, is the most unequal region in America.

<snip>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeport,_Connecticut

Himes also represents some of the wealthiest communities in the nation, including Darien, Ridgefield, New Canaan and his hometown, Hedge Fund capital of the world, Greenwich.

Here's a bit about Greenwich Demographics:

The median income for a household in the town was $124,958, and the median income for a family was $167,825. Males had a median income of $95,085 versus $47,806 for females. The per capita income for the town was $92,759 per 2010 census. About 2.5% of families and 4.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

Both the Official AENGLC Wealth Value and the CPR AENGLC Wealth Value show Greenwich as having the highest wealth value in Connecticut at over $930,000 per person. The AENGLC is based on the value of residential and commercial real estate and measures the town's tax base available to pay for public education(see Conn. Dep of Ed). It is not a measure of the personal wealth of individual residents. New Canaan is the wealthiest town in Connecticut, with a per capita income of $100,824, second is Darien at $95,577 and Greenwich third at $92,759 per the 2010 Census. Median family income in New Canaan at $220,278 also is higher than Greenwich at $167,825. Greenwich does have many extremely wealthy individuals but the averages are lowered by the significant areas of poverty. Demographically Greenwich is more akin to Manhattan than to a traditional Gold Coast suburb.

<snip>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich,_Connecticut

Now, onto Jim's legislative record:

On March 6, 2013, Himes co-sponsored H.R. 992 [18] which rolls-back provisions in section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Citigroup’s recommendations were reflected in more than 70 lines of the House Financial Services committee’s 85-line bill. Two crucial paragraphs, prepared by Citigroup in conjunction with other Wall Street banks, were copied nearly word for word.[19] According to the Congressional Budget Office[20] "H.R. 992 would allow certain financial firms to retain financial portfolios containing swaps while remaining eligible for assistance from the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)."

111th Congress (2009-2010)

H.R. 2600, a bill to prohibit any state from imposing income taxes on nonresident individuals for any period in which the individual is not physically present in or working in the state, introduced May 21, 2009, reintroduced in the 112th Congress as H.R. 5615, reintroduced in the 113th Congress as H.R. 4085
H.R. 3973, a bill to award competitive grants to school systems that are implementing innovative early-education curricula, introduced October 29, 2009. Himes introduced a similar bill in the 112th Congress as H.R. 3322 and two similar bills in the 113th Congress as H.R. 3983 and H.R. 3984.
H.R. 4106, a bill to create a grant and loan program for retrofitting homes with renewable energy technology, introduced November 18, 2009
H.R. 5779, a bill to terminate and reduce payments for various agricultural programs, introduced July 20, 2010

112th Congress (2011-2012)

H.R. 1965, a bill to increase from $1 to $10 the shareholder registration threshold for issuing securities, and to require any bank or bank holding company to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission if its assets exceed $10 million and include a certain class of equity security held of record by 2,000 or more people, introduced May 24, 2011. H.R. 1965 has passed the House of Representatives but has yet to become law.
H.R. 3283, a bill to exempt from regulation under Title VII of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (WSTAA) any swap dealers who are either a U.S. corporation or a subsidiary of a U.S. corporation and report such swaps to a swap data repository registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), to subject swap dealers to any regulations established by the CFTC to prevent evasion of WSTAA requirements, and subjects to WSTAA requirements any non-U.S. swap dealer who engages in swaps with any U.S. corporation, introduced October 31, 2011
H.R. 6187, a bill to increase efforts to cure HIV/AIDS, introduced June 25, 2012, reintroduced in the 113th Congress as H.R. 3630

113th Congress (2013-2014)

H.R. 4552, a bill to establish minimum safety standards for equestrian helmets, introduced May 1, 2014
H.R. 5004, a bill to promote renewable energy technology for multi-family homes and to make grants available to establish or expand energy savings plans that reduce total energy, water, or gas consumption by at least 20% for multi-family homes, introduced June 26, 2014
H.R. 5674, a bill to award grants to higher education institutions that carry out new or existing programs designed to graduate students at significantly lower student costs and within shorter time periods than traditional programs, to create minimum affordability, accessibility, and value accountability standards for higher education institutions, and to financially punish higher education institutions that do not make improvements in such standards, introduced September 19,20-12

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Himes






11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
 

cali

(114,904 posts)
3. just out of curiosity, because he has such high ratings on civil rights issues
Sun Jun 14, 2015, 05:07 PM
Jun 2015

what has he done for residents of Bridgeport?

Jefferson23

(30,099 posts)
5. cali, I will write a bit more for you so you can get an idea and judge for yourself but
Sun Jun 14, 2015, 05:27 PM
Jun 2015

one needs to keep in mind who in Bridgeport has benefited since Himes has been elected.
His district is vast too, and in his first race in '08, he lost Greenwich at the time and I think
lost New Canaan...he ran against Shays. He is more than proven himself to those areas since
then.

Bridgeport cross sects with poor and very wealthy...where he does not serve the poorest well.
The communities he appeals to the most are the wealthier ones and it is important, I believe,
in looking at the 4th district and how it crosses over many demographics..like Norwalk.

Overall, he keeps afloat without having done much for the poor and otherwise disadvantaged.

I hope that helps.

 

cali

(114,904 posts)
6. thanks. I thought as much
Sun Jun 14, 2015, 05:35 PM
Jun 2015

I forgot about Norwalk for some reason- which is funny as New Canaan is just down the road.

Jefferson23

(30,099 posts)
8. It is down the road yet a very different make up of people and levels of wealth.
Sun Jun 14, 2015, 05:47 PM
Jun 2015

One thing about some of the wealthier here is they feel that they're being squeezed too.

They are in the 300,000 a year range, due to both heads of the family working.
They will say with a straight face they support the 1% getting more heavily taxed but
do not want to be part of that group that would see an increased tax burden.

Lifestyles bring about interesting votes for politicians here.

 

cali

(114,904 posts)
9. yeah, it's very different
Sun Jun 14, 2015, 06:10 PM
Jun 2015

Growing up in New Canaan, I certainly recognized that. In many ways, New Canaan hasn't changed over the years. My parents lived there for almost 50 years.

Jefferson23

(30,099 posts)
10. Oh wow, that is a long time. I grew up in Westchester NY and moved to Connecticut
Sun Jun 14, 2015, 06:16 PM
Jun 2015

there are differences but also many similarities...some good, some not at all good.

 

Wilms

(26,795 posts)
7. Well, I'm sure they'll mention his humble beginnings in the South Bronx.
Sun Jun 14, 2015, 05:45 PM
Jun 2015

So he's got street creds.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Meet Jim Himes, one of th...